The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center comments on the Emirates project to explore the moon

And the statement, which was published by the center on its Twitter page, said, “After iSpace announced that the Hakuto R spacecraft had failed to land, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center commends the great efforts made by ispace, the mission partner, which spared no effort to achieve a successful landing on the surface of the Earth.” the moon".

The statement added, "The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center has successfully achieved the goal of designing and developing the explorer, and launching it into lunar orbit is in itself a very important achievement, despite the failure of the explorer and other payloads on board the vehicle to fulfill its missions according to the planned approach. We thank the National Center for Studies." France's satellite channel for his practical and technical contribution throughout the mission, and we also appreciate the contributions of all our local and international partners.

In its statement, the center indicated that it "acquired valuable scientific expertise and experiences from this mission, which it will benefit from in achieving more achievements in the field of space exploration. Source: Twitter / the official page of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center

A mysterious asteroid close to Earth gets even stranger after discovering its tail

A new study shows that the comet-like activity of the strange asteroid Phaethon cannot be explained by any kind of dust.

3200 Phaethon, also known as 1983 TB, was discovered on October 11, 1983 by astronomers Simon Green and John Davis, in data from NASA's Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS).

This asteroid has a diameter of about 5.1 km (3.2 miles), and it is the third largest near-Earth asteroid classified as "potentially dangerous" after the two asteroids (53319) 1999 JM8 and 4183 Cuno.

Phaethon is the source of the Gemini meteor shower that occurs in mid-December each year, although comets are responsible for most of the meteor showers.

The asteroid belongs to the so-called Apollo asteroids, as its semi-major orbital axis is larger than Earth's at 190 million km (118 million miles or 1.27 astronomical units).

In 2009, NASA's Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spotted a short tail extending from Phaethon, as the asteroid reached its closest point to the sun - or perihelion - over the course of 524 days.

Ordinary telescopes had not seen the tail before because it only forms when Phaethon is too close to the Sun to be observed, except by solar observatories.

STEREO also saw Phaethon's tail evolve according to subsequent solar approaches in 2012 and 2016. And the appearance of the tail supported the idea that dust was escaping from the surface of the asteroid as it was being burned by the Sun. And in 2018, observations from NASA's Parker Solar Probe showed that the trail contained far more material than Phaethon could throw up during its approach to the sun.

The new study using two NASA solar observatories revealed that Phaethon's tail is not dusty at all but is actually made of sodium gas.

"Our analysis shows that Phaethon's comet-like activity cannot be explained by any kind of dust," said Caltech doctoral student Qishang Zhang, lead author of the paper published in the Planetary Science Journal.

Asteroids, which are mostly rocky, do not form tails when they approach the sun. Comets, however, are mixtures of ice and rock, and usually form tails as the sun vaporizes their ice, blasting material off their surfaces and leaving trails along their orbits.

When Earth passes through the debris trail, those fragments burn up in our atmosphere and produce a swarm of shooting stars - a meteor shower.

Zhang's team wondered if something other than dust might be behind Phaethon's comet-like behaviour. "Comets often glow brightly by emitting sodium when they are very close to the sun, so we suspect that sodium could play a major role in the brightness of Phaethon," Zhang said.

A previous study, based on models and lab tests, indicated that the sun's intense heat during Phaethon's close solar approach could actually vaporize sodium inside the asteroid and lead to comet-like activity.

Hoping to find out what the tail really is made of, Zhang and co-authors searched for it again during Phaethon's nadir in 2022.

The team used the SOHO Observatory - a joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency - which has colored filters that can detect sodium and dust.

Scientists also searched archive images from "SOHO" and STEREO, and found the tail during 18 close approaches to Phaethon from the sun between 1997 and 2022.

The tail of the asteroid appeared bright in the filter that detects sodium, but it did not appear in the filter that monitors dust. In addition, the shape of the tail and the way it glows when Phaethon passes the sun matches exactly what scientists would expect if it was made of sodium, but not if it was made of dust.

This evidence indicates that Phaethon's tail is made of sodium, not dust.

Now the big question remains: If Phaethon doesn't kick up so much dust, how does it supply the asteroid with the material for the Gemini meteor shower?

Astronomers say: "We suspect that some kind of disruptive event a few thousand years ago - perhaps a piece of the asteroid broke apart under the pressures of Phaethon's rotation - caused Phaethon to eject a billion tons of material estimated to form the Gemini debris stream. But this event remains a mystery." . Source: phys.org

Are we about to enter the maximum solar energy? An expert explains what to expect!

We appear to be approaching the next solar maximum, which is expected to begin in 2025.

The sun's maximum represents the peak of solar activity when the sun's magnetic field reaches its strongest, most turbulent, and dynamic point.

This increased solar activity can cause extreme weather events in space, including flares and solar flares. It can also disrupt radio communications and the power grid and have serious health consequences for astronauts. And the risks are primarily to the extensive infrastructure. On an individual level, it is unlikely that people on Earth will see the effects of solar extremes directly.

This maximum sun is likely to be stronger than the last.

Solar cycles typically last 11 years, and solar maximum occurs approximately in the middle of each cycle. The last solar maximum occurred between 2012 and 2014 and was particularly weak - one of the smallest in about 100 years. Thus, the space weather was generally weaker than normal.

However, it appears that the next solar maximum may return to intermediate values. This means that we may see more impact on space weather and related possible consequences.

Solar activity is primarily caused by the turbulent motions of plasma within the sun, which creates and alters the sun's magnetic field.

The sun's magnetic field reaches its peak intensity during solar maximum, which generates an increase in events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections.

Solar flares are made up of high-energy photons, such as X-rays, that can increase ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere and disrupt radio communications.

On the other hand, CMEs are explosions of the solar magnetic field and material that feed geomagnetic storms. These disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field can damage the power distribution network.

During solar maximum, we'll also see more bursts of high-energy particles hurtling towards Earth. These eruptions are four times more likely to occur during solar maximum than at solar minimum.

Since the particles in these explosions are radiation, they pose a significant health risk to astronauts, passengers and crew members on high-altitude aircraft. It can also damage space equipment and lead to the loss of a satellite. Many of the effects of solar maximums are ephemeral, which remains one of the greatest challenges in the study of space weather.

For example, it is often difficult to definitively link a problem in the power grid to space weather — even if solar activity causes the problem. The only tangible effect we can predict with confidence is that you will likely see the aurorae, also known as the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights, more frequently at different latitudes.

During the sun's maximum, the greater number of solar particles interacting with molecules in Earth's atmosphere leads to brighter aspects of the aurora borealis, which can extend farther north or south than usual.

Scientists also found signals of the solar cycle - such as changes in temperature and ozone levels - in Earth's stratosphere.

And while scientists include these changes from the sun when considering long-term climate changes, these effects on climate are not as large or severe as factors such as volcanoes, carbon dioxide emissions, and other human activities.

Our collective reliance on technology and space increases every year, making space weather an ever-increasing risk.

The threat they pose to the power grid is of greater concern, not least because of the cascading dangers of prolonged power loss.

And it all comes down to possibility. A stronger solar cycle just means a greater likelihood of extreme weather events in space. Severe space weather is not guaranteed.

In fact, extreme space weather can occur even in small solar cycles. During Cycle 24's small solar maximum, a spacecraft far from Earth encountered one of the most energetic coronal mass ejections ever recorded.

A CME of this scale directed at Earth can cause serious disruptions to the power distribution network or significant damage to satellite equipment.

This article is reportedly based on a conversation with Matthew Owens, Professor of Space Physics at the University of Reading who researches space science and weather as it relates to solar activity and solar maximums. Source: ScienceAlert

An asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower is traveling at breakneck speed in a close encounter with Earth today

Astronomers announced that a huge space rock the size of the Eiffel Tower will pass close to our planet on April 26, traveling at a huge speed of 38,922 miles per hour (62,638 km / h).

NASA classifies asteroid 2006 HV5 as "Potentially Hazardous" (PHA) because it is large enough to cause significant damage in the event of a collision.

The space rock, which is estimated to be 1,000 feet (300 m) in diameter, will pass 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) from Earth, which is 6.3 times the distance from Earth to the moon.

While that's a comfortable margin, in astronomical terms it still qualifies as a near-home pass.

Astrophysicist Dr. Susanna Kohler of the American Astronomical Society said that 2006 HV5 is listed as a rare Class 2 in the NASA Center for Near-Earth Object Studies database, which means that, on average, an asteroid of this size or larger will approach Earth once. Only one a year.

Dr. Kohler added that the 2006 HV5 will not be visible to the naked eye. She said: "Asteroids do not emit their own visible light, so we observe them primarily through the sunlight they reflect. At its closest approach to us, 2006 HV5 will still be bright enough to see it with the largest telescopes."

Dr. Kohler indicated that NASA has enough information about the whereabouts of asteroid 2006 HV5 and where it will be for many years to come.

With 260 observations since 2006, over a period of 17 years, astronomers can calculate the orbit of 2006 HV5 and thus its past, present and future positions with great accuracy.

2006 HV5 belongs to the so-called Aten group of asteroids, whose orbits make them all close to Earth.

2006 HV5 is one of more than 31,000 NEOs identified so far, many of which are believed to be waiting to be discovered in the dark of space.

This definition (near-Earth object) does not a priori mean that such space rocks pose a real danger to Earth. Instead, this classification is given to those objects that meet two criteria: the first is that their orbits come within 4,600,000 miles (7,402,964 km) of our planet, which is 18 times the distance from Earth to the Moon. And second, it must be larger than the size of a given sill, 460 feet (140 m) wide—as determined by measuring its apparent brightness.

Fortunately for humanity, if any of these asteroids end up on a collision course with Earth, NASA scientists are working on plans for a planetary defense system, similar to the Double Asteroid Redirection (DART) tested last September. Source: Express