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    Category Astronomy/Space

    One Trillion km’s apart: A Lonely Planet and its Distant Star

    January 26, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    An artist's impression of 2MASS J2126. Credit: University of Hertfordshire / Neil Cook

    An artist’s impression of 2MASS J2126. Credit: University of Hertfordshire / Neil Cook

    A team of astronomers in the UK, USA and Australia have found a planet, until now thought to be a free floating or lonely planet, in a huge orbit around its star. Incredibly the object, 2MASS J2126, is about 7000 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

    In the last 5 years a number of free floating planets have been found. These are gas giant worlds like Jupiter that lack the mass for the nuclear reactions that make stars shine, so cool and fade over time. Measuring the temperatures of these objects is relatively straightforward, but it depends on both mass and age...

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    In Galaxy Clustering, Mass may not be the only thing that Matters

    January 26, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    These are density maps of galaxy cluster distribution. Credit: Kavli IPMU

    These are density maps of galaxy cluster distribution. Credit: Kavli IPMU

    First observational evidence for assembly bias could impact understanding of the universe. An international team of researchers has shown that the relationship between galaxy clusters and their surrounding dark matter halo is more complex than previously thought. The researchers’ findings are the first to use observational data to show that, in addition to mass, a galaxy cluster’s formation history plays a role in how it interacts with its environment.

    There is a connection between galaxy clusters and their dark matter halos that holds a great deal of information about the universe’s content of dark matter and accelerating expansion due to dark energy...

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    Voyager Mission Celebrates 30 Years since Uranus

    January 25, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Uranus

    Arriving at Uranus in 1986, Voyager 2 observed a bluish orb with extremely subtle features. A haze layer hid most of the planet’s cloud features from view. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

    Humanity has visited Uranus only once, 30 yrs ago. NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft got its closest look at the distant, gaseous planet on Jan. 24, 1986. Voyager 2 sent back stunning images of the planet and its moons during a flyby of 5.5 hrs of close study. It got within 50,600 miles of Uranus, the coldest planet in our solar system, though not the farthest from the sun, It has no internal heat source. Atmosphere of Uranus is 85% hydrogen and 15% helium. There was also evidence of a boiling ocean ~500 miles below the cloud tops.

    Scientists found that Uranus has a magnetic field different from any they had ever enco...

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    Rotation Speed may be bad news for Mars pioneers

    January 25, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    We really can’t have our astronauts getting loopy after just a few weeks on-planet, though, so researchers have been trying to find a way to re-program the body’s sleep cycle to the Martian standard. One method showing promise is the use of light-therapy — not just using bright light to knock the rhythm off kilter, but using the light’s specific wave-length as well. Extending the human sleep cycle might be as simple as exposing an astronaut to pale blue light at the end of their day. They hope to continue their research and determine which wavelengths have have an effect and what that is at different times of the day.

    We really can’t have our astronauts getting loopy after just a few weeks on-planet, though, so researchers have been trying to find a way to re-program the body’s sleep cycle to the Martian standard. One method showing promise is the use of light-therapy — not just using bright light to knock the rhythm off kilter, but using the light’s specific wave-length as well. Extending the human sleep cycle might be as simple as exposing an astronaut to pale blue light at the end of their day. They hope to continue their research and determine which wavelengths have have an effect and what that is at different times of the day. http://www.geek.com/science/mars-explorers-may-suffer-never-ending-jet-lag-1616740/

    New research reveals the importance of a circadian body clock that matches the r...

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