Scientists used a supercomputer to simulate nuclear fission with unprecedented accuracy, confirming the existence of scission neutrons.
Dr. Lauren Schurmeier: “The methane clathrate crust warms Titan’s interior and causes surprisingly rapid topographic relaxation, which results in crater shallowing at a rate that is close to that of fast-moving warm glaciers on Earth.”
How does Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, have such a methane-rich atmosphere? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how methane that resides with Titan’s crust could be responsible for the lack of depth in Titan’s impact craters, which could explain why Titan’s atmosphere has so much methane, as well. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of Titan and whether it could host life as we know it.
For the study, the researchers used computer models to simulate the formation and evolution of impact craters on Titan, of which only approximately 90 have been identified via satellite imagery from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
Continue reading “Titan’s Atmosphere and Climate: Lessons from an Alien World” »
Black holes are some of the most mysterious and awe-inspiring celestial objects in science, and while pairs of black holes or a black hole orbiting another object like a star, known as binary black holes, have been confirmed to exist, what about triple systems? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced the discovery of a “black hole triple”, meaning three black holes are orbiting each other simultaneously. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of black holes and what this can teach us about the universe, overall.
For the study, the researchers examined the binary black hole system V404 Cygni, which consists of a central black hole being orbited by two stars, with one orbiting in 6.5 days while the other takes approximately 70,000 years to complete one orbit. It is this second object that has scientists scratching their heads, as it is confounding how an object so far away can be influenced by a black hole’s gravity. While black holes are often created from a supernova, or the collapse and explosion of a large star, this means the explosion should have pushed away the farther star in this system. Therefore, the team postulates this black hole was formed by what’s known as a “direct collapse”, which is a smaller and gentler process when a star collapses in on itself as opposed to producing an outward explosion.
“We think most black holes form from violent explosions of stars, but this discovery helps call that into question,” said Dr. Kevin Burdge, who is a Pappalardo Fellow in the MIT Department of Physics and lead author of the study. “This system is super exciting for black hole evolution, and it also raises questions of whether there are more triples out there.”
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NASA recently evaluated initial flight data and imagery from Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-4 (PTD-4), confirming proper checkout of the spacecraft’s systems including its on-board electronics as well as the payload’s support systems such as the small onboard camera. Shown above is a test image of Earth taken by the payload camera, shortly after PTD-4 reached orbit. This camera will continue photographing the technology demonstration during the mission.
Payload operations are now underway for the primary objective of the PTD-4 mission – the demonstration of a new power and communications technology for future spacecraft. The payload, a deployable solar array with an integrated antenna called the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and anTenna, or LISA-T, has initiated deployment of its central boom structure. The boom supports four solar power and communication arrays, also called petals. Releasing the central boom pushes the still-stowed petals nearly three feet (one meter) away from the spacecraft bus. The mission team currently is working through an initial challenge to get LISA-T’s central boom to fully extend before unfolding the petals and beginning its power generation and communication operations.
Continue reading “NASA Begins New Deployable Solar Array Tech Demo on Pathfinder Spacecraft” »
Suspended in the relic of an ancient sea beneath southern Arkansas, there may be enough lithium for nine times the expected global demand for the element in car batteries in 2030.
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A collaborative national and state government research team trained a machine learning model to predict and map the lithium concentrations of salty water deep within the porous limestone aquifer beneath southern Arkansas, known as the Smackover Formation brines.
A two-line comment about “various compliance requirements” spurred questions about sanctions policy and procedure on the Linux kernel mailing list.
Easter Island consists of several extinct volcanoes. The oldest lava deposits formed some 2.5 million years ago on top of an oceanic plate not much older than the volcanoes themselves. In 2019, a team of Cuban and Colombian geologists left for Easter Island to accurately date the volcanic island. To do so, they resorted to a tried-and-tested recipe: dating zircon minerals. When magma cools, these minerals crystallize. They contain a bit of uranium, which ‘turns’ into lead through radioactive decay.
Because we know how fast that process happens, we can measure how long ago those minerals formed. The team from Colombia’s Universidad de Los Andes, led by Cuban geologist Yamirka Rojas-Agramonte, therefore went in search of those minerals. Rojas-Agramonte, now at the Christian Albrechts-University Kiel, found hundreds of them. But surprisingly, not only from 2.5 million years old, but also from much further back in time, up to 165 million years ago. How could that be?
Comet’s distance from the sun: 75 million miles (121 million kilometers)
Comet’s distance from Earth: 71 million miles (115 million kilometers)
So far, the guiding lights to find the comet have been the bright planet Venus and the bright red star Arcturus. However, as October draws to a close, both are so close to the horizon an hour after sunset that they’re unlikely to be visible. So, instead, use the stars of the Summer Triangle to find the comet. Vega in the constellation Lyra should be easy enough to find above due west and, above it, Deneb in Cygnus.
