Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Galactic event that happened 27,000 years ago reported as happening now
Researchers have spotted a giant gas cloud spiralling into the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's centre.
Though it is known that black holes draw in nearby material, it will be the first chance to see one consume such a cloud.
As it is torn apart, the turbulent area around the black hole will become unusually bright, giving astronomers a chance to learn more about it
So far so good, but...
They have plotted the cloud's squashed, oval-shaped path and estimate it has doubled its speed in the last seven years - to 2,350km per second.
It should spiral in to within about 40 billion kilometres of the black hole in the middle of 2013.
The real event is long since over.
Read more here.
Though it is known that black holes draw in nearby material, it will be the first chance to see one consume such a cloud.
As it is torn apart, the turbulent area around the black hole will become unusually bright, giving astronomers a chance to learn more about it
So far so good, but...
They have plotted the cloud's squashed, oval-shaped path and estimate it has doubled its speed in the last seven years - to 2,350km per second.
It should spiral in to within about 40 billion kilometres of the black hole in the middle of 2013.
The real event is long since over.
Read more here.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Huge storm on Saturn
"This new storm is a completely different kind of beast compared to anything we saw on Saturn previously with Cassini. The fact that such outbursts are episodic and keep happening on Saturn every 20 to 30 years or so is telling us something about deep inside the planet, but we have yet to figure out what it is."
Read more here.
Read more here.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Four Minutes After the Big Bang
Astronomers have found pristine clouds of the primordial gas that formed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. The composition of the gas matches theoretical predictions, providing direct evidence in support of the modern cosmological explanation for the origins of elements in the universe.
Only the lightest elements, mostly hydrogen and helium, were created in the Big Bang. Then a few hundred million years passed before clumps of this primordial gas condensed to form the first stars, where heavier elements were forged.
Read more here.
Only the lightest elements, mostly hydrogen and helium, were created in the Big Bang. Then a few hundred million years passed before clumps of this primordial gas condensed to form the first stars, where heavier elements were forged.
Read more here.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Scientists cling to Witchcraft Dark Matter
I know I know, I'm not a scientist, but it does appear they thought up Dark Matter because they just don't understand it all yet.
Dark matter almost certainly exists - otherwise, galaxy clusters wouldn't have sufficient gravity to hold themselves together*. It was hoped dwarf galaxies could confirm the leading dark matter theories. But a new study has drawn a big, frustrating blank.
It will provide amusement for future readers of science: "Back in the early 21st century, Dark Matter was proposed much as the theory of the Ether was in the 19th century, as knowledge of the Universe was understandably more primitive. We of course now know...."
* there's so much wrong with this sentence as a piece of reasoning: Fairies must exist, as what else explains the lights at the end of the garden....
Read more here.
Dark matter almost certainly exists - otherwise, galaxy clusters wouldn't have sufficient gravity to hold themselves together*. It was hoped dwarf galaxies could confirm the leading dark matter theories. But a new study has drawn a big, frustrating blank.
It will provide amusement for future readers of science: "Back in the early 21st century, Dark Matter was proposed much as the theory of the Ether was in the 19th century, as knowledge of the Universe was understandably more primitive. We of course now know...."
* there's so much wrong with this sentence as a piece of reasoning: Fairies must exist, as what else explains the lights at the end of the garden....
Read more here.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Computer Simulations of the Universe
The Bolshoi Simulation is a massive, incredibly detailed model of everything, providing a comprehensive simulation of the universe's 14 billion year history. Scientists are now exploring the simulation, and we've got some of the most breathtaking results of their efforts.
Read more here.
Read more here.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles
The idea that other universes - as well as our own - lie within "bubbles" of space and time has received a boost.
Studies of the low-temperature glow left from the Big Bang suggest that several of these "bubble universes" may have left marks on our own.
This "multiverse" idea is popular in modern physics, but experimental tests have been hard to come by.
The preliminary work, to be published in Physical Review D, will be firmed up using data from the Planck telescope.
For now, the team has worked with seven years' worth of data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which measures in minute detail the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - the faint glow left from our Universe's formation.
Read more here.
Studies of the low-temperature glow left from the Big Bang suggest that several of these "bubble universes" may have left marks on our own.
This "multiverse" idea is popular in modern physics, but experimental tests have been hard to come by.
The preliminary work, to be published in Physical Review D, will be firmed up using data from the Planck telescope.
For now, the team has worked with seven years' worth of data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which measures in minute detail the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - the faint glow left from our Universe's formation.
Read more here.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The most distant single object yet seen
A cataclysmic explosion of a huge star near the edge of the observable Universe may be the most distant single object yet spied by a telescope.
Scientists believe the blast, which was detected by Nasa's Swift space observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the Big Bang.
This means its light has taken a staggering 13.14 billion years to reach Earth.
Read more here.
Scientists believe the blast, which was detected by Nasa's Swift space observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the Big Bang.
This means its light has taken a staggering 13.14 billion years to reach Earth.
Read more here.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
NASA gives up, reuses old ships kept in garage
NASA plans a return to yesteryear by developing a space capsule that will carry humans into deep space, it announced Tuesday.
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
The new spacecraft, to be built by Lockheed Martin, will be known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV. It will carry four astronauts and be based on designs originally planned for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, whose development was canceled by President Barack Obama.
Read more here.
"We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
The new spacecraft, to be built by Lockheed Martin, will be known as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV. It will carry four astronauts and be based on designs originally planned for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, whose development was canceled by President Barack Obama.
Read more here.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Scientists prefer witchcraft, ur um, dark matter to new gravitational theory
A controversial theory that challenges the existence of dark matter has been buoyed by studies of gas-rich galaxies.
Instead of invoking dark matter, the Modified Newtonian Dynamics theory says that the effects of gravity change in places where its pull is very low.
The new paper suggests that Mond better predicts the relationship between gassy galaxies' rotation speeds and masses.
However, critics maintain that dark matter theory is a better general description of the Universe we see.
Read more here.
Instead of invoking dark matter, the Modified Newtonian Dynamics theory says that the effects of gravity change in places where its pull is very low.
The new paper suggests that Mond better predicts the relationship between gassy galaxies' rotation speeds and masses.
However, critics maintain that dark matter theory is a better general description of the Universe we see.
Read more here.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Canadian girl 'youngest to discover supernova'
A 10-year-old girl in Canada has become the youngest person to discover a supernova - an exploding star which can briefly outshine a whole galaxy.
Kathryn Gray was studying images taken at an amateur observatory which had been sent to her father.
She spotted the magnitude 17 supernova on Sunday.
Read more here.
Kathryn Gray was studying images taken at an amateur observatory which had been sent to her father.
She spotted the magnitude 17 supernova on Sunday.
Read more here.
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