Absolutely Love This Shot From The Extremely Talented Nicholas Buer. Reminds Me Of This Awe Inspiring

Spiral Galaxy M106 & Spiral Galaxy M83 by Hubble Heritage

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Earth is the ultimate ocean planet (that we know of), but it turns out that our solar system has water in some surprising places, with five ocean-bearing moons and potentially several more worlds with their own oceans. 

1. The Original “Alien Ocean”

Our Galileo spacecraft (1989-2003) detected the first evidence of an ocean beyond Earth under the ice of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

2. Lost Oceans

There are signs that Mars and Venus once had oceans, but something catastrophic may have wiped them out. Earth’s natural force field – our magnetosphere – acts like shield against the erosive force of the solar wind.

3. Earth, the Original Ocean World

The search for life beyond Earth relies, in large part, on understanding our home planet. Among the newest Earth ocean explorers us the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS–a constellation of microsatellites that will make detailed measurements of wind speeds over Earth’s oceans to help understand hurricanes. The spacecraft have moved into their science operations phase.

4. Sister Ships

It’s fitting the first mission to explore an alien ocean is named in honor of fast-sailing clipper ships of old. Our Europa Clipper spacecraft will seek signs of habitability on Jupiter’s moon Europa.

5. Game Changer

Scientists expected Saturn’s moon Enceladus to be a tiny, solid chunk of ice and rock. But, not long after arriving at Saturn, our Cassini spacecraft made a series of incremental discoveries, eventually confirming that a global subsurface ocean is venting into space, with signs of hydrothermal activity.

6. Why Ocean Worlds Matter

“The question of whether or not life exists beyond Earth, the question of whether or not biology works beyond our home planet, is one of humanity’s oldest and yet unanswered questions. And for the first time in the history of humanity, we have the tools and technology and capability to potentially answer this question. And, we know where to go to find it. Jupiter’s ocean world Europa.” - Kevin Hand, NASA Astrobiologist

7. More Alien Oceans

Scientists think Jupiter’s giant moons Ganymede and Callisto also hide oceans beneath their surfaces. Elsewhere in the solar system, scientists hope to look for hidden oceans on far-flung worlds from Ceres in the main asteroid belt to Pluto in the Kuiper Belt.

8. Cold Faithful(s)?

Thanks to our Cassini orbiter we know the tiny moon Enceladus is venting its ocean into space in a towering, beautiful plume. The Hubble Space Telescope also has seen tantalizing hints of plumes on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Plumes are useful because they provide samples of ocean chemistry for oceans that could be miles below the surface and difficult for spacecraft to reach. It’s like they’re giving out free samples!

9. Titanic Seas and Ocean

Saturn’s moon Titan not only has liquid hydrocarbon seas on its surface. It also shows signs of a global, subsurface saltwater ocean–making the giant moon a place to possibly look for life as we know it and life as we don’t know it … yet.

10. Oceans Beyond

Several of the thousands of planets discovered beyond our solar system orbit their stars in zones where liquid surface water is possible–including Proxima-b, a rocky planet orbiting the star nearest to our own.

BONUS: Adopt a bit of YOUR Ocean World

We invite everyone to help us celebrate Earth Day 2017 by virtually adopting a piece of Earth as seen from space. Your personalized adoption certificate will feature data from our Earth-observing satellites for a randomly assigned location, much of it ocean (it is 70 percent of the Earth’s surface after all!). Print it and share it, then explore other locations with our interactive map and get even more Earth science data from NASA’s Worldview website.

Visit go.nasa.gov/adopt to adopt your piece of the planet today!

Discover more lists of 10 things to know about our solar system HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

(via A Knight's Mission to Mars)

Hey everyone! I recently had the opportunity to work on and publish an article about student opportunities in the space industry in the University of Central Florida’s student-run publication Imprint. Please feel free to check out my article and see the other awesome work Imprint has!

Hope for Life on Trappist-1 is a Little Too Bright for Comfort

Bad news, everyone: Trappist-1 may not be the extraterrestrial paradise we thought it would be. On March 29, 2017, a new study was released from the Konkoly Observatory in Hungary that analyzed photometric data on Trappist-1 which was collected by NASA’s K2 mission.

The study suggested that the host star of the Trappist-1 system produces too many powerful solar flares to allow its planets to host and sustain life. Data pointed out 42 high-energy flares that occurred over an 80-day period, 5 of which were “multi-peaked” which means they gave off multiple bursts of energy in one instance. The average time between these flares was 28 hours. 

To provide a comparison to understand the magnitude of the solar flares -- the strongest flare on Trappist-1 is equivalent in release of energy to our own Carrington Event of 1859, which would destroy global communications if it happened today. During the Event, the flare sent powerful electrical surges through telegraph lines and produced tropical aurorae so bright, they woke up Rocky Mountain gold miners in the middle of the night because they thought it was morning. 

Now, some people might say, “But Earth has managed to survive powerful solar flares in the past. Why can’t Trappist-1 do the same?”

Well, there may be a few reasons why Trappist-1 may no longer be the place to sustain life:

1) Our wonderful Earth has in place a magnetic field that protects us from the worst effects of our host star’s stellar magnetic outbursts, but it is not yet known whether or not the Trappist-1 planets have this same defensive capability.

2) Both the frequency and magnitude of Trappist-1′s solar flares may prohibit its planets from even recovering from previous flares. According to this study done a year ago, it would take 30,000 years for a planet’s atmosphere to recover from just one of a high-intensity flare. Solar flares are occurring every 28 hours on Trappist-1. Logic, then, points out that there is a very small chance of life being possible on any of Trappist-1′s planets.

3) Trappist-1′s planets are very, very close to their Sun -- much closer than we are to our own. This means that the near-constant flaring would likely destroy any chance of stability in the planets’ atmospheres, unless (on the small chance) they somehow have incredibly powerful magnetospheres. 

This is definitely disappointing news. I think many people (myself included) had a lot of hope riding on Trappist-1 for the possibility of sustaining life and being a true sister solar system to our own. 

But not all hope is lost! There’s still a lot that we can’t confirm about this mysterious and volatile solar system. Scientists are relying on the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope to probe Trappist-1 and give us a more detailed look on what’s going on in that side of the universe. The telescope will launch in 2018, so don’t give up on Trappist-1 just yet! A lot can happen in one year. 

List of Online Resources

Over the past week I’ve been compiling a short list of online resources I often use when I’m doing anything space-related online, whether it be writing summaries of news updates or trying to understand some complicated science topic. Hope these are useful!

On getting up-to-date news:

ScienceDaily

Space.com

Science Mag

On understanding scientific topics:

Crash Course

Khan Academy

Space Exploratorium

Of course, there are many resources out there, but these are the ones I use most often. 

ALMA and the center of the Milky Way

via reddit

Extraterrestrial Life May Be Closer Than We Think

Just when we think we have the universe somewhat figured out, it throws us a massive curveball from our very own backyard. Hold on to your telescopes, everyone, because one of our own planetary neighbors right around the corner may have the right conditions for extraterrestrial life.

On April 14, a paper published in Science Mag pointed out biochemical signatures of hydrogen production in the hydrothermal reactions in the form of plumes that erupt from the ice surface of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. Molecular hydrogen is one of the building blocks of life because it is the ideal food source for microbes and bacteria, which are at the forefront of every food and energy chain (at least on Earth). This implies that the ocean beneath the ice has enough chemical activity and organic matter to maintain the right conditions to sustain life, at least on the molecular level. This kind of chemistry can indicate habitable zones in Enceladus’ ocean. 

To provide a bit of a context from here on Earth: our own oceans contain deep-sea hydrothermal vents that are home to complex and important ecosystems that allow microorganisms to live and grow by using energy from the minerals produced by these vents. These microorganisms are necessary for food and energy chains to form since larger organisms feed on these microorganisms and create entire ecological communities. Many scientists have pointed out these kinds of superheated environments as prime locations for life to begin. 

But having the right conditions for life doesn’t mean already harboring life. There is still a lot that we don’t know about what’s going on below the surface of Enceladus. While scientists have known about its ocean since 2005, it is only now that technology has improved to the point where it can pick up sensitive biochemical signatures and provide a more detailed picture of Saturn’s icy moon. 

Recently, NASA has announced a mission called Europa Clipper that will explore Europa, another one of Jupiter’s icy moons with an ocean. It will launch sometime in the 2020s. Perhaps NASA will consider stopping by Enceladus...who knows what we can find there?

Let me start off by saying that I think Crash Course is a great resource for people who want to get the basic details of any subject the creators offer. CC’s series for astronomy is particularly wonderful. The science behind astronomy and space can be mind-boggling due to the complexities of physics, mathematics, photonics, and other relevant subjects; CC makes it easy and fun to learn about astronomy without being too technical or in-depth. Great series of videos if you have time to check them out!

A 2015 documentary on the history of space, the current progress of space exploration, and where we might go in the future.

If you have around an hour to spare, and a space itch to scratch, this is an awesome documentary to watch! It has very good scientific support, fantastic HD visuals, and exciting narration. It really opens your eyes to how much we’ve discovered only recently, and also how much we still don’t know. Great documentary!