August 15, 2015,
Astronomy/Space
Astronomers have long known that stars can vibrate like peeling bells. This observation has ushered in an entire sub discipline of astronomy known as astroseismology, in which astronomers attempt to better understand the structure of their charges by studying the way they vibrate. Sheet music for the composition. Credit: arXiv:1507.07307 [physics.pop-ph]
August 14, 2015,
Astronomy/Space
One of the best ways to learn how our solar system evolved is to look to younger star systems in the early stages of development. Now, a team of astronomers has discovered a Jupiter-like planet within a young system that could serve as a decoder ring for understanding how planets formed around our sun. The first planet detected by the Gemini Planet Imager is 100 light-years away but shares many of the characteristics of an early Jupiter.
The new planet, called 51 Eridani b, is the first exoplanet discovered by the Gemini Planet Imager, a new instrument operated by an international collaboration headed by Professor Bruce Macintosh...
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August 14, 2015,
Technology/Electronics, Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology
Wildfires in the United States burn an average of 7.3 million acres of land each year. The annual cost of fire suppression nationwide has averaged nearly $1 billion since 1984, but in six of the past 10 years the cost has approached $2 billion a year. Large catastrophic wildfires have become commonplace, especially in association with extended drought and extreme weather. The demand for timely, high-quality fire information has increased and peaks each summer when interagency fire operations respond to numerous, simultaneous major fires. Credit: NASA
August 14, 2015,
Astronomy/Space
This illustration offers a plausible scenario for how vagabond stars exploded as supernovae outside the cozy confines of galaxies. Panel 1: A pair of black holes comes together during a galaxy merger, dragging with them up to a million stars each. Panel 2: A double-star system wanders too close to the two black holes. Panel 3: The black holes then gravitationally catapult the stars out of the galaxy. At the same time, the stars are brought closer together. Panel 4: After getting booted out of the galaxy, the binary stars move even closer together as orbital energy is carried away from the duo in the form of gravitational waves. Panel 5: Eventually, the stars get close enough that one of them is ripped apart by tidal forces...
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