Recent Comments

    Category Astronomy/Space

    Researchers find Quantum Gravity has No Symmetry

    June 20, 2019, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    A diagram used to prove that quantum gravity cannot have any global symmetry. Symmetry, if existed, could act only on the shaded regions in the diagram and causes no change around the black spot in the middle. The shaded regions can be made as small as we like by dividing the boundary circle more and more. Thus, the alleged symmetry would not act anywhere inside of the circle. Contradiction. (Credit: Harlow and Ooguri)

    Using holography, researchers have found when gravity is combined with quantum mechanics, symmetry is not possible. A new study by a pair of researchers in the US and Japan has found that, when gravity is combined with quantum mechanics, symmetry is not possible.

    “Many physicists believe that there must a beautiful set of laws in Nature and that one way to quantify ...

    Read More

    Crash with Antlia 2 gave the Milky Way the Ripples in its Outer Disc, new evidence shows

    June 20, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Illustration of spiral galaxy (stock image).
    Credit: © Alexandr Mitiuc / Adobe Stock

    Researchers developing methods to hunt for the darkest dwarf galaxies. The newly-discovered dark dwarf galaxy Antlia 2’s collision with the Milky Way may be responsible for our galaxy’s characteristic ripples in its outer disc, according to a study led by Rochester Institute of Technology Assistant Professor Sukanya Chakrabarti.

    The Antlia 2 dwarf galaxy was discovered from the second data release of the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, which aims to chart a three-dimensional map of our galaxy. Antlia 2’s current location closely matches the location of a dark-matter dominated dwarf galaxy that Chakrabarti predicted in 2009 through a dynamical analysis...

    Read More

    NASA’s Cassini reveals New Sculpting in Saturn Rings

    June 20, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A false-color image mosaic shows Daphnis, one of Saturn’s ring-embedded moons, and the waves it kicks up in the Keeler gap. Images collected by Cassini’s close orbits in 2017 are offering new insight into the complex workings of the rings.
    Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

    As NASA’s Cassini dove close to Saturn in its final year, the spacecraft provided intricate detail on the workings of Saturn’s complex rings, new analysis shows. Although the mission ended in 2017, science continues to flow from the data collected. A new paper published June 13 in Science describes results from four Cassini instruments taking their closest-ever observations of the main rings.

    Findings include fine details of features sculpted by masses embedded within the rings...

    Read More

    NASA’s Fermi mission reveals its Highest-energy Gamma-ray bursts

    June 18, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Green dots show the locations of 186 gamma-ray bursts observed by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on NASA’s Fermi satellite during its first decade. Some noteworthy bursts are highlighted and labeled. Background: Constructed from nine years of LAT data, this map shows how the gamma-ray sky appears at energies above 10 billion electron volts. The plane of our Milky Way galaxy runs along the middle of the plot. Brighter colors indicate brighter gamma-ray sources.
    Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

    For 10 years, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has scanned the sky for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the universe’s most luminous explosions. A new catalog of the highest-energy blasts provides scientists with fresh insights into how they work.

    “Each burst is in some way unique,” said...

    Read More