The Kepler space telescope has found a "weird, wobbly" planet that spins wildly on its axis like a child's top. Every 66 days, it rotates around a pair of red and orange dwarf stars, and even that orbit seems to wobble. The new planet, called Kepler-413b, has a spin axis that was found to vary by up to 30 degrees over 11 years. This means that the planet experiences extreme variations in its cycle of seasons. That is very different to Earth's rotational precession which is a only 23.5 degrees over 26,000 years. 

Kepler-413b is located about 2,300 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. It isn't suitable for life because since it orbits to close to its stars, it makes it too hot to sustain liquid water. It's also known as a "super Neptune," which is just a gas giant with no place to stand and it is 65 Earth masses.

Astronomers are trying to explain this behavior. Some of the explanations are that there could be other planets that affect the orbit or there could be another star that is has a gravitational influence on it. 

Sources: 

http://spaceindustrynews.com/nasa-spots-and-incredibly-wobbly-super-neptune-planet-kepler-413b/4162/

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-planet-wobble-kepler-413b-20140204,0,7930803.story#axzz2tBYuBvmn

Black Hole theory wrong? Hawk-ward!

Professor Stephen Hawking posted a paper, "Information Preservation and Weather Forecasting for Black Holes", in which he claimed that our current understanding of black holes is wrong. He states that the traditional notion of a black hole's "event horizon" from which nothing can escape, not even light, conflicts with quantum physics. If he is correct, physicists will have to redefine black holes entirely.

According to Hawking, "The absence of event horizons mean there are no black holes - in the sense of regimes from which light can't escape to infinite". Hawking believes that rather than an event horizon, black holes have an "apparent horizon". This apparent horizon only holds matter, light, and energy temporarily, and it is eventually released. This new idea would work with both quantum theory and general relativity's predictions for black holes. It would also solve the "black hole firewall paradox" that has been troubling physicists for the last two years.

His paper hasn't been published or peer reviewed yet. Scientists usually wait until papers have gone through a peer review process before taking notice, but since the author is the famous Professor Stephen Hawking, things are a little different. He has studied black holes for decades. He was the first to challenge the belief that nothing can escape a black hole and he theorized that black holes have a type of black body radiation, called "Hawking radiation".

We will have to wait and see how physicists will revise the theory of black holes. You can read Hawking's paper online on this link: http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.5761

Here's a cool video of Einstein and Hawking in a rap battle : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn7-fVtT16k


Sources:

http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.5761

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking-there-are-no-black-holes-9085016.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation

New Horizons: Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft mission is currently on its way to the dwarf planet Pluto, and is over halfway there. The probe lifted off on January 19, 2006 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on an Atlas rocket. It will fly by and study Pluto and its moons, Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx around July 14, 2015. After that, NASA plans to attempt flybys of one or more other Kuiper belt objects, if a suitable target can be located. 

The spacecraft passed by Jupiter and its moons around February 2007 to give it a boost in its velocity. This technique is called gravity assist and it is done by the gravitational field of a planet. It works by both the gravitational field of the planet and the motion of the planet orbiting the Sun. If the spacecraft flies along the planets orbit around the Sun, it will gain some of the planet's orbital energy. The total kinetic energy remains constant, so while the planet loses some, the spacecraft gains some of it and this is what causes the increase in speed. This is a very clever trick because it does not require any fuel to give it a boost! This is how New Horizon will get to Pluto.

New Horizon trajectory as it passes Jupiter

While New Horizon passed Jupiter, NASA took the opportunity to take data and study Jupiter and its moons. It took pictures of Jupiter's surface and the data was used to analyze the atmosphere and composition and structure of its clouds. This 4 month period of observation also helped to test the equipment and served as a test run for the Pluto encounter.

The main goal of this mission is to study Pluto and its moons. Scientists want to understand the composition and conditions of the atmosphere and the structure of the surface of Pluto and its moons. New Horizon is expected to arrive at Pluto in July 2015

Sources:

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons

http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/grav/primer.php

Hubble Space Telescope

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope is perhaps the most famous and successful space observatory. It is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble. The HST was launched into orbit around Earth by NASA in 1990 in a space shuttle. It orbits at a height of about 560 km above Earth and completes a period in about 96 minutes. The HST is about 13.3 m long and its primary mirror is 2.4 m in diameter. It is powered by two large solar panels. They are able to keep it working through servicing missions and equipment upgrade every few years. Since 1993, NASA has sent 5 servicing missions.

The HST is a type of telescope knows as a Cassegrain reflector. The light hits the primary mirror and bounces of to a secondary, smaller mirror. The secondary mirror then focuses the light into a small aperture in the center of the primary mirror that leads to the telescope's instruments and measuring devices. The HST does not have one of the biggest mirrors telescope, but what makes it successful is its location. The atmosphere above Earth distorts and blocks some of the light that comes from space. The HST orbits high above Earth to avoid this problem.  

The HST has 6 major instruments:

• The Wide Field Camera 3, Which can measure light at 3 different wavelengths: near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared. This instrument will be used to study dark matter and dark energy, the formation of individual stars, and the discovery of galaxies that are extremely far.
• The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, which can only see in ultraviolet light. The spectrograph will separate the light into its components.
• The Advanced Camera for Surveys, which can see visible light. It studies the early activity in the universe. 
• The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, which can see ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. The STIS is know for its ability to locate black holes.
• The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, which can detect heat, or infrared light. It is useful for finding object in interstellar dust  
• The Fine Guidance Sensors, which are targeting cameras that measure and track the movement of an object.

The HST pictures have helped scientists estimate the age and size of the universe. The HST has also helped scientists understand the formation of galaxies and planets A picture called "Hubble Ultra Deep Field" shows the farthest galaxies ever seen. The HST has also spotted black holes and has helped in the discovery of dark energy. It has also helped scientists learn more about the death of supernovas and giant stars.

Scientists at NASA hope to keep the Hubble Space Telescope operational for another 5 years.

Sources:

http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/#work

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html#.UvsGsHdQ-uO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope#Major_projects

Pillars of Creation

I saw a cool picture on Facebook of these space clouds. I found the picture on google by searching "cool space clouds" and found out that they are not actually clouds. They are called The Pillars of Creation and they are formed from the collection of matter in space that is found between the star systems in a galaxy.

The Pillars of Creation in the visible spectrum taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

These "pillars" are part of the nebula called the Eagle Nebula, about 7,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Serpens. The Eagle Nebula (aka Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611)was discovered by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux in 1745-1746. This picture was taken in April of 1995 by Jeff Hester and Paul Scowen. 

In 2007, astronomers revisited this area using the Spitzer Space Telescope. They took mid-infrared images and they saw that a supernova had exploded in that area about 6000 years ago. They believe that the shock wave from the explosion may have already reached the Pillars of Creation region and destroyed them. However, since Eagle Nebula is about 7,000 light years away, the light will not reach Earth for about another 1,000 years. I did the long calculation for fun and my answer works out!

7,000ly * 9.4605284*10^15m = 6.6223*10^19m

6.6223*10^19m / 3.0*10^8m/s = 2.20746*10^11s

2.20746*10^11s = 6,995.3 years6,995.3 - 6000 = 995 years

So we won't be around to see the destruction of these pillars, but at least we were able to witness and admire their beauty while they are still around!

Sources: 
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Herschel/A_New_View_of_an_Icon#subhead5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Nebula

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Creation