Chemistry – Page 3 – Trevor O'Donoghue

27 years of Hubble Space Telescope

29th May 20175th May 2017 by Trevor O'Donoghue

Hubble's Iconic "Pillars of Creation" image. — Hubble’s Iconic “Pillars of Creation” image.
The pillars are part of a small region of the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region 6,500 light-years from Earth. Stars are being formed deep within the pillars.

27 years ago, in April 1990 the Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off carrying what was to become one of the most successful scientific missions of all time, The Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble and the images it produces, have more than any other mission since the heady days of the Apollo space programme, brought the magic of space to the public. Hubble has probed the depths of space and brought it’s wonders to our magazines, televisions and computer screens where humanity has looked on in awe.

NASA announces spectacular exoplanet system

22nd February 201722nd February 2017 by Trevor O'Donoghue

Trappist-1, a remarkable exoplanet system

In a previous post, I discussed Pluto and the existence of planets in orbit around other stars (exoplanets). Since then, NASA has announced and held a press conference on Wednesday announcing further discoveries in this field. In the conference, NASA provided details of an exoplanet system located around a relatively close star. The star, Trappist-1 is an ultra cool red dwarf, much smaller than our Sun and located 39 light years from Earth. The star plays host to a remarkable planetary system.

Life provides

27th January 201716th December 2016 by Trevor O'Donoghue

This simple mould led to the development of antibiotics

Figures vary, but many scientists estimate that there are in the region of 5 million different species alive on our planet today. Life is everywhere. Evolution has seen to that. Wherever there is a living to be made, some species or other has adapted to fill this niche and thrive. Life can be strange and beautiful, full of wonderful adaptations and ornamentations.

Water on Europa

27th January 20177th October 2016 by Trevor O'Donoghue

Europa, one of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. Does it hold life?

At the end of September, scientists from NASA, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope announced that they had discovered water vapour plumes on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The plumes extend more than 100 miles into space. The discovery was announced in a hastily arranged press conference amidst excitable rumours that NASA had discovered aliens. No aliens were forthcoming, but the discovery is certainly is good news for planetary scientists looking for extraterrestrial life.

Transient lunar phenomenon

9th February 201920th June 2007 by Trevor O'Donoghue

A blast from the past. This article and interview first appeared in Astronomy and Space magazine in June 2007.

Impacts of meteorites have now been proven as a cause of some TLP

The early Solar System was a violent place. One theory states that shortly after Earth’s formation four and a half billion years ago, a body the size of Mars thumped into Earth, blasting off massive amounts of debris. This debris eventually coalesced to form the Moon. After formation, the Moon underwent a period of intensive bombardment by meteorites that scared, fractured and left the Moon covered in craters of all sizes. This period was known as the late heavy bombardment and occurred between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago.