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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Entanglement becomes Easier to Measure

    March 22, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Quantum systems consisting of many particles can enter highly intricate states with strong so-called multiparticle entanglement. A new-found theoretical relation now allows extracting it with standard tools available in scattering experiments. Credit: IQOQI/Ritsch

    Quantum systems consisting of many particles can enter highly intricate states with strong so-called multiparticle entanglement. A new-found theoretical relation now allows extracting it with standard tools available in scattering experiments. Credit: IQOQI/Ritsch

    New Protocol to detect Entanglement of Many-Particle Quantum states has been developed. These systems could help us not only to improve our understanding of matter but to develop measurement techniques beyond current existing technologies. Entanglement is a consequence of the probabilistic rules of quantum mechanics and seems to permit a peculiar instantaneous connection between particles over long distances that defies the laws of our macroscopic world – a phenomenon that Einstein referred to as “spooky action at a distance.”

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    Astrophysicists catch 2 Supernovae at the moment of Explosion

    March 22, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The explosive death of this star, called KSN 2011d, reaches its maximum brightness in about 14 days. The shock breakout itself lasts only about 20 minutes, so catching the flash of energy is an investigative milestone for astronomers. The unceasing gaze of NASA's Kepler space telescope allowed astronomers to see, at last, this early moment as the star blows itself to bits. Credit: NASA, ESA, Armin Rest (STScI) and Peter Garnavich (University of Notre Dame)

    The explosive death of this star, called KSN 2011d, reaches its maximum brightness in about 14 days. The shock breakout itself lasts only about 20 minutes, so catching the flash of energy is an investigative milestone for astronomers. The unceasing gaze of NASA’s Kepler space telescope allowed astronomers to see, at last, this early moment as the star blows itself to bits. Credit: NASA, ESA, Armin Rest (STScI) and Peter Garnavich (University of Notre Dame)

    An international team of astrophysicists led by Prof Peter Garnavich, Notre Dame, has caught 2 supernovae in the act of exploding. Using the Kepler Space Telescope, the team spent 3 years observing 50 trillion stars for the chance to watch as supersonic shockwaves reached their surfaces after explosions deep in the core...

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    Tiny, Ancient Galaxy Preserves Record of Catastrophic Event

    March 22, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This is an image of Reticulum II obtained by the Dark Energy Survey, using the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The nine stars described in the paper are circled in red. The insets show the very strong presence of barium, one of the main neutron capture elements the team observed, in three stars. Background image is courtesy of Dark Energy Survey/Fermilab. Foreground image is courtesy of Alexander Ji, Anna Frebel, Anirudh Chiti, and Josh Simon. Credit: Background image is courtesy of Dark Energy Survey/Fermilab. Foreground image is courtesy of Alexander Ji, Anna Frebel, Anirudh Chiti, and Josh Simon.

    This is an image of Reticulum II obtained by the Dark Energy Survey, using the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The nine stars described in the paper are circled in red. The insets show the very strong presence of barium, one of the main neutron capture elements the team observed, in three stars. Background image is courtesy of Dark Energy Survey/Fermilab. Foreground image is courtesy of Alexander Ji, Anna Frebel, Anirudh Chiti, and Josh Simon. Credit: Background image is courtesy of Dark Energy Survey/Fermilab. Foreground image is courtesy of Alexander Ji, Anna Frebel, Anirudh Chiti, and Josh Simon.

    The lightest few elements in the periodic table formed minutes after the Big Bang...

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    A ‘Tail’ of Two Comets

    March 21, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Diagram of Comet 252P/LINEAR

    Comet 252P/LINEAR will safely fly past Earth on March 21, 2016, at a range of about 3.3 million miles (5.2 million kilometers). The following day, comet P/2016 BA14 will safely fly by our planet at a distance of about 2.2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Two comets that will safely fly past Earth later this month may have more in common than their intriguingly similar orbits. They may be twins of a sort. Comet P/2016 BA14 was discovered on Jan. 22, 2016, by the University of Hawaii’s PanSTARRS telescope on Haleakala, on the island of Maui...

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