New Horizons' Pluto Approach Hyped in Epic Video

Artistic Depiction of Pluto 

The National Space Society put together an incredible video preview of the history-making moment. It has the vibe of a movie trailer, complete with epic narration and stunning visuals, and it perfectly captures why space enthusiasts are so psyched about the New Horizons mission.

The video sweeps you through a timeline of the last half century of space exploration using beautiful images of each planet we've explored, starting with Venus in 1962 and ending with Neptune in 1989.

New Horizons will reach Pluto and its moons on July 14, and they will be "the farthest worlds ever to be explored by humankind," the video says.

So far that the sun appears as a faint dot.



Here is the Video,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYyhcHgcsiM

Source : businessinsider

Moon Experiences Quake Just Like Earthquake

As the earthquake is still an unsolved mystery for the scientists, by adding another, an Indian scientist has discovered that moon also feels tremors and quakes like earth.

The discovery is made by India’s first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1 as the scientist has revealed that when the tectonic plates of moon collide, causes Quakes just like earthquake.

The plates make up the crust and upper surface and when it collide together, it causes moon-quake.

The discovery is noted out by Saumitra Mukherjee, a Professor of Geology and Remote Sensing at the School of Environmental Sciences in Jawaharlal Nehru University and a student of the university Priyadarshini Singh.

The images providing clues to the occurrence of quakes on the Moon, were captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and Narrow Angle camera aboard Chandrayaan-1.

The images depict South Polar region of the Moon and spews clue on the presence of tectonic plates which when move can cause quakes similar to earthquakes, explained study authors.

Launched in 2008, the main aim of the Chandrayaan-1 was to make a 3-dimentsional model of the Moon and mapping of chemical composition on its surface.

The discovery will help the researchers as they may be able to predict quakes on the Moon going ahead, by analyzing tectonic plate movements on the Moon and comparing them with earthquakes.

Source : ISRO

[VIDEO] If some celestial bodies were closer to us

For 25 years now, the Hubble Space Telescope (and many other satellites) has stimulated us with numerous jaw dropping images of space—stretching from the Great Nebula of Orion, to the Whirlpool Galaxy. They all look so huge and comprehensive, you can nearly imagine yourself moving through space, looking directly at them from up close—yet even the closest among them are unfathomably far away (the closest planet is nearly 162 million miles/261 million kilometers from sun, while the closest star is over 4 light-years distant). In a recent video, the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos, to be exact) visualizes how our sky may look if some of these marvels were in nearer proximity to Earth. Watch the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXozLX1ufVE

Mars has Beautiful Auroras Visible with the Naked Eye, NASA Confirms

The stunning light show is similar to the Northern Lights, but a different colour

The Northern Lights are one of Earth’s most spectacular phenomena - with eerie green and red streaks colouring the sky.

It turns out that Mars has a similar light show - visible to the naked eye of anyone on the surface of the Red Planet - but it glows a bright blue.

That’s according to research by planetary scientist Cyril Simon Wedlund from Aalto University.

He and his team carried out an experiment in the lab to simulate the conditions on Mars.



The Planeterella sphere simulates a magnetized planet with an atmosphere of CO2 and bombarded by the solar wind. Blue aurorae develop according to its magnetic field configuration. (D. Bernard/IPAG — CNRS)

The experiment replicated the Martian atmosphere - made up mostly of carbon dioxide - using a 'Planeterrella', a piece of kit that can recreate aurora in the laboratory.

In the case of the Mars experiment, a blue glow formed around the magnetic structures.



They believe that blue is the most prominent color, though red and green may also make an appearance, and that the lights -- like ones on Earth -- appear several times in a solar cycle, after intense solar activity.

If an astronaut looked to the southern sky from the surface of Mars during one of these flare-ups, the researchers say, he or she would see a sky glowing with blue. Until then, we'll just have to keep imagining them.

The Auroras are visible in many other planets like Jupiter, Saturn. below are the some photographs of auroras taken by various probes.

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="1065,1066"]

Source : Washington post, Mirror

See a blue sunset on Mars

The "blue-tinged" sky is caused by fine dust in the atmosphere, according to a statement from Mark Lemmon, a Curiosity team member from Texas A&M University in College Station.



"The colors come from the fact that the very fine dust is the right size so that blue light penetrates the atmosphere slightly more efficiently," Lemmon said in the statement. "When the blue light scatters off the dust, it stays closer to the direction of the sun than light of other colors does. The rest of the sky is yellow to orange, as yellow and red light scatter all over the sky instead of being absorbed or staying close to the sun."



This is the first sunset captured in color by the rover, according to NASA.

Source: USA TODAY

Pluto's five moons captured on camera for first time EVER

PLUTO'S five moons have been captured on camera for the first time EVER as a NASA probe nears the dwarf planet.

The historic moment was recorded by NASA's New Horizons probe, which is exploring Pluto and beyond.

Previously the probe has only caught footage of Pluto, which was previously downgraded from its status as a full planet, as well as its largest moon Charon and two of its smallest moons - Hydra and Nix.

However, now, Kerberos and Styx, the dwarf planet's smallest and faintest moons, are also visible.

Detecting these tiny moons from a distance of more than 55 million miles is amazing, and a credit to the team that built our LORRI long-range camera and John Spencer’s team of moon and ring hunters.

Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator

John Spencer, programme scientist of the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said: "New Horizons is now on the threshold of discovery. If the spacecraft observes any additional moons as we get closer to Pluto, they will be worlds that no one has seen before.”

NASA said initial viewing appeared to show only four moons visible in the footage, but Charon is also in the images - although it blends into the bright centre of imagery.

Pluto's four smaller moons were discovered by scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope.

Nix and Hydra were found in 2005, while Kerberos and Styx were discovered more recently in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

The unmanned New Horizons probe will start looking for any more more moons and rings around Pluto this month.

However, astronomers fear previously unseen objects in the dwarf planet's vicinity may put the spacecraft in jeopardy as it heads toward its closest approach in July - and navigators will be very cautious as it nears.

Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator, said: "Detecting these tiny moons from a distance of more than 55 million miles is amazing, and a credit to the team that built our LORRI long-range camera and John Spencer’s team of moon and ring hunters.”

New Horizons was launched towards Pluto in 2006.

Once the probe flies past Pluto and its moons on July 14, the spacecraft will continue flying farther from Earth, investigating other cold bodies past the dwarf planet.

Source : Express.co.uk

Spectacular Images and Video of India From the International Space Station

Pictures and footage of India taken from space show the country by night and day as seen from the International Space Station, including a spectacular lightning storm.

https://twitter.com/AstroTerry/status/597041889683054592

The images were taken by Terry Virts, the commander of the current project, Expedition 43, at the space station and tweeted from his verified account.

https://twitter.com/AstroTerry/status/596045664636796928

A one-year joint mission between space agencies in the United States, Russia and Europe, began on Mar. 11, 2015 and is in its final days. Astronauts are expected to return to Earth on Wednesday.

The six-member crew have been conducting astrophysics research, physical science investigations and technology demonstrations, but no space walks.

https://twitter.com/AstroTerry/status/596668971396521985

Two of the crew, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korneinko, have spent the entire year in space and have undergone medical studies to help further scientific advancements on Earth. Other astronauts were rotated in at the end of Expedition 42 in December.

https://twitter.com/AstroTerry/status/596761924974616576

Check out some other Amzing Pictures of India From space taken by Terry Virts

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="1047,1048,1049,1050,1041"]

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com