Recent Comments

    Category Astronomy/Space

    Astronomers report most ‘Outrageously’ Luminous Galaxies ever observed

    March 23, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The 50-meter diameter Large Millimeter Telescope is the largest, most sensitive single-aperture instrument in the world for studying star formation. Operated jointly by UMass Amherst and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, it was recently used to observe the most luminous galaxies ever seen. Credit: UMass Amherst/Smith College/James Lowenthal

    The 50-meter diameter Large Millimeter Telescope is the largest, most sensitive single-aperture instrument in the world for studying star formation. Operated jointly by UMass Amherst and Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, it was recently used to observe the most luminous galaxies ever seen. Credit: UMass Amherst/Smith College/James Lowenthal

    The newly observed galaxies are about 10 billion years old and were formed only about 4 billion years after the Big Bang. In categorizing luminous sources, astronomers call an infrared galaxy “ultra-luminous” when it has a rating of about 1 trillion solar luminosities, and that rises to about 10 trillion solar luminosities at the “hyper-luminous” level...

    Read More

    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.”

    De...

    Read More

    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...

    Read More

    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...

    Read More