Astronomy / Astrophysics

NASA is studying the presence of water in the solar system and beyond also in connection with the search for alien life form (Image NASA)

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Yesterday in Washington, D.C. there was a NASA panel about water and its connection with the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life. Some scientists summarized the findings of recent decades obout the presence of water in space and exoplanets. According to Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA, in the course of our life we ​​may finally have an answer whether we are alone in the solar system and beyond.

Images of eight galaxies containing green filaments that are the last effect of ancient quasars (Image NASA, ESA, and W. Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa))

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The Hubble Space Telescope photographed a series of ghosts of quasars that existed in the past. They are seen as ethereal green objects in various forms and are the last effects of ancient quasars. These phenomena are very interesting from a scientific standpoint because they can provide information about the past of those galaxies, which were once very active.

Four image montage of pictures of the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko taken by the space probe Rosetta (Image ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM)

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During the past weekend, ESA’s space probe Rosetta has taken a new flyby about 14 kilometers (about 8.6 miles) away from the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This means that it hasnt come as close as in February, however, the comet’s increasing activity caused some problems in Rosetta. Among the consequences, it had serious difficulties in communicating with ESA’s mission control.

The Planck all-sky map at submillimetre wavelengths with the protoclusters indicated as black dots. The inset images showcase some of the observations made by Herschel’s SPIRE instrument (Image ESA and the Planck Collaboration/ H. Dole, D. Guéry & G. Hurier, IAS/University Paris-Sud/CNRS/CNES)

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An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” describes the results of a research carried out by combining the observations made with ESA’s Herschel and Planck space telescopes. The purpose was to find protoclusters, the precursors of today’s galaxy clusters seen in the distant past when the universe was only three billion years. This will help to understand how these huge groups of tens, hundreds and even thousands of galaxies formed and evolved.