Stardust findings override some commonly held astronomy beliefs

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University of Washington astronomer Donald Brownlee examines a particle from comet Wild 2 using an electron microscope. Brownlee is principal investigator for the Stardust mission which captured material from Wild 2 and then returned to Earth in Janu ...
University of Washington astronomer Donald Brownlee examines a particle from comet Wild 2 using an electron microscope. Brownlee is principal investigator for the Stardust mission, which captured material from Wild 2 and then returned to Earth in January 2006. Credit: Mary Levin/University of Washington

Contrary to a popular scientific notion, there was enough mixing in the early solar system to transport material from the sun's sizzling neighborhood and deposit it in icy deep-space comets. It might have been like a gentle eddy in a stream or more like an artillery blast, but evidence from the Stardust mission shows that material from the sun’s vicinity traveled to the edge of the solar system, beyond Pluto, as the planets were born.


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Partial Solar Eclipse visible from the UK on the morning of 1st August

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On 1st August 2008 there will be a total eclipse of the Sun, visible from Canada, northern Greenland, Svalbard, the Barents Sea, Russia, Mongolia and China. From the whole of the British Isles observers will see a partial ...

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6 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
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Trench on Mars Ready for Next Sampling by NASA Lander

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has groomed the bottom of a shallow trench to prepare for collecting a sample to be analyzed from a hard subsurface layer where the soil may contain frozen water. ...

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Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
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