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Astronomical News

Ancient stars shed light on Earth's similarities to other planets

New method used to study planets' geochemistry implies that Earth is not unique

Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: October 17, 2019

Earth-like planets may be common in the universe, a new study implies. The team of astrophysicists and geochemists presents new evidence that the Earth is not unique.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191017141052.htm
 
Putting the 'bang' in the Big Bang

Physicists simulate critical 'reheating' period that kickstarted the Big Bang in the universe's first fractions of a second

Date: October 25, 2019
Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Physicists have simulated in detail an intermediary phase of the early universe that may have bridged cosmic inflation with the Big Bang. This phase, known as 'reheating,' occurred at the end of cosmic inflation and involved processes that wrestled inflation's cold, uniform matter into the ultrahot, complex soup that was in place at the start of the Big Bang.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191025130414.htm
 
ESO telescope reveals what could be the smallest dwarf planet yet in the solar system

Date: October 28, 2019
Source: ESO (European Southern Observatory)

Astronomers using ESO's SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed that the asteroid Hygiea could be classified as a dwarf planet. The object is the fourth largest in the asteroid belt after Ceres, Vesta and Pallas. For the first time, astronomers have observed Hygiea in sufficiently high resolution to study its surface and determine its shape and size. They found that Hygiea is spherical, potentially taking the crown from Ceres as the smallest dwarf planet in the solar system.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191028164353.htm
 
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE COULD BE FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG, ASTRONOMERS SAY

Source: Independent Newspaper
Date: 4 November, 2019

The cosmos could be a different 'shape' than we thought, new data suggests.

Newly released data from the Planck Telescope, which aimed to take very precise readings of the shape, size and ancient history of our universe, suggests that there could be something wrong in our physics, according to a new paper.

https://www-independent-co-uk.cdn.a...shape-expanding-planck-constant-a9184711.html
 
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE COULD BE FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG, ASTRONOMERS SAY

Source: Independent Newspaper
Date: 4 November, 2019

The cosmos could be a different 'shape' than we thought, new data suggests.

Newly released data from the Planck Telescope, which aimed to take very precise readings of the shape, size and ancient history of our universe, suggests that there could be something wrong in our physics, according to a new paper.

https://www-independent-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/universe-shape-expanding-planck-constant-a9184711.html?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&amp&usqp=mq331AQCKAE=#referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/universe-shape-expanding-planck-constant-a9184711.html

.. suggests that there could be something wrong in our physics,..

Hah!, 'been saying that for years.
 
That title is 'exciting' hype.


Yep. It's coming to get you.

Pronunciation/ænˈdrɒmɪdə/ConstellationAndromedaRight ascension 00h 42m 44.3s[1]Declination +41° 16′ 9″[1]Redshift z = −0.001001
(minus sign
indicates blueshift)[1]Helio radial velocity −301 ± 1 km/s[2]Distance 2.54 ± 0.11 Mly
(778 ± 33 kpc)[2][3][4][5][6][a][original research?]Apparent magnitude (V) 3.44[7][8]Absolute magnitude (V) −21.5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy#cite_note-blue_mag-10[4]

Blue shift is a polite way of saying it isn't moving away from everything else, as all galaxies are supposed to be doing, but it is heading for us.

But don't cancel the newspapers just yet.
 
OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE COULD BE FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG, ASTRONOMERS SAY ...

There have been multiple such published papers in the last year or so - all of which suggest the longstanding mathematical models we've been using need to be updated or revised. Most of these papers seem to end up challenging the viability of the Planck and / or Hubble constants (as those have been defined to date).
 
That title is 'exciting' hype.

... And it represents a flipping of (forced?) perspective to attract attention. Over 50 years ago I read in several astronomy books that our Milky Way was hurtling toward the Andromeda Galaxy. This recent wave of articles reversed the implied movement to give the impression the Andromeda Galaxy is hurtling toward our Milky Way.

Of course, motion is relative and both are misleading descriptions. The two galaxies are simply closing on each other.
 
Most of these papers seem to end up challenging the viability of the Planck and / or Hubble constants (as those have been defined to date).
Where do you think that leaves us then?

Not an earthly (sic) understanding here.

Your comments re this topic, tend to be experienced and thought provoking.

If you were to summarise your conclusions - 'life, the universe, et al' - what would they be?
 
Where do you think that leaves us then? ...

It leaves the astrophysicists and cosmologists where they've been all along - in need of updating their models, equations, etc., in light of apparently solid observational data.

Over the last several years a number of satellite sensor / telescope platforms and increasingly powerful terrestrial telescope arrays have come online. These additional "eyes" allow us to "see" farther and with greater discrimination than was previously possible.

The emerging result is a deluge of new data that doesn't readily fit into the more speculative aspects of extant models or theories. These aspects tend to be speculations about the biggest, most all-encompassing, issues - e.g., the shape of the universe, its age, etc.

Astronomy and cosmology are arguably the most speculative of the physical sciences, because they must interpret and make sense of observations of things we cannot directly access. Extant models or hypotheses concerning these "biggest questions" (age, shape, etc.) are speculations based on a series or stack of other such speculations.

The immediate concern in reconciling new data with extant and / or possible theoretical models is figuring out whether the observational data is subject to previously unsuspected variations (distortions; whatever) or the overall mass of observational evidence in hand is sound enough to clearly mandate tweaking or overturning the current models (etc.).

In other words, it's exactly what one wishes to see happen in a healthy adaptive approach to scientific inquiry.
 
It leaves the astrophysicists and cosmologists where they've been all along - in need of updating their models, equations, etc., in light of apparently solid observational data.

Over the last several years a number of satellite sensor / telescope platforms and increasingly powerful terrestrial telescope arrays have come online. These additional "eyes" allow us to "see" farther and with greater discrimination than was previously possible.

The emerging result is a deluge of new data that doesn't readily fit into the more speculative aspects of extant models or theories. These aspects tend to be speculations about the biggest, most all-encompassing, issues - e.g., the shape of the universe, its age, etc.

Astronomy and cosmology are arguably the most speculative of the physical sciences, because they must interpret and make sense of observations of things we cannot directly access. Extant models or hypotheses concerning these "biggest questions" (age, shape, etc.) are speculations based on a series or stack of other such speculations.

The immediate concern in reconciling new data with extant and / or possible theoretical models is figuring out whether the observational data is subject to previously unsuspected variations (distortions; whatever) or the overall mass of observational evidence in hand is sound enough to clearly mandate tweaking or overturning the current models (etc.).

In other words, it's exactly what one wishes to see happen in a healthy adaptive approach to scientific inquiry.
Fairly certain, others will also appreciate the time you have taken here.

So, how do your conclusions sit with... say, my own?

Have mentioned elsewhere on the forum, my late dad's response, when, about 12-14 years old, I was lamenting how it seemed impossible to reconcile the, 'big bang', where a, 'God' fitted in to all of this, etc.

'The more you know son, the more you realise you don't know'.

Given that I have come across no evidence to the contrary, that will be my stance! For now...

Contemplating your thoughts and...

:btime:

:btime:





:btime:
 
..it's exactly what one wishes to see happen in a healthy adaptive approach to scientific inquiry.
That was an accomplished precis, which, personally, I have no disagreement with whatsoever.

Bookmarked for this evening, is a YouTube documentary, 'What Happens at the Edge of the Universe'.

Why watch this, when you already know it will make no sense!?
 
... So, how do your conclusions sit with... say, my own?
Have mentioned elsewhere on the forum, my late dad's response, when, about 12-14 years old, I was lamenting how it seemed impossible to reconcile the, 'big bang', where a, 'God' fitted in to all of this, etc.
'The more you know son, the more you realise you don't know'. ...

Consider the precedents ... At every step in human history there have been individuals and entire societies / civilizations who believed (or at least proceeded on the assumption that ... ) they "knew it all, once and for all."

On balance, I think the record clearly demonstrates they didn't.

By the same token ... There's been a long progression of cumulative understanding about certain aspects of our existence that reasonably demonstrates we know some specific things or areas quite well (albeit on our own terms, which may or may not generalize universally).

I think Fort's sarcastic and critical attitude toward the science of his day had a lot to do with a suspicion that the cumulative (scientific) understanding of his time had begun to look more like a newly-petrified dogmatic edifice than a waypoint along a road that goes ever on.

It strikes me that there are actually two distinct situation descriptions at issue here, each relating to a particular slant or spin on the limits to human knowledge.

Your father's wise statement concerns the boundary between "known" and "unknown." Perhaps more importantly, it concerns the ability to discern (and / or admit) where exactly that boundary inevitably lies.

The current cosmological conundrum at issue here concerns something more like the boundary between "what we can reasonably claim to know with confidence" versus "the speculative extrapolations beyond that basis that now may need to be reconsidered or re-thought."

The former figuratively relates to how far the limb (of knowledge sufficiently solid to bear weight) extends at all.

The latter figuratively relates to how far out that limb one can go before progress entails substantial hope and faith, and hence entails the possibility of having to backtrack (if not fall off entirely).

There's now data suggesting our best informed guesses about certain grand universal features of our cosmos need to be re-examined. I consider this healthy, insofar as it requires admitting where the really solid limb currently ends (cf. your father's dictum) *and* it opens up the prospect of extending the limb after a bit of backtracking and re-thinking (thus hopefully avoiding Fort's fear of scientific petrification into dogma).
 
[QUOTE="EnolaGaia, post: 1908359, member: 6020"

Your father's wise statement concerns the boundary between "known" and "unknown." Perhaps more importantly, it concerns the ability to discern (and / or admit) where exactly that boundary inevitably lies.


The latter figuratively relates to how far out that limb one can go before progress entails substantial hope and faith, and hence entails the possibility of having to backtrack (if not fall off entirely).

There's now data suggesting our best informed guesses about certain grand universal features of our cosmos need to be re-examined. .[/QUOTE]

Comfortably Numb's father is, of course, correct.

Many people, one could say most. don't need to go into too much detail to get through their lives. But the minute you start to dig into the 'why does that happen' , you are damned. You have to dig deeper. It can drive you insane.

Going too far out on the limb is something theoretical physicists have a habit of doing all too often. Much to the delight of experimentalists who occasionally show that they have overreached themselves.

Mathematicians seem prone to this also.

One of the major concerns is that, unlike Einstein's declaration that space is 'curved' recent tests show it isn't. It's 'flat'. Thus it probably goes on forever.

A lot of people 'in the trade' are having a hard time contemplating that.
 
Hayabusa-2: Japan spacecraft leaves asteroid to head home
  • 5 hours ago
Japan's Hayabusa-2 spacecraft has departed from a faraway asteroid and begun its yearlong journey back to Earth.
The spacecraft left its orbit around Ryugu on Wednesday with samples of the asteroid in tow.
Hayabusa-2 is expected to return to Earth in late 2020, completing its successful multi-year mission.
etc

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50403272
 
SCIENTISTS SAY THEY ARE CLOSER THAN EVER TO SEEING THE ‘DAWN OF THE UNIVERSE’

Source: The Independent
Date: '21 hours ago'

Scientists say they are closer than ever to seeing the dawn of the universe.

Astronomers hoping to spot the super-faint signal of the beginning of the first stars and galaxies are still yet to actually detect it – but they say they are getting closer to actually detecting it.

The signal that scientists are looking for is the beginning of the Epoch of Reionization, or EoR, which happened 12 billion years ago. That marks the moment when the first stars formed and galaxies began taking shape and the first lights in the universe started to switch on, and marks the beginning of the cosmos that surrounds us now.

https://www-independent-co-uk.cdn.a...3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s
 
When Did the 'Dark Ages of the Universe' End? This Rare Molecule Holds the Answer

Source: livescience.com
Date: 2 December, 2019

For hundreds of millions of years, the universe was nothing but darkness. One molecule holds the key to this forgotten epoch.

Long ago, millions of years before the first star sparked to life, the entire universe was a sea of darkness.

Beginning about 400,000 years after the Big Bang and lasting hundreds of millions of years, this so-called dark age of the universe marked the last time when empty space really was empty; no planets, no suns, no galaxies, no life — just a fog of hydrogen atoms forged by the Big Bang and left to slosh through the darkness.

Today, telescopes around the world are trying to catch a glimpse of that primal hydrogen (known as neutral hydrogen) in order to pinpoint the moment when the dark ages finally ended and the first galaxies formed. While those ancient atoms remain elusive, a team of researchers in the Australian outback may have come closer to finding them than ever before.

https://www-livescience-com.cdn.amp...m/neutral-hydrogen-dark-ages-of-universe.html
 
Invisible Threads Connect the Universe

Source: Anton Petrov/YouTube
Date: 1 December, 2019

Have always found Anton's video documentaries commendable.

His latest, highlights recent scientific developments and poses extraordinary questions about the universe.

Are we living in an era, where it's becoming increasingly clear, what we don't understand - context of this documentary and collosal black holes which shouldn't exist, etc.?

Maybe a spectacular breakthrough one day in the, 'near future'?

We seem to be kinda, 'getting there'!

 
Hoag's Object Is a Galaxy Within a Galaxy Within a Galaxy (and Nobody Knows Why)

Source: livescience.com
Date: 3 December, 2019

With a perfectly symmetrical ring circling a red sphere of stars, Hoag's object is one of the prettiest mysteries in the universe.

[...]

Look closely at the serpent constellation slithering through the northern sky, and you might see a galaxy within a galaxy within a galaxy.

This cosmic turducken is known as Hoag's object, and it has befuddled stargazers since astronomer Arthur Hoag discovered it in 1950.

https://www-livescience-com.cdn.amp...ce.com/hoags-object-perfect-ring-mystery.html
 
NASA ANNOUNCES FIRST RESULTS FROM PARKER SOLAR PROBE SPACECRAFT AFTER IT WAS SENT TO ‘TOUCH THE SUN’

Source: independent.co.uk
Date: 5 December, 2019

Nasa has revealed the first findings from a pioneering spacecraft sent to "touch the Sun".

The Parker Solar Probe has flown closer than ever before to our Sun and has now sent back its first data from the mission.

The car-sized spacecraft left Earth last summer and is now about 15 million miles away from the Sun.

Scientists hope that its time there can reveal the mysteries that keep us alive, such as why the corona on the outer surface is so hot.

https://www-independent-co-uk.cdn.a...3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s
 
ISS Sees Thunderstorm Beaming Electromagnetic Pulse Into Space, Producing Gamma Rays and 'Elves'

Source: gizmodo.com
Date: 10 December, 2019

At 8:01 p.m. on October 10, 2018, a bolt of lightning flashed inside of a storm cloud just east of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The International Space Station was passing overhead at the time, and a suite of instruments observed as the bolt produced a flash of gamma radiation—and, simultaneously, emitted a glowing ring of ultraviolet and visible light in the topmost layer of the atmosphere.

Scientists today are presenting the results of this observation, the first to capture both a terrestrial gamma ray flash, or TGF, and the visible-light component of an Elve, a dim disk of ionospheric radiation. This observation provides more evidence for the connection between lightning, the radiation produced by storms, and electromagnetic phenomena at the top of the atmosphere, while illustrating more of the wild radioactive curiosities that weather can generate.

https://gizmodo.com/iss-sees-thunderstorm-beaming-electromagnetic-pulse-int-1840342399
 
ALMA spots most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight

Source: phys.org
Date: 11 December, 2019

ALMA radio image of the dusty star-forming galaxy called MAMBO-9. The galaxy consists of two parts, and it is in the process of merging. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), C.M. Casey et al.; NRAO/AUI/NSF, B. Saxton

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have spotted the light of a massive galaxy seen only 970 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy, called MAMBO-9, is the most distant dusty star-forming galaxy that has ever been observed without the help of a gravitational lens.

Dusty star-forming galaxies are the most intense stellar nurseries in the universe. They form stars at a rate up to a few thousand times the mass of the Sun per year (the star-forming rate of our Milky Way is just three solar masses per year) and they contain massive amounts of gas and dust. Such monster galaxies are not expected to have formed early in the history of the universe, but astronomers have already discovered several of them as seen when the cosmos was less than a billion years old. One of them is galaxy SPT0311-58, which ALMA observed in 2018.

Because of their extreme behavior, astronomers think that these dusty galaxies play an important role in the evolution of the universe. But finding them is easier said than done. "These galaxies tend to hide in plain sight," said Caitlin Casey of the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of a study published in the Astrophysical Journal. "We know they are out there, but they are not easy to find because their starlight is hidden in clouds of dust."

https://phys-org.cdn.ampproject.org...2019-12-alma-distant-dusty-galaxy-hidden.html
 
Dark Matter May Be Source of Mysterious Gamma Radiation in Center of Milky Way

Source: scitechdaily.com/American Physical Society
Date: 12 December, 2019

An abundance of mysterious gamma radiation exists in the center of the Milky Way, called the Galactic Center GeV Excess. Previous research determined that this enigmatic radiation likely came from sources like pulsars — neutron stars that emit electromagnetic radiation.

Now, a new analysis suggests earlier studies underestimated potential dark matter’s role in the creation of the gamma radiation cluster. Scientists Rebecca Leane and Tracy Slatyer reexamined the earlier research, testing the method that previously claimed the gamma ray glow was likely from pulsars.

They found that the earlier method could potentially overlook dark matter signals, misidentifying them as pulsar signals. The results suggest that dark matter may still be contributing to gamma radiation from the Milky Way’s center.

https://scitechdaily-com.cdn.amppro...rious-gamma-radiation-in-center-of-milky-way/
 
100 mysterious blinking lights in the night sky could be evidence of alien life... or something weird, say boffins

Source: theregister.co.uk
Date: 13 December, 2019

A hundred red objects blinking in and out of existence across Earth’s skies over the past 70 years have left scientists giddy: they believe this could be evidence of previously unseen astronomical phenomena or – and hold tight, now – alien civilizations.

The objects were scrutinized by the Vanishing & Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations (VASCO) project, led by Stockholm University in Sweden, which is on the lookout for the Milky Way’s weirdest events.

Astrophysicists, faced with poring over 600 million objects, whittled down their search to just 100 by focusing on observations of objects in space that simply just disappear, or ones that have rapidly fluctuating brightness levels that vary over a 70-year time period. They hunted for the outliers by comparing data logged in the US Naval Observatory Catalogue (USNO) from the 1950s to the more modern Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) recorded in 2016.

The strangest objects flare up and dim across several orders of magnitude beyond what’s traditionally seen in other types of highly variable objects, like eclipsing binary systems or active galactic nuclei outbursts. And a few seem to have vanished, leaving the researchers puzzled.

https://www-theregister-co-uk.cdn.a...heregister.co.uk/2019/12/13/objects_in_space/
 
Breathable atmospheres may be more common in the universe than we first thought

Source: phys.org
Date: 13 December, 2019

The existence of habitable alien worlds has been a mainstay of popular culture for more than a century. In the 19th century, astronomers believed that Martians might be using canal-based transport links to traverse the red planet. Now, despite living in an age when scientists can study planets light years from our own solar system, most new research continues to diminish the chances of finding other worlds on which humans could live. The biggest stumbling block may be oxygen—human settlers would need a high oxygen atmosphere in which to breathe.

[...]

This event-based history of how oxygen came to be so plentiful on Earth implies that we're very fortunate to be living on a high-oxygen world. If one volcanic eruption hadn't happened, or a certain type of organism hadn't evolved, then oxygen might have stalled at low levels. But our latest research suggests that this isn't the case. We created a computer model of the Earth's carbon, oxygen and phosphorus cycles and found that the oxygen transitions can be explained by the inherent dynamics of our planet and likely didn't require any miraculous events.

https://phys-org.cdn.ampproject.org...able-atmospheres-common-universe-thought.html
 
Is there dark matter at the center of the Milky Way?

Source: phys.org
Date: 13 December, 2019

MIT physicists are reigniting the possibility, which they previously had snuffed out, that a bright burst of gamma rays at the center of our galaxy may be the result of dark matter after all.

For years, physicists have known of a mysterious surplus of energy at the Milky Way's center, in the form of gamma rays—the most energetic waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. These rays are typically produced by the hottest, most extreme objects in the universe, such as supernovae and pulsars.

Gamma rays are found across the disk of the Milky Way, and for the most part physicists understand their sources. But there is a glow of gamma rays at the Milky Way's center, known as the galactic center excess, or GCE, with properties that are difficult for physicists to explain given what they know about the distribution of stars and gas in the galaxy.

https://phys-org.cdn.ampproject.org.../phys.org/news/2019-12-dark-center-milky.html
 
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