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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Meteorite Mystery Solved with research on High Pressure

    June 24, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A model of the crystal structure of cristobalite X-I, which had never before been discovered in other materials. This high-pressure phase of cristobalite is made up of two layers (green and blue), each composed of Si?O. Credit: Leonid Dubrovinsky

    A model of the crystal structure of cristobalite X-I, which had never before been discovered in other materials. This high-pressure phase of cristobalite is made up of two layers (green and blue), each composed of Si?O. Credit: Leonid Dubrovinsky

    A research group at the University of Bayreuth has found a long-sought explanation for the apparent contradictions implicit in the composition of lunar and Martian meteorites. In cooperation with the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble and research partners in Lyon and Vienna, the Bayreuth scientists led by Prof. Dubrovinsky were able to demonstrate how meteorites could contain within narrow spaces minerals whose formation conditions are quite different.

    When asteroids or co...

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    Does Dark matter Annihilate Quicker in the Milky Way?

    June 24, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The annihilation rates have a signature non-monotonic velocity dependence over and above the resonances, e.g., for DM mass larger than 4 TeV the galactic annihilation rate (solid line) exceeds that in clusters (dashed line) and dwarf galaxies (dot- dashed line). Credit: Anirban Das, Basudeb Dasgupta

    The annihilation rates have a signature non-monotonic velocity dependence over and above the resonances, e.g., for DM mass larger than 4 TeV the galactic annihilation rate (solid line) exceeds that in clusters (dashed line) and dwarf galaxies (dot- dashed line).
    Credit: Anirban Das, Basudeb Dasgupta

    A new theory predicts how dark matter may be annihilating much more rapidly in the Milky Way, than in smaller or larger galaxies and the early Universe. Anirban Das, with his advisor Dr. Basudeb Dasgupta, pursued this possibility because almost all observations made so far indicate no signals of dark matter annihilation anywhere – except the tantalizing signals from the Milky Way seen by the PAMELA and AMS02 detector and the Fermi gamma ray telescope...

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    The Curious Case of the Warped Kuiper Belt

    June 23, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    1. A yet to be discovered, unseen "planetary mass object" makes its existence known by ruffling the orbital plane of distant Kuiper Belt objects, according to research by Kat Volk and Renu Malhotra of the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The object is pictured on a wide orbit far beyond Pluto in this artist's illustration. (Image: Heather Roper/LPL) 2. A planetary mass object the size of Mars would be sufficient to produce the observed perturbations in the distant Kuiper Belt. Credit: Heather Roper/LPL

    1. A yet to be discovered, unseen “planetary mass object” makes its existence known by ruffling the orbital plane of distant Kuiper Belt objects, according to research by Kat Volk and Renu Malhotra of the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The object is pictured on a wide orbit far beyond Pluto in this artist’s illustration. (Image: Heather Roper/LPL)
    2. A planetary mass object the size of Mars would be sufficient to produce the observed perturbations in the distant Kuiper Belt.
    Credit: Heather Roper/LPL

    An unknown, unseen “planetary mass object” may lurk in the outer reaches of our solar system, according to new research on the orbits of minor planets. This object would be different from – and much closer than – the so-called Planet Nine, a planet whose existence yet awaits confirmation...

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    Origins of Sun’s swirling Spicules discovered

    June 23, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    At any given moment, as many as 10 million wild jets of solar material burst from the sun's surface. They erupt as fast as 60 miles per second, and can reach lengths of 6,000 miles before collapsing. These are spicules, and despite their grass-like abundance, scientists didn't understand how they form. Now, for the first time, a computer simulation -- so detailed it took a full year to run -- shows how spicules form, helping scientists understand how spicules can break free of the sun's surface and surge upward so quickly. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

    At any given moment, as many as 10 million wild jets of solar material burst from the sun’s surface. They erupt as fast as 60 miles per second, and can reach lengths of 6,000 miles before collapsing. These are spicules, and despite their grass-like abundance, scientists didn’t understand how they form. Now, for the first time, a computer simulation — so detailed it took a full year to run — shows how spicules form, helping scientists understand how spicules can break free of the sun’s surface and surge upward so quickly. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

    For the first time, a computer simulation – so detailed it took a full year to run – shows how spicules form, helping scientists understand how spicules can break free of the sun’s surface and surge upward so quickly...

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