Wednesday 1 March 2017

Rapid changes point to origin of ultra-fast black hole 'burp'

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Scientists have made the most detailed observation yet of a black hole outflow, from the active galaxy IRAS 13224-3809. The outflow's temperature changed on time scales of less than an hour -- hundreds of times faster than ever seen before. The rapid fluctuations in the outflow's temperature also indicated that the outflow was responding to X-ray emissions from the accretion disk, a dense zone of gas and other materials that surrounds the black hole.
via Science Daily
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Scars from the Big Bang: Galaxy cluster and cosmic background

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The events surrounding the Big Bang were so cataclysmic that they left an indelible imprint on the fabric of the cosmos. We can detect these scars today by observing the oldest light in the universe.
via Science Daily
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A new cosmic survey offers unprecedented view of galaxies

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Scientists have published a 'cosmic census' of a large swath of the night sky containing roughly 100 million stars and galaxies, including some of the most distant objects in the universe. These high-quality images allow an unprecedented view into the nature and evolution of galaxies and dark matter.
via Science Daily
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Hunting for giant planet analogs in our own backyard

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There may be a large number of undetected bright, substellar objects similar to giant exoplanets in our own solar neighborhood, according to new work.
via Science Daily
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Astronomy: Dark matter mapped

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One of the highest-resolution maps of dark matter ever created has now been revealed, offering a detailed case for the existence of cold dark matter -- sluggish particles that comprise the bulk of matter in the universe.
via Science Daily
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First solar images from NOAA's GOES-16 satellite

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The first images from the Solar Ultraviolet Imager or SUVI instrument aboard NOAA's GOES-16 satellite have been successful, capturing a large coronal hole on Jan. 29, 2017.
via Science Daily
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First evidence of rocky planet formation in Tatooine system

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Evidence of planetary debris surrounding a double sun, 'Tatooine-like' system has been found for the first time, report investigators.
via Science Daily
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Rapid changes point to origin of ultra-fast black hole winds

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ESA and NASA space telescopes have made the most detailed observation of an ultra-fast wind flowing from the vicinity of a black hole at nearly a quarter of the speed of light.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rapid_changes_point_to_origin_of_ultra-fast_black_hole_winds

A galaxy on the edge

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This colorful stripe of stars, gas, and dust is actually a spiral galaxy named NGC 1055. Captured here by ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), this big galaxy is thought to be up to 15 percent larger in diameter than the Milky Way. NGC 1055 appears to lack the whirling arms characteristic of a spiral, as it is seen edge-on. However, it displays odd twists in its structure that were probably caused by an interaction with a large neighboring galaxy.
via Science Daily
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A Solar Eclipse with a Beaded Ring of Fire

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What kind of eclipse is this? On Sunday, visible in parts of Earth's southern hemisphere, the Moon blocked part of the Sun during a partial solar eclipse. In some locations, though, the effect was a rare type of partial eclipse called an annular eclipse. There, since the Moon is too far from the Earth to block the entire Sun, sunlight streamed around the edges of the Moon creating a "ring of fire". At some times, though, the effect was a rare type of annular eclipse. Then, an edge of the Moon nearly aligned with an edge of the Sun, allowing sunlight to stream through only low areas on the Moon. Called a "Baily's bead" or a "diamond ring", this doubly rare effect was captured Sunday in the feature photograph from Chubut, Argentina, in South America. This summer a total solar eclipse will swoop across North America.

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NASA study hints at possible change in water 'fingerprint' of comet

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A trip past the sun may have selectively altered the production of one form of water in a comet -- an effect not seen by astronomers before, a new study suggests.
via Science Daily
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Cells adapt ultra-rapidly to zero gravity

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Mammalian cells fully adapt to zero gravity in less than a minute. Real-time readings on the International Space Station (ISS) reveal that cells compensate ultra-rapidly for changes in gravitational conditions, an international team of scientists has found.
via Science Daily
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