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Thursday, November 15, 2012

Found near the Orion Nebula star cluster


Star cluster, which had previously been measured part of the spectacular Orion Nebula, is actually a separate creature, located in front of the nebula, according to a new study.

Scientists are using the Canada-French-Hawaii Telescope, located in Hawaii, discovered that the star cluster NGC 1980 is a separate group of massive stars in front of the Orion Nebula, which lies at a distance of about 1,500 light-years away and is one of the closest Earth "stellar nurseries". Accumulation unevenly scattered around the star iota Orion, located in the southern part of the "sword" of the constellation Orion.

Scientists have explained the preference of exoplanets


Since the planets in the solar system formed from the same cloud of gas and dust that the star itself, until recently, it was thought that the plane of their orbits must coincide with the plane of rotation of the star. However, beginning in 2008, astronomers began to find more and more exoplanets, which were in highly inclined orbits and even reverse (counter-rotating) with respect to its star.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Curiosity SAM tool examines first piece of solid ground


Pinch of fine sand and dust was the first solid Martian samples placed in the biggest tool of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity: Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM.

Inside the rover, SAM determine the chemical composition of samples placed inside it, special attention is paid to the search for fragments, which could indicate the former presence of the world traces of organic life. Curiosity robotic arm delivered to the inlet of the tool SAM, located on the deck of the rover, a sample of Martian soil on 9 November.