SpaceX looks set to launch yet another Starship prototype over Texas today. Two previous tests ended in explosions. Source: https://www.livescience.com/spacex-starship-test-sn10.html
Tag: explosions
Extinct atom reveals the long-kept secrets of the solar system
Using the extinct niobium-92 atom, ETH researchers have been able to date events in the early solar system with greater precision than before. The study concludes that supernova explosions must have taken place in the birth environment of our sun. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-03-extinct-atom-reveals-long-kept-secrets.html…
Cosmic ray originated in cataclysmic event
Astronomers found a high energy neutrino – a cosmic ray – that apparently originated during a “tidal disruption event,” that is, when a supermassive black hole shredded a distant star. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/origin-cosmic-ray-when-black-hole-shreds-star…
Galaxies have magnetic fields, too! Images here
Until recently, magnetic fields in the outskirts of galaxies were too faint to be detected. Although it’s still not clear what causes them or how they’re maintained, astronomers have started to create images of their observations of galaxies’ magnetic fields producing beautiful aurora-like effects. See them here. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/images-of-magnetic-fields-in-galaxies…
Rare star’s giant gamma-ray burst GRB 200415A captured close to our home galaxy
Earth gets blasted by mild short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) most days. But sometimes, a giant flare like GRB 200415A arrives at our galaxy, sweeping along energy that dwarfs our sun. In fact, the most powerful explosions in the universe are gamma-ray bursts. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-rare-star-giant-gamma-ray-grb.html…
Why have so few Milky Way supernovae been observed over the last millennium?
Our galaxy hosts supernovae explosions a few times every century, and yet it’s been hundreds of years since the last observable one. New research explains why: It’s a combination of dust, distance and dumb luck. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-milky-supernovae-millennium.html…
Is a solar flare the same thing as a CME?
Solar Cycle 25 is here, and that means – in the years ahead – more solar flares and more coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. People sometimes use the words interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing. Here’s the difference. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/is-a-solar-flare-the-same-thing-as-a-cme…
10 times the US Capital weathered political violence
From violent attacks on politicians, to a raging fire, to explosions, to indiscriminate shooting, Washington D.C. has seen its share of darkness. Source: https://www.livescience.com/political-violence-us-capital.html
Artificial intelligence classifies supernova explosions with unprecedented accuracy
Artificial intelligence is classifying real supernova explosions without the traditional use of spectra, thanks to a team of astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. The complete data sets and resulting classifications are publicly available for open use. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-artificial-intelligence-supernova-explosions-unprecedented.html…
Watch: 25 years of the sun
This video, merging more than 2 decades of footage from SOHO cameras, captures thousands of sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections breaking out from the sun. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sun-25-years-video-solar-flare-cme-sunspot…