This week was a busy one for space exploration. Probably the biggest news came when the Rosetta mission's Philae Lander woke up to continue its scientific mission on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
But this week held other surprises, too: scientists discovered that meteorites from Mars found on Earth contain methane, one of the key components that suggests that life once existed beneath the surface of the red planet. Also, the Hubble Space Telescope got a good look at the "teenage years" of quasars and the Very Large Telescope spotted evidence of the very first generation of stars.
For those here on Earth, Father's Day arrives in a few weeks, and if you're looking for the perfect gift, here you go: you can get a crater on Mars named after your dad.
Philae wakes up.
Last year, the ESA did the impossible (well, rather the improbable) by landing a spacecraft on the surface of a comet. However, all did not go according to plan, and the Philae Lander ended up on a part of the comet that prevented it from getting the sunlight it needed to power its scientific experiments. Philae went into hibernation and it seemed that all hope was lost.
However, Philae woke up this week, thanks to the comet getting closer to the sun, and now the mission can pick up where it left off: with Philae gearing up to continue its scientific goals.
Scientists find methane in Martian meteorites.
The likelihood of life existing on the red planet continues to increase, thanks to scientists discovering methane in meteorites from Mars that made their way to Earth. These meteorites, once volcanic rock on the red planet, all contained methane, hinting that the gas was a food source for microbial life that lived (or perhaps still lives) beneath Mars' surface.
"One of the most exciting developments in the exploration of Mars has been the suggestion of methane in the Martian atmosphere," says University of Aberdeen professor John Parnell. "Recent and forthcoming missions by NASA and the European Space Agency, respectively, are looking at this, however, it is so far unclear where the methane comes from, and even whether it is really there. However, our research provides a strong indication that rocks on Mars contain a large reservoir of methane."
Hubble gets a good look at quasar's teen years.
Although Hubble recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in space, the telescope is still going strong and uncovering many mysteries of the Universe. Now, the telescope has shown us the early years of quasars, some of the brightest celestial objects that we know of. Astronomers discovered images taken by Hubble that show galaxies colliding, which produces gas that supermassive black holes eat. This chaotic process fuels quasars.
"The Hubble observations are definitely telling us that the peak of quasar activity in the early universe is driven by galaxies colliding and then merging together," says Eilat Glikman of Middlebury College in Vermont. "We are seeing the quasars in their teenage years, when they are growing quickly and all messed up."
The Very Large Telescope finds proof of the first generation of stars.
The idea of the first generation of stars, or Population III stars, born in our Universe shortly after the Big Bang is a theoretical one, because those stars are long dead. However, the Very Large Telescope recently allowed astronomers to peek back into history, about 800 million years after the Big Bang. They looked at a multitude of distant, ancient galaxies and found a lot of very bright and very young ones. One of those galaxies, called CR7, was super bright.
CR7 surprised astronomers even further after they studied its elements. They realized that it fit every single definition we currently have of Population III stars, the first generation of stars that "ultimately allowed us to be here."
Name a Mars Crater after your dad.
With Father's Day coming up on June 21, you're probably wondering what sort of gift to give your dad. What's more unique than naming a crater on Mars after dear old pops? Uwinga, a space-funding company, plans on selling names for over 500,000 Mars craters that do not yet have titles. Those who buy a name get a certificate with all the naming details. Claiming a crater name is also relatively inexpensive: smaller craters go for around $5.
Photo Credit: ESA
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