Universe Today

July 3, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Black Holes are Key to the Evolution of the Universe

A supercomputer simulation has retraced the evolution of the Universe, giving astronomers new clues on where they should point their telescopes. And it seems that one of the most important ingredients to this cosmic recipe is black holes.

The simulation is called BHCosmo, and it was performed on the Cray XT3 system at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. The researchers tied up the whole system – 2,000 processors – for 4 weeks to run the simulation.

They started with initial conditions that matched the cosmic microwave background radiation. Next they seeded the area with 250 million particles of matter, and surrounded that with the gravitational force of dark matter. The researchers watched how the particles of matter collapsed to form galaxies and black holes.

One of the most important findings of the simulation was the impact of black holes. Galaxies look the way they do because of the supermassive black holes at their centres.

Eventually they hope to model the entire Universe with a resolution that matches the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, but that will take more computer power.

Original Source: Carnegie Mellon

July 3, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Hubble View of a Galaxy Ablaze in Star Formation

This latest image released from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the dwarf galaxy NGC 4449, located about 12.5 million light-years away. Although the galaxy has been around for billions of years, it recently went through a period of intense star formation.

Most starburst galaxies concentrate their stellar formation around the crowded galactic core, but in NGC 4449, the active regions extend out across more of the galaxy. This will only last for another billion years or so, when the gas supply that feeds the star forming regions runs out. It will then stay quiet until it has a close encounter with another galaxy, starting the process all over again.

A galaxy like NGC 4449 resembles what the first primordial galaxies probably looked like, formed shortly after the Big Bang when the Universe was young. Many small galaxies merged together forming larger and larger galaxies until they became the majestic spirals we see today. Each new merger brings in a fresh supply of raw materials as well as the gravitational interactions to force gas clouds to collapse.

Original Source:Hubble

July 3, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

NASA’s New Einstein Probes Office

Albert Einstein made enough predictions about the nature of gravity and relativity that NASA has dedicated a whole office and fleet of spacecraft to him. This week the space agency announced their new Einstein Probes Office, where they’ll be compiling evidence for the strangest stuff in the Universe: dark energy, black holes, and the cosmic microwave background radiation.

The Beyond Einstein program consists of 5 proposed spacecraft; two major spacecraft, and 3 smaller probes. The two major missions are already in the works, and include the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), which will orbit the Sun and measure gravitational waves. Constellation-X will watch matter falling into supermassive black holes.

The smaller probes include missions to investigate the nature of dark energy, the physics of the Big Bang, and the distribution and types of black holes in the universe. NASA has already approved preliminary studies into some of these missions.

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy have put together a committee to figure out which missions should be launched first, and will release their findings in September, 2007.

Original Source:NASA Goddard

July 3, 2007January 24, 2021 by Fraser Cain

Astrosphere for July 3, 2007

I’m still living in boxes, but getting back to some semblance of a routine. But the astrosphere won’t wait.

Today’s photo is the lunar crater Clavius, taken by the incredible Paul f. Campbell. If you want me to feature one of your photographs, post it to the forum, and I’ll probably scoop it up.

And here are the stories for today.

Astroblog has posted a cool picture of the Moon, Saturn and Venus over the course of 4 days. It’s was a difficult shot to make because the sky is a sphere.

Does everything seem familiar? According to Seed Magazine, the Universe may repeat itself every trillion years.

If you’ve listened to Astronomy Cast, you know all good things come from the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.

Bad Astronomy reports on the possibility that Spitzer has seen the first stars ever.

July 2, 2007January 24, 2021 by Fraser Cain

Before the Big Bang?

The scientific consensus is that the Universe is expanding, having gotten its start in a single point 13.7 billion years ago. There are several lines of evidence to support this theory: the movement of galaxies away from us, the cosmic microwave background radiation, and the quantities of hydrogen and helium in the Universe.

But what came before the Big Bang? Since all matter and energy was tangled up into a single point of infinite volume and density, it’s hard to imagine how you could look to a time before that.

Cosmologist Martin Bojowald and others from Penn State University thinks it’s possible. His ideas are published in a new paper as part of the July 1st edition of the journal Nature Physics.

According to Bojowald, a mathematical technique called Loop Quantum Gravity, which combines relativity and quantum mechanics, gives a different view of the early Universe. Instead of being infinitely small and dense, it was compacted down into a ball of some volume and density.

The researchers believes that a previous Universe collapsed down to a tiny ball, and then had a Big Bounce to expand again. The previous Universe was very similar to the space-time geometry we have in our current Universe.

I’d try and explain this better, but Phil beat me to the punch and did a great article about it.

Original Source : Penn State University

July 2, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Genesis II Launches, Deploys Solar Panels

Along with your jetpack, flying car, and moving sidewalks, a hotel in space is one of the great, undelivered promises of the future. Well, Bigelow Aerospace took another step towards fulfilling that promise last week with the launch of Genesis II, its prototype of an inflatable space hotel.

Genesis II was lofted into space atop Dnepr rocket on Thursday from the SC Kosmotras Yasny Cosmodrome in Russia. Shortly after launch, ground controllers confirmed a strong signal with the vehicle, confirming that it reached orbit.

On Friday, the habitat unfurled its solar panels, and inflated itself to its full width of 2.4 metres (8 feet).

Like it predecessor, Genesis 1, this spacecraft is a 1/3rd scale prototype of a future space hotel, designed to demonstrate various technologies and techniques needed for space tourism. The eventual plan is to put a manned habitat up by 2015, and then connect additional modules together to build up a space station.

Genesis II has 22 cameras, and many new systems that weren’t aboard Genesis I.

Original Source:Bigelow Aerospace

July 2, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Astrosphere for July 2, 2007

Welcome back to the astrosphere. Sorry for the disruption on Friday and over the weekend. As threatened, my family and I moved back to Vancouver, Canada. My wife is going to be attending nursing school here in the big city. We’re still living in boxes, and I’m laptoping the website from atop my actual lap until our tables and desks arrive. But, I’ve got the Internet going, and that’s all that matters. Oh, and happy Canada Day.

Today’s astrophoto is an occultation of Venus behind the Moon. It comes from Shahriar.D in the forum.

First up, Daily Galaxy has a strange story about the possibility that
early microbial life co-existed with alien life.

Centauri Dreams is reporting on cool exoplanet announcements in Santorini.

Sky and Telescope announced that they’re going to be starting up a blog network on their website. It’s going to be great to see their writers connecting with the community. Welcome.

July 2, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Atlantis is Carried Back Home

The latest space shuttle mission landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, no thanks to the bad weather at its normal landing site in Florida. Since the shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, it needs to be carried back to the launch facility on board a specially strengthened Boeing 747.

On Monday, the shuttle began that journey home.

Atlantis flew out of California today on board the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and then landed for refueling at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Because of poor weather in Florida, NASA decided the shuttle should remain there for tonight. They’ll try and complete the journey o n Tuesday.

Back in Florida, NASA is processing the next shuttle mission, STS-118. This will deliver the S5 truss segment to the International Space Station, and it’s targeted for an August 7th launch.

Original Source: NASA

June 28, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Opportunity is Ready Descend Into Victoria Crater

NASA’s Opportunity rover has been tentatively checking out the rim of Victoria Crater, gathering as much science as it can before going down inside. Mission controllers announced today that they’ve got all the data they need, and they’re ready to push the rover over the edge, and send it on a potentially one-way journey down into the crater.

A meteor impact created Victoria Crater millions of years ago, blasting though layers of rock, and gouging out a hole on Mars 800 metres across (.5 miles). As Opportunity crawls down the steep slope, it’ll be traveling back in time, observing older and older layers of rock on the exposed walls of the crater. As before, it’s looking for evidence of ancient, wet environments.

They’re not planning on a one-way journey. Even though the rover has lasted 12 times longer than mission planners were expecting (90 days), and its capabilities are reduced, it should be able to crawl back out. The slope shouldn’t get any steeper than 15-20 degrees, and it’s on exposed bedrock for good traction.

Here’s a quote from the principal investigator, Steve Squyres:

“We don’t want this to be a one-way trip. We still have some excellent science targets out on the plains that we would like to visit after Victoria. But if Opportunity becomes trapped there, it will be worth the knowledge gained.”

Good luck Opportunity, and hang on tight. It’s going to be a wild ride.

Original Source: NASA News Release

June 28, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Flashes on the Moon Caused by Gas

There’s a strange phenomenon on the Moon that has puzzled astronomers for hundreds of years. They’re called transient lunar phenomena (TLPs), and they look like a brief flashes, changes in colour, or blurring on the surface of the Moon.

Astronomers have argued about what’s really going on for years. Some possible explanations include turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere, physiological effects in the human eye, smearing of light, and even psychological causes. But according to new research by Columbia University astronomy professor Arlin Crotts, radon gas leaking out from the Moon is probably the best explanation.

Cotts correlated TLPs with known gas outbursts on the lunar surface as seen by several spacecraft, including NASA’s Apollo 15 mission. He found a surprising correlation between the outbursts detected by the spacecraft, and reports from observers of TLP sites.

The researchers are now building a robotic camera on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in northern Chile. It will scan the moon every few seconds, and produce an unbiased map of TLPs.

Perhaps this will settle the mystery, once and for all.

Original Source:Columbia News Release