social.sokoll.com
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin discovered that stars are primarily made of hydrogen and helium, at a time when astronomers thought that the Sun and the Earth had no significant elemental differences. She proposed that hydrogen wasn’t only more common, but that it was a million times more common.#women #science #history #astronomy
Italy’s Borexino detector has confirmed a decades-old theory, finding the first-ever evidence of a carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle that produces neutrinos in our Sun.#astronomy #science
Italy’s Borexino detector has confirmed a decades-old theory, finding the first-ever evidence of a carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle that produces neutrinos in our Sun. The researchers call …www.slashgear.com
More woes from Arecibo :
#Science
#AstronomyGood morning,
I’m reaching out to you with some disheartening news. We had another
cable break at the Arecibo Observatory Friday night. We will be
notifying the broader community later this morning, but I wanted you to
hear it first from us.
A main cable that supports the Arecibo Observatory broke Friday at about
7:40 p.m. Puerto Rico time.
Unlike the auxiliary cable that failed on Aug. 10, this main cable did
not slip out of its socket. It broke and fell onto the reflector dish
below causing additional damage to the dish and other nearby cables. No
one was hurt and engineers are already working to determine the best way
to stabilize the structure.
A safety zone has been set up around the dish out of an abundance of
caution and only personnel needed to respond to the incident are allowed
onsite.
We haven’t determined why the main cable broke, but we suspect it is
related to the extra load the remaining cables have been carrying since
August. A monitoring team has been closely watching all the cables and
platform since then as part of the facility’s safety and temporary
emergency repair plan. We had noted and were tracking broken wires on
the main cable that failed Friday. As timing would have it, we were
waiting for a team of engineers scheduled to arrive Tuesday, Nov. 10,
who were expected to begin temporary emergency repairs related to the
August incident.
This is certainly not what we wanted to see, but the important thing is
that no one got hurt. We have been thoughtful in our evaluation and
prioritized safety in planning for the repairs that were supposed to
begin Tuesday. Now this. There is much uncertainty until we can
stabilize the structure. It has our full attention and we are working
with our partners and stakeholders. We are evaluating the situation and
hope to have more to share soon.
We’ve been working with the engineering firms WSP, Thornton Thomasetti
and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. since Friday night to come up
with a strategy to address the new break. You’ll remember we retained
these firms in September in connection with the first cable failure. We
have also been in touch with NSF and they know the situation is urgent.
Our current plan is to reduce the tension in the existing cables at
tower 4 and install steel reinforcements to temporarily alleviate some
of the additional load that is being distributed among the remaining
cables. We are mobilizing to do the work as quickly as possible. We are
also attempting to expedite the arrival of two new cables that were
already on order. That’s the current plan pending further evaluation,
which will be taking place over the next few days.
We also have a supplemental funding request pending NSF approval to make
temporary repairs related for the original break. There is no cost
estimate for the new repairs that will be needed at this time. We will
continue to update you on our progress.
I know 2020 has been a tremendously challenging year. This is a setback.
But we remain committed to getting the facility back online.
Thanks,
Francisco Cordova
Director-Arecibo Observatory
Good morning,
I’m reaching out to you with some disheartening news. We had another
cable break at the Arecibo Observatory Friday night. We will be
notifying the broader community later this morning, but I wanted you to
hear it first from us.
A main cable that supports the Arecibo Observatory broke Friday at about
7:40 p.m. Puerto Rico time.
Unlike the auxiliary cable that failed on Aug. 10, this main cable did
not slip out of its socket. It broke and fell onto the reflector dish
below causing additional damage to the dish and other nearby cables. No
one was hurt and engineers are already working to determine the best way
to stabilize the structure.
A safety zone has been set up around the dish out of an abundance of
caution and only personnel needed to respond to the incident are allowed
onsite.
We haven’t determined why the main cable broke, but we suspect it is
related to the extra load the remaining cables have been carrying since
August. A monitoring team has been closely watching all the cables and
platform since then as part of the facility’s safety and temporary
emergency repair plan. We had noted and were tracking broken wires on
the main cable that failed Friday. As timing would have it, we were
waiting for a team of engineers scheduled to arrive Tuesday, Nov. 10,
who were expected to begin temporary emergency repairs related to the
August incident.
This is certainly not what we wanted to see, but the important thing is
that no one got hurt. We have been thoughtful in our evaluation and
prioritized safety in planning for the repairs that were supposed to
begin Tuesday. Now this. There is much uncertainty until we can
stabilize the structure. It has our full attention and we are working
with our partners and stakeholders. We are evaluating the situation and
hope to have more to share soon.
We’ve been working with the engineering firms WSP, Thornton Thomasetti
and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. since Friday night to come up
with a strategy to address the new break. You’ll remember we retained
these firms in September in connection with the first cable failure. We
have also been in touch with NSF and they know the situation is urgent.
Our current plan is to reduce the tension in the existing cables at
tower 4 and install steel reinforcements to temporarily alleviate some
of the additional load that is being distributed among the remaining
cables. We are mobilizing to do the work as quickly as possible. We are
also attempting to expedite the arrival of two new cables that were
already on order. That’s the current plan pending further evaluation,
which will be taking place over the next few days.
We also have a supplemental funding request pending NSF approval to make
temporary repairs related for the original break. There is no cost
estimate for the new repairs that will be needed at this time. We will
continue to update you on our progress.
I know 2020 has been a tremendously challenging year. This is a setback.
But we remain committed to getting the facility back online.
Thanks,
Francisco Cordova
Director-Arecibo Observatory
Broken Cable Damages Arecibo Observatory
reshare from @Rhysy
Official email :Dear AO Users,
We have unfortunate news to share with the AO community. Early yesterday morning one of the auxiliary cables at tower 4 of the Arecibo Observatory experienced a failure.
Fortunately, there were no resulting injuries to our team. The cable failure damaged 250 panels of the primary dish, as well as 6-8 panels on the Gregorian Dome.
Ouch !
#Astronomy
#Arecibo #Observatory #Science #Space
Broken Cable Damages Arecibo Observatory
reshare from @Rhysy
Official email :Dear AO Users,
We have unfortunate news to share with the AO community. Early yesterday morning one of the auxiliary cables at tower 4 of the Arecibo Observatory experienced a failure.
Fortunately, there were no resulting injuries to our team. The cable failure damaged 250 panels of the primary dish, as well as 6-8 panels on the Gregorian Dome.
Ouch !
#Astronomy
#Arecibo #Observatory #Science #Space
reshare from @Rhysy
Official email :Dear AO Users,
We have unfortunate news to share with the AO community. Early yesterday morning one of the auxiliary cables at tower 4 of the Arecibo Observatory experienced a failure.
Fortunately, there were no resulting injuries to our team. The cable failure damaged 250 panels of the primary dish, as well as 6-8 panels on the Gregorian Dome.
Ouch !
#Astronomy
Official email :Dear AO Users,Ouch !
We have unfortunate news to share with the AO community. Early yesterday morning one of the auxiliary cables at tower 4 of the Arecibo Observatory experienced a failure.
Fortunately, there were no resulting injuries to our team. The cable failure damaged 250 panels of the primary dish, as well as 6-8 panels on the Gregorian Dome.
#Astronomy
Dear AO Users,Ouch !
We have unfortunate news to share with the AO community. Early yesterday morning one of the auxiliary cables at tower 4 of the Arecibo Observatory experienced a failure.
Fortunately, there were no resulting injuries to our team. The cable failure damaged 250 panels of the primary dish, as well as 6-8 panels on the Gregorian Dome.
A #Waterspout in #Florida
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200517.html
#APOD
You thought that yoghurt in the back of fridge was time-expired? Behold X-ray boffinry YEARS past its design-lifewww.theregister.co.uk
The past is a foreign country indeed.
#Astronomy
#History
#Science
#EqualityFinding the missing world required maths — very complex maths, and that's where Williams and other mathematicians came on the scene. Before the invention of calculators, so-called human computers — often women, since it was unglamorous work — did all the complex math that astronomers required, by hand. For Lowell's research, Williams calculated where he should look for how large of a missing object, all based on the discrepancies in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus.
Lowell never spotted Pluto, and the quest languished for a few years before Tombaugh picked up the work. And then, there it was: In 1930, those calculations paid off when Tombaugh caught sight of an object moving through the solar system. "There's a specific result that came of her calculations, so that's pretty exciting," Clark said.
But Williams wasn't there to see it, Clark said. In 1922, Williams had married and Lowell's widow had fired her because she felt it inappropriate to employ a married woman. The pair took jobs at a Harvard observatory in Jamaica. In 1935, Williams was widowed herself and moved to New Hampshire, where she died in poverty.Meet the unknown female mathematician whose calculations helped discover Pluto
Astronomers are rediscovering how calculations made by the 'human computer' Elizabeth Williams contributed to the first observations of Pluto 90 years ago.www.space.com
Finding the missing world required maths — very complex maths, and that's where Williams and other mathematicians came on the scene. Before the invention of calculators, so-called human computers — often women, since it was unglamorous work — did all the complex math that astronomers required, by hand. For Lowell's research, Williams calculated where he should look for how large of a missing object, all based on the discrepancies in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus.
Lowell never spotted Pluto, and the quest languished for a few years before Tombaugh picked up the work. And then, there it was: In 1930, those calculations paid off when Tombaugh caught sight of an object moving through the solar system. "There's a specific result that came of her calculations, so that's pretty exciting," Clark said.
But Williams wasn't there to see it, Clark said. In 1922, Williams had married and Lowell's widow had fired her because she felt it inappropriate to employ a married woman. The pair took jobs at a Harvard observatory in Jamaica. In 1935, Williams was widowed herself and moved to New Hampshire, where she died in poverty.
Astronomers are rediscovering how calculations made by the 'human computer' Elizabeth Williams contributed to the first observations of Pluto 90 years ago.www.space.com
"Don't you ever clean up around here? Some of this dust is older than the planet!"
SERIOUSLY.
Geoboffins find the oldest matter on Earth: Ancient stardust created before the Solar System formed • The Register
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/14/oldest_matter_on_earth/
Capsule summary: Experiments studying samples from the Murchison meteorite have found dust that had to have formed around a different star older than ours.
#science #astronomy #spaceGeoboffins find the oldest matter on Earth: Ancient stardust created before the Solar System formed
That's way, way, way older than the dust off your oldest PCwww.theregister.co.uk
That's way, way, way older than the dust off your oldest PCwww.theregister.co.uk
Just had my first rejection of a paper. I don't actually know why it was rejected, because the referee's lengthy comments contain basically no information besides, "I don't find this result convincing". That's extremely frustrating. We gave a clearly defined objective procedure explaining why our detections are real and not the result of noise. To then simply say, "I don't believe you" without giving any hint of a reason is extremely unprofessional and belittles the work that went into this. It also denies us any way to argue against it. Readers are of course always free to disagree for any reason, but a referee ought to justify their reasons - if they can't do this, then they should accept the importance of people publishing results they disagree with.
I have no idea why this result is in any way controversial. All it does is find a signature of galaxy evolution that's consistent with known processes, other observations, and theoretical models. Baffles the heck out of me. Not sure what we're gonna do next - expect more rants pending conversations with co-authors.
#Science
#Astronomy
Infrequent flyer
A question sent in to New Scientist reads,"My wife told me I should get out more. I replied that I am just about to celebrate my 66th free trip around the sun. Can anyone tell me how far I have traveled around the galaxy during that time?"All of the information required to answer this question to a ballpark level of accuracy — along with a little elementary arithmetic — can be found in the Galaxy Song from Monty Python's comedy film The Meaning Of Life."We're thirty thousand light-years from galactic central point,So the circumference of the Earth's orbit is (roughly) pi times two times thirty thousand light years. That's approximately 188,495 light years. And we take 200 million years to complete an orbit, which means each year we cover 188,495/200,000,000 light years, which is 0.00094 light years.
We go 'round every two hundred million years..."
So how far is a light-year?"As fast as it can go, the speed of light, you know,Twelve million is actually a bit high. C is precisely 299792458 meters per second¹, which is 186,282.4 miles per second, and that works out to 11,176,943 miles per minute. 186,282.4 miles times 86400 seconds per day times 365.24 days per year gives 5,878,464,425,192.5 miles to the light year. Each year we travel 0.00094 of those around the galaxy, which is 5,525,756,559.7 miles, or just over five and a half trillion miles. Multiply by 66 and you get 364,699,932,939 miles, give or take a few hundred yards.
Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is"
So there's your galactic travel — call it 364.7 trillion miles over 66 years. I'm pretty certain that many frequent flyer miles upgrades you to a first-class seat.
#science #astronomy #MontyPython
¹ Yes, PRECISELY 299792458 meters per second. Because that's how we now define the meter: 1/299,792,458 of the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in free space in one second.
"My wife told me I should get out more. I replied that I am just about to celebrate my 66th free trip around the sun. Can anyone tell me how far I have traveled around the galaxy during that time?"All of the information required to answer this question to a ballpark level of accuracy — along with a little elementary arithmetic — can be found in the Galaxy Song from Monty Python's comedy film The Meaning Of Life.
"We're thirty thousand light-years from galactic central point,So the circumference of the Earth's orbit is (roughly) pi times two times thirty thousand light years. That's approximately 188,495 light years. And we take 200 million years to complete an orbit, which means each year we cover 188,495/200,000,000 light years, which is 0.00094 light years.
We go 'round every two hundred million years..."
"As fast as it can go, the speed of light, you know,Twelve million is actually a bit high. C is precisely 299792458 meters per second¹, which is 186,282.4 miles per second, and that works out to 11,176,943 miles per minute. 186,282.4 miles times 86400 seconds per day times 365.24 days per year gives 5,878,464,425,192.5 miles to the light year. Each year we travel 0.00094 of those around the galaxy, which is 5,525,756,559.7 miles, or just over five and a half trillion miles. Multiply by 66 and you get 364,699,932,939 miles, give or take a few hundred yards.
Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is"
from the New Horizons flyby of 2014 MU69 are out, based on 10% of the data sent back by the probe so far.For many at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, January 1 this year didn't mean a New Year's celebration. Instead, it meant the first arrival of data from New Horizons' visit to a small Kuiper Belt object. But, like its earlier flyby of Pluto, the probe was instructed to grab all the data it could and deal with getting it back to Earth later. The full set of everything New Horizons captured won't be available for more than a year yet. But with 10 percent of the total cache in hand, researchers decided they had enough to do the first analysis of 2014 MU69.#Astronomy #Space #NewHorizons #Exploration #2014MU69 #UltimaThule #KuiperBeltObjects
[...]
Overall, 2014 MU69 looks exactly like what we'd hope for: a world that underwent some major changes immediately after its formation but has since become static, preserving its state largely as it was billions of years ago. Hopefully, more details on that state are sitting in storage on New Horizons. Because we're not likely to send something back to 2014 MU69 any time soon.First results from New Horizons’ time in the Kuiper Belt
Only about 10 percent of the data has been transmitted so far, but it says a lot.arstechnica.com
For many at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, January 1 this year didn't mean a New Year's celebration. Instead, it meant the first arrival of data from New Horizons' visit to a small Kuiper Belt object. But, like its earlier flyby of Pluto, the probe was instructed to grab all the data it could and deal with getting it back to Earth later. The full set of everything New Horizons captured won't be available for more than a year yet. But with 10 percent of the total cache in hand, researchers decided they had enough to do the first analysis of 2014 MU69.#Astronomy #Space #NewHorizons #Exploration #2014MU69 #UltimaThule #KuiperBeltObjects
[...]
Overall, 2014 MU69 looks exactly like what we'd hope for: a world that underwent some major changes immediately after its formation but has since become static, preserving its state largely as it was billions of years ago. Hopefully, more details on that state are sitting in storage on New Horizons. Because we're not likely to send something back to 2014 MU69 any time soon.
Only about 10 percent of the data has been transmitted so far, but it says a lot.arstechnica.com
#FalconHeavy #Launch Close Up
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190420.html
#APOD
Ursprünglich geteilt von @(((chaospunk)))
Katie Bouman
Thanks, @@V. T. Eric Layton!
#space #astronomy #KatieBouman #blackhole #M87 #EventHorizonTelescope
Andrew Chael is one of the scientists who helped to produce the famous image of black hole M87. He has taken to twitter to defend Kate Bouman who for some reason has attracted the most attention from the media for her part in imaging the black hole.
A number of keyboard warriors have been bleating on about the fact that the media have been giving her rather too much credit for her role, although Bouman has, in all her comments so far, pointed out it was very much a team effort.
#m87 #astronomy #blackhole
