WillGater.com

I’m always impressed by the images that come back from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). This new one released a few days ago (below) is no exception. It shows a region called Hebes Chasma, a vast gauge into the martian surface around 8 kilometres deep! The incredible feature is located just above the main canyon on Mars, the impressive and truly staggering in size (3000km long!), Valles Marineris. Each pixel in the image corresponds to 15 metres on the martian surface.

Scientists studying the image believe it shows evidence of landslides, depositions and other hints of a terrain shaped by erosion, large-scale geological activity and water. In fact recently the spectrometer on-board Mars Express detected signs of water-bearing minerals around Hebes Chasma showing that there have clearly been, according to ESA, “significant quantities of water” there in the past. To see more images as well as the high-res versions visit the ESA page here. If you have got some 3D specs then have a look at the anaglyph below to see Hebes Chasma in perspective.

Also a quick mention to thank all the people who came to my Hubble talk in Torquay on the 20th. It was good to visit Torbay again and to see many faces from the Torbay Astronomical Society which I haven’t seen for a while. I’m going to be heading over to Belfast on Tuesday for a few days for the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2008. When I get a moment I will post about some of the fascinating discoveries and announcements that always come up at NAM. It seems I will be in good company!

Top image: Hebes Chasma from the HRSC on Mars Express
Bottom image: A 3D anaglyph of the Hebes Chasma region
Image credits: ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The Hubble Space Telescope has recently found the organic molecule methane on the extrasolar planet HD 189733b. Here’s a section of the ESA press release below.

“Under the right circumstances methane can play a key role in prebiotic chemistry – the chemical reactions considered necessary to form life as we know it. Although methane has been detected on most of the planets in our Solar System, this is the first time any organic molecule has been detected on a world orbiting another star”

With an atmospheric temperature of around 900 degrees there certainly isn’t going to be life (at least as we know it) on HD 189733b. The importance of this observation is more that it is “proof that spectroscopy can eventually be done on a cooler and potentially habitable Earth-sized planet orbiting a dimmer red dwarf-type star” says Mark Swain who led the team that made the discovery at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

I saw this exciting news come in when I was working with the Hubble group in Germany and I began scripting a Hubblecast to cover the result. To see the finished piece visit the ESA Hubblecast no.14 page here.

Above: An artist’s impression of HD 189733b around its parent star.
Credit: Credit: ESA, NASA and G. Tinetti (University College London, UK & ESA)

I have a new feature article (my first cover feature!) in April’s issue of BBC Sky At Night magazine, which is in the shops on Tuesday 18th March.

The article covers the proposed MoonLITE probe, a UK mission to send a small spacecraft to the Moon deploying four missiles to study the lunar surface. The missiles (or ‘penetrators’ as they are actually called) will impact the surface and remain there working for about a year. They will create a seismometer network as well as carry out geological and chemical analyses of the lunar surface. It’s a fascinating proposal. You can get the full story and read several expert interviews in the article.

You shouldn’t fail to miss the cover in the shops, the graphic designers and illustrators who worked on this article have really brought the story to life. So if you do spot the magazine grab a copy and find out how the UK may soon be joining the return to the Moon!

N.b. If you are in south-east England on Wednesday (19th March), at 10:30am, tune into BBC Radio Kent as I will be speaking live with Dominic King about MoonLITE. If you are in or around Cumbria I will be talking live to Ian Timms about the mission on BBC Radio Cumbria at 12:40pm the same day.

Just a reminder to those of you in the south-west UK that on Thursday evening ( 20.03.08 ) I will be giving a lecture to the Torbay Astronomical Society. The title of the talk is “Not just pretty pictures - the science behind Hubble’s greatest images”.

All are welcome and the talk starts at around 7:30pm at Torquay Boys’ Grammar School. For information on how to get there and visitor fees see the TAS website.