Astronomy posts
- October 26, 2010
- 11:24 AM
- 1,119 views
This “Week” in the Universe: October 12th – October 25th
by S.C. Kavassalis in The Language of Bad Physics
Two weeks of news in one!
Astrophysics and Gravitation:
Did We Already Have the Data to Show Dark Matter Annihilation?
Dan Hooper, & Lisa Goodenough (2010). Dark Matter Annihilation in The Galactic Center As Seen by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope arXiv arXiv: 1010.2752v1
Analyzing old data from the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope, the authors have noticed gamma ray emissions consistent with predictions for a certain type of dark matter. Unfortunately, these things are never nice, clea........ Read more »
Dan Hooper, & Lisa Goodenough. (2010) Dark Matter Annihilation in The Galactic Center As Seen by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope. arXiv. arXiv: 1010.2752v1
Champion, D., Hobbs, G., Manchester, R., Edwards, R., Backer, D., Bailes, M., Bhat, N., Burke-Spolaor, S., Coles, W., Demorest, P.... (2010) MEASURING THE MASS OF SOLAR SYSTEM PLANETS USING PULSAR TIMING. The Astrophysical Journal, 720(2). DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/720/2/L201
Poznanski, D., Nugent, P., & Filippenko, A. (2010) TYPE II-P SUPERNOVAE AS STANDARD CANDLES: THE SDSS-II SAMPLE REVISITED. The Astrophysical Journal, 721(2), 956-959. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/721/2/956
Lopes, I., & Silk, J. (2010) Neutrino Spectroscopy Can Probe the Dark Matter Content in the Sun. Science, 330(6003), 462-462. DOI: 10.1126/science.1196564
Lehnert, M., Nesvadba, N., Cuby, J., Swinbank, A., Morris, S., Clément, B., Evans, C., Bremer, M., & Basa, S. (2010) Spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy at redshift z . Nature, 467(7318), 940-942. DOI: 10.1038/nature09462
Raphael Bousso, Ben Freivogel, Stefan Leichenauer, & Vladimir Rosenhaus. (2010) Eternal inflation predicts that time will end. arXiv. arXiv: 1009.4698v1
Sabine Hossenfelder. (2010) Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity. arXiv. arXiv: 1010.3420v1
Major, S. (2010) Shape in an atom of space: exploring quantum geometry phenomenology. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 27(22), 225012. DOI: 10.1088/0264-9381/27/22/225012
Sachdev, S. (2010) Holographic Metals and the Fractionalized Fermi Liquid. Physical Review Letters, 105(15). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.151602
Henrique Gomes, Sean Gryb, & Tim Koslowski. (2010) Einstein gravity as a 3D conformally invariant theory. arXiv. arXiv: 1010.2481v1
- October 25, 2010
- 08:04 AM
- 678 views
Meteorite tea, and the failures of genius
by Lab Lemming in Lounge of the Lab Lemming
In the early 1970’s, Io, the innermost large moon of Jupiter, was somewhat of an enigma. Unlike Europa and Ganymede, it did not exhibit water ice adsorption bands it its IR spectra. Its density suggested that it was a rock and metal planet, but the surface reflectance was unlike anything known to science. This problem was addressed brilliantly in a Science paper by Fanale, Johnson, and Matson,... Read more »
Fanale, F., Johnson, T., & Matson, D. (1974) Io: A Surface Evaporite Deposit?. Science, 186(4167), 922-925. DOI: 10.1126/science.186.4167.922
- October 16, 2010
- 09:37 PM
- 1,697 views
The Goldilocks Planet
by The Astronomist in The Astronomist.
Once upon a time there was a planet named Earth. It orbited exactly one astronomical unity away from a G2V type star. Billions of years went by and Earth found that it lived right in the habitable zone where liquid water was maintained on it surface and life spontaneously arose. Pretty soon life on Earth became restless, questioned its own existence, and looked for life on Gliese 581. Earthlings found many planets and exclaimed, 'Gliese 581 b is too hot, Gilese 581 c is slightly too hot, Glies........ Read more »
Steven S. Vogt, R. Paul Butler, Eugenio J. Rivera, Nader Haghighipour, Gregory W. Henry, . (2010) The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: A 3.1 M_Earth Planet in the Habitable Zone of the Nearby M3V Star Gliese 581. ApJ accepted. info:/arXiv: 1009.5733v1
- October 15, 2010
- 04:12 PM
- 1,200 views
Gliese 581 g: The Goldilocks that isn’t?
by sarah in One Small Step
The discovery of planet Gliese 581 g, an exoplanet just 3 times the mass of our Earth  and located in its host star’s Habitable Zone, was one of the biggest science headlines of the year. The news broke, typically, somewhere between my observing proposal deadline and box number 15: “all the crap that didn’t fit [...]... Read more »
Steven S. Vogt, R. Paul Butler, Eugenio J. Rivera, Nader Haghighipour, Gregory W. Henry, & Michael H. Williamson. (2010) The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: A 3.1 M_Earth Planet in the Habitable Zone of the Nearby M3V Star Gliese 581. ApJ accepted. arXiv: 1009.5733v1
- October 14, 2010
- 06:01 PM
- 617 views
When a comet’s not a comet after all
by Emma in we are all in the gutter
Back in January the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey saw something a bit odd amongst the asteroids in the main asteroid belt (found between Mars and Jupiter). Initially the mystery object, P/2010 A2, was designated as a main-belt comet (a rare object found within this region of the Solar System, unlike the majority [...]... Read more »
Jewitt, D., Weaver, H., Agarwal, J., Mutchler, M., & Drahus, M. (2010) A recent disruption of the main-belt asteroid P/2010 A2. Nature, 467(7317), 817-819. DOI: 10.1038/nature09456
Snodgrass, C., Tubiana, C., Vincent, J., Sierks, H., Hviid, S., Moissl, R., Boehnhardt, H., Barbieri, C., Koschny, D., Lamy, P.... (2010) A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010 A2. Nature, 467(7317), 814-816. DOI: 10.1038/nature09453
- October 11, 2010
- 06:59 PM
- 1,148 views
This Week in the Universe: October 5th – October 11th
by S.C. Kavassalis in The Language of Bad Physics
Astrophysics and Gravitation:
Early Universe was Overheated, says NASA
Michael Shull, Kevin France, Charles Danforth, Britton Smith, & Jason Tumlinson (2010). Hubble/COS Observations of the Quasar HE 2347-4342: Probing the Epoch of He II Patchy Reionization at Redshifts z = 2.4-2.9 arXiv arXiv: 1008.2957v1
Credit: NASA/Michael Shull, University of Colorado
From the Press Release:
During a period of universal warming 11 billion years ago, quasars — the brilliant core of active galaxies â€........ Read more »
Michael Shull, Kevin France, Charles Danforth, Britton Smith, & Jason Tumlinson. (2010) Hubble/COS Observations of the Quasar HE 2347-4342: Probing the Epoch of He II Patchy Reionization at Redshifts z . arXiv. arXiv: 1008.2957v1
Perez-Garcia, M., Silk, J., & Stone, J. (2010) Dark Matter, Neutron Stars, and Strange Quark Matter. Physical Review Letters, 105(14). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.141101
SuperB Collaboration, E. Grauges et al., Francesco Forti, Blair N. Ratcliff, & David Aston. (2010) SuperB Progress Reports -- Detector. arXiv. arXiv: 1007.4241v1
Gary Felder, & Stephanie Erickson. (2010) CurvedLand: An Applet for Illustrating Curved Geometry without Embedding. arXiv. arXiv: 1010.1426v1
Poltis, R., & Stojkovic, D. (2010) Can Primordial Magnetic Fields Seeded by Electroweak Strings Cause an Alignment of Quasar Axes on Cosmological Scales?. Physical Review Letters, 105(16). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.161301
- October 2, 2010
- 01:45 PM
- 1,386 views
repent, for the end of time is relatively near!
by Greg Fish in weird things
Or at least so says a quartet of physicists who are certain that the flow of time has a 50% chance of ending in about 3.3 billion years because according to them, in a universe that expands infinitely, every unlikely event, as far as physics is concerned, will happen an infinite amount of times. Therefore, [...]... Read more »
Raphael Bousso, Ben Freivogel, Stefan Leichenauer, & Vladimir Rosenhaus. (2010) Eternal inflation predicts that time will end. n/a. arXiv: 1009.4698v1
- September 30, 2010
- 12:19 PM
- 6,423 views
Hyping Astronomy
by Hadas Shema in Information Culture
Astronomers from the Carnegie Institution and the University of California, Santa Cruz, have discovered and earth-sized planet called Gilese 581. It's 20 light-years away, which makes it an unlikely traveling destination, but this is exciting news nonetheless. The abstract is enthusiastic yet cautions, saying that:"The estimated equilibrium temperature of GJ 581g is 228 K, placing it squarely in the middle of the habitable zone of the star and offering a very compelling case for a potentially ha........ Read more »
Vogt, S. S., Butler, P. R., Rivera, E. J., Haghighipour, N., Henry, G. W., & Williamson, M. H. (2010) The Lick-Carnegie Exoplanet Survey: A 3.1 M_Earth Planet in the Habitable Zone of the Nearby M3V Star Gliese 581. Arxiv. info:/1009.5733v1
- September 28, 2010
- 01:23 PM
- 1,035 views
What Happens When A White Dwarf Collides With A Neutron Star?
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
               Image via WikipediaPaschalidis et al. recently simulated what will happen when a white dwarf collides with a neutron star in a head on collision incorporating the effects of general relativity.
In each case I will list the mass of the white dwarf and neutron star in solar masses, (meaning the mass of these objects after dividing my the mass of the sun) the ratio of
... Read more »
Vasileios Paschalidis, Zachariah Etienne, Yuk Tung Liu, & Stuart L. Shapiro. (2010) Head-on collisions of binary white dwarf--neutron stars: Simulations in full general relativity. Submitted to PRD. arXiv: 1009.4932v1
- September 27, 2010
- 12:15 PM
- 1,052 views
Distinguishing Our Universe From Other Similar Universes In The Multiverse.
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
Srednicki and Hartle have raised an interesting concern recently about a limitation on the predictive power of multiverse theories. They observe that in multiverse theories, exact snapshots of our universe happen several times in different places. So if we want to have a physical theory that describes our universe, the one we live in, then the question arises: how can we tell which one it is from
... Read more »
Srednicki, M., & Hartle, J. (2010) Science in a very large universe. Physical Review D, 81(12). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.81.123524
- September 27, 2010
- 11:27 AM
- 882 views
This (Long) Week in the Universe: September 16th – September 27th
by S.C. Kavassalis in The Language of Bad Physics
I know, I know, I switched back to writing these on Mondays again without telling anyone. It turns out, Wednesdays were a terrible choice of day for me. I swear I asked someone to fill in for me last week…
...but I guess she wasn't all that interested in the job.
Astrophysics and Gravitation:
Taking a Swim in the Lagoon Nebula
Credit: NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope
NASA and the ESA Hubble Space Telescope, via the Advanced Camera for Surveys, have provided us with a gorgeous pictur........ Read more »
Marisaldi, M., Argan, A., Trois, A., Giuliani, A., Tavani, M., Labanti, C., Fuschino, F., Bulgarelli, A., Longo, F., Barbiellini, G.... (2010) Gamma-Ray Localization of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes. Physical Review Letters, 105(12). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.128501
S. Hoover, & et al. (2010) Observation of Ultra-high-energy Cosmic Rays with the ANITA Balloon-borne Radio Interferometer. Physical Review Letters. arXiv: 1005.0035v2
A. J. Gallagher, S. G. Ryan, A. E. GarcÃa Pérez, & W. Aoki. (2010) The barium isotopic mixture for the metal-poor subgiant star HD140283. Astronomy and Astrophysics. arXiv: 1008.3541v1
CMS Collaboration. (2010) Observation of Long-Range Near-Side Angular Correlations in Proton-Proton Collisions at the LHC. JHEP. arXiv: 1009.4122v1
Lehner, L., & Pretorius, F. (2010) Black Strings, Low Viscosity Fluids, and Violation of Cosmic Censorship. Physical Review Letters, 105(10). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.101102
Chou, C., Hume, D., Rosenband, T., & Wineland, D. (2010) Optical Clocks and Relativity. Science, 329(5999), 1630-1633. DOI: 10.1126/science.1192720
- September 27, 2010
- 06:00 AM
- 829 views
Correcting Hubble images
by Emma in we are all in the gutter
I’m going to be upfront here: this post is about CCDs and readout electronics. Wait, come back, it’s going to be interesting I promise*. It involves the Hubble Space Telescope. Everyone likes that, don’t they? Many astronomical instruments, including the ones on Hubble, use Charge Coupled Devices or CCDs. These detectors are like containers for [...]... Read more »
Massey, R., Stoughton, C., Leauthaud, A., Rhodes, J., Koekemoer, A., Ellis, R., & Shaghoulian, E. (2010) Pixel-based correction for Charge Transfer Inefficiency in the Advanced Camera for Surveys . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 401(1), 371-384. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15638.x
Richard Massey. (2010) Charge Transfer Inefficiency in the Hubble Space Telescope since Servicing Mission 4. MNRAS. arXiv: 1009.4335v1
- September 22, 2010
- 01:24 PM
- 1,235 views
How The Twin Paradox Of Relativity Changes In An Expanding Universe.
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
I'm sure most of you have heard of the twin paradox "in which a twin makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket and returns home to find he has aged less than his identical twin who stayed on Earth."  This paradox has been worked out for special relativity in Minkowski spacetime.  Recently, Boblest et al. worked out the details using general relativity for an expanding universe. (de Sitter
... Read more »
Sebastian Boblest, Thomas Müller, & Günter Wunner. (2010) Twin Paradox in de Sitter Spacetime. E-Print. arXiv: 1009.3427v1
- September 21, 2010
- 12:07 PM
- 1,236 views
How To Possibly Detect Graviton Mass With Gravity Waves/Pulsars.
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
Gravitons are the particles that mediate the force of gravity in the analogous way that photons are responsible for the electro-magnetic field.  And like photons, gravitons are thought to be massless.  In fact, assuming general relativity is correct, the mass of the graviton has an upper bound of 7x10-32 eV which is really small. (See bold text at bottom.)  However, for alternative gravity
... Read more »
Kejia Lee, Fredrick A. Jenet, Richard H. Price, Norbert Wex, & Michael Kramer. (2010) Detecting massive gravitons using pulsar timing arrays. Accepted by ApJ. arXiv: 1008.2561v2
- September 18, 2010
- 04:21 PM
- 4,578 views
Don't say you found aliens (unless you actually have)
by Hadas Shema in Information Culture
Unlike with health and medicine press releases (Woloshin and Schwartz have a few good papers about the matter) I haven't seen much research about other scientific press release. That's why I was glad to find the paper "Credibility of science communication: An exploratory study of astronomy press releases" by Nielsen et al. (2007).They conducted 11 in-depth interviews with journalists, scientists and public information officers, and came up with several conclusions regarding the accuracy and cred........ Read more »
Nielsen, L. H., Torpe Jørgensen, N., Jantzen, K., & Christensen, L. L. (2007) Credibility of science communication: An exploratory study of astronomy press releases. Proceedings from the IAU/National Observatory of Athens/ESA/ESO Conference, Athens, Greece. info:/
- September 17, 2010
- 12:49 PM
- 1,376 views
Cosmology Can Possibly Solve the Neutrino Hierarchy Problem.
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
There are three neutrino species in the standard model, hereafter refereed to as 1, 2, and 3, that we know have mass from atmospheric and solar neutrino oscillation experiments. Furthermore, data from these experiments put constraints on the mass-splittings between these three neutrinos.  From atmospheric experiments we know the mass differences between 2 and 3 is |M223| ~ 1.4x10-3 eV2 and from
... Read more »
Jimenez, R., Kitching, T., Peña-Garay, C., & Verde, L. (2010) Can we measure the neutrino mass hierarchy in the sky?. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2010(05), 35-35. DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2010/05/035
- September 17, 2010
- 10:30 AM
- 1,672 views
the ongoing search for a simpler, neater universe
by Greg Fish in weird things
Astrophysics is not only a complicated discipline, but it’s becoming more and more esoteric, so much so that there seems to be an entire genre of deriving "groundbreaking papers" from obscure numerology, and the scientific community took a while to catch up with the Bogdanov brothers’ papers and show them to be just the sort [...]... Read more »
David F. Crawford. (2010) Observational evidence favours a static universe. n/a. arXiv: 1009.0953v1
- September 15, 2010
- 07:07 AM
- 915 views
How do we know…? Where we are in the Galaxy
by Niall in we are all in the gutter
Well it’s easy isn’t it, we just go outside the Galaxy, take a picture looking back and see where the Sun sits and what the Galaxy looks like. If only it were that simple. The problem with figuring out our place in the Galaxy is that we are sitting inside it. This means we have to work harder to determine the fine details of the structure of the Galaxy. ... Read more »
Ghez, A., Salim, S., Weinberg, N., Lu, J., Do, T., Dunn, J., Matthews, K., Morris, M., Yelda, S., Becklin, E.... (2008) Measuring Distance and Properties of the Milky Way’s Central Supermassive Black Hole with Stellar Orbits. The Astrophysical Journal, 689(2), 1044-1062. DOI: 10.1086/592738
- September 15, 2010
- 07:05 AM
- 744 views
How do we know…? Where we are in the Galaxy
by Niall in we are all in the gutter
Well it's easy isn't it, we just go outside the Galaxy, take a picture looking back and see where the Sun sits and what the Galaxy looks like. If only it were that simple. The problem with figuring out our place in the Galaxy is that we are sitting inside it. This means we have to work harder to determine the fine details of the structure of the Galaxy.... Read more »
Ghez, A., Salim, S., Weinberg, N., Lu, J., Do, T., Dunn, J., Matthews, K., Morris, M., Yelda, S., Becklin, E.... (2008) Measuring Distance and Properties of the Milky Way’s Central Supermassive Black Hole with Stellar Orbits. The Astrophysical Journal, 689(2), 1044-1062. DOI: 10.1086/592738
- September 13, 2010
- 08:57 PM
- 815 views
When Will the First Earth-like Planet Be Discovered?
by Samuel Arbesman in arbesman.net
With news of new extrasolar planets being released nearly weekly, there is a general feeling that we are in the midst of a singular moment in cosmic discovery. And the news a few weeks ago of a planet that is about the same size as Earth has provided the sense that the discovery of a [...]... Read more »
Samuel Arbesman, & Gregory Laughlin. (2010) A Scientometric Prediction of the Discovery of the First Potentially Habitable Planet with a Mass Similar to Earth. PLoS ONE (in press). arXiv: 1009.2212v1
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