http://phys.org/space-news/ en-us PhysOrg Team Phys.Org provides the latest news on earth science, astronomy and space exploration. (Phys.org) -- ESA’s Venus Express and Proba-2 space missions, along with the international SOHO, Hinode, and Hubble spacecraft, are preparing to monitor Venus and the Sun during the transit of Earth’s sister planet during 5-6 June. http://phys.org/news258055841.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T19:10:59-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Giant bubbles, towering pillars and cascading clouds of dust and gas fill the star-forming nursery of the Carina Nebula seen here in a stunning new view from Herschel to launch ESA Space Science’s image of the week feature. The Carina Nebula is some 7500 lightyears from Earth and hosts some of the most massive and luminous stars in our Galaxy, including double-star system eta Carinae, which boasts over 100 times the mass of our Sun.The total amount of gas and dust traced by ESA’s Herschel space observatory in this image is equivalent to some 650 000 Suns. Including warmer gas not well traced by Herschel, the total mass may be as high as 900 000 Suns. http://phys.org/news258055733.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T19:09:08-07:00 (AP) -- NASA has received a gift from an unexpected source — the nation's satellite spy agency. http://phys.org/news258055229.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T19:00:34-07:00 A kitchen gadget used to sift flour and other ingredients is the inspiration behind the name of an emerging technology that could resolve some of the more intriguing components of the sun's chromosphere -- the irregular layer above the photosphere that contributes to the formation of solar flares and coronal mass ejections. http://phys.org/news258051033.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T17:50:46-07:00 (Phys.org) -- The RHESSI (Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager) satellite focuses on the highest energy x-rays and gamma-rays produced by the sun, helping to observe solar flares of all shapes and sizes. The satellite is pointed toward the sun, and constantly in rotation, which provides a serendipitous bit of side research: by monitoring the limb of the sun on its four second rotation cycle, RHESSI's Solar Aspect System (SAS) has produced ten years worth of precise measurements of the sun's diameter. This has already provided scientists with one of the most accurate measurements of what's called the oblateness of the sun, which is the difference between the diameter from pole to pole and the equatorial diameter. With the new data obtained during the Venus Transit on June 5-6, 2012, the RHESSI team hopes to improve the knowledge of the exact shape of the sun and provide a more accurate measure of the diameter than has previously been obtained. http://phys.org/news258050907.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T17:48:36-07:00 Over the weekend of June 2 and 3, Typhoon Mawar skirted the east coast of the Philippines bringing heavy surf, heavy rainfall and gusty winds that led to several missing and injured people. NASA's TRMM satellite and Aqua satellite showed heavy rainfall and cloud extent of the storm. http://phys.org/news258050758.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T17:46:04-07:00 Scientists have designed a screening tool that provides a fast, easy and relatively inexpensive way to predict levels of a specific toxin in lakes that are prone to blue-green algal blooms. http://phys.org/news258050556.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T17:43:00-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Astronomers have found strong evidence that a massive black hole is being ejected from its host galaxy at a speed of several million miles per hour. New observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest that the black hole collided and merged with another black hole and received a powerful recoil kick from gravitational wave radiation. http://phys.org/news258035163.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T13:26:18-07:00 The University of Nevada, Reno's Sudeep Chandra, a leading Lake Tahoe scientist who has studied invasive species and limnology at the lake for 20 years, said issuing permits for commercial harvesting of crayfish at Lake Tahoe will help improve clarity at the pristine lake, as well as take away a food source for other invasive species that threaten lake clarity and ecosystems. http://phys.org/news258034474.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T13:18:14-07:00 SpaceX, the upstart company that shot a capsule to the International Space Station and back last week, won't have much time to savor its first major success. http://phys.org/news258027943.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T11:40:01-07:00 Every ~120 years a dark spot glides across the Sun. Small, inky-black, almost perfectly circular, it's no ordinary sunspot. Not everyone can see it, but some who do get the strangest feeling, of standing, toes curled in the damp sand, on the beach of a South Pacific isle.... http://phys.org/news258017360.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T09:20:01-07:00 (Phys.org) -- The last transit of the planet Venus until 2117 will happen June 5 in the Western Hemisphere (June 6 in the Eastern Hemisphere). Venus will cross the face of the sun, appearing as a black dot on the sun's bright disk. http://phys.org/news258017129.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T09:10:01-07:00 The first partial lunar eclipse of the year provided dramatic scenes across Asia late Monday, with a clear moon visible to many as the event unfolded. http://phys.org/news258018627.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T08:50:34-07:00 (AP) — A strong earthquake swayed tall buildings in Indonesia's capital Monday afternoon but caused no tsunami or apparent damage. http://phys.org/news258017993.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T08:40:02-07:00 When Venus transits the sun on June 5th and 6th, an armada of spacecraft and ground-based telescopes will be on the lookout for something elusive and, until recently, unexpected: The Arc of Venus. http://phys.org/news258017251.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T08:28:00-07:00 A team of astronomers led by Takatoshi Shibuya, Dr. Nobunari Kashikawa, Dr. Kazuaki Ota, and Dr. Masanori Iye (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan) has used the Subaru and Keck Telescopes to discover the most distant galaxy ever found, SXDF-NB1006-2, at a distance of 12.91 billion light years from the Earth. This galaxy is slightly farther away than GN-108036, which Subaru Telescope discovered last year and was the most distant galaxy discovered at the time. In addition, the team's research verified that the proportion of neutral hydrogen gas in the 750-million-year-old early Universe was higher than it is today. These findings help us to understand the nature of the early Universe during the "cosmic dawn", when the light of ancient celestial objects and structures appeared from obscurity. http://phys.org/news258016857.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T08:21:29-07:00 The Colorado State University forecast team today slightly increased its predictions for the 2012 Atlantic basin hurricane season but still anticipates slightly below-average activity due to anomalous cooling of the tropical Atlantic and the potential development of an El Nino. http://phys.org/news258016373.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T08:15:40-07:00 (Phys.org) -- NASA's Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) 2010 hurricane study was a multi-aircraft mission with a large cadre of researchers. Two who were principal researchers on several airborne sensors had more in common than conducting atmospheric research. Gerry and Andy Heymsfield are brothers. http://phys.org/news258016307.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T08:11:57-07:00 (Phys.org) -- In cities, the presence of algae, lichens, and mosses is not considered desirable and they are often removed from roofs and walls. It is, however, totally unfair to consider these cryptogamic covers, as the flat growths are referred to in scientific terms, just a nuisance. http://phys.org/news258015537.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T07:59:21-07:00 (Phys.org) -- In just a few decades shrubs in the Arctic tundra have turned into trees as a result of the warming Arctic climate, creating patches of forest which, if replicated across the tundra, would significantly accelerate global warming. http://phys.org/news258015448.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T07:57:50-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Ah, June. It marks the end of school, the start of summer...and the official start of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, which got off to an early start in May with the formation of Tropical Storms Alberto and Beryl. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters are calling for a near-normal hurricane season this year. But whether the season turns out to be wild or wimpy, understanding what makes these ferocious storms form and rapidly intensify is a continuing area of scientific research, and is the focus of the NASA-led Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) airborne mission that kicks off this summer. http://phys.org/news258015350.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T07:56:12-07:00 (Phys.org) -- A team of Penn State University astronomers has obtained very precise measurements of a pair of stars that are orbited by a planet -- like the stellar system of the fictional planet Tatooine in the movie Star Wars. The orbits of the stars and planet in the system, named Kepler-16, are aligned so that they eclipse or transit each other when observed from Earth. These new measurements will aid astronomers in understanding how stars and planetary systems form. http://phys.org/news258007590.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T05:47:18-07:00 Stockholm registered its coldest June weekend in 84 years, with temperatures hitting a maximum of just six degrees Celsius (43 Fahrenheit), meteorologists said Sunday. http://phys.org/news258002745.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T04:40:02-07:00 Latin America's largest landfill was closed Sunday after 34 years, just days before Rio de Janeiro hosts a major UN conference on sustainable development. http://phys.org/news258003087.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T04:31:32-07:00 In the late eighth century, Earth was hit by a mystery blast of cosmic rays, according to a Japanese study that found a relic of the powerful event in cedar trees. http://phys.org/news258002715.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T04:25:27-07:00 Peru needs a permanent monitoring system to gauge Andean mountain glacier shrinkage caused by global warming and its effect on people who depend on the ice for water, UN experts warned. http://phys.org/news258002661.html Space & Earth 2012-06-04T04:24:35-07:00 Warmer water and reduced river flows in the United States and Europe in recent years have led to reduced production, or temporary shutdown, of several thermoelectric power plants. For instance, the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama had to shut down more than once last summer because the Tennessee River's water was too warm to use it for cooling. http://phys.org/news257922808.html Space & Earth 2012-06-03T13:00:01-07:00 Following is a factfile on Venus, which will align with Earth and the Sun from the evening of next Tuesday, a "transit" that will next occur 105 years from now. http://phys.org/news257922084.html Space & Earth 2012-06-03T06:30:01-07:00 When Venus next week eclipses Earth, an event that will not occur again for more than a century, millions of skygazers may have romantic thoughts about our closest neighbour and its twilight beauty. http://phys.org/news257922046.html Space & Earth 2012-06-03T06:20:01-07:00 (AP) — Years of ferocious storms have threatened to gnaw away the western tip of a popular beachfront park a two hours drive north of Los Angeles. Instead of building a 500-foot (150 meter)-long wooden defense next to the pier to tame the tide, the latest thinking is to flee. http://phys.org/news257922180.html Space & Earth 2012-06-03T06:03:09-07:00