new discoveries in 2016

1. F.A. Activity-1
By X-A
New Discoveries In The
Field of Space…..

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»LETS GO

5. The Discovery of Exoplanets…

6. • Exoplanets are planets that obit a different star other
than our Sun - in a different solar system to the one
we are in.
• Even though scientists thought for a long time that
they must exist, it was only in 1992 that the first
exoplanet was discovered.
• Earlier in 2015, scientists discovered the exoplanet
Kepler-452b, which was described as 'earth's cousin'
because of its close similarities to our planet.
• Space experts say Exoplanets are really important
because they raise the possibility that other life could
exist in other solar solar systems.

7. Pluto has blue skies and patches of
frozen water on its surface………

8. • Blue skies are seen on Earth because of the scattering of
sunlight by very small particles of nitrogen.
• "On Pluto they appear to be larger—but still relatively small—
soot-like particles we call tholins," said science team
researcher Carly Howett, also of SwRI.
• Using a tool called a spectral composition mapper on New
Horizons, scientists have been able to map the signatures of
water ice on various parts of the planet's surface.

9. Saturn's Moons and Rings Are
Younger Than the Dinosaurs……

10. • Some of Saturn's icy moons may have been
formed after many dinosaurs roamed the
Earth.
• New computer modeling of the Saturnian
system suggests the rings and moons may be
no more than 100 million years old.

11. Belt Of Venus' Glows Over Paranal
Observatory…..

12. • On May 9, after the transit of Mercury dazzled
the world, Discovery News was attending the
#MeetESO event atop Cerro Paranal, a 2,664
meter (8,740 ft) high mountain in the Atacama
Desert in northern Chile on the platform of the
VLT.
• As the sun set over the desert clouds below, the
Belt of Venus rose over the VLT’s auxiliary
telescopes behind us as the observatory’s 4
main 8.2 meter telescope domes opened.

13. Geysers on Saturn Moon Enceladus
Hint at Plumbing Mystery…..

14. • A small water jet on Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn,
spews its fiercest eruptions when the moon is farthest
from the planet, a new study suggests, but the overall
gas output doesn’t increase much during that time.
The study points to a mystery in Enceladus’ plumbing.
• The surprise observation came after looking at the
moon using the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft in
March.
• Enceladus is considered a prime potential location for
life because under its icy surface is a global, salty
water-ocean that could have the right ingredients for
microbes.

15. Another Kuiper Belt Discovered Around Nearby
Star…….

16. • Astronomers have discovered an icy belt of
comets circling a young sun-like star, a finding
that may provide insights into the evolution of
our own solar system.
• The star, known as HD 181327, is about 23
million years old and located about 160 light-
years away in the Painter constellation.

17. "Milky Way's Dark Disk" --Did It Seed Existence
of the Central Supermassive Black Hole?

18. • The composite Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer
Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray
Observatory image of the central region of our
Milky Way galaxy above shows the center of the
galaxy.
• Like the downtown of a large city, the center of
our galaxy is a crowded, active, and vibrant place.
• The supermassive black hole -- some four million
times more massive than the Sun -- resides within
the bright region in the lower right.

19. Advanced Alien Life? SETI Retargets
"Pale Red Dots Billions of Years Older
Than Our Sun" …..

20. • The SETI Institute belives that planetary systems orbiting red
dwarfs - dim, long-lived stars that are on average billions of years
older than our sun are worth investigating for signs of advanced
extraterrestrial life.
• The star that’s closest to our sun, Proxima Centauri, is a red dwarf.
A variety of observing efforts, including the University of
London's Pale Red Dot Initiative, are looking for earthlike
habitable planets around Proxima Centauri .
• “Red dwarfs – the dim bulbs of the cosmos – have received scant
attention by SETI scientists in the past,” SETI Institute engineer Jon
Richard said last March announcing a new initiative.
• “That’s because researchers made the seemingly reasonable
assumption that other intelligent species would be on planets
orbiting stars similar to the sun.”

21. "Europa's Ocean Chemistry and Energy
May Hold the Elixir for Life“…..

22. • "The cycling of oxygen and hydrogen in Europa's ocean will
be a major driver for Europa's ocean chemistry and any life
there, just it is on Earth.
• " Ultimately, Vance and colleagues want to also understand
the cycling of life's other major elements in the ocean:
carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.
• The ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa could have the
necessary balance of chemical energy for life, even if the
moon lacks volcanic hydrothermal activity, finds a new
study. Europa is strongly believed to hide a deep ocean of
salty liquid water beneath its icy shell.

23. Monster Earth Impact --"Evidence Found of a
Huge Asteroid 20-to-30 Kilometers Across“……

24. • Scientists have found evidence of a huge asteroid 20
to 30 kilometers across that struck the what is today
Australia, creating a 400 kilometer-wide impact zone
after breaking in two moments before it slammed
into the Earth.
• The impact crater has long since disappeared. But a
team of Aussie geophysicists has found the twin scars
of the impacts – the largest impact zone ever found
on Earth – hidden deep in the earth’s crust.
• “Large impacts like these may have had a far more
significant role in the Earth’s evolution than
previously thought,” Glikson said.

25. The Milky-Way Planet That's Three
Times Older Than Earth…….

26. • The existence of a 13-billion year old planet, if in fact
it still exists, highlights the fact that our Solar System
exists in a universe that is estimated to be between
13.5 and 14 billion years old.
• A few intrepid astronomers have concluded that the
most productive to look for planets that can support
life is around dim, dying stars white dwarfs so
prevalent in globular cluster M4 shown above.
• "Even dying stars could host planets with life - and if
such life exists, we might be able to detect it within
the next decade. This encouraging result comes from
a new theoretical study of Earth-like planets orbiting
white dwarf stars.

27. EFFORTS BY:-
Baljinder Singh
Rhea Saggu
Aneesha
Gagandeep Singh
Manjyot Singh Duggal
Ranbir Singh
Harjot Kaur
Mandeep Singh
Suranjana Kashyap
Nandini
Jasleen Kaur
Prabhjot Singh