Space In General


BICEP2 telescope near South Pole Telescope

Keck Array at Martin A. Pomerantz Observatory

Cosmology in physics is a topic closely related to astronomy and astrophysics, deals with the origin, evolution, large scale structures, dynamics and laws of the universe. I recently ran across a paper submitted for peer review which discusses the paradoxes confronting cosmology today. These are simple observations that seem to contradict the laws of physics, and are amusing things to consider.

1) Observed expansion of the universe defies energy conservation laws

2) The nature of the energy associated with the vacuum, called the zero point energy or the energy of the Planck vacuum, has been calculated to be on the order of 10^94 g/cm^3, and ought a gravitational effect on the universe. But
cosmologists have looked for this gravitational effect and calculated its value from their observations (they call it the cosmological constant). These calculations suggest that the energy density of the vacuum is about 10^-29 g/cm3. Those numbers are difficult to reconcile. Indeed, they differ by 120 orders of magnitude.

3) The mathematics that describes these effects is correspondingly different as well, not least because any relative velocity must always be less than the speed of light in conventional physics. And yet the velocity of expanding space can take any value.

http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.01919
https://medium.com/the-physics-arxi...n-to-tear-modern-cosmology-apart-d334a7fcfdb6
 
Interesting snippets from a NY Times article on Rosetta.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/s...-a-comet-even-with-a-wayward-lander.html?_r=0
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Photo
23cometinline-articleLarge.jpg

A close-up of the "neck region" of the rubber-duck-shaped comet. Credit Eureopean Space Agency
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The high-resolution camera has taken photographs with a resolution as fine as two and a half feet per pixel. The comet, just two and a half miles wide with a two-lobe shape that resembles a rubber duck toy, has a remarkably wide variety of terrain. That includes smooth dust-covered regions, fields of boulders, steep cliffs and large depressions that may have been blown out by underground melting of carbon dioxide. The variety is surprising because many think the comet is, by and large, made of the same material throughout. Scientists are not sure if the shape comes from two smaller comets that bumped and stuck together or one large comet that eroded in an unusual manner.

On the surface of Comet 67P, there are even what look like ripples of sand dunes like those seen on Earth and Mars. That appears befuddling, as a comet has no atmosphere — and so no wind — and only a wisp of gravity.

“You have to ask yourself, is that possible?” said Nicolas Thomas, a professor of experimental physics at the University of Bern in Switzerland and lead author of one of the papers. Dr. Thomas said that back-of-the-envelope calculations indicated that it might be plausible, with the jets of gas acting as wind and the particles held together through intermolecular attraction known as the van der Waals force instead of gravity. “You can convince yourself you can make them move,” Dr. Thomas said. “It’s plausible, at least at the moment.”
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Photo
23cometinline3-articleLarge.jpg

A large fracture running across the comet. Credit Eureopean Space Agency
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In another region, along the comet’s “neck,” is a cliff about 3,000 feet high with fractures hundreds of feet long. The scientists cannot agree on what they are seeing, whether the lines reflect layering in the material making up the comet or cracks caused by the heating and cooling of the material as it passes in and out of sunshine.

In the smooth regions, there are circular structures. “Which look very, very bizarre,” Dr. Thomas said. “To be frank, we don’t know how those things were created. We have no clue.”
 
sxeugl7otxsc2o6cbnfx.jpg


There are not three, four or five, but six different night sky phenomena visible in this amazing astrophoto taken by Petr Horálek, European Southern Observatory's photo ambassador.
Click to expand...

  1. Comet Lovejoy, glowing green in the centre of the image
  2. The Pleiades above and to the right of the comet
  3. California Nebula, a red arc of gas to the right of Lovejoy
  4. A meteor on the left of Comet Lovejoy
  5. The hazy pool of green light collecting along the horizon
  6. A thin shroud of low altitude clouds below the observatory
http://gizmodo.com/this-celestial-show-is-so-crowded-it-almost-looks-unrea-1681763950
 
Dotini
http://superforce.com/shuttle/index.htm


A low resolution copy of the photo under current discussion.
Credit: dmptv/Peter Goldie.
[Figure 4.a.1 permalink]
http://www.columbiadisaster.info/
Click to expand...

This is where I say poo to that piece:

I wouldn't rule out missing tiles as part of the problem, but without other factors, the tile damage appears to be insufficient to create the problem. Increased drag on areas missing tiles due to a Solar Shockwave may have added to the problem.

Missing tiles and a hole means extreme temperatures entering the insides of the spacecraft, effectively burning the shuttle from the inside.

That's something you don't want when entering the atmosphere with 18000MPH.
 
WHAT'S INSIDE THE GIANT MAGNETIC SLINKY?: A giant, slinky-shaped column of magnetism has formed on the sun, shown below in an extreme UV image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. What's inside the curly column? Click on the image to find out:



It's a dark solar filament--essentially, a tendril of plasma more than 1,000,000 km long held suspended above the surface of the sun by magnetic forces. If the filament becomes unstable and erupts, it could hurl parts of itself into space. Pieces of the filament falling back to the solar surface would explode upon impact, creating one or more Hyder flares.

Astronomers with backyard solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor the structure as it turns toward Earth. A photogenic explosion may be in the offing. Solar flare alerts: text, voice
 
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Does anyone know if the SpaceX Webcast works on iOS? My daughter and I will be out shopping for my wife's Valentine's Day, but she has taken a big interest in space lately. I'd love to be able to let her watch it.
 
FoolKiller
Does anyone know if the SpaceX Webcast works on iOS? My daughter and I will be out shopping for my wife's Valentine's Day, but she has taken a big interest in space lately. I'd love to be able to let her watch it.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure, but I don't see why not.
 
Sorry for another DP, but watched the launch video when I got home and it's probably one my favorites due to the fact it's still daylight when it launched and there is zero cloud cover. Images are quite spectacular.

 
My daughter and I enjoyed it. Trying to explain supersonic to a five year old is an interesting conversation. She has so many intelligent moments I forget that certain concepts require understanding a lot of other information.
 
SUPER SOLAR FILAMENT: It is, arguably, the second biggest thing in the solar system. A filament of magnetism almost 1,000,000 km long is stretching across the face of the sun. Only the sun itself is bigger. Yesterday in the Canary Islands, Frank A. Rodriguez used a Lunt Solar Telescope to photograph the super structure:



This is a solar filament, a tendril of plasma held suspended above the surface of the sun by magnetic forces. Filaments appear on the sun all the time, but this one is unusually large, 5 to 10 times longer than ordinary filaments. If it becomes unstable and erupts, it could hurl parts of itself into space. Pieces of the filament falling back to the solar surface would explode upon impact, sparking a Hyder flare.

Astronomers with backyard solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor the structure in the days ahead. A photogenic explosion may be in the offing.Solar flare alerts: text, voice
 
Frikkin awesome photo. Just awesome. That reminds me that I need to get a Sun filter for my telescope and point that thing towards it.

Edit.

5 years of NASA'S SDO mission.

 
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Venus and Mars are now aligned so that Venus is blokcing the view of Mars. I just checked it and all you see is a big shiny Venus and no Mars.

Edit.

Mission to Europa gets White House approval

Europa is the best bet for finding extra terrestrial life in our solar system. I can't wait!
 
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Dennisch
Venus and Mars are now aligned so that Venus is blokcing the view of Mars. I just checked it and all you see is a big shiny Venus and no Mars.

Edit.

Mission to Europa gets White House approval

Europa is the best bet for finding extra terrestrial life in our solar system. I can't wait!
Click to expand...
Just more evidence that Obana's foreign policy sucks.

ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
 
MAGNETIC STORM ON COMET LOVEJOY: Around the world, observers of bright Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) are reporting activity in the comet's sinuous blue ion tail. On Feb. 13th, Michael Jäger of Dorfstetten Austriao used a backyard telescope to capture this 'plasma blob' billowing down the tail, away from the comet's core:



This could be a sign that a magnetic storm in underway. Observers of comets frequently witness plasma blobs and 'disconnection events' in response to CMEs and gusts of solar wind. In extreme cases, a comet's tail can be completely torn off.

The underlying physics is akin to terrestrial geomagnetic storms. When magnetic fields around a comet bump into oppositely-directed magnetic fields in a CME, those fields can link together or "reconnect." The resulting burst of magnetic energy can make waves, blobs, or even ruptures in the comet's tail. When CMEs hit Earth, a similar process takes place in the planet's magnetosphere powering, among other things, the aurora borealis.

Readers who wish to monitor the effects of space weather on Lovejoy should look toward the constellation Andromeda high in the northern sky after sunset: finder chart. The comet is shining like a 5th magnitude star, barely visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky locations, but an easy target for telescopes and binoculars. For pinpoint guidance of optics, use this ephemeris from the Minor Planet Center.
 

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