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[Hilti92]

Saw on the news that there will be a "Super Moon" on Saturday night, anyone hear of this coming up? Surprised to see nothing posted here.

 

[The Librarian]

Black Hole Devours Star -- 139 Days of Stellar Devastation

(model based on actual data from a real event)

That was kickass.

 

[Escape Goat]

Hundreds of pictures of Earth, each taken at about 6AM , showing the terminator - the day/night line - over the course of one year (2010sep-2011sep).

Taken by METEOSAT-9 Earth-observing satellite.

 

[Dice]

Hey guys, I found this depressing website. Check it out.

 

[Air]

That blackhole model video was great.

 

[endre]

More about the black hole's epic meal time.

 

[cnizzle06]

Is a black hole still considered a phenomenon or do we fully comprehend their behavior now?

 

[ThaneKrios]

ESA proposes trip to Jupiter's icy moons for next large scale mission

The European Space Agency has selected a satellite study of Jupiter's icy moons for its next large scale launch. It will put the billion euro mission before the Science Programme Committee for approval, in May.

The mission is called Juice (a tortured acronym for JUpiter ICy moon Explorer), and would see a probe launch towards the Jovian system in 2022.

Once there, a satellite would make close flybys past the ocean-bearing moons of Callisto and Europa, before orbiting around the largest moon in the Solar System: Ganymede. The ESA plans to closely study the environments of those worlds, and assess whether the moons could host life.

The spacecraft itself would be powered by solar panels, and would pack cameras, spectrometers, a sub-milimetre wave instrument, a laser altimeter, an ice-penetrating radar, a magnetometer, a particle package, a radio and plasma wave instruments.

All told, the mission would cost the ESA some €830 million (£680 million), and European member states would need to find a further €241 million (£200m).

Juice was part of the ESA's Cosmic Vision roadmap, which invited the science community to come up with ideas for future missions. In 2007, the agency issued a formal "Call for Missions", and asked for concepts involving astrophysics, fundamental physics and exploration of the solar system.

In the large scale launch slot, the agency ended up with three good candidates. There was Juice, NGO -- a gravitational wave observatory -- and Athena -- an international X-ray observatory to be built in cooperation with Nasa and the Japanese space agency JAXA.

Juice was chosen for its feasibility, cost and proposed schedule. The ESA recommended that the "strong candidates" Athena and NGO should enter the next large scale mission opportunity.

The 19 European member states in the Science Programme Committee will hear the ESA's argument and decide if Juice is the best mission, when they gather together on 2 May.

 

[Zophar]

Is a black hole still considered a phenomenon or do we fully comprehend their behavior now?

Uh what? All phenomenon means is that it's a thing that happens that we can observe.

 

[cnizzle06]

Uh what? All phenomenon means is that it's a thing that happens that we can observe.

Sorry, Inexplicable^ phenomenon.

 

[endre]

I'd say you have to be more specific with your question.

A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape.[1] The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that marks the point of no return. It is called "black" because it absorbs all the light that hits the horizon, reflecting nothing, just like a perfect black body in thermodynamics.[2][3] Quantum mechanics predicts that black holes emit radiation like a black body with a finite temperature. This temperature is inversely proportional to the mass of the black hole, making it difficult to observe this radiation for black holes of stellar mass or greater.

Objects whose gravity field is too strong for light to escape were first considered in the 18th century by John Michell and Pierre-Simon Laplace. The first modern solution of general relativity that would characterize a black hole was found by Karl Schwarzschild in 1916, although its interpretation as a region of space from which nothing can escape was not fully appreciated for another four decades. Long considered a mathematical curiosity, it was during the 1960s that theoretical work showed black holes were a generic prediction of general relativity. The discovery of neutron stars sparked interest in gravitationally collapsed compact objects as a possible astrophysical reality.

Black holes of stellar mass are expected to form when very massive stars collapse at the end of their life cycle. After a black hole has formed it can continue to grow by absorbing mass from its surroundings. By absorbing other stars and merging with other black holes, supermassive black holes of millions of solar masses may form. There is general consensus that supermassive black holes exist in the centers of most galaxies. In particular, there is strong evidence of a black hole of more than 4 million solar masses at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Despite its invisible interior, the presence of a black hole can be inferred through its interaction with other matter and with light and other electromagnetic radiation. From stellar movement, the mass and location of an invisible companion object can be calculated; in a number of cases the only known object capable of meeting these criteria is a black hole. Astronomers have identified numerous stellar black hole candidates in binary systems by studying the movement of their companion stars in this way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole

also check these:
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/index.html
http://io9.com/5717082/the-forgotten-genius-who-discovered-black-holes-over-200-years-ago
http://io9.com/black-holes/

 

[Escape Goat]

So weird knowing this is an actual photograph of a moon with a huge freaking planet behind it. (Cassini about to take last few pics of Dione and Enceladus, at least for the near future)

 

[Insane Metal]

Damn Hamburglar, what an amazing photo. Thanks for posting.

 

[dubc35]

[ninja edit] Amazing!

 

[Escape Goat]

Amazing regardless but did you take the photo?

Yes.

 

[dubc35]

Sorry I didn't realize how stupid a question it was originally. Google'd and yeah....still awesome though.

 

[Tesseract]

So weird knowing this is an actual photograph of a moon with a huge freaking planet behind it. (Cassini about to take last few pics of Dione and Enceladus, at least for the near future)

amazing. i feel so humbled.

 

[Hootie]

Yes.

 

[Escape Goat]

Heres one of Dione's surface. Its about 8.5km away from the surface so a little more than half the cruising altitude of a commercial airliner.

 

[Dice]

It looks... bubbly?

 

[Phuturephunk]

More about the black hole's epic meal time.

I would give anything to witness something like that at a close yet safe distance. Anything.

Hell, I'd be happy just to see the gravitational lensing effect from a black hole up close, like actually be able to make out the event horizon. Could you imagine how it'd look to see the actual fabric of spacetime bent around an object? It'd be akin to nothing else in the universe one could see.

 

[Dice]

I would give anything to witness something like that at a close yet safe distance. Anything.

You would give your penis?

 

[Log4Girlz]

So weird knowing this is an actual photograph of a moon with a huge freaking planet behind it. (Cassini about to take last few pics of Dione and Enceladus, at least for the near future)

Reminds me of this cool photo

 

[orientalNoodle]

Reminds me of this cool photo

Wow, is that Titan?

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Reminds me of this cool photo

That's no moon

 

[Log4Girlz]

Wow, is that Titan?

Yes, it is...so beautiful...here's another.

That's no moon

lolol

 

[DarkJediKnight]

[/QUOTE]
Nipple. Can't unsee it.

 

[DEAD RABBIT]

ESA proposes trip to Jupiter's icy moons for next large scale mission

This is very bad for the X-ray astronomers... and for the high-energy physicists. They depend on space-based observatories (X-rays are absorbed by the atmosphere). All work done in string theory and all the other next generation of fundamental theories (quantum gravity theories) depend exclusively on what we know of extreme physical environments (high energy density, high gravity). This happens near stars, supernovas and normal/super black holes. That is pretty much all X-ray emission and above.

This decision is probably more motivated by public interest of finding life on other planets than anything else. Of course, this is a hot issue in general. Do we research what is interesting to scientists (those who know best) or the public (those who pay for it)? Then again, the space budgets pale in comparison to the defense budgets. It's not like the general populus knows what they're paying for except for the promise of more security.

I did some work on ATHENA (or IXO before it was renamed), so I have some familiarity with the mission. Not an astrophysicist though.

 

[nubbe]

Reminds me of this cool photo

ffffuuuuu

The Death Star has reached SOL system

 

[Phuturephunk]

You would give your penis?

Hmmm...I do think you got me there.

 

[Insane Metal]

Saw this gallery at New Scientist, decided to post it all here, hope you guys like.


Ghostly glows mark violent deaths of stars

G1.9+0.3: The youngest known supernova remnant in the galaxy

G1.9+0.3 was created by the explosion of a star about 25,000 light years away. In theory, we could have seen it 140 years ago, but it occurred near the centre of the galaxy, where gas and dust blocked much of its light. The debris has expanded over time, as seen in a radio image taken about 20 years ago (blue) and an X-ray image taken in 2007 (orange).

(X-ray image: NASA/CXC/NCSU/S Reynolds et al.; radio image: NSF/NRAO/VLA/Cambridge/D. Green et al.)

Cassiopeia A: The previous record holder

Until the discovery of G1.9+0.3, Cassiopeia A was the youngest known supernova to occur in the Milky Way. By "rewinding" its current expansion, astronomers calculated that light from the blast probably reached Earth in 1667. The supernova was not noticed, suggesting that it was faint, possibly because its light was blocked by interstellar dust.

(Image: NASA/CXC/MIT/UMass Amherst/M. D. Stage et al.)

Kepler's star: SN 1604

Johannes Kepler studied a supernova in 1604 that was brighter than any other star in the night sky. It was the last supernova in our galaxy’s disc to have been visible to the naked eye.

(Image: NASA/ESA/R. Sankrit/W. Blair/JHU)

Tycho's nova: SN 1572

Tycho Brahe launched his career in 1572 with an account of a dazzling stellar explosion as bright as the planet Venus. The blue arcs seen on the outer rim of Tycho's supernova remnant occur where a shock wave from the blast slams into surrounding gas, heating it to 20 million °C.

(Image: NASA/CXC/SAO)

Crab nebula: NGC 1952

The Crab nebula was created by a supernova in our galaxy that was observed by Chinese astronomers in 1054. A rapidly rotating neutron star, or pulsar, lies at the nebula’s centre.

(Image: NASA/CXC/HST/J. Hester et al.)

SN 1006

In 1006, sky watchers noted a "new star" that became brighter than Venus. That supernova is thought to have been created when a white dwarf star about 7000 light years from Earth exploded after devouring too much matter from a nearby companion.

(Image: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/J. Hughes et al.)

RCW 86

RCW 86 is thought to be the remnant of a supernova blast that Chinese astronomers observed in AD 185. RCW 86 lies about 8200 light years away, near the plane of the Milky Way.

(Image: NASA/CXC/University of Utrecht/J. Vink et al./XMM Newton/ESA)

IC 443: Jellyfish nebula

This remnant was created by the death of a star about 5000 light years from Earth. The neutron star left over after the blast lies near the bottom of this image. Curiously, it is moving sideways relative to the centre of the remnant, rather than radially outwards.

(Image: NASA/CXC/B. Gaensler et al./ROSAT/Asaoka & Aschenbach/NRC/DRAO/D. Leahy/NRAO/VLA/DSS)

SN 1987a

This supernova detonated in a nearby galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, and was first spotted more than 20 years ago. Since then bright spots, like pearls in a necklace, have appeared and grown in number. They lie along a ring of material shed by the star about 20,000 years before it exploded, and formed when a shock wave from the supernova rammed into the ring, heating it up. The origin of a pair of faint red rings above and below the former star is a mystery.

Neutrinos released by the blast have been detected by the Kamiokande II experiment in Japan and the Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detector under Lake Erie in Ohio.

(Image: NASA/ESA/P. Challis/R. Kirshner/CfA)

Vela

The Vela remnant lies at the centre of this image mosaic, which is about as wide as 32 full moons placed side by side. The supernova left behind a rotating neutron star, the Vela pulsar, 800 light years away in the plane of the Milky Way. Light from the supernova reached Earth about 11,000 years ago.

(Image: Robert Gendler)

The Veil nebula: Cygnus loop

The Veil nebula, or Cygnus loop remnant, was left by a supernova that detonated between 5000 and 10,000 years ago.

(Image: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage/STScI/AURA/Hubble Collaboration)

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Saw this gallery at New Scientist, decided to post it all here, hope you guys like.

For some reason I really like this image......

 

[Kyaw]

My god. They are beautiful.

I want to see a supernova in action.

 

[fallout]

Remember, those images are mostly in wavelengths that your eyes can't see. For instance, those supernova remnants are primarily shown in X-Ray.

 

[BruiserBear]

For some reason I really like this image......

It looks like a microscopic picture of a virus.

 

[Haly]

It'll be disappointing once humanity finally ventures into space and realizes that all these phenomena aren't spectacularly colored, and are possibly flat and uninteresting.

These radio wave shots are totally misleading.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

It'll be disappointing once humanity finally ventures into space and realizes that all these phenomena aren't spectacularly colored, and are possibly flat and uninteresting.

These radio wave shots are totally misleading.

Perhaps by this time man will have evolved to see in Xray and other wave lenghts. It's an interesting thought. People often forget that color vision is a relatively new faculty for man, and it is still so little of the spectrum.

 

[Tawpgun]

Legit question

If I flew out in space with a clear visor.

Would I actually see those colors from super novas, gas clouds, and nebulas?

There's so much color editing in space photographs I'm not sure what actually looks like what. Hell just last year I learned the sun is white.

Are there any actual visible spectrum images of this stuff?

 

[CFMOORE!]

It'll be disappointing once humanity finally ventures into space and realizes that all these phenomena aren't spectacularly colored, and are possibly flat and uninteresting.

These radio wave shots are totally misleading.

this fact generally depresses me. but, i'd like to think some stuff out there does look as some of these images lead us to believe they could. in that case, i would certainly give anything to witness these.

 

[fallout]

If I flew out in space with a clear visor.

Would I actually see those colors from super novas, gas clouds, and nebulas?

There's so much color editing in space photographs I'm not sure what actually looks like what. Hell just last year I learned the sun is white.

You would not see those kinds of colours, no. This gives an example:

http://www.buytelescopes.com/Topic/26-astronomy-101-part-1-what-you-can-see.aspx

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Legit question

If I flew out in space with a clear visor.

Would I actually see those colors from super novas, gas clouds, and nebulas?

There's so much color editing in space photographs I'm not sure what actually looks like what. Hell just last year I learned the sun is white.

Are there any actual visible spectrum images of this stuff?

You would still see some color. For example, when I look at the Orion Nebula with my telescope I pretty much see this:

Edit: I mostly see the blue coloring in my telescope, not such pronounced violet as here.

 

[Insane Metal]

As stated before, at the naked eye most things would look "uninteresting". I read somewhere that most galaxies and nebulae have a violet-ish color.

 

[Escape Goat]

Space egg. Just need some space sperm.

 

[fallout]

As stated before, at the naked eye most things would look "uninteresting". I read somewhere that most galaxies and nebulae have a violet-ish color.

Speaking as someone who has spent many, many hours looking at "faint fuzzies" through a telescope, I wouldn't call them "uninteresting" (although, I think I get the purpose of your quotes). The awe comes from the fact that what you're looking at might have taken hundreds of millions of year to reach you. In that tiny little eyepiece, you can see millions of stars, many of which are or were potentially supporting civilizations both great and small.

 

[RyanardoDaVinci]

Remember, those images are mostly in wavelengths that your eyes can't see. For instance, those supernova remnants are primarily shown in X-Ray.

Can't wait until we can get cybernetic eyes, then we can switch through all spectrums; X-Ray, infrared, ultra-violet, etc.

 

[Insane Metal]

Speaking as someone who has spent many, many hours looking at "faint fuzzies" through a telescope, I wouldn't call them "uninteresting" (although, I think I get the purpose of your quotes). The awe comes from the fact that what you're looking at might have taken hundreds of millions of year to reach you. In that tiny little eyepiece, you can see millions of stars, many of which are or were potentially supporting civilizations both great and small.

Yes.

The "uninteresting" was just intended to mean that you can't see all those colors, etc.

 

[Dice]

http://www.newscientist.com/data/galleries/novaremnants/0055250588b.jpg

Space egg. Just need some space sperm.

But that's how Galactus happens!

 

[endre]

Engineer Thinks We Could Build a Real Starship Enterprise in 20 Years


Interesting, although I think its not really an efficient design. The guys website tends to be down atm.

I cannot find any proposed solution regarding food and air. But I have only now stumbled upon this.

http://io9.com/5909774/engineer-thinks-we-could-build-a-real-starship-enterprise-in-20-years
http://www.universetoday.com/95099/...build-a-real-starship-enterprise-in-20-years/

 

[Gr1mLock]

Engineer Thinks We Could Build a Real Starship Enterprise in 20 Years


Interesting, although I think its not really an efficient design. The guys website tends to be down atm.

I cannot find any proposed solution regarding food and air. But I have only now stumbled upon this.

http://io9.com/5909774/engineer-thinks-we-could-build-a-real-starship-enterprise-in-20-years
http://www.universetoday.com/95099/...build-a-real-starship-enterprise-in-20-years/

This would be so awesome for so many reasons.

 

[Kyaw]

How would the 'gravity wheel' even work?