Young, nearby supernova dazzles scientists
California astronomers have found the closest, brightest supernova of its kind in 25 years, catching the glimmer of a tiny self-destructing star a mere 21 million light years from Earth and soon visible to amateur skywatchers.
The discovery, announced on Wednesday, was made in what was believed to be the first hours of the rare cosmic explosion using a special telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego and powerful supercomputers at a government laboratory in Berkeley.
The detection so early of a supernova so near has created a worldwide stir among astronomers, who are clamoring to observe it with every telescope at their disposal, including the giant Hubble Space Telescope.
Scientists behind the discovery at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley say the extraordinary phenomenon -- labeled by the rather obscure designation PTF 11kly -- will likely become the most-studied supernova in history.
"It is an instant cosmic classic," said Peter Nugent, the senior scientist at UC Berkeley who first spotted it.
PTF 11kly occurred in the Pinwheel Galaxy, located in the Ursa Major constellation, better known as the Big Dipper. At a distance of roughly 21 million light years, that puts it, on a cosmic scale, practically "in our backyard," Nugent said.
By comparison, most supernova found with the 48-inch Palomar telescope are about 1 billion light years away and far too faint for the general public to see, Nugent said.
Initially detected on August 24, the PTF 11kly has literally grown brighter by the minute and was already 20 times more luminous in just one day.
It is expected to reach its peak sometime between September 9 and 12, when it will become visible to stargazers using a good pair of binoculars or small telescope.
It will appear, blueish-white, just above and to the left of the last two stars in the Big Dipper handle.
"There are billions of stars in a galaxy. This supernova will outshine them all this weekend," Nugent told Reuters.
Supernovae of this type, classified as a "Type 1a" event, occur when a super-dense white dwarf star, about the size of Earth but containing somewhat more mass than our own sun, explodes like a gargantuan thermonuclear bomb.
The blast hurls matter in all directions at nearly one-tenth the speed of light -- matter that ultimately will form the building blocks of other stars and planets.
Such events, accounting for about one in five of all supernovae, are also used by scientists in measuring the expansion of the universe.
Similar supernovae are known to have occurred in the Pinwheel Galaxy at least three times before -- in 1909, 1951 and 1970. But instruments available to observe this one are far more sophisticated, and its early detection is giving scientists an unprecedented glimpse of such phenomena.
For astronomers, the royal straight flush of supernovae are those occurring in our own galaxy, which last happened in 1572 and was visible with the naked eye for months, Nugent said.
Records from antiquity indicate that an even more spectacular supernova in the Milky Way lit up the sky in 1006 A.D., Nugent said.
Source: Reuters
The WOW Science Thread
Re: The WOW Science Thread
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
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sandman67
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Re: The WOW Science Thread
the brain bender is that we are looking at something that happened 21 million years ago..... wow indeed.
Anyways....good news bad news
Good news,,,,more evolutionary link evidence about our hominid ancestors
http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2011/09/08/sk ... 9s-theory/
Bad News.... Most Believe Prayer Heals, 45 Percent Believe in Creationism
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09 ... z1XRrXHUKV
when most people prefer to believe in childish fantasys rather than reality you get Rick Perry:
Rickky s governor of Texas where there is a massive drought. Rikky and his chums pray fervently for rain, and Rikky issues a proclomation tellng Texans to pray wth him.
Reeeeesult? Drought gets worse.
Rikky decides that aint enough and so he organises a mass prayer rally to pray to his invisible friend with 30,000 other fairy tale fans. Oh how they pray, cry, wave their arms about and beg Jeebus for help.
Reeeeesult? Massive fires break out burning down a big part of Texas. And as Rikky thought it was more important to pray than pay (firefighters) there aint anyone to put the fires out.
Conclusions:
1) Prayer doesnt work and god doesnt exist......or he just hates Rikky, his god bothering mates, and the state of Texas.
2) Reality kicks make believe in the arse every time. Over and over and over again.
Anyways....good news bad news
Good news,,,,more evolutionary link evidence about our hominid ancestors
Its a bit of an overplayed headline but the full article, with video, can be found hereSkeletal Remains Prove Darwin’s Theory
Skeletal remains found in a South African cave may yield new clues to human development and answer key questions of the evolution of the human lineage, according to a series of papers released today in Science magazine co-written by a Texas A&M University anthropology professor.
http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2011/09/08/sk ... 9s-theory/
Bad News.... Most Believe Prayer Heals, 45 Percent Believe in Creationism
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09 ... z1XRrXHUKV
when most people prefer to believe in childish fantasys rather than reality you get Rick Perry:
Rickky s governor of Texas where there is a massive drought. Rikky and his chums pray fervently for rain, and Rikky issues a proclomation tellng Texans to pray wth him.
Reeeeesult? Drought gets worse.
Rikky decides that aint enough and so he organises a mass prayer rally to pray to his invisible friend with 30,000 other fairy tale fans. Oh how they pray, cry, wave their arms about and beg Jeebus for help.
Reeeeesult? Massive fires break out burning down a big part of Texas. And as Rikky thought it was more important to pray than pay (firefighters) there aint anyone to put the fires out.
Conclusions:
1) Prayer doesnt work and god doesnt exist......or he just hates Rikky, his god bothering mates, and the state of Texas.
2) Reality kicks make believe in the arse every time. Over and over and over again.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
Re: The WOW Science Thread
A group of scientists and engineers is working on an ambitious project to revive a unique UK satellite - still in orbit after almost 40 years.
When the Prospero spacecraft was launched atop a Black Arrow rocket on 28 October 1971, it marked the end of an era. A very short era.
Prospero was the first UK satellite to be launched on a UK launch vehicle; it would also be the last.
Ministers had cancelled the rocket project in the run up to the flight.
However, as the Black Arrow was ready, the programme team decided to go-ahead anyway. Prospero was blasted into orbit from the remote Woomera base in the Australian desert. It turns out, the satellite is still up there.
Carrying a series of experiments to investigate the effects of the space environment, the satellite operated successfully until 1973 and was contacted annually until 1996.
Now, a team led by PhD student Roger Duthie from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey is hoping to re-establish communications in time for the satellite's 40th anniversary.
"First, we have to re-engineer the ground segment from knowledge lost, then test the communications to see if it's still alive," Duthie told the Space Boffins podcast.
"Then we can have drinks and champagne!"
But none of this is easy (apart from maybe the champagne bit). The satellite was built by Space Department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough but the department was broken up long ago and the codes to contact Prospero were missing.
"The technical reports made in the 1970s were thought to have been lost," explained Duthie. "We talked to the people involved in Prospero, searched through dusty boxes in attics and tried the library at Farnborough."
Eventually they discovered the codes typed on a piece of paper in the National Archives at Kew, London.
But even with the codes, the engineers still have to build equipment to "talk" to the satellite and win approval from the broadcast regulator Ofcom to use Prospero's radio frequencies - these days being employed by other satellite operators.
Once this "ground segment" is complete, the plan is to test the technology to see if it is still possible to communicate with Prospero before attempting any public demonstration. If the satellite is still alive, some of the experiments might even be working.
"It's an artefact of British engineering; we should find out how it's performing," said Duthie.
If it works, Duthie's team can call themselves the world's first astro-archaeologists.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14783135
When the Prospero spacecraft was launched atop a Black Arrow rocket on 28 October 1971, it marked the end of an era. A very short era.
Prospero was the first UK satellite to be launched on a UK launch vehicle; it would also be the last.
Ministers had cancelled the rocket project in the run up to the flight.
However, as the Black Arrow was ready, the programme team decided to go-ahead anyway. Prospero was blasted into orbit from the remote Woomera base in the Australian desert. It turns out, the satellite is still up there.
Carrying a series of experiments to investigate the effects of the space environment, the satellite operated successfully until 1973 and was contacted annually until 1996.
Now, a team led by PhD student Roger Duthie from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey is hoping to re-establish communications in time for the satellite's 40th anniversary.
"First, we have to re-engineer the ground segment from knowledge lost, then test the communications to see if it's still alive," Duthie told the Space Boffins podcast.
"Then we can have drinks and champagne!"
But none of this is easy (apart from maybe the champagne bit). The satellite was built by Space Department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough but the department was broken up long ago and the codes to contact Prospero were missing.
"The technical reports made in the 1970s were thought to have been lost," explained Duthie. "We talked to the people involved in Prospero, searched through dusty boxes in attics and tried the library at Farnborough."
Eventually they discovered the codes typed on a piece of paper in the National Archives at Kew, London.
But even with the codes, the engineers still have to build equipment to "talk" to the satellite and win approval from the broadcast regulator Ofcom to use Prospero's radio frequencies - these days being employed by other satellite operators.
Once this "ground segment" is complete, the plan is to test the technology to see if it is still possible to communicate with Prospero before attempting any public demonstration. If the satellite is still alive, some of the experiments might even be working.
"It's an artefact of British engineering; we should find out how it's performing," said Duthie.
If it works, Duthie's team can call themselves the world's first astro-archaeologists.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14783135
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sandman67
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Re: The WOW Science Thread
Steve
what happended with the Arianne rockets? Are they stll active or has that bit the dust as well.
Love that about it being found on a scrap of paper in a dusty corner of the Archives.
what happended with the Arianne rockets? Are they stll active or has that bit the dust as well.
Love that about it being found on a scrap of paper in a dusty corner of the Archives.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
Re: The WOW Science Thread
They're still going strong SM but the UK isn't part of that anymore. They had their 200th launch earlier this year:What happended with the Arianne rockets?
http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v200/1 ... index.html
Re: The WOW Science Thread
Here's a pretty amazing photo of the International Space Station and the shuttle Atlantis crossing the face of the sun last year taken by a French astronomer. Apparently you only get 0.7 of a second to take a picture like that.
- Attachments
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- iss_atlantis_2010_crop-580x435.jpg (32.46 KiB) Viewed 1490 times
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- iss_atlantis_2010_25-580x580.jpg (34.89 KiB) Viewed 1490 times
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sandman67
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Re: The WOW Science Thread
talking of old clunker satellites
ITS RAINING TIN....ALLEJUIAH...ITS RAINING TIN
ITS RAINING TIN....ALLEJUIAH...ITS RAINING TIN
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
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pharvey
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Re: The WOW Science Thread
Photo's are superb Steve - well suited to the ''WOW'' thread!!
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
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pharvey
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Re: The WOW Science Thread
Nasa unveils new launcher design for Mars missions
Nasa has unveiled plans for the “most powerful rocket in history” which it hopes will take men to Mars and beyond.
The massive rocket will supersede the space shuttle, which ended its final mission this summer, and will cost around $18 billion (£11bn) to develop over the next six years.
It will have its first unmanned test flight in 2017 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the first manned flight is expected in 2021
Charles Bolden, the head of Nasa and a former space shuttle pilot, said: “This is a great day for Nasa and the nation. While I was proud to fly in the space shuttle, tomorrow’s explorers will dream of one day walking on Mars.
“President Obama has challenged us to be bold and dream big, and that’s exactly what we do.”
The new rocket, known as the Space Launch System (SLS), is more powerful than the giant Saturn V rockets that launched astronauts to the Moon.
Its initial design would allow it to take 140,000 pounds of cargo into orbit and that could eventually double with later modifications. The space shuttle could carry only about 50,000 pounds.
The extra power will allow Nasa to put into orbit everything it needs to prepare for a mission into deep space and the Red Planet. On top of the rocket will sit the “Orion” capsule which is being developed to carry astronauts.
Mr Obama has called for a human expedition to an asteroid by 2025, and a journey to Mars in the 2030s. But the rocket announcement follows a year long tussle with Congress over the project’s cost and scope, with some estimates putting the eventual bill for the project at $62 billion.
Amid the delays senior astronauts criticised the Obama administration for being too timid. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, warned America was on a “downhill slide to mediocrity.”
Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, called the new project “a monster rocket”.
He said: “This allows Nasa to get out beyond lower earth orbit and start to explore the heavens, which is the job Nasa has always been tasked to do. In the bosom of America there is a yearning for us to explore.”
In some ways the move marks a return to the technology used nearly half a century ago to get to the Moon, with disposable rockets powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, instead of a reusable space shuttle.
Stanford University professor Scott Hubbard, a former Nasa senior manager, said: “It’s back to the future.”
Nasa is hoping to save money for the project by using private companies to supply the International Space Station and renting seats for astronauts on Russian Soyuz rockets while it concentrates on its longer term goal of reaching Mars.
Nasa has unveiled plans for the “most powerful rocket in history” which it hopes will take men to Mars and beyond.
The massive rocket will supersede the space shuttle, which ended its final mission this summer, and will cost around $18 billion (£11bn) to develop over the next six years.
It will have its first unmanned test flight in 2017 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the first manned flight is expected in 2021
Charles Bolden, the head of Nasa and a former space shuttle pilot, said: “This is a great day for Nasa and the nation. While I was proud to fly in the space shuttle, tomorrow’s explorers will dream of one day walking on Mars.
“President Obama has challenged us to be bold and dream big, and that’s exactly what we do.”
The new rocket, known as the Space Launch System (SLS), is more powerful than the giant Saturn V rockets that launched astronauts to the Moon.
Its initial design would allow it to take 140,000 pounds of cargo into orbit and that could eventually double with later modifications. The space shuttle could carry only about 50,000 pounds.
The extra power will allow Nasa to put into orbit everything it needs to prepare for a mission into deep space and the Red Planet. On top of the rocket will sit the “Orion” capsule which is being developed to carry astronauts.
Mr Obama has called for a human expedition to an asteroid by 2025, and a journey to Mars in the 2030s. But the rocket announcement follows a year long tussle with Congress over the project’s cost and scope, with some estimates putting the eventual bill for the project at $62 billion.
Amid the delays senior astronauts criticised the Obama administration for being too timid. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, warned America was on a “downhill slide to mediocrity.”
Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, called the new project “a monster rocket”.
He said: “This allows Nasa to get out beyond lower earth orbit and start to explore the heavens, which is the job Nasa has always been tasked to do. In the bosom of America there is a yearning for us to explore.”
In some ways the move marks a return to the technology used nearly half a century ago to get to the Moon, with disposable rockets powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, instead of a reusable space shuttle.
Stanford University professor Scott Hubbard, a former Nasa senior manager, said: “It’s back to the future.”
Nasa is hoping to save money for the project by using private companies to supply the International Space Station and renting seats for astronauts on Russian Soyuz rockets while it concentrates on its longer term goal of reaching Mars.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
Re: The WOW Science Thread
It's a real-life Tatooine. A spectacle made popular by the "Star Wars" saga — a planet with two suns — has now been confirmed in space for the first time, astronomers revealed.
Scientists using NASA's Kepler space telescope captured details of a giant planet in orbit around the pair of binary stars that make up the Kepler-16 system, which is about 200 light-years away.
"This discovery is stunning," said study co-author Alan Boss at the Carnegie Institute in Washington. "Once again, what used to be science fiction has turned into reality."
Video and full story here:
http://www.space.com/12963-tatooine-pla ... r-16b.html
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
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sandman67
- Rock Star
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- Location: I thought you had the map?
Re: The WOW Science Thread
An Apple A Day and all that
seems eatng apples n pears is good for you
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-a ... r-day.html
seems eatng apples n pears is good for you
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-a ... r-day.html
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
Re: The WOW Science Thread
All rather weird SM
I'm a stroke victim and as such on Warfarin (rat poison) medication
So according to the health gurus I'm not allowed green products especially veg, very little meat but plenty of fish and seafood, and no spices
So my parents were wrong when they said 'eat up your greens and roast beef' and you'll be a strong lad
Oh well, time for the 'apple and pears'. The pearly kings always did live to a good old ripe age
ps. My aging reliable old fashioned doctor said 'All in moderation my man'. Great, but I'm not sure of the meaning of the word moderation
I'm a stroke victim and as such on Warfarin (rat poison) medication
So according to the health gurus I'm not allowed green products especially veg, very little meat but plenty of fish and seafood, and no spices
So my parents were wrong when they said 'eat up your greens and roast beef' and you'll be a strong lad
Oh well, time for the 'apple and pears'. The pearly kings always did live to a good old ripe age
ps. My aging reliable old fashioned doctor said 'All in moderation my man'. Great, but I'm not sure of the meaning of the word moderation
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
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sandman67
- Rock Star
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- Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:11 pm
- Location: I thought you had the map?
Re: The WOW Science Thread
tonights homework assignment kids is "Are Italian Judicial Bodies Totally Retarded?"
Scientists in the dock over L'Aquila earthquake
full report and video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/n ... 593123.stm
so....sod the fact your clownshoes corrupt Presidente is a PR disaster on legs, shags prostitutes rather than attending meetings, molests at least two underage girls, and snorts coke off blousy lasses asses....sod investigatng and prosecuting Pope Nazi for running a global paedophile ring and preverting the course of justice......lets prosecute some scientsts for manslaughter for not being Mystic Meg, not listening to some quack and his half baked theory that is widely discredited by actual geologists and siesmologsts, not pandering to the press, etc etc.
Scientists in the dock over L'Aquila earthquake
full report and video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/n ... 593123.stm
so....sod the fact your clownshoes corrupt Presidente is a PR disaster on legs, shags prostitutes rather than attending meetings, molests at least two underage girls, and snorts coke off blousy lasses asses....sod investigatng and prosecuting Pope Nazi for running a global paedophile ring and preverting the course of justice......lets prosecute some scientsts for manslaughter for not being Mystic Meg, not listening to some quack and his half baked theory that is widely discredited by actual geologists and siesmologsts, not pandering to the press, etc etc.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
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pharvey
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- Posts: 15859
- Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:21 am
- Location: Sir Fynwy - God's Country
Re: The WOW Science Thread
^^ Mind blowing...... 
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
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pharvey
- Moderator
- Posts: 15859
- Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:21 am
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Re: The WOW Science Thread
Maybe not WOW, but pretty bloody clever....
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.