Astronomy posts
- February 23, 2013
- 02:05 PM
- 247 views
Searching for the Solar System’s Chemical Recipe
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
By studying the origins of different isotope ratios among the elements that make up today’s smorgasbord of planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and interplanetary ice and dust, Mark Thiemens and his colleagues hope to learn how our solar system evolved. Thiemens, Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, has worked on this problem for over three decades.... Read more »
Paul Preuss. (2013) Searching for the Solar System’s Chemical Recipe. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. info:/
- February 21, 2013
- 09:36 AM
- 238 views
The Sobering Reality of Orbital Weapons Platforms
by Jason Carr in Wired Cosmos
Space warfare is quickly becoming a reality. Though people might often imagine that wars fought in space would be against some sort of extraterrestrial power, this might not be the case. It’s far more likely than human beings will someday war with one another. As with every other major venture, international law is involved with [...]... Read more »
Klein, J. (2004) SPACE WARFARE: A MARITIME-INSPIRED SPACE STRATEGY. Astropolitics, 2(1), 33-61. DOI: 10.1080/14777620490444740
Maogoto, J., & Freeland, S. (2007) The Final Frontier: The Laws of Armed Conflict and Space Warfare. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1079376
- February 16, 2013
- 07:14 AM
- 286 views
Cosmic rays born in supernova aftermath
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
One hundred years after the discovery of cosmic rays, a team of particle astrophysicists has definitively determined one source of these abundant yet enigmatic particles.... Read more »
Kelen Tuttle. (2013) Cosmic rays born in supernova aftermath. Symmetry Magazine. info:/
- February 15, 2013
- 04:43 AM
- 211 views
A Science First: Witnessing the Birth of a Black Hole
by Zach Urbina in United Academics
NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory may have captured a galactic first. The infancy of a black hole emerging from the stellar remnant W49B is likely in the process of developing, based on several independent observations. The composite image was created with data from Chandra, radio data from The NSF’s Very Large Array, and infrared data from Caltech’s Palomar Observatory.... Read more »
Laura A. Lopez, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, Daniel Castro, & Sarah Pearson. (2013) The Galactic Supernova Remnant W49B Likely Originates from a Jet-Driven, Core-Collapse Explosion. Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1301.0618v1
- February 9, 2013
- 10:35 AM
- 221 views
Excuses, a pop video and a quasar anniversary
by Emma in we are all in the gutter
Oh my. I’ve just looked at this, our much-neglected blog, and realised that the last post here was in November. The first thing I feel I should do today therefore is wish you all a very belated Happy New Year! Maybe I should go with a slightly early Happy Chinese New Year! instead. It may [...]... Read more »
SCHMIDT, M. (1963) 3C 273 : A Star-Like Object with Large Red-Shift. Nature, 197(4872), 1040-1040. DOI: 10.1038/1971040a0
- February 7, 2013
- 01:29 PM
- 219 views
Searching for volcanic eruptions on Venus: Nothing yet
by Paul Wren in Venus Dispatches
Eugene Shalygin and colleagues report on their ongoing attempts to detect volcanic activity on Venus. The Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) carried by the Venus Express orbiter is capable of making observations in the near-infrared centered around 1.01 microns, a wavelength at which thermal emissions from the planet's surface can be detected on the night side. They are making observations in likely locations, specifically the area around the Maat Mons, Sapas Mons, and Ozza Mons volcanoes (Mess........ Read more »
Shalygin, E., Basilevsky, A., Markiewicz, W., Titov, D., Kreslavsky, M., & Roatsch, T. (2012) Search for ongoing volcanic activity on Venus: Case study of Maat Mons, Sapas Mons and Ozza Mons volcanoes. Planetary and Space Science, 73(1), 294-301. DOI: 10.1016/j.pss.2012.08.018
- February 5, 2013
- 03:39 PM
- 280 views
The “ISW mystery” deepens considerably (II)
by Shaun Hotchkiss in The Trenches of Discovery
This time last year I wrote a few posts describing what I called the “ISW mystery”. A year has passed, it is time for an update on the mystery.
The very short summary is that things are starting to get more than a little bit exciting. All of the plausible ways in which the calculation of the expected ISW signal could have been wrong have been checked and eliminated as possibilities; if the measured signal is real, it is too large for the standard cosmological model. Much, much more exciti........ Read more »
Yan-Chuan Cai, Mark C. Neyrinck, Istvan Szapudi, Shaun Cole, & Carlos S. Frenk. (2013) A Detection of the Cold Imprint of Voids on the Microwave Background Radiation. arXiv. arXiv: 1301.6136v1
S. Ilic, M. Langer, & M. Douspis. (2013) On the detection of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect with stacked voids. arXiv. arXiv: 1301.5849v1
- February 4, 2013
- 06:17 AM
- 195 views
Why the outer edge of the Sun hotter than the surface of the Sun?
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Researchers have examined the chromosphere of the Sun in a greater detail to reveal the mystery of the hotter outer edge of the sun.
This research has been published online in December issue of the journal Nature Communications.
Chromosphere refers to the lower region of the atmosphere of the Sun or any other star. It is present between the surface of the Sun, i.e. photosphere, and the outer layer of the Sun, i.e. corona. For a long time, astronomers were amazed by this fact that the coron........ Read more »
Morton, R., Verth, G., Jess, D., Kuridze, D., Ruderman, M., Mathioudakis, M., & Erdélyi, R. (2012) Observations of ubiquitous compressive waves in the Sun’s chromosphere. Nature Communications, 1315. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2324
- February 2, 2013
- 03:29 AM
- 278 views
Quantum foam
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
Modern physics deals with some ridiculously non-intuitive stuff. Objects act as though they gain mass the faster they move. An electron can’t decide if it’s a particle, a wave or both. However, there is one statement that takes the cake on sounding like crazy talk: Empty space isn’t empty.... Read more »
Don Lincoln. (2013) Quantum foam. Fermilab. info:/
- January 31, 2013
- 10:02 AM
- 163 views
Space ‘Scale’ to Weigh Black Holes
by Jason Carr in Wired Cosmos
A new way of measuring the mass of supermassive black holes could revolutionize our understanding of how they form and help to shape galaxies. The technique, developed by a team including Oxford University scientists, can spot the telltale tracer of carbon monoxide within the cloud of gas (mostly hydrogen) circling a supermassive black hole at [...]... Read more »
Davis, T., Bureau, M., Cappellari, M., Sarzi, M., & Blitz, L. (2013) A black-hole mass measurement from molecular gas kinematics in NGC4526. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature11819
- January 30, 2013
- 05:05 PM
- 295 views
Illuminating the dark universe
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
The pursuit of dark matter and dark energy is one of the most exciting—and most challenging—areas of science. Now researchers think they’re beginning to close in.... Read more »
Glennda Chui. (2013) Illuminating the dark universe. Symmetry magazine. info:/
- January 29, 2013
- 04:54 PM
- 158 views
Ridges on Mars Suggest Ancient Flowing Water
by Jason Carr in Wired Cosmos
Networks of narrow ridges found in impact craters on Mars appear to be the fossilized remnants of underground cracks through which water once flowed, according to a new analysis by researchers from Brown University. The study, in press in the journal Geophysical Research Letters (cited below) bolsters the idea that the subsurface environment on Mars once had an [...]... Read more »
Lee Saper, & John F. Mustard. (2013) Extensive linear ridge networks in Nili Fossae and Nilosyrtis, Mars: Implications for fluid flow in the ancient crust. Geophysical Research Letters . info:/10.1002/grl.50106
- January 29, 2013
- 03:31 PM
- 165 views
Water vapor in the Venus troposphere
by Paul Wren in Venus Dispatches
In a recent paper, Sarah Chamberlain from the University of Lisbon and her colleagues report on their interpretation of ground-based Venus observations from 2004 using new modeling techniques to determine the amount of water vapor present in the lower atmosphere.Anglo-Australian TelescopeIn spite of the dense clouds and haze, near-infrared windows occur on the Venus nightside where the scattered daylight radiation is minimal, allowing thermal radiation emission from the deep lower atmosphere to ........ Read more »
Bézard, B., Fedorova, A., Bertaux, J., Rodin, A., & Korablev, O. (2011) The 1.10- and 1.18-μm nightside windows of Venus observed by SPICAV-IR aboard Venus Express. Icarus, 216(1), 173-183. DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2011.08.025
Chamberlain, S., Bailey, J., Crisp, D., & Meadows, V. (2013) Ground-based near-infrared observations of water vapour in the Venus troposphere. Icarus, 222(1), 364-378. DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2012.11.014
- January 24, 2013
- 07:13 PM
- 198 views
Temperature of the Universe is going down as predicted by the Big Bang theory
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Astronomers have taken the temperature of the Universe and reported that the temperature cooled down as predicted by the Big Bang theory.
This research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Astronomers measured the temperature of the universe, when it was half of its current age, with the help of CSIRO Australia Telescope Compact Array near Narrabri, NSW.
In order to study the temperature, astronomers studied the gas in an unnamed galaxy 7.2 billion ........ Read more »
S. Muller, A. Beelen, J. H. Black, S. J. Curran, C. Horellou, S. Aalto, F. Combes, M. Guelin, & C. Henkel. (2012) A precise and accurate determination of the cosmic microwave background temperature at z. Astronomy . arXiv: 1212.5456v1
- January 24, 2013
- 05:05 PM
- 313 views
Revolutionary theory of dark matter
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
The universe abounds with dark matter. Nobody knows what it consists of. UiO physicists have now launched a very hard mathematical explanation that could solve the mystery once and for all.
Astrophysicists have known for the last 80 years that most of the universe consists of an unknown, dark matter. The solution to the mystery may now be just around the corner.... Read more »
Yngve Vogt. (2013) Revolutionary theory of dark matter. Apollon Research Magazine University of Oslo. info:/
- January 24, 2013
- 07:50 AM
- 163 views
Speed of the Gaseous remnants of the star GK Persei is not slowing down
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
Astronomers have constructed the 3D model of the star GK Persei that blasted with a powerful explosion and found that its speed is not slowing down.
This research has been published online in The Astrophysical Journal.
Star GK Persei is located about 1,300 light years away from us. It is also referred to as Nova Persei 1901 as a strong thermonuclear eruption occurred on its surface on the 21st February 1901, the day when its brightness caused it to become one of the brightest stars in the ........ Read more »
Liimets, T., Corradi, R., Santander-García, M., Villaver, E., Rodríguez-Gil, P., Verro, K., & Kolka, I. (2012) A THREE-DIMENSIONAL VIEW OF THE REMNANT OF NOVA PERSEI 1901 (GK Per). The Astrophysical Journal, 761(1), 34. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/761/1/34
- January 21, 2013
- 10:29 AM
- 230 views
Martian Crater found to have groundwater activity in the past
by Usman Paracha in SayPeople
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has found evidences of flowing lake in the McLaughlin Crater’s past.
This research has been published online in the journal Nature GeoScience.
McLaughlin crater, one of the deepest craters on Mars, is 57 miles across and 1.4 miles deep with apparent rocks of carbonate and clay minerals at the bottom that usually form in the presence of water.
Scientists found the minerals using the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (........ Read more »
Michalski, J., Cuadros, J., Niles, P., Parnell, J., Deanne Rogers, A., & Wright, S. (2013) Groundwater activity on Mars and implications for a deep biosphere. Nature Geoscience. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1706
- January 20, 2013
- 07:28 AM
- 252 views
Objects Beyond Cosmic Voids Not As Bright As They Appear
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
(ISNS) — Giant cosmic voids that account for more than half the volume of the universe could make the stars beyond their boundaries appear brighter than they are, cosmologists have unexpectedly found.... Read more »
Charles Q. Choi. (2013) Objects Beyond Cosmic Voids Not As Bright As They Appear. Inside Science . info:/
- January 15, 2013
- 04:40 PM
- 219 views
did the cosmological principle get knocked down?
by Greg Fish in weird things
Since the dawn of modern cosmology there’s been an implicit assumption that no particular spot in the universe was supposed to be any more special than the rest. On the biggest scales of all, scales at which galaxies are treated like tiny particles, the universe is supposed to be isotropic and homogeneous i.e. more or less uniform in composition and its expansion from the Big Bang. [...]... Read more »
Clowes, R., Harris, K., Raghunathan, S., Campusano, L., Sochting, I., & Graham, M. (2013) A structure in the early Universe at z 1.3 that exceeds the homogeneity scale of the R-W concordance cosmology. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sts497
- January 14, 2013
- 01:57 AM
- 138 views
Venus Express flew over an electrical storm
by Paul Wren in Venus Dispatches
Christopher Russell has been looking for proof of lightning in the atmosphere of Venus for quite a while (his earliest publication I could find on the subject was in 1979). Now, Russell and his colleagues report on the strongest evidence yet for Venusian lightning (2012).In order to remove interference from magnetometer data collected previously by Venus Express, Russell and his team devised a new algorithm that uses the inboard sensor to detect interfering signals and then removes the same si........ Read more »
Russell, C., Leinweber, H., Zhang, T., Daniels, J., Strangeway, R., & Wei, H. (2012) Electromagnetic waves observed on a flight over a Venus electrical storm. Geophysical Research Letters. DOI: 10.1029/2012GL054308
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