Thursday 2 June 2016

A new Einstein Ring: Distant galaxy lensed by gravity

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A multinational team of astronomers has found an Einstein Ring, a rare image of a distant galaxy lensed by gravity.
via Science Daily
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New radio map of Jupiter reveals what's beneath colorful clouds

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Using the upgraded Very Large Array, astronomers have produced a detailed radio map of the upper 100 kilometers of Jupiter's atmosphere, revealing the complex movement of ammonia gas that shapes the colorful clouds observed in the optical. The map will help understand how global circulation and cloud formation are driven by Jupiter's powerful internal heat source, and shed light on similar processes on giant planets in our solar system and around distant stars.
via Science Daily
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Tiny lasers enable next-gen microprocessors to run faster, less power-hungry

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Tiny high-performance lasers grown directly on silicon wafers solve a decades-old semiconductor industry challenge that, until now, has held back the integration of photonics with electronics on the silicon platform. Scientists were able to fabricate tiny lasers directly on silicon -- a huge breakthrough for the semiconductor industry and well beyond. For more than 30 years, the crystal lattice of silicon and of typical laser materials could not match up, making it impossible to integrate the two materials -- until now.
via Science Daily

Watch Saturn Shine on Friday, No Equipment Required

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Our solar system’s sixth planet will be at opposition, providing one of the best opportunities to see it with the naked eye.
via New York Times

The universe is expanding even faster than expected

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Hubble Space Telescope astronomers have discovered that the universe is expanding 5-9% percent faster than expected. They made the discovery by refining the universe's current expansion rate to unprecedented accuracy, reducing the uncertainty to only 2.4%. The team made the refinements by developing innovative techniques that improved the precision of distance measurements to faraway galaxies. These measurements are fundamental to making more precise calculations of how fast the universe expands with time, a value called the Hubble constant.
via Science Daily
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NASA's Hubble Finds Universe Is Expanding Faster Than Expected


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When astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered nearly 100 years ago that the universe was uniformly expanding in all directions, the finding was a big surprise. Then, in the mid-1990s, another shocker occurred: astronomers found that the expansion rate was accelerating perhaps due to a repulsive property called "dark energy." Now, the latest measurements of our runaway universe suggest that it is expanding faster than astronomers thought. The consequences could be very significant for our understanding of the shadowy contents of our unruly universe. It may mean that dark energy is shoving galaxies away from each other with even greater or growing strength. Or, the early cosmos may contain a new type of subatomic particle referred to as "dark radiation." A third possibility is that "dark matter," an invisible form of matter that makes up the bulk of our universe, possesses some weird, unexpected characteristics. Finally, Einstein's theory of gravity may be incomplete.


via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2016/17/

Watch LISA Pathfinder briefing

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Livestreaming of the media briefing on the first results from ESA’s LISA Pathfinder mission will begin on 7 June at 09:30 GMT (11:30 CEST). LISA Pathfinder is a technology demonstrator for the observation of gravitational waves from space.   


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Watch_LISA_Pathfinder_briefing

Quantum satellite device tests technology for global quantum network

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You can't sign up for the quantum internet just yet, but researchers have reported a major experimental milestone towards building a global quantum network -- and it's happening in space.
via Science Daily
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Quantum satellite device tests technology for global quantum network

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You can't sign up for the quantum internet just yet, but researchers have reported a major experimental milestone towards building a global quantum network -- and it's happening in space.
via Science Daily
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Three Planets from Pic du Midi

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Seen any planets lately? All three planets now shining brightly in the night sky are imaged in these panels, captured last week with the 1 meter telescope at Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees. Near opposition and closest to Earth on May 30, Mars is presently offering the best ground-based photo-ops in the last decade. The sharp image finds clouds above the Red Planet's north pole (top) and towering volcanos near its right limb. Saturn reaches its own opposition tonight, its bright rings and gaps clearly revealed in the telescopic portrait. Jupiter is currently highest during the evening twilight and shows off its planet-girdling cloud bands and Great Red Spot in this scene. Of course close-up images of the ruling gas giant will follow the July arrival of the solar-powered Juno spacecraft and JunoCam.
Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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LISA Pathfinder results

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First results from ESA’s mission to demonstrate gravitational-wave technology will be presented on Tuesday, 7 June. Watch livestream from 09:30 GMT and join a Reddit AMA session at 12:00 GMT
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Watch_LISA_Pathfinder_briefing

Data harvest in the LHC

Pluto's polygons may have been formed by convection

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On Pluto, icebergs floating in a sea of nitrogen ice are key to a possible explanation of the quilted appearance of the Sputnik Planum region of the dwarf planet's surface. Researchers have proposed that the polygons seen in the images could be individual Rayleigh--Bénard convection cells.
via Science Daily
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Astronomers smash cosmic records to see hydrogen in distant galaxy

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An international team of scientists has pushed the limits of radio astronomy to detect a faint signal emitted by hydrogen gas in a galaxy more than five billion light years away -- almost double the previous record.Using the Very Large Array of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the US, the team observed radio emission from hydrogen in a distant galaxy and found that it would have contained billions of young, massive stars surrounded by clouds of hydrogen gas.
via Science Daily
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