TYB
interdasting timing…
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
April 11, 2024
Eclipse in Seven
Start at the upper left above and you can follow the progress of April 8's total eclipse of the Sun in seven sharp, separate exposures. The image sequence was recorded with a telescope and camera located within the narrow path of totality as the Moon's shadow swept across Newport, Vermont, USA. At center is a spectacular view of the solar corona. The tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun is only easily visible to the eye in clear dark skies during the total eclipse phase. Seen from Newport, the total phase for this solar eclipse lasted about 3 minutes and 26 seconds.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
The Juice couldn't shake the spirit of 76
More Than 36,000 Volunteers Helped Do NASA Eclipse Science
APR 10, 2024
Thank you for helping us out! Over 36,000 people helped do NASA Science during Monday’s total solar eclipse. Together, these volunteers submitted more than 60,000 vital pieces of eclipse data to NASA science projects.
More than 30,000 volunteers with the SunSketcher project pointed their smartphones toward the Sun and recorded pictures of Bailey’s beads, flashes of Sunlight coming through valleys on the moon. These pictures will reveal the size and shape of the Sun to high precision.
Volunteers with GLOBE Observer (GO) submitted more than 35,000 data points to the GO Eclipse, GO Clouds, and GO Landcover projects, taking eclipse data using their cell phones and sometimes thermometers. These data show the effect of the eclipse on our atmosphere.
Many more volunteers used specialized gear—DSLR cameras, telescopes, audiomoth recorders, and Ham Radio sets—taking data for the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative, the Eclipse Megamovie project, Citizen CATE 2024, Eclipse Soundscapes, and the HamSCI project. These data will trace plumes and ejections of matter in the solar corona, track waves in the ionosphere, and reveal how animals, birds and insects reacted to the eclipse.
"I’m fascinated by the idea that the eclipse can affect the behavior of animals!" said one Eclipse Soundscapes volunteer. “I hope you all get a good data set and am still very excited to see the results! It was awesome!” said a SunSketcher volunteer.
Science is a methodical process and sometimes a slow process. Data are still arriving from cell phones and computers around the country. It will probably take months or even years for scientists to check and analyze the data, compare it with data on previous eclipses, and publish it in the refereed scientific literature.
But stay tuned as the Heliophysics Big Year continues! There will probably be some beautiful pictures coming out in the days and weeks to come thanks to your efforts.
https://science.nasa.gov/get-involved/citizen-science/more-than-36000-volunteers-helped-do-nasa-eclipse-science/
NASA, Japan Advance Space Cooperation, Sign Agreement for Lunar Rover
APR 10, 2024
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Masahito Moriyama have signed an agreement to advance sustainable human exploration of the Moon.
Japan will design, develop, and operate a pressurized rover for crewed and uncrewed exploration on the Moon. NASA will provide the launch and delivery of the rover to the Moon as well as two opportunities for Japanese astronauts to travel to the lunar surface.
Today, President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida also announced, “a shared goal for a Japanese national to be the first non-American astronaut to land on the Moon on a future Artemis mission, assuming important benchmarks are achieved.”
The pressurized lunar rover is intended to enable astronauts to travel farther and work for longer periods on the lunar surface. The signing took place April 9 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Along with Nelson and Moriyama, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) President Hiroshi Yamakawa also participated in the signing.
“The quest for the stars is led by nations that explore the cosmos openly, in peace, and together. This is true for the United States and Japan under the leadership of President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida,” said Nelson. “America no longer will walk on the Moon alone. With this new rover, we will uncover groundbreaking discoveries on the lunar surface that will benefit humanity and inspire the Artemis Generation.”
An enclosed and pressurized rover will enable astronauts to travel farther and conduct science in geographically diverse areas by serving as a mobile habitat and laboratory for the astronauts to live and work for extended periods of time. It will be able to accommodate two astronauts for up to 30 days as they traverse the area near the lunar South Pole. NASA currently plans to use the pressurized rover on Artemis VII and subsequent missions over an approximate 10-year lifespan.
“It was an honor to sign the historic implementing arrangement that will be long remembered as the symbol of the new era of Japan-U.S. partnership for the lunar exploration,” said Moriyama. “Under the partnership stronger than ever, we will drive the initiative together with JAXA, including the development of the pressurized rover that vastly extends the exploration capability on the lunar surface, to realize the shared goal for Japanese and American astronauts to, together, explore the moon.”
The arrangement falls under the “Framework Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation in Space Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, For Peaceful Purposes,” which was signed in January 2023 and recognizes the nations’ mutual interest in peaceful exploration.
The framework agreement facilitates a broad swath of joint activities between the countries, including space science, Earth science, space operations and exploration, aeronautical science and technology, space technology, space transportation, safety, and mission assurance, and much more. In addition to the agreement for lunar surface exploration, the partners will build on the framework agreement with future agreements for Japan’s participation in NASA’s Dragonfly mission and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The U.S. and Japan also intend to collaborate on JAXA’s Next-generation Solar-observing Satellite, SOLAR-C, which will investigate the mysteries of solar atmospheres by conducting observations of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.
“The pressurized rover will be a powerful contribution to the overall Artemis architecture as Japan and the U.S. go hand in hand with international and industry partners to the lunar surface and beyond,” said Yamakawa. “JAXA is ready to assist MEXT and push this forward with our science and technological expertise to establish sustainable human presence on the Moon.”
Under the Gateway Implementing Arrangement signed in 2022, NASA will also provide an opportunity for a Japanese astronaut to serve as a Gateway crew member on a future Artemis mission and Japan will provide Gateway’s environmental control and life support systems and cargo transportation.
Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon, make new scientific discoveries, and explore more of the lunar surface than ever before for the benefit of all.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-japan-advance-space-cooperation-sign-agreement-for-lunar-rover/
Is this weird or is it just me?
Media Invited to Learn About NASA’s New Solar Sail Technology
APR 10, 2024
Media are invited to learn about NASA’s next-generation solar sail technology – known as the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System – that could enable ambitious lower-cost missions to expand our understanding of the Sun and solar system. 
The event will occur from 10-11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 16, at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Project researchers will be available to discuss the solar sail technology, which uses the pressure of sunlight to travel through space much like a sailboat uses wind to traverse the ocean. A full-scale engineering design unit of the polymer sail and its novel lightweight composite booms will also be on display at the event.
The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is scheduled to launch during a 30-day window that opens no earlier than Wednesday, April 24 aboard a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The system is a part of a “12U” sized CubeSat and will deploy after on-orbit systems checks, which are expected to take approximately two months.  
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/media-invited-to-learn-about-nasas-new-solar-sail-technology/
How many exoplanets have been discovered?
Apr 10 2024 - 5:32 am PT
NASA estimates that the Milky Way Galaxy is home to at least 100 billion planets. Others believe it could be anywhere from 200-300 billion. Using data from exoplanet-hunting missions such as Kepler, Gaia, and now James Webb, we can identify and confirm their existence. So, how many exoplanets have been discovered?
NASA confirmed exoplanets: 5,602
Number of confirmed planetary systems: 4,166
NASA exoplanet candidates (unconfirmed): 10,170
Updated April 10, 2024
These are the number of confirmed exoplanets and planetary systems by NASA, followed by the number of exoplanet candidates, which are discoveries that could be planets but are still unconfirmed by researchers.
What is an exoplanet?
An exoplanet is any planet orbiting a star outside of our solar system. Exoplanets can come in many different sizes and compositions. NASA categorizes the 5,241 confirmed exoplanets into 5 subtypes: Neptune-like, Super Earth, Gas Giant, Terrestrial, and the unknowns. Here’s how the space agency describes each:
Neptune-like (1,919)
These planets are Neptunian worlds, similar to Uranus or Neptune in our solar system.
Super Earth (1,689)
Super-Earths are exotic planets unlike any in our solar system–more massive than Earth yet lighter than gas giants like Neptune, and they can be made of gas, rock, or a combination of both.
Gas Giant (1,786)
These planets belong to a class known as gas giants, similar to Jupiter or Saturn in our solar system.
Terrestrial (200)
Terrestrial planets are rocky, with iron-rich cores, like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars in our solar system.
Unknown (8)
Planets waiting to be determined…
How do we find them?
Currently, there are 5 different methods scientists use to identify exoplanets. These include measuring tiny changes in a star’s brightness to looking for wobbling stars, usually caused by orbiting planets. Here’s how many exoplanets have been discovered by each method in 2023:
Transit Method: 4,140 planets discovered
Measuring a star’s dip in brightness.
Radial Velocity: 1,076 planets discovered
Watching for the wobble of a star.
Direct Imaging: 19 planets discovered
Nothing fancy – a method of taking pictures.
Gravitational Microlensing: 10 planets discovered
Measuring light in a Gravity Lens.
Astrometry: 2 planets discovered
Measuring a star’s minuscule movements on a plane.
https://spaceexplored.com/2024/04/10/how-many-exoplanets-are-there-discovered/
Chang’e-5 Finds Two Undiscovered Lunar Minerals Formed By Space Weathering
April 10, 2024
Two new minerals made from titanium and oxygen have been found in lunar material brought back by the Chang’e-5 Moon mission. These are the seventh and eighth minerals to be found on the Moon and have never been seen naturally on Earth, or anywhere else.
Recent research has revealed the importance of titanium to the geology and history of the Moon. As on Earth, this titanium often comes bonded with oxygen to form titanium dioxide (TiO2). Yet the new discovery reveals these two elements can also bond in the reverse ratio, but apparently only on the Moon.
The shock produced by meteorite impacts leaves a lot of glass on the lunar surface, and the team studied a glass bead brought back by Chang’e-5. Using a transmission electron microscope, they found the same elements structured in three different ways. One of these, rutile, is the most common natural form of titanium dioxide on Earth, heavily used in optical equipment for its ability to bend light.
Titanium dioxide is found in other crystal structures on Earth. But instead of these, the team found Ti2O crystals. Referred to by the authors as trigonal and triclinic Ti2O until official names are given, the two testify to the changes wrought when there is nothing to protect titanium-rich minerals from bombardment from space.
After the Apollo astronauts returned with several minerals never found on Earth, geologists have put considerable effort into attempting to work out how they were formed. Samples were exposed to hydrogen and helium ions to replicate the solar wind and bombarded with lasers. This produces new phases of iron and silicon-rich minerals, but despite the abundance of titanium on the near side of the Moon, no new forms of titanium-bearing minerals were found, either in lunar samples or the simulations.
The problem may have been neglecting micrometeorites.
As their names suggest, micrometeorites are very small. Those thought responsible for the effects the researchers studied are 1-100 ÎĽm across, or from 0.000004 inches to a hundred times smaller. Small as they are, they can pack a punch, traveling at speeds greater than 20 km/s (45,000 mph) with no atmosphere to slow them down. On impact, they can melt the rocks they strike, even if only a tiny segment, or even vaporize them. What solidifies may be quite different from the previous material.
The bead the researchers studied, itself formed by meteorite impact, has a micrometeorite crater on it with four irregularly shaped grains that combine titanium and oxygen around its rim. All contain crystal lattices. In some cases, there are two oxygen atoms for every titanium, as expected, but the others show the reverse.
The trigonal and triclinic Ti2O have the same elemental ratios, but differ in the way the atoms are put together.
The grains are so tiny as to seem insignificant, but the authors note that titanium oxides in general act as catalysts for many reactions in the presence of sunlight. Ti2O absorbs more ultraviolet and visible light than TiO2, and is therefore likely to be an even stronger photocatalyst, potentially causing significant changes in the dust around it. Indeed, while Ti2O does not exist naturally in any structure on Earth, it has been produced in labs to make photocatalytic films.
One previous lunar mineral unknown on Earth was discovered in Chang’e-5’s samples. The other five came from the Apollo and Luna missions.
https://www.iflscience.com/change-5-finds-two-undiscovered-lunar-minerals-formed-by-space-weathering-73746
UK and Canada enhance cooperation in space
10 April 2024
The agreement, signed by UK Space Agency CEO Paul Bate and Canadian Space Agency President Lisa Campbell, builds on the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two agencies signed in 2021: a framework for collaborative activities and the exchange of information, technology and personnel between both nations.
The signing took place during the 39th Space Symposium, an annual event in Colorado Springs that brings together space leaders from around the globe to discuss, address and plan for the future.
UK Space Agency Chief Executive, Dr Paul Bate, said:
The renewal of the MoU with our Canadian colleagues will bring further significant benefits to the thriving space industries of the UK and Canada, allowing us to continue achieving our goals in space through collaborative efforts in research and innovation.
Canada is a key partner for us, and we are keen to bolster this relationship in ways that will strengthen both countries’ space sectors - enabling us to harness the power of space to bring benefits to our planet and its people.
The MoU provides a more detailed framework for enhanced bilateral collaboration between the UK and Canada on space activities. This includes collaboration on regulation, facilitating the exchange of ideas and information on areas such as space policy, standards, and regulations, helping to ensure free and fair access to space for all.
The agreement also boosts collaboration in exploration and space science by identifying areas where both nations can leverage their world-class space academic and technology capabilities. This bilateral cooperation aims to support future exploration endeavours, including potential lunar habitats, and to advance our understanding of the Universe.
There are significant opportunities for future collaborations through initiatives such as the UK Space Agency’s International Bilateral Fund (IBF) and the Science & Exploration Bilateral Programme.
The IBF is already funding a collaboration between UK start-up Physical Mind London and Canadian tech company Baune. The project incorporates Physical Mind London’s pioneering HIFIm multi-exercise countermeasure unit into the Canadian Space Agency’s Connected Care Medical Module.
The HIFIm device is designed to provide a full menu of exercise options in a confined space, helping to advance understanding of health and wellness interventions for astronauts.
The IBF has also funded the joint UK-Canada ÂŁ1.2 million Aqualunar Challenge. The new international challenge prize - delivered by Challenge Works on behalf of the UK Space Agency and in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and Impact Canada - is rewarding the design of innovative technologies to make human habitation on the Moon viable, by finding ways to purify water buried beneath the lunar surface.
The Science & Exploration Bilateral Programme is supporting a potential UK-Canada partnership on CASTOR. An astronomy mission currently under study by the Canadian Space Agency, CASTOR will fill a gap in current observing capabilities, by providing state of the art imaging and spectroscopy in ultraviolet and optical-blue wavelengths.
The UK has begun work on the development and space qualification programme for advanced imaging technology from Teledyne e2v and the associated electronics, along with contributions to the scientific data processing. This is carried out by a UK consortium led by UKRI-STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre (Edinburgh), with the UK Space Agency providing £3.3 million to fund UK participation in this early phase work.
The programme is also funding the early study phase for a proposed space science collaboration, between The Open University and Canada – the International Mars Ice Mapper (I-MIM). This is to study high performance detectors for use on an instrument, which would map accessible water ice deposits on the Martian surface.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-canada-enhance-cooperation-in-space