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Basic Space
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- October 28, 2011
- 08:39 AM
- 2,592 views
Blue stragglers formed by engulfing red giants
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Unusual stars known as blue stragglers have been causing trouble for astronomers since they were first seen in 1953: they are hotter and brighter than they should be, and much younger too. Now, they are causing mischief again for astronomers that are trying to work out where they come from.... Read more »
Geller AM, & Mathieu RD. (2011) A mass transfer origin for blue stragglers in NGC 188 as revealed by half-solar-mass companions. Nature, 478(7369), 356-9. PMID: 22012393
- February 15, 2011
- 05:28 AM
- 1,472 views
Caught in the act: sneak preview of galaxy cluster that’s still forming
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the universe. Astronomers have found these clusters, which are large groups of galaxies bound together by gravity, as far back as only 4 billion years after the Big Bang (less than … Continue reading →... Read more »
Capak PL, Riechers D, Scoville NZ, Carilli C, Cox P, Neri R, Robertson B, Salvato M, Schinnerer E, Yan L.... (2011) A massive protocluster of galaxies at a redshift of z ≈ 5.3. Nature, 470(7333), 233-5. PMID: 21228776
- February 23, 2011
- 04:00 AM
- 1,076 views
Cut down to size: supermassive black holes turn out not to be so “super” after all
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
You might not be able to tell from wherever you are reading this, but black holes in the distant universe just shrunk down to as little as a tenth of their previous size. This is not some cosmic disappearing act; … Continue reading →... Read more »
Kollatschny, W., & Zetzl, M. (2011) Broad-line active galactic nuclei rotate faster than narrow-line ones. Nature, 470(7334), 366-368. DOI: 10.1038/nature09761
- March 8, 2011
- 05:16 AM
- 1,058 views
How the Sun lost its spots
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
It may look like a static yellow ball from here, but in reality the Sun is alive with activity. Right now it is becoming more active each day as we get closer to the next solar maximum, which is expected … Continue reading →... Read more »
Nandy D, Muñoz-Jaramillo A, & Martens PC. (2011) The unusual minimum of sunspot cycle 23 caused by meridional plasma flow variations. Nature, 471(7336), 80-2. PMID: 21368827
- August 3, 2010
- 05:28 PM
- 927 views
New limit on neutrino mass… from cosmology, not particle physics
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Physicists at University College London have found a new upper limit on the mass of a neutrino – one of the tightest constraints yet from either particle physics or cosmology. Neutrinos are elementary particles that travel close to the speed of light, but are very difficult to detect because they are not electrically charged. In [...]... Read more »
Thomas, S., Abdalla, F., & Lahav, O. (2010) Upper Bound of 0.28 eV on Neutrino Masses from the Largest Photometric Redshift Survey. Physical Review Letters, 105(3). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.031301
- July 22, 2010
- 03:16 PM
- 917 views
Mapping the cosmos: Can a new technique help us learn more about dark energy?
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
In a paper published in Nature today, physicists detail a new method of looking at faraway galaxies that may help shed light on dark energy. In order to learn more about dark energy – the mysterious force that is believed to be responsible for the ever increasing rate of expansion of the Universe – astronomers [...]... Read more »
Chang, T., Pen, U., Bandura, K., & Peterson, J. (2010) An intensity map of hydrogen 21-cm emission at redshift z ≈ 0.8. Nature, 466(7305), 463-465. DOI: 10.1038/nature09187
- September 2, 2010
- 06:04 AM
- 909 views
Solar system might be older than we thought…
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Researchers from Arizona State University have found the oldest solar system object ever discovered. In fact, it’s so old that it formed up to two million years before the solar system did, according to current estimates. It might be time for a rethink of when and how our little place in the Universe came into [...]... Read more »
Audrey Bouvier, & Meenakshi Wadhwa. (2010) The age of the Solar System redefined by the oldest Pb–Pb age of a meteoritic inclusion. Nature Geoscience. info:/10.1038/ngeo941
- January 10, 2011
- 03:29 AM
- 893 views
Black holes are not fed by colliding galaxies after all
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
It’s not a question you’re likely to have ever considered, but the source of “food” for some of the most active black holes has been a longstanding line of inquiry for the astrophysics community. Many thought they had the answer … Continue reading →... Read more »
Cisternas, M., Jahnke, K., Inskip, K., Kartaltepe, J., Koekemoer, A., Lisker, T., Robaina, A., Scodeggio, M., Sheth, K., Trump, J.... (2011) THE BULK OF THE BLACK HOLE GROWTH SINCE z ~ 1 OCCURS IN A SECULAR UNIVERSE: NO MAJOR MERGER-AGN CONNECTION* . The Astrophysical Journal, 726(2), 57. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/726/2/57
- July 15, 2010
- 12:13 PM
- 892 views
Thousand light year long bubble surrounds black hole in nearby galaxy
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
The Eddington luminosity is the exact brightness a black hole has when the outwards and inwards forces on it balance. It may seem strange to talk about the brightness of a black hole, as usually we think of them as not letting anything – including light – escape their gravitational pull, but in reality this [...]... Read more »
Pakull, M., Soria, R., & Motch, C. (2010) A 300-parsec-long jet-inflated bubble around a powerful microquasar in the galaxy NGC 7793. Nature, 466(7303), 209-212. DOI: 10.1038/nature09168
- November 4, 2010
- 05:07 AM
- 769 views
A galaxy far, far away…
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
When we look up into the sky at night, we see stars (even in London I can usually spot a few!). But there haven’t always been stars and galaxies in the universe. In a period known as the dark ages – not to be confused with the other dark ages – there was no light [...]... Read more »
M. D. Lehnert, N. P. H. Nesvadba, J. -G. Cuby, A. M. Swinbank, S. Morris, B. Clement, C. J. Evans, M. N. Bremer, & S. Basa. (2010) Spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy at redshift z. Nature. arXiv: 1010.4312v1
- December 6, 2010
- 05:37 PM
- 756 views
Saturn’s rings get spontaneously shaken up
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
From far away Saturn’s rings look pretty solid – I’m sure I’m not the only person who, as a child, imagined it’d be possible to skate around the planet on them. In reality, though, they’re made up of millions and … Continue reading →... Read more »
Joseph N. Spitale, & Carolyn C. Porco. (2010) Free Unstable Modes and Massive Bodies in Saturn's Outer B Ring. Astron.J.140:1747-1757,2010. arXiv: 0912.3489v2
- August 18, 2011
- 04:20 PM
- 627 views
Double checking our cosmic tape measure
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
In the late 90s there was a race going on between two astronomy collaborations. Both were on the verge of making a discovery that would change the field of cosmology forever, though they may not have realised it at the time.... Read more »
Sternberg A, Gal-Yam A, Simon JD, Leonard DC, Quimby RM, Phillips MM, Morrell N, Thompson IB, Ivans I, Marshall JL.... (2011) Circumstellar material in type Ia supernovae via sodium absorption features. Science (New York, N.Y.), 333(6044), 856-9. PMID: 21836010
- September 8, 2011
- 12:05 PM
- 580 views
For a realistic Milky Way simulation, just add clustered star formation
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Judging by its starlight and gas content (as seen in the image above), Eris looks to be a near match for our own Milky Way galaxy — except that it exists only as a simulation inside a supercomputer...... Read more »
Javiera Guedes, Simone Callegari, Piero Madau, & Lucio Mayer. (2011) Forming Realistic Late-Type Spirals in a LCDM Universe: The Eris Simulation. Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1103.6030v2
- August 15, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 441 views
Oxygen might be hiding behind grains of cosmic dust
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
We often think of outer space, the bit between stars, as a complete vacuum. The reality is that, while it is a better vacuum than any we can create on Earth, it is far from empty. The interstellar medium (ISM) fills the space between stars in a galaxy. ... Read more »
Paul F. Goldsmith, Rene Liseau, Tom A. Bell, John H. Black, Jo-Hsin Chen, David Hollenbach, Michael J. Kaufman, Di Li, Dariusz C. Lis, Gary Melnick.... (2011) Herschel Measurements of Molecular Oxygen in Orion. Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1108.0441v1
- August 2, 2011
- 10:00 AM
- 441 views
On the origin of chemical elements
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
We take it for granted that there exists a periodic table with numerous elements (at last count, 118) from which we can construct the world around us. But when the universe began with a big bang, it started out with no elements at all.... Read more »
Alpher, R., Bethe, H., & Gamow, G. (1948) The Origin of Chemical Elements. Physical Review, 73(7), 803-804. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRev.73.803
- July 16, 2010
- 10:58 AM
- 418 views
Does one size fit all when it comes to star formation?
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
It is widely known (among astrophysicists at least!) that disks of accumulated matter are an essential component in the formation of low mass stars. These disks form when a rotating cloud of dust and gas collapses, and they direct material from the cloud onto a protostar at the centre. This protostar keeps accreting more and [...]... Read more »
Kraus, S., Hofmann, K., Menten, K., Schertl, D., Weigelt, G., Wyrowski, F., Meilland, A., Perraut, K., Petrov, R., Robbe-Dubois, S.... (2010) A hot compact dust disk around a massive young stellar object. Nature, 466(7304), 339-342. DOI: 10.1038/nature09174
- July 26, 2011
- 02:00 PM
- 380 views
Jupiter sneaked up on asteroid belt, then ran away
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Mars has always been the toddler of the rocky planet family. With a radius half that of Earth’s and a mass just over one tenth of that of our planet, it is bigger than baby Mercury but not quite as grown up as Earth and Venus.... Read more »
Walsh KJ, Morbidelli A, Raymond SN, O'Brien DP, & Mandell AM. (2011) A low mass for Mars from Jupiter's early gas-driven migration. Nature, 475(7355), 206-9. PMID: 21642961
- July 7, 2011
- 03:00 PM
- 377 views
Cassini helps us peek underneath the surface of Enceladus
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
The Cassini spacecraft is zooming around Saturn as I type, currently in between two flybys of Saturn’s moon Titan – one was in June, the next will be September. It was supposed to explore Saturn and its moons for only four years between 2004 and 2008.... Read more »
Postberg F, Schmidt J, Hillier J, Kempf S, & Srama R. (2011) A salt-water reservoir as the source of a compositionally stratified plume on Enceladus. Nature, 474(7353), 620-2. PMID: 21697830
- September 29, 2011
- 10:00 PM
- 344 views
In praise of Tevatron
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Tomorrow, the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab will shut down. The end will be no song and dance: the accelerator operators will simply stop putting new protons and antiprotons into the machine...... Read more »
CDF Collaboration. (1995) Observation of Top Quark Production in p¯p Collisions with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. Physical Review Letters, 74(14), 2626-2631. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.2626
DZero Collaboration., Abachi, S., & et al. (1995) Search for High Mass Top Quark Production in pp¯ Collisions at s. Physical Review Letters, 74(13), 2422-2426. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.2422
- September 23, 2011
- 05:16 AM
- 342 views
An impossible star?
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
In the beginning, the only elements that existed were hydrogen, helium and very small amounts of lithium...... Read more »
Caffau E, Bonifacio P, François P, Sbordone L, Monaco L, Spite M, Spite F, Ludwig HG, Cayrel R, Zaggia S.... (2011) An extremely primitive star in the Galactic halo. Nature, 477(7362), 67-9. PMID: 21886158
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