AstronomyPicture of the Day——20181106

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2018 November 6

FlyingSaucer Crash Lands in Utah Desert

ImageCredit: USAF 388th Range Sqd., Genesis Mission, NASA

Explanation:A flying saucer from outer space crash-landed in the Utah desert after beingtracked by radar and chased by helicopters. The year was 2004, and no spacealiens were involved. The saucer, pictured here, was the Genesis sample returncapsule, part of a human-made robot Genesis spaceship launched in 2001 by NASAitself to study the Sun. The unexpectedly hard landing at over 300 kilometersper hour occurred because the parachutes did not open as planned. The Genesismission had been orbiting the Sun collecting solar wind particles that areusually deflected away by Earth's magnetic field. Despite the crash landing,many return samples remained in good enough condition to analyze. So far,Genesis-related discoveries include new details about the composition of theSun and how the abundance of some types of elements differ across the SolarSystem. These results have provided intriguing clues into details of how theSun and planets formed billions of years ago.