The Juno spacecraft of the&nbsp;National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shattered the false notions about the origin of zodiacal light or 'false dawns'.

The zodiacal light is sunlight reflected by dust particles between the Sun and Earth and is best seen close to sunrise or sunset. As its name implies, this celestial glow appears in the ring of constellations known as the zodiac. These are found along the ecliptic, which is the eastward apparent “path” that the Sun traces across Earth’s sky.

Astronomers have believed that zodiacal light&nbsp;is&nbsp;brought into the inner solar system by a few of the asteroid and comet families that venture in from afar.

An instrument aboard the Juno spacecraft serendipitously detected dust particles slamming into the spacecraft during its journey from Earth to Jupiter.

The impacts provided important clues to the origin and orbital evolution of the dust, resolving some mysterious variations of the zodiacal light. The discovery has big implications.

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John Leif Jørgensen, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark, said&nbsp;&nbsp;“I never thought we’d be looking for interplanetary dust.”

He designed&nbsp;the four star trackers that are part of Juno’s magnetometer investigation. These onboard cameras snap photos of the sky every quarter of a second to determine Juno’s orientation in space by recognizing star patterns in its images — an engineering task essential to the magnetometer’s accuracy.&nbsp;

It wasn’t until the researchers calculated the apparent size and velocity of the objects in the images that they finally realized something: Dust grains had smashed into Juno at about 10,000 miles (or 16,000 kilometers) per hour, chipping off submillimeter pieces. “Even though we’re talking about objects with only a tiny bit of mass, they pack a mean punch,” said Jack Connerney, Juno’s magnetometer investigation lead, and the mission’s deputy principal investigator, who’s based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

As it turned out, the spray of debris was coming from Juno’s expansive solar panels — the biggest and most sensitive unintended dust detector ever built.

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“Each piece of debris we tracked records the impact of an interplanetary dust particle, allowing us to compile a distribution of dust along Juno’s path,” Connerney said. Juno launched in 2011. After a deep-space manoeuvre in the asteroid belt in 2012, it returned to the inner solar system for an Earth gravity assist in 2013, which catapulted the spacecraft towards Jupiter.

Connerney and Jørgensen noticed that the majority of dust impacts were recorded between Earth and the asteroid belt, with gaps in the distribution related to the influence of Jupiter’s gravity.

According to scientists, this was a radical revelation. Before now, scientists have been unable to measure the distribution of these dust particles in space. Dedicated dust detectors have had limited collection areas and thus limited sensitivity to a sparse population of dust.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/astronomers-detect-best-place-and-time-to-live-in-milky-way-368901">Astronomers detect best place and time to live in Milky Way</a>

They mostly count the more abundant and much smaller dust particles from interstellar space. In comparison, Juno’s expansive solar panels have 1,000 times more collection area than most dust detectors.

Juno scientists determined that the dust cloud ends at Earth because Earth’s gravity sucks up all the dust that gets near it. “That’s the dust we see as zodiacal light,” Jørgensen said.

As for the outer edge, around 2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun (1 AU is the distance between Earth and the Sun), it ends just beyond Mars. At that point, the scientists report, the influence of Jupiter’s gravity acts as a barrier, preventing dust particles from crossing from the inner solar system into deep space. This same phenomenon, known as orbital resonance, also works the other way, where it blocks dust originating in deep space from passing into the inner solar system.

The profound influence of the gravity barrier indicates that the dust particles are in a nearly circular orbit around the Sun, Jørgensen said. “And the only object we know of in almost circular orbit around 2 AU is Mars, so the natural thought is that Mars is a source of this dust,” he said.

“The distribution of dust that we measure better be consistent with the variation of zodiacal light that has been observed,” Connerney said. The researchers developed a computer model to predict the light reflected by the dust cloud, dispersed by gravitational interaction with Jupiter that scatters the dust into a thicker disk. The scattering depends only on two quantities: the dust inclination to the ecliptic and its orbital eccentricity. When the researchers plugged in the orbital elements of Mars, the distribution accurately predicted the tell-tale signature of the variation of zodiacal light near the ecliptic. “That is, in my view, a confirmation that we know exactly how these particles are orbiting in our solar system,” Connerney said, “and where they originate.”

While there is good evidence now that Mars, the dustiest planet we know of, is the source of the zodiacal light, Jørgensen and his colleagues cannot yet explain how the dust could have escaped the grip of Martian gravity. They hope other scientists will help them.

In the meantime, the researchers note that finding the true distribution and density of dust particles in the solar system will help engineers design spacecraft materials that can better withstand dust impacts. Knowing the precise distribution of dust may also guide the design of flight paths for future spacecraft in order to avoid the highest concentration of particles. Tiny particles traveling at such high velocities can gouge up to 1,000 times their mass from a spacecraft.

Juno’s solar arrays escaped harm because the solar cells are well protected against impact on the back&nbsp;or dark&nbsp;side of the array by the support structure.

The Juno spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shattered the false notions about the origin of zodiacal light or 'false dawns'.

The Juno spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shattered the false notions about the origin of zodiacal light or 'false dawns'. The zodiacal light is sunlight reflected by dust particles between the Sun and Earth and is best seen close to sunrise or sunset. As its name implies, this celestial glow appears in the ring of constellations known as the zodiac. These are found along the ecliptic, which is the eastward apparent “path” that the Sun traces across Earth’s sky. Astronomers have believed that zodiacal light is brought into the inner solar system by a few of the asteroid and comet families that venture in from afar. An instrument aboard the Juno spacecraft serendipitously detected dust particles slamming into the spacecraft during its journey from Earth to Jupiter. The impacts provided important clues to the origin and orbital evolution of the dust, resolving some mysterious variations of the zodiacal light. The discovery has big implications. John Leif Jørgensen, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark, said “I never thought we’d be looking for interplanetary dust.” He designed the four star trackers that are part of Juno’s magnetometer investigation. These onboard cameras snap photos of the sky every quarter of a second to determine Juno’s orientation in space by recognizing star patterns in its images — an engineering task essential to the magnetometer’s accuracy. It wasn’t until the researchers calculated the apparent size and velocity of the objects in the images that they finally realized something: Dust grains had smashed into Juno at about 10,000 miles (or 16,000 kilometers) per hour, chipping off submillimeter pieces. “Even though we’re talking about objects with only a tiny bit of mass, they pack a mean punch,” said Jack Connerney, Juno’s magnetometer investigation lead, and the mission’s deputy principal investigator, who’s based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. As it turned out, the spray of debris was coming from Juno’s expansive solar panels — the biggest and most sensitive unintended dust detector ever built. “Each piece of debris we tracked records the impact of an interplanetary dust particle, allowing us to compile a distribution of dust along Juno’s path,” Connerney said. Juno launched in 2011. After a deep-space manoeuvre in the asteroid belt in 2012, it returned to the inner solar system for an Earth gravity assist in 2013, which catapulted the spacecraft towards Jupiter. Connerney and Jørgensen noticed that the majority of dust impacts were recorded between Earth and the asteroid belt, with gaps in the distribution related to the influence of Jupiter’s gravity. According to scientists, this was a radical revelation. Before now, scientists have been unable to measure the distribution of these dust particles in space. Dedicated dust detectors have had limited collection areas and thus limited sensitivity to a sparse population of dust. Also read: Astronomers detect best place and time to live in Milky Way They mostly count the more abundant and much smaller dust particles from interstellar space. In comparison, Juno’s expansive solar panels have 1,000 times more collection area than most dust detectors. Juno scientists determined that the dust cloud ends at Earth because Earth’s gravity sucks up all the dust that gets near it. “That’s the dust we see as zodiacal light,” Jørgensen said. As for the outer edge, around 2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun (1 AU is the distance between Earth and the Sun), it ends just beyond Mars. At that point, the scientists report, the influence of Jupiter’s gravity acts as a barrier, preventing dust particles from crossing from the inner solar system into deep space. This same phenomenon, known as orbital resonance, also works the other way, where it blocks dust originating in deep space from passing into the inner solar system. The profound influence of the gravity barrier indicates that the dust particles are in a nearly circular orbit around the Sun, Jørgensen said. “And the only object we know of in almost circular orbit around 2 AU is Mars, so the natural thought is that Mars is a source of this dust,” he said. “The distribution of dust that we measure better be consistent with the variation of zodiacal light that has been observed,” Connerney said. The researchers developed a computer model to predict the light reflected by the dust cloud, dispersed by gravitational interaction with Jupiter that scatters the dust into a thicker disk. The scattering depends only on two quantities: the dust inclination to the ecliptic and its orbital eccentricity. When the researchers plugged in the orbital elements of Mars, the distribution accurately predicted the tell-tale signature of the variation of zodiacal light near the ecliptic. “That is, in my view, a confirmation that we know exactly how these particles are orbiting in our solar system,” Connerney said, “and where they originate.” While there is good evidence now that Mars, the dustiest planet we know of, is the source of the zodiacal light, Jørgensen and his colleagues cannot yet explain how the dust could have escaped the grip of Martian gravity. They hope other scientists will help them. In the meantime, the researchers note that finding the true distribution and density of dust particles in the solar system will help engineers design spacecraft materials that can better withstand dust impacts. Knowing the precise distribution of dust may also guide the design of flight paths for future spacecraft in order to avoid the highest concentration of particles. Tiny particles traveling at such high velocities can gouge up to 1,000 times their mass from a spacecraft. Juno’s solar arrays escaped harm because the solar cells are well protected against impact on the back or dark side of the array by the support structure.

NASA's Juno probe solves mystery of 'false dawns'

The biggest crater of the moon, which covers nearly a quarter of its surface, has revealed new information regarding its formation and scientists believe it has ''tremendous implications''.

The study published in JGR planets shows an analysis of the&nbsp;South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA), that is 2500km in diametres and approximately 8.2 km deep, that has refined the timeline of the development of lunar mantle and crust.

According to&nbsp;Daniel Moriarty,&nbsp;planetary geologist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and&nbsp;the lead researcher of the study, ''These results&nbsp;have important implications for understanding the formation and evolution of the Moon.''

Like the Earth, the Moon is layered into a crust and mantle. The Moon's layering was shaped by an early global melting event known as the “Lunar Magma Ocean.”

As the magma ocean solidified, dense minerals sank to form the mantle, while less dense minerals floated to form the crust.

Elements such as thorium are not easily incorporated into mineral structures and remain in the liquid. Because of this, a thorium-rich dreg layer was sandwiched between the crust and mantle. These dregs are very dense and are expected to sink into the underlying mantle during or soon after crystallization.

The Moon's largest and oldest impact basin excavated material from this dense, thorium-rich layer before it sank.

The exposed material was then diluted and obscured by four billion years of impact cratering and volcanic eruptions. However, we identify several pristine exposures created by recent craters.

The impact basin also melted rocks from greater depths than the rocks it ejected. These melted rocks exhibit a much different composition.

This indicates that the lunar upper mantle included two compositionally distinct layers that were exposed in different ways by this large impact event. These results have important implications for understanding the formation and evolution of the Moon.

The researchers&nbsp;wrote in their paper ''Formation of the South Pole-Aitken Basin is among the most ancient and important events in lunar history. Not only did it affect the thermal and chemical evolution of the lunar mantle, but it preserved heterogeneous mantle materials on the lunar surface in the form of ejecta and impact melt.''

''As we enter into a new age of international and commercial lunar exploration, these mantle materials at the lunar surface must be considered amongst the highest-priority targets for the advancement of planetary science," they added.

The biggest crater of the moon, which covers nearly a quarter of its surface, has revealed new information regarding its formation and scientists believe it has ''tremendous implications''.

The biggest crater of the moon, which covers nearly a quarter of its surface, has revealed new information regarding its formation and scientists believe it has ''tremendous implications''. The study published in JGR planets shows an analysis of the South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA), that is 2500km in diametres and approximately 8.2 km deep, that has refined the timeline of the development of lunar mantle and crust. According to Daniel Moriarty, planetary geologist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the lead researcher of the study, ''These results have important implications for understanding the formation and evolution of the Moon.'' Like the Earth, the Moon is layered into a crust and mantle. The Moon's layering was shaped by an early global melting event known as the “Lunar Magma Ocean.” As the magma ocean solidified, dense minerals sank to form the mantle, while less dense minerals floated to form the crust. Elements such as thorium are not easily incorporated into mineral structures and remain in the liquid. Because of this, a thorium-rich dreg layer was sandwiched between the crust and mantle. These dregs are very dense and are expected to sink into the underlying mantle during or soon after crystallization. The Moon's largest and oldest impact basin excavated material from this dense, thorium-rich layer before it sank. The exposed material was then diluted and obscured by four billion years of impact cratering and volcanic eruptions. However, we identify several pristine exposures created by recent craters. The impact basin also melted rocks from greater depths than the rocks it ejected. These melted rocks exhibit a much different composition. This indicates that the lunar upper mantle included two compositionally distinct layers that were exposed in different ways by this large impact event. These results have important implications for understanding the formation and evolution of the Moon. The researchers wrote in their paper ''Formation of the South Pole-Aitken Basin is among the most ancient and important events in lunar history. Not only did it affect the thermal and chemical evolution of the lunar mantle, but it preserved heterogeneous mantle materials on the lunar surface in the form of ejecta and impact melt.'' ''As we enter into a new age of international and commercial lunar exploration, these mantle materials at the lunar surface must be considered amongst the highest-priority targets for the advancement of planetary science," they added.

'Tremendous implications': Moon's biggest crater reveals lunar formation secrets

In a first, astronomers of the&nbsp;NASA's&nbsp;Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS&nbsp;have found&nbsp;a system of six stars made of three eclipsing binaries.

The primary stars in all three binaries are all slightly bigger and more massive than the Sun and about as hot.&nbsp;The system,&nbsp;also called TIC 168789840, is located about 1,900 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus.

TESS, roughly the size of a refrigerator with solar-panel wings, is equipped with four special cameras to survey 200,000 stars that are relatively near the sun and thus among the brightest in the sky, seeking out those with planets of their own.

Like Kepler, TESS&nbsp;uses a detection method called transit photometry, which looks for periodic, repetitive dips in the visible light from stars caused by planets passing, or transiting, in front of them.

Researchers&nbsp;analysed the data using autonomous software trained to recognise the tell-tale brightness dips of eclipsing binaries. Among the 450,000 candidates, they&nbsp;identified at least 100 with potentially three or more stars, including the new sextuple system.

The researchers incorporated archival measurements and also obtained follow-up observations with ground-based facilities.&nbsp;

The system consists of three gravitationally-bound eclipsing binaries in a hierarchical structure of an inner quadruple system with an outer binary subsystem.

As a consequence of its rare composition, structure, and orientation, this object can provide important new insight into the formation, dynamics, and evolution of multiple star systems.&nbsp;

Martin Still, the TESS program scientist for NASA, said more than 50 rocky, Earth- or super-Earth-sized planets have previously been identified, and NASA expects to increase that number through the new mission.

The most favourable discoveries will undergo closer scrutiny by a new generation of larger, more powerful telescopes now under development that will search for telltale signs of water and “the kinds of gases in their atmospheres that on Earth are an indication of life,” Hertz said.

In a first, astronomers of the NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS have found a system of six stars made of three eclipsing binaries. The primary stars in all three binaries are all slightly bigger and more massive than the Sun and about as hot.

In a first, astronomers of the NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS have found a system of six stars made of three eclipsing binaries. The primary stars in all three binaries are all slightly bigger and more massive than the Sun and about as hot. The system, also called TIC 168789840, is located about 1,900 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. TESS, roughly the size of a refrigerator with solar-panel wings, is equipped with four special cameras to survey 200,000 stars that are relatively near the sun and thus among the brightest in the sky, seeking out those with planets of their own. Like Kepler, TESS uses a detection method called transit photometry, which looks for periodic, repetitive dips in the visible light from stars caused by planets passing, or transiting, in front of them. Researchers analysed the data using autonomous software trained to recognise the tell-tale brightness dips of eclipsing binaries. Among the 450,000 candidates, they identified at least 100 with potentially three or more stars, including the new sextuple system. The researchers incorporated archival measurements and also obtained follow-up observations with ground-based facilities. The system consists of three gravitationally-bound eclipsing binaries in a hierarchical structure of an inner quadruple system with an outer binary subsystem. As a consequence of its rare composition, structure, and orientation, this object can provide important new insight into the formation, dynamics, and evolution of multiple star systems. Martin Still, the TESS program scientist for NASA, said more than 50 rocky, Earth- or super-Earth-sized planets have previously been identified, and NASA expects to increase that number through the new mission. The most favourable discoveries will undergo closer scrutiny by a new generation of larger, more powerful telescopes now under development that will search for telltale signs of water and “the kinds of gases in their atmospheres that on Earth are an indication of life,” Hertz said.

Astronomers find a system of six stars made of three eclipsing binaries

Earth Day 2019 is being observed in Latin America and around the world and something people everywhere will notice: it's getting hotter.

NASA images show climate change impact in LatAm