The James Webb Space Telescope – successor to the Hubble – just passed a series of environmental testing trials, designed to simulate the rigors of its anticipated launch in 2021. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/james-webb-space-telescope-passes-environmental-testing…
Tag: the cosmos
Nobel Prize in physics awarded to 3 scientists for their black hole discoveries
The Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to three scientists for their work involving one of the cosmos’s most mysterious, darkest, secrets — black holes. Source: https://www.livescience.com/nobel-prize-in-physics-2020.html
What’s the matter with the Universe? Scientists have the answer
A team of US astrophysicists has produced one of the most precise measurements ever made of the total amount of matter in the Universe, a longtime mystery of the cosmos. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-universe-scientists.html…
Physicists Argue That Black Holes From the Big Bang Could Be the Dark Matter
Long-time Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot quotes Quanta magazine:
It was an old idea of Stephen Hawking’s: Unseen “primordial” black holes might be the hidden dark matter. It fell out of favor for decades, but a new series of studies has shown how the theory can work… Their very blackness makes it hard to estimate how many black holes inhabit the cosmos and how…
What is a galaxy?
We live in a galaxy called the Milky Way. But there is so much more to know about these grand and glorious star islands in space! Click in here, and prepare to have your mind expanded. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-a-galaxy…
Safe, extra long-life nuclear batteries could soon be a reality
An upgrade on the tech that powers spacecraft across the cosmos could soon be used to create incredibly long-lasting batteries back on Earth Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24733010-700-safe-extra-long-life-nuclear-batteries-could-soon-be-a-reality/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
A Chinese perspective on autumn
In Chinese thought, autumn is with the direction west, considered to be the direction of dreams and visions. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/autumn-equinox-cycles-of-nature-and-chinese-philosophy…
What are white dwarf stars?
White dwarfs are dead stars. A single white dwarf contains roughly the mass of our sun in a volume no bigger than our planet. Our sun will become a white dwarf someday. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/white-dwarfs-are-the-cores-of-dead-stars…
Scientist searches for stellar phosphorus to find potentially habitable exoplanets
A Southwest Research Institute scientist has identified stellar phosphorus as a probable marker in narrowing the search for life in the cosmos. She has developed techniques to identify stars likely to host exoplanets, based on the composition of stars known to have planets, and proposes that upcoming studies target stellar phosphorus to find systems with the greatest probability for hosting life…
Elements of surprise: Neutron stars contribute little, but something’s making gold, research finds
Neutron star collisions do not create the quantity of chemical elements previously assumed, a new analysis of galaxy evolution finds. The research also reveals that current models can’t explain the amount of gold in the cosmos—creating an astronomical mystery. The work has produced a new-look Periodic Table showing the stellar origins of naturally occurring elements from carbon to uranium. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-elements-neutron-stars-contribute-gold.html…