Friday 12 May 2017

Two James Webb instruments are best suited for exoplanet atmospheres

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The best way to study the atmospheres of distant worlds with the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in late 2018, will combine two of its infrared instruments, according to a team of astronomers.
via Science Daily
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Hubble catches a galaxy duo by the 'hare'

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This image shows the unusual galaxy IRAS 06076-2139, found in the constellation Lepus (The Hare).
via Science Daily
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Faster, smaller, more powerful computer chips: Hafnia dons a new face

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As computer chips become smaller, faster and more powerful, their insulating layers must also be much more robust -- currently a limiting factor for semiconductor technology. A research team says this new phase of hafnia is an order of magnitude better at withstanding applied fields.
via Science Daily

Illustrated Interview | Neil deGrasse Tyson

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The astrophysicist, whose new book, ‘‘Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,’’ was published this month by W.W. Norton & Company, sketched his answers in his living room with a Mont Blanc Meisterstück 146 fountain pen.
via New York Times

M13: The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

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In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is but a little Patch, but it shews itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Telescopic views reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is over 4 light-years away. Along with the cluster's dense core, the outer reaches of M13 are highlighted in this sharp color image. The cluster's evolved red and blue giant stars show up in yellowish and blue tints.

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A Photo From Space Shows Belgium Shining Bright, and Social Media Lights Up

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Photos taken by a French astronaut sparked a discussion about their beauty — and also raised questions about energy use.
via New York Times

LIVE: ESA astronauts answer questions on physics in space

On Friday 12 May at 4:30pm CEST, we will be live from the CERN Data Centre with three European astronauts: 

  • Helen Sharman - the first Brit in space, and first woman to visit the MIR orbital complex (Soviet space station).
  • Samantha Cristoforetti holds the record for the longest continuous time in space for an ESA astronaut and female astronauts in general.
  • Claude Nicollier - first ESA astronaut selection, with 4 space missions on the Space Shuttle, one of them devoted to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. He was also the first European to undertake a spacewalk

CERN is not just the home of the Large Hadron Collider - it hosts a variety of experiments, control centres and services related to space. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is a particle physics detector that looks for dark matter, antimatter and missing matter from a module attached to the outside of the International Space Station (ISS). It was assembled at CERN and physicists receive and analyse the data sent by AMS at the AMS Payload Operations Control Centre (POCC) at CERN. Also UNOSAT, which has been hosted by CERN’s IT department since its inception in 2001, relies on the Laboratory’s IT infrastructure to produce extremely precise maps of regions of the world affected or threatened by natural disaster or conflict, based on very high resolution satellite images.

Join us live in the CERN Data Centre, where the astronauts will be answering your questions, so post them in the comments section of the live.

Watch on Facebook.


via CERN: Updates for the general public
http://home.cern/about/updates/2017/05/live-esa-astronauts-answer-questions-physics-space

Is this the 'holey' grail of batteries?

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In a battery system, electrodes containing porous graphene scaffolding offer a substantial improvement in both the retention and transport of energy, a new study reveals.
via Science Daily

Ancient Mars impacts created tornado-like winds that scoured surface

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Plumes of vapor generated by ancient impacts on Mars created tornado-like winds possibly swirling at more than 500 miles per hour, which explain mysterious streaks seen near large impact craters on the Martian surface.
via Science Daily
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