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Science thread [merged]
YellowandBlackBlood:
Now to find the elusive white hole. Predicted by quantum physics and only theoretical at the moment.
one-eyed:
A census of baryons in the Universe from localized fast radio bursts
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2300-2
After an intergalactic search lasting more than two decades, an Australian-led team of scientists say they have finally found the universe's "missing matter", solving a mystery that has long stumped astronomers.
Since the mid-90s, scientists have been trying to locate half of the universe's ordinary matter. They believed it was out there because of clues left over from the Big Bang, but it had never been seen.
"What we're talking about here is what scientists call baryonic matter, which is the normal stuff that you and I are made of," said Associate Professor Jean-Pierre Macquart, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.
Astronomy is full of missing stuff. Most of the universe is understood to be "dark matter" and "dark energy", which nobody has ever directly seen. But even more of a mystery for astronomers was that they couldn't find about half the ordinary matter in the universe.
Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-28/astronomers-find-universe-missing-matter/12291788
one-eyed:
10-year time-lapse video of the Sun: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/watch-a-10-year-time-lapse-of-sun-from-nasa-s-sdo
NASA also found the tail of the Earth's magnetosphere acts like a 'wind-sock' in the Solar wind. So the Moon even when it's behind the Earth isn't always protected from the high-energy particles of the Solar wind. This will be important for the timing of future lunar missions.
This simulation shows how the shock wave event seen by NASA’s spacecraft moved the tail of Earth’s magnetosphere, exposing the Moon. Credits: Q.Q. Shi, Shandong Univ.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/NASA-Spacecraft-Helps-Identify-Solar-Radiation-Patterns-That-Expose-the-Moon/
mightytiges:
Look into the sky tonight and you'll see something that hasn't happened since 1623.
The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn where they'll appear just 0.1 degree apart in the night sky.
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You’ll have the best luck at seeing this year’s conjunction if you can find an area relatively free of light pollution with an unobstructed view of the horizon.
The actual conjunction is due to take place at 11.20pm AEDT and will appear close to the horizon in the west.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/how-to-watch-the-christmas-star-created-by-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn/news-story/eeb9cc0813062b79a6c75f595ad7a12c
mightytiges:
The James Webb Space Telescope has been launched.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rARTOhbLDg
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The Webb telescope won't be orbiting the Earth – instead we will send it almost a million miles out into space to a place called "L2."
L2 is short-hand for the second Lagrange Point, a wonderful accident of gravity and orbital mechanics, and the perfect place to park the Webb telescope in space. There are five so-called "Lagrange Points" - areas where gravity from the sun and Earth balance the orbital motion of a satellite. Putting a spacecraft at any of these points allows it to stay in a fixed position relative to the Earth and sun with a minimal amount of energy needed for course correction.
In the case of L2, this happens about 930,000 miles away from the Earth in the exact opposite direction from the sun. The Earth, as we know, orbits the sun once every year. Normally, an object almost a million miles farther out from the sun should move more slowly, taking more than a year to complete its orbit around the sun. However, at L2, exactly lined up with both the sun and Earth, the added gravity of the two large bodies pulling in the same direction gives a spacecraft an extra boost of energy, locking it into perfect unison with the Earth's yearly orbit. The Webb telescope will be placed slightly off the true balance point, in a gentle orbit around L2.
Read more here: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/webb-l2.html
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