astronomy
Celestial objects and the phenomena that surrounds them. What lies above the earth forever out of reach. From moons, to stars, galaxies, and beyond.
Nuclear Propulsion
“Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.” Robert Oppenheimer spoke these words in July of 1945 when asked about his feelings after the Trinity test, the first successful detonation of a nuclear weapon. Oppenheimer’s prophecy rang true on August 6th and August 9th of that same year, after the dropping of those same weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
By Anthony Pullano9 years ago in Futurism
The Warp Drive: A Crash Course In Relativity. Top Story - July 2017.
The estimates from the Hubble Telescope suggest that there are upwards of 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Each with millions upon millions of stars (the Milky Way is a smaller galaxy with around 100 billion stars), each with at least some prospective habitable planets.
By Anthony Pullano9 years ago in Futurism
Astronomers Take New Highest-Resolution Image of Giant Star Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars known in our galaxy, a red supergiant, and now astronomers have taken the highest-resolution image ever so far. They used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile for their observations, and not only was it the first time that ALMA had observed this star, but it succeeded in producing the highest-resolution of Betelgeuse currently available.
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism
A History of Gravitational Waves
14th September 2015. A 4 kilometer long arm forming part of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) changed its length by one ten-thousandth the width of a proton, due to a distortion in spacetime, disturbing a laser beam housed inside. Computers immediately detected the mind bendingly miniscule change, sending an automatically generated email containing the observed data to a postdoctoral researcher by the name of Marco Drago working in the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover, Germany. Marco’s job was to monitor LIGO readings examined the data to rule out any error or “dummy signal” used for testing purposes. Within a few days news of the detection had been leaked to the world astrophysics community and after the observation had been definitively confirmed an official press conference on the 11th of February 2016 revealed to the world the first observation of a gravitational wave on earth by LIGO.
By Devon Keogh9 years ago in Futurism
What is Astrology?
If you type "What is astrology?" into google you'll get an answer something like this: Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world.
By Jude Goodwin9 years ago in Futurism
The Mysteries Surrounding Black Holes
Black holes are probably the strangest thing in existence. For many reasons, they don't seem to really make sense at all. Black holes are formed when a star stars, which in their core contains nuclear fusion crushing hydrogen atoms into helium, producing a mighty amount of energy. This energy pushes against gravity, maintaining a delicate balance between gravity and radiation. For stars much larger than our own sun, the heat and pressure at the core allows them to fuse heavier elements until eventually, they reach iron. Iron then builds up at the core until breaking the delicate balance, leading to the core callusing in on itself leading to a supernova explosion - resulting in a neutron star or if the star is gargantuan enough, a black hole.
By Sarah McDaniel9 years ago in Futurism
Quantum Stills of a Thin-Spun Life - Part 6
The once secret Augur Chamber echoed with many awed and exclamatory voices as the Masters, Elders and senior Journeymen looked about and studied the strange objects. It was the first time any of them had entered the room, but for this meeting of the Advisory Council, Naera thought it best to convene where she could offer answers to some of the questions she knew were coming. That she had her own misgivings about both the immediate and ongoing future was something she couldn’t allow them to see.
By Theresa McGarry9 years ago in Futurism
Aliens or Comets? Has the 'Wow!' Signal Mystery Finally Been Solved?
The search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence is one of the most exciting pursuits in astronomy today. Needless to say, there is a lot of controversy and debate surrounding the topic, partly due to an event which happened in 1977 - the famous "Wow!" signal. The brief but unusual radio transmission was detected only once, and the debate over its origin has continued to this day. Now, a group of astronomers are claiming to have finally solved the mystery. According to their new study just published, the signal came not from aliens, but comets.
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism
NASA: Juno Delivers First Jupiter Data
Jupiter, it turns out, is even more wonderfully complicated than earth's scientists had previously imagined. NASA's Juno Mission has resulted in the first flurry of research papers that look to find clues to the beginnings of our galaxy in a better understanding of the solar system's largest planet.
By Anya Wassenberg9 years ago in Futurism
The Woodstock of UFOs, and You Missed It
Joshua Tree, California - Last weekend, among the ancient and gnarled joshua trees and placed gently under the firmament of the Milky Way galaxy, was an event that you probably missed. It's been touted as "The Woodstock of UFOs" and indeed you should be bummed you missed it this year, but not for the reasons you think.
By Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell9 years ago in Futurism
