NASA probe beams back ultraviolet images of Martian atmosphere

October 18, 2016

Washington, Oct 18: In a first, NASA's MAVEN spacecraft has beamed back ultraviolet images of Mars that unveils dynamic, previously invisible activities in the atmosphere of the red planet such as change in ozone levels over the seasons and formation of clouds.

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The images were taken by the Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) - a space probe designed to study the Martian atmosphere while orbiting Mars.

These were then used to make this movie of rapid cloud formation on Mars on July this year.

The movie uses four MAVEN images to show about seven hours of Mars rotation during this period, and interleaves simulated views that would be seen between the four images.

"MAVEN obtained hundreds of such images in recent months, giving some of the best high-resolution ultraviolet coverage of Mars ever obtained," said Nick Schneider from the University of Colorado, Boulder in the US.

Nightside images show ultraviolet (UV) "nightglow" emission from nitric oxide (NO). Nightglow is a common planetary phenomenon in which the sky faintly glows in the complete absence of external light.

Mars' nightside atmosphere emits light in the ultraviolet due to chemical reactions that start on Mars' dayside.

Ultraviolet light from the Sun breaks down molecules of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and the resulting atoms are carried around the planet by high-altitude wind patterns that encircle the planet.

On the nightside, these winds bring the atoms down to lower altitudes where nitrogen and oxygen atoms collide to form nitric oxide molecules. The recombination releases extra energy, which comes out as ultraviolet light.

Scientists predicted NO nightglow at Mars, and prior missions detected its presence, but MAVEN has returned the first images of this phenomenon in the Martian atmosphere.

Splotches and streaks appearing in the images occur where NO recombination is enhanced by winds.

Such concentrations are clear evidence of strong irregularities in Mars' high altitude winds and circulation patterns. These winds control how Mars' atmosphere responds to its very strong seasonal cycles.

Dayside images show the atmosphere and surface near Mars' south pole in unprecedented ultraviolet detail. They were obtained as spring comes to the southern hemisphere.

Ozone is destroyed when water vapour is present, so ozone accumulates in the winter polar region where the water vapour has frozen out of the atmosphere.

The images show ozone lasting into spring, indicating that global winds are inhibiting the spread of water vapour from the rest of the planet into winter polar regions.

MAVEN observations also show afternoon cloud formation over the four giant volcanoes on Mars.
Clouds are a key to understanding a planet's energy balance and water vapour inventory, so these observations will be valuable in understanding the daily and seasonal behaviour of the atmosphere, researchers said.

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April 28,2024

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Students in Paris blocked access to a campus building at a French university on Friday, as pro-Palestine demonstrations reach Europe.

The students occupied the central campus building of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, and dozens of others blocked its entrance, echoing protest action at American universities.

Students inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at the prestigious French university on Friday.

They blocked the entrance with trash cans, wooden platforms and other items.

The occupation of the Paris university campus came after police broke up a separate protest at the university’s amphitheater outside one of its Paris campuses.

Scores of student protesters gathered at the building’s windows, chanting slogans and holding placards reading “We are all Palestinians,” in defiance of administrators who students say called the police on their peers two days earlier.

Pro-Palestinian student protesters had occupied the amphitheater outside one of the university’s Paris campuses on Wednesday evening.

The US-style student protests, which began over the months-long Israeli regime’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, kicked off in the United States and have now spread to European capitals as well as Australia.

In the German capital Berlin, several people were arrested as police violently cleared a camp of Gaza war protesters at the German parliament.

Pro-Palestinian activists are demanding a permanent ceasefire, an end to the Israeli atrocities, and an arms embargo of the Tel Aviv regime.

The Israeli regime launched the war on Gaza on October 7 last year. The genocidal war has killed more than 34,356 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

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April 14,2024

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New Delhi: A 24-year-old student from India was shot dead inside a car in Canada's South Vancouver, the local police have said. The Vancouver Police in a statement said Chirag Antil, 24, was found dead inside a vehicle in the area after neighbours reported hearing gunshots.

"Officers were called to East 55th Avenue and Main Street around 11 pm on April 12 after residents heard the sound of gunshots. Chirag Antil, 24, was found deceased inside a vehicle in the area. No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing," the police said.

Chirag Antil's brother Ronit told reporters that Chirag seemed happy when they spoke on the phone in morning. Chirag later took out his Audi to go somewhere. That was when he was shot dead.

The Congress students' wing National Students' Union of India chief Varun Choudhary in a post on X tagging the Ministry of External Affairs requested for assistance to the student's family.

"Urgent attention regarding the murder of Chirag Antil, an Indian student in Vancouver, Canada. We urge the Ministry of External Affairs to closely monitor the progress of the investigation and ensure that justice is swiftly served," Mr Choudhary said.

"Additionally, we request the ministry to extend all necessary support and assistance to the family of the deceased during this difficult time," he said.

Chirag Antil's family is raising money through the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe to repatriate his body to India, local media reported.

Haryana resident Romit Antil, the brother of Chirag Antil, told CityNews that he was a kind-hearted person.

"My brother and I had a great relationship. We used to talk every day, day and night. I spoke to him last before the accident happened. He was kind of happy, he never had any issues or fights with anyone, ever. He was an extremely polite person," Romit Antil told CityNews.

Chirag Antil came to Vancouver in September 2022. He just finished MBA at University Canada West, and recently got his work permit.

Here are 5 facts about Chirag Antil

1.    Chirag Antil was a resident of Sonipat, Haryana.
2.    He was the youngest son of Mahavir Antil, a retired employee of the Sugar Mill Department of the Haryana Government.
3.    Chirag moved to Vancouver in 2022 to pursue higher studies at the University Canada West (UCW), in British Columbia.
4.    After completing his MBA, he started working at a company in Canada after getting a work permit.
5.    Chirag's brother Ronit shared in an interview that his younger sibling was a "kind-hearted" person. "I spoke to him last before the accident happened," he said and added that Chirag sounded "happy".

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April 27,2024

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"I always wanted to be in a bar fight," said a US police official after pinning a Black man down on the ground and kneeling on his neck. The man later died at a hospital.

Ohio Police have come under intense scrutiny following the release of body camera footage showing officers pinning a Black man to the ground in a bar, reminiscent of the events that led to George Floyd's death in 2020.

The video, released by the Canton Police Department, captured the moments leading up to the death of Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old man suspected of leaving the scene of a single-car accident on April 18.

In the footage, officers are seen confronting Tyson inside a bar, where an altercation quickly ensues. Despite Tyson's pleas for help and his repeated cries of "I can't breathe," officers wrestle him to the ground and handcuff him, with one officer applying pressure to his back near his neck while saying, "You're fine." 

Tyson continues to plead for relief while lying on the floor. After several minutes, officers notice his lack of responsiveness and proceed to administer CPR. Paramedics arrive on the scene and transport Tyson to a local hospital, where he later dies.

In the body cam footage, one police officer can be heard bragging about how he always wanted to be in a "bar fight" with one of the patrons of the establishment. 

The circumstances surrounding Tyson's death draw chilling parallels to George Floyd's fatal encounter with Minneapolis Police in 2020 which sparked global outrage. 

The officers involved in Tyson's case, identified as Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch, have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. 

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