Top NASA scientist honoured by Wits
The University of the Witwatersrand will tomorrow confer an honorary doctorate on Dr Meyya Meyyappan, chief scientist for Exploration Technology at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), recognising his excellence in research and dedication to...
Galactic wind near black hole
Scientists have connected a fierce “wind” produced near a galaxy’s monster black hole to an outward torrent of cold gas a thousand light-years across. The finding, which combined observations from the Japan-led Suzaku X-ray satellite and the European Space Agency’s infrared Herschel Space Observatory, validates a long-suspected feedback mechanism enabling a supermassive black hole to influence the evolution of its host galaxy.
Moon meteor strike found
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) acquired images of the lunar surface before and after the largest recorded explosion occurred on the surface. On 17 March, 2013, an object the size of a small boulder hit the surface in Mare Imbrium and exploded in a flash of light nearly 10 times as bright as anything ever recorded before. This bright flash was recorded by researchers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville.
Missing: Mars water
A primitive ocean on Mars once held more water than Earth’s Arctic Ocean. This is according to NASA scientists, who used ground-based observatories to measure water signatures in the Red Planet’s atmosphere. Scientists have been searching for answers to why this vast water supply left the surface. Details of the observations and computations appear in Thursday’s edition of Science magazine.