Astronomy posts
- February 20, 2011
- 05:53 AM
- 959 views
I saw a new Earth
by Jörg Friedrich in Reading Nature
Typically it takes quite a few months before a submitted article in nature has passed the peer review process and has been accepted – and then until it is actually printed, it usually takes even more then a quarter of … Continue reading →... Read more »
Lissauer JJ, Fabrycky DC, Ford EB, Borucki WJ, Fressin F, Marcy GW, Orosz JA, Rowe JF, Torres G, Welsh WF.... (2011) A closely packed system of low-mass, low-density planets transiting Kepler-11. Nature, 470(7332), 53-8. PMID: 21293371
Editorial. (2011) Earth 2.0. Nature, 470(7332), 5. PMID: 21293328
Reich ES. (2011) Astronomy: Beyond the stars. Nature, 470(7332), 24-6. PMID: 21293349
Billings L. (2011) Astronomy: Exoplanets on the cheap. Nature, 470(7332), 27-9. PMID: 21293350
- February 19, 2011
- 08:00 AM
- 1,423 views
How Our Valentines Day Solar Flare Helped Our Astronauts In Orbit
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
In light of the recent solar flare, here's a breakdown of the radiation we're exposed to, how we're shielded, and how solar flares can actually protect our astronauts.... Read more »
B. F. Rauch, J. T. Link, K. Lodders, M. H. Israel, L. M. Barbier, W. R. Binns, E. R. Christian, J. R. Cummings, G. A. de Nolfo, S. Geier, R. A. Mewaldt, J. W. Mitchell, S. M. Schindler, L. M. Scott, E. C. Stone, R. E. Streitmatter, C. J. Waddington, M. E. (2009) Cosmic-ray origin in OB associations and preferential acceleration of refractory elements: Evidence from abundances of elements 26Fe through 34Se. Astrophys.J.697:2083-2088,2009. info:/arXiv:0906.2021v1
Svensmark, H., Bondo, T., & Svensmark, J. (2009) Cosmic ray decreases affect atmospheric aerosols and clouds. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(15). DOI: 10.1029/2009GL038429
- February 17, 2011
- 09:40 PM
- 982 views
When a standard candle flickers: What happened when the Crab Nebula had a fit?
by mithy in The Enlightenment Junkie
I’ve previously blogged about extreme particle acceleration producing gamma-rays in many different astrophysical contexts, including galactic binary systems & blazars, but I haven’t talked in any great depth about another source of extremely high energy particles: supernova remnants. The Crab Nebula: a typical supernova remnant (Image: NASA/STScI) A supernova remnant is the remains of a [...]... Read more »
Balbo, M., Walter, R., Ferrigno, C., & Bordas, P. (2011) Twelve-hour spikes from the Crab Pevatron. Astronomy . DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201015980
- February 15, 2011
- 07:56 AM
- 1,049 views
The Andromeda Galaxy’s Globular Cluster System
by Christine Corbett Moran in Cosmic Rays
Globular Clusters (GCs) Globular clusters are groups of roughly spherical, densely packed stars. They are thought to have formed at the same time as most galaxies and the stars which make them up are some of the oldest known–thus GCs are an excellent probe of galaxy formation and evolution. They have a high central stellar [...]... Read more »
A. P. Huxor, A. M. N. Ferguson, N. R. Tanvir, M. J. Irwin, A. D. Mackey, R. A. Ibata, T. Bridges, S. C. Chapman, & G. F. Lewis. (2011) Exploring the Properties of the M31 Halo Globular Cluster System. MNRAS. arXiv: 1102.0403v1
Abadi, M., Navarro, J., & Steinmetz, M. (2006) Stars beyond galaxies: the origin of extended luminous haloes around galaxies. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 365(3), 747-758. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09789.x
- February 15, 2011
- 05:28 AM
- 1,985 views
Caught in the act: sneak preview of galaxy cluster that’s still forming
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the universe. Astronomers have found these clusters, which are large groups of galaxies bound together by gravity, as far back as only 4 billion years after the Big Bang (less than … Continue reading →... Read more »
Capak PL, Riechers D, Scoville NZ, Carilli C, Cox P, Neri R, Robertson B, Salvato M, Schinnerer E, Yan L.... (2011) A massive protocluster of galaxies at a redshift of z ≈ 5.3. Nature, 470(7333), 233-5. PMID: 21228776
- February 14, 2011
- 07:54 AM
- 931 views
(un)Happy Valentines day in space
by Stuart Lynn in we are all in the gutter
Its the 14th of February, or at least thats what the calendar on the wall says, you have been out in deep space heading towards that new colony for so long each day pretty much blurs in to the next. Despite how cold it is outside (and believe me its cold), today is a day [...]... Read more »
Tore Straume, Steve Blattnig, & Cary Zeitlin. (210) Radiation Hazards and the Colonization of Mars: Brain, Body, Pregnancy, In-Utero Development, Cardio, Cancer, Degeneration. Journal of Cosmology, 3992-4033. info:/
- February 13, 2011
- 04:49 PM
- 1,266 views
CORKSCREW LIGHT: Measuring Orbital Angular Momentum Will Give Us Extra Information About Black Holes and Frame Dragging
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Frame Dragging, an effect spinning black holes have on spacetime and on the light in its vicinity, is causing a measurable corkscrew effect on photons, newly discovered and published in this issue of Nature Physics. "Twisting of light around rotating black holes"... Read more »
Tamburini, F., Thidé, B., Molina-Terriza, G., & Anzolin, G. (2011) Twisting of light around rotating black holes. Nature Physics. DOI: 10.1038/nphys1907
- February 11, 2011
- 10:27 AM
- 884 views
Quantum Field Theory (QFT), General Relativity (GR), and Other Exciting Diversions (OED)
by Christine Corbett Moran in Cosmic Rays
QFT I’m lucky to have a job in which I can take two weeks of mornings of work to study a nominally tangential subject in greater depth. These past two weeks I attended a series of lectures at the ETH on physics beyond the standard model, the first week was very technical but exciting to [...]... Read more »
M. Robinson, K. Bland, G. Cleaver, & J. Dittmann. (2008) A Simple Introduction to Particle Physics. ArXiv. arXiv: 0810.3328v1
F. I. Cooperstock, & S. Tieu. (2005) General Relativity Resolves Galactic Rotation Without Exotic Dark Matter. arXiv. arXiv: astro-ph/0507619v1
- February 10, 2011
- 10:00 PM
- 1,348 views
The Galactic Centre black hole in close-up
by sarah in One Small Step
he research into the nature and properties of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy is one of the highlights of astronomical discovery of the last two decades. Using the biggest telescopes on the planet and state of the art observing technology, we’ve been able to track the young massive stars that are whizzing around the black hole in a dense cluster, and shown with a high level of certainty that the galaxy’s central object really is a supermassive black hole, referre........ Read more »
F. H. Vincent, T. Paumard, G. Perrin, L. Mugnier, F. Eisenhauer, & S. Gillessen. (2011) Performance of astrometric detection of a hotspot orbiting on the innermost stable circular orbit of the galactic centre black hole. MNRAS. arXiv: 1011.5439v1
- February 9, 2011
- 01:03 PM
- 1,481 views
Current Cosmology From Supernova Data.
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
Ariel Goobar and Bruno Leibundgu have recently submitted an article to Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science summing up our current understanding of physics from the current set of supernova data. We have accrued quite a lot of supernova data over the years and so it is interesting to take a look at how much we have learned. I will not report everything but will post a few interesting
... Read more »
Ariel Goobar, & Bruno Leibundgut. (2011) Supernova cosmology: legacy and future. To Appear In Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. arXiv: 1102.1431v1
- February 7, 2011
- 08:58 PM
- 1,396 views
Codex of all Codecies | Knowing, Part 2
by Michael Lombardi in a New Life in the Sea
In continuing this review and analysis of the film 'Knowing', we must absolutely address the numeric sequence which was obsessively scribed by the character Lucinda Embry. The sheet of paper containing several hundred seemingly random digits was placed into an elementary school's 'time capsule' to be opened some 50 years later. Upon opening and rediscovery of this number sequence, we are taken on a thrilling journey to unlock the secrets embedded in this sequence of digits - which as i........ Read more »
LaLonde, L. (1974) The Upgraded Arecibo Observatory. Science, 186(4160), 213-218. DOI: 10.1126/science.186.4160.213
Sitler, R. (2006) The 2012 Phenomenon New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar. Nova Religio, 9(3), 24-38. DOI: 10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.024
- February 3, 2011
- 09:33 AM
- 513 views
In the news this month: a roundup of stories from the 217th AAS meeting
In the news this month we roundup of some highlights from the 217th meeting of the American Astronomical Society held in Seattle during January. The annual meetings of the American Astronomical Society are the largest gatherings of astronomers on the planet, and the presentations cover topics across the whole field of astronomy and astrophysics, including observational results, theoretical studies and simulations. Here are some of the highlights from this year's meeting.Starting big, astronomers........ Read more »
SDSS-III collaboration: Hiroaki Aihara, Carlos Allende Prieto, Deokkeun An, Scott F. Anderson, Éric Aubourg, Eduardo Balbinot, Timothy C. Beers, Andreas A. Berlind, Steven J. Bickerton, Dmitry Bizyaev.... (2011) The Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Data from SDSS-III. Astrophysical Journal Supplements. arXiv: 1101.1559v1
Wyithe JS, Yan H, Windhorst RA, & Mao S. (2011) A distortion of very-high-redshift galaxy number counts by gravitational lensing. Nature, 469(7329), 181-4. PMID: 21228870
Sukanya Chakrabarti, Frank Bigiel, Philip Chang, & Leo Blitz. (2011) Finding Dark Galaxies From Their Tidal Imprints. Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1101.0815v1
- February 3, 2011
- 05:55 AM
- 810 views
The cosmologist at the end of the universe
by Niall in we are all in the gutter
In a trillion years we will be sitting in a big blob of a galaxy with no extragalactic sources to observe. I know what you are thinking, what about all the unemployed cosmologists in the far future? But don’t start a collection for the hardship fund just yet, luckily a new paper by a researcher at Harvard has come up with a way for astronomers in the far future to measure the parameters of the universe.... Read more »
Abraham Loeb. (2011) On the Importance of Hypervelocity Stars for the Long-Term Future of Cosmology. ApJ. arXiv: 1102.0007v1
- January 28, 2011
- 12:12 PM
- 1,626 views
Dark Matter Reconstruction From Radio Experiments.
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
As photons move through the universe they get gravitationally lensed as the pass by large clumps of matter. (As shown in the image above.) Dark matter, being the dominant form of matter, lenses these photons more than anything. Therefore, by studying the lensing properties of incoming photons, in principle we can reconstruct what the profiles of the dark matter doing that lensing.
Now, put (
... Read more »
Michael L. Brown, & Richard A. Battye. (2011) Mapping the dark matter with polarized radio surveys. E-Print. arXiv: 1101.5157v1
- January 25, 2011
- 01:00 PM
- 1,427 views
What If Dark Energy Were A Phantom Energy?
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's remember that dark energy being a cosmological constant fits the data very well and has for years. That said, experimental constraints allow for dark energy actually being an exotic form of phantom energy. (So for the time being we have to allow for the possibility and work out the details.) This was recently done by Dabrowski and Denkiewicz.
What
... Read more »
Mariusz P. Dabrowski, & Tomasz Denkiewicz. (2009) Exotic-singularity-driven dark energy. AIP Conference Proceedings. arXiv: 0910.0023v1
- January 24, 2011
- 08:32 AM
- 1,255 views
Rhea’s “Breathable” Atmosphere
by Ryan in The Martian Chronicles
Yesterday I came across this article, proclaiming to the world that "Saturn’s icy moon Rhea has an oxygen and carbon dioxide atmosphere that is very similar to Earth’s. Even better, the carbon dioxide suggests there’s life – and that possibly humans could breathe the air."
Say what? Ok. There's so much badness packed into those two lede sentences that I feel dirty just reprinting them here.... Read more »
Teolis BD, Jones GH, Miles PF, Tokar RL, Magee BA, Waite JH, Roussos E, Young DT, Crary FJ, Coates AJ.... (2010) Cassini finds an oxygen-carbon dioxide atmosphere at Saturn's icy moon Rhea. Science (New York, N.Y.), 330(6012), 1813-5. PMID: 21109635
- January 24, 2011
- 05:27 AM
- 805 views
Globular Clusters and Voids
by Christine Corbett Moran in Cosmic Rays
In the morning when I get into lab, around 10 in the morning, I have a set routine. Make a cup of coffee or tea, update my research wiki with a new entry corresponding to the day’s tasks, write/reply to work related emails, admin phygg.com (spam management etc.), scan/vote on papers of interest. Finally I [...]... Read more »
C. Y. Hui, K. S. Cheng, Y. Wang, P. H. T. Tam, A. K. H. Kong, D. O. Chernyshov, & V. A. Dogiel. (2011) The Fundamental Plane of Gamma-ray Globular Clusters. Astrophysical Journal, Volume 726, Page 100 (2011). arXiv: 1101.4107v1
R. van de Weygaert, K. Kreckel, E. Platen, B. Beygu, J. H. van Gorkom, J. M. van der Hulst, M. A. Aragon-Calvo, P. J. E. Peebles, T. Jarrett, G. Rhee.... (2011) The Void Galaxy Survey. "Environment and the Formation of Galaxies: 30 years later", Proceedings of Symposium 2 of JENAM 2010,. arXiv: 1101.4187v1
- January 22, 2011
- 07:56 AM
- 1,700 views
living things and slightly expanding universes
by Greg Fish in weird things
Today, we’re going back to my old frienemy, the arXiv blog. Even though I tend to beat up on it quite a bit, the preprint archive does have some interesting papers, even if the only interesting part about them is shredding them for a skeptical post. Then again, this sort of constant criticism of scientific [...]... Read more »
Hugo Martel, Paul R. Shapiro, & Steven Weinberg. (1997) Likely Values of the Cosmological Constant. Astrophys.J. 492 (1998) 29. arXiv: astro-ph/9701099v1
Don N. Page. (2011) Evidence Against Fine Tuning for Life. n/a. arXiv: 1101.2444v1
- January 20, 2011
- 06:01 PM
- 1,272 views
What is a galaxy?
by sarah in One Small Step
Science tends to grow organically, branching out in new directions driven by new discoveries and new technology. But every once in a while, scientists feel the need to take stock of where their subject is going, and make some changes to keep things consistent. The most famous example of this is when the International Astronomical [...]
... Read more »
Duncan Forbes, & Pavel Kroupa. (2011) What is a Galaxy? Cast your vote here.. PASA. arXiv: 1101.3309v1
- January 20, 2011
- 06:26 AM
- 1,643 views
the amazing disappearing habitable world?
by Greg Fish in weird things
Gliese 581g, we hardly knew you. After a grand announcement, nearly immediate colonization plans from a leading sci-fi blog, and even a tale of supposed alien signals emanating from the newly discovered world, which was actually just an invention of the Daily Mail, rumors started surfacing that this planet wasn’t being detected in subsequent reviews [...]... Read more »
Philip C. Gregory. (2011) Bayesian Re-analysis of the Gliese 581 Exoplanet System. n/a. arXiv: 1101.0800v1
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