Hubble reawakens, snaps image of Jupiter scar

In an unusual step, NASA scientists interrupted testing of the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope to aim the orbiter's camera at Jupiter and capture an image of the planet's mysterious new scar.

The revamped Hubble telescope captured these images of an impact scar near Jupiter's south pole.

The resulting picture, taken Thursday, is the sharpest visible-light photo of the dark spot and Hubble's first science observation since astronauts repaired and upgraded it in May, NASA said.

Earth-based telescopes have been trained on Jupiter since an amateur astronomer in Australia noticed the new mark, probably created when a small comet or asteroid plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated, early Monday.

But in its rarified orbit 347 miles above the Earth, the Hubble has a better view of the gaseous planet.

This week's event marks only the second time scientists have recorded debris colliding with Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun and the largest in our solar system. The appearance of the impact spot is changing day to day in the planet's cloud tops, making it a priority for scientists to document it quickly.

Although the Hubble is not expected to resume full operations until late summer and its new camera is still being calibrated, NASA scientists decided the Jupiter event was too significant not to put the orbiting observatory back into action for a day.

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"Because we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very fortunate to see it with Hubble," said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "Details seen in the Hubble view shows a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere."

Jupiter's colorful atmosphere is 86 percent hydrogen and 14 percent helium, with tiny amounts of methane, ammonia, phosphine, water, acetylene, ethane, germanium and carbon monoxide. The chemicals are responsible for producing the different colors of Jupiter's clouds.

The object created a mark on Jupiter that has the about same diameter as Earth, though the object itself was probably only 50 to 100 miles across, said Anthony Wesley, the astronomer who first noticed the scar.

The mystery object was probably moving at speeds of about 50 to 100 kilometers (31 to 62 miles) per second when it struck near Jupiter's south pole, Wesley said.

The new image of Jupiter was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, which was installed by the astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May. Because it is still being calibrated, the camera's full power has yet to be seen, NASA said.

The Hubble has been in orbit since 1990 and can capture images that telescopes on Earth can't, partly because it doesn't have to gaze through the planet's murky atmosphere.

The unplanned Jupiter photo shoot will add delays to the recommissioning of Hubble, NASA said. But scientists are at a point in the telescope's reboot where they have enough flexibility to employ Hubble to look at the unexpected astronomical event, they said.

Source: cnn.com

Barça invest in Palmeiras prodigy

UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona have agreed to sign Keirrison from Brazilian side SE Palmeiras for a fee which could rise to €16m, with the striker likely to be loaned out for the coming season.

Medical tests
The 20-year-old will sign a five-year contract at the Spanish and European champions on Friday provided he passes medical tests. Keirrison started his career at Coritiba FC, helping the club win promotion to the Brazilian top division and finishing 2008 as the league's joint top scorer with 20 goals in 31 appearances. He joined Palmeiras in January and has scored five league goals in six starts for the Sao Paulo side. Barça, who have also added Brazilian full-back Maxwell to their ranks, will begin this season's UEFA Champions League in the group stage.

Source: uefa.com

Jackson doctor's clinic raided

It is believed the doctor was at 50-year-old Jackson's house when he died last month

The Houston clinic of Michael Jackson's doctor has been searched by drug police looking for evidence of manslaughter, his lawyer says.

Officers from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) entered Dr Conrad Murray's office and removed several items.

Dr Murray's spokeswoman told the BBC the raid was "a surprise to us and it was a surprise to the attorneys".

The doctor, who police say is not a suspect, was at Jackson's mansion and tried to revive him before he died.

DEA spokeswoman Violet Szeleczky confirmed a search was carried out but said it was not technically a raid.

Officers "did not raid" the clinic, she told the AFP news agency.

"What this is is the Los Angeles police department have an investigation and they came to the Drug Enforcement Agency, and they asked us to help them effect a state search warrant here," she added.

Dr Murray's lawyer said he had been helping police with inquiries

Dr Murray's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, confirmed that a search had been carried out.

"The search warrant authorised law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offence of manslaughter," he said in a statement posted on his firm's website.

Earlier, Mr Chernoff said his client had been helping police with their inquiries. He has already been interviewed twice by police probing Michael Jackson's death.

Investigators had asked for medical records in addition to those already provided by Murray.

"The coroner wants to clear up the cause of death; we share that goal," said Mr Chernoff in a statement on his law firm's website on Tuesday.

Painkiller denial

Speaking a few days after Jackson's death, Mr Chernoff denied Dr Murray administered painkilling drugs that could have contributed to the singer's death.

Dr Murray is frustrated by negative and often erroneous media reports - he has to walk around 24/7 with a bodyguard Dr Conrad Murray's lawyer Edward Chernoff

Any drugs his client may have given to Jackson were in response to a specific health complaint, the lawyer added.

He said the star still had a faint pulse and was warm when Dr Murray found him in bed.

Mr Chernoff said: "He just happened to find him in his bed, and he wasn't breathing."

Paramedics were called to Jackson's Los Angeles mansion while Dr Murray was performing CPR, according to a recording of the 911 call.

Mr Chernoff said in Tuesday's statement that Dr Murray had since received unwelcome attention from those angry over the singer's untimely death.

"Dr Murray was the last doctor standing when Michael Jackson died and it seems all the fury is directed toward him," Mr Chernoff said.

He added: "Dr Murray is frustrated by negative and often erroneous media reports - he has to walk around 24/7 with a bodyguard.

"He can't operate his practice. He can't go to work because he is harassed no matter where he goes."

Source: bbc.co.uk

Asia watches long solar eclipse

People in Asia have seen the longest total solar eclipse this century, with large areas of India and China plunged into darkness.

Amateur stargazers and scientists travelled far to see the eclipse, which lasted six minutes and 39 seconds at its maximum point.

The eclipse could first be seen early on Wednesday in eastern India.

It then moved east across India, Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Japan and the Pacific.

The eclipse first became total over India at 0053GMT, and was last visible from land at Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific nation of Kiribati. It ended at 0418GMT.

Elsewhere, a partial eclipse was visible across much of Asia.

Mixed blessing

In India, millions gathered in open spaces from the west coast to the northern plains, with clouds parting in some cities at dawn - just before the total eclipse.

In pictures: Solar eclipse India's 'best place' disappoints

But thick clouds and an overcast sky obscured the view at the Indian village of Taregna, "epicentre" of the eclipse, says our correspondent in the area.

Many of the thousands of people who gathered there to watch the eclipse left the village disappointed.

"We were apprehensive of this cloudy weather but it was still a unique experience with morning turning into night for more than three minutes," scientist Amitabh Pande told the Associated Press news agency.

Some enthusiasts in India were on board a special chartered flight for a close-up view of the eclipse.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder, who was on the flight, said that from a vantage point of 41,000ft (7,756 miles), it was a celestial spectacle like few others.

Among the passengers were a man who was witnessing it for the eighth time, scientists, amateur astronomers and children.

In India and Nepal, where it is considered auspicious to watch the eclipse while immersed in holy water, crowds gathered at rivers or ponds, including tens of thousands of people at Varanasi on the Ganges.

"We have come here because our elders told us this is the best time to improve our afterlife," said Bhailal Sharma, a villager who had travelled to Varanasi from central India.

But for others, the eclipse was seen to be a bad omen.

In Nepal, authorities shut all schools for the day to avoid exposing students to any ill-effects, says the BBC's Joanna Jolly in Kathmandu.

People bought masks to view the eclipse

Some parents in Delhi kept their children from attending school at breakfast because of a Hindu belief that it is inauspicious to prepare food during an eclipse, while pregnant women were advised to stay inside due to a belief that the eclipse could harm a foetus.

"My mother and aunts have called and told me stay in a darkened room with the curtains closed, lie in bed and chant prayers," said Krati Jain, a software worker in Delhi who is expecting her first child.

Authorities in China, where an eclipse was a bad omen in ancient culture, reassured the public that services would run normally.

In the east of the country, heavy cloud or rain obscured it.

Pollution was also a barrier, with thick smog in Beijing blotting out the sky.

'Special opportunity'

The last total eclipse, in August 2008, lasted two minutes and 27 seconds.

Alphonse Sterling, a Nasa astrophysicist who followed the latest eclipse from China, said scientists were hoping data from it would help explain solar flares and other structures of the sun and why they erupt.

"We'll have to wait a few hundred years for another opportunity to observe a solar eclipse that lasts this long, so it's a very special opportunity," Shao Zhenyi, an astronomer at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in China told the Associated Press.

Solar eclipses allow scientists to see the gases surrounding the sun, or its corona.

Solar scientist Lucie Green, from University College London, was aboard an American cruise ship heading for the point near the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, where the axis of the Moon's shadow passed closest to Earth.

"The [Sun's] corona has a temperature of 2 million degrees but we don't know why it is so hot," she said.

"What we are going to look for are waves in the corona.

"The waves might be producing the energy that heats the corona. That would mean we understand another piece of the science of the Sun."

The next total solar eclipse will occur on 11 July, 2010. It will be visible in a narrow corridor over the southern hemisphere, from the southern Pacific Ocean to Argentina.

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE

In the area covered by the umbra (the darkest part of the shadow), a total eclipse is seen

In the region covered by the penumbra (where only some of the light source is obscured) a partial eclipse is seen.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Adebayor completes Man City move

Manchester City have added to their collection of strikers by signing Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor on a five-year deal for a fee of about £25m.

The 25-year-old joins fellow new signings Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez at Eastlands.

And with Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Valeri Bojinov and Benjani also on their books, City have an embarrassment of riches up front.

"I can't wait to play for City's fans and show them what I can do," he said.

"I was born to play football and that is what I want to do. I have come here to make history for this club and those supporters.

"It what the chairman and the manager told me that they want too and I can't wait to get started."

The Togo striker, who takes City's summer spending to around £80m, passed a medical on Saturday and had already been successful in arranging a work permit.

Adebayor, who was also linked with linked to AC Milan and Chelsea, spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Gunners after joining them from Monaco for £7m, scoring 62 goals in 142 games.

He scored 30 goals in the 2007-08 season but struggled with injuries in the last campaign and also incurred the wrath of some Arsenal fans, who felt the striker lacked commitment.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said he was sorry to see Adebayor leave, but insisted he had no immediate plans to replace him.

"We're not on the verge of signing anybody but I'm able to spend the money if we find the right players," he said,

"We have Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo back so we've lost a big striker but have gained two offensive players who were absent last season.

"We also have Nicklas Bendtner, Andrey Arshavin, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott who can play striker. We have top players we can use as strikers.

"But we'll miss Emmanuel - he's a great player. I'm sure he'll give something special to Man City.

He adds vital balance and power to our attack - he has everything a top forward needs. City boss Mark Hughes

"If you consider the money we paid for him it was good business, but that was not our main target."

City boss Mark Hughes said Adebayor's arrival was a major step forward for the club.

"Emmanuel has been one of the top forwards in the Premier League since he arrived from France and we are delighted he has agreed to come and join us," he said.

"Along with the other signings we have made in the last two windows he will greatly enhance our ability to compete with the top sides.

"His arrival is another clear indication that we are determined to augment the players we have here with the best of international talent.

"He adds vital balance and power to our attack. He has everything a top forward needs. He is versatile, powerful, quick and agile on the ball.

"I am looking forward to working with him as are the rest of the staff. He will definitely add a new dimension to our play. I have been a great admirer for a long time."

City, backed up the huge financial wealth of their owners, the Abu Dhabi United group, are eager to break into the Premier League's top four this coming season and have shown their determination with their close-season spending.

Midfielder Gareth Barry was bought from Aston Villa for £12m and City paid Blackburn about £18m for Paraguay international Santa Cruz.

City completed a deal for Tevez on Tuesday, with the Argentine joining after City paid a fee of about £25m to secure his registration from third party ownership after his contract with Premier League champions Manchester United expired.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk