India is going to be the first country to to launch Smartphone into space.

India is going to be the first country to to launch Smartphone into space.
This smartphone is loaded with so many apps and some are for experimental apps and some are just for fun.

The British-built Strand-1 spacecraft, developed by scientists in Surrey, was sent into orbit from Sriharikota in India to test the capabilities of many standard smartphone components for a space environment.

Launched into a 785 km Sun-synchronous orbit on Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO’s PSLV launcher on Monday, the spacecraft is an innovative 3U CubeSat weighing 4.3 kg and is the world’s first “phonesat” to go into orbit, as well as the first UK CubeSat to be launched.

Developed by a team from the University of Surrey’s Surrey Space Centre (SSC) and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), STRaND-1 is a training and demonstration mission, designed to test commercial off-the-shelf technologies in space.

Credit : ISRO

NASA'S NuSTAR Helps Solve Riddle of Black Hole Spin

Rapidly rotating black hole accreting matter

Two X-ray space observatories, NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton, have teamed up to measure definitively, for the first time, the spin rate of a black hole with a mass 2 million times that of our sun. 

A rapidly rotating supermassive black hole has been found in the heart of a spiral galaxy by ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuSTAR space observatories, opening a new window into how galaxies grow.

Supermassive black holes are thought to lurk in the centre of almost all large galaxies, and scientists believe that the evolution of a galaxy is inextricably linked with the evolution of its black hole. 

How fast a black hole spins is thought to reflect the history of its formation. In this picture, a black hole that grows steadily, fed by a uniform flow of matter spiralling in, should end up spinning rapidly. Rapid rotation could also be the result of two smaller black holes merging. 

On the other hand, a black hole buffeted by small clumps of material hitting from all directions will end up rotating relatively slowly.

These scenarios mirror the formation of the galaxy itself, since a fraction of all the matter drawn into the galaxy finds its way into the black hole. Because of this, astronomers are keen to measure the spin rates of black holes in the hearts of galaxies.

One way of doing so is to observe X-rays emitted just outside the ‘event horizon’, the boundary surrounding a black hole beyond which nothing, including light, can escape.

In particular, hot iron atoms produce a strong signature of X-rays at a specific energy, which is smeared out by the rotation of the black hole. The nature of this smearing can then be used to infer the spin rate.

Using this technique, previous observations have suggested there are extremely rapidly spinning black holes in some galaxies. However, confirming the spin rate has been very difficult, because the X-ray spectrum can also be smeared out by absorbing clouds of gas lying close to the disc. Until now, telling the two scenarios apart has been impossible.

For roughly 36 hours in July 2012, ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuSTAR – the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array – simultaneously observed the spiral galaxy NGC 1365. XMM-Newton captured the lower energy X-rays, NuSTAR the higher energy data.

The combined data proved to be key to unlocking the puzzle. A spinning black hole model makes a clear prediction for the ratio of high-energy to low-energy X-rays. The same is true for an absorbing cloud of gas.

But importantly, the predictions are different and the new data agree only with a rapidly spinning black hole. This suggests that the galaxy has grown steadily with time, with material streaming uniformly into the central black hole.

However, astronomers cannot yet rule out a single large event where two galaxies and their black holes subsequently merged, producing a sudden acceleration of the resulting supermassive black hole.

“But we can completely rule out the absorption model,” says Guido Risaliti, INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Italy, who led the investigation.

“Now that we know how to measure black hole spin rates for certain, we can more confidently use them to infer the evolution of their host galaxies.”

Credit : ESA/NASA

Winter Storm Across Central United States

In late February 2013, a major snowstorm made its way across the continental United States, dropping snow from Colorado to the Great Lakes region. The National Weather Service reported snow totals of five to eight inches in many parts of the Central Plains and Upper Mississippi River Valley. Some parts of the Central Plains experienced snowfall rates as high as four inches per hour, along with thundersnow.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view at 1:55 a.m. CST on February 23. This imagery is from the VIIRS "day-night band," which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared. The day-night band takes advantage of moonlight, airglow, and starlight to brighten the landscape and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as city lights and snow cover. On the night of this image, the Moon was nearly full.

City lights glow like clusters of stars against a backdrop of grey and black in this image. The snow appears medium gray, and stretches from northern Texas to the Dakotas, and from the Rocky Mountain states eastward past Chicago. When VIIRS acquired this image, snow cover across multiple states had persisted since the previous night.

Image Credit: NASA/Suomi NPP

NASA Announces Fourth Round of CubeSat Space Mission Candidates

NASA Announces Fourth Round of CubeSat Space Mission Candidates

Artist concept of a CubeSat in space. CubeSats are tiny, fully-functional satellites. Image credit: 
Clyde Space

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected 24 small satellites to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The proposed CubeSats come from universities across the country, a Florida high school, several non-profit organizations and NASA field centers. 

CubeSats belong to a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites measure about 4 inches on each side, have a volume of about 1 quart, and weigh less than 3 pounds. 

The selections are from the fourth round of the CubeSat Launch Initiative. After launch, the satellites will conduct technology demonstrations, educational research or science missions. The selected CubeSats will be eligible for flight after final negotiations and an opportunity for flight becomes available. 

To see the organizations submitted winning satellite proposals: Click here 

CubeSat Launch initiative (CSLI) Video By NASA

NASA’s CubeSat Launch initiative (CSLI) provides opportunities for small satellite payloads to fly on rockets planned for upcoming launches. These CubeSats are flown as auxiliary payloads on previously planned missions.

CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites are approximately four inches long, have a volume of about one quart and weigh about 3 pounds.  To participate in the CSLI program, CubeSat investigations should be consistent with NASA's Strategic Plan and the Education Strategic Coordination Framework. The research should address aspects of science, exploration, technology development, education or operations.

Satellites selected to date come from 25 states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. These locations are depicted below.By providing a progression of educational opportunities including CSLI for students, teachers, and faculty, NASA assists the Nation in attracting and retaining students in STEM disciplines.  This strengthens NASA’s and the Nation’s future workforce.  Further, the CSLI promotes and develops innovative technology partnerships among NASA, U.S. industry, and other sectors for the benefit of Agency programs and projects.  NASA thus gains a mechanism to use CubeSats for low-cost technology development or pathfinders.

CubeSat Launch Initiative Selectees map

The Whirlpool Galaxy

NASA Image Of The Day

The Whirlpool Galaxy
The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy. At only 30 million light years distant and fully 60 thousand light years across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies on the sky. This image is a digital combination of a ground-based image from the 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and a space-based image from the Hubble Space Telescope highlighting sharp features normally too red to be seen.

Image Credit: NASA/Hubble

Astronomers have traced the origin of Russia meteor

Source:BBC News website By Paul Rincon

Using amateur video footage, they were able to plot the meteor's trajectory through Earth's atmosphere and then reconstruct its orbit around the Sun.

As the space rock burned up over the city of Chelyabinsk, the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.

The team, from Colombia, has published details on the Arxiv website as follows

In February 15 2013 a medium-sized meteoroid impacted the atmosphere in the region of Chelyabinsk, Russia. After its entrance to the atmosphere and after travel by several hun- dred of kilometers the body exploded in a powerful event responsible for physical damages and injured people spread over a region enclosing several large cities. We present in this letter the results of a preliminary reconstruction of the orbit of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid. Using evidence gathered by one camera at the Revolution Square in the city of Chelyabinsk and other videos recorded by witnesses in the close city of Korkino, we calculate the trajectory of the body in the atmosphere and use it to reconstruct the orbit in space of the meteoroid previous to the violent encounter with our planet. In order to account for the uncertainties implicit in the determination of the trajectory of the body in the atmosphere, we use Monte Carlo methods to calculate the most probable orbital parameters. We use this result to classify the meteoroid among the near Earth asteroid families finding that the parent body belonged to the Apollo asteroids. Although semimajor axis and inclination of the preliminary orbit computed by us are uncertain, the rest of orbital elements are well constrained in this preliminary reconstruction.

The Chelyabinsk meteor (labelled ChM) appears to have been on elliptical orbit around the Sun before it collided with Earth

Numerous videos of the fireball were taken with camera phones, CCTV and car-dashboard cameras and subsequently shared widely on the web. Furthermore, traffic camera footage of the fireball had precise time and date stamps.

Early estimates of the meteor's mass put it at ten tonnes; US space agency Nasa later estimated it to be between 7,000 and 10,000 tonnes. Nasa estimates the size of the object was about 17m (55ft).

Using the footage and the location of an impact into Lake Chebarkul, Jorge Zuluaga and Ignacio Ferrin, from the University of Antioquia in Medellin were able to use simple trigonometry to calculate the height, speed and position of the rock as it fell to Earth.

To reconstruct the meteor's original orbit around the Sun, they used six different properties of its trajectory through Earth's atmosphere. Most of these are related to the point at which the meteor becomes bright enough to cast a noticeable shadow in the videos.

For more Visit BBC News

NASA Sees Cyclone Rusty Threatening Western Australia

Tropical Cyclone Rusty (South Indian Ocean)

› Larger image
On Feb. 25 at 0215 UTC (9:15 p.m. EST, Feb. 24) the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this visible image of Cyclone Rusty closing in on the northwestern coast of Western Australia. Rusty's outer band of thunderstorms stretched from Broome to Port Hedland. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team



Tropical Cyclone Rusty formed on Feb. 24 and has already caused warnings up for the residents of northwestern West Australia, including Port Hedland. NASA's Terra satellite saw that outer bands of this quick-forming tropical cyclone were already affecting land.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABOM) has posted cyclone warnings and a yellow and blue alert for Western Australia as Rusty approaches for a landfall. A Cyclone Warning is in effect from Broome to Mardie, and adjacent inland areas of the Pilbara, including Marble Bar, Nullagine and Millstream. A Cyclone Watch is in effect for adjacent inland areas of the Pilbara including Tom Price, Newman and Telfer.


The down image showing:
NASA's TRMM satellite viewed Tropical Cyclone Rusty on Feb. 25, 2013 at 0750 UTC. A rainfall analysis from TRMM showed that Rusty had an extensive area of rainfall surrounding its very large eye. TRMM PR and TMI instruments found that rain within wide bands of intense rain was falling at a rate of over 50mm/hr (~2 inches). Credit: SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce

NASA Spots Active Southern Indian Ocean's Tropical Storm 18S

Tropical Storm 18S (Southern Indian Ocean)
The eighteenth tropical cyclone of the Southern Indian Ocean season formed over the weekend of Feb. 23-24 along with Cyclone Rusty as Cyclone Haruna crossed southern Madagascar. NASA's Aqua satellite measured Tropical Storm 18S' cloud top temperatures and saw powerful thunderstorms around the storm's core. 

Cyclone Rusty is nearing a landfall in northwestern West Australia, while Tropical Storm 18S is headed in a similar direction. 

Tropical Storm 18S (TS18S) was born on Feb. 24 and achieved tropical storm strengthe with maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph). It formed about 45 nautical miles southeast of the Cocos Islands, Australia near 12.7 south latitude and 97.3 east longitude. 

On Feb. 24 at 2:29 a.m. EST the AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared data on TS18S. The coldest temperatures (purple) and highest cloud tops (and strongest thunderstorms) appeared in a large area around TD18S's center. Credit: NASA/JPL, Ed Olsen

For More Information about Visit : NASA

Saturn's North Polar Hexagon

Saturn's north polar hexagon basks in the Sun's light now that spring has come to the northern hemisphere. Many smaller storms dot the north polar region and Saturn's signature rings, which appear to disappear on account of Saturn's shadow, put in an appearance in the background. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft's wide-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2012 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 750 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 403,000 miles (649,000 kilometers) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 21 degrees. Image scale is 22 miles (35 kilometers) per pixel. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

NEOSSat detecting and tracking asteroids and satellites.

Neosat Launched Successfully

Launch: February 25, 2013Canada is currently building NEOSSat (the Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite), the world's first space telescope dedicated to detecting and tracking asteroids and satellites. Slated for launch in 2013, it will circle the globe every 100 minutes, scanning space near the Sun to pinpoint asteroids that may someday pass near our planet. NEOSSat will also sweep the skies in search of satellites and space debris as part of Canada's commitment to keeping orbital space safe for everyone. NEOSSat applies key technology already demonstrated in Canada's very successful MOST satellite

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PSLV - C20 successfully launched

Congrats ISRO
PSLV - C20 successfully launched with 7 satellites into their orbit.
PSLV - C20 successfully launches Indo-French satellite SARAL and six other commercial payloads into the orbit.

Images of PSLV-C20 Launch 
Click on the images to see large

Launching Video By ISRO

Cosmic eye

Planetary nebula ESO 456-67

Image and Information Source : ESA

Space science image of the week: planetary nebula from the Hubble Space Telescope

It may look like something from The Lord of the Rings, but this fiery swirl is actually a planetary nebula known as ESO 456-67. Set against a backdrop of bright stars, the rust-coloured object lies in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer), in the southern sky.

Despite the name, these ethereal objects have nothing at all to do with planets. The misnomer came about over a century ago, when the first astronomers to observe them only had small, poor-quality telescopes. Through these, the nebulae looked small, compact and planet-like.

When a star like the Sun approaches the end of its life, it flings material out into space. Planetary nebulae are the intricate, glowing shells of dust and gas pushed outwards from such a star. At their centres lie the remnants of the original stars themselves – small, dense white dwarf stars.

In this image of ESO 456-67 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, it is possible to see the various layers of material expelled by the central star. Each appears in a different hue – red, orange, yellow and green-tinted bands of gas, with clear patches of space at the heart of the nebula.

It is not fully understood how planetary nebulae form such a wide variety of shapes and structures. Some appear to be spherical, some elliptical, others shoot material in waves from their polar regions, some look like hourglasses or figures of eight, and others resemble large, messy stellar explosions – to describe but a few.

A version of this image was entered into the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Jean-Christophe Lambry.

ESA EURONEWS: GRAVITY'S GRIP ON EARTH

Gravity is one of the fundamental forces of nature, its invisible grip governing our planet - from the rocks inside to the seas on the surface.
In this edition of Space, we begin our adventure in a massive cave in northern Italy, a space beneath the surface of the Earth that is so big it has an effect on the local gravity field. If you parked a car weighing one tonne above this cave, it would weigh five grammes less than elsewhere.
However, getting a grip on gravity on a global scale can only be done from space, and that's something ESA's GOCE satellite mission has been doing since 2009. One of the ultimate goals of GOCE is to improve our knowledge of the geoid, a kind of 'gravity map' of the planet, that is essential for oceanographers, surveyors, engineers and Earth-science researchers.
Also tracking invaluable information about the Earth's gravity field is the GRACE mission. While this pair of satellites don't have the high precision of other missions, they offer something unique: a monthly survey of the gravity field. This US-German mission has been tracking the loss of ice mass over Greenland for the past decade, offering useful evidence for those studying climate change.

NASA Coverage Set for March 1 SpaceX Mission to Space Station

 

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The second SpaceX mission to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract is scheduled to launch Friday, March 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Television coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. EST. 

The company's Falcon 9 rocket carrying its Dragon cargo capsule will lift off at 10:10 a.m. If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on March 2 with launch time at 9:47 a.m. and NASA TV coverage beginning at 8 a.m. 

The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the space station. It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012. 

The capsule will be filled with more than 1,200 pounds of scientific experiments and cargo. It will remain attached to the space station's Harmony module for more than three weeks. The Dragon capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25, returning more than 2,300 pounds of experiment samples and equipment, which will be recovered for examination by scientists and engineers. 

In advance of the launch, NASA will host a briefing on NASA's human deep space exploration progress at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On Thursday, Feb. 28, NASA will host a mission science briefing at 1 p.m. and a prelaunch news conference at 3 p.m. All three briefings will be carried live on NASA TV and the agency's website. 

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit 

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Source : NASA.gov

Colors of innermost planet

Click here to see large image

This colorful view of Mercury was produced by using images from the color base map imaging campaign during MESSENGER's primary mission. These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface.Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

NASA Long-Distance Google+ Hangout to Connect with Space Station

Have you ever asked a question to someone in space? No? Well now’s your chance. In a first for the agency, NASA will host a Google+ Hangout live with the International Space Station on Feb. 22 from 10:30 a.m EST to 11:30 a.m. EST. Google+ Hangouts allow people to chat face-to-face while thousands more can tune in to watch the conversation live on Google+ or YouTube. This unique opportunity will connect you, our fans, with astronauts living and working on the orbiting laboratory 240 miles above the Earth.

During the event, several video questions will be selected and answered by astronauts on the space station and on the ground. Additionally, NASA will ask real-time questions submitted by our followers on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

Unique and original questions are more likely to be selected. You can view the Hangout live on the NASA Google+ page or the NASA Television YouTube channel to watch the astronauts answer the questions.

SUBMITTING REAL-TIME QUESTIONS

To ask a real-time question during the event on Google+ or Twitter, please use the hashtag #askAstro. You can also post a comment on a thread on NASA’s Facebook page that will open for questions on the morning of the event.

WATCHING THE GOOGLE+ HANGOUT

To join the hangout, and for updates and opportunities to participate in upcoming hangouts, visit NASA's Google+ page athttp://plus.google.com/+NASA.

During the hangout, astronauts Kevin Ford, Chris Hadfield and Tom Marshburn will answer questions and provide insights about life aboard the station. Station crews conduct a variety of science experiments and perform station maintenance during their six-month stay on the outpost. Their life aboard the station in near-weightlessness requires unique approaches to everyday activities such as eating, sleeping and exercising.

Official website:http://www.nasa.gov/connect/hangout.html

Participate in this event and ask your questions to ISS Astronauts

Korea’s Kompsat-2 satellite captured this image of southern central Romania

Korea’s Kompsat-2 satellite captured this image of southern central Romania in January.

The area pictured is part of a geographic transitional region between the Southern Carpathians to the north and the lowland plains to the south.

Bucharest is some 110 km to the southeast, Bulgaria is about 120 km to the south, and Serbia about 160 km to the west.

The tree branch-like pattern is the result of erosion along rivers and streams. Running down the centre of the image is the Cotmeana river.

Zooming in, we can see that large areas have been divided into hundreds of small agricultural plots.

During communist rule, this area’s arable land was divided into large plots for state-owned, large-scale farming. But following the downfall of communism in Romania in 1989 and the subsequent privatisation of land, these plots were fragmented.

Romania became an ESA Member State on 22 December 2011.

The Korea Multi-purpose Satellite (Kompsat-2) of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute acquired this image on 2 January 2013. Launched in 2006, it was developed to ensure continuity with its predecessor, Kompsat-1.

ESA supports Kompsat as a Third Party Mission, meaning it uses its ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data to users. 

Source :ESA

NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Tiny Planet System

A Moon-size Line Up

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered a new planetary system that is home to the smallest planet yet found around a star like our sun, approximately 210 light-years away in the constellation Lyra.

The line up compares artist's concepts of the planets in the Kepler-37 system to the moon and planets in the solar system.

The smallest planet, Kepler-37b, is slightly larger than our moon, measuring about one-third the size of Earth. Kepler-37c, the second planet, is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring almost three-quarters the size of Earth. Kepler-37d, the third planet, is twice the size of Earth.

A "year" on these planets is very short. Kepler-37b orbits its host star every 13 days at less than one-third the distance Mercury is to the sun. The other two planets, Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d, orbit their star every 21 and 40 days. All three planets have orbits lying less than the distance Mercury is to the sun, suggesting that they are very hot, inhospitable worlds.

Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA's Kepler mission scientists have discovered a new planetary system that is home to the smallest planet yet found around a star similar to our sun. 

The planets are located in a system called Kepler-37, about 210 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. The smallest planet, Kepler-37b, is slightly larger than our moon, measuring about one-third the size of Earth. It is smaller than Mercury, which made its detection a challenge. 

The moon-size planet and its two companion planets were found by scientists with NASA's Kepler mission to find Earth-sized planets in or near the "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet. However, while the star in Kepler-37 may be similar to our sun, the system appears quite unlike the solar system in which we live. 

Astronomers think Kepler-37b does not have an atmosphere and cannot support life as we know it. The tiny planet almost certainly is rocky in composition. Kepler-37c, the closer neighboring planet, is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring almost three-quarters the size of Earth. Kepler-37d, the farther planet, is twice the size of Earth.

The first exoplanets found to orbit a normal star were giants. As technologies have advanced, smaller and smaller planets have been found, and Kepler has shown even Earth-size exoplanets are common. 

"Even Kepler can only detect such a tiny world around the brightest stars it observes," said Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "The fact we've discovered tiny Kepler-37b suggests such little planets are common, and more planetary wonders await as we continue to gather and analyze additional data." 

Kepler-37's host star belongs to the same class as our sun, although it is slightly cooler and smaller. All three planets orbit the star at less than the distance Mercury is to the sun, suggesting they are very hot, inhospitable worlds. Kepler-37b orbits every 13 days at less than one-third Mercury's distance from the sun. The estimated surface temperature of this smoldering planet, at more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Kelvin), would be hot enough to melt the zinc in a penny. Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d, orbit every 21 days and 40 days, respectively. 

"We uncovered a planet smaller than any in our solar system orbiting one of the few stars that is both bright and quiet, where signal detection was possible," said Thomas Barclay, Kepler scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Sonoma, Calif., and lead author of the new study published in the journal Nature. "This discovery shows close-in planets can be smaller, as well as much larger, than planets orbiting our sun." 

The research team used data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, which simultaneously and continuously measures the brightness of more than 150,000 stars every 30 minutes. When a planet candidate transits, or passes, in front of the star from the spacecraft's vantage point, a percentage of light from the star is blocked. This causes a dip in the brightness of the starlight that reveals the transiting planet's size relative to its star. 

The size of the star must be known in order to measure the planet's size accurately. To learn more about the properties of the star Kepler-37, scientists examined sound waves generated by the boiling motion beneath the surface of the star. They probed the interior structure of Kepler-37's star just as geologists use seismic waves generated by earthquakes to probe the interior structure of Earth. The science is called asteroseismology. 

The artist's concept depicts the new planet dubbed Kepler-37b. The planet is slightly larger than our moon, measuring about one-third the size of Earth. Kepler-37b orbits its host star every 13 days at less than one-third the distance Mercury is to the sun. Click image for full caption and larger size. Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

Learning About 'Veggie' at the NASA Social

Marshall Porterfield, Life and Physical Sciences Division Director at NASA Headquarters, talks about the human body in microgravity and other life sciences at a NASA Social exploring science on the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Washington. 

The Vegetable Production System ("Veggie"), a container used for growing plants on the ISS, is pictured in the foreground. Veggie is a deployable plant growth unit capable of producing salad-type crops to provide the crew with a palatable, nutritious, and safe source of fresh food and a tool to support relaxation and recreation. Veggie provides lighting and nutrient delivery, but utilizes the cabin environment for temperature control and as a source of carbon dioxide to promote growth.

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

NASA's SDO Observes Fast-Growing Sunspot

As magnetic fields on the sun rearrange and realign, dark spots known as sunspots can appear on its surface. Over the course of Feb. 19-20, 2013, scientists watched a giant sunspot form in under 48 hours. It has grown to over six Earth diameters across but its full extent is hard to judge since the spot lies on a sphere not a flat disk.

The spot quickly evolved into what's called a delta region, in which the lighter areas around the sunspot, the penumbra, exhibit magnetic fields that point in the opposite direction of those fields in the center, dark area. This is a fairly unstable configuration that scientists know can lead to eruptions of radiation on the sun called solar flares.

Curiosity has relayed new images that confirm it has successfully obtained the first sample

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover has relayed new images that confirm it has successfully obtained the first sample ever collected from the interior of a rock on another planet. No rover has ever drilled into a rock beyond Earth and collected a sample from its interior.

"Seeing the powder from the drill in the scoop allows us to verify for the first time the drill collected a sample as it bore into the rock," said Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)Ps Scott McCloskey, drill systems engineer for Curiosity. "Many of us have been working toward this day for years. Getting final confirmation of successful drilling is incredibly gratifying. For the sampling team, this is the equivalent of the landing team going crazy after the successful touchdown."

The drill on Curiosity's robotic arm took in the powder as it bored a 2.5-inch (6.4-centimeter) hole into a target on flat Martian bedrock on Feb. 8. The rover team plans to have Curiosity sieve the sample and deliver portions of it to analytical instruments inside the rover.

The scoop now holding the precious sample is part of Curiosity's Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) device. During the next steps of processing, the powder will be enclosed inside CHIMRA and shaken once or twice over a sieve that screens out particles larger than 0.006 inch (150 microns) across.

Small portions of the sieved sample later will be delivered through inlet ports on top of the rover deck into the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.

In response to information gained during testing at JPL, the processing and delivery plan has been adjusted to reduce use of mechanical vibration. The 150-micron screen in one of the two test versions of CHIMRA became partially detached after extensive use, although it remained usable. The team has added precautions for use of Curiosity's sampling system while continuing to study the cause and ramifications of the separation.

The second tropical depression of the northwestern Pacific Ocean

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Depression 02W as it was coming together and soaking provinces in Mindanao and the Palawan province of Luzon. This infrared AIRS image from 12:41 a.m. EST on Feb. 19 showed strong storms (purple) over Mindanao and stretching west to Palawan. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen

The second tropical depression of the northwestern Pacific Ocean season formed on Feb. 19, and NASA's Aqua satellite showed the storm was soaking the central and southern Philippines. 

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Depression 02W (TD02W) as it was coming together and soaking provinces in Mindanao and the Palawan province of Luzon. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard Aqua captured an infrared image of the depression at 0541 UTC (12:41 a.m. EST). The AIRS image showed very cold cloud top temperatures, colder than -63F (-52C) over Mindanao and stretching west to Palawan. Cloud top temperatures that cold are indicative of the potential to drop heavy rainfall. 

AIRS infrared satellite imagery showed a very poorly organized and ill- defined low-level circulation center. The convection (rising air that forms thunderstorms that make up the depression) appears disorganized in the northern quadrant of the storm.

Text Credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Source : NASA

Tropical Storm Haruna (Southern Indian Ocean)

Tropical Storm Haruna (Southern Indian Ocean)

NASA Saw Tropical Storm Haruna Come Together  

The sixteenth Tropical cyclone of the Southern Indian Ocean season formed in the Mozambique Channel, and the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 19 at 0745 UTC. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

On Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 the AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured these infrared images of the development of Tropical Storm Haruna. The area of strongest thunderstorms appear in purple, where cloud top temperatures were colder than -63F (-52C). The image on Feb. 19 shows that the band of thunderstorms east of the center became fragmented. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen

Tropical Storm Haruna came together on Feb. 19 in the Southern Indian Ocean and two NASA satellites provided visible and infrared imagery that helped forecasters see the system's organization. 

A low pressure area called System 94S developed on Friday, Feb. 15 in the northern Mozambique Channel. Over the course of four days System 94S became more organized and by Feb. 19 it became Tropical Storm Haruna. 

On Tuesday, Feb. 19, Tropical Storm Haruna had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40.2 mph/64.8 kph). Haruna was located in the Mozambique Channel, near 21.4 south latitude and 40.9 east longitude, about 375 nautical miles (431.5 miles/694.5 km) west-southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Microwave satellite imagery from the AMSU-B instrument confirmed the location of Haruna's low-level center. Haruna is moving south at 5 knots (5.7 mph/9.2 kph). 

Infrared imagery from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument taken on Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 showed the development of Haruna from a depression into a tropical storm. AIRS imagery on Feb. 19 indicated that the low-level circulation center was well-defined and symmetrical. The area of strongest thunderstorms appeared around the center of circulation and in a band of thunderstorms around the south and east of the center where cloud top temperatures were colder than -63F (-52C). The AIRS data on Feb. 19 also showed that the band of thunderstorms east of the center became fragmented over eastern Madagascar. 

An instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, also known as "MODIS" captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Haruna on Feb. 19 at 0745 UTC (2:45 a.m. EST). The image showed the center of Haruna over the southern Mozambique Channel, between Mozambique on the African mainland to the west, and the island nation of Madagascar east. Haruna's eastern bands of thunderstorms were draped over Madagascar bringing showers, thunderstorms and gusty winds to the island. 

The MODIS image was created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. 

According to forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), the organization that forecasts tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean, Haruna is being guided by a low-to-mid-level subtropical ridge (elongated area) of high pressure and is expected to continue moving south until a low pressure area turns the tropical storm southeast. 

Forecasters at the JTWC expect that Haruna will intensify over the next day or two and make a brief landfall over southern Madagascar. Haruna is expected to re-emerge into open ocean and vertical wind shear is forecast to increase with the low pressure area, weakening the storm. 

Text Credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Source:NASA