China's Chang'e-1 space probe has adjusted its orbit to just 200 km above the surface of the moon.
After last week's discussion of the possibility of long term climate cycles, and maybe even life on Mars, this week researchers at Cal Tech published a new study indicating that Mars' axial tilt could produce climate cycles on the order of 100,000 years in length, that's just under 50,000 mars years, by the way. Glad to see great minds think alike.
Bulgarian astronomers have discovered a new asteroid this week, 2008 WN96. The asteroid is estimated to be 2 km diameter, which is pretty large for an asteroid discovered so recently, with an orbital period of 3.2 years.
In a new report, University of Washington oceanographer Robert Tyler has calculated the heat required to maintain a liquid ocean on Europa could come from waves generated from the ocean itself. An axial tilt of less than one degree would be sufficient to produce enough heat to keep the ocean liquid.
CO2 has been discovered for the first time in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, HD 189733b, 63 light years away.
Deep Space Report 1.11
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