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Subaru Spots Strange Spin
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| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/18/09 |
| Summary: Astronomers have found that the extrasolar planet HAT-P-7b has a retrograde or highly tilted orbit. Studying such planets is important in understanding the diversity of planetary systems and assessing current models of how planets migrate. The findings could help astrobiologists in the search for habitable planets beyond our solar system. |
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Primordial Soup Not Simmering
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
11/17/09 |
| Summary: Features discovered in 3.4 billion-year-old rocks indicate that temperatures on early Earth may have been dramatically cooler than previously believed. The finding could have implications in understanding the conditions in which life first evolved on our planet. |
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LCROSS Confirms Water on the Moon
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| Topic: Moon to Mars |
11/15/09 |
| Summary: Preliminary data from NASA’s LCROSS mission indicates that water ice is present in a permanently shadowed lunar crater. LCROSS crashed into the Cabeus crater on October 9, creating a plume of material. Water ice could be a vital resource for future human explorers. |
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Lacking Lithium
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| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/14/09 |
| Summary: A census of 500 stars has successfully linked the 'lithium mystery' observed in our Sun to the presence of planetary systems. The study shows that Sun-like stars with planetary systems lack lithium, and could help astronomers identify more stars that host planets. |
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A Tale of Planetary Woe
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| Topic: Mars |
11/11/09 |
| Summary: Some scientists believe that a relatively wet and warm ancient Mars may have been a second location for life. However, Mars did not end up as a planet filled with the multitude of life we see on Earth. NASA's new Mars orbiter, MAVEN, may help astrobiologists understand why. |
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Frost-Covered Phoenix
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| Topic: Mars |
11/10/09 |
| Summary: NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured images of the Phoenix lander shrouded in dry-ice frost on Mars. Phoenix has been inactive since the completion of its mission in November 2008. Early next year, scientists will try to contact the lander to see if it is still able to communicate. |
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Uracil Made in the Lab
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| Topic: Origin & Evolution of Life |
11/08/09 |
| Summary: NASA scientists have reproduced uracil, a key component of the hereditary material, RNA. The uracil was created by exposing an ice sample containing the molecule pyrimidine to ultraviolet radiation under space-like conditions. The research may help astrobiologists understand how molecules for the origin of life were first made. |
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Unsettled Youth
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| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/07/09 |
| Summary: NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered a young star where young planets jostle about like unsettled children. The system may be similar to our own solar system before our planets settled into their familiar orbits. |
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Mercury Rising
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| Topic: Mercury |
11/04/09 |
| Summary: On its final flyby of Mercury, NASA's Messenger spacecraft has captured images of never before seen regions of the planet. Messenger is providing new scientific findings about the closest planet to the sun, and teaching astrobiologists about how rocky planets form and evolve. |
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Primitive Particles
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
11/03/09 |
| Summary: Scientists have discovered 'ultra-primitive' material in stratospheric dust samples collected by high-flying aircraft. The material likely wafted into the atmosphere of Earth as our planet passed through the tail of a comet, and could help scientists understand the early solar system and the role that comets may have played in life's origins. |
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