News 2010 |
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Amino Acids Found in Meteorites from Asteroid 2008 TC3
GCA scientists Drs. Jason Dworkin, Michael Callahan, and Jamie Elsila analyzed fragments of meteorites from the asteroid 2008 TC3 that were recovered from the Nubian Desert of northern Sudan after its impact on October 7, 2008. To their surprise, they detected 19 different amino acids from the sample. The sample had various minerals that only form under high temperatures, indicating it was forged in a violent collision. The team thinks that it's unlikely amino acids from the colliding parent bodies could have survived the conditions that created the meteorite, which endured temperatures of more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (over 1,100 Celsius) – over a long period. The team is planning experiments to test an alternative way to produce amino acids involving reactions in gases as a very hot asteroid cools down. Having more ways to make amino acids in space would increase the chance for finding life elsewhere in the Universe. - 12.15.2010
Glavin's Paper in Meteoritics and Planetary Science
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Now Accepting Applications for 2011-Undergraduate Research Associates in Astrobiology Program
The 2011 Undergraduate Research Associates in Astrobiology Program (UR-AA) is a 10-week program for undergraduate candidates. Research Associates work with a mentor and participate in weekly seminars, laboratory visits, and a field trip to Greenbank Radio Observatory. The URAA program culminates with a poster presentation and a brief seminar given during the last week of the program in a NAI Forum in Astrobiology Research (FAR) Seminar. The application can be found by clicking the Education and Outreach tab.
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Why the Earth and Mars have more glitzy metals than the Moon
The Moon has much less gold, platinum and palladium (highly siderophile elements) compared to Earth and Mars. These heavy elements were likely delivered to the mantles of Earth, Moon and Mars by asteroid impacts after completion of their respective core formation, via a process termed "late accretion". William Bottke at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado and GCA Co-I Richard Walker at the University of Maryland built a dynamical model of late accretion with impactors of different sizes. They concluded that the disparity in these elemental abundances could be explained if Earth and Mars received their highly siderophile elements from impacts of a very limited number of large (Pluto-size) bodies, whereas the Moon was struck by much smaller bodies. They note that such Moon-impacting bodies could have delivered enough water to provide an alternate explanation for the presence of water in the lunar mantle. -12.09.2010
Nature Blog
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Europa's Hidden Ice Chemistry
Mark Loeffler (GSFC) and Reggie Hudson (GCA) report reactions between two ices at temperatures hundreds of degrees below freezing without the need for radiation to drive the chemistry. The findings could revamp our understanding of Europa and other icy moons. - 10.5.2010
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Dust Models Paint Alien's View of Solar System
Collaboration between scientists at two NASA Astrobiology Institutes: Marc Kuchner (GCA) and Chris Stark (Carnegie Institute of Washington), produced supercomputer simulations tracking the interactions of thousands of dust grains that show what the solar system might look like to alien astronomers searching for planets. The models also provide a glimpse of how this view might have changed as our planetary system matured.
- 09.23.2010
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GCA Releases Video Highlight in Spanish
Geronimo Villanueva talks about the possibility of life on Mars, trips to remote telescopes, and the research opportunities at NASA in Spanish - 09.14.2010
Spanish Video | Other GCA Video Highlights
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Extrasolar Origin of Oort Cloud Comets
GCA Co-I Hal Levison (SwRI) and his international team demonstrated through computer simulations that many of the most well known Oort Cloud comets, including Halley, Hale-Bopp and, most recently, McNaught, may have been born in orbit around other stars. - 6.10.2010
SwRI press release | Science Express Article
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GCA Scientist L.D.Deming Awarded the Tinsley Prize for Detection of IR Radiation from Exoplanets
Dr. L. Drake Deming of the Goddard Center for Astrobiology (GCA) has been named by the American Astronomical Society as the recipient of the 2010 Beatrice Tinsley Prize. The Tinsley Prize is awarded bi-annually for unusually creative or innovative research in astrophysics. Deming was cited for "...detecting thermal infrared emission from transiting extrasolar planets using the Spitzer Space Telescope. - Press Release 1.13.2010 |
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Sun Glints From Space Signal Oceans and Lakes
In two new videos from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft, bright flashes of light known as sun glints act as beacons signaling large bodies of water on Earth. These observations give scientists a way to pick out planets beyond our solar system (extrasolar planets) that are likely to have expanses of liquid, and so stand a better chance of having life. - 01.05.2010 |
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