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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Largest Virtual Universe Free for Anyone to Explore

    September 14, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The distribution of dark matter in a snapshot from Uchuu. The images show the dark matter halo of the largest galaxy cluster formed in the simulation at different magnifications. (Credit: Tomoaki Ishiyama) 

    An international team of researchers has generated an entire virtual UNIVERSE, and made it freely available on the cloud to everyone.

    Uchuu (meaning “Outer Space” in Japanese) is the largest and most realistic simulation of the Universe to date. The Uchuu simulation consists of 2.1 trillion particles in a computational cube an unprecedented 9.63 billion light-years to a side. For comparison, that’s about three-quarters the distance between Earth and the most distant observed galaxies...

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    ESO captures best images yet of peculiar “Dog-Bone” Asteroid

    September 10, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    ESO captures best images yet of peculiar “dog-bone” asteroid
    These eleven images are of the asteroid Kleopatra, viewed at different angles as it rotates. The images were taken at different times between 2017 and 2019 with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s VLT. Kleopatra orbits the Sun in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers have called it a “dog-bone asteroid” ever since radar observations around 20 years ago revealed it has two lobes connected by a thick “neck”. Credit: ESO/Vernazza, Marchis et al./MISTRAL algorithm (ONERA/CNRS)

    Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), a team of astronomers have obtained the sharpest and most detailed images yet of the asteroid Kleopatra...

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    Safeguarding Clean Water for Spaceflight Missions

    September 10, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Biofilms are dense, multispecies aggregates of cells, which clump together in a residue that forms on surfaces. Biofilms are resistant to antimicrobials and notoriously difficult to clean up. They can cause a range of health issues and have a corrosive effect on many materials, including stainless steel, making them a threat to the water supply system of the International Space Station.

    In a first study of its kind, scientists characterized different bacterial populations isolated over time from potable (drinking) water from the International Space Station (ISS).

    By all appearances, the universe beyond Earth is a vast, lonely, and sterile space. Yet, wherever humans may travel, an abundance of microbial life will follow.

    In a first study of its kind, lead author Jiseon Yang at th...

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    Gases in Milky Way are Not Homogeneously Mixed, contrary to previous models

    September 9, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Surprise: the Milky Way is not homogeneous
    Clouds and streams of cosmic pristine gas (magenta) accrete onto the Milky Way, but this gas does not efficiently mix in the Galactic disk, as highlighted for the Solar neighborhood (zoom-in). Credit: © Dr Mark A. Garlick

    In order to better understand the history and evolution of the Milky Way, astronomers are studying the composition of the gases and metals that make up an important part of our galaxy. Three main elements stand out: the initial gas coming from outside our galaxy, the gas between the stars inside our galaxy—enriched with chemical elements –, and the dust created by the condensation of the metals present in this gas.

    Until now, theoretical models assumed that these three elements were homogeneously mixed throughout the Milky Way and reached a level of chemical e...

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