Astronomy posts
- December 17, 2011
- 10:58 AM
- 958 views
why martian microbes won’t outnumber earth’s
by Greg Fish in weird things
A recently trumpeted paper on astrobiology did some very interesting modeling in a search for places on Mars where some very tough terrestrial microorganisms could survive and came to a very surprising conclusion. It appears that some 3.2% of the red planet could be habitable by volume, which would make it more friendly to life [...]... Read more »
Jones, E., Lineweaver, C., & Clarke, J. (2011) An Extensive Phase Space for the Potential Martian Biosphere. Astrobiology, 2147483647. DOI: 10.1089/ast.2011.0660
- December 14, 2011
- 09:08 PM
- 3,266 views
Reinventing Discovery, Part II
by Hadas Shema in Information Culture
This is the second part of my review of Michael Nielsen's book "Reinventing Discovery - The New Era of Networked Science" (first part is here). Last time we talked about Galaxy Zoo, the Polymath Project, and why scientists don't (usually) do Wikis. This time I'd like to focus on the book parts which talk about ArXiv. First of all, I have to say I've been using ArXiv extensively lately as part of the ACUMEN project, trying to figure out who and what can be found there. The place is a bit of a m........ Read more »
Nielsen, Michael. (2011) Reinventing Discovery. Princeton University Press. info:other/9780691148908
- December 14, 2011
- 06:00 PM
- 3,367 views
the dark monsters who will inherit our universe
by Greg Fish in weird things
Bizarre things are lurking out there in our universe. Titanic beasts born as space and time shatter under more than enough energy to be felt across thousands of light years, beasts with the power to devour stars whole as they whip the very fabric of reality around their gaping maws like their plaything and dictate [...]... Read more »
McConnell, N., Ma, C., Gebhardt, K., Wright, S., Murphy, J., Lauer, T., Graham, J., & Richstone, D. (2011) Two ten-billion-solar-mass black holes at the centres of giant elliptical galaxies. Nature, 480(7376), 215-218. DOI: 10.1038/nature10636
- December 14, 2011
- 04:37 PM
- 2,808 views
A Christmas burst
by Emma in we are all in the gutter
Last Christmas something exploded in the constellation of Andromeda. Well, that’s not quite true. This gamma-ray burst (named GRB 101225A) went off a long, long time ago, but the resulting flash finally arrived last year and were picked up by the SWIFT satellite (which then probably interrupted several festive lunches with its Burst Alert alarm). [...]... Read more »
Thöne CC, de Ugarte Postigo A, Fryer CL, Page KL, Gorosabel J, Aloy MA, Perley DA, Kouveliotou C, Janka HT, Mimica P.... (2011) The unusual γ-ray burst GRB 101225A from a helium star/neutron star merger at redshift 0.33. Nature, 480(7375), 72-4. PMID: 22129726
Campana S, Lodato G, D'Avanzo P, Panagia N, Rossi EM, Della Valle M, Tagliaferri G, Antonelli LA, Covino S, Ghirlanda G.... (2011) The unusual gamma-ray burst GRB 101225A explained as a minor body falling onto a neutron star. Nature, 480(7375), 69-71. PMID: 22129725
- December 13, 2011
- 04:05 PM
- 3,461 views
eliminating dark matter with an intuitive culprit
by Greg Fish in weird things
Few things are as reviled on popular science and physics comment sections as dark matter and dark energy because aside from indirect observations, we’ve never actually detected either. We can see that something is pushing galaxies apart from each other while another invisible force holds these galaxies together, but there have been many attempts to do away with both in a theoretical sense. [...]... Read more »
Carati A. (2011) Gravitational effects of the faraway matter on the rotation curves of spiral galaxies. n/a. arXiv: 1111.5793v1
- December 12, 2011
- 03:51 PM
- 3,241 views
Unified Theory BS: I Debunk "The Schwarzschild Proton" by Nassim Haramein
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
The unification of forces, sought after for a long time, and the incompatibility of standard mechanics of gravity on the quantum scale has been a holy grail of sorts for physicists to resolve. Now if we look at the nature of standard black holes, not protons, we can't forget that they exist as a singularity on a quantum level. All we know of black holes then should apply to these schwarzschild protons. This new theory debunks black hole evaporation. Stephen Hawking will be angered.
Stro........ Read more »
Nassim Haramein. (2010) The Schwarzschild Proton . AIP. info:other/
- December 11, 2011
- 11:55 PM
- 2,703 views
Active star-forming galaxies have substantial halos
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Detailed new research shows that there is a distinct correlation between galaxies with large, oxygen-rich gas halos and active ongoing star formation. Although active star formation requires large amounts of available gas, what is surprising is that much, or perhaps even most, of the gas may be in the halo region outside of where most [...]... Read more »
Tumlinson, J., Thom, C., Werk, J., Prochaska, J., Tripp, T., Weinberg, D., Peeples, M., O'Meara, J., Oppenheimer, B., Meiring, J.... (2011) The Large, Oxygen-Rich Halos of Star-Forming Galaxies Are a Major Reservoir of Galactic Metals. Science, 334(6058), 948-952. DOI: 10.1126/science.1209840
- December 7, 2011
- 06:25 PM
- 954 views
Reinventing Discovery: Book Review, Part I
by Hadas Shema in Information Culture
In Arthur C. Clarke's story "Into the Comet" he describes a spaceship with a computer malfunction that dooms all abroad to eventual death by starvation/oxygen deprivation, whichever comes first. The solution is a device older than the computer: the abacus. The entire crew run calculations on acabi, and they make their way out of the comet's nucleus successfully. That is an extreme example of citizen science (or oh-my-God-we're-all-going-to-die science) but it shows the principle, that collaborat........ Read more »
Nielsen, Michael. (2011) Reinventing Discovery. Princeton University Press. info:other/9780691148908
- December 6, 2011
- 08:30 PM
- 865 views
Two gigantic black holes discovered
by United Academics in United Academics
Black holes are a mysterious field in science, one in which researchers often need to redefine their theories under the light of new discoveries. After decades of observational work, scientists have already agreed that there are supermassive black holes at the center of all massive galaxies. ... Read more »
Nicholas J. McConnell, Chung-Pei Ma, Karl Gebhardt, Shelley A. Wright, Jeremy D. Murphy, Tod R. Lauer, James R. Graham, & Douglas O. Richston. (2011) Two ten-billion-solar-mass black holes at the centres of giant elliptical galaxies. Nature. info:/10.1038/nature1063
- December 4, 2011
- 11:30 PM
- 371 views
Cygnus X-1 mass and spin determined
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Cygnus X-1 was a very puzzling object when it was discovered in 1964, because (as the name suggests) it was an extremely powerful X-ray source. Since X-rays are (fortunately) blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere, the exceptional nature of the object was only recognized when it became possible to do astronomy from above the atmosphere, in [...]... Read more »
Reid, M., McClintock, J., Narayan, R., Gou, L., Remillard, R., & Orosz, J. (2011) THE TRIGONOMETRIC PARALLAX OF CYGNUS X-1. The Astrophysical Journal, 742(2), 83. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/742/2/83
Orosz, J., McClintock, J., Aufdenberg, J., Remillard, R., Reid, M., Narayan, R., & Gou, L. (2011) THE MASS OF THE BLACK HOLE IN CYGNUS X-1. The Astrophysical Journal, 742(2), 84. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/742/2/84
Gou, L., McClintock, J., Reid, M., Orosz, J., Steiner, J., Narayan, R., Xiang, J., Remillard, R., Arnaud, K., & Davis, S. (2011) THE EXTREME SPIN OF THE BLACK HOLE IN CYGNUS X-1. The Astrophysical Journal, 742(2), 85. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/742/2/85
- December 3, 2011
- 10:00 AM
- 519 views
On "Invisible Misconceptions"
by Brooke N in Smaller Questions
What do students think about the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that they cannot see?... Read more »
Libarkin, J., Asghar, A., Crockett, C., & Sadler, P. (2011) Invisible Misconceptions: Student Understanding of Ultraviolet and Infrared Radiation. Astronomy Education Review, 10(1), 10105. DOI: 10.3847/AER2011022
- December 3, 2011
- 01:37 AM
- 353 views
Star formation and molecular clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the largest close neighbor of our own galaxy, at a distance of only 160,000 light-years – less than twice the diameter of the Milky Way itself. Its proximity makes it a very useful object to study in connection with the process of star formation, which is generally assumed to [...]... Read more »
Wong, T., Hughes, A., Ott, J., Muller, E., Pineda, J., Bernard, J., Chu, Y., Fukui, Y., Gruendl, R., Henkel, C.... (2011) THE MAGELLANIC MOPRA ASSESSMENT (MAGMA). I. THE MOLECULAR CLOUD POPULATION OF THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 197(2), 16. DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/197/2/16
- December 1, 2011
- 11:19 PM
- 380 views
Magnetic fields may set the stage for birth of new stars
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Star formation does not happen as easily as one might suppose from the abundance of stars in a galaxy like the Milky Way, in which more than 100 billion times the mass of the Sun (M⊙) exists in the form of stars. Stars condense out of interstellar gas within the galaxy, but the process is [...]... Read more »
Li, H., & Henning, T. (2011) The alignment of molecular cloud magnetic fields with the spiral arms in M33. Nature, 479(7374), 499-501. DOI: 10.1038/nature10551
- November 30, 2011
- 02:31 PM
- 916 views
The biggest Mars mission launched
by Olga Vovk in Milchstraße
On Nov. 26, 2011 at 10:02 AM EST the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launched successfully from Cape Canaveral using Atlas V 541 rocket and began its journey to Mars. MSL carries the biggest and the most robust Mars rover ever built.... Read more »
Golombek, et al. (2004) Surfical geology of the Spirit rover traverse in Gusev Crater: dry and desiccating since the Hesperian. Second Conference on Early Mars . info:/
Squyres SW, Arvidson RE, Bell JF 3rd, Brückner J, Cabrol NA, Calvin W, Carr MH, Christensen PR, Clark BC, Crumpler L.... (2004) The Opportunity Rover's Athena science investigation at Meridiani Planum, Mars. Science (New York, N.Y.), 306(5702), 1698-703. PMID: 15576602
Sallé, B., Lacour, J., Mauchien, P., Fichet, P., Maurice, S., & Manhès, G. (2006) Comparative study of different methodologies for quantitative rock analysis by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in a simulated Martian atmosphere. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 61(3), 301-313. DOI: 10.1016/j.sab.2006.02.003
- November 24, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 534 views
Hubble Unearths Distant Colourful Dwarf Galaxies
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Hubble has uncovered a goldmine of young dwarf galaxies that are undergoing intense bursts of star formation.
Dwarf galaxies are the most common in the universe but until now astronomers had seen few examples of distant dwarf galaxies because they are small and not very bright...... Read more »
van der Wel, A., Straughn, A., Rix, H., Finkelstein, S., Koekemoer, A., Weiner, B., Wuyts, S., Bell, E., Faber, S., Trump, J.... (2011) EXTREME EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES IN CANDELS: BROADBAND-SELECTED, STARBURSTING DWARF GALAXIES AT 1 . The Astrophysical Journal, 742(2), 111. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/742/2/111
- November 23, 2011
- 12:03 PM
- 1,002 views
O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Estimating fp
by Olga Vovk in Milchstraße
In Drake equation, fp stays for a fraction of stars that have planets. The Drake estimate for this parameter was fp=0.5. Which means that 50% of stars in Milky Way may have planets. In its modern estimate fp~ 0.4 (Marcy et al , 2005), however this number can become much higher with developing more precise techniques for planet detection.... Read more »
Chambers J. (2010) Extrasolar planets: More giants in focus. Nature, 467(7314), 405-6. PMID: 20864987
Goud et al. (2010) Frequency of Solar-Like Systems and of Ice and Gas Giants Beyond the Snow Line from High-Magnification Microlensing Events in 2005-2008. Astrophysics Earth and Planetary Astrophysics. DOI: arXiv:1001.0572
- November 23, 2011
- 10:30 AM
- 576 views
What's with Dark Matter and Dark Energy?
by Brooke N in Smaller Questions
What are the effects of dark matter and dark energy, and what do these two phenomena have to do with each other?... Read more »
Riess, A., Filippenko, A., Challis, P., Clocchiatti, A., Diercks, A., Garnavich, P., Gilliland, R., Hogan, C., Jha, S., Kirshner, R.... (1998) Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant. The Astronomical Journal, 116(3), 1009-1038. DOI: 10.1086/300499
Perlmutter, S., Aldering, G., Goldhaber, G., Knop, R., Nugent, P., Castro, P., Deustua, S., Fabbro, S., Goobar, A., Groom, D.... (1999) Measurements of Ω and Λ from 42 High‐Redshift Supernovae. The Astrophysical Journal, 517(2), 565-586. DOI: 10.1086/307221
Rubin, V., & Ford, W. (1970) Rotation of the Andromeda Nebula from a Spectroscopic Survey of Emission Regions. The Astrophysical Journal, 379. DOI: 10.1086/150317
- November 23, 2011
- 10:18 AM
- 815 views
Signal received from the lost Russian Phobos-Grunt Mars probe
by Olga Vovk in Milchstraße
Signal received from the lost Russian Phobos-Grunt Mars probe... Read more »
Harvey, Brian. (2007) The rebirth of the Russian space program 50 years after Sputnik, new frontiers . Springer-Praxis books in space exploration. info:other/
- November 23, 2011
- 10:08 AM
- 233 views
Signal received from the lost Russian Phobos-Grunt Mars probe
by Olga Vovk in Milchstraße
... Read more »
Harvey, Brian. (2007) The rebirth of the Russian space program 50 years after Sputnik, new frontiers . Springer-Praxis books in space exploration. info:other/
- November 22, 2011
- 01:00 AM
- 415 views
Neutron star research points to different classes of supernovae
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Classifying things is the starting point for almost all scientific fields – from flowers to fundamental particles. Once one has classes the next step is to find subclasses, and then sub-subclasses. Finding correlations between different classification schemes, then, often leads to significant understandings. Neutron stars are not stars in the normal sense. They are remnants [...]... Read more »
Knigge, C., Coe, M., & Podsiadlowski, P. (2011) Two populations of X-ray pulsars produced by two types of supernova. Nature, 479(7373), 372-375. DOI: 10.1038/nature10529
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