Unveiling the Unseen: Neutrinos Illuminate a New Image of the Milky Way

The Milky Way galaxy has always been studied using different types of light, from visible starlight to radio waves. However, scientists have now taken a unique approach by using invisible particles called neutrinos to create a new image of our galaxy. Neutrinos are ghost-like particles that usually pass through Earth without being noticed. By determining the origin of thousands of neutrinos, researchers have produced the first-ever galactic portrait using particles instead of light.

This breakthrough was made possible by a collaboration of scientists using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica and supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The observatory consists of thousands of sensors buried deep within a cubic kilometer of pristine ice. It detects high-energy neutrinos from space and provides valuable data. The results of this research were presented at an event at Drexel University and will be published in the journal Science.

The moment Naoko Kurahashi Neilson, a physicist from Drexel University, and her two doctoral students examined the neutrino-based image, they realized its significance. This innovative computational analysis was made possible by funding from the NSF's Faculty Early Career Development program. Denise Caldwell, the director of NSF's Physics Division, emphasizes that breakthroughs in science often rely on technological advancements. The IceCube detector's sensitivity, combined with new data analysis tools, has given scientists a fresh perspective on our galaxy. As these capabilities continue to improve, we can anticipate a clearer and more detailed image of our galaxy, potentially uncovering hidden features that have never been seen before.

Francis Halzen, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the principal investigator at IceCube, highlights the intriguing fact that the universe shines brighter in neutrinos compared to any other form of light. However, detecting and distinguishing neutrinos from other interstellar particles is a challenging task. Determining the source of neutrinos is an even more ambitious goal. When neutrinos interact with the ice beneath IceCube, they produce faint patterns of light, which can be detected. Some patterns point to specific areas of the sky, enabling researchers to identify the sources of neutrinos. These interactions were crucial in the IceCube Collaboration's previous discovery of neutrinos originating from a galaxy 47 million light-years away.

However, some interactions produce less directional patterns, resulting in cascades of diffuse light in the ice. Kurahashi Neilson explains that her colleagues, Sclafani and Hünnefeld, developed a machine-learning algorithm to analyze more than 60,000 neutrino-generated light cascades recorded by IceCube over a decade. After meticulous testing and verification using simulated data, they applied the algorithm to the real data provided by IceCube. The result was an image showing bright spots corresponding to suspected neutrino-emitting locations in the Milky Way. These locations align with areas where gamma rays are observed, which are believed to be produced by collisions between cosmic rays and interstellar gas, a process that should also generate neutrinos.

Sclafani remarks that the measurement of a neutrino counterpart confirms our understanding of the galaxy and the sources of cosmic rays. Over the years, scientists have made numerous astronomical discoveries by expanding their observation methods. They have utilized radio waves, infrared light, gravitational waves, and now neutrinos. Kurahashi Neilson sees the neutrino-based image of the Milky Way as another significant step in this lineage of discovery. She predicts that neutrino astronomy will be refined, just like the methods that came before it, eventually unveiling previously unknown aspects of the universe. For scientists like her, the excitement lies in witnessing something never seen before and gaining a deeper understanding of the universe.

Space Debris: The Threat of Orbital Junk to Astronauts and Satellites

What is a space debris?

Space debris, also known as space junk, refers to any human-made object in orbit around the Earth that no longer serves a useful function. This includes nonfunctional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris and fragmentation debris. Space debris can be as large as an inactive satellite or as small as a flake of paint. The real danger of space debris is the speed at which these objects move - more than 28,000 kilometers per hour - which makes even small pieces of debris potentially lethal to spacecraft and satellites.

Space debris is a significant problem for space exploration and poses a threat to both crewed and uncrewed spaceflight. The risk of catastrophic collision between space shuttles and pieces of space debris was estimated to be 1 in 300. In the first collision between an operational satellite and a piece of space debris in July 1996, a fragment from the upper stage of a European Ariane rocket collided with Cerise, a French microsatellite. Cerise was damaged but continued to function[4].

Since the beginning of the space era in 1957, tons of rockets, spaceships, and satellites have been launched into space. At least initially, no one foresaw what to do with them at the end of their useful life. The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that there are some 900,000 objects over one centimeter in size orbiting Earth today.

Size and types of space junk

Space debris, also known as space junk, is any piece of machinery or debris left by humans in space. It can refer to big objects such as dead satellites that have failed or abandoned launch vehicle stages. It can also be as small as a microscopic chip of paint. The amount of space debris in orbit increases with the growth of the space industry on Earth.

Space debris poses a significant threat to the astronauts and spacecraft that work in Earth's orbit, according to NASA. Even tiny pieces of space junk can cause incredible damage because objects in orbit move at high speeds. For example, during an STS-120 EVA to reinforce a torn solar panel, a pair of pliers was lost, and in an STS-126 EVA, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper lost a briefcase-sized tool bag.

Rocket upper stages which end up in orbit are a significant source of space debris. In characterizing the problem of space debris, it was learned that much debris was due to rocket upper stages (e.g. the Inertial Upper Stage) which end up in orbit and break up due to decomposition of unvented propellants or residual pressure within fuel tanks. By one estimate, there are a hundred million bits of debris that are a millimeter in size and a hundred million as small as a micron.

Threat to astronauts and spacecraft

Space debris poses a significant threat to astronauts and spacecraft. Space debris can damage spacecraft or space stations due to the high speed at which it travels. The rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles, including the International Space Station. Fortunately, at the moment, space junk doesn't pose a huge risk to our exploration efforts. The biggest danger it poses is to other satellites in orbit.

NASA recognizes the dangers of space debris and has an Orbital Debris Program Office that tracks more than 8,000 orbiting objects larger than 4 inches (10 cm), of which only 7% are operational. The rest are debris - dead satellites, parts of exploded rockets, nuts, bolts, other lost hardware, etc. NASA is also working on ways to mitigate the risks posed by space debris. For example, NASA's Restore-L project aims to refuel and service a satellite in low Earth orbit that was not designed for servicing.

Solutions and Future Challenges

Space debris is a growing problem that poses a significant threat to current and future space missions. It is essential to address this issue to ensure the sustainability of space exploration. There are several solutions for managing space debris, including prevention, removal, and mitigation. Prevention involves designing spacecraft with end-of-life disposal in mind and avoiding in-orbit explosions. Removal involves capturing debris or deorbiting old satellites. Mitigation involves reducing the creation of debris from collisions by employing collision avoidance techniques or removing large objects from orbit.

Several organizations are working on addressing the issue of space debris. The World Economic Forum has launched the world's first Space Sustainability Rating, which aims to reduce space debris and ensure that rapidly increasing space exploration missions are "managed safely". Aerospace's Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies (CORDS) is developing tools and techniques that will analyze potential collision scenarios, study reentry breakups of upper stages and spacecraft, and model debris objects in orbit. ESA is working on mitigating space debris generation by preventing in-orbit explosions and applying both prevention and removal measures broadly and in a timely manner.

In conclusion, addressing the issue of space debris is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of current and future space missions. Several solutions exist for managing space debris, including prevention, removal, and mitigation. Organizations such as the World Economic Forum, Aerospace's CORDS, and ESA are working on developing tools and techniques to address this issue.

Borisov Comet May Be A Common One

Interstellar comets like Borisov may not be all that rare

Borisov Comets (NASA, ESA and D. Jewitt (UCLA))

It is surprising that certain comets such as Halley comets are not very rare. Well, we don't know it yet. Comet is composed of ice with small solar system body, that, when passing close to the Sun, it releases gases which is called outgassing.

In 2019, astronomers spotted something incredible, a rogue comet from another star system. They named it as Borisov, and this icy snowball traveled over a hundred thousand miles per hour, and became the first and only interstellar comet ever detected by humans.

But what if these interstellar visitors - comets, meteors, asteroids, and other debris from beyond our solar system - are more common than we think?

In a new study published Monday in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers Amir Siraj and Avi Loeb at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) present new calculations showing that in the Oort Cloud - a shell of debris in the farthest reaches of our solar system - interstellar objects outnumber objects belonging to our solar system. The calculations, made using conclusions drawn from Borisov, include significant uncertainties, Siraj points out. But even after taking these into consideration, interstellar visitors prevail over objects that are native to the solar system.

Although interstellar objects in the planetary region of the solar system would be rare, but our results clearly show that they are more common than solar system material in the dark reaches of the Oort cloud. Thus, observations with next-generation technology may help confirm the team's results. The Transneptunian Automated Occultation Survey (TAOS II), which is specifically designed to detect comets in the far reaches of our solar system, may also be able to detect one of these passersby. TAOS II may come online as early as this year.

Source: Eurekalert

The origin of magnetic fields in the universe

The galaxy's magnetic field (image source form ETH Zurich)

Astronomers are on the hunt for magnetic fields in our galaxy that were born in the very early universe since they could provide a new way to study the big bang. Magnetic fields are thought to play an important role in star formation within galaxies, and the Milky Way is home to various types of field. Some come from stellar explosions, others from black holes, while some, known as primordial magnetic fields, are believed to come from rapid inflation thought to have occurred fractions of a second after the big bang.

As we know that the magnetic field in the Earth is coming from two poles, indeed, the north and south pole. With that field, our earth including the living thing (well, the human itself) is protected by the solar or any radiation that comes from the outer space. On the other hand, the Earth itself rotates while at the same time orbits to the Sun, which eventually the Sun orbits to the center of the Galaxy. Thus, what makes these planetary movements? Is it a force which is perhaps the magnetic force?

Then, a team of scientist from the University of Cambridge runs a model of simulation about the origin of the magnetic field.

We have never been able to tease these ancient fields apart from the others. We found a way to do so, and I was so surprised that they survived, - says Martin-Alvarez from the University of Cambridge

The team modelled the evolution of recent and primordial magnetic fields in the Milky Way. The group found that primordial magnetic fields always seemed to survive throughout time and could stay far stronger than previously thought, which is based on a previous study. The primordial magnetic fields seem to be distributed more towards the centre of the galaxy, while those that come from stars and black holes are more evenly distributed. The team hopes soon to calculate what astronomers will need to look out for to distinguish these ancient fields.

That could have big implications. If you can measure primordial magnetic fields in one galaxy, you could potentially measure the primordial magnetic field of the universe.

What Is Comet? And Why It Is So Important to be Researched

Regarding to comet, it is a very interesting discussion which is not only to be talked, but also to be researched. Comets are space matters that are known to be the Rosetta Stone, and they are decided to be considered as the origin of the solar system. The chemical composition of comets has been known to be volatile ice, with several mineralogical substances including abundant isotopic matters of dust grains. As a result, understanding comets may have led us to fundamental information related to condensation and agglomeration of space matters as they also travel around the space.

To these days, several information related to comets have been reported by many civilizations. One of the earliest systematic records of comets were reported by the Chinese civilization in 467 BC, where the Kou Kin-ting informed that the comet tails always pointed away from the Sun. In Europe, many philosophers including Aristotle to postulate the association of comets with transient phenomena in the atmosphere of Earth. Ever since those ancient knowledge, middle-ages astronomers such as Tycho Brahe, Newton as well as Kepler put their interests in studying, observing and even recording the comets. However, the most important breakthrough about comet was reported by Edmund Halley.

English astronomer Edmund Halley compared the observed positions of bight stars on the celestial sphere with those found in Ptolemy’s Almagest. Ptolemy’s conclusion stated that three stars had changed position and were not in position of fixed in firmament. Therefore, he deduced the elliptic orbit of cometary movements around the sun, and he found that this is the same comet that orbits around the sun within a period of 75.5 years in 1682. Later, this comet is very popular with the name of Comet Halley. In 1758, his prediction became true as the comet appeared in that year, as well as in 1986. This also showed the world at that time that space objects have regular movements. Thus, comets become invaluable data revealing the true nature of the most primitive bodies in the solar system.

Due to his forecasting, modern astronomical team from former Soviet Union, Japan, Europe and the United States have been starting their interests to comets. In addition, an extensive network for ground-based comet observations was organized by NASA to coordinate the study of comet Halley. This program is called as International Halle Watch (IHW), proved to be successful in maintaining a high level of cometary research in all areas. The latest observation about comet was done to investigate the Rosetta Comet.

The Development of Clocks in Human History

Quantum Clocks

What if you were in an era that there is no such digital technology? You may have found difficulties in finding what time it is now. With today’s standard, successful people are those who are able to organize their activities, and to do that they need to manage their time in daily basis. However, our global population is not distributed in central area, but it is the opposite, which spread all over the world. Thus, the need of standardized time is required to balance the activities, including in stock market and transportation.

One of the international organisations that are responsible in keeping the correct time is the National Institute of Standards and Technology throughout its atomic clock. However, atomic is thought to be having a drawback due to the precision level. In a study published in Nature, current atomic clock cannot be linked throughout global network, so that they proposed the idea of a global network of atomic clocks linked by the strange science of quantum entanglement. This proposal is still theoretical; however it could have given relatively high impacts to the global clocks. Surprisingly, how we could be in Quantum Clocks? Here the previous clocks

Sundial

Sundial. The sundial, which uses a vertical object like a pillar or cross that casts a shadow to indicate the time of day, is the earliest known timekeeping device, appearing around 3500 BC. The device ultimately proved unreliable since, in addition to inference from pesky clouds and storms, the key component was in the sky only half the day.

Pendulum Clocks

Pendulum Clock. The beginning of pendulum clock was pioneered by Dutch mathematician who is Christiaan Huygens in 1656 throughout his invention, the pendulum clock. This type of clock measured time more reliably than the sundial because it can be used to measure time at the night, but it still had its limitations. The clock’s mechanical parts left its accuracy at the mercy of shifting temperatures, pressures and even Earth’s gravitational pull, since pendulums swing faster at lower altitudes and at Earth’s poles.

Chronometer

Chronometer. In a voyage, time is very important to determine the condition of the sea. As the pendulum cannot be used on the sea due to the altitudes, sailors needed reliable clocks. In particular, a clock that could tell the local land time so they could calculate longitude. Enter English carpenter, John Harrison, whose timepiece could determine longitude within half a degree. His clock, called a chronometer later in the 18th century, which is basically a proto-pocket watch, improved accuracy through balance and spring combinations and kept time within 0.8 seconds per day.

Atomic Clock

Atomic Clock. In 1949, the National Institute of Standards and Technology created the first atomic clock, which determined time by measuring how long certain atomic processes last. In 1967, the second itself was officially defined as 9.2 billion oscillations of microwave radiation emanating from a system of cesium atoms. Today’s updated NIST-F2 model boasts an accuracy of one second across 300 million years.

Quantum Clock

Quantum Clock. The proposed quantum clock network could operate by mounting entangled atomic clocks on global satellites or stationing them at various labs located around Earth. As the clocks are quantum linked, each could almost instantly relay its time to one central node, which would average the times and relay them back. Each clock could thus adjust its accuracy, creating what it is called as superclock. With a clock this accurate, scientists could gather more precise real-time measurements of continental shifts, potentially detecting natural disasters like earthquakes, storm, weather forecasting, and many more.

The Surface of Mars Shaped by Rainfall, not Volcanoes

The Surface of Mars (Image credit to NASA)

Research says the fall of rain helped to carve the valley network on the surface of Mars. Consequently, this latest finding also suggests that the Martian atmosphere at the time was considerably colder than first thought, implying to the vital source of life (water).

For decades, scientists have operated under the assumption that the intricate lithosphere of the Red Planet was shaped by the ancient activity of Tharsis plateau, home to the largest volcano in our Solar System – however, new research says the deep and winding valleys on Mars’ surface were actually created by rain and snowfall in the planet’s youth.

Tharsis was formed around 3.7 billion years ago in a period of Martian history known as the Noachian Era and it has long been thought as the cause of these lithosphere alterations, with its massive tonnes causing the mantle to tear and shift as it began to form. Since these valleys are oriented in the same direction, parallel to the equator of the planet, the Tharsis theory has remained the most plausible scientific argument.

A team lead by Sylvain BOuley, a planetary scientist at the University of Paris-Sud, France, theorises that these valleys are instead the networked remains of a complex system of rivers that ran around the surface in a thick, criss-crossed band. More so, these valleys were created during the same period as Tharsis’ formation, rather than as a direct by-product of its rise.

The researchers ran 3D simulations that showed the river network grew during the theorised heavy rainfall of the Noachian Period as the Tharsis bulge continued to rise, with the band shifting over the Martian equator as the period drew a close.

What do satellites observe in the Earth’s orbit?

Satellites orbited on the atmosphere of the Earth

Observations from space can help humans to study large patterns of change, such as global environments, throughout the Earth’s surface and in the atmosphere. The data can be also used to supplement information gained by ground or ocean-going instruments. The additional benefit of satellites is they can transmit data continuously, and cover areas of the Earth that are inaccessible or too hostile for any other methods of gaining information. Here are the six main observations that have been collected by the satellites.

Atmosphere. NASA launched eight Nimbus Earth observation satellites between 1964 and 1978. They pioneered the use of ‘sounders’ that measure the humidity and temperature of the atmosphere. They obtain temperature measurements by analysing infrared radiation (IR) on wavelengths linked with oxygen and carbon dioxide. IR or microwave sounders identify water vapour in the atmosphere to measure the humidity. Microwave sounders have a lower resolution, but those can be used in all weather conditions as they can sound through clouds.

Oceans. In the 1970s, the USA and Soviet Union issued ocean observation satellite programmes, which carried synthetic aperture radar (SAR) equipment. A number of radar images are taken by SARs and combined to produce a single detailed image. This is able to determine the height of sea levels, waves, currents, and their distribution and it can detect oil slicks and shipping movements. The Jason 1 and 2 spacecraft currently use these techniques to study the topography and characteristics of the oceans, to give a better warning of floods or climate changes.

Radiation. Visible red, green and blue light only provides a limited amount of information about the Earth’s surface, so satellites use spectrometers to study the invisible near-infrared and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

They can identify and track the growth of plant species, as they all reflect infrared light. The infrared ‘fingerprint’ of plants can also indicate the amount of water present and can warn of potential droughts. Likewise, exposed rocks radiate their own infrared fingerprint that allows geologists to identify valuable mineral/ oil deposits.

Infrared data from satellites is ‘false coloured’, so invisible light from up to three wavelengths is rendered into a combination of visible red, green and blue.

Land. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) by the Endeavour space shuttle in February 2000 used two radar antennas to produce the most comprehensive high-resolution digital topographical map of the Earth’s terrain. This data is used by Google Earth to create maps that can be viewed in 2D or 3D.

The Earth observation satellites are important in monitoring the seasonal variation of vegetation. Besides studying long-term changes, they are also used to observe and issue warnings of natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, forest fires and earthquakes.

Ice. Carrying of from the work of Envisat, which discovered that every decade since 1978; the Arctic ice fields have shrunk by 2.7%, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched CryoSat-2 on 8 April 2010. It uses radar altimeters with SAR technology, specifically designed for its mission to study the thickness and distribution of ice in the polar oceans. NASA’s ICESat (2004) carried a Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), which used pulses of laser light to measure the height and characteristics of Greenland and Antarctic ice fields. These satellites have indicated the role of greenhouse gases in the polar atmosphere and that the ozone layer has shown signs of recovery.

Gravity. The European gravity field and steady-state ocean circulation explorer (GOCE) launched in March 2009, carries an Electrostatic Gravity Gradiometer (EGG) to measure the gravity field of Earth. By measuring the minute variations in the tug of gravity, it enables the production of Geoid maps of the globe that can indicate ocean circulation and changes, the movement and composition of polar ice sheets and the physics of the Earth’s interior.

In March 2002, NASA launched two Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft. They use a microwave system that accurately measures any minute changes between their speed and distance, indicating the influence of the Earth’s gravitational pull.

Astronomers clock a spinning black hole

Black hole based on artist's drawing (courtesy by NASA)

X-rays blasting from a supermassive black hole feasting on an unlucky star allowed on MIT-led team of researchers to measure how fast the black hole spins – clocking it at nearly 50 per cent the speed of light. It’s the first time a star’s death was used to time a supermassive black hole’s spin.

In 2014, astronomers saw the central black hole inside a galaxy 300 million light-years away lure in and rip apart a passing star. Several telescopes captured this event’s X-ray radiation. More recently, a team combed through the data and noticed regular bursts of X-rays from near the black hole’s event horizon (the point of no return, where material disappears into the black hole) once every 131 seconds. These periodic emissions persisted at least 450 days after the star’s death, boosting the black hole’s total X-ray emissions by 40 per cent.

The team thinks these X-rays were created when material from the star interacted with a white dwarf, the remnant of a Sun-like star, orbiting dangerously close to the black hole at a point called the innermost stable circular orbit a black hole without being devoured. The hot gas from the star illuminated the white dwarf, causing an X-ray glow that appeared each time the white dwarf completed an orbit, every 131 seconds. That allowed the team to deduce how fast the black hole itself is spinning. The team now hopes to track down similar X-ray emissions, shedding more light on how black holes evolve.

3 types of million dollars asteroids

Asteroids (Image courtesy from NASA)

The vast majority of asteroids orbit the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. In this belt, you could find millions of smaller asteroids and almost 2 million asteroids with 1 km of diameters. These natural matters are abundant, and surprisingly have materials that contain metals. Yap, asteroid contains metals such as iron, platinum and many more. For instance, the Argentinian craters and meteorites contain lots of iron, and imagine if we could mine the meteorites? What could we have?
In the young Solar System, some asteroids grew so large and hot that gravity attracted heavy metals to their cores under a mantle of rock. Now, many have been crushed into pure rock and metal fragments, and one type in particular is attractive to mining companies. What are those types of asteroids that can be a source of mining? Here the 3 asteroids!

Metal-Type (M-Type) Asteroids: Mining companies prefer metal asteroids. They are former cores, so they consist of pure/ precious metals such as platinum, gold, and silver, or base metals such as iron. Metal asteroids are very compact much more than the rock types that are sometimes found on Earth. The mining company Planetary Resources has identified a metal asteroid estimated to contain more platinum than has ever been mined on the Earth.

Rocky Type (S-Type) Asteroids: Rocky asteroids hold no guarantees. Like Earth’s mountains, rocky asteroids may contain valuable metals, but mining companies cannot be sure to find rich ore. Because of this, rocky asteroids are the least attractive objects to the diggers of space, although they often orbit quite close to Earth. These rocky asteroids used to be the mantle around an asteroid core and may contain metals.

Icy Type (C-Type) Asteroids: These asteroids contain lots of water (frozen into ice), and by using solar panels, the water can be converted into oxygen and hydrogen to be used as propellant. So, mining companies hope to use these asteroids as “filling stations” to create spacecraft fuel and top up the reserves of extended mining missions. These building blocks of the Solar System exist in no-converted asteroids made of carbon, phosphorus and many more.

There are many types of metals contained inside the asteroids, for instance, lanthanum; neodymium, and yttrium. Neodymium makes the world’s most powerful permanent magnets and is used to make efficient wind turbines, speakers and more. Other rare-earth metals, which are used in electronics or even in green technologies such as electric cars, could be abundant in certain asteroids.

Counting massive stars in our locality galaxy is surprisingly astonishing

Star-Nest Tarantula Nebula comprises lots of massive stars

Aeglephysics.com -- Astronomers be inflicted with revealed an mind-bugling overabundance of massive stars in a neighboring galaxy. The discovery made in the oversize star-forming region 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, has long-term penalty pro our understanding of how stars transformed the pristine Universe into the lone we live in now.

The breakthrough made from astronomers of Oxford University made an astonishing findings. The results whih are in print in the journal of Science modify our understanding in this area how the universe are formed by the presence of stars. Lead author Fabian Scheneider, a Hintze Research Fellow in the University of Oxford's Department of Physics, understood "We were astonished as we realised with the intention of 30 Doradus has formed many more massive stars than probable.'

Equally part of the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey (VFTS), the team used ESO's Very Large Telescope to observe near a thousand massive stars in 30 Doradus, a oversize stellar nursery furthermore renowned as the Tarantula Nebula. The team used detailed analyses of in this area 250 stars with masses linking 15 and 200 era the bulk of our Sun to determine the distribution of massive stars born in 30 Doradus -- the so-called initiall masss functionn (IMF).

Massive stars are particularly valuable pro astronomers since of their giant influence on their surroundings (known as their feedbackk). They can explode in spectacular supernovae by the of their lives, forming approximately of the generally exotic objects in the Universe which are neutron stars and black holes.

Co-author Hugues Sana from the University of Leuven in Belgium understood, "We be inflicted with not single been surprised by the sheer digit of massive stars, but furthermore with the intention of their IMF is densely sampled up to 200 solar masses." Until recently, the existence of stars up to 200 solar masses was highly in doubt, and the study shows with the intention of a most birth bulk of stars of 200-300 solar masses appears likely.

Inside generally parts of the Universe considered by astronomers to appointment, stars be converted into rarer the more massive they are. The IMF predicts thatt generally stellar bulk is in low-mass stars and with the intention of a reduced amount of than 1 for every cent of all stars are born with masses in surplus of ten era with the intention of of the Sun. Measuring the proportion of massive stars is exceptionally trying -- primarily since of their scarcity -- and here are single a handful of seats in the community universe everywhere this can be made.

The team twisted to 30 Doradus, the biggest community star-forming region, which hosts approximately of the generally massive stars always found, and single-minded the masses of massive stars with unique observational, hypothetical and arithmetic tools. This generous sample allowable the scientists to get the generally accurate high-mass segment of the IMF to appointment, and to trade show with the intention of massive stars are much more abundant than previously planning. Chris Evans from the Science and Technology Facilities Council's UK Astronomy Technology Centre, the principal investigator of VFTS and a co-author of the study, understood "In detail, our results recommend thatt the generally of the stellar bulk is in fact thumbs down longer in low-mass stars, but a noteworthy part is in high-mass stars."

Stars are cosmic engines and be inflicted with produced generally compound elements heavier than helium, from the oxygen we breathe each time to the iron in our blood. During their lives, massive stars yield copious amounts of ionising radiation and kinetic energy through strong stellar winds. The ionising radiation of massive stars was crucial pro the re-brightening of the Universe with the so-called Dark Ages, and their mechanical pointer drives the evolution of galaxies. Philipp Podsiadlowski, a co-author of the study from the University of Oxford, understood "To quantitatively understand all these pointer means, and therefore the role of massive stars in the Universe, we need to know how many of these behemoths are born"

Fabian Schneider added, "Our results be inflicted with far-reaching penalty pro the understanding of our cosmos which here might be 70% of more supernovae, a tripling of the compound yields and towards four era the ionising radiation from massive star popuations. Also, the formation rate of black holes might be increased by 180 for every cent, frankly translating into a corresponding boost of binary black fissure mergers with the intention of be inflicted with recently been detected via their gravitational wave signals"

The team's investigate leaves many commence questions, which they be going to to investigate in the prospect such as how universal are the findings, and could you repeat that? Are the penalty of this pro the evolution of our cosmos and the occurrence of supernovae and gravitational wave actions.

500 BC. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus maintains that permanence is an illusion, and that all things are flowing, in a state of becoming. He also thought that most people sleepwalk through life, not understanding what is going on about them.

450 BC. The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras born in Clazomenae, Lydia (now Turkey), proposes that the Moon shines by reflected sunlight, and is thus able to explain total eclipses of the Sun and Moon. He was imprisoned for claiming that the Sun was a “red-hot stone”, and not a god, and that the Moon reflects the Sun’s light.

Another Greek philosopher Empedocles of Acragas (Agrigentum) in Sicily is one of the earliest to propose that terrestrial objects are made up of four elements or basic principles – fire, air, water, and earth. He viewed these as united or divided by attraction and repulsion, or more poetically, love and strife.

435 BC. Greek philosopher Leucippus of Miletus is the first to propose the atomic theory, in which is composed of very small, invisible particles now called atoms. His pupil Democritus subsequently develops the theory.

420 BC. Greek philosopher Democritus, born in Abdera, Thrace, states that all matter consists of an infinite number of eternal, invisible and indivisible particles, which he called atomon, or atoms, and that the space between the atoms is a vacuum, or void, which gives the atoms a place to move into.

366 BC. The Greek mathematician and astronomer Eudoxus of Cnidus builds an observatory and constructs a model of nested, geocentric, rotating spheres to explain the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets as viewed from Earth, which was at the center of the system. By using a total of twenty-seven concentric spheres he was able to calculate the Sun’s annual motion through the zodiac, the Moon’s motion including its wobble, and the planet’s motions, including the retrograde movements of some of them.

Source is: A Companion to Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chronology and Glossary with Data Tables, Kenneth R Lang, Springer 2006, Singapore.

Who is to be blame, the human appetite or the global corporation for climate change?

Climate change is happening to the Earth

In fact, climate change is happening currently during our daily activity. When you travel with aircraft going abroad or domestic, we actually experience the climate change. We see the planet getting warmer and warmer, and we realize the ice sheets in the northern pole is melting. We also agreed that our utilization of fossil fuels increasing the temperature of the planet. But, still most of us do nothing!

Climate change was firstly experienced in around 70s and 80s and it has been one of the biggest threat ever since. And it will be predicted that if the earth’s temperature constantly rises the climate change will be experienced significantly by the future young generations. This issue currently become global problem which most of people must put their concern on it. As we know that the climate change could alter our planet significantly throughout its effects including flooding, drought, increasing of sea level, and many more.

Who are behind the happening of climate change?
Many environmentalists and scientists have shown us about the increasing level of global temperature and they also provide us with the natural evidence throughout the weather and environmental damage. Both of them agreed that the increasing level of the planet is caused by the presence of greenhouse gasses preventing the heat energy from the Sun. But scientifically speaking, one of the greenhouse gasses, which is the carbon dioxide, is needed for the plants to do photosynthesis. It means, to prevent the warming, we just need to replant the trees. But, that is not the problem!

Methane which is classified as greenhouse gasses has been elevating in the last decades. Statistically speaking, the methane gas has increased significantly from around 1,000 ppb in 1950 to almost 2,000 ppb in 2015 (part per billion). Unlike carbon dioxide, methane gas is very abundant but it is quite difficult to capture and store because its gaseous state in normal conditions either for temperature and pressure. So, why methane?

As previously mentioned early, this relative abundance gas in Earth is natural and lots of microorganisms and organisms have been producing it. Livestock is one of the biggest organisms in the planet that produce the methane gas in high numbers. Due to our demand in eating meat as the source of protein, livestock animals’ numbers are increasing implying to the higher level of methane. So, basically, it is merely on our appetite to consume lots, lots of meat.

But, methane as natural gas is also abundant in the planet, and this gas is utilized for electricity. Many nations throughout their petroleum companies and industries have been exploiting this gas for certain uses. Economically speaking, this gas is gold for certain nations. As a result, exploration and mining are occurred around the world causing the methane gas which is trapped inside the surface leaks to the atmosphere. This adds and makes the quantities of the methane in the atmosphere elevating. And, oil and gas companies around the world realize this issue.

It is still debatable!
Whether the global corporation in exploring the earth or the high rates of meat consumption affects the planet by increasing the temperature. But, the seven billion people in the world is in dilemma because we do not know either to choose short-term or long-term solution. Apparently, in stopping the global corporation will solve the problem in short-term as people will not use the gas in significant numbers. However, this solution will not be accepted easily by societies particularly who live in developed countries because most of them lies on the electricity.

Unlike developed countries, people in developing or underdeveloped countries will not easily give up their life only for saving the planet. Psychologically speaking, they think firstly for emerging their family from poverty not some sort of action particularly stopping eating meat which in the future affects the health of their family. So, generally, to solve the climate crisis is far more complicated than we think.

To be concluded, instead of arguing which one is the reason of causing the climate change, it is better for us as human being to be actively reduce the activity which can affect the environment such as planting the trees. And at the same time, the government addresses the climate crisis by providing renewable energy such as solar and wind energy.

Historical events dated from 1217 BC to 530 BC

1217 BC. Chinese astronomers make the first recording of an eclipse of the Sun

763 BC. Assyrian archivists record and eclipse of the Sun on 15 June 763 BC

747 BC. A continuous record of solar eclipses is begun in Mesopotamia

585 BC. Greek philosopher, Thales of Miletus correctly predicts the eclipse of the Sun on 28 May

585 BC. He also proposes that water is the material constituent of all things

530 BC. Greek mathematician and philosopher, Pythagoras, born on the island of Samos, proposes the notion of spherical Earth. He also supposed that concentric transparent, crystalline spheres carry the Sun, Moon, planets and stars in perfect circles, rotating at constant speed around the centrally placed, unmoving Earth. As quoted by Aristotle in his Metaphysics, Pythagoras said, “there is music in the spacing of the spheres.”

Source is: A Companion to Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chronology and Glossary with Data Tables, Kenneth R Lang, Springer 2006, Singapore.

Historical Events of Astronomy and Astrophysics from 2800 BC to 1300 BC

2800 BC. The Stonehenge is constructed in England and some experts and archeologists believe that this ancient building was built to be an astronomical observatory. The Stonehenge itself has religious functions; the motions of the Sun and Moon can be followed with the aid of carefully aligned rocks or stones.

2700 BC. A lunar calendar is developed in Mesopotamia in which new months begin at each new moon and the year is 354 days long.

2296 BC. The Chinese people made the earliest recorded sighting of comet.

1500 BC. The Rig-Veda, which is the oldest sacred texts of Hindu, includes the idea that the Earth is a globe or sphere. In the same millennium, the subsequent Yajur-Veda mentions about the earth circles the Sun.

1361 BC. Chinse astronomers collected and recorded the eclipse of the moon for the first time.

1300 BC. One of the Chinese dynasty, the Shang dynasty, established the solar year equivalent to 365.25 days, introducing a calendar with 12 months which comprises 30 days for each month.

Source is: A Companion to Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chronology and Glossary with Data Tables, Kenneth R Lang, Springer 2006, Singapore.

The definition and understanding of Aberration

The definition and understanding of Aberration is a tilting of the apparent position of a star in the direction of the motion of the observer. The size of the effect depends on the velocity of the Earth, the velocity of the light, and the angle between the direction of observation and the direction of motion, with a maximum value of 20.47 seconds of arc.

The English astronomer James Bradley who lived between 1693 to 1762 discovered stellar aberration in 1728, proving that the Earth is not fixed in space, but moves through it, while also showing that light travels at a finite velocity, which he estimated as 308,300 kilometers per second using his observed value of aberration.

Source is: A Companion to Astronomy and Astrophysics, Chronology and Glossary with Data Tables, Kenneth R Lang, Springer 2006, Singapore.

What are Elon Musk has been building?

Elon at TED

When hearing the name of Elon Musk, most people, particularly the young technopreneurs or scientists will be amazed by his name. Truth to be told, today’s young generation in the world probably wants to be like Musk. But, what is exactly everything that relates to him?

If you are familiar to the name of Tesla Motor Company, then you must be already knowing who is Elon Musk. But, for you who are not familiar with him, then may be you currently are familiar with the company of SpaceX or SolarCity, and in the last two years he has been establishing the scientific based companies named the Boring Company and Neuralink.

Musk is considered as one of the top influencer in the world as his proposals in science applied has been opened the mind-set of world’s societies about the implementation of science and engineering in solving the social problems. For instance, the Boring Company which was founded nine months ago is a company which provides tunneling construction. Throughout this company, Musk thinks that today’s transportation is not efficient and effective because they generate greenhouse gas when having traffic congestion. Therefore, he proposed not only short-term solution but also long-term solution.

Until now, throughout his company, Elon Musk has been provided solution for global society in the field of transportation, energy and environment sustainability.

Bringing people to Mars
One of the most promising works that Musk has been working today is the SpaceX project which has cooperation with several public domain organizations such as NASA and ISS in experimenting the space travel from Earth to Mars. The Space X which stands for space eXploration is an aerospace manufacture and space transport. In 2001, Elon Musk proposed his idea about Mars Oasis which is to colonialize Mars by reconstructing the environment throughout growing plants.

To achieve its goal, the SpaceX has been experimenting several rocket launch since September 2008. But, the most incredible thing is the solution of controllable landing rocket. The success mission was Falcon 9 on April 2016 and until now they have been developing significance changing in term of space transportation.

So, what are others thing that Elon Musk has been constructing? They are: SolarCity an OpenAI.

The history of binary stars

Ilustration of binary stars

Binary stars are gravitationally bound stars, formed in chorus or by capture, with the aim of orbit a nothing special base of mountain and evolve by the side of the same point in time. These stars are formed with akin opening conditions, although often quite special masses. Visual binaries are both amply separated in legroom and amply close with the aim of their gaunt suggestion can be openly pragmatic.

At the close of the eighteenth century, William Herschel argued with the aim of the frequency of close visual pairs was bigger in a few area of the sky than would be likely by hazard. On this basis, it was suggested with the aim of binary stars ought to exist. Prior to the discovery of Neptune, this was the nearly everyone dramatic to be had demonstration of the universality of Newton's theory of gravitation. Herschel, Boole, and others prolonged this study to the demonstration with the aim of clustering is a broad-spectrum phenomenon of gravitational systems.

The discovery of the shake in the proper suggestion of Sirius led Bessel, in the 1840s, to argue meant for the presence of a low-mass, at that moment unseen companion; it was revealed in the region of twenty years presently by Clarke. Observations conducted routinely in the region of visual of binary star orbits were being made by the put a stop to of the century. For very low mountain stars, the method is still utilized in the observation meant for planets through proper suggestion perturbations, although velocity variations cover at this point supplanted this search strategy.

Most hypothetical succeed on binary stars is the artifact of the forgotten seventy years. Methods meant for the analysis of eclipses, based on light curve decent by spheroids, were residential by Russell and Merrill in the earliest two decades of this century. Atmospheric eclipses were earliest discussed by Kopal in the 1930s. The study of mountain turn over in binary structure was initiated largely by Struve in the mid-1930s, and the applications of orbital dynamics to the study of mountain turn over began in the 1940s.

Much fresh succeed on binary star evolution and hydrodynamics has been spurred by the study of binary X-ray sources. Following the discovery of binary meant for several classical novae’s, by Walker in 1950s, the connection involving low-mass X-ray binaries and cataclysmic has been central to the study of evolution of stars undergoing mountain chat.

Reference
[1] Image is downloaded from https://www.universetoday.com

America’s total solar eclipse 2017: What can we learn from this astronomical phenomenon?

Sun's corona will be observed in total solar eclipse which will be happened on 21 August 2017

It has been happening for years that solar eclipse influences the human’s civilizations. Ancient civilizations have taught us about this periodical events and some of them tell scary stories. Solar eclipse which is just like comet were providing different perspectives to the ancient civilizations and many of them sounded like catastrophic event. Is that true?

In this year on 21 August 2017, the Americas will be witnessing the most incredible astronomical phenomenon called total solar eclipse. The solar eclipse is happened when the moon is standing between the Earth and the Sun. This positions of space objects create barrier to prevent solar radiation arriving to the Earth so there will be certain places that will be covered by the moon generating dark situation in daylight.

However, this natural phenomenon is not only some sort of tourism site that many people could witness it but also the source of astronomical data to learn many things. In traditional civilizations, there were many theories explaining the solar eclipse. In the northern part of the European, the Viking explained that solar eclipse was the eating process of sky wolf, while in Vietnam, traditional story tells the frog wants to eat the moon or the sun. On the other hand, the ancient Egyptians showed the Sun which was considered as their god "Ra" will be consumed by the whale. However, these could explain how the ancient people predict the process implying in planning of the agricultural activities.

The astronomical event of solar eclipse actually can provide lots of understanding about the Sun. Wait, how can darker condition give us information related to the activity of the Sun. The answer actually lies on the darker condition itself.

During the eclipses in particular the total eclipse, the solar radiation that comes to the impacted area will be in low intensity providing the best way in observing the Sun. In the meantime, the sky which will be in darker condition so we could observe the Sun’s corona. This observation could lead us to the measurement of distance of solar radiation and what types of electromagnetic wave could be arrived on Earth.

Despite of the astronomical topics, the presence of solar eclipse will decrease the temperature and pressure conditions above 26 thousand meters from the ground. This condition is similar to Mars’s surface which will give us hints about the system, for example, what would be happening for airborne chemical compounds, or what would happen to the living things such animals on the air or the ground.

To conclude, solar eclipses actually provide lots of information to be analyzed. The understanding of the Sun will be deeper than before while the changing temperature and pressure will give us similar condition of Mars’s surface. But more importantly, do not forget to use safety googles when witnessing the total solar eclipse.

Reference

[1] Image is downloaded from www.sciencenews.org

Harvesting Energies on Titan: We can live there

Titan's natural resources could be utilized as energy resources for future human

As the search for the next habitable planet is growing, the parameters of living is not merely the water availability. On the other hand, the Mars which was recently considered as hazard environment so the possibility of living is low will be excluded even though there is scientific evidence about water availability. Therefore, the parameters of living in alienated environment must be followed to support the life existence there including the air and energy resources. So, what do we have on Titan?

The decision of choosing Titan as the replacement for Mars was quite intriguing since Titan is not the same like Mars in term of planet. Titan is one of the moon which rotates the Saturn. Titan has liquid bodies which are similar those on Earth regarding of the surface, for instance, they have tectonic, pluvial and fluvial characteristics [1]. More importantly, the environment of new planet must be suitable for the human particularly in the air and ground.

Titan has unique composition of air and soil and it differs to Mars which has hazard soil and air. However, the future human must be able to harvest energy from the natural-new-planet resources to support their life. In this topic, the in situ energy resources are crucial. Interestingly, according to Amanda R Hendrix and Yuk L Yung, titan has many resources which can be utilized for harvesting energy [2].

Firstly, the nuclear material resources. Titan has nuclear power sources which can support future human for creating energy. Most of the radioactive material can be mined from silicate rocks because it (the Pu 238) decays with 88 years of half-life in form of silicate rocks [3]. It means also almost a half of the Titan’s mass is comprised by the silicates. In the meantime, the atmosphere of Titan also consists of radiogenic argon, but one thing is interesting about the atmosphere. The Huygens GCMS [4], The Cassini Orbiter Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer [5] has observed and analyzed the atmosphere so that they found the decay product of Kalium-40 is presented in the inner atmosphere.

The next energy is Solar energy resources. Although the distance of the Sun to Titan is very far, the possibility of harvesting energy from solar radiation is also possible. According to the referenced paper, the solar radiation on the Titan’s atmosphere is depended on the red and near infrared waves because they are one of the highest wavelength. Therefore, the best photovoltaic material is either amorphous silicon or cadmium telluride (DcTe) which can generate efficiency up to 20 per cent of range [2].

Thirdly, the Chemical energy resources. This is the most fascinating aspect of Titan because lots of chemical compounds which can be utilized for future human. For instance, is the presence of methane (CH4) in Titan, and it can be used as raw material either for energy or creating the oxygen by using the solar energy system. Over 90 per cent of Titan’s atmosphere is Nitrogen whereas hydrocarbon gasses in form of alkaline such as ethane, diacetylene, methylacetylene, acetylene, propane and cyanoacetylene also exist there. Interestingly, the carbon dioxide and monoxide also occur which are very beneficial for us in growing plant [2].

Because the energy is important, then there are several options in generating energy via these chemical compounds. The best method for harvesting energy from these chemical compound is performing the exothermic reaction with combustion.

Finally, as Titan has abundant quantity of lakes and seas of liquid methane and ethane, Hydropower energy resources is the next answer. To compare with Earth, Titan’s liquid natural resources has more flow rate than the Earth, but the problem is due to natural drop occurs and liquid flows downhill. It is because the gravity of Titan is much lower than the Earth. Therefore, constructing the dams to produce enough kinetic energy which is obtained from the flow rate of the liquid methane and ethane [2].

So, how about the wind and geothermal energies? Well, we will discuss it in the next article. Do not miss it!

References
[1] O. Aharonson, A. G. Hayes, P. O. Hayne, R. M. Lopes, A. Lucas and J. T. Perron, "Titan's surface geology," in Titan: interior, surface, atmosphere and space environment, New York, Cambridge planetary science series, 2014, pp. 63-101.
[2] A. R. Hendrix and Y. L. Yung, "Energy options for future humans on Titan," Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach, vol. 5, no. 157, pp. 1-4, 2017.
[3] G. Tobie, D. Gautler and F. Hersant, "Titan' bulk composition constrained by Cassini-Huygens: Implication for internal outassing," Astrophysics Journal, no. 752, pp. 125-135, 2012.
[4] H. B. Niemann, S. K. Atreya, S. J. Bauer, G. R. Carignan and J. E. Demick, "The abundances of constituents of Titan's atmosphere from the GCMS instrument on the Huygens probe," Nature, no. 438, pp. 779-784, 2005.
[5] J. H. Waite, "Ion neutral mass spectrometer results from the first flyby of titan," Science, no. 308, pp. 982-986, 2005.
[6] Image of Titan is downloaded from https://sos.noaa.gov/