CASSINI CLOSES IN ON SATURN’S TUMBLING MOON HYPERION

fyi:
–Ben

August 26, 2011

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Yesterday, Cassini captured new images of Saturn’s moon Hyperion during
its 2nd closest encounter with this deeply cratered body. Closest approach registered at 15,000 miles.

Hyperion is a small moon … just 168 miles across … orbiting between Titan and Iapetus. It has an irregular shape and surface appearance, and it rotates chaotically as it tumbles along in orbit, making it impossible to say just exactly what terrain we would image during this flyby.

To see how it all turned out, go to

http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/160/Hyperion_Rev_152_Raw_Preview

And the adventure continues. Cassini’s next flyby of Hyperion will be on September 16, 2011, when it passes the tumbling moon at a distance of about 36,000 miles.

Enjoy!

Carolyn Porco
Cassini Imaging Team Leader
Director, CICLOPS
Space Science Institute
Boulder, CO

http://ciclops.org

http://twitter.com/carolynporco

http://www.facebook.com/carolynporco

DISCOVERY OF GEOMAGNETICALLY TRAPPED COSMIC-RAY ANTIPROTONS

Hmmm…

Wonder if we can ‘harvest’ them like this?

EXTRACTION OF ANTIPARTICLES
CONCENTRATED IN
PLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS

http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/1071Bickford.pdf

Warp drive might be closer than you think.

–Ben

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DISCOVERY OF GEOMAGNETICALLY TRAPPED COSMIC-RAY ANTIPROTONS

The existence of a significant flux of antiprotons confined to Earth’s magnetosphere has been considered in several theoretical works. These antiparticles are produced in nuclear interactions of energetic cosmic rays with the terrestrial atmosphere and accumulate in the geomagnetic field at altitudes of several hundred kilometers. A contribution from the decay of albedo antineutrons has been hypothesized in analogy to proton production by neutron decay, which constitutes the main source of trapped protons at energies above some tens of MeV. This Letter reports the discovery of an antiproton radiation belt around the Earth. The trapped antiproton energy spectrum in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region has been measured by the PAMELA experiment for the kinetic energy range 60-750 MeV. A measurement of the atmospheric sub-cutoff antiproton spectrum outside the radiation belts is also reported. PAMELA data show that the magnetospheric antiproton flux in the SAA exceeds the cosmic-ray antiproton flux by three orders of magnitude at the present solar minimum, and exceeds the sub-cutoff antiproton flux outside radiation belts by four orders of magnitude, constituting the most abundant source of antiprotons near the Earth.

http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/737/2/L29/

or

http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.4882

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See also :

Antimatter belt around Earth discovered by Pamela craft

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14405122

NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Launches to Jupiter

YEAA!!!
–Ben

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NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Launches to Jupiter

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:25 a.m. PDT (12:25 p.m. EDT) Friday to begin a five-year journey to Jupiter.

Juno’s detailed study of the largest planet in our solar system will help reveal Jupiter’s origin and evolution. As the archetype of giant gas planets, Jupiter can help scientists understand the origin of our solar system and learn more about planetary systems around other stars…

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/news/juno20110805.html