Dark matter’s tendrils revealed. Jörg Dietrich, University of Michigan/University Observatory Munich Dark-matter filaments, such as the one bridging the galaxy clusters Abell 222 and Abell 223, are predicted to contain more than half of all matter in the Universe. A ‘finger’ of the Universe’s dark-matter skeleton, which ultimately dictates where galaxies form, has been observed for the first time. Researchers have directly detected a slim bridge of dark matter joining two clusters of galaxies, using a technique that could eventually help astrophysicists to understand the structure of the Universe and identify what makes up the mysterious invisible substance known as dark matter. According to the standard model of cosmology, visible stars and galaxies trace a pattern across the sky known as the cosmic web, which was originally etched out by dark matter — the substance thought to account for almost 80% of the Universe’s matter.
Curiosity lands on Mars. FIRST PHOTO'S. Hubble telescope spots azure blue planet where it rains glass. Astronomers have found a deep azure blue planet orbiting a star 63 light years away -- the first time they've been able to determine the actual color of a planet outside our solar system, NASA and the European Space Agency said Thursday. The planet, known as HD 189733b, is a gas giant with a daytime temperature of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit where it possibly rains liquid glass sideways amid 4,500 mph winds, NASA says.
The blue color comes not from the reflection of an ocean, as on Earth, "but rather a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds laced with silicate particles," NASA says. "Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more than red light. " The space agencies said astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered the planet in 2005 but only now have they been able to use Hubble's observations to determine the deep blue color. The findings are in the August 1 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The Scale of the Universe 2. A CD spectrometer. A simple spectrometer can be built from a CD and a box. Cut a slit on one side of the box.
Place the CD on the other side with about 60 degree angle. Look down into the openning on the box. The slit should not be too wide, otherwise the spectrum lines will be blurred. It should not be too narrow either, otherwise the spectrum is too dim. Let's look at the spectra of some common light sources. . (1) Solar spectrum is continuous with dark lines, i.e. the famous Fraunhofer lines. Interestingly the solar spectrum changes with the Sun's altitude! (2) Incandescent light is typical black body radiation, with continuous spectrum. . (3) Fluorescent light has mercury gas emitting (mostly) ultraviolet light, which activates phosphor.
. (4) The spectrum of high pressure sodium lights changes too! (5) Spectrum of white screen on a computer display. (6) Laptop display is different from a CRT display. (7) Red LED emits continuous spectrum in red. (13) Candle light has a continuous spectrum. Dark-Matter Detector to Begin Operations Soon in China. China is entering the race to detect mysterious dark matter in a big way, with a huge facility in Sichuan province set to begin collecting data in the coming weeks.
The $8 million PandaX (Particle and Astrophysical Xenon) experiment — which lies 7,874 feet (2,400 meters) underground, inside a mountain made of marble — will be up and running early this year, IEEE Spectrum reported recently on Discovery News. When it comes online, PandaX will join the world's other subterranean dark-matter experiments, such as the XENON project in Italy and the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) effort in South Dakota. These experiments work on the same principle. They're looking for particles emitted when weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPS) — the postulated major component of dark matter, which is thought to make up more than 80 percent of all matter in the universe — collide with the nuclei of "normal" atoms inside a big tank of liquid xenon. Read the full story at Discovery News here. How NASA might build its very first warp drive. I want to see this work as much as anyone else on io9, but every time I read an article on warp drive, I expend so much mental energy trying to wrap my head around the concept that my entire left hand side goes numb.
Somewhere along the line my understanding of concepts such as the nature of Spacetime is deficient. Here's the problem. When I think about the idea of expanding the conceptual framework that describes the continuum between two abstract concepts, behind a spaceship, whilst contracting the conceptual framework that describes the continuum between two abstract concepts, in front of a spaceship; all I can think of is that this like saying that when in conversation with another person, I can reach out with my hand, grasp hold of the words that are coming out of that other persons mouth and fold them in half. If someone could point me towards some legible books that I could buy that would help me understand where my understanding has gone wrong, I would be grateful.
Thanks. Photopic Sky Survey.