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Image: The atmosphere of the distant “warm Neptune” HAT-P-26b, illustrated here, is unexpectedly primitive, composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. By combining observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, researchers determined that, unlike Neptune and Uranus, the exoplanet has relatively low metallicity, an indication of the how rich the planet is in all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
May 11, 2017: A study combining observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes reveals that the distant planet HAT-P-26b has a primitive atmosphere composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. Located about 437 light years away, HAT-P-26b orbits a star roughly twice as old as the sun.
The analysis is one of the most detailed studies to date of a “warm Neptune,” or a planet that is Neptune-sized and close to its star. The researchers determined that HAT-P-26b’s atmosphere is relatively clear of clouds and has a strong water signature, although the planet is not a water world. This is the best measurement of water to date on an exoplanet of this size.
The discovery of an atmosphere with this composition on this exoplanet has implications for how scientists think about the birth and development of planetary systems. Compared to Neptune and Uranus, the planets in our solar system with about the same mass, HAT-P-26b likely formed either closer to its host star or later in the development of its planetary system, or both.
“Astronomers have just begun to investigate the atmospheres of these distant Neptune-mass planets, and almost right away, we found an example that goes against the trend in our solar system,” said Hannah Wakeford, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the study published in the May 12, 2017, issue of Science. “This kind of unexpected result is why I really love exploring the atmospheres of alien planets.”
To study HAT-P-26b’s atmosphere, the researchers used data from transits— occasions when the planet passed in front of its host star. During a transit, a fraction of the starlight gets filtered through the planet’s atmosphere, which absorbs some wavelengths of light but not others. By looking at how the signatures of the starlight change as a result of this filtering, researchers can work backward to figure out the chemical composition of the atmosphere.
In this case, the team pooled data from four transits measured by Hubble and two seen by Spitzer. Together, those observations covered a wide range of wavelengths from yellow light through the near-infrared region.
“To have so much information about a warm Neptune is still rare, so analyzing these data sets simultaneously is an achievement in and of itself,” said co-author Tiffany Kataria of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Because the study provided a precise measurement of water, the researchers were able to use the water signature to estimate HAT-P-26b’s metallicity. Astronomers calculate the metallicity, an indication of how rich the planet is in all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, because it gives them clues about how a planet formed.
To compare planets by their metallicities, scientists use the sun as a point of reference, almost like describing how much caffeine beverages have by comparing them to a cup of coffee. Jupiter has a metallicity about 2 to 5 times that of the sun. For Saturn, it’s about 10 times as much as the sun. These relatively low values mean that the two gas giants are made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.
The ice giants Neptune and Uranus are smaller than the gas giants but richer in the heavier elements, with metallicities of about 100 times that of the sun. So, for the four outer planets in our solar system, the trend is that the metallicities are lower for the bigger planets.
Scientists think this happened because, as the solar system was taking shape, Neptune and Uranus formed in a region toward the outskirts of the enormous disk of dust, gas and debris that swirled around the immature sun. Summing up the complicated process of planetary formation in a nutshell: Neptune and Uranus would have been bombarded with a lot of icy debris that was rich in heavier elements. Jupiter and Saturn, which formed in a warmer part of the disk, would have encountered less of the icy debris.
Two planets beyond our solar system also fit this trend. One is the Neptune-mass planet HAT-P-11b. The other is WASP-43b, a gas giant twice as massive as Jupiter.
But Wakeford and her colleagues found that HAT-P-26b bucks the trend. They determined its metallicity is only about 4.8 times that of the sun, much closer to the value for Jupiter than for Neptune.
“This analysis shows that there is a lot more diversity in the atmospheres of these exoplanets than we were expecting, which is providing insight into how planets can form and evolve differently than in our solar system,” said David K. Sing of the University of Exeter and the second author of the paper. “I would say that has been a theme in the studies of exoplanets: Researchers keep finding surprising diversity.”
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
NASA Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden took this photo of a Crescent Earth rising beyond the Moon's barren horizon on August 4th, 1971. Composite of two images: AS15-97-13266 and AS15-97-13272
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the United States' Apollo program, the fourth to land on the Moon, and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long stays on the Moon, with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. It was also the first mission on which the Lunar Roving Vehicle was used. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center Image Date: August 4, 1971
The world’s most powerful rocket—our Space Launch System (SLS)—may experience ground wind gusts of up to 70 mph as it sits on the launch pad before and during lift off for future missions. Understanding how environmental factors affect the rocket will help us maintain a safe and reliable distance away from the launch tower during launch.
How do we even test this? Great question! Our Langley Research Center’s 14x22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel in Hampton, Virginia, is designed to simulate wind conditions. Rather than having to test a full scale rocket, we’re able to use a smaller, to-scale model of the spacecraft.
Wind tunnel tests are a cost effective and efficient way to simulate situations where cross winds and ground winds affect different parts of the rocket. The guidance, navigation, and control team uses the test data as part of their simulations to identify the safety distance between the rocket and the launch tower.
SLS is designed to evolve as we move crew and cargo farther into the solar system than we have ever been before. The Langley team tested the second more powerful version of the SLS rocket, known as the Block 1B, in both the crew and cargo configuration.
Engineers simulate ground winds on the rocket during liftoff by using what’s called smoke flow visualization. This technique allows engineers to see how the wind flow behaves as it hits the surface of the launch tower model.
The 6-foot model of the SLS rocket undergoes 140 mph wind speeds in Langley’s 14x22-Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel. Engineers are simulating ground winds impacting the rocket as it leaves the launch pad.
The cargo version of the rocket is positioned at a 0-degree angle to simulate the transition from liftoff to ascent as the rocket begins accelerating through the atmosphere.
Here, engineers create a scenario where the rocket has lifted off 100 feet in the air past the top of the launch tower. At this point in the mission, SLS is moving at speeds of about 100 mph!
Engineers at Langley collect data throughout the test which is used by the rocket developers at our Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to analyze and incorporate into the rocket’s design.
May 10, 2017: Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 51 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA discussed his research and other work on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight educational event May 10 with students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fischer, who is in the first month of a four-and-a-half month mission on the complex, graduated from MIT in 1998 with a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.
Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center and Ames Research Center are running tests in supersonic wind tunnels to develop the next, more powerful version of the world's most advanced launch vehicle, the Space Launch System—capable of carrying humans to deep space destinations. The new wind tunnel tests are for the second generation of SLS. It will deliver a 105-metric-ton (115-ton) lift capacity and will be 364 feet tall in the crew configuration—taller than the Saturn V that launched astronauts on missions to the moon. The rocket's core stage will be the same, but the newer rocket will feature a powerful exploration upper stage. On SLS’s second flight with Orion, the rocket will carry up to four astronauts on a mission around the moon, in the deep-space proving ground for the technologies and capabilities needed on NASA’s Journey to Mars.
Credit: NASA's Langley Research Center/Ames Research Center Duration: 54 seconds Release Date: January 24, 2017
Apollo 15 command module pilot Al Worden and Egyptian-American space scientist Farouk El Baz, who helped NASA plan Apollo's Moon exploration, share stories of their 1971 adventure with the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department.
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the United States' Apollo program, the fourth to land on the Moon, and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long stays on the Moon, with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions. It was also the first mission on which the Lunar Roving Vehicle was used. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (MIT AeroAstro) MIT AeroAstro Website: http://aeroastro.mit.edu/ Duration: 2 hours Record Date: April 27, 2017 Release Date: May 5, 2017
European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Tim Peake: "Checking out the Orion spacecraft with fellow ESA astronauts Matthias Maurer and Luca Parmitano at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, 25 April 2017"
Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja Location: NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, United States Image Date: April 25, 2017
European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Tim Peake: "Checking out the Orion spacecraft with fellow ESA astronauts Matthias Maurer and Luca Parmitano at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, 25 April 2017"
Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja Location: NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, United States Image Date: April 25, 2017
ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "Eat your greens kids! Fresh vegetables are rare on the International Space Station and when we get to harvest a crop of lettuce from our disco greenhouse it is a good day for us. The greenhouse is in our ESA Columbus laboratory and glows pink because researchers found out reddish light is most important for plants to grow. Growing plants in space is not easy but all the research and technology we are using is directly applicable on Earth as the goal is to grow vegetables with as little energy and resources as possible."
"Les légumes frais se font rares sur la Station, alors quand on réussit à faire pousser une laitue dans notre serre, on se prépare à un festin ! La serre en question est située dans le laboratoire de l’ESA Colombus ; la lueur rose a été choisie après que des chercheurs ont découvert que les lumières de la gamme des rouges aident la pousse des plantes. Le but est d’arriver à faire pousser des légumes en ayant recours au moins de ressources et d’énergie possibles, dans l’espace…comme sur Terre."
In early May 2017, Tropical Cyclone Donna spun southeastward across the South Pacific, threading the islands of New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image of Donna at 1:50 p.m. local time (02:50 Universal Time) on May 8, 2017. Measurements made around this time showed maximum sustained winds of 115 knots (215 kilometers or 130 miles per hour)—a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. About nine hours later, the storm had weakened to a category 3 storm. Forecasters expected that cooler ocean surface temperatures and the influence of land would cause the storm to weaken as it moved east of New Caledonia.
Credit: NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response Caption Credit: Kathryn Hansen Instrument(s): Aqua - MODIS
ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "Eat your greens kids! Fresh vegetables are rare on the International Space Station and when we get to harvest a crop of lettuce from our disco greenhouse it is a good day for us. The greenhouse is in our ESA Columbus laboratory and glows pink because researchers found out reddish light is most important for plants to grow. Growing plants in space is not easy but all the research and technology we are using is directly applicable on Earth as the goal is to grow vegetables with as little energy and resources as possible."
"Les légumes frais se font rares sur la Station, alors quand on réussit à faire pousser une laitue dans notre serre, on se prépare à un festin ! La serre en question est située dans le laboratoire de l’ESA Colombus ; la lueur rose a été choisie après que des chercheurs ont découvert que les lumières de la gamme des rouges aident la pousse des plantes. Le but est d’arriver à faire pousser des légumes en ayant recours au moins de ressources et d’énergie possibles, dans l’espace… comme sur Terre."
ESA Astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France: "Unbelievable desert art. As often in Africa, the landscapes are so huge and diverse I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at when I take a picture."
"Coup de griffe artistique dans le désert, vers le Tchad . L’Afrique foisonne de paysages divers et imposants"
In early May 2017, Tropical Cyclone Donna spun southeastward across the South Pacific, threading the islands of New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image of Donna at 1:50 p.m. local time (02:50 Universal Time) on May 8, 2017. Measurements made around this time showed maximum sustained winds of 115 knots (215 kilometers or 130 miles per hour)—a category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. About nine hours later, the storm had weakened to a category 3 storm. Forecasters expected that cooler ocean surface temperatures and the influence of land would cause the storm to weaken as it moved east of New Caledonia.
Credit: NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response Caption Credit: Kathryn Hansen Instrument(s): Aqua - MODIS
Geologists love road cuts because they reveal the bedrock stratigraphy (layering). Until we have highways on Mars, we can get the same information from fresh impact craters as shown in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). This image reveals these layers filling a larger crater, perhaps a combination of lava, impact ejecta, and sediments.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Release Date: May 10, 2017
[Notice the fine shadows in the upper left corner...]
Most of the oldest terrains on Mars have eroded into branching valleys, as seen here in by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), much like many land regions of Earth are eroded by rain and snowmelt runoff. This is the primary evidence for major climate change on Mars billions of years ago. How the climate of Mars could have supported a warmer and wetter environment has been the subject of scientific debates for 40 years. A full-resolution enhanced color closeup reveals details in the bedrock and dunes on the valley floor (upper left). The bedrock of ancient Mars has been hardened and cemented by groundwater.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Image Date: December 2016 Release Date: May 10, 2017
Left image assembled using raw uncalibrated RGB filtered images. Right image assembled using raw uncalibrated near-infrared (CB3), green, and blue filtered images.
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. It is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object in space other than Earth where clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found. Titan is the sixth ellipsoidal moon from Saturn. Frequently described as a planet-like moon, Titan is 50% larger than Earth's Moon, and it is 80% more massive. It is the second-largest moon in the Solar System, after Jupiter's moon Ganymede, and is larger than the smallest planet, Mercury, but only 40% as massive. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
