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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Emission from the Center of a Galaxy has a Serpentine Shape

    January 31, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This is a magneto-hydrodynamic 3-D simulations of a relativistic jet. Credit: G. Bodo and P. Rossi (INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Italy) and A. Mignone (Torino University, Italy).

    This is a magneto-hydrodynamic 3-D simulations of a relativistic jet. Credit: G. Bodo and P. Rossi (INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Italy) and A. Mignone (Torino University, Italy).

    Researchers have discovered a peculiar spiral jet with many twists. A blazar is an astronomical object within an elliptical galaxy, at whose centre there is a supermassive black hole which emits jets of radiation and particles with huge energies. When these are directed towards the Earth we can detect them. They are among the most energetic phenomena in the universe.

    In the second half of last year the blazar CTA 102, which is 7,600 million light years from Earth, brightened considerably, drawing the attention of all the astronomers...

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    Stellar Magnetism: What’s behind the most Brilliant Lights in the Sky?

    January 31, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Jan Egedal, professor of physics at UW-Madison who lead an exploration of magnetic reconnection, stands beside a chamber used for experiments in that exotic phenomenon. Magnetic reconnection seems to be involved in some of the most violent explosions in the universe; the recent study was the clearest view of the magnetic reconnection ever measured in space. The results "blew my mind," he says. Credit: David Tenenbaum/UW-Madison

    Jan Egedal, professor of physics at UW-Madison who lead an exploration of magnetic reconnection, stands beside a chamber used for experiments in that exotic phenomenon. Magnetic reconnection seems to be involved in some of the most violent explosions in the universe; the recent study was the clearest view of the magnetic reconnection ever measured in space. The results “blew my mind,” he says. Credit: David Tenenbaum/UW-Madison

    Space physicists at University of Wisconsin-Madison have just released unprecedented detail on a bizarre phenomenon that powers the northern lights, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, CMEs (the biggest explosions in our solar system)...

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    Stellar Embryos in nearby Dwarf Galaxy contain surprisingly Complex Organic Molecules

    January 31, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Astronomers using ALMA have uncovered chemical 'fingerprints' of methanol, dimethyl ether, and methyl formate in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The latter two molecules are the largest organic molecules ever conclusively detected outside the Milky Way. The far-infrared image on the left shows the full galaxy. The zoom-in image shows the star-forming region observed by ALMA. It is a combination of mid-infrared data from Spitzer and visible (H-alpha) data from the Blanco 4-meter telescope. Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); Herschel/ESA; NASA/JPL-Caltech; NOAO

    Astronomers using ALMA have uncovered chemical ‘fingerprints’ of methanol, dimethyl ether, and methyl formate in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The latter two molecules are the largest organic molecules ever conclusively detected outside the Milky Way. The far-infrared image on the left shows the full galaxy. The zoom-in image shows the star-forming region observed by ALMA. It is a combination of mid-infrared data from Spitzer and visible (H-alpha) data from the Blanco 4-meter telescope. Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); Herschel/ESA; NASA/JPL-Caltech; NOAO

    The nearby dwarf galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a chemically primitive place...

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    Cluster Measures Turbulence in Earth’s Magnetic Environment

    January 30, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Cluster measures turbulence in Earth's magnetic environment

    Illustration showing spacecraft of ESA’s Cluster mission (top) and NASA’s THEMIS mission (bottom) flying through Earth’s magnetosheath, the highly turbulent boundary region between the solar wind and the magnetosphere around our planet. Credit: European Space Agency

    For the first time, scientists have estimated how much energy is transferred from large to small scales within the magnetosheath, the boundary region between the solar wind and the magnetic bubble that protects our planet. Based on data collected by ESA’s Cluster and NASA’s THEMIS missions over several years, the study revealed that turbulence is the key, making this process a hundred times more efficient than in the solar wind.

    It is the interaction between Earth’s magnetic field and the solar wind that creates the intricate s...

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