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    Category Astronomy/Space

    NASA’s Chandra Releases Doubleheader of Blockbuster Hits

    April 25, 2024, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Visual Description: Cassiopeia A & Crab Nebula Timelapses This is a still image from a split-screen video showing the change of two objects in space over time. The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant is on the left and the Crab Nebula is on the right, divided by a white vertical line. Cassiopeia A resembles a disk of electric blue light with glowing white streaks. X-rays from Chandra reveal hot gas, mostly from supernova debris from the destroyed star, and include elements like silicon and iron. Brilliant stars in white and gold, seen in optical light from Hubble, permeate the field of view. The Crab Nebula resembles the shape of a spinning toy top, made of white wispy clouds, resting on its side. The top-like shape is outlined by feathery shrouds of electric blue light...
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    Simulated Microgravity Affects Sleep and Physiological rhythms

    April 24, 2024, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Simulated effects of microgravity significantly affect rhythmicity and sleep in humans, a new study from the University of Surrey finds. Such disturbances could negatively affect the physiology and performance of astronauts in space.

    Previous findings have shown that astronauts exposed to microgravity, simulated via 60 days of constant bed rest at a six-degree head-down tilt angle, experience changes to physiology, including immune suppression, increased inflammation, and reduced muscle mass and bone density. However, a less-studied aspect of physiology concerning the effects of microgravity is sleep and biological rhythms.

    Lead author Dr María-Ángeles Bonmatí-Carrión, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Surrey (currently at CIBERFES (Carlos III Health Institute), Un...

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    AI and Physics Combine to Reveal the 3D Structure of a Flare Erupting around a Black Hole

    April 23, 2024, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A swirling circle of reddish striations on the left. On the right is a diagram showing those striations' movements.
    (Left) The Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Right) screeshots from a 3D simulation of flares around Sgr A* (Image credit: EHT Collaboration/Aviad Levis)

    Scientists believe the environment immediately surrounding a black hole is tumultuous, featuring hot magnetized gas that spirals in a disk at tremendous speeds and temperatures. Astronomical observations show that within such a disk, mysterious flares occur up to several times a day, temporarily brightening and then fading away.

    Now a team led by Caltech scientists has used telescope data and an artificial intelligence (AI) computer-vision technique to recover the first three-dimensional video showing what such flares could look like around SagittariusA* (Sgr A*) the supermassive black hole at the heart o...

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    Mars Rover continues progress along Upper Gediz Vallis Ridge

    April 21, 2024, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Sols 4159-4160: A fully loaded first sol
    This image was taken by Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4158 (2024-04-17 07:52:27 UTC). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

    Curiosity continues to make progress along the margin of upper Gediz Vallis ridge, investigating the broken bedrock in our workspace and acquiring images of the ridge deposit as the rover drives south.

    Today’s 2-sol plan focused on a DRT, contact science, and drive on the first sol, followed by untargeted remote sensing on the second sol. The team had to make some decisions at the start of planning about whether to drive on the first or second sol of this plan, and how that would affect the upcoming weekend activities.

    As it turned out, the team was able to fit all of the desired contact science and remote sensing activities...

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