Hasta La Gadget!

It could be like the 1848 Gold Rush–except for diamond, and on another planet.

Discovery News reports that oceans of liquid diamond, complete with solid diamond icebergs, could be flowing on both Neptune and Uranus. The research, first reported in the journal Nature Physics, found that diamond behaves just like water when freezing or melting, with solid forms floating on top of liquid forms, the report said.

What’s interesting about this is that diamond is very difficult to melt. It’s very hard, and tends to turn into graphite at very high temperatures. That graphite is what melts in the end, the report said. When researchers liquefied the diamond at super-high pressures similar to those found on Uranus and Neptune, and then reduced the temperature later, solid pieces of diamond began to appear that didn’t sink.

Diamond oceans–already theorized numerous times in the past, but even more likely in light of this latest research–could also explain the orientation of Uranus and Neptune’s magnetic fields, the report said. We won’t know the composition for sure without either sending spacecraft there, or simulating the conditions here on Earth; both of which require oodles of money.

And for the record, I was joking about a new Gold Rush. Because that’s all we need: Richard Branson in his SpaceShipTwo flying to Neptune and sticking a flag in its (gaseous) surface.

Astronomers have directly detected the light signature of a planet orbiting another sun-like star for the first time, according to Space.com.

The planet is about 10 times as massive as Jupiter, and orbits between two other giant planets–all of which circle around HR 8799, a very young star about 130 light-years from Earth.

The finding is significant not just for historical and planet discovery reasons, but also because the light signature can tell scientists the chemical makeup of the planet–which would lead to an understanding of how the planet was formed.

To find the planet, the team of astronomers used a ground-based telescope: the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. In the future, the report said the light signatures could help scientists figure out which planets could support life. (Image credit: ESO/HR 8799)

The Hubble Space Telescope, with its newly-added infrared Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), has discovered new “primordial” galaxies 13.2 billion years old–the oldest ever discovered, and just 500 to 600 million years after the Big Bang, the Space Telescope Science Institute reports.

“The deeper Hubble looks into space, the farther back in time it looks, because light takes billions of years to cross the observable universe,” the Space Telescope Science Institute said in a statement.

Five separate international teams of astronomers have analyzed the
WFC3’s new images, first taken from the Ultra Deep Field in August
2009. Many are presenting papers this week at the 215th meeting of the
American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C.

Nine years for a trip is a long time by just about any measure. But it’s already halfway over for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which is currently on track for a 2015 arrival with Pluto. (You know, the non-planet.)

Space.com reports that the craft is now 1.53 billion miles from Earth, and 1.53 billion miles from Pluto. It will first pass Pluto on July 14th, 2015 before dipping into the Kuiper Belt.

“This is the first of several milestones over the next 10 months that mark the halfway points in our journey to the solar system’s frontier, where Pluto lies,” said Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado and New Horizons principal investigator, in the article.

On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to see Alan Stern speak at the Hayden Planetarium in New York back in 2005, right before the craft launched in January 2006. At the time, he characterized the spacecraft as about the size of a Mini Cooper, and had targeted the summer 2015 date back then as well. (Image credit: NASA)

NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander, which was originally created from the ashes of a failed Mars mission that never got off the ground, could soon itself rise from the dead, Space.com reports.

Scientists may have figured out how to establish contact with the electronic systems of the now-dormant Phoenix. The craft had essentially frozen solid near the end of 2008 during the Mars winter season, which is normally good for an average temperature of minus 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

It turns out Lockheed Martin Space Systems, which built the lander, included a secret ninja Lazarus Mode that could re-energize Phoenix. If scientists can re-establish contact, and this hidden mode actually works, the only obstacle remaining would be whether the solar panels had survived.

If NASA manages to bring Phoenix back to life, they could salvage several important systems, including the various cameras, an analyzer that measures atmospheric gases, and a complete stationary weather station. Here’s hoping.