This week in pictures: September 15ò??21, 2012
In the past seven days, astronomers discovered the first exoplanets orbiting Sun-like stars in a cluster, two space telescopes collectively spotted what could be the most distant galaxy ever seen, Dawn spacecraft data revealed hydrated minerals on the giant asteroid Vesta, and
more.
Published: Friday, September 21, 2012
Telescopes spy ultra-distant galaxy amidst cosmic "Dark Ages"
The discovery of the faint, small galaxy seen when the universe was just
500 million years old opens a window onto the deepest, remotest epochs
of cosmic history.
Learn more ÒËIllustration by NASA/JPL-Caltech
First planets found around Sun-like stars in a cluster
The starry-skied planets are two so-called hot Jupiters, which are
massive, gaseous orbs that orbit tightly around their parent suns.
Learn more ÒËNASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./ USGS/Modesto Junior College
Mars rover Opportunity reveals geological mystery
Researchers have never seen such a dense accumulation of spherules in a rock outcrop on the Red Planet.
Learn more ÒËNASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/JHUAPL
Dawn spacecraft sees hydrated minerals on giant asteroid
The source of the hydrogen within Vestaò??s surface appears to be hydrated
minerals delivered by carbon-rich space rocks that collided with the
asteroid at speeds slow enough to preserve their volatile content.
Learn more ÒËHubble sees NGC 7090 ò?? an active star-forming galaxy
A side view of the galaxy shows locations of ongoing stellar birth and an intricate filamentary structure of dust lanes.
Learn more ÒËDark Energy Survey Collaboration
World's most powerful digital camera records first images in hunt for dark energy
The new device will carry out the largest galaxy survey ever undertaken
with its data used to complete four probes of dark energy.
Learn more ÒËMars rover targets unusual rock en route to first destination
The scientists plan to touch the rock with a spectrometer to determine
its elemental composition and use an arm-mounted camera to take close-up
photographs.
Learn more ÒËFortman, et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF, NASA
Astrochemistry enters a bold new era with ALMA
Using new technology both at the array and in the lab, scientists were
able to greatly improve the process of identifying the ò??fingerprintsò?? of
chemicals in the cosmos, enabling studies that previously would have
been either impossible or prohibitively time-consuming.
Learn more ÒËResearchers brew up organics on ice
By mimicking the environment of icy carbon-rich molecules in the cold of
space, scientists were able to create the type of chemical change
necessary for the material to eventually become the building blocks of
life.
Learn more ÒË