Natalie Wolchover writes via Quanta Magazine: As fundamental constants go, the speed of light, c, enjoys all the fame, yet c’s numerical value says nothing about nature; it differs depending on whether it’s measured in meters per second or miles per hour. The fine-structure constant, by contrast, has no dimensions or units. It’s a pure number that shapes the universe to…
Tag: speed of light
What is a supernova?
A supernova is a star’s colossal explosion at the end of its life, potentially outshining its entire galaxy. Read about the causes and types of supernovae here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-supernova…
How the world came to understand black holes
Earlier this month, Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez split the 2020 physics Nobel Prize for decades of work on black holes. Click here to learn more about their monumental achievement and about the history of our understanding of these exotic objects in space. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nobel-prize-3-astrophysicists-black-holess-penrose-genzel-ghez…
New feature found in energy spectrum of universe’s most powerful particles
Particles smaller than an atom hurtle through the universe nearly at the speed of light, blasted into space from something, somewhere, in the cosmos. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-feature-energy-spectrum-universe-powerful.html…
On the trail of causes of radiation events during space flight
Scientists have made significant progress in understanding the sources of radiation events that could impact human space-flight operations. Relativistic electron precipitation (REP) events are instances when high energy electrons move through areas of space at significant fractions of the speed of light. These REP events may pose challenges to human spaceflight, specifically during extravehicular activity (EVA). Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-10-trail-events-space-flight.html…
NASA’s guide to near light speed space travel
Take a couple of minutes and have a little fun with this new video from NASA Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-guide-to-near-light-speed-space-travel-video…
Is it possible to hear meteors?
Can you hear a meteor as it streaks overhead? Some people have reported hearing meteors with a sizzling sound like bacon frying. Scientists now say you can, and explain how it happens. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/whoosh-can-you-hear-a-meteor-streak-past…
Video: NASA’s guide to near-light-speed travel
So, you’ve just put the finishing touches on upgrades to your spaceship, and now it can fly at almost the speed of light. We’re not quite sure how you pulled it off, but congratulations! Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-08-video-nasa-near-light-speed.html…
Fastest star ever seen is moving at 8% the speed of light
In the center of our galaxy, hundreds of stars closely orbit a supermassive black hole. Most of these stars have large enough orbits that their motion is described by Newtonian gravity and Kepler’s laws of motion. But a few orbit so closely that their orbits can only be accurately described by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The star with the smallest…
The fastest star in our galaxy moves at 8 per cent the speed of light
Astronomers have spotted the fastest star ever, whizzing at 8 per cent the speed of light around our galaxy’s supermassive black hole closer than any star we’ve seen before Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251894-the-fastest-star-in-our-galaxy-moves-at-8-per-cent-the-speed-of-light/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…