precession tagged posts

A precession driven flow is supposed to power magnetic field self-excitation in a planned liquid metal dynamo experiment at HZDR. Credit: HZDR

Precession sufficient to generate a magnetic field. Flows of molten metal can generate magnetic fields. This dynamo effect creates cosmic magnetic fields, like those found on planets, moons and even asteroids. Over the coming years, a globally unique experiment, in which a steel drum containing several tons of liquid sodium rotates around two axes, is intended to demonstrate this effect. It will be carried out in the new DRESDYN facility at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), an independent German research laboratory.

Similarly to how a bicycle dynamo converts motion into electricity, moving conductive fluids can generate magnetic field...

NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft operating in a new mission profile called K2. Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-08-astronomers-tenth-transiting-tatooine.html#jCp

Astronomers at the 29th International Astronomical Union General Assembly will announce on Aug 14 the discovery of a new transiting “circumbinary” planet, bringing the number of such known planets into double digits. A circumbinary planet orbits 2 stars, and like the fictional planet “Tatooine” from Star Wars, this planet has two suns in its sky. The discovery marks an important milestone and comes only 4 years after the first Kepler circumbinary planet was detected...