Category Astronomy/Space

Mystery of Heavy Elements in Galactic Cosmic Rays

Scientists at SwRI developed this conceptual image of heavy ion dynamics based on MMS observations. The colored trajectory lines illustrate how alpha particles (He++) behave as they encounter an extreme shock. Strong magnetic fields effectively change their trajectory, placing them in the acceleration zones. This process explains how trace heavy elements could be accelerated into galactic cosmic rays by supernova events.

Mechanism for accelerating heavy ions revealed. Scientists have used data from the Southwest Research Institute-led Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission to explain the presence of energetic heavy elements in galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)...

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Astronomers discover an Oversized Black Hole Population in the Star Cluster Palomar 5

Above is a all sky view in galactic coordinates. The number of stars is higher in brighter regions. Most of the image, where the Milky Way plane is visible (b = 0 degrees), is produced using Gaia eDR3 data. The small patch in the top-centre shows a region where deeper DESI Legacy Imaging Survey (DECaLS) data is available, which allows for Palomar 5 and its tidal tails to be seen. Image: M. Gieles et al./Gaia eDR3/DESI DECaLS

Palomar 5 is a unique star cluster. This is firstly because it is one of the “fluffiest” clusters in the halo of our Galaxy, with the average distance between the stars being a few light-years, comparable to the distance from the Sun to the nearest star. Secondly, it has a specular stellar stream associated with it that spans more than 20 degrees across the sky...

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Why does Mercury have such a Big Iron Core? Magnetism!

A new study disputes the prevailing hypothesis on why Mercury has a big core relative to its mantle (the layer between a planet’s core and crust). For decades, scientists argued that hit-and-run collisions with other bodies during the formation of our solar system blew away much of Mercury’s rocky mantle and left the big, dense, metal core inside. But new research reveals that collisions are not to blame—the sun’s magnetism is.

William McDonough, a professor of geology at the University of Maryland, and Takashi Yoshizaki from Tohoku University developed a model showing that the density, mass and iron content of a rocky planet’s core are influenced by its distance from the sun’s magnetic field...

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Observation, Simulation, and AI join forces to reveal a Clear Universe

Artist’s visualization of this research. Using AI driven data analysis to peel back the noise and find the actual shape of the Universe. (Credit: The Institute of Statistical Mathematics)

Japanese astronomers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) technique to remove noise in astronomical data due to random variations in galaxy shapes. After extensive training and testing on large mock data created by supercomputer simulations, they then applied this new tool to actual data from Japan’s Subaru Telescope and found that the mass distribution derived from using this method is consistent with the currently accepted models of the Universe. This is a powerful new tool for analyzing big data from current and planned astronomy surveys.

Wide area survey data can be used to study...

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