Category Astronomy/Space

Galaxy cluster Abell 2744, imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope. The cluster lies in the constellation of Sculptor and contains several hundred galaxies. Credit: NASA, ESA, and R. Dupke (Eureka Scientific, Inc.), et al.

Australian scientists have discovered why heavyweight galaxies living in a dense crowd of galaxies tend to spin more slowly than their lighter neighbours. “Contrary to earlier thinking, the spin rate of the galaxy is determined by its mass, rather than how crowded its neighbourhood is,” says study Associate Professor Sarah Brough of UNSW Sydney and the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics. The finding, based on a detailed study of more than 300 galaxies, is published in The Astrophysical Journal.

To measure how fast their galaxies rotated, the researchers use...

The Apollo 15 moon rock sample, which was analyzed by MIT and Rutgers University researchers, consists of basalt fragments welded together by a dark glassy matrix that was produced by melting from a meteorite impact. The black scale cube is 1 centimeter across. Credit: NASA

Findings suggest 2 mechanisms may have powered the moon’s ancient churning, molten core. New evidence from ancient lunar rocks suggests that an active dynamo once churned within the molten metallic core of the moon, generating a magnetic field that lasted at least 1 billion years longer than previously thought. Dynamos are natural generators of magnetic fields around terrestrial bodies, and are powered by the churning of conducting fluids within many stars and planets...

In the new dark matter model, the Higgs particle has different properties to those in the standard model of particle physics. The figure shows the energy of the Higgs particle as a function of the model parameters.
Credit: Ill./©: Michael Baker, JGU

Theoretical physicists present an alternative to the WIMP paradigm. Very little is known about dark energy, but there are many theories and experiments on the existence of dark matter designed to find these as yet unknown particles. Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany have now come up with a new theory on how dark matter may have been formed shortly after the origin of the universe. This new model proposes an alternative to the WIMP paradigm that is the subject of various experiments in current research.

Dark matt...

Purdue University graduate student Katherine Fowee and postdoctoral research associate Anthony Cofer work on a new micropropulsion system for miniature satellites called CubeSats. Credit: Purdue University photo/Erin Easterling

A new type of micropropulsion system for miniature satellites called CubeSats uses an innovative design of tiny nozzles that release precise bursts of water vapor to maneuver the spacecraft. Low-cost “microsatellites” and “nanosatellites” far smaller than conventional spacecraft, have become increasingly prevalent. Thousands of the miniature satellites might be launched to perform a variety of tasks, from high-resolution imaging and internet services, to disaster response, environmental monitoring and military surveillance...