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    Category Astronomy/Space

    New Detector Perfect for Asteroid Mining

    November 22, 2015, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    satellite flying close to asteroid

    Concept of an asteroid redirect mission (NASA)

    The grizzled asteroid miner was a stock character in science fiction. Now, a couple of recent events – one legal and the other technological – have brought asteroid mining a step closer to reality. The legal step was taken when the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed a bill titled H.R. 2262–SPACE Act of 2015. The bill has a number of measures designed to facilitate commercial space development, including a provision that gives individuals or companies ownership of any material that they mine in outer space, a trillion-dollar market.

    The technological development is a new generation of gamma-ray spectroscope that appears perfectly suited for detecting veins of gold, platinum, rare earths and other valuable material hidd...

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    NASA images: A day on Pluto, a day on Charon

    November 21, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A day on Pluto, July 2015

    On approach in July 2015, the cameras on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured Pluto rotating over the course of a full “Pluto day.” The best available images of each side of Pluto taken during approach have been combined to create this view of a full rotation. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

    Pluto’s day is 6.4 Earth days long...

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    Ghostly and beautiful: ‘Planetary nebulae’ get more meaningful physical presence

    November 21, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A collage showing 22 individual planetary nebulae artistically arranged in approximate order of physical size. The scale bar represents 4 light years. Each nebula's size is calculated from the authors' new distance scale, which is applicable to all nebulae across all shapes, sizes and brightnesses. The very largest planetary nebula currently known is nearly 20 light years in diameter, and would cover the entire image at this scale. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, Ivan Bojicic, David Frew, Quentin Parker

    A collage showing 22 individual planetary nebulae artistically arranged in approximate order of physical size. The scale bar represents 4 light years. Each nebula’s size is calculated from the authors’ new distance scale, which is applicable to all nebulae across all shapes, sizes and brightnesses. The very largest planetary nebula currently known is nearly 20 light years in diameter, and would cover the entire image at this scale. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, Ivan Bojicic, David Frew, Quentin Parker

    A way of estimating more accurate distances to the thousands of so-called planetary nebulae dispersed across our Galaxy has been announced by a team of three astronomers based at the University of Hong Kong: Dr David Frew, Prof Quentin Parker and Dr Ivan Bojicic...

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    Understand the Formation of the universe: Ground-breaking Research on Decay of Subatomic Particles Kaons

    November 20, 2015, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    The decay of a kaon (K+) into three pions (2 π+, 1 π−) is a process that involves both weak and strong interactions. Weak interactions : The strange antiquark (s) of the kaon transmutes into an up antiquark (u) by the emission of a W+ boson; the W+ boson subsequently decays into a down antiquark (d) and an up quark (u). Strong interactions : An up quark (u) emits a gluon (g) which decays into a down quark (d) and a down antiquark (d).

    The decay of a kaon (K+) into three pions (2 π+, 1 π−) is a process that involves both weak and strong interactions. Weak interactions : The strange antiquark (s) of the kaon transmutes into an up antiquark (u) by the emission of a W+ boson; the W+ boson subsequently decays into a down antiquark (d) and an up quark (u). Strong interactions : An up quark (u) emits a gluon (g) which decays into a down quark (d) and a down antiquark (d).

    Scientists devised the first calculation of how the behavior of kaons differs when matter is swapped out for antimatter, known as direct “CP” symmetry violation...

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