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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Evidence of 6 new Binary Black Hole Mergers within LVC data

    April 28, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space



    Matias Zaldarriaga, Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, describes the results of his team’s search for new events in the publicly available LIGO data that nearly doubles the catalog of binary black hole mergers.  Credit:
    Lee Sandberg

    Scholars at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) recently submitted a paper announcing the discovery of six new binary black hole mergers that exceed the detection thresholds defined by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration (LVC), the group responsible for the first direct observation of gravitational waves on February 11, 2016.

    Taking data made public by the LVC, the IAS team applied a unique set of signal processing techniques to detect these cataclysmic events, nearly doubling the total number of binary black hole mergers found during LVC’s second ...

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    Scientists discover what powers celestial phenomenon STEVE

    April 27, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Amateur astronomer’s photograph used in the new research. The photograph was taken on May 8, 2016, in Keller, Wash. The major structures are two bands of upper atmospheric emissions 160 kilometers (100 miles) above the ground, a mauve arc and green picket fence. The black objects at the bottom are trees. The background star constellations include Gemini and Ursa Major.
    Credit: Rocky Raybell

    The recently-discovered atmospheric glow is both like typical auroras and distinct from them. The celestial phenomenon known as STEVE is likely caused by a combination of heating of charged particles in the atmosphere and energetic electrons like those that power the aurora, according to new research...

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    New Hubble Measurements Confirm Universe is Expanding Faster than Expected

    April 26, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This is a ground-based telescope’s view of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. The inset image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, reveals one of many star clusters scattered throughout the dwarf galaxy.
    Credit: NASA, ESA, Adam Riess, and Palomar Digitized Sky Survey

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    The new measurements, published April 25 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, reduce the chances that the disparity is an accident from 1 in 3,000 to only 1 in 100,000 and suggest that new physics may be needed to better understand the cosmos.

    “This mismatch has been growing and has now reached a point that is really impossible to dismiss as a fluke...

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    Largest Collection of Coral Reef Maps ever made

    April 25, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

    Viewing coral reefs from above reveals much about their health and structure. Repeated observations through time can be used to track change. Regional-scale reef mapping is a key precursor for conservation of this imperiled ecosystem.
    Credit: Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation

    New global atlas offers new way to map coral reefs from space. Scientists offer a new way to accurately map coral reefs using a combination of Earth-orbiting satellites and field observations. This first-ever global coral reef atlas contains maps of over 65,000 square kilometers (25,097 square miles) of coral reefs and surrounding habitats.

    The maps, published today in the journal Coral Reefs, are the result of a 10-year Global Reef Expedition by scientists for the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foun...

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