<p>The CHandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) experiment aboard Chandrayaan-2 orbiter will study in situ, the composition of the lunar neutral exosphere in the mass range 1–300
20-60% Stars Can Give Rise To Life-Supporting Planets Boston (Massachusetts): Planets resembling Earth can be found orbiting many Sun-like stars in our galaxy, increasing the prospects of finding extraterrestial life on some of them, according to a study released on Sunday. University of Arizona astronomer Michael Meyer, working with Nasa's Spitzer space telescope, said his research shows that between 20% and 60% of stars similar to our Sun have conditions favorable for forming rocky planets like Earth.
Astronomers to go to Manora Peak in Nainital to have a glimpse of the Milky Way Astronomers will catch 149 deep star objects including galaxies, nebulae and globular clusters.
Boston: Life on Mars may have been snuffed out early on because the water there was too salty, a biologist involved in exploring the red planet said. "Mars has been a very dry place for a very long time,' said Andrew Knoll, an expert member of a team operating two US robots that are currently exploring Mars. "The best place to look for life is in the earliest history,' he added.
Titan, the deep-frozen moon of Saturn, is emerging as the most likely place in the solar system for new life to evolve, according to scientists who have been studying its atmosphere and surface chemistry. They found that Titan's atmosphere is drenched in a wide range of complex organic molecules very similar to those that gave rise to life on Earth billions of years ago. Although it is far too cold for life at present, this is likely to change because stars such as the sun expand and grow far hotter as they reach old age.
The Pentagon said on Thursday it plans to shoot down a defunct spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, agencies reported. An option on the table is to use a sea-based missile to do the job, before the satellite falls into the Earth's atmosphere, Pentagon officials told reporters. Last month, Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council said a defunct U.S. spy satellite is falling from orbit and could hit the Earth in late February or March. The satellite, which has lost power and propulsion, could contain hazardous materials, he said. Because the satellite could not be controlled any longer, it is unknown where the Earth it might hit. In 1979, Skylab, a 78-ton abandoned NASA space station fell from orbit in an uncontrolled manner. Its debris eventually dropped into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia harmlessly.
Washington: Physicists have developed a new atomic clock that surpasses previous records for accuracy of current US time standard, making it the world's most accurate atomic clock. Developed by physicists at JILA, a joint institute of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder, the new clock is based on thousands of strontium atoms trapped in grids of laser light.
Astronomers Discover A Scaled-Down Version Of Our Planet System Washington: Astronomers and amateur stargazers have used an unusual technique to find a solar system that closely resembles our own and say it may be a new and more productive way to scour the universe for planets
It Formed 700 Million Years After Our Universe Began, Claim Astronomers New York: Astronomers have discovered a galaxy which they claim is one of the youngest and brightest ever seen right after the cosmic "dark ages', just 700 million years after the beginning of our Universe. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of the infant galaxy with a redshift significantly above 7, using a natural zoom lens, the Nasa said.
Europe is to launch the most powerful space telescope ever built, with the ability to capture light from stars that were born and died up to 13 billion years ago. The Herschel space telescope, named after an 18th-century British astronomer, could help solve the mystery of how galaxies and stars formed and how these processes eventually gave rise to life-bearing planets like Earth.
