Ground-based observations reveal the first images of the solar corona in the near-infrared emission line of highly ionized iron, or Fe XI 789.2 nm. The observations were taken during total solar eclipses in 2006, 2008, and 2009 by astrophysicist Adrian Daw of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., with an international team of scientists led by Shadia Habbal from the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA).

"The first image of the corona in Fe XI 789.2 nm was taken during the total solar eclipse of March 29, 2006," said Daw.

The images revealed some surprises. Most notably, that the emission extends out at least three solar radii -- that’s one-and-a-half times the sun’s width at its equator, or middle -- above the surface of the sun, and that there are localized regions of enhanced density for these iron ions.

Combined with observations of other iron charge states, the observations yield the two-dimensional distribution of electron temperature and charge-state measurements for the first time, and establish the first direct link between the distribution of charge states in the corona and in interplanetary space.

"These are the first such maps of the 2-D distribution of coronal electron temperature and ion charge state," said Daw.

Mapping the distribution of electron temperature and iron charge states in the corona with total solar eclipse observations represents an important step in understanding the solar corona and how space weather impacts Earth.

The scientists’ results will be presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting on January 4 in Washington and published in the January issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

PARASOL is an Earth observation mission, managed by the French Space Agency (CNES). PARASOL stands for "Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar." According to CNES, it was maneuvered to leave its position inside the A-Train at 12:48 UTC, December 2, 2009.

The PARASOL satellite has now reached an orbit of 3.9 kilometers (2.4 miles) under the A-train, which will enable it to keep on sharing data periodically with the A-train members, while gradually leaving the A-Train neighborhood. Based on a typical decay of its orbit, it is expected to be completely out of the A-train neighborhood at the end of 2012. The CNES team will continue to coordinate operations with the A-Train Mission Operations Working Group to ensure safety.

PARASOL's measurement of aerosols is based on polarization, so is unique within the existing A-Train. Its departure leaves a data gap that will be filled when Glory (also a polarization spectrometer) launches in 2010. Cross-calibration between Glory and PARASOL, to merge the 2 datasets into a single long-term trending dataset, will take longer with PARASOL in a different orbit.

Steven Platnick, Acting Earth Observing System Project Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. said, "With its novel combination of polarimetry and multiangle capabilities, PARASOL continues to provide a unique and important perspective on cloud and aerosol properties. More important, as a strong complement to other A-Train instruments, POLDER has contributed to an unprecedented data set that will be studied for years to come."

CNES launched PARASOL into the A-Train orbit in December 2004. For the past five years, PARASOL, originally designed to be a 2-year mission, flew within ~30 seconds of the CALIPSO and CloudSat satellites.

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Wheels on the western side of the rover broke through the dark, crusty surface into bright, loose, sandy material that was not visible as the rover approached the site. Spirit became stuck in an area near the left of the image's center later in April.

This scenario is based on Chandra observations, which revealed an unusually luminous source of X-rays in a dense cluster of old stars, and optical observations that showed a peculiar mix of elements associated with the X-ray emission. Taken together, a case can be made that the X-ray emission is produced by debris from a disrupted white dwarf star that is heated as it falls towards a massive black hole. The optical emission comes from debris further out that is illuminated by these X-rays.

The intensity of the X-ray emission places the source in the "ultraluminous X-ray source" or ULX category, meaning that it is more luminous than any known stellar X-ray source, but less luminous than the bright X-ray sources (active galactic nuclei) associated with supermassive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies. The nature of ULXs is a mystery, but one suggestion is that some ULXs are black holes with masses between about a hundred and several thousand times that of the Sun, a range intermediate between stellar-mass black holes and supermassive black holes located in the nuclei of galaxies.

This ULX is in a globular cluster, a very old and crowded conglomeration of stars. Astronomers have suspected that globular clusters could contain intermediate-mass black holes, but conclusive evidence for this has been elusive.

"Astronomers have made cases for stars being torn apart by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies before, but this is the first good evidence for such an event in a globular cluster," said Jimmy Irwin of the University of Alabama who led the study.

Irwin and his colleagues obtained optical spectra of the object using the Magellan I and II telescopes in Las Campanas, Chile. These data reveal emission from gas rich in oxygen and nitrogen but no hydrogen, a rare set of signals from globular clusters. The physical conditions deduced from the spectra suggest that the gas is orbiting a black hole of at least 1,000 solar masses. The abundant amount of oxygen and absence of hydrogen indicate that the destroyed star was a white dwarf, the end phase of a solar-type star that has burned its hydrogen leaving a high concentration of oxygen. The nitrogen seen in the optical spectrum remains an enigma.

"We think these unusual signatures can be explained by a white dwarf that strayed too close to a black hole and was torn apart by the extreme tidal forces," said coauthor Joel Bregman of the University of Michigan.

Theoretical work suggests that the tidal disruption-induced X-ray emission could stay bright for more than a century, but it should fade with time. So far, the team has observed there has been a 35 percent in X-ray emission from 2000 to 2008.

The ULX in this study is located in NGC 1399, an elliptical galaxy about 65 million light years from Earth.

Irwin presented these results at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.

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Gibson is a senior principal investigator for ASRC Aerospace Corp.'s work at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The invention he hopes will revolutionize spaceflight and air travel is self-healing wiring. If he and his team of researchers can perfect the right compound, odds are a lot of people, from astronauts and pilots to aircraft passengers, will have him to thank for preventing a potentially catastrophic short circuit.

Because the wiring repair field is so fresh, many approaches are being examined. Some designs embed tiny capsules inside wiring insulation. When the insulation rips open or tears, the capsules break and the material inside oozes out and then hardens to close the gap. But that method won't likely work for aerospace applications because spacecraft and airplanes require flexible wiring, Gibson said.

He is searching basically for a compound that pulls itself back together after a tear.

Gibson's research into that burgeoning field and his scientific work on other projects has been recognized with Kennedy's first Engineer/Scientist of the Year award for contractor employees. Gibson's other projects range from a chemical analyzer that can fit on a rover to refining hazardous materials detectors. NASA's Bob Youngquist earned the honor for the agency's researchers at Kennedy.

Scientists here note that research at Kennedy is expected to produce a tangible product that can be applied to a spacecraft, ground support equipment or another aspect of launch, processing or operations. For Gibson, the payoff of applying his work is one of the many rewards of his post.

"I feel pretty privileged with the work I get to do and at the end you get to see how it might impact the future of space and aerospace," he said. "It's exciting work, it keeps me on my toes. I'm not sure I could ask for anything more."

Gibson and his team spend considerable time in labs at Kennedy, whether at the Space Life Sciences Laboratory or inside the Operations and Checkout Building's facilities. Sometimes, the field work takes him far off-center.

For example, his team took a trip to Hawaii last year to evaluate a very small mechanism that could analyze moon dust looking for signs of chemicals which could be turned into water or used as rocket fuel for astronauts living on the moon.

Gibson praises the team approach employed at Kennedy, saying there aren't many trouble spots his group isn't willing to delve into.

"What I view our group as is problem solvers," Gibson said. "We've got very talented folks here at Kennedy. We can sit and brainstorm and overcome the problem."

At 39, Gibson has plenty more time for research and development. Even if he doesn't revolutionize wiring, he and his team are gaining expertise in a variety of areas that he thinks will pay off for the agency and public at some point.

"I just hope that by the time my career ends, I will have developed technologies that will have been utilized by NASA or by some industrial use that's made a difference," Gibson said. "I just would like to know that I've worked hard at what I've done and I've helped push technology forward."

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On May 20, 2009, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski carried the rock to the top of Mt. Everest where he collected a rock from the world's highest mountain to accompany the lunar sample for its return to space.

During an event Jan. 6 at Space Center Houston, Parazynski will present both rocks to NASA astronaut and STS-130 mission Commander George Zamka. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the space station during space shuttle Endeavour's mission next month.

Collected from the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface, the moon rock and its Mt. Everest companion will be displayed inside the station's Tranquility module, which the STS-130 crew will deliver to the station.

During the presentation, Parazynski will share the story of his journey to the top of the world and what inspired him to carry along the lunar sample, followed by an audience question and answer session. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon CST in the Blast Off Theater in the Mission Status Center at Space Center Houston. NASA Television will air a recording of the event at 3:30 p.m.

Parazynski and Zamka will be available for interviews from noon to 12:30 p.m. Reporters interested in attending should contact Victor Scott at 281-483-4942 or via e-mail at: