Tuesday 28 April 2015

Robotically discovering Earth's nearest neighbors: 54 light-years away

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Astronomers discovered a planetary system orbiting a nearby star that is only 54 light-years away. All three planets orbit their star at a distance closer than Mercury orbits the sun, completing their orbits in just five, 15, and 24 days.
via Science Daily
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Unmasking the secrets of Mercury, in color

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The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the solar system's innermost planet. MESSENGER's highly successful orbital mission is about to come to an end, as the spacecraft runs out of propellant and the force of solar gravity causes it to impact the surface of Mercury near the end of April 2015.
via Science Daily
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Electronic device performance enhanced with new transistor encasing method

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A more effective method for closing gaps in atomically small wires has been developed by University of Illinois

The post Electronic device performance enhanced with new transistor encasing method has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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New technique for exploring structural dynamics of nanoworld

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A new technique for visualizing the rapidly changing electronic structures of atomic-scale materials as they twist, tumble and traipse across the nanoworld is taking shape at the California Institute of Technology. There, researchers have for the first time successfully combined two existing methods to visualize the structural dynamics of a thin film of graphite.

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New technique for exploring structural dynamics of nanoworld

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A new technique for visualizing the rapidly changing electronic structures of atomic-scale materials as they twist, tumble and traipse across the nanoworld is taking shape. Researchers have for the first time successfully combined two existing methods to visualize the structural dynamics of a thin film of graphite.
via Science Daily

Hubble's Ultra Deep Field Image Poster

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: hubble, ultra deep field, ultra, deep, field, astronomical, astronomy, distant, galaxies, ancient, red shift, space images

This view of nearly 10,000 galaxies is called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The snapshot includes galaxies of various ages, sizes, shapes, and colors. The smallest, reddest galaxies may be among the most distant known, existing when the universe was just about 800 million years old. The nearest galaxies - the larger, brighter, well-defined spirals and ellipticals - thrived about 1 billion years ago, when the cosmos was 13 billion years old. The image required 800 exposures taken over the course of 400 Hubble orbits around Earth. The total amount of exposure time was 11.3 days, taken between Sept. 24, 2003 and Jan. 16, 2004. Credit: NASA, ESA, and S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team For more information, visit http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/12/image/b/

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Supernova differences could change our understanding of dark energy

Science Focus

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Measuring distance in the Universe is very challenging—you can't simply run a tape measure out to the Cosmic Microwave Background. What astronomers have done instead is find classes of objects that have a consistent brightness. By measuring how much dimmer than the expected value an object is, you can infer its distance. These objects have been termed "standard candles."

The most useful object for measuring great distances is the type Ia supernova. These supernovae are created when a white dwarf star reaches a specific mass, which triggers a thermonuclear explosion. Since the explosions always happen through the same process, it's thought that the light output is always more or less the same. Type Ia supernova have thus been used to measure the expansion of the Universe out to great distances. They're what were used to spot the apparent acceleration of the expansion, which led to the recognition that much of the Universe is composed of dark energy, a feature we know extremely little about.

Recently, however, a paper was published that suggests that these distance estimates may not be entirely reliable. The supernovae, it seems, are not quite as standard as we thought.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

 
#science 
 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/oLwYvTrbf5k/
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NIST Develops NMR ‘Fingerprinting’ for Monoclonal Antibodies

Science Focus

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National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) have

The post NIST Develops NMR ‘Fingerprinting’ for Monoclonal Antibodies has been published on Technology Org.

 
#physics 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/FaYEME9LEU4/
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Monogram Crab Nebula in Taurus Stickers

Here's a great sheet of stickers featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: crbneb, astronomy, messier 1, neutron stars, star ejecta, pulsars, supernovae explosions, galaxies, outer space pictures, monogram initials, heavens, european southern observatory, eso, vista, monograms, initialled, monogrammed

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A great outer space picture featuring a three colour composite of the well-known Crab Nebula (also known as Messier 1), as observed with the FORS2 instrument in imaging mode in the morning of November 10, 1999.

It's the remnant of a supernova explosion at a distance of about 6,000 light-years, observed almost 1,000 years ago, in the year 1054. It contains a neutron star near its center that spins 30 times per second around its axis (see below).

In this picture, the green light is predominantly produced by hydrogen emission from material ejected by the star that exploded. The blue light is predominantly emitted by very high-energy ("relativistic") electrons that spiral in a large-scale magnetic field (so-called synchrotron emission). It's believed that these electrons are continuously accelerated and ejected by the rapidly spinning neutron star at the centre of the nebula and which is the remnant core of the exploded star.

This pulsar has been identified with the lower/right of the two close stars near the geometric center of the nebula, immediately left of the small arc-like feature, best seen in ESO Press Photo eso9948.

Technical information: ESO Press Photo eso9948 is based on a composite of three images taken through three different optical filters: B (429 nm; FWHM 88 nm; 5 min; here rendered as blue), R (657 nm; FWHM 150 nm; 1 min; green) and S II (673 nm; FWHM 6 nm; 5 min; red) during periods of 0.65 arcsec (R, S II) and 0.80 (B) seeing, respectively. The field shown measures 6.8 x 6.8 arcminutes and the images were recorded in frames of 2048 x 2048 pixels, each measuring 0.2 arcseconds. North is up; East is left.

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image code: crbneb

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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Massive Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841

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Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

Star Cluster Pismis 24, core of NGC 6357 Room Decals

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: stars, galaxies, astronomy, wall decal, star cluster, pismis 24, sculpting ultaviolet ionisation, super massive stars, sclustpsms, nebula ngc 6357

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series The star cluster Pismis 24 lies in the core of the large emission nebula NGC 6357 that extends one degree on the sky in the direction of the Scorpius constellation. Part of the nebula is ionised by the youngest (bluest) heavy stars in Pismis 24. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the blazing stars heats the gas surrounding the cluster and creates a bubble in NGC 6357. The presence of these surrounding gas clouds makes probing into the region even harder. One of the top candidates for the title of "Milky Way stellar heavyweight champion" was, until now, Pismis 24-1, a bright young star that lies in the core of the small open star cluster Pismis 24 (the bright stars in the Hubble image) about 8,000 light-years away from Earth. Pismis 24-1 was thought to have an incredibly large mass of 200 to 300 solar masses. New NASA/ESA Hubble measurements of the star, have, however, resolved Pismis 24-1 into two separate stars, and, in doing so, have "halved" its mass to around 100 solar masses.

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image code: sclustpsms

Image credit: NASA/ESA Hubble

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Desiderata Poem, Constellation Cygnus, The Swan iPad Mini Cases

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!


tagged with: full desiderata, desiderata poem, noise and haste, go placidly, awesome hubble images, star forming activity, constellation cygnus, the swan, hrbstslr cygsb, cosmological, new star s106ir, star nurseries, young hot stars, interstellar gas clouds, star birth, glowing hydrogen, turbulence

Inspirational Guidance series

A gorgeous iPad Mini case featuring the full Desiderata by Max Ehrmann: Go placidly amidst the noise and haste... with an image of a star forming region in Constellation Cygnus (The Swan). This Hubble picture shows a dust-rich, interstellar gas cloud with a new-born star in the centre of the hour-glass shape.

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Image code: cygsb

Image credit: NASA, the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) and ESA

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ASU engineer is pulling CO2 out of thin air

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It’s the massive buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere that makes it increasingly likely we will

The post ASU engineer is pulling CO2 out of thin air has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Breathing new life into malaria detection

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Researchers at CSIRO, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and the Australian National University are working on tests for

The post Breathing new life into malaria detection has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Saturn’s sponge-like moon

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Space Science Image of the Week: Saturn’s moon Hyperion may be a potato-shaped lump of porous rock but, as discovered by Cassini, it is more intriguing than it seems
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2015/04/Saturn_s_sponge-like_moon_Hyperion

Orion's Belt Deep Wide Field Poster

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: astronomy, space, nebula, orion

A deep field panorama that extends from Orion's belt (left) to the M42 nebula (upper right).

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Initialled Dumbbell Nebula Constellation Vulpecula Stickers

Here's a great sheet of stickers featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: awesome astronomy images, inspirational, dmbblneb, vulpecula constellation, intense ultraviolet radiation, european southern observatory, messier 27 ngc 6853, heavens, monograms, initialled, eso, vista, initials, monogrammed, monogram

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A great photo from deep space featuring the Dumbbell Nebula - also known as Messier 27 or NGC 6853. It's a typical planetary nebula and is located in the constellation Vulpecula (The Fox).

The distance is rather uncertain, but is believed to be around 1,200 light-years. It was first described by the French astronomer and comet hunter Charles Messier who found it in 1764 and included it as no. 27 in his famous list of extended sky objects.

Despite its class, the Dumbbell Nebula has nothing to do with planets. It consists of very rarefied gas that has been ejected from the hot central star (well visible on this photo), now in one of the last evolutionary stages. The gas atoms in the nebula are excited (heated) by the intense ultraviolet radiation from this star and emit strongly at specific wavelengths.

This image is the beautiful by-product of a technical test of some FORS1 narrow-band optical interference filters. They only allow light in a small wavelength range to pass and are used to isolate emissions from particular atoms and ions.

In this three-colour composite, a short exposure was first made through a wide-band filter registering blue light from the nebula. It was then combined with exposures through two interference filters in the light of double-ionized oxygen atoms and atomic hydrogen. They were colour-coded as “blue”, “green” and “red”, respectively, and then combined to produce this picture that shows the structure of the nebula in “approximately true” colours.



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Image code: dmbblneb

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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Boomerang Nebula Hubble Astronomy Room Sticker

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: boomerang nebula, nebula, stars, nasa, astronomy, universe, outer space, hubble telescope, nature, cool space, nebulae, esa, hubble space telescope, hubble photo, cosmos, astronomical, astrophotography, cosmology, deep space, space, natural, science, space picture, space photo, space image, nebula picture, nebula photo, nebula image, blue, cool astronomy

Hubble photograph of the Boomerang Nebula

This photograph of the Boomerang Nebula was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998. It shows the bow-tie-shaped nebula in beautiful bright blue and white colours, against a dark starry background.

Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sahai and J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and the WFPC2 Science Team

You can personalise the design further if you'd prefer, such as by adding your name or other text, or adjusting the image - just click 'Customize it' to see all the options. IMPORTANT: If you choose a different sized version of the product, it's important to click Customize and check the image in the Design view to ensure it fills the area to the edge of the product, otherwise white edges may be visible.

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Nebula iPad Mini Case

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!


tagged with: turquoise, stars, nebula, space, clouds, gases, brown, blue, green, astronomy, beauty, nature, astronomer, hubble

Colorful turquoise sky and stars in a nebula as seen through the Hubble telescope

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