Scientists catch new 'baby' planet in the act of formation

Scientists scanning the galaxy have spotted big planets and small ones, rocky planets and gassy planets, freezing planets and hellishly hot ones. Now astronomers have strong new evidence of yet another kind of world: a baby planet in the very act of formation.

It's the first time researchers have definitively identified a juvenile planet. This one, named LkCa 15 b, has been caught gobbling dust and super-heated gas, a meal that will help it bulk up. Pictures of the new baby show that, just like many human newborns, it's reddish in color.

"The ultimate question we all want to answer is, how common are Earth-like planets and how are they formed?" said Stanford University astronomer Kate Follette, an author of a new study in this week's Nature describing the planet. "This is a step along the way."

LkCa 15 b and its star lie about 470 light-years from our own solar system in the constellation Taurus. Previous research suggested there might be an embryonic world in this particular spot in the galaxy. So University of Arizona astronomer Stephanie Sallum and her colleagues trained some of the world's biggest and most sophisticated telescopes on this potential planetary nursery.

Using a telescope in the high desert of Chile, the scientists found super-heated hydrogen gas – a "smoking gun" for the presence of a young planet, said Rice University astronomer Andrea Isella, who was not involved with the research. A telescope on an Arizona mountaintop revealed traces of one or two additional planets, also young, orbiting the same star as LkCa 15 b.

Past research by University of Texas, Austin astronomer Adam Kraus suggested there might be a baby planet in this very place, and Kraus, who was not involved with this week's study, said the new findings "remove any doubt" about the presence of one youngster – the planet the study calls LkCa 15 b. He thinks a three-planet system is plausible, but he'd like to see more data confirming three planets rather than just one. Sallum said other evidence points to multiple planets as the most likely explanation.

Whatever the tally of planets-in-the-making, there's solid evidence for LkCa 15 b, which is 2 million years old at most – a mere toddler compared with our solar system. Our solar system is aged 4.6 billion years old – "boring middle age," Kraus joked. With the help of fresh young worlds like LkCa 15 b, scientists will be that much closer to understanding how planets are born and how they grow.



Source: 13MAZ, 18th Nov 2015

Astronomers Gain First Insight into Planet Formation

For the first time, a team of astronomers and astrophysics have witnessed the planet formation of two or three small planets orbiting around sun-like star at a distance of about 430 light-years away from Earth. Witnessing the planet formation will help scientists to know how planets look like in their formative years. The findings of the study have been published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Till now, about 1,900 planets have been found orbiting small starts in the outer space and the mature planets have been discovered only when they pass in front of the stars they orbit causing the light to dim. The team of astronomers used their powerful telescope in Arizona towards the young star, LkCa 15, and the relatively empty space around them, the disk cavity, to gain clear insight about their formation. Astronomers have taken the first images of the planet still in formation around a star LkCa 15, which is 2 million year old.

For the first time, scientists have also found the chemical footprints of superheated hydrogen gas streaming from the dust disk onto the planet. Stephanie Sallum, a University of Arizona astronomy graduate student, said “This young system provides the first opportunity to study planet formation and disk–planet interactions directly”. Zhaohuan Zhu, Princeton University astrophysicist, said that the new study will help scientists modify their previous theories on planet formation.



Source: West Texas News , 20th Nov 2015

Russia and Iran Space Cooperation

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in charge of the
defense and space industry is currently on a visit to Tehran.

Iran and Russia have reached agreement on expanding cooperation in space research, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told upon the end of talks with the Iranian Vice President in charge of science and technologies, Sorena Sattari.

“Russia and Iran have fair prospects for cooperation in the studies of outer space,” he said. “For instance, some of their programs envision cooperation in the field of remote sounding of the Earth’s crust,” he said.

“Many people using cell phones are unaware of the fact the Russian GLONASS system is used alongside others in the positioning process,” Rogozin said. “More than 2.5 billion phones and other gadgets receive the signals from our system.”

“Iran is a big country with lengthy borders and, quite naturally, the Iranians find it important to know and to see from space what is happening on their territory and in the areas adjoining it, while our satellite system will enable them to do this,” Rogozin said.

“Russia is the world leader in terms of satellite launch services at present,” he said. “We’ve done test launches of a very powerful launch vehicle, the Angara, which may become the main type of rockets taking payloads into orbit. But we don’t plan to stop at that.”

“The launching of other countries’ satellites makes up only 4% to 5% of the entire market of space services that Russia could offer worldwide,” Rogozin said. “And recall we have the areas of cooperation with Iran as promising as satellite-assisted navigation and mapping. Russia and Iran have a good groundwork for acting together in this aspect.”

In the course of Rogozin’s visit to Tehran, the Russian-Iranian high-level commission co-chaired by Rogozin and Sattari had its third session. It was set up earlier this year when the Moscow International Aerospace Show MAKS’2015 was underway.

The commission is called upon to promote and coordinate Russian-Iranian cooperation in research and technologies having priority for the two countries’ economies, the social sector, sciences, and innovations.



Source : Brics Via TASS , 11th Nov 2015

‘Govt not biased towards funding of space science’

The budgets for space missions are not very high and scientists from other branches must not make a hue and cry out of it, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) AS Kiran Kumar has said.

Kumar rubbished the allegations made by senior scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee CNR Rao that the government is biased towards funding of space and nuclear sciences and ignores basic sciences.

“It would be wrong to say that government funding for developing space technology is higher. Even today, the yearly budget allotted is around Rs 4,000 crore, which is not a substantial amount, considering the number and scale of missions undertaken,” Kiran Kumar told Sakal Times.

Rao, who was in Pune for the annual meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences earlier this month, had said the government must urgently look into funding  researchers studying basic sciences.

“The future of these researchers will be bleak unless there is government backing. They will have to stop their research as they will be worrying if their project will survive the following year or not,” Rao had said during the meeting.

At present, about 0.8 - 0.9 per cent of the GDP is alloted for scientific research. Further, nearly 25 - 30 per cent budget was slashed by the NDA government, leaving many projects in the lurch.

However, the ISRO chief claimed that the space agency was making bigger contributions than other scientific institutions.

“Our work is open for public review and there has been bigger contributions for society as a whole,” added Kiran Kumar.

Director General of Science and Technology Park, Rajendra Jagdale, however, said that he was against complete dependency on the Centre for funding and some onus of supporting science research also lies with the State government.

“It is not necessary that one must completely depend upon the Centre for funds for doing research. Even state governments must chip in and share the financial burden,” Jagdale said.

He also voiced his concerns about the gap between the Central government’s vision towards making the country an innovation hub and the financial allocation. He lamented that the government was indulging more in rhetorics and less action was visible.

“Make in India, NITI Ayog and several other rhetoric announcements made by Modi have not reflected in the process of boosting education and research in the country,” he said.




Source : Sakal Times , 18th Nov 2015

Manned mission not priority: ISRO chief - Bhubaneshwar

The much-publicized manned space mission is not a priority for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), chairman A S Kiran Kumar said here on Saturday.

"Our priority is to build capacity for new (satellite) launches," Kumar said while interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of KIIT University convocation.

The ISRO chief, who is also secretary, department of space, said the agency is planning to increase the frequency of new satellite launches to 10 to 12 per year against present one to six. From December to March, there would be at least one launch every month, he said.

Kumar said it would be a difficult task to give any timeline for human spaceflight programme. But it is very much part of the ISRO's future agenda. The agency is in the stage of 'critical technology development' for the human spaceflight mission, he said.

"The crew module re-entry exercise was done last year. Activities such as development of environment control system, maintenance of oxygen and carbon dioxide and contingencies such as extricating the astronauts in case such a need arises are on. These are critical technology requirement activities in the research and development, he said.

The ISRO chairman said the future of the manned programme would depend on government clearance. "Lots of investment is required for it," he said.

Kumar said space tourism as a concept is catching up fast globally. Just like the sequence of development in shipping and aircraft industries, space tourism and space adventure would be natural development process in the future space technology. One of the key ISRO activities would be to help industries build up the capacity for space tourism, he said.



Source: TOI, 8th Nov 2015

NASA Hiring New Astronauts For The First Time In Four Years

If one of your dreams is to become an astronaut, you might be in luck - NASA is accepting applications for future astronauts to join the 47-man astronaut team between December 2015 and February 2016.

NASA says the nearing return of astronauts to American soil, as well as the possibility of a mission voyage to the Red Planet has necessitated the call for applications, writes Christian Science Monitor. The space agency has promised that the chosen astronauts will have the opportunity to be part of an "unprecedented transition to commercial spacecraft for crew and cargo transport to the space station," according to a press release.

"This next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars generation to reach for new heights, and help us realize the goal of putting boot prints on the Red Planet," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in a statement. "Those selected for this service will fly on U.S. made spacecraft from American soil, advance critical science and research aboard the International Space Station, and help push the boundaries of technology in the proving ground of deep space."

To be considered for one of the positions, applicants must have a bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics. The space agency will consider advanced degrees over those without.


Aside from the academic requirements prescribed by the space agency, candidates should have at least three years of "related, progressively responsible, professional experience" or at least 1,000 hours of "pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft," which, according to Space.com, may indicate that NASA is hoping to encourage military candidates.

The physical requirements are also an important part of the application, as astronauts must endure a lot of physical strain during missions due to the effects of being in an environment which does not follow the laws of gravity, which would likely cause health issues for those unprepared to cope in a space environment for an extended period of time.

However, physical height is one requirement that may immediately eliminate some candidates from the pool. NASA has specified that in order to qualify, commander and pilot candidates must be between 62 and 75 inches tall.

Successful candidates will undergo two years of training, which includes military survival water training, scuba diving qualification, high and low atmospheric pressure testing, training in Russian language, and test flights aboard a jetliner that has been modified to simulate weightlessness in space, colloquially known as the "vomit comet". All of these tasks must be successfully completed prior to being considered an official astronaut.



Source: Design and Trend , 7th Nov 2015