nudge Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 1 minute ago, Bluewolf said: As you mention it... got some blank ones knocking about, just need a few details and we are good to go... Ah so those people signing up to the forum and offering fake papers to buy were always just part of your business??? Should have let me know, wouldn't have marked that as spam if you offered me a cut 1 Quote
Bluewolf Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 42 minutes ago, nudge said: Ah so those people signing up to the forum and offering fake papers to buy were always just part of your business??? Should have let me know, wouldn't have marked that as spam if you offered me a cut Never mix business with pleasure Nudge.... 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted February 16, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted February 16, 2020 Astronomers want public funds for intelligent life search The head of one of the US's national observatories says the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe needs to be taken more seriously. Dr Anthony Beasley told the BBC that there should be greater government support for a field that has been shunned by government research funders for decades. His backing for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (Seti) marks a sea change in attitudes to a field regarded until recently as fringe science. Dr Beasley made his comments at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Seattle. The director of the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville in Virginia said that it was now "time for Seti to come in from the cold and be properly integrated to all other areas of astronomy". Dr Beasley's comments come as one of the private sector funders of Seti research announced that the Very Large Array (VLA) observatory in New Mexico would be joining the effort to detect signs of intelligent life on other worlds. The VLA is a multi-antenna observatory and home to what is regarded as one of the best-equipped telescopes in the world. According to Dr Andrew Siemion, leader of the Breakthrough Listen science team at the University of California, Berkeley's Seti Research Centre, the incorporation of the VLA would increase the chances of finding intelligent life by "10- or even 100-fold". "We are now set for the most comprehensive all-sky survey [for extra-terrestrial intelligence] that has ever been accomplished," he told the BBC. Equally important, according to Dr Siemion, is the credibility that the VLA's involvement brings to the field. "We would like to see Seti transformed from a small cabal of scientists and engineers in California, isolated from academia to one that is as much an integral part of astronomy and astrophysics as any other field of inquiry." Breakthrough Listen is a privately funded project to search for intelligent extraterrestrial communications throughout the universe. The 10-year project began in 2016, funded by the billionaire Yuri Milner to the tune of $100m (£77m). You might also be interested in: US meteorite adds to origins mystery 'Aliens exist and could be here on Earth' Signals from space: Five theories on what they are The UK's Astronomer Royal, Professor Lord Rees, is the chair of the organisation's international advisory group. He told the BBC that, given that the multi-billion pound Large Hadron Collider had not yet achieved its aim of finding sub-atomic particles beyond the current theory of physics, governments should consider modest funding of a few million pounds for Seti. "I'd feel far more confident arguing the case for Seti than for a particle accelerator," he said. "Seti searches are surely worthwhile, despite the heavy odds against success, because the stakes are so high". Nasa once funded the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence to the tune of $10m a year. But the funding was scrapped in 1993 following the introduction of legislation by Senator Richard Bryan, who believed it to be a waste of money. "This hopefully will be the end to the Martian hunting season at the taxpayer's expense," he said at the time. There has been no significant public funding for Seti in the US or anywhere else in the world since, although so-called astrobiology searches for evidence of simple organisms from the chemical signatures in the atmosphere's of other worlds receives increasing backing. At the time, the first few planets orbiting distant stars were discovered, but it was not known if this was the norm. We now know that it is - nearly 4,000 have been discovered to date. It is this development, according to Dr Siemion, that has persuaded many respected scientists that the search for intelligent life on other worlds should be taken more seriously. "Ever since human beings have looked up at the night sky and wondered 'is there anyone out there?' We now have the capacity to answer that question, and perhaps to make a discovery that would rank as the most profound scientific discoveries in the history of humanity". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51223704 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted February 20, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted February 20, 2020 R.I.P. Heather, you are amongst the stars at night now. Heather Couper: Broadcaster and astronomer dies at 70 Dr Couper appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter and The Sky At Night programmes, as well as presenting and producing acclaimed science documentaries. She also hosted radio series including the BBC World Service's long-running Seeing Stars and BBC Radio 4's Cosmic Quest and Starwatch. Her best friend and business partner, Nigel Henbest, said she had died on Wednesday after a short illness. She had been a "charismatic... and passionate communicator of science", he said. "She got people really excited about the Universe and about space - that was her love, her passion in life." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51562165 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted February 25, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted February 25, 2020 R.I.P. Katherine Katherine Johnson: Hidden Figures Nasa mathematician dies at 101 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51619848 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted February 29, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted February 29, 2020 Telescopes detect 'biggest explosion since Big Bang' Scientists have detected evidence of a colossal explosion in space - five times bigger than anything observed before. The huge release of energy is thought to have emanated from a supermassive black hole some 390 million light-years from Earth. The eruption is said to have left a giant dent in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster. Researchers reported their findings in The Astrophysical Journal. "I've tried to put this explosion into human terms and it's really, really difficult," co-author Melanie Johnston-Hollitt told BBC News. "The best I can do is tell you that if this explosion continued to occur over the 240 million years of the outburst - which it probably didn't, but anyway - it'd be like setting off 20 billion, billion megaton TNT explosions every thousandth of a second for the entire 240 million years. So that's incomprehensibly big. Huge." Cosmic vibrations sensed from unusual star merger Stars align for epic European space missions Team plans to film black hole at galaxy's centre Scientists had long thought there was something strange about the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster, which is a giant aggregation containing thousands of individual galaxies intermingled with hot gas (plasma) and dark matter. US and European X-ray telescopes had spied a curious curved edge to it. The speculation was that this might be the wall of a cavity that had been sculpted in its plasma by emissions from a gargantuan black hole in one of the core galaxies. Black holes are famous for gorging on the infalling matter - any gas or even stars that happen to get too close. But they can also expel prodigious amounts of material and energy in the form of radio jets that then slam through the local environment. Scientists at first doubted the black hole explanation, however, because the cavity was so big. It implied the black hole emission would have to have been unimaginably large. But new low-frequency telescope data from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Australia and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India seems to confirm the theory. "This object was actually observed with the Chandra X-ray telescope by a previous team and they saw this bubble in the hot X-ray plasma in the centre of this galaxy cluster, and they said, 'Well, this can't be from one of these energetic outputs because it would be enormous; the scale would be unthinkable'. So, they dismissed that possibility," explained Prof Johnston-Hollitt, who directs the MWA. "But we went back and we observed with low-frequency radio telescopes and discovered that this cavity is filled with radio plasma." The amount of energy required to create the cavity in Ophiuchus far exceeds the previous record-holder - a cluster known by the designation MS 0735+74. "In some ways, this blast is similar to how the eruption of Mount St Helens (volcano) in 1980 ripped off the top of the mountain," said Simona Giacintucci of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, and lead author of the study. Prof Johnston-Hollitt added: "To give it another dimension; [the cavity] is about one-and-a-half-million light-years across. So the hole that was punched in the surrounding space in the hot X-ray plasma would take light itself one-and-a-half-million years to traverse. "It's absolutely enormous the amount of energy that we're talking about here." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51669384 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted February 29, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted February 29, 2020 (edited) ‘Mystery object’ in orbit around Earth shown in new images VIDEO Scientists have released new images of a mysterious object that has joined Earth’s orbit. The object created excitement earlier this week when it was announced that it appeared to be a new “minimoon” that had arrived in Earth’s orbit. But scientists say it is too soon to say for sure what the mystery object is and further research is required. Though it could be the artificial object suggested by other astronomers, it might also be an old satellite or space debris. “Either way this is a very compelling object and needs more data to determine what it is,” Grigori Fedorets, the lead astronomer for the observations, said in a statement. The image was taken on 24 February, soon after 2020 CD3 was first spotted. Astronomers hope to get more images of the object, in an attempt to learn more about it. They will look in particular to understand how bright it is shining and how much light it reflects – if it is especially dim, then it is likely to be a rocky body, but if it is shining brighter it is more likely to be a reflective piece of debris, such as a used rocket booster. “Additional observations to refine its position will help us determine this mystery object’s orbit and its possible origin,” he said. The image was taken on 24 February, soon after 2020 CD3 was first spotted. Astronomers hope to get more images of the object, in an attempt to learn more about it. They will look in particular to understand how bright it is shining and how much light it reflects – if it is especially dim, then it is likely to be a rocky body, but if it is shining brighter it is more likely to be a reflective piece of debris, such as a used rocket booster. “Additional observations to refine its position will help us determine this mystery object’s orbit and its possible origin,” he said. Astronomers expect to find many more such objects as new ways of observing them come online. The Gemini Observatory is part of the NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, which is currently preparing the Vera C Rubin Observatory, which will scan the sky of seeing yet more similar objects. “We expect to find a population of these objects once the Rubin Observatory is operational,” said Mr Fedorets in a statement. “Stay tuned!” https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/mystery-object-in-orbit-around-earth-shown-in-new-images/ar-BB10wFoZ?li=BBoPWjQ&ocid=mailsignout Edited February 29, 2020 by CaaC (John) Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted February 29, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted February 29, 2020 2 minutes ago, nudge said: That's no moon...It's a space station! Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted March 3, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted March 3, 2020 Huge 'space snowman' is two merging stars Researchers have discovered a huge snowman-shaped star with an atmospheric composition never seen before. It is more massive than our Sun but only two-thirds the Earth's diameter. The object is thought to have resulted from the merger of two so-called white dwarf stars that often explode as powerful supernovas. Dr Mark Hollands, of Warwick University, said the team's discovery could help scientists better understand how this process occurs. "The most exciting aspect of this star is that it must have just about failed to explode as a supernova. There aren't that many white dwarfs this massive. "There remains much uncertainty about what kind of stellar systems make it to the supernova stage. Strange as it may sound, measuring the properties of this 'failed' supernova, and future look-alikes are telling us a lot about the pathways to thermonuclear self-annihilation." A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become at the end of their lives when they have used up all their nuclear fuel. It loses most of its atmosphere, leaving a very hot core. The heavier atoms in its atmosphere sink and the lighter ones remain at the surface. Some white dwarfs have almost pure hydrogen or helium atmospheres. But this star, named WDJ0551+4135, has an atmosphere unusually rich in carbon. Dr Hollands said that initially these observations "didn't make any sense. The only way you can explain it is if it was formed through a merger of two white dwarfs". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51707927 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted March 12, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted March 12, 2020 Wasp-76b: The exotic inferno planet where it 'rains iron' Astronomers have observed a distant planet where it probably rains iron. It sounds like a science fiction movie, but this is the nature of some of the extreme worlds we're now discovering. Wasp-76b, as it's known, orbits so close in to its host star, its dayside temperatures exceed 2,400C - hot enough to vaporise metals. The planet's nightside, on the other hand, is 1,000 degrees cooler, allowing those metals to condense and rain out. It's a bizarre environment, according to Dr David Ehrenreich from the University of Geneva. "Imagine instead of a drizzle of water droplets, you have iron droplets splashing down," he told BBC News. The Swiss researcher and colleagues have just published their findings on this strange place in the journal Nature. The team describes how it used the new Espresso instrument at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile to study the chemistry of Wasp-76b in fine detail. FULL REPORT Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted March 13, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted March 13, 2020 Magnetospheric Multiscale Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted March 21, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted March 21, 2020 Coronavirus: Nasa's Moon plans take a hit The fall-out from the coronavirus crisis is even being felt in space. Rising infection rates near key technical centres in Louisiana and Mississippi mean the US space agency is suspending production and testing of its Moon rocket and capsule systems. The Trump administration had set 2024 for the first crewed mission to the lunar surface in 50 years – an already challenging target. That date looks even more optimistic now. FULL REPORT Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted March 29, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted March 29, 2020 NASA picks SpaceX to deliver cargo to the Lunar Gateway In the next few years, SpaceX will fly cargo to an orbit farther than where the ISS is. NASA has awarded the space agency with a contract to deliver critical cargo, scientific experiments and other supplies to the Lunar Gateway, which will serve as the staging point for missions headed to the lunar south pole under the Artemis program. SpaceX is the first commercial provider the agency has chosen for the project, and it's guaranteed at least two missions when the station is up and running in lunar orbit. NASA expects to start building the lunar outpost in 2022. The space company will use a variant of the Dragon capsule -- different from the one it's using for ISS missions -- that can carry more than 5 metric tons of cargo for its Gateway missions. It will fly on top of the company's super-heavy lift launch vehicle, the Falcon Heavy rocket. Unlike current Dragon capsules that only stay docked to the ISS for a few weeks, the Gateway capsule will stay at the station for six to 12 months at a time. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement: "Returning to the Moon and supporting future space exploration requires affordable delivery of significant amounts of cargo. Through our partnership with NASA, SpaceX has been delivering scientific research and critical supplies to the International Space Station since 2012, and we are honoured to continue the work beyond Earth's orbit and carry Artemis cargo to Gateway." https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/nasa-picks-spacex-to-deliver-cargo-to-the-lunar-gateway/ar-BB11QqOH?li=AAnZ9Ug Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 1, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 1, 2020 A hungry black hole may be cosmic 'missing link' A team of astronomers has found what it says is the best evidence yet for an elusive class of black hole. They say the presumed "intermediate-mass" black hole betrayed its existence by tearing apart a wayward star that ventured too close. These medium-sized objects are a long-sought "missing link" in the evolution of the cosmos. Researchers used two X-ray observatories, along with the Hubble telescope, to identify the object. "Intermediate-mass black holes are very elusive objects, and so it is critical to carefully consider and rule out alternative explanations for each candidate, said Dr Dacheng Lin, from the University of New Hampshire in Durham, US, who led the study. "That is what Hubble has allowed us to do for our candidate." In 2006, Nasa's orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite spotted a powerful X-ray flare named 3XMM J215022.4−055108. First-ever black hole image released Cloud may blow black holes' cover New support for black hole theory The nature of the X-ray flare meant that it could be explained by just two scenarios, according to Dr Lin. It was "either a distant (outside our galaxy) intermediate-mass black hole disrupting and swallowing a star or a cooling neutron star in our own galaxy", he told BBC News. Neutron stars are the crushed remnants of an exploded star. What is a black hole? FULL REPORT Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 8, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 8, 2020 Event Horizon Telescope: Blackhole produces twisting jet One year on from publishing the first-ever image of a black hole, the team behind that historic breakthrough is back with a new picture. This time we're being shown the base of a colossal jet of excited gas, or plasma, screaming away from another black hole at near light-speed. The scene was actually in the "background" of the original target. The scientists who operate the Event Horizon Telescope describe the jet in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. They say their studies of the region of space known as 3C 279 will help them better understand the physics that drives behaviour in the vicinity of black holes. FULL REPORT Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 8, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 8, 2020 Pink Moon: Europe illuminated by a lunar light show Stargazers have enjoyed the emergence of what is known as a pink moon in the night skies of Europe. Despite its name, there is not any noticeable colour difference to the full moon - due to reach a peak in the UK at 03:55 BST on Wednesday. The pink supermoon name is a northern Native American reference to an early-blooming wildflower and is first seen across North America as spring begins. Tuesday evening's lunar light show was captured through breathtaking images. Why the Pink Moon isn't actually pink MORE - PHOTO GALLERY X10 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 9, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 9, 2020 BepiColombo: Mercury mission set to wave goodbye to Earth The joint European-Japanese mission to Mercury reaches a key milestone on Friday when it swings past the Earth. The two-in-one BepiColombo space probe is using the gravity of its homeworld to bend a path towards the inner Solar System. It will also bleed off some speed. The mission needs to make sure it isn't travelling too fast when it arrives at Mercury in 2025 or it won't be able to go into orbit around the diminutive world. "It would be so nice if we could take an express transfer and then we'd be there in a few months, but that doesn't work for this mission," Elsa Montagnon, the flight controller in charge of BepiColombo at the European Space Agency (Esa), told BBC News. FULL REPORT Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 12, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 12, 2020 Why does President Trump want to mine on the Moon? President Trump wants the United States to start mining on the Moon for minerals. The US president recently signed an executive order stating America has the right to explore and use resources from outer space. The order also said the US did not see space as a common area for resources and didn't need the permission of international agreements to get started. But why does he want to mine in space? And what are the benefits? Radio 1 Newsbeat has been speaking to a couple of experts who can fill us in. 'Extending life beyond Earth' FULL REPORT Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 13, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 13, 2020 Apollo 13: Enhanced images reveal life on stricken spacecraft Image enhancement techniques have been used to reveal life aboard Nasa's stricken Apollo 13 spacecraft in unprecedented detail. Fifty years ago, the craft suffered an explosion that jeopardised the lives of the three astronauts aboard. Unsurprisingly, given they were locked in a fight for survival, relatively few onboard images were taken. But imaging specialist Andy Saunders created sharp stills from low-quality 16mm film shot by the crew. One of the techniques used by Mr Saunders is known as "stacking", in which many frames are assembled on top of each other to improve the image's detail. Crewed by Nasa astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, Apollo 13 was supposed to be the third American mission to land on the lunar surface. During the journey to the Moon, an explosion in the service module allowed some of the spacecraft's oxygen to leak out into space. FULL REPORT & MORE PHOTOS Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 17, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 17, 2020 (edited) Europe's Cheops telescope begins the study of far-off worlds Europe's newest space telescope has begun ramping up its science operations. Cheops was launched in December to study and characterise planets outside our Solar System. And after a period of commissioning and testing, the orbiting observatory is now ready to fulfil its mission. Early targets for investigation include the so-called "Styrofoam world" Kelt-11b; the "lava planet" 55 Cancri-e; and the "evaporating planet" GJ-436b. Discovered in previous surveys of the sky, Cheops hopes to add to the knowledge of what these and hundreds of other far-flung objects are really like. FULL REPORT Edited April 17, 2020 by CaaC (John) 1 Quote
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ Posted April 18, 2020 Author Subscriber Posted April 18, 2020 (edited) Nasa to launch the first manned mission from the US in a decade Nasa has announced that next month it will launch its first manned mission from US soil in almost 10 years. The rocket and the spacecraft it is carrying are due to take off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on 27 May, taking two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Both the rocket and spacecraft were developed by private company SpaceX. Nasa has been using Russian rockets for manned flights since its space shuttle was retired in 2011. If successful, SpaceX – headed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk - will become the first private firm to send Nasa astronauts into space. The Falcon Nine rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft will take off from the space centre’s historic Pad 39A, the same one used for the Apollo and shuttle missions. VIDEO It will take astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley approximately 24 hours to reach the ISS. One American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are currently aboard the ISS. SpaceX completes emergency crew escape manoeuvre https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52333932 Edited April 18, 2020 by CaaC (John) Quote
Administrator Stan Posted April 20, 2020 Administrator Posted April 20, 2020 You may have seen the stuff about Starlink yesterday - SpaceX satelittes can be visible on a clear night tonight... https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink&fbclid=IwAR2Y4dX_3g8T8t7DkYVLreFLH8UUBEym75d2QEWt8-PLvBNG5YSD6V9IBkg You can obviously change location. 1 Quote
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