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Life in space  Europe’s astronauts  ESA’s six new astronaut candidates took part in ESA’s 52nd parabolic flight campaign and flew aboard the Airbus A300 Zero-G aircraft on Friday, 7 May 2010. In between training and performing science experiments, the recruits could enjoy the weightlessness. Adding to the Space Station  A view of the European Columbus laboratory installed in its new home on the International Space Station. Columbus was launched with Space Shuttle Atlantis on 7 February 2008. The new module was installed on the starboard side of the Harmony module during a spacewalk on 11 February 2008. Space medicine  Mars500 520-day isolation crew photographed just before the entry to the facility at 13:49 local time in Moscow (11:49 CET) on 3 June 2010. They will stay in the facility for more than 17 months simulating a mission to Mars. To Mars and beyond  The ExoMars Programme Life on Mars?  This HRSC image provides a perspective view of residual water ice on the floor of Vastitas Borealis Crater on Mars.
The image is centred at 70.17º North latitude and 103.21º East longitude. A habitable Universe  RCW 120 is a galactic bubble with a large surprise. How large? At least 8 times the mass of the Sun. Nestled in the shell around this large bubble is an embryonic star that looks set to turn into one of the brightest stars in the Galaxy. The Galactic bubble is known as RCW 120. It lies about 4300 light-years away and has been formed by a star at its centre. The star is not visible at these infrared wavelengths but pushes on the surrounding dust and gas with nothing more than the power of its starlight. In the 2.5 million years the star has existed. It has raised the density of matter in the bubble wall so much that the quantity trapped there can now collapse to form new stars. The bright knot to the right of the base of the bubble is an unexpectedly large, embryonic star, triggered into formation by the power of the central star. Herschel’s observations have shown that it already contains between 8-10 times the mass of our Sun. The star can only get bigger because it is surrounded by a cloud containing an additional 2000 solar masses. Not all of that will fall onto the star, even the largest stars in the Galaxy do not exceed 150 solar masses. But the question of what stops the matter falling onto the star is a puzzle for modern astronomers. According to theory, stars should stop forming at about 8 solar masses. At that mass they should become so hot that they shine powerfully at ultraviolet wavelengths.
This light should push the surrounding matter away, much as the central star did to form this bubble. But clearly sometimes this mass limit is exceeded otherwise there would be no giant stars in the Galaxy. So astronomers would like to know how some stars can seem to defy physics and grow so large. Is this newly discovered stellar embryo destined to grow into a stellar monster? At the moment, nobody knows but further analysis of this Herschel image could give us invaluable clues. Recipes for life  ESA's Huygens probe descends through Titan's mysterious atmosphere to unveil the hidden surface (artist's impression) Life among the stars?  ESA's Hipparcos satellite saw the shadow of a massive planet passing in front of the star HD 209458 (November 1999). Last update: 22 October 2010 |