WASHINGTON - NASA scientists have discovered a black hole, the smallest ever found that weighs approximately four times the mass of our sun and it is 15 miles in diameter.

“This black hole is actually pushing the limits,” said Nikolai Shaposhnikov, the study team leader of NASA. “Scientists were working hard for many years to find out the smallest possible size of a black hole, and this invention is a big step towards answering that question,” he said in a statement.

Though it is smaller, it seems to be stronger than other larger black holes found at the centers of galaxies. If anyone goes nearer to J1650 (the name given to the black hole), its gravity would stretch your body into a “strand of spaghetti,” said Shaposhnikov.

(more…)

Washington - Titan, the fascinating moon of Saturn known for its dense atmosphere and layer of clouds may have a big ocean of water and ammonia lying deep below its surface, scientists reported on Thursday.

Astronomers did not directly see the ocean but they told that observations done by the Cassini spacecraft suggests the existence of an ocean, maybe 60 miles beneath titan’s surface.

Titan is the 2nd largest moon in the solar system only behind Ganymede, the moon of Jupiter and it is also the largest moon of Saturn. Titan has a diameter of around three thousand two hundred miles, which is greater than that of the dwarf planet Pluto and the planet Mercury.

(more…)

WASHINGTON - The Arctic is losing its oldest, toughest and thickest sea ice at a quicker rate than in previous years. It is not a good indication for the future of the Arctic ice cap, said NASA.

The melting of ice cap continues since the end of the Arctic summer, regardless of cold weather across the northern hemisphere.

“Thickness is a sign of long-lasting ice cap, and at this moment, it’s not looking good,” said Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center tin an interview.

The satellite data reveals that warm 2007 summer saw the smallest ice covered area ever recorded in the Artic region, and scientists warns that the condition could remain the same in 2008 also. The ice level of Artic region is declining at a faster rate over the last three decades especially in the last year, when it recorded its lowest level. Scientists told that this situation is created by human-generated climate change.

(more…)

PASADENA, Calif. - New observations made by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggest that Rhea, the second-largest moon of Saturn, may have rings. If the rings were confirmed, it would be the first moon to have a ring system around it.

The Cassini spacecraft had detected a large debris disk which appeared to be like rings around the 950-mile-wide moon Rhea. Scientists firmly believe that the discs are composed of particles ranging from the size of pebbles to big rocks.

In contrast to the rings around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the alleged arcs around Rhea remain invisible and cannot be seen directly. Scientists confirmed the existence of arcs based on the measurements made by Cassini, which detected a fall in electrons on both sides of the moon, indicating that the existence of rings was absorbing the electrons.

This is an artist concept of the ring of debris that may orbit Saturn’s second-largest moon, Rhea. The suggested disk of solid material is exaggerated in density here for clarity.

Credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL

It’s uncertain that when the rings would have originated, one thing is certain that they originated as a result of a collision of an asteroid or comet which took place long ago that disgorged the debris around Rhea.

(more…)

Honolulu - The U.S. war ship “Lake Erie” blasted a disabled spy satellite with a tactical SM-3 missile, which exactly strikes the school bus-sized satellite that was traveling at a speed of more than 7000 miles per hour. It had attained the ultimate target of exploding a tank of toxic hydrazine fuel at a height of 133 nautical miles above the Pacific Ocean, said the defense officials.

Demolishing the satellite’s hazardous fuel tank containing 1,000 pounds of hydrazine fuel was the primary goal, said a senior defense official on Thursday. He said it seems that the tank was totally demolished, and the pinpoint strike with a specially designed missile was an absolute success.

Many international leaders had protested against this as they see this incident as a thinly disguised attempt to test an anti-satellite weapon — one that could destroy rival country’s spy satellite and orbiting communications.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. “China is always having a watchful eye over the possible harm that was created by U.S. action to outer space security and relevant countries.”

(more…)

Paris – Scientists have discovered immense oil resources in Titan, which is a moon of Saturn. The oil reserve of Titan is estimated to be several hundred times greater than that of earth.

An artist’s imagination of hydrocarbon pools, icy and rocky terrain on the surface of Saturn’s largest moon Titan.
Credits: Steven Hobbs

The immense reserve is detected at a location which is 1.2 billion kilometers i.e., approximately 750 million miles away from Earth, where average temperature itself will be minus 179 degrees Celsius.

Titan has several hundreds times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the available oil and natural gas reserves on Earth, said the European Space Agency (ESA).

In Titan, the ethane and methane falls from the sky in the form of rain, forming massive lakes and seas. It is believed that complex organic molecules called tholins are responsible for Titan’s oily dunes, said the ESA.

(more…)