A New Generation Of Space Giants

Science@ESA Vodcast (Episode 3, Part 2): A New Generation Of Space Giants. — • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — In the Science@ESA series Rebecca Barnes will take you on a journey of discovery into the rapidly evolving field of space astronomy and planetary exploration. In this third episode of the Science@ESA vodcast series we investigate the infrared Universe, explore discoveries made by ground-breaking infrared space telescopes, and take a look at Herschel – esa’s pioneering infrared space telescope. Herschel, esa’s cutting-edge space observatory, will carry the largest, most powerful infrared telescope ever flown in space. A pioneering mission to study the origin and evolution of stars and galaxies, it will help understand how the Universe came to be what it is today. The first observatory to cover the entire range from far-infrared to sub-millimetre wavelengths and bridge the two, Herschel will explore further in the far-infrared than any previous mission, studying otherwise invisible dusty and cold regions of the cosmos, both near and far. Herschel will tap into unexploited wavelengths, seeing phenomena out of reach for other observatories, at a level of detail that has not been captured before. The telescope’s primary mirror is 3.5 m in diameter, more than four times larger than any previous infrared space telescope and almost one and a half times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope will collect almost twenty times more light than …

Following the redshift – from HST to JWST – part 2

In this fourth episode of the Science@ESA vodcast series Rebecca Barnes will identify some of the key discoveries achieved with the famous Hubble Space Telescope, look at the concept of redshift, and meet a new telescope that will be used to uncover the early Universe.

A WISE Mission To Study Asteroids And Comets

A WISE Mission to study Asteroids, Comets and other Objects. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, will scan the entire sky in infrared light, picking up the glow of hundreds of millions of objects and producing millions of images. — • www.youtube.com • www.youtube.com — The WISE mission will uncover objects never seen before, including the coolest stars, the universe’s most luminous galaxies and some of the darkest near-Earth asteroids and comets. Its vast catalogs will help answer fundamental questions about the origins of planets, stars and galaxies, and provide a feast of data for astronomers to munch on for decades to come. Thanks to next-generation technology, wise’s sensitivity is hundreds of times greater than its predecessor, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, which operated in 1983. WISE will join two other infrared missions in space – nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation. WISE is different from these missions in that it will survey the entire sky. It is designed to cast a wide net to catch all sorts of unseen cosmic treasures, including rare oddities. The closest of wise’s finds will be near-Earth objects, both asteroids and comets, with orbits that come close to crossing Earth’s path. The mission is expected to find hundreds of these bodies, and hundreds of thousands of additional asteroids in our solar system’s main asteroid belt. By measuring the …

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In this fourth episode of the Science@ESA vodcast series Rebecca Barnes will identify some of the key discoveries achieved with the famous Hubble Space Telescope, look at the concept of redshift, and meet a new telescope that will be used to uncover the early Universe.

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Animation of a GIANT impact Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech bit.ly This artist’s concept shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the size of Mercury. nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that a high-speed collision of this sort occurred a few thousand years ago around a young star, called HD 172555, still in the early stages of planet formation. The star is about 100 light-years from Earth. Spitzer detected the signatures of vaporized and melted rock, in addition to rubble, all flung out from the giant impact. Further evidence from the infrared telescope shows that these two bodies must have been traveling at a velocity relative to each other of at least 10 kilometers per second (about 22400 miles per hour). As the bodies slammed into each other, a huge flash of light would have been emitted. Rocky surfaces were vaporized and melted, and hot matter was sprayed everywhere. Spitzer detected the vaporized rock in the form of silicon monoxide gas, and the melted rock as a glassy substance called obsidian. On Earth, obsidian can be found around volcanoes, and in black rocks called tektites often found around meteor craters. Shock waves from the collision would have traveled through the planet, throwing rocky rubble into space. Spitzer also detected the signatures of this rubble. In the end, the larger planet is left skinned, stripped of its outer layers. The core of the smaller body and most of its surface were absorbed by …

Hubble’s Successor: The James Webb Space Telescope

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Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech bit.ly This artist’s concept shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the size of Mercury. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that a high-speed collision of this sort occurred a few thousand years ago around a young star, called HD 172555, still in the early stages of planet formation. The star is about 100 light-years from Earth. Spitzer detected the signatures of vaporized and melted rock, in addition to …

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In this www.WatchMojo.com video, we learn how the Hubble Space Telescope works.

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Expanding the frontiers of the visible Universe, Hubble looks deep into space with cameras that can see across the spectrum of infrared to ultraviolet light. Hubble has revolutionised modern astronomy, not only by being an efficient tool for making new discoveries, but also by driving astronomical research in general.

Following the redshift – from HST to JWST – part 1

In this fourth episode of the Science@ESA vodcast series Rebecca Barnes will identify some of the key discoveries achieved with the famous Hubble Space Telescope, look at the concept of redshift, and meet a new telescope that will be used to uncover the early Universe. … ESA science technology “Hubble Space Telescope” Infrared Universe space astronomy cosmology