Annual review

1996/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

At the end of October, the Committee of Experts of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Association in the city of Tucson (USA) met, bringing together about 600 researchers at the summit. The Commission meets each year and its report at the end of the conference confirms the scientific value of the news generated by astronomy throughout the year. In other words, their inclusion in the report implies acceptance of the credibility of these facts.

This year's report includes some of the discoveries mentioned in this section. The following are briefly described the actions carried out by the Commission of Experts.

This year has been made a broad mention of the film that gathers 16 hours of rotation movement of the planet Neptune, composed thanks to the images of Hubble and the infrared telescope of the NASA, and that collects graphically the strong gusts of wind that scourge the south of the planet.

Reviewing the news of the year, the report also includes the numerous expeditions that have been launched to Mars and will soon be spaced. (More information: Elhuyar. Science and Technology; number 113). Thirdly, the discovery of an atmosphere with oxygen around Jupiter's Ganymede satellite, also occupies an important place in the report, which states that our information about Jupiter's Europa satellite will allow us to better understand what is happening in Ganymedes.

And finally, the days when the meeting was being held, researchers Geof Marcy and Paul Butler announced the discovery of a new planet. They did not give much precision, but everything indicates that the new planet would be 85 light-years from Earth.