Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Water reservoirs at the verge of stellar birth


Water, which is one of the most important element of life on Earth, has been recently detected outside our Solar system in the form of gas and ice crusted on tiny dust grains near sites of active star formation and on proto-planetary discs which are accomplished of forming alien planetary systems.
Herschel observations


The new Herschel observations of a cold pre-stellar core in the assemblage of Taurus known as Lynds 1544 are the first detection of water vapor in a molecular cloud on the threshold of star formation. The water vapor discovered does amount more than 2000 Earth oceans, generally enlightened from icy dust grains by high-energy cosmic rays passing through the cloud. "To produce that amount of vapour, there must be a lot of water ice in the cloud, more than three million frozen Earth oceans' worth," Paola Caselli from the University of Leeds, UK, lead author of the paper reporting the results in Astrophysical Journal Letters, was quoted. 


"Before our observations, the understanding was that all the water was frozen onto dust grains because it was too cold to be in the gas phase and so we could not measure it. "Now we will need to review our understanding of the chemical processes in this dense region and, in particular, the importance of cosmic rays to maintain some amount of water vapor" he added. The observations also exposed that the water molecules are flowing towards the heart of the cloud where a new star will probably form, indicating that gravitational collapse has just started.


 "There is absolutely no sign of stars in this dark cloud today, but by looking at the water molecules, we can see evidence of motion inside the region that can be understood as collapse of the whole cloud towards the centre," says Dr Caselli.


Source-Physorg.com
Image courtesy-myscience.cc

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Liquid Ocean found on Saturn's Moon


Cassini in the JPL assembly room
Titan
Already Earth-like with a thick atmosphere and a rich stew of organic chemicals, Titan, Saturn’s large Moon also has a liquid ocean beneath its crust, as per the latest findings of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft show.
Gravity maps that have been meticulously pieced together from data collected over five years discovered Titan's shape changes by about 10 meters due to Saturn's gravitational pulls, a squishiness that is best explained by a liquid body of water relatively close to the surface.Scientists are not sure if the concealed ocean is nurturing lakes spotted on the Titan’s surface. Any ocean, however, would have been made up of water, which is rather more heavier that methane or ethane.
The confirmation of a ocean in Titan may not be completely true, however. The moon's rocky core could be filled with warm ice or it may be dehydrating..But the most likely explanation, said Luciano Iess, with Rome's Sapienza University and colleagues, is that Titan has a liquid ocean between 50 and 100 kilometers (31 to 62 miles) beneath the surface.One of the biggest questions about Titan's appropriateness for life is if the ocean touches rock, a source of minerals and a pathway for heat. Unlike Europa's ocean, which is believed to sit on a rock floor, Titan's water may be crammed between layers of ice, leaving it without contact to minerals and temperature deviations to bring new hopes for life beyond Earth.As Cassini flew around the moon for 6 times between 2006 and 2011, the scientists were able to measure Titan’s gravity. The measurements were made by tracing minute changes in the pitch of radio signals traveling between the spacecraft and Earth during the flybys.They found that the moon gets squeezed as Titan circles Saturn every 16 days.  The same occurs on Earth by the gravitational pull of the moon. The most visible effects here are the ocean tides, but the moon also distorts Earth's crust by 50 centimeters (about 20 inches.).Saturn's pull on Titan causes a 10-meter change. It won’t be as soggy as it is if it had been a solid.. The best fit for the data is that Titan contains a liquid layer of water a couple of hundred kilometers thick buried beneath 100 kilometers of surface ice.Scientist hope to polish the gravity maps with additional data from Cassini and additional computer modeling. Cassini’s next pass by Titan is on July 22nd. 

(Source- Discovery News)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Mysteries of Mars to be unlocked: CURIOSITY heading close to it's destination!

This is the ultimate roll-over for Mars, and the biggest of all too! Yeah, it's the Curiosity or Mars Science Laboratory rover termed the S.U.V of Mars. This giant rover is purposed to roam and research a particular crater and confirm the evidence of water and eventually lead us further to confirm that life once existed on the 'red planet'. It was launched on November 26 and is currently continuing it's 8 and a 1/2 months journey and will reach it's destination by August 2012. It will land in the huge Gale crater where it will dig, drill, analyze and do much more!