ALMA nahlíží do srdce hvězdných školek | ESO Česko
http://www.eso.org/public/czechrepublic/images/potw1711a/?lang

Zdá se, že velké spirální galaxie se svými nápadnými svítícími rameny přitahují veškerou pozornost. Ale NGC 6822, nepravidelná trpasličí galaxie s příčkou,
dokazuje, že pravidelné spirální galaxie nemají monopol na galaktickou krásu. NGC 6822, které se také říká Barnardova galaxie, leží v souhvězdí Střelce
(Sagittarius) ve vzdálenosti 1.6 milionu světelných let a je plná oblastí tvorby hvězd.

Tento nový obrázek je kombinací starších pozorování pořízených kamerou WFI (Wide Field Imager) na 2.2m dalekohledu MPG/ESO na observatoři ESO La Silla a nových
dat z interferometru ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array). Oblasti pozorované ALMou jsou na obrázku zvýrazněny a dají se prohlédnout v detailu.

Pozorování z dalekohledu ALMA odhalují s neuvěřitelným rozlišením strukturu oblaků obsahujících plyn, ze kterého se tvoří hvězdy. Z pozorování v naší vlastní
galaxii víme, že hvězdy se tvoří v hustých jádrech velkých oblaků molekulárního vodíku - v jediných místech, kde se plyn stane dostatečně chladným na to, aby
vlastní gravitací zkolaboval. Tyto podmínky podporují také tvorbu dalších molekul, např. oxidu uhelnatého, které jsou nenahraditelnou pomůckou astronomů při
detekování galaktického molekulárního vodíku.

Až donedávna byli astronomové schopní rozlišist oblasti tvorby hvězd pouze v Mléčné dráze, ale vysoké rozlišení ALMy otevírá okno do tvorby hvězd v jiných galaxiích.
Analýza dat ukázala, že, na rozdíl od naší galaxie, pozorované molekuly jsou soustředěny do malých, hustých jader plynu. To vysvětluje, proč bylo doposud tak těžké
pozorovat extragalaktické oblasti tvorby hvězd, obzvláště v málo hmotných galaxiích s nízkým obsahem těžších prvků. ALMA také zjistila, že se jádra v NGC 6822 chovají
velmi podobně hvězdným školkám v Mléčné dráze, což signalizuje, že fyzika tvorby hvězd v těchto malých galaxiích připomíná tu, kterou vidíme v naší galaxii.

Seeing things sideways | ESA/Hubble
http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1711a/

This image from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) shows NGC 1448, a spiral galaxy located about 50 million light-years from Earth
in the little-known constellation of Horologium (The Pendulum Clock). We tend to think of spiral galaxies as massive and roughly
circular celestial bodies, so this glittering oval does not immediately appear to fit the visual bill. What’s going on?

Imagine a spiral galaxy as a circular frisbee spinning gently in space. When we see it face on, our observations reveal a spectacular
amount of detail and structure — a great example from Hubble is the telescope’s view of Messier 51, otherwise known as the Whirlpool
Galaxy. However, the NGC 1448 frisbee is very nearly edge-on with respect to Earth, giving it an appearance that is more oval than
circular. The spiral arms, which curve out from NGC 1448’s dense core, can just about be seen.

Metabolism may be older than life itself and start spontaneously | New Scientist
https://www.newscientist.com/...75-metabolism-may-be-older-than-life-itself-and-start-spontaneously/

A set of chemical reactions occurring spontaneously in Earth’s early chemical environments could have provided the foundations upon which life evolved.

The discovery that a version of the Krebs cycle, which occurs in most living cells, can proceed in the absence of cellular proteins called enzymes suggests
that metabolism is older than life itself.

Metabolism describes the fiendishly complex network of reactions that enable organisms to generate energy and the molecules they need to survive, grow and
reproduce. The Krebs cycle – also known as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle – is at the heart of this network. It describes a circular chain of reactions
that generates precursors of amino acids and lipids used to build proteins and membranes, and molecules that help the cell to produce its energy.

But how did such a complex cycle develop in the first place?

One idea is that it began only after RNA, a fundamental building block of life, came into being. Metabolic reactions are catalysed by proteins called enzymes,
for which RNA provides the template – at least in modern cells. There is, however, a problem with this “RNA world” hypothesis: if the reactions didn’t already
occur immediately in early life forms and provide them with a survival advantage, then there would have been no selective pressure to drive the evolution of
enzymes. Furthermore, RNA itself is made from products of metabolism.

Building Magnetic Fields in White Dwarfs
http://aasnova.org/2017/03/10/building-magnetic-fields-in-white-dwarfs/

White dwarfs, the compact remnants left over at the end of low- and medium-mass stars’ lifetimes, are often found to have
magnetic fields with strengths ranging from thousands to billions of times that of Earth. But how do these fields form?

Incredible Saturn's upper atmosphere layers observed by Cassini on March 7th in far-red & ultraviolet wavelengths via Kevin M. Gill.
Assembled using raw uncalibrated far-red and ultraviolet (CB2, UV2) images taken by the Cassini spacecraft on March 7 2017.

Astronomy magazine - If Aliens Contact Us, We Won't Understand | Astronomy Magazine
http://astronomy.com/bonus/alien-contact

2016 gave us a fair number of false SETI detections. But lets imagine that this year it's the year.

Maybe it's first detected at a radio telescope in Russia, or perhaps an optical telescope in California. But in 2017, somewhere someone picks up
a signal. Skeptical astronomers alert their colleagues, yet sure enough, they're reading it out in telescopes around the world. It's too specific
or too weird to be a known natural phenomenon, and it repeats itself with suspiciously high fidelity over some interval. Cautiously, but excitedly,
the news gets out. We've received a message from the stars.

It's worth wondering: what would happen next?

Well, if you follow the logic of the renowned Polish philosopher and science fiction writer Stanisław Lem, after a lot of hubbub and frustration:
absolutely nothing. According to Lem's logic, our species may never be able to read or understand a message from extraterrestrials.

Forget SpaceX: 10 companies changing space travel in 2017 & 2018
http://www.geektime.com/...01/forget-spacex-10-companies-that-will-change-space-travel-in-2017-2018/

Between the Earth and Mars, adventures to the Moon and building the habitats necessary for future astronauts are reshaping access to the star

First results of CRISPR gene editing of normal embryos released | New Scientist
https://www.newscientist.com/...973-first-results-of-crispr-gene-editing-of-normal-embryos-released/

A team in China has corrected genetic mutations in at least some of the cells in three normal human embryos using the CRISPR genome
editing technique. The latest study is the first to describe the results of using CRISPR in viable human embryos, New Scientist can reveal.

While this study – which attempted to repair the DNA of six embryos in total – was very small, the results suggest CRISPR works much better
in normal embryos than it did in previous tests on abnormal embryos that could not develop into children.

Hubble Hones In on a Hypergiant's Home
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2017/hubble-hones-in-on-a-hypergiants-home

This beautiful Hubble image reveals a young super star cluster known as Westerlund 1,
only 15,000 light-years away in our Milky Way neighborhood, yet home to one of the largest stars ever discovered.

Stars are classified according to their spectral type, surface temperature, and luminosity. While studying and classifying the cluster’s constituent stars,
astronomers discovered that Westerlund 1 is home to an enormous star. Originally named Westerlund 1-26, this monster star is a red supergiant (although
sometimes classified as a hypergiant) with a radius over 1,500 times that of our sun. If Westerlund 1-26 were placed where our sun is in our solar system,
it would extend out beyond the orbit of Jupiter.

Mám nové žaluzie v ložnici. Foto z 8.3.

US Government Issues NASA Demand, 'Get Humans to Mars By 2033'
https://futurism.com/us-government-issues-nasa-demand-get-humans-to-mars-by-2033/

Both chambers of Congress just passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2017. With this transformative development, the space
agency got a lot more than just $19.508 billion in funding. They also got a very clear mandate: Get humanity to Mars.

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NASA Mars Orbiter Tracks Back-to-Back Regional Storms
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-mars-orbiter-tracks-back-to-back-regional-storms

A regional dust storm currently swelling on Mars follows unusually closely on one that blossomed less than two weeks
earlier and is now dissipating, as seen in daily global weather monitoring by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Images from the orbiter's wide-angle Mars Color Imager (MARCI) show each storm growing in the Acidalia area of northern
Mars, then blowing southward and exploding to sizes bigger than the United States after reaching the southern hemisphere.

Wooow! Vibračně-akustické testování zblízka!
James Webb Space Telescope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxle8rh59rQ