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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Atomic-scale Imaging improves Dating of Planetary events

    May 29, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The 11 nano tips used in the study. Credit: University of Portsmouth

    The 11 nano tips used in the study.
    Credit: University of Portsmouth

    Research led by the University of Portsmouth has identified a new way to improve how we measure the age of planetary evolution in our solar system. The study, published in Nature Communications, uses a new atomic-scale imaging approach to locate and count individual atoms in planetary materials. Directly linking the structure and chemistry of minerals in this way opens up new opportunities to understand the spectacular complexity of planetary samples.

    Meteorites provide samples that can be used to measure the timing of major planetary events, including lunar magma ocean crystalisation, Martian volcanism and asteroid bombardment of the inner solar system...

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    Construction begins on the World’s 1st Super Telescope

    May 28, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist's impression of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in its enclosure on Cerro Armazones, a 3060-metre mountaintop in Chile's Atacama Desert. The 39-metre E-ELT will be the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world — the world's biggest eye on the sky. Operations are planned to start early in the next decade, and the E-ELT will tackle some of the biggest scientific challenges of our time. The design for the E-ELT shown here is preliminary. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

    Artist’s impression of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in its enclosure on Cerro Armazones, a 3060-metre mountaintop in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The 39-metre E-ELT will be the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world — the world’s biggest eye on the sky. Operations are planned to start early in the next decade, and the E-ELT will tackle some of the biggest scientific challenges of our time. The design for the E-ELT shown here is preliminary. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

    With a main mirror 39 metres in diameter, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), is going to be, as its name suggests, enormous. Unlike any other before it, ELT is also designed to be an adaptive telescope and has the ability to correct atmospheric turbulence, taking telescope engineering to another level...

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    Fruit flies journey to ISS to study effects of zero gravity on the Heart

    May 28, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, such as those planned for use as model organisms for variable gravity studies aboard the International Space Station. Credits: NASA

    Fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, such as those planned for use as model organisms for variable gravity studies aboard the International Space Station.
    Credits: NASA

    Researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) today announced 6 boxes of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) to study the impact of weightlessness on the heart. The fruit flies are scheduled to launch on June 1, 2017, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and will travel to the ISS via a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

    Living in zero gravity is known to negatively impact the body’s cardiovascular system...

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    Biggest Ever Simulations help Uncover the History of the Galaxy

    May 27, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    1.The dark matter density 500 million years after the Big Bang, centred on what would become the Milky Way. Red, blue and yellow colours indicate low, intermediate and high density regions.
    Credit: Robert J. J. Grand, Facundo A. Gomez, Federico Marinacci, Ruediger Pakmor, Volker Springel, David J. R. Campbell, Carlos S. Frenk, Adrian Jenkins and Simon D. M. White
    2. A composite of images from the simulation. (Left) Projected gas density of the galaxy environment about 10 billion years ago. Depicted are filamentary gas structures that feed the main galaxy at the centre. (Middle) Bird’s eye view of the gas disc in the present day. The fine detailed spiral pattern is clearly visible. (Right) Side-on view of the same gas disc in the present day...

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