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土星和土卫六的合影

北京时间10月25日消息　据国外媒体报道，美国宇航局于近日突然公布了一批土星及其卫星土卫六的高精度照片。

今年年初，研究人员在分析了“卡西尼”号土星探测器传回的土卫六照片后表示，其上遍布的黑色斑点很可能是湖泊。只不过储存在这些湖泊中的液体不是水，而是温度极低的液态甲烷。

不过，当时“卡西尼”号拍摄的土卫六照片数量非常有限。从那时起，该探测器又多次对土卫六进行了探测，并拍摄下大量的照片，使得科学家们能够更为精确地确定其表面的细节状况。

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嫦娥一号首次变轨成功

据新华社北京１０月２５日电（记者 田兆运）２５日１７时５５分，北京航天飞行控制中心按照预定计划，向在太空飞行的嫦娥一号卫星发出变轨指令，对其实施远地点变轨。

指令发出１３０秒后，卫星近地点高度由约２００公里抬高到约６００公里，变轨圆满成功。这次变轨表明，嫦娥 一号卫星推进系统工作正常，也为随后进行的３次近地点变轨奠定了基础。

这次变轨是嫦娥一号卫星在约１６小时周期的大椭圆轨道上运行１圈半后，在第二个远地点时实施的。

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G292.0+1.8星云的X波段照片

照片中蓝色部分为硅、硫元素富积区，黄色部分为氧元素富积区

      北京点击查看北京及更多城市天气预报时间10月25日消息　据国外媒体报道，通过对一颗编号为G292.0+1.8的超新星进行持续观测，天文学家们取得了一项惊人的发现：该超新星在爆炸过程中产生出了大量的氧气，并由此孕育出了一片异常巨大的氧气云团。
从“钱德拉”X射线望远镜拍摄的最新照片上，G292.0+1.8看起来就像是一朵巨大的云团（实际直径高达36光年），中间隐藏着一颗若隐若现的恒星“遗骸”。

       据天文学家们介绍，G292.0+1.8位于我们银河系之内，距离地球约2万光年。

      领导此次研究的宾西法尼亚大学教授圣伍克·帕克表示：“此次‘钱德拉’拍摄到的超新星残骸不但非常复杂，而且绚丽异常。”

通过对该超新星进行光谱分析，科学家们发现：G292.0+1.8中居 然包含有数量非常巨大的氧气。而此前，科学家们近在银河系中找到了两个同样富含氧的类似天体。

     除此之外，科学家们在G292.0+1.8的光谱中还找到了硅、硫和镁元素的痕迹。

        G292.0+1.8是大约1600年前一颗大质量恒星爆炸后所遗留下来的。据介绍，照片中明亮蓝色丝状云气的温度约有数百万度，它们中含有极为丰富的氧、氖和镁。“钱德拉”照片中心左下方的点状天体，可能是一颗脉冲星，也就是说，这个超新星爆炸事件除了拋出大量的元素外，塌陷的恒星核心也产生了一颗快速自转的中子星。天文学家知道脉冲星是在超新星爆发后形成的，但是爆发前的恒星是什么样子，它们之间的关联如何却还不能认明。现在科学家可以根据这个巨大的，包含有氧、氖、镁、硅和硫等大量元素的快膨胀的气体壳来研究了。

       天文学家相信富有氧的超新星爆炸由一颗巨大恒星坍缩引起，并最终形成一颗中子星（脉冲星）。在这个过程中，它释放出巨大的能量，抛出上述元素。G292.0+1.8是银河系已知三颗富有氧的超新星遗迹之一，因为氧是生命所需要的重要元素，所以这些超新星受到天文学家的关注。

       据国外媒体10月25日报道，欧洲物理学家23日表示，他们在实验中首次成功拍下一张中微子撞击到实验室探测器那一瞬间的快照，这一成果有望揭开宇宙质量缺失之谜。

该中心在一篇新闻稿中表示，这一具有重大意义的时刻发生在10月2日下午5点04分(格林尼治标准时间15点04分)。当时，一个中微子在地壳下行程730公里，撞击安装在圣格拉索的6万块胶片中的一块，在胶片上留下μ介子的踪迹。

法国国家科学研究中心表示，由于该粒子的速度接近光速，此行程从瑞士欧洲粒子物理研究所到意大利中部圣格拉索的一个地下实验室花了大约2.4毫秒。

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China will not embark on any lunar probe competition "in any form with any country" and will "share the results of its moon exploration with the whole world" in its pursuit of a policy of peaceful use of airspace, said a chief commander of the country's first lunar satellite project. "The decision on the lunar probe was made completely in accordance with China's own conditions, which is not meant to be compared with others," Luan Enjie, chief commander of the lunar satellite project, told Xinhua, acknowledging that a new wave of moon exploration has started in recent years and many capable countries have mapped out their own moon probe plans.

The lunar satellite, named Chang'e-1, was launched at 6:05 p.m on Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province, marking the first step of China's ambitious three-stage moon mission and a new milestone in the country's space exploration history.

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A bold new mission to the Moon was launched today by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA). Chang'e-1 blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan, atop a Long March 3A rocket. Chang'e-1 represents the first step in the Chinese ambition to land robotic explorers on the Moon before 2020. Chang'e-1 has four mission goals to accomplish. The first is to make three-dimensional images of many lunar landforms and outline maps of major lunar geological structures. This mapping will include the first detailed images taken of some regions near the lunar poles.

Chang'e-1 is also designed to analyze the abundance of up to 14 chemical elements and their distribution across the lunar surface. Thirdly it will measure the depth of the lunar soil and lastly it will explore the space weather between the Earth and the Moon.

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Asia's space race heated up on Wednesday as China launched its first lunar orbiter, an event hailed by the world's most populous nation as a milestone event in its global rise.

China's year-long expedition, costing 1.4 billion yuan (184 million dollars), kicks off a programme that aims to land an unmanned rover on the moon's surface by 2012 and put a man on the moon by about 2020.

The launch of Chang'e I, which will explore and map the moon's surface, came after Japan last month launched its first lunar probe and ahead of a similar mission planned by India for next year.

Chang'e I took off at 6:05 pm (1005 GMT) -- perfect timing for a national television audience that watched it live after repeatedly being told by the government-controlled press about the significance of the event.

President Hu Jintao issued his personal congratulations following the successful launch, according to a brief statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency less than 90 minutes after the take-off.

China has described the lunar orbiter as the third major milestone event for the nation's space programme, after developing rockets and satellites since the 1970s and sending men into orbit in 2003 and 2005.

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BEIJING, China (AP) -- China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday, the first step in an ambitious 10-year plan to send a rover to the moon and return it to earth.

State television showed pictures of the Chang'e 1 orbiter taking off with a trail of smoke from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in southwestern China.

The launch comes just weeks after China's regional rival Japan put a probe into orbit around the moon in a big leap forward for Asia's undeclared space race. India is likely to join the regional rivalry soon, with plans to send its own lunar probe into space in April.

The Long March 3A rocket carrying the probe blasted off shortly after 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) after officials from the China National Space Administration said weather conditions were good for a lift off.

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