The resonances between Indigenous art and images captured by microscopes
A new exhibition pairs paintings by Indigenous Australian artists with microscopic images captured by scientists. The parallels are intriguing.
The resonances between Indigenous art and images captured by microscopes
By Earl on 26 Feb 2020 on No CommentsSub-Neptune sized planet validated with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder
By Earl on 25 Feb 2020 on No Comments
A signal originally detected by the Kepler spacecraft has been validated as an exoplanet using the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF), an astronomical spectrograph built by a Penn State team and recently installed on the 10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory in Texas. The HPF provides the highest precision measurements to date of infrared signals from nearby low-mass stars, and astronomers used it to validate the candidate planet by excluding all possibilities of contaminating signals to very high level of probability. The details of the findings appear in the Astronomical Journal.
Astronomers Discover Class of Strange Objects Near Our Galaxy’s Enormous Black Hole
By Earl on 24 Feb 2020 on No Comments
Astronomers Discover Class of Strange Objects Near Our Galaxy’s Enormous Black Hole – W. M. Keck Observatory
The Keck Observatory telescopes on Maunakea in Hawaii, are the world’s largest optical and infrared telescopes. Keck Observatory’s vision is to advance the frontiers of astronomy and share our discoveries with the world.
Source: keckobservatory.org/g-objects-2/
New Exoplanet Search Strategy Claims First Discovery | Quanta Magazine
By watching for a special kind of flare, astronomers have identified the fingerprints of an Earth-size planet orbiting a distant star.
Source: www.quantamagazine.org/new-exoplanet-search-strategy-claims-first-discovery-20200218/
SwRI models hint at longer timescale for Mars formation
The early solar system was a chaotic place, with evidence indicating that Mars was likely struck by planetesimals, small protoplanets up to 1,200 miles in diameter, early in its history. Southwest Research Institute scientists modeled the mixing of materials associated with these impacts, revealing that the Red Planet may have formed over a longer timescale than previously thought.
Source: www.swri.org/press-release/mars-formation-impact-mantle-late-accretion
A Pulsed Discovery In Omega Centauri
A recent study has unveiled a new discovery at the heart of globular cluster Omega Centauri: five long-anticipated pulsars.
The globular cluster Omega Centauri makes for an impressive sight — millions of stars gravitationally bound into a beautiful sphere, its core alight from the glow of densely packed bodies. A recent study has unveiled a new discovery at the heart of this cluster: five long-anticipated pulsars.
Source: aasnova.org/2020/02/12/a-pulsed-discovery-in-omega-centauri
NASA Prepares for Moon and Mars With New Addition to Its Deep Space Network – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program
By Earl on 13 Feb 2020 on No CommentsNASA Prepares for Moon and Mars With New Addition to Its Deep Space Network – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program
Robotic spacecraft will be able to communicate with the dish using radio waves and lasers.
Source: mars.nasa.gov/news/8606/nasa-prepares-for-moon-and-mars-with-new-addition-to-its-deep-space-network/
New pattern uncovered in mysterious ‘fast radio bursts’ from deep space
By Earl on 12 Feb 2020 on No CommentsNew pattern uncovered in mysterious ‘fast radio bursts’ from deep space
What’s creating these unusual signals? And why does this one repeat itself?
Source: www.livescience.com/mysterious-fast-radio-burst-pattern.html
Yerkes Observatory future to be discussed Feb. 25 at Williams Bay High School
WILLIAMS BAY — Future plans for Yerkes Observatory could be presented later this month at a public meeting at Williams Bay High School.
Mysterious radio bursts from a nearby spiral galaxy
Fast radio flashes still pose something of an enigma to astronomers. Although they only emit for milliseconds at a time, hundreds have been observed in the sky. Only four such Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) have been precisely located so far. Now astronomer have traced the source of a newly discovered FRB to a nearby spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way, a galaxy half a billion light-years from Earth, making it the closest FRB to Earth ever localized. The burst called FRB 180916.J0158+65 was observed by a group of eight radio telescopes, including the 100-meter Effelsberg telescope.
Source: www.mpg.de/14335120/a-repeating-fast-radio-burst-from-a-spiral-galaxy
50 Years Ago: NASA Cancels Apollo 20 Mission
50 Years Ago: NASA Cancels Apollo 20 Mission
Source: www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-nasa-cancels-apollo-20-mission/
A Crisis in Cosmology – W. M. Keck Observatory
Maunakea, Hawaii – A group of astronomers led by University of California, Davis has obtained new data that suggest the universe is expanding more rapidly than previously thought.
The study comes on the heels of a hot debate over just how fast the universe is ballooning; measurements thus far are in disagreement.
The team’s new measurement of the Hubble Constant, or the expansion rate of the universe, involved a different method. They used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in combination with W. M. Keck Observatory’s Adaptive Optics (AO) system to observe three gravitationally-lensed systems. This is the first time ground-based AO technology has been used to obtain the Hubble Constant
NASA launches a new planet-hunting telescope using a giant balloon
By Earl on 02 Oct 2019 on No CommentsNASA launches a new planet-hunting telescope using a giant balloon – TechCrunch
A new telescope will seek out planets that resemble Earth from a height of around 125,000 feet, using special optical technology that will filter out light from the stars they orbit to provide a better view. The telescope is the product of UMass Lowell, and took off on Tuesday morning from Fort Sum…
Nasa’s chief scientist ‘worried’ world is not ready for discovery of life on Mars
By Earl on 30 Sep 2019 on No Comments
Leading astronomer says discovery will open up ‘whole new line of thinking’