Category Astronomy/Space

Electron density distribution of the frontier orbital of a TMTTF molecule. Electrons of the constituent atoms of the molecule can be considered as either core electrons, which have no interactions with the surroundings, or electrons of frontier orbitals, which determine many physical properties of the molecule. We succeeded in visualizing the frontier molecular orbital distribution of a TMTTF by precise structural analysis using a core differential Fourier synthesis (CDFS) method. Credit: Shunsuke Kitou

Researchers probe a mysterious phase transition in an organic molecular conductor using synchrotron X-ray radiation. We normally associate conduction of electricity with metals. However, some of the high measured conductivities are found in certain organic molecular crystals...

Conceptual image of the Mars 2020 rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, which will look for signs of past life on Mars, will use smart methods originally developed to find the oldest life on Earth, according the mission’s Deputy Project Scientist, Dr Ken Williford. The 2020 mission builds on the successes of prior rovers, to make coordinated measurements that could detect signs of ancient life – or biosignatures – in their original spatial context. These techniques, known as “spatially resolved biosignature analysis” derive from geochemical analysis of early life on Earth.

Speaking at the Goldschmidt conference in Paris where he is presenting the methods to be adopted, Dr Ken Williford (who is also Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Astrobiogeochemistry Laborat...

Mukremin Kilic, OU astrophysicist, and team have discovered two detached, eclipsing double white dwarf binaries with orbital periods of 40 and 46 minutes, respectively. Only a handful of white dwarf binaries are know with orbital periods less than one hour in our galaxy and most were discovered by Kilic and colleagues. Credit: University of Oklahoma

Astrophysicists have discovered 2 detached, eclipsing double white dwarf binaries with orbital periods of 40 and 46 minutes, respectively. White dwarfs are the remnants of Sun-like stars, many of which are binaries. However, only a handful of white dwarf binaries are known with orbital periods less than one hour in the Milky Way – a galaxy made up of 200 billion stars – and most have been discovered by Kilic and his colleagues.

“Short-period wh...

A visualization of the Sun’s three-dimensional magnetic field. By tracing magnetic field lines at extremely high resolution, researchers highlight the inherent complexity of the Sun’s magnetic field and its intimate connection to visible emission from the solar corona. Credit: TACC/Predictive Science, Inc

Scientists have forecast the corona of the sun with Stampede2 supercomputer at The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) during the upcoming eclipse. The findings shed light on what the eclipse of the sun might look like Aug. 21 when it will be visible across much of the US, tracing a 70-mile-wide band across 14 states...