"I have a deep-seated bias against hate and intolerance. I have a bias against racial and religious bigotry. I have a bias against war, a bias for peace. I have a bias which leads me to believe that no problem of human relations is ever insoluble."
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory recently captured a fascinating image of the Tycho supernova remnant. The 20 million degree expanding shockwave of gas and dust is visible at the outside edges of the object; the stellar debris inside is 10-million degrees cooler, and only visible in X-rays. The original supernova explosion was seen by Dutch astronomer Tycho Brahe in the Year 1572.
The latest photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope is of a rare type of galaxy, known as Hoag's Object, where a ring of stars orbit a yellow nucleus. The bluish outer ring is composed of clusters of hot, young stars while the heart is made of mostly older stars. It's possible that the "gap" in between contains star clusters too faint to see.
The newest image release from the Hubble Space Telescope is of the shredded remnants of Cassiopeia A, a star that went supernova more than 10,000 years ago - the youngest known supernova in our galaxy. Debris has formed into thousands of cooling knots of gas and dust, and will eventually supply new star systems with heavier elements such as oxygen and sulphur.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered part of an intergalactic web of hot gas and dark matter that contains most of the material in the universe. The hot gas, which appears to lie like a fog in channels carved by rivers of gravity, has been hidden from view since the time galaxies formed.
The Perseid meteor shower peaks this year on Aug. 12th and 13th. The warmth of northern summer makes it one of the year's most inviting sky shows.
A cosmic phenomenon involving pockets of hot gas in space which appear not to cool down has been puzzling astronomers for three decades. Now new research shows that the energy of the hot gas is actually replenished by jets emitted by black holes.
One of the more spectacular phenomena in the cosmos might just be the collision of supermassive black holes that accompanies the merger of galaxies. But the astronomical community has not had definitive proof that these black holes are actually coming together. For the first time, astronomers have now produced a convincing mathematical model that offers the strongest support to date for the idea that the black holes merge when their host galaxies do.
Merging black holes will rock the fabric of space and time with gravitational waves that start quiet, grow to a thunderous roar at the moment of impact, and then resonate from the final gong, according to international team of scientists who have created a novel computer model of such a merger based on Einstein's equations.
Astronomers have discovered that a nearby dwarf galaxy is spewing oxygen and other "heavy" elements into intergalactic space. This observation from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory supports the idea that dwarf galaxies might be responsible for most of the heavy elements between the galaxies.
X-rays from a rare type of supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy were recently observed, thanks to the fine resolution of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The team of researchers also detected a large number of point-like X-ray sources due to black holes and neutron stars in binary star systems.
Astronomers have spotted a number of young stellar clusters dotted around a very old elliptical galaxy - this disputes the established theory that old galaxies contain only older stars. The team used the Hubble Space Telescope and the ESO Very Large Telescope to take a series of images of galaxy NGC 4365, and they were able to identify star clusters that were only a few billion years old, while the majority were over 12 billion years old. Why the galaxy contains such a combination of young and old stars is still a mystery.
Scientists have found new evidence that light emanating from near a black hole loses energy climbing out of a gravitational well created by the black hole, a key prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity.
The early evolution of the universe has confounded astronomers for years. Observations seem to show that giant black holes containing as much mass as three billion suns formed less than a billion years after the Big Bang. Collecting so much material so quickly was as unlikely as building a 20-room mansion in a day's time.
What caused the Big Bang? Did it have a cause? Or did it begin time, creating itself by its bootstraps? These philosophical puzzles have bothered astronomers for decades. Now two cosmologists are proposing a radical new theory in which the Big Bang resulted from the death of a previous era of the cosmos, part of an infinitely old cycle of collapses and rebirths.
The idea of a cyclic universe has been around ever since the Big Bang was first proposed in the 1930s. But no one could find a way to make the "big crunch" that ends one cycle of the universe "bounce" to become the big bang of the next. Now, using tools from the outer reaches of theoretical physics known as M theory, along with concepts of spacetime "branes" moving through higher dimensions....
A team of UK astronomers have discovered a new class of cannibalistic stars that may explain one of the mysteries surrounding the Big Bang. These stars formed shortly after the Big Bang but don't contain any lithium -which astronomers predicted should be there. Astronomers believed that they must have misunderstood some essential aspect about the early universe, but this new research helps explain what happened to the lithium; it was destroyed by the star's interaction with a partner star.
Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers are using ancient stars in the Milky Way to come up with an independent estimate about the age of the Universe. In the past, astronomers have calculated this age using its rate of expansion, and pegged it between 13-14 billion years old. Under this new method, the astronomers targeted ancient white dwarf stars which cool down at a very predictable rate. These stars were formed near the beginning of the Universe, and the astronomers were able to estimate that they are between 12-13 billion years old. Close enough.
Recent evidence seems to indicate that the expansion of the Universe is actually accelerating - some kind of "dark energy" is pushing it apart. And a new redshift survey of galactic clusters seems to support this. Astronomers using data gathered by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have determined that there is insufficient matter (both regular and dark matter) in various galactic clusters to account for their shape and position, so something else must be having an effect.
Astronomers believe they may have finally solved one of the greatest mysteries in astronomy; or maybe they just found another star. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, the team captured an image of a red dwarf star using a technique called microlensing; another star in front acted like a gravitational lens to focus the red dwarf's light to make it visible on Earth. Red dwarf stars like this could make up a portion of what astronomers call "Dark Matter".
A group of astronomers studying the structure of the universe believe that dark matter is spread around as evenly as regular matter. On cosmic scales, measured in tens of millions of light-years, dark matter and galaxies have the same shapes and structures, with spiderweb-like grouping. This distribution of dark matter was determined by performing mathematical predictions on the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey - a collection of data on 200,000 galaxies.
NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP), launched three months ago, has reached the L2 Lagrange Point; a very stable position about 1.6 million kilometres from Earth. MAP will scan the sky over the next two years, and build a map of the background radiation left over from the Big Bang. The devices on MAP are so precise, they can measure differences in temperature to within a millionth of a degree.
Astronomers have discovered a faint galaxy that may be one of the building blocks of present day galaxies. The team used the Hubble Space Telescope and a technique called "gravitational lensing" which uses the gravity of other galaxies as a cosmic magnifying glass. This proto-galaxy is located 13.4 billion light years away and contains only a million stars. Astronomers hope it will help them understand how the first stars and galaxies formed.
NASA is planning to reveal the early stages of planet formation using a powerful new instrument - the Keck Interferometer. Early next year the twin Keck telescopes, the most powerful telescopes in the world, will be linked together to form one giant telescope. The team will focus their instrument at the disk of dust and gas around a class of stars which are thought to resemble the Sun at a formative stage.
According to data gathered by the European Space Agency's Ulysses spacecraft, our Sun is starting to calm down after reaching the peak of its 11-year activity cycle. The sun has settled down at the poles, but there is still the potential for large solar storms around the equator. The sun will reach the minimum of its cycle in 2007.
NASA began its journey into the past Saturday with the successful launch of the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) on board a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. Now in space, the probe is enroute to the L2 Lagrange point, 1.5 million km away from Earth. Once it reaches L2, MAP will begin compose a full sky montage of radiation at the edge of the universe, which scientists will use to understand what happened during the first few seconds of time after the Big Bang.
New observations are supporting the theory that the early universe looked like the inside of a sponge, with galaxies forming in clumps along filaments. Using the Paranal Observatory in South America, astronomers determined the distances to very distant galaxies, and then plotted their positions on a three-dimensional map. These observations help to lend support to current Big Bang theories and the possibility that some dark matter makes up 95% of the mass of the universe.
Based on new research, a group of French astronomers have estimated the age of the Universe to be approximately 12.5 billion years (plus or minus another 3 billion years). The team used the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Paranal, Chile to analyze the amount of uranium-238 in one of the oldest stars in the Milky Way: CS 31082-001. Uranium is similar to Carbon-14 in that it decays at a very predictable rate; it has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Based on this technique, the astronomers determined that the star is 12.5 billion years old; therefore, the Universe must be older than this star.
This process, known as stellar interferometry, is nothing new, but it has never been attempted on such a large scale with visible light. It is now possible to achieve a resolution of 2 to 5 milliarcseconds, an order of magnitude better than a single Keck telescope could reach even using its adaptive-optics system. "We have now entered the era of extremely high resolution astronomy," says James W. Beletic, deputy director of Keck.
Based on new research, a group of French astronomers have estimated the age of the Universe to be approximately 12.5 billion years (plus or minus another 3 billion years). The team used the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Paranal, Chile to analyze the amount of uranium-238 in one of the oldest stars in the Milky Way: CS 31082-001. Uranium is similar to Carbon-14 in that it decays at a very predictable rate; it has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Based on this technique, the astronomers determined that the star is 12.5 billion years old; therefore, the Universe must be older than this star.
Australian astronomers believe they have found evidence that the earliest stars in the Universe may be much older than originally thought following the discovery of an entirely new type of galaxy. Using CSIRO's Australia Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, the team found "galaxies that are absolutely fizzing with star formation - a sort of huge stellar baby-boom". These galaxies, or "starbursts" are hundreds of times more active than regular galaxies.
An international team of astronomers have produced the most detailed map ever produced of the centre of our own Milky Way. This stunning photograph shows stellar nurseries, wispy filaments, clouds of gas, and at the very centre is Sagittarius A; an object believed to be a massive black hole. The team produced the map using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array, and the 15-metre James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii.
A team of European astronomers announced recently that they have discovered the most massive spiral galaxy ever found: designated ISOHDFS 27, it is four times more massive than the Milky Way. The team determined their calculations using ISAAC, an infrared-sensitive, multi-mode instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory. This discovery is important to cosmologists, because it shows that very heavy structures had already formed at early stages in the Universe's development.
Using the Mars Global Surveyor to take high-resolution images of the surface of Mars, the NASA team has identified several outcrops of rock that date back 4.3 to 3.5 billion years ago. Sedimentary rock is generally created on Earth when fine-grained particles are sandwiched in layers by the action of water. So, this discovery could be evidence of ancient lakes on Mars. Some exobiologists believe that the presence of water increases the possibility of past/current life on Mars. There has been no definitive evidence that indicates a final conclusion on this matter.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope captured the most detailed photos
ever taken of the Crab Nebula - the remnants of star that went supernova in 1054
AD. Located 6,500 light years from Earth, the Crab Nebula contains gas and
material streaming away from a central pulsar at 5 million kilometers per hour.
(Original Source)
The Hubble Heritage Project will soon be accepting votes on which object in space the telescope will look at next. To register a vote, you need to visit the project's internet site before 6 June. This is the third time a public vote on Hubble viewing has been taken.bbc article
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Darwin's Soup And The Origins of Life
"Apart from his great contribution to modern linguistics - do you think Chomsky has any significance as a social theorist? Why?"
All I Need To Know About Life I Learned From The Easter Bunny1. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.2. Walk softly and carry a big chocolate bunny. 3. Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.4. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.5. There's no such thing as too much candy.6. All work and no play can make you a basket case.7. A cute little tail always attracts a lot of attention.8. Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.9. Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.*****#10 was missing------it must have been "R" rated and Carol didnot think it good for my innocent eyes.----b.11. Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans.12. Good things come in small sugar-coated packages.13. The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.14. An Easter bonnet can tame the wildest hare.15. To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell.16. The best things in life are sweet and gooey and come in assortedcolors.
BREATHTAKING HUBBLE PICTURES OF GALAXY PAIR------------------------- A stunning new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows us a unique
galaxy pair called NGC 3314. The
rare alignment of the galaxies - a face-on spiral galaxy lies precisely in front of a larger spiral galaxy - allows us a rare chance to study dark material in the smaller object silhouetted against the galaxy behind.
Images made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show for the first time the full impact of the actual blast wave from Supernova 1987A. The observations are the first time that X-rays from a shock wave have been imaged at such a nearly stage of a supernova explosion.
FULL STORY
CHANDRA REVEALS EXPLODING STAR------------------------- Observations of Supernova 1987A by Chandra X-ray telescope provide the first images of an early stage of an exploding star. They reveal a violent scene inwhich matter is battered to temperatures of 10 million degrees Celsius.
SUPERNOVA REMNANT BEGINS TO RADIATE X-RAYS
When the Hubble Space Telescope detected signs that the anticipated resurgence of Supernova 1987A was underway earlier this year,astronomers awaited a rise in X-ray emission from the exploded star.The supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud had been fading for the past 13 years. Now its outflowing gas is colliding with a ring of material ejected some 20,000 years before the precursor star exploded -- and things are heating up. On Thursday, astronomers released an image taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory that reveals the collision zone. As the shock wave plows into the ring, it heats the gas to 10 million degrees Kelvin. In the coming years, the remnant should continue to brighten: the outflowing shock front will heat additional gas, as will an inward-moving shock "reflected" from the collision boundary.
MAY 14 -- SUNDAY* The Moon shines above Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, this evening.
MAY 15 -- MONDAY* The Moon shines to the left of Spica this evening.
MAY 16 --TUESDAY* The brightest star in the northwest during and after dusk at this time of year is Capella. Far to Capella's upper left are Pollux andCastor, lined up more or less horizontally. Far to their lower left isProcyon.
MAY 17 -- WEDNESDAY* Full Moon tonight (exact at 3:34 a.m. Thursday morning Eastern Daylight Time).* The five classical naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) all fit within a 20-degree stretch of sky.Unfortunately the Sun is also among them, hiding all from view exceptpossibly Mercury and Mars (see the Planet Roundup below).
MAY 18 -- THURSDAY* Look to the lower right of the Moon late this evening for theorange-red supergiant star Antares.
MAY 19 -- FRIDAY* Scan just above the west-northwest horizon about 30 minutes aftersunset to spot Mercury. To its left by 1.2 degrees (the width of yourlittle finger at arm's length) is much fainter Mars. Binoculars willhelp.* The Moon occults (covers) the 4.5-magnitude star Xi Ophiuchi forparts of eastern and central North America late tonight. The star'sreappearance from behind the Moon's dark limb can be seen in atelescope at 1:53 a.m. EDT Saturday morning from Montreal and centralMassachusetts, 1:38 a.m. EDT from Toronto, 1:36 a.m. EDT from Washington, D.C., and 12:12 a.m. CDT from Chicago.
MAY 20 -- SATURDAY* "First star I see tonight...." The brightest star high in the eastas twilight descends is Arcturus, shining pale yellow-orange. Thebrightest star low in the northeast is Vega, pale blue-white.
A black hole binary star system called XTE J1550-564 hasrecently become one of the brightest sources in the x-raysky. Astronomers are fascinated by fluctuations in the x-rayemission from this source, which if converted to sound waves would feel like the deep rumbling vibrations from abass speaker at a rock 'n roll concert.
FULL STORY
NASA engineers are now in the final stages of preparation to de-orbit the Compton
Gamma Ray Observatory, ending 9 years of ground-breaking research. A rocket
firing
to begin the de-orbit will happen Tuesday evening, and shortly after, it will
dump into the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and Mexico.
NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory was recently pointed at NGC 3783, a galaxy
thought
to contain a massive black hole. Analysis of the region showed the effects the
singularity has on its environment: as matter enters the hole, tremendousamounts
of radiation is produced, causing a "wind" to stream away at 1.6 million
kilometersper hour.NASA PREPARES COMPTON FOR FIERY RETURN
CHANDRA VIEWS WINDS EXITING BLACK HOLE
Spaceflight Now
BBC News
Astronomers announced that they have at long last found an elusive component of the universe's missing mass. The "dark matter" is in the form of giant clouds of hydrogen in intergalactic space. Such streams of gas were presumed to exist, as computer models showed matter collecting into ribbons as the universe cooled after the Big Bang. (Galaxies formed where the gas was densest.) Evidence for the hydrogen was revealed in spectra of a quasar taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. As light from a quasar travels toward Earth, some of the light is absorbed by atoms in the clouds. The redshifts of gases at different distances create spectral features at different, specific wavelengths. Todd Tripp and Edward Jenkins (Princeton University) and Blair Savage (University of Wisconsin-Madison) determined that the quasar's light had several absorption features due to ionized oxygen, which, the astronomers note, is a "tracer" for the hydrogen (itself invisible). Tripp and his colleagues explain that these hydrogen ribbons can account for as much as half of the universe's "normal" matter (that which is composed of protons and neutrons, as atomicnuclei are).
Mass March and Rally
— San Francisco, Saturday May 13, 2000
more Mumia info:
The Lyrid meteor shower has been observed for more than 2,600 years; Chinese records say "stars fell like rain" in the shower of 687 B.C. But in recent times (apart from 1803) the Lyrids have generally been weak. They have a brief maximum that lasts for less than a day, and even then only 10 to 20 Lyrids per hour may appear. Prospects are not very favorable this year because of glare from the waning gibbous Moon. The best chance to see some Lyrids is the morning of April 22nd, just before morning twilight begins. Any meteor whose path, extended backward, goes within a few degrees of Vega is likely to be a Lyrid.
That weekend astronomy clubs, planetariums, and other groups of sky lovers across the United States and around the world will band together to show the public how much fun astronomy can be. In many communities, members of a local astronomy organization will host evening "star parties" to let the public look through their telescopes, or they'll create colorful, informative displays at local malls, libraries, or other locations to show what skygazing is all about. For more information and to find a local group having an astronomy happening, check Sky & Telescope's Astronomy Day page at http://www.skypub.com/resources/astroday/astroday.html
The Hubble Space Telescope marks its 10th year in orbit this week. Launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle *Discovery* on April 24, 1990, astronauts released the telescope on the following day. See the April SKY & TELESCOPE for a retrospective on its mission and discoveries, as well as details of how astronauts restored Hubble to service last December.
It's been twenty-five years since a message was sent from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico towards the Great Cluster in Hercules. It's still to soon to hear back from the expected audience, as the Cluster is 25,000 light years away, and no other stars were in the path of the message.
ChandraWallace's Cloudsdesert island books:
