Stormy seas in Sagittarius

ESA - Hubble Space Telescope logo.

30 July 2015

New Hubble view of the Lagoon Nebula

Some of the most breathtaking views in the Universe are created by nebulae — hot, glowing clouds of gas. This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the centre of the Lagoon Nebula, an object with a deceptively tranquil name. The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust.

Nebulae are often named based on their key characteristics — particularly beautiful examples include the Ring Nebula (heic1310), the Horsehead Nebula (heic1307) and the Butterfly Nebula (heic0910). This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the centre of the Lagoon Nebula, otherwise known as Messier 8, in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer).

Wide-field view of the Lagoon Nebula (ground-based image)

The inspiration for this nebula’s name may not be immediately obvious — this is because the image captures only the very heart of the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula’s name becomes much clearer in a wider field view (opo0417i) when the broad, lagoon-shaped dust lane that crosses the glowing gas of the nebula can be made out.

Another clear difference between this new image and others is that this image combines both infrared and optical light rather than being purely optical(heic1015). Infrared light cuts through thick, obscuring patches of dust and gas, revealing the more intricate structures underneath and producing a completely different landscape [1].

Giant 'Twisters' in the Lagoon Nebula

However, even in visible light, the tranquil name remains misleading as the region is packed full of violent phenomena.

The bright star embedded in dark clouds at the centre of this image is known as Herschel 36. This star is responsible for sculpting the surrounding cloud, stripping away material and influencing its shape. Herschel 36 is the main source of ionising radiation [2] for this part of the Lagoon Nebula.

This central part of the Lagoon Nebula contains two main structures of gas and dust connected by wispy twisters, visible in the middle third of this image (opo9638). These features are quite similar to their namesakes on Earth — they are thought to be wrapped up into their funnel-like shapes by temperature differences between the hot surface and cold interior of the clouds. The nebula is also actively forming new stars, and energetic winds from these newborns may contribute to creating the twisters.

This image combines images taken using optical and infrared light gathered by Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2.

Zooming in on the Lagoon Nebula

Panning across the Lagoon Nebula

Notes:

[1] Another particularly good example of this effect is shown in Hubble’s image of the Horsehead Nebula (heic1307).

[2] The ionising radiation here is ultraviolet light. This light knocks electrons loose from within atoms to create charged particles called ions.
Notes for editors

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

Links:

Images of Hubble: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/category/spacecraft/

Hubble websites: http://www.spacetelescope.org/ and http://hubblesite.org/

Images, Text, Credits: NASA, ESA, J. Trauger (Jet Propulson Laboratory)/Digitized Sky Survey 2 (Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin)/A. Caulet (ST-ECF)/Videos: NASA, ESA, J. Trauger (Jet Propulson Laboratory).

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet

NASA - Spitzer Space Telescope logo.

July 30, 2015

Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have confirmed the discovery of the nearest rocky planet outside our solar system, larger than Earth and a potential gold mine of science data.

Image above: This artist's concept shows the silhouette of a rocky planet, dubbed HD 219134b. At 21 light-years away, the planet is the closest outside of our solar system that can be seen crossing, or transiting, its star. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Dubbed HD 219134b, this exoplanet, which orbits too close to its star to sustain life, is a mere 21 light-years away. While the planet itself can't be seen directly, even by telescopes, the star it orbits is visible to the naked eye in dark skies in the Cassiopeia constellation, near the North Star.

HD 219134b is also the closest exoplanet to Earth to be detected transiting, or crossing in front of, its star and, therefore, perfect for extensive research.

"Transiting exoplanets are worth their weight in gold because they can be extensively characterized," said Michael Werner, the project scientist for the Spitzer mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "This exoplanet will be one of the most studied for decades to come."

Image above: This sky map shows the location of the star HD 219134 (circle), host to the nearest confirmed rocky planet found to date outside of our solar system. The star lies just off the "W" shape of the constellation Cassiopeia and can be seen with the naked eye in dark skies. It actually has multiple planets, none of which are habitable. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DSS.

The planet, initially discovered using HARPS-North instrument on the Italian 3.6-meter Galileo National Telescope in the Canary Islands, is the subject of a study accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Study lead author Ati Motalebi of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland said she believes the planet is the ideal target for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2018.

"Webb and future large, ground-based observatories are sure to point at it and examine it in detail,” Motalebi said.

Only a small fraction of exoplanets can be detected transiting their stars due to their relative orientation to Earth. When the orientation is just right, the planet’s orbit places it between its star and Earth, dimming the detectable light of its star. It’s this dimming of the star that is actually captured by observatories such as Spitzer, and can reveal not only the size of the planet but also clues about its composition.

Image above: This artist's rendition shows one possible appearance for the planet HD 219134b, the nearest confirmed rocky exoplanet found to date outside our solar system. The planet is 1.6 times the size of Earth, and whips around its star in just three days. Scientists predict that the scorching-hot planet -- known to be rocky through measurements of its mass and size -- would have a rocky, partially molten surface with geological activity, including possibly volcanoes. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

"Most of the known planets are hundreds of light-years away. This one is practically a next-door neighbor," said astronomer and study co-author Lars A. Buchhave of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For reference, the closest known planet is GJ674b at 14.8 light-years away; its composition is unknown.

HD 219134b was first sighted by the HARPS-North instrument and a method called the radial velocity technique, in which a planet's mass and orbit can be measured by the tug it exerts on its host star. The planet was determined to have a mass 4.5 times that of Earth, and a speedy three-day orbit around its star.

Spitzer followed up on the finding, discovering the planet transits its star. Infrared measurements from Spitzer revealed the planet's size, about 1.6 times that of Earth. Combining the size and mass gives it a density of 3.5 ounces per cubic inch (six grams per cubic centimeter) -- confirming HD 219134b is a rocky planet.

Now that astronomers know HD 219134b transits its star, scientists will be scrambling to observe it from the ground and space. The goal is to tease chemical information out of the dimming starlight as the planet passes before it. If the planet has an atmosphere, chemicals in it can imprint patterns in the observed starlight.

Rocky planets such as this one, with bigger-than-Earth proportions, belong to a growing class of planets termed super-Earths.

Spitzer Space Telescope. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

"Thanks to NASA's Kepler mission, we know super-Earths are ubiquitous in our galaxy, but we still know very little about them," said co-author Michael Gillon of the University of Liege in Belgium, lead scientist for the Spitzer detection of the transit. "Now we have a local specimen to study in greater detail. It can be considered a kind of Rosetta Stone for the study of super-Earths."

Further observations with HARPS-North also revealed three more planets in the same star system, farther than HD 219134b. Two are relatively small and not too far from the star. Small, tightly packed multi-planet systems are completely different from our own solar system, but, like super-Earths, are being found in increasing numbers.

JPL manages the Spitzer mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive, housed at Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.

For more information about NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Felicia Chou/Gina Anderson/JPL/Whitney Clavin.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

How Sunlight Pushes Asteroids

NASA - OSIRIS-REx Mission logo.

July 29, 2015

Rotating asteroids have a tough time sticking to their orbits. Their surfaces heat up during the day and cool down at night, giving off radiation that can act as a sort of mini-thruster.

How Sunlight Pushes Asteroids

This force, called the Yarkovsky effect, can cause rotating asteroids to drift widely over time, making it hard for scientists to predict their long-term risk to Earth.

Artist's impression of OSIRIS-REx arrival to asteroid Bennu

To learn more about the Yarkovsky effect, NASA is sending a spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. OSIRIS-REx will observe how Bennu’s shape, brightness, and surface features influence the strength of the Yarkovsky effect, helping scientists to better predict Bennu’s orbit over time and pin down its long-term risk.

Learn more about NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu: http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

Visit the University of Arizona’s OSIRIS-REx website: http://www.asteroidmission.org/

Image, Video, Text, Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA's MMS Formation Will Give Unique Look at Magnetic Reconnection

NASA - Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) logo.

July 29, 2015

On July 9, 2015 the four spacecraft of NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission began flying in a pyramid shape for the first time. The four-sided pyramid shape—called a tetrahedron—means that scientists’ observations will be spread out over three dimensions.

MMS will be gathering data to study a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection, which—along with many other places in the universe—happens when the magnetic field surrounding Earth connects and disconnects from the magnetic field carried by solar wind, realigning the very shape of Earth’s magnetic bubble and sending particles flying off at incredible speeds.

MMS Spacecraft Transition to Tetrahedral Flying Formation

Video above: This video shows the dynamic orbit of the four MMS spacecraft. The flexible, pyramid-shaped formation allows MMS to collect the best possible three-dimensional data on magnetic reconnection. The orbit will be adjusted to eventually bring the four spacecraft to within about six miles of each other. Image Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

This tetrahedral formation is the result of years of discussion between scientists and orbital engineers to fashion feasible orbits that will yield the best possible observations. Such a pyramid is crucial to provide three-dimensional information about Earth's space environment – if all four spacecraft moved in a line or a plane, MMS couldn't observe the full shape of a structure as it flew through.

The other major feature of MMS’ orbit can be seen right in its name: multiscale. Because the four MMS spacecraft orbits can be changed individually, scientists can adjust the distance among the four spacecraft, allowing them to study magnetic reconnection on a variety of different spatial scales.

Image above: This diagram of MMS orbits for different phases compared to orbits of GPS satellites shows the unique way MMS uses GPS. Because MMS flies above the orbit of GPS satellites, the MMS spacecraft receive their GPS signals from the opposite side of Earth. Image Credits: NASA.

“You can think of the formation as a kind of meta-instrument,” said Conrad Schiff, orbital engineer for the MMS mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Kind of like focusing a telescope, adjusting the scale of the MMS spacecraft formation brings different processes into focus.”

Schiff has been part of MMS orbit planning on and off since 1998, long before the mission launched in March 2015. Balancing research goals of the scientists with what is both engineering and economically feasible – more fuel for more maneuverability leads to more expensive launch vehicles, for example – is a conversation that goes on for years before a mission is even officially chosen, much less launched.

The MMS orbit for its first phase, will carry the spacecraft through the front of Earth's magnetosphere – the magnetic bubble surrounding Earth – right at the boundary where it interacts with the constant wind of solar particles streaming in from the sun. Here, as the sun’s magnetic fields interact with those that surround Earth, explosive magnetic reconnection events are known to happen. Flying though these boundaries every day for over one year, the four spacecraft will zoom through magnetic reconnection events right as they occur.

“Its pyramid formation and extremely fast time resolution will offer the first ever three-dimensional observations down to the smallest scales of reconnection,” said Tom Moore, MMS Project Scientist at Goddard.

The orbital team also made sure that the MMS mission structure is flexible – at different separation distances, the mission can see processes at those all-important different scales. When magnetic reconnection occurs, the magnetic and electric fields in the area change extremely quickly. That leads to telltale behavior of flowing charged particles—which are naturally moved by magnetic and electric fields—that instruments on MMS are designed to measure. So, by looking at the behavior of different charged particles, like electrons and ions, the scientists can "see" what's happening during magnetic reconnection.

Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecrafts. Image Credit: NASA

Because ions are so much heavier than electrons – at least 1,800 times heavier – they are not as susceptible to being pushed or pulled by magnetic and electric fields. This means that an ion can travel much farther than an electron before it is drawn in by a magnetic or electric field. This difference means that studying magnetic reconnection happens at two scales – the larger ion scale, and the smaller electron scale. The scaling of the MMS formation will allow scientists to study both.

After its journey through the front of Earth’s magnetosphere, MMS will enter Phase 2, during which its orbit will steadily be enlarged, until it swings all the way out to 99,000 miles away from Earth. There it will move through an area of the magnetosphere behind Earth called the magnetotail – another area where magnetic reconnection is known to happen.

"We talk about the orbit of MMS as a whole and getting it to fly through the day and night side of the magnetosphere," said Schiff. "But the fact is that each spacecraft is really on its own orbit. So we don't just have to get a queen bee to fly through the right parts of the day side and night side, we have to keep the whole hive together."

That means the team must think about not just how each spacecraft orbits Earth, but how it lies in formation with respect to the others – a job that will continue over the lifetime of the mission. When MMS was moved into its first tetrahedral formation in July 2015, the spacecraft were flying about 100 miles apart. The European Space Agency/NASA Cluster mission of four spacecraft had periods in which the spacecraft were that close, but MMS will move even closer. Over the course of the mission's first phase, that spacing will drop in steps – first down to 40 miles, then 15, and then to just a little over six miles.

Image above: This image shows the pyramid-shaped formation of the four MMS spacecraft. This three-dimensional arrangement allows MMS to collect the best possible data on magnetic reconnection. Scientists will change the distance among the four spacecraft to study magnetic reconnection on different scales. Image Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

These distances will mark an orbital engineering triumph: so many spacecraft have never before flown so close together for an extended period of time. To accomplish this feat MMS makes use of another record-breaking engineering achievement. The spacecraft house the highest working GPS receivers ever flown. GPS—the familiar system you might use to drive to a new place—uses several satellites in orbit about 12,000 miles above Earth to triangulate one’s location. GPS has been used to track spacecraft in lower orbits, but MMS is the first mission to use GPS from above. For comparison, MMS’ flies at maximum height of about 48,000 miles—about four times the height of GPS satellites. As such, it carries extra sensitive GPS sensors in order to receive its signals from the satellites flying on the other side of Earth.

All this attention to orbit planning is of course for a single goal: to gather the best science observations possible.

“Moving MMS into its tetrahedron formation is a really huge milestone,” said Moore. “We are all incredibly excited to be getting on with the science analysis after years of anticipation!”

MMS is currently in commissioning – a phase when its systems and instruments are tested -- and it will start official science observation in September 2015. MMS is the fourth NASA Solar Terrestrial Probes Program mission. Goddard built, integrated, and tested the four MMS spacecraft and is responsible for overall mission management and mission operations. The Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, leads the Instrument Suite Science Team, with the University of New Hampshire leading the FIELDS instrument suite. Science operations planning and instrument command sequence development will be performed at the MMS Science Operations Center at the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.

For more information about NASA's MMS Mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mms

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Sarah Frazier/Holly Zell.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Unusual Red Arcs Spotted on Icy Saturn Moon

NASA - Cassini International Mission logo.

July 29, 2015

Image above: Unusual arc-shaped, reddish streaks cut across the surface of Saturn's ice-rich moon Tethys in this enhanced-color mosaic. The red streaks are narrow, curved lines on the moon's surface, only a few miles (or kilometers) wide but several hundred miles (or kilometers) long. The red streaks are among the most unusual color features on Saturn's moons to be revealed by Cassini's cameras. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Like graffiti sprayed by an unknown artist, unexplained arc-shaped, reddish streaks are visible on the surface of Saturn's icy moon Tethys in new, enhanced-color images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

The red arcs are narrow, curved lines on the moon's surface, and are among the most unusual color features on Saturn's moons to be revealed by Cassini's cameras.

Image above: This enhanced-color mosaic of Saturn's icy moon Tethys shows a range of features on the moon's trailing hemisphere. Tethys is tidally locked to Saturn, so the trailing hemisphere is the side of the moon that always faces opposite its direction of motion as it orbits the planet. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Images taken using clear, green, infrared and ultraviolet spectral filters were combined to create the enhanced-color views, which highlight subtle color differences across the icy moon's surface at wavelengths not visible to human eyes.

A few of the red arcs can be seen faintly in observations made earlier in the Cassini mission, which has been in orbit at Saturn since 2004. But the color images for this observation, obtained in April 2015, are the first to show large northern areas of Tethys under the illumination and viewing conditions necessary to see the arcs clearly. As the Saturn system moved into its northern hemisphere summer over the past few years, northern latitudes have become increasingly well illuminated. As a result, the arcs have become clearly visible for the first time.

"The red arcs really popped out when we saw the new images," said Cassini participating scientist Paul Schenk of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. "It's surprising how extensive these features are." 

Image above: This enhanced-color mosaic of Tethys shows terrain slightly farther to the southwest than images taken a couple of hours earlier. A version with standard image processing is available, along with a strongly enhanced version. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

The origin of the features and their reddish color is a mystery to Cassini scientists. Possibilities being studied include ideas that the reddish material is exposed ice with chemical impurities, or the result of outgassing from inside Tethys. They could also be associated with features like fractures that are below the resolution of the available images.

Except for a few small craters on Saturn's moon Dione, reddish-tinted features are rare on other moons of Saturn. Many reddish features do occur, however, on the geologically young surface of Jupiter's moon Europa.

"The red arcs must be geologically young because they cut across older features like impact craters, but we don't know their age in years." said Paul Helfenstein, a Cassini imaging scientist at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, who helped plan the observations. "If the stain is only a thin, colored veneer on the icy soil, exposure to the space environment at Tethys' surface might erase them on relatively short time scales."

The Cassini team is currently planning follow-up observations of the features, at higher resolution, later this year.

Cassini spacecraft. Image Credits: NASA/JLP-Caltech

"After 11 years in orbit, Cassini continues to make surprising discoveries," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We are planning an even closer look at one of the Tethys red arcs in November to see if we can tease out the source and composition of these unusual markings."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Cassini imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

For more information about Cassini, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/cassini

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL/Preston Dyches.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

First Detection of Lithium from an Exploding Star

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

29 July 2015

Nova Centauri 2013

The chemical element lithium has been found for the first time in material ejected by a nova. Observations of Nova Centauri 2013 made using telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, and near Santiago in Chile, help to explain the mystery of why many young stars seem to have more of this chemical element than expected. This new finding fills in a long-missing piece in the puzzle representing our galaxy’s chemical evolution, and is a big step forward for astronomers trying to understand the amounts of different chemical elements in stars in the Milky Way.

The light chemical element lithium is one of the few elements that is predicted to have been created by the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago. But understanding the amounts of lithium observed in stars around us today in the Universe has given astronomers headaches. Older stars have less lithium than expected [1], and some younger ones up to ten times more [2].

Nova Centauri 2013 seen from La Silla

Since the 1970s, astronomers have speculated that much of the extra lithium found in young stars may have come from novae — stellar explosions that expel material into the space between the stars, where it contributes to the material that builds the next stellar generation. But careful study of several novae has yielded no clear result up to now.

A team led by Luca Izzo (Sapienza University of Rome, and ICRANet, Pescara, Italy) has now used the FEROS instrument on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory, as well the PUCHEROS spectrograph on the ESO 0.5-metre telescope at the Observatory of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santa Martina near Santiago, to study the nova Nova Centauri 2013 (V1369 Centauri). This star exploded in the southern skies close to the bright star Beta Centauri in December 2013 and was the brightest nova so far this century — easily visible to the naked eye [3].

The location of Nova Centauri 2013

The very detailed new data revealed the clear signature of lithium being expelled at two million kilometres per hour from the nova [4]. This is the first detection of the element ejected from a nova system to date.

Co-author Massimo Della Valle (INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, and ICRANet, Pescara, Italy) explains the significance of this finding: “It is a very important step forward. If we imagine the history of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way as a big jigsaw, then lithium from novae was one of the most important and puzzling missing pieces. In addition, any model of the Big Bang can be questioned until the lithium conundrum is understood.”

The sky around the location of Nova Centauri 2013

The mass of ejected lithium in Nova Centauri 2013 is estimated to be tiny (less than a billionth of the mass of the Sun), but, as there have been many billions of novae in the history of the Milky Way, this is enough to explain the observed and unexpectedly large amounts of lithium in our galaxy.

The Milky Way and Nova Centauri 2013

Authors Luca Pasquini (ESO, Garching, Germany) and Massimo Della Valle have been looking for evidence of lithium in novae for more than a quarter of a century. This is the satisfying conclusion to a long search for them. And for the younger lead scientist there is a different kind of thrill:

"It is very exciting,” says Luca Izzo, “to find something that was predicted before I was born and then first observed on my birthday in 2013!”

Zooming in on Nova Centauri 2013

Notes:

[1] The lack of lithium in older stars is a long-standing puzzle. Results on this topic include these press releases: eso1428, eso1235 and eso1132.

[2] More precisely, the terms “younger” and “older” are used to refer to what astronomers call Population I and Population II stars. The Population I category includes the Sun; these stars are rich in heavier chemical elements and form the disc of the Milky Way. Population II stars are older, with a low heavy-element content, and are found in the Milky Way Bulge and Halo, and globular star clusters. Stars in the “younger” Population I class can still be several billion years old!

[3] These comparatively small telescopes, equipped with suitable spectrographs, are powerful tools for this kind of research. Even in the era of extremely large telescopes smaller telescopes dedicated to specific tasks can remain very valuable.

[4] This high velocity, from the nova towards the Earth, means that the wavelength of the line in the absorption in the spectrum due to the presence of lithium is significantly shifted towards the blue end of the spectrum.

More information:

This research was presented in a paper entitled “Early optical spectra of Nova V1369 Cen show presence of lithium”, by L. Izzo et al., published online in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The team is composed of Luca Izzo (Sapienza University of Rome, and ICRANet, Pescara, Italy), Massimo Della Valle (INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples; ICRANet, Pescara, Italy), Elena Mason (INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Trieste, Italy), Francesca Matteucci (Universitá di Trieste, Trieste, Italy), Donatella Romano (INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, Bologna, Italy), Luca Pasquini (ESO, Garching bei Munchen, Germany), Leonardo Vanzi (Department of Electrical Engineering and Center of Astro Engineering, PUC-Chile, Santiago, Chile), Andres Jordan (Institute of Astrophysics and Center of Astro Engineering, PUC-Chile, Santiago, Chile), José Miguel Fernandez (Institute of Astrophysics, PUC-Chile, Santiago, Chile), Paz Bluhm (Institute of Astrophysics, PUC-Chile, Santiago, Chile), Rafael Brahm (Institute of Astrophysics, PUC-Chile, Santiago, Chile), Nestor Espinoza (Institute of Astrophysics, PUC-Chile, Santiago, Chile) and Robert Williams (STScI, Baltimore, Maryland, USA).

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world’s largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.

Links:

Research paper: http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1531/eso1531a.pdf

Photographs of the Nova Centauri 2013: http://www.eso.org/public/images/?search=%22nova+centauri%22

La Silla Observatory: http://www.eso.org/lasilla

MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope: https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/lasilla/mpg22/

Observatory of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile: http://www2.astro.puc.cl/ObsUC/

Images, Text, Credits: ESO/Y. Beletsky (LCO)/IAU and Sky & Telescope/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin/Video: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Kombucha in the search for life and its origin

ISS - International Space Station logo.

29 July 2015

You might know it as a drink for hipsters or as an ancient brew drunk for centuries in Eurasia, but the culture that ferments sugary tea into Kombucha is going around the world. Bolted to the outside of the International Space Station are the same bacteria and yeasts that are used in making Kombucha.

Kombucha tea brewing

Tests on Earth have shown that these multicellular biofilms are tough and will most probably survive an unprotected trip through space. But there is only one way to tell for sure and that is why the Kombucha-making organisms and other biological specimens are now circling Earth exposed to space.

Previous ‘Expose’ studies run by ESA have shown that a surprising number of organisms can survive the harsh conditions of space, including tardigrades – also known as water bears – and lichens.

Expose-R2 in space

Last year ESA sent a new set of samples inside the Expose-R2 container on an 18-month trip in space to test how organisms and their molecular structure react to the combination of unfiltered solar light, cosmic radiation, vacuum and temperature changes found in space.

The Expose-R2 facility is flying 758 samples grouped into four experiments, with the Kombucha cultures part of the Biomex experiment. 

Searching for signs of life

Kombucha cultures protect themselves against adverse conditions by making a cellulose-based structure to resist high temperatures and radiation. The biofilm is thick enough to see with the naked eye, even though it is created by microorganisms.

Searching for signs of biofilms in our Solar System is easier than looking for the microscopic life that creates them and could still reveal microbial life beyond our planet.

Kombucha biofilm

On the ground, Kombucha cultures are particularly robust when mixed with simulated Moon dust. The cellulose absorbs minerals from the lunar soil, protecting the culture even more.

In addition, microbial cellulose is a promising nanomaterial for the space industry and studying it in open space has practical value for new technologies.

Organic chemicals evolving into life

Without exception, life as we know it on Earth is composed of molecules with carbon atoms. Among the hundreds of test samples on Expose-R2, many are of these organic molecules. Exposed to the Sun’s high-energy ultraviolet radiation, many organic chemicals break down to form new ones.

Our ozone protects us from the worst the Sun sends our way, but planets without atmospheres, asteroids and now Expose-R2 experience the full blast. It is possible that organic chemicals mix under Sun’s radiation to form new compounds.

Installing Expose-R2

Studies on Earth have shown that amino acids – the building blocks for proteins – survive aspects of spaceflight better when mixed with meteorite dust. Several meteorites found on Earth contain an assortment of amino acids, obviously of extraterrestrial origin. It seems likely that amino acids can be found hidden in comets and asteroids such as Rosetta’s comet 67P.

Ground-based studies can only go so far, however, and the real test is an unprotected trip in space. Researchers are eagerly awaiting the results of Expose-R2 but have to be patient: the samples will not be returned to Earth for analysis until next year. A sip of Kombucha might be in order while they wait.

Read more about Expose and other samples in the Human Spaceflight newsletter special: http://wsn.spaceflight.esa.int/docs/HumanSpaceflightScienceNewsletters/2015/Newsletter_Apr_2015.pdf

Related Links:

First results from Expose-E Mission reported in Astrobiology Journal: http://www.liebertpub.com/global/pressrelease/first-results-of-deep-space-experiments-from-expose-e-mission-reported-in-astrobiology-journal/1057/

Read the Astrobiology Journal special collection on Expose-E: http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/ast/12/5

Experiment archive: http://eea.spaceflight.esa.int/

International Space Station (ISS): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images, Text, Credits: ESA–J. Harrod CC BY SA IGO 3.0/Roscosmos.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch