May 28 1998
From The Space Library
At the American Geophysical Union meeting in Boston, astrophysicists Alexander G. Kosovichev of Stanford University and Valentina V. Zharkova of the University of Glasgow in Scotland presented evidence confirming their "solar-bomb theory." Using sequential images that the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft had captured, the two scientists explained that, 20 minutes following the rupture of a solar flare from the surface of the Sun, "a seismic wave front surges across the sun's face like ripples from a stone thrown into a pond." The SOHO images proved that solar flares not only release energy into the Sun's atmosphere, but also "trigger huge waves of seismic energy that ripple through the sun like earthquakes.
At a NASA press conference, a team of NASA and university astronomers presented an image captured with the HST, discussing their conclusion that the image provides the first direct evidence of a planet in another solar system. Previously, scientists had been able to infer the existence of such planets by observing their gravitational effect on suns, but were unable to see them with telescopes. Located 450 light-years away in the Taurus constellation, a binary star system, the planet appeared to be at least twice the size of Jupiter. Designated TMR-1 C, the planet orbited 130 billion miles (210 billion kilometers) from its parent stars. Scientists considered TMR-1 C, young by planetary standards, to be forming Still .
Director General of the Russian Space Agency Yuri N. Koptev announced that Russia had found the funds needed to continue participating in the ISS project. Although the Russian Cabinet had rejected Koptev's request for additional funds, a meeting with Finance Minister Mikhail M. Zadornov and Deputy Prime Minister Boris E. Nemtsov had led to an agreement that funding for the ISS would come from a "special budget section." However, the Russian Space Agency provided no details of the funding plan. Koptev also announced that the Russian Space Agency might scrap the Mir space station in the fall, a year ahead of schedule, to make more cash available for the ISS. Koptev suggested that the space agency would look for revenue sources outside of the government.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) successfully tested the first of four linked, identical telescopes of 8.2-meter (27-foot) diameters, comprising the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The VLT is the world's largest and most advanced Earth-based telescope, with a collective diameter equal to 16 meters (52 feet). The telescope's "first light" images (its first astronomically useful images) met the design goals. Exposures lasting up to 10 minutes confirmed that the telescope's tracking was very accurate and stable. The ESO had built the new telescope in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, where a dry atmosphere and stable climate guaranteed clear skies 350 nights of the year.
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