Another moon may be home to life

Space scientists have found clues that a fresh place in the solar system may be home to life. They analysed ice volcanoes on a moon of Saturn called Enceladus and discovered powerful new evidence for liquid water beneath its surface. NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew through the icy plumes and detected negatively charged water molecules - a clear sign that there is an underground sea. Back home this short-lived type of ion is produced where water is moving, such as in waterfalls or crashing ocean waves. It was known that the jets contained water but it was not clear before whether this might be liquid. Cassini scientist Andrew Coates, from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, led the team that made the new breakthrough, reported in the journal Icarus. He said the evidence gathered by Cassini pointed to other constituents for life, such as carbon, plus a source of heat to keep the water liquid. It has been suggested that this energy source is the tidal pull of giant Saturn. Dr Coates said: "While it's no surprise that there is water there, these short-lived ions are extra evidence for sub-surface water. And where there's water, carbon and energy, some of the major ingredients for life are present." Similar negatively charged ions have been found on another satellite of Saturn, Titan, which is the only moon in the solar system with a thick atmosphere. The data from Enceladus's icy spray was collected an instrument on Cassini called a plasma spectrometer. It measured the density, temperature and speed of ions and electrons it collected as it flew through the jets. The Cassini mission has been a major success for U.S. and European scientists since the probe went into orbit around Saturn in 2004. NASA has just extended the mission's life by seven years. But the UK scientists have been told to abandon their research thanks to swingeing cuts in science spending by the British Government. Picture: A geyser spewing water from Enceladus, imaged by Cassini. (Photo: NASA). • Discover space for yourself and do fun science with a telescope. Here is Skymania's advice on how to choose a telescope. We also have a guide to the different types of telescope available. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com

The remarkable girl who named Pluto

Around this time last year I was planning a trip to New Zealand and celebrating publication of my new book Where Did Pluto Go? This was a look at how our knowledge and ideas about the solar system have been constantly changing. It was written in the light of the official decision to strip Pluto of its full planet status - hence its title. As many will know, though Pluto was discovered from the U.S. by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, it was actually named by an 11-year-old English girl. Venetia Burney, pictured left, was having breakfast with her grandfather Falconer Madan when he read of the discovery of this new world in his newspaper and told her. Venetia, who then had a keen interest in mythology, suggested it be named Pluto after the Roman God of the Underworld - not after a Disney pooch as many seem to think. Her grandfather was extremely well connected, being Librarian of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, no less. Her suggestion was quickly passed on to the Percival Lowell Observatory from where Pluto was spotted. They loved it - no doubt partly because the observatory founder's initials formed the first two letters of Pluto - and the name was officially adopted. It was a lovely story and, when I learned that Venetia, now 90, lived not far from my south west London home, in Surrey, I knew I wanted to meet her and give her a copy of my book. I wrote to Venetia, now a retired schoolteacher with the married name Phair. She kindly replied with a hand-written letter agreeing to meet but saying we would have to delay as she needed to go to hospital for some tests. We agreed a date but Venetia took the trouble to write to me again to postpone when she was detained longer in hospital than she had expected. At the end of March, I left England for a seven-week stay in New Zealand, returning in late May. When I got home, I found a letter from Venetia's son telling me the sad news that she had died while I was away. I would never meet Venetia. I mention all this because of a remarkable short film that I saw last year about Venetia and Pluto. Surprisingly perhaps, she reached old age without ever seeing the world she had named. The film, available on a delightful DVD called Naming Pluto from Father Films, tells how attempts were finally made for Venetia to view her distant ex-planet through a telescope. Initial efforts failed but everyone persevered and, without wishing to spoil the story, I think I can say there was a happy ending. Naming Pluto has been screened at 40 Film and Science festivals in 17 countries and is endorsed by the IAU and UNESCO as a special project for the International Year of Astronomy. You can see a YouTube preview here. Do see it! In the meantime, I will treasure my two hand-written letters - the closest contact I ever had with the remarkable girl who named Pluto. • Discover space for yourself and do fun science with a telescope. Here is Skymania's advice on how to choose a telescope. We also have a guide to the different types of telescope available. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com

Hubble zooms in on space crash

Astronomers have used the Hubble space telescope to get a close-up view of a remarkable head-on crash between two asteroids. The giant space rocks created a spectacular trail of debris as they collided at 11,000mph - five times the speed of a rifle bullet - between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The cosmic pile-up is the first ever witnessed in the asteroid belt, 90 million miles away in space. A fragment from the same family of asteroids is thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The fuzzy cloud from the debris was first photographed last month with a robotic camera called LINEAR that searches for asteroids in New Mexico. A further image was then taken using the University of Arizona's giant 1.8-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. The event was considered was so rare that Hubble was switched from its observing routine to get a close-up of it on January 29. NASA released its photo of the collision today. The picture, taken with upgraded Hubble's powerful new camera, shows a mysterious X-shaped pattern with trailing streamers of dust that suggest the collision was head-on, say experts. The heart of the main rock, labelled P/2010 A2, can be seen as a bright star-like point outide its own halo of dust. This nucleus is estimated to be about 460 ft wide. NASA say a study of the orbit of P/2010 A2 suggests it belongs to the Flora asteroid family - rocks which shattered into pieces in a bigger collision more than 100 million years ago. One fragment of that ancient smash is thought to have struck Earth 65 million years ago, triggering a mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. But until now, no such asteroid-asteroid collision has been caught "in the act." Last year, Hubble was turned onto Jupiter to picture a bruise in its atmosphere that is thought to have been caused by a colliding comet or asteroid. The impact scar was originally discovered by an amateur astronomer. Pictures: Hubble's photo of the debris left by the asteroid collision, top, and a close-up of the head including the giant fragment that is the nucleus. Photo: NASA. • Discover space for yourself and do fun science with a telescope. Here is Skymania's advice on how to choose a telescope. We also have a guide to the different types of telescope available. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com

NASA's return to Moon is axed

President Obama today scrapped NASA's mission to return men to the Moon. He cancelled the Constellation programme set up by his predecessor George W Bush, including the Ares 1 and V rockets, Orion crew capsule and Altair lunar lander. Instead, Obama ordered the space agency to develop new technologies and work with other nations on projects that will see humans exploring the inner solar system including Mars and asteroids. NASA will also invest in private industry to develop and build replacements for the space shuttle which is being retired this year. The new rockets will deliver astronauts and supplies to the international space station whose life will be extended to 2020 or beyond. Fantasy: The planned Altair lander on the Moon NASA has spent $9 billion so far on Constellation. But Administrator Charlie Bolden said the project was over-budget and so behind schedule that it would have been unlikely to get to the Moon until the 2030s. Bush's Vision for Space Exploration had aimed to land humans on the Moon by 2020 - more than 50 years after the first visit by Apollo 11. Mr Bolden, a former astronaut who was appointed by Obama last year, said: "As we focused so much of our effort and funding on just getting to the Moon, we were neglecting investments in the key technologies that would be required to go beyond." He added: "While there will no doubt be challenges as a result of cancelling Constellation, the funding for NASA is increasing, so we expect to support as many if not more jobs." Mr Bolden said that developing new private-enterprise craft to fly to the space station, as many as 5,000 new jobs could be created. NASA's budget would actually increase by $6 billion over the next five years. There will be more emphasis on missions to study the Earth from space. And robotic missions would help pave the way for later human exploration of the Moon, Mars and nearby asteroids. Last night, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, said he "strongly endorsed" the President’s new direction for NASA. He said: "As an Apollo astronaut, I know the importance of always pushing new frontiers as we explore space. The truth is, that we have already been to the Moon - some 40 years ago. "A near-term focus on lowering the cost of access to space and on developing key, cutting-edge technologies to take us further, faster, is just what our nation needs to maintain its position as the leader in space exploration for the rest of this century. "We need to be in this for the long haul, and this program will allow us to again be pushing the boundaries to achieve new and challenging things beyond Earth. "I hope NASA will embrace this new direction as much as I do, and help us all continue to use space exploration to drive prosperity and innovation right here on Earth. I also believe the steps we will be taking following the President’s direction will best position NASA and other space agencies to send humans to Mars and other exciting destinations as quickly as possible. "To do that, we will need to support many types of game-changing technologies NASA and its partners will be developing. Mars is the next frontier for humankind, and NASA will be leading the way there if we aggressively support the President’s plans. "Finally, I am excited to think that the development of commercial capabilities to send humans into low earth orbit will likely result in so many more earthlings being able to experience the transformative power of spaceflight. "I can personally attest to the fact that the experience results in a different perspective on life on Earth, and on our future as a species. I applaud the President for working to make this dream a reality." • Discover space for yourself and do fun science with a telescope. Here is Skymania's advice on how to choose a telescope. We also have a guide to the different types of telescope available. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com