Videos: Interactive panorama view of SpaceX Falcon 9 landing

An interactive 360 degree panoramic camera on the SpaceX sea platform allows you to look up and watch the Falcon 9 booster come down for its landing:

To get a better grasp of the size of the rocket, this video shows workers at Port Canaveral preparing the booster for transport to a hangar at the Kennedy Space Center:

A KSC tour group got a close up view from their bus:

Here’s a longer video showing the booster’s trip to KSC:

See earlier post with videos showing the booster returning to the port.

ESO: Ancient inner solar system object returns from tour of the Oort Cloud

A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory):

Unique Fragment from Earth’s Formation Returns after
Billions of Years in Cold Storage

Tailless Manx comet from Oort Cloud brings clues
about the origin of the Solar System

Astronomers have found a unique object that appears to be made of inner Solar System material from the time of Earth’s formation, which has been preserved in the Oort Cloud far from the Sun for billions of years. Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope, show that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is the first object to be discovered on a long-period cometary orbit that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid. It may provide important clues about how the Solar System formed.

eso1614a[1]
Artist’s impression of the unique object C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS). Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope, show that this is the first object to be discovered that is on a long-period cometary orbit, but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid. It may provide important clues about how the Solar System formed. Because the object has spent most of its life away from the inner Solar System it suffered very few collisions, and its surface displays few or no craters. As it formed in the same region as the Earth did, it is mostly rocky, and therefore has only very limited cometary activity. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
In a paper to be published today in the journal Science Advances, lead author Karen Meech of the University of Hawai`i’s Institute for Astronomy and her colleagues conclude that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) formed in the inner Solar System at the same time as the Earth itself, but was ejected at a very early stage.

Their observations indicate that it is an ancient rocky body, rather than a contemporary asteroid that strayed out. As such, it is one of the potential building blocks of the rocky planets, such as the Earth, that was expelled from the inner Solar System and preserved in the deep freeze of the Oort Cloud for billions of years [1].

eso1614b[1]
The unique rocky comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS): Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope, show that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is the first object to be discovered that is on a long-period cometary orbit, but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid. It may provide important clues about how the Solar System formed. This diagram shows the probable history of this object in both the inner and outer Solar System over a period of more than four billion years. The majority of this time was spent in the cold outskirts, in the Oort Cloud. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada
Karen Meech explains the unexpected observation:

“We already knew of many asteroids, but they have all been baked by billions of years near the Sun. This one is the first uncooked asteroid we could observe: it has been preserved in the best freezer there is.”

C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) was originally identified by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope as a weakly active comet a little over twice as far from the Sun as the Earth. Its current long orbital period (around 860 years) suggests that its source is in the Oort Cloud, and it was nudged comparatively recently into an orbit that brings it closer to the Sun.

Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope, show that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is the first object to be discovered that is on a long-period cometary orbit, but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid. It may provide important clues about how the Solar System formed.

This video shows the probable history of this object in both the inner and outer Solar System over a period of more than four billion years. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

The team immediately noticed that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) was unusual, as it does not have the characteristic tail that most long-period comets have when they approach so close to the Sun. As a result, it has been dubbed a Manx comet, after the tailless cat. Within weeks of its discovery, the team obtained spectra of the very faint object with ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.

Careful study of the light reflected by C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) indicates that it is typical of asteroids known as S-type, which are usually found in the inner asteroid main belt. It does not look like a typical comet, which are believed to form in the outer Solar System and are icy, rather than rocky. It appears that the material has undergone very little processing, indicating that it has been deep frozen for a very long time. The very weak comet-like activity associated with C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS), which is consistent with the sublimation of water ice, is about a million times lower than active long-period comets at a similar distance from the Sun.

The authors conclude that this object is probably made of fresh inner Solar System material that has been stored in the Oort Cloud and is now making its way back into the inner Solar System.

eso1614c[1]
The unique rocky comet C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS): Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope, show that C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS) is the first object to be discovered that is on a long-period cometary orbit, but that has the characteristics of a pristine inner Solar System asteroid. It may provide important clues about how the Solar System formed. This image of the comet was acquired using the Canada France Hawai`i Telescope. Credit: K. Meech (IfA/UH)/CFHT/ESO
A number of theoretical models are able to reproduce much of the structure we see in the Solar System. An important difference between these models is what they predict about the objects that make up the Oort Cloud. Different models predict significantly different ratios of icy to rocky objects. This first discovery of a rocky object from the Oort Cloud is therefore an important test of the different predictions of the models. The authors estimate that observations of 50–100 of these Manx comets are needed to distinguish between the current models, opening up another rich vein in the study of the origins of the Solar System.

Co-author Olivier Hainaut (ESO, Garching, Germany), concludes:

“We’ve found the first rocky comet, and we are looking for others. Depending how many we find, we will know whether the giant planets danced across the Solar System when they were young, or if they grew up quietly without moving much.”

Notes

[1] The Oort cloud is a huge region surrounding the Sun like a giant, thick soap bubble. It is estimated that it contains trillions of tiny icy bodies. Occasionally, one of these bodies gets nudged and falls into the inner Solar System, where the heat of the sun turns it into a comet. These icy bodies are thought to have been ejected from the region of the giant planets as these were forming, in the early days of the Solar System.

SciTech: Swiss team shows vitamin NR “stops the aging process of organs” in mice

I got a feeling that sales of the vitamin nicotinamide riboside (NR) will be going up soon: A vitamin that stops the aging process of organs – EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne).

28.04.16 – By administering nicotinamide riboside to elderly mice, EPFL researchers restored their organs’ ability to regenerate and prolonged their lives. This method has potential for treating a number of degenerative diseases.

Nicotinamide riboside (NR) is pretty amazing. It has already been shown in several studies to be effective in boosting metabolism. And now a team of researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Integrated Systems Physiology (LISP), headed by Johan Auwerx, has unveiled even more of its secrets. An article written by Hongbo Zhang, a PhD student on the team, was published today in Science and describes the positive effects of NR on the functioning of stem cells. These effects can only be described as restorative.

Here is the paper: NAD+ repletion improves mitochondrial and stem cell function and enhances life span in mice – Science.

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OK, I can’t resist:

Video: CineSpace 2016 – short film competition

I’ve posted a couple of times (see here and here) about the CineSpace short film competition, which is sponsored by NASA and the Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS). What makes this competition unique is the requirement that the creators use NASA imagery to some degree in the films.

Below is a new video encouraging filmmakers to enter the competition. Submissions can be made between June 1, 2016 12:00 a.m. EST – July 31, 2016 11:59 p.m. EST. “Winners will be announced and screened along with all finalists at Houston Cinema Arts Festival, November 10-17, 2016.”