Copernical Team
Looming US intelligence report to address UFOs
Are aliens watching us? That's what Americans hope to find out when a report on the US government's secret files on UFOs goes to Congress next month after years of sightings and videos suggesting that highly advanced extraterrestrials are, indeed, out there. But the report from the Director of National Intelligence, pulled together with classified military files, could fall short of exp
Jupiter antenna that came in from the cold
GM's newest vehicle: Off-road, self-driving rover for moon
Reconstructing 3D magnetic topology of on-disk solar prominence bubbles
Solar prominences or filaments are cool and dense plasma structures suspended in the hot and tenuous corona.
Recent high-resolution solar limb observations reveal that some dark "bubbles" with bright arch-like boundaries form below prominences. It is puzzling that how these bubbles, semi-circular voids, form below dense prominences.
Ph.D. student Guo Yilin from National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), together with Dr. Hou Yijun, Dr. Li Ting, and Prof. Zhang Jun, found and investigated an on-disk bubble based on stereoscopic observations for the first time.
The study was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
It is widely accepted that bubbles are closely related to the overlying prominence system and could eventually lead to the generation of a coronal mass ejection. This has serious effect on space weather.
"However, previous studies are all based on the solar limb observations or numerical simulations. If the bubble could be found on the solar disk, we could unveil the magnetic nature of the bubble," said Dr.
Buildup to super blood moon eclipses the finale
In the end, the buildup seemed to eclipse the finale.
European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)
EUSPA is the only European Union agency dedicated to space. Our unique mission is to serve as the essential link between space technology and user needs, translating the European Union’s investment in space into valuable, reliable services for European citizens.
EUSPA is responsible for operational management of the EGNOS and Galileo satellite navigation programmes and for ensuring the continuous provision of their services. This involves the management, operation, maintenance, continuous improvement, evolution and protection of the systems’ infrastructure, including upgrades and obsolescence management. The Agency is also responsible for developing future generations of the systems, the evolution of their services, and for activities related to th extension of their coverage.
Our responsibilities also include overseeing the operation of such key service facilities as the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre (GSMC) in France and in Spain, the European GNSS Service Centre (GSC) in Spain, the Galileo Reference Centre (GRC) in the Netherlands, the Galileo Control Centres (GCC) in Italy and Germany and the Galileo Integrated Logistic Support Centre (GILSC) in Belgium.
An important element of our work at EUSPA is to support the development of downstream and integrated applications based on Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus, including through the Fundamental Elements funding mechanism and Horizon Europe. We also support the development of fundamental technological elements, such as Galileo-enabled chipsets and receivers, and provide the European Commission with expertise, including in preparing research priorities related to the downstream space market.
Another key part of our work is communications, market development and promotion of Galileo and EGNOS, and of the data, information and services offered by Copernicus, to promote user uptake of these data and services with a view to maximising their socio-economic benefits.
A core task for EUSPA is security of the EU Space Programme. This includes security accreditation of all components of the space programme, through the Security Accreditation Board. EUSPA is also responsible for the operational security of Galileo and EGNOS, which is provided through the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre, and for the provision and delivery of the Galileo Public Regulated Service for governmental users.
EUSPA has been entrusted with coordination of user-related aspects of the European Union Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM), in close collaboration with Member States and other involved entities.
The EC may also entrust the Agency with tasks related to the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme, particularly regarding programme security and the delivery of Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) services. In addition, the EC may entrust EUSPA with tasks related to the Quantum Communication Initiative (QCI) and the broader Secure Connectivity Initiative.
At the heart of our work at EUSPA are our efforts to support an innovative and competitive EU space sector, to ensure that space continues to drive innovation-based growth in Europe, delivering services and applications that meet the challenges that we face and supporting the implementation of priority EU policies.
Glittering moon rises ahead of super blood moon
A glittering full moon rose over New Zealand on Wednesday night as people there and around the world waited for a cosmic event known as a super blood moon.
It's when a full lunar eclipse coincides with a supermoon, which is when the moon is particularly close to Earth and appears brighter than normal.
For about 15 minutes, as the moon moves fully into Earth's shadow, the moon will appear to turn red.
Europa's interior may be hot enough to fuel seafloor volcanoes
Jupiter's moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea volcanoes.
New research and computer modeling show that volcanic activity may have occurred on the seafloor of Jupiter's moon Europa in the recent past—and may still be happening. NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission, targeting a 2024 launch, will swoop close to the icy moon and collect measurements that may shed light on the recent findings.
Alpha Data Launches new Space Development Kit
Alpha Data, in collaboration with Xilinx and Texas Instruments, has launched a new Space Development Kit, the ADA-SDEV-KIT3, which will help users to rapidly test the hardware and software setups that look to incorporate the Xilinx Radiation Tolerant Kintex UltraScale XQRKU060 Space-Grade FPGA. Alpha Data's new Space Development Kit, the ADA-SDEV-KIT3, is a development kit for the Xilinx R
Plasma jets reveal magnetic fields far, far away
For the first time, researchers have observed plasma jets interacting with magnetic fields in a massive galaxy cluster 600 million light years away, thanks to the help of radio telescopes and supercomputer simulations. The findings, published in the journal Nature, can help clarify how such galaxy clusters evolve. Galaxy clusters can contain up to thousands of galaxies bound together by gr