Baby the stars shine bright... | Page 9 | INFJ Forum

Baby the stars shine bright...

Fascinating announcement earlier today.

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The image of the black hole as captured by eight telescopes on Earth
  • Sarah Knapton
10 APRIL 2019 • 3:08 PM

A black hole surrounded by swirling ring of fire has been pictured by scientists for the first time in an image described as ‘the gates of hell, at the end of space and time.’

The phenomenon which has never been observed before shows superheated matter being pulled towards the event horizon after which nothing can escape.
Another article says that it’s in the middle of a nearby galaxy 55 Million light years away. Funny how the concept of nearby changes with scale lol.

Really happy to have witnessed seeing this photo in my lifetime.
Me too! It's awesome.
 
I’m watching Holst: The Planets with Brian Cox on BBC2 while I’m writing this. I definitely recommend it when they make it available on the Internet. Brian is relating what we know about each planet now to the music Holst wrote and how things have changed since he composed it. The conductor is reinterpreting the music slightly to accommodate the changes - for example in our understanding of Venus and Mars. The information is already familiar to anyone who follows developments in astronomy but the packaging is a great idea.
 
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"Europa has long been theorized to have a vast liquid ocean beneath its icy surface, and now a hypnotizing gif demonstrates just how much water the little moon holds, according to scientists' best estimates."

Wow! I love this. I honestly feel we should place more focus on Europa and the slight possibilities that it might harbor life. Perhaps the most promising moon in our solar system that could be inhabitable. Very, very intriguing! :)
 
Wow! I love this. I honestly feel we should place more focus on Europa and the slight possibilities that it might harbor life. Perhaps the most promising moon in our solar system that could be inhabitable. Very, very intriguing! :)
It's intriguing that Europa is thought to have more liquid water than the Earth. Did you read Athur C Clark's Space Odessey series - I think that was the first place I came across the idea there could really be life like ours on Europa.

I think the other moon that looks very interesting is Titan orbiting Saturn - if anywhere in the solar system could have life based on a different chemistry to ours then that's the most likely place (Nasa artist's impression)

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Did you read Athur C Clark's Space Odessey series - I think that was the first place I came across the idea there could really be life like ours on Europa.

OooooOo no I have not! But it seems like I have more books I need to purchase on Amazon! :D This looks like the type of series I would highly enjoy.

Share all the book recommendations you can give me John haha! I am always on the hunt for more! :)

I've just noticed that the Moon and Jupiter are in conjuction right now - it's a great sight if the sky is clear where you are.

Ahhh yes. It is very beautiful! I am fortunate to see them during the evenings when the sun is setting and the sky is dark and clear.

I was also very fortunate to see Jupiter among the most clearest skies I’ve ever seen with hints of the Milky Way when I was on holiday at the beach in Mexico. I took a photo on my phone, but unfortunately the photo quality was quite terrible and you couldn’t even see the vastness and clarity of the stars and the Milky Way. Which reminds me to buy a good camera for my stargazing moments very soon. :unhappy:
 
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/universe-galaxies-milky-way-hubble-nasa-discovery-breakthrough-latest-a9045951.html?fbclid=IwAR3zX8134yPNcyIgRNRa1cVjOqb2MXa-I_5Fhr5nRu_S8ko8os73GZPAkNE
SCIENTISTS FIND HUGE WORLD OF HIDDEN GALAXIES, CHANGING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE

Full story below in case there is a paywall.

Scientists have found a vast array of hidden galaxies, which together could change our understanding of how the universe works.
The mysterious galaxies, which were previously unknown by researchers, were discovered by a breakthrough new approach that allowed astronomers to look more deeply than ever before into the universe.
The astronomers describe the new find as a treasure trove, representing a huge set of galaxies. It could help solve some of the most deep and fundamental questions about the universe, including the mysteries of supermassive black holes and dark matter.

Some researchers had long thought that such hidden galaxies might be out in the universe, waiting to be found. But now they have finally been discovered and cosmologists will have to re-think their understanding of how the universe works.
Scientists got an unprecedented look at the universe when the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space, and began looking around. But it could not see some of the most fundamental parts of what surrounds us.
The new research allowed scientists to tie together a variety of different observatories and use them to look more deeply than ever before and see the huge set of galaxies.
"This is the first time that such a large population of massive galaxies was confirmed during the first two billion years of the 13.7-billion-year life of the universe," said Tao Wang, from the University of Tokyo.
"These were previously invisible to us.
"This finding contravenes current models for that period of cosmic evolution and will help to add some details, which have been missing until now."
If you were able to see the galaxies themselves, they would be far more of a spectacle even than our own Milky Way.
"For one thing, the night sky would appear far more majestic," said Dr Wang, comparing the newly discovered part of the universe with our own.
"The greater density of stars means there would be many more stars close by appearing larger and brighter.
"But conversely, the large amount of dust means farther-away stars would be far less visible, so the background to these bright close stars might be a vast dark void."

But from Earth, the 39 galaxies are so difficult to see because they are so faint. Though they are the largest of their kind to be found, the light that reaches Earth is reduced and has been stretched because it has taken so long to travel to us.
"The light from these galaxies is very faint with long wavelengths invisible to our eyes and undetectable by Hubble," said Kotaro Koh, who worked on the new study published in Nature.
"So we turned to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which is ideal for viewing these kinds of things.
"I have a long history with that facility and so knew it would deliver good results."
The stretching of the light can be a useful way for researchers to understand how far it has travelled, and therefore how old the galaxies are.
"It was tough to convince our peers these galaxies were as old as we suspected them to be," said Dr Wang.
"Our initial suspicions about their existence came from the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared data.
"But ALMA has sharp eyes and revealed details at submillimeter wavelengths, the best wavelength to peer through dust present in the early universe.
"Even so, it took further data from the imaginatively named Very Large Telescope in Chile to really prove we were seeing ancient massive galaxies where none had been seen before."
In the future, we might even learn that the galaxies are more shocking than we realised. ""I'm eager for upcoming observatories like the space-based James Webb Space Telescope to show us what these primordial beasts are really made of," he said.
Researchers now hope to use the new galaxies to learn more about the universe itself. They will be look to understand the supermassive black hole that are at their middle, in the hope of learning more about how they form.
"Massive galaxies are also intimately connected with the distribution of invisible dark matter," said Professor Kohno. "This plays a role in shaping the structure and distribution of galaxies.
"Theoretical researchers will need to update their theories now."
 
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/universe-galaxies-milky-way-hubble-nasa-discovery-breakthrough-latest-a9045951.html?fbclid=IwAR3zX8134yPNcyIgRNRa1cVjOqb2MXa-I_5Fhr5nRu_S8ko8os73GZPAkNE
SCIENTISTS FIND HUGE WORLD OF HIDDEN GALAXIES, CHANGING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE

Full story below in case there is a paywall.

Scientists have found a vast array of hidden galaxies, which together could change our understanding of how the universe works.
The mysterious galaxies, which were previously unknown by researchers, were discovered by a breakthrough new approach that allowed astronomers to look more deeply than ever before into the universe.
The astronomers describe the new find as a treasure trove, representing a huge set of galaxies. It could help solve some of the most deep and fundamental questions about the universe, including the mysteries of supermassive black holes and dark matter.

Some researchers had long thought that such hidden galaxies might be out in the universe, waiting to be found. But now they have finally been discovered and cosmologists will have to re-think their understanding of how the universe works.
Scientists got an unprecedented look at the universe when the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space, and began looking around. But it could not see some of the most fundamental parts of what surrounds us.
The new research allowed scientists to tie together a variety of different observatories and use them to look more deeply than ever before and see the huge set of galaxies.
"This is the first time that such a large population of massive galaxies was confirmed during the first two billion years of the 13.7-billion-year life of the universe," said Tao Wang, from the University of Tokyo.
"These were previously invisible to us.
"This finding contravenes current models for that period of cosmic evolution and will help to add some details, which have been missing until now."
If you were able to see the galaxies themselves, they would be far more of a spectacle even than our own Milky Way.
"For one thing, the night sky would appear far more majestic," said Dr Wang, comparing the newly discovered part of the universe with our own.
"The greater density of stars means there would be many more stars close by appearing larger and brighter.
"But conversely, the large amount of dust means farther-away stars would be far less visible, so the background to these bright close stars might be a vast dark void."

But from Earth, the 39 galaxies are so difficult to see because they are so faint. Though they are the largest of their kind to be found, the light that reaches Earth is reduced and has been stretched because it has taken so long to travel to us.
"The light from these galaxies is very faint with long wavelengths invisible to our eyes and undetectable by Hubble," said Kotaro Koh, who worked on the new study published in Nature.
"So we turned to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which is ideal for viewing these kinds of things.
"I have a long history with that facility and so knew it would deliver good results."
The stretching of the light can be a useful way for researchers to understand how far it has travelled, and therefore how old the galaxies are.
"It was tough to convince our peers these galaxies were as old as we suspected them to be," said Dr Wang.
"Our initial suspicions about their existence came from the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared data.
"But ALMA has sharp eyes and revealed details at submillimeter wavelengths, the best wavelength to peer through dust present in the early universe.
"Even so, it took further data from the imaginatively named Very Large Telescope in Chile to really prove we were seeing ancient massive galaxies where none had been seen before."
In the future, we might even learn that the galaxies are more shocking than we realised. ""I'm eager for upcoming observatories like the space-based James Webb Space Telescope to show us what these primordial beasts are really made of," he said.
Researchers now hope to use the new galaxies to learn more about the universe itself. They will be look to understand the supermassive black hole that are at their middle, in the hope of learning more about how they form.
"Massive galaxies are also intimately connected with the distribution of invisible dark matter," said Professor Kohno. "This plays a role in shaping the structure and distribution of galaxies.
"Theoretical researchers will need to update their theories now."
An interesting article - I'm betting the universe will turn out to be far stranger than anything we are considering at the moment.

I just found this video - it's longish but absolutely intriguing / mind-boggling.

 
I’m watching Holst: The Planets with Brian Cox on BBC2 while I’m writing this. I definitely recommend it when they make it available on the Internet. Brian is relating what we know about each planet now to the music Holst wrote and how things have changed since he composed it. The conductor is reinterpreting the music slightly to accommodate the changes - for example in our understanding of Venus and Mars. The information is already familiar to anyone who follows developments in astronomy but the packaging is a great idea.

Here's the video:


I do have a soft spot for this piece. It's one of the classical pieces I remember from my childhood, how I used to dance to it. Thaxted (the hymn section in the Jupiter part) might be the only piano tune I can play apart from a couple of things I've written myself. Sounds like at least the Mars part in this performance is close to Karajan style, which is the standard for me since that's the first one I heard, though I don't own that record. Holst may be a bit of a one hit wonder, but I believe The Planets has been hugely influential: I hear echoes of his orchestration style in a lot of film scores, most notably ones by John Williams, who's in turn influenced others.
 
Here's the video:


I do have a soft spot for this piece. It's one of the classical pieces I remember from my childhood, how I used to dance to it. Thaxted (the hymn section in the Jupiter part) might be the only piano tune I can play apart from a couple of things I've written myself. Sounds like at least the Mars part in this performance is close to Karajan style, which is the standard for me since that's the first one I heard, though I don't own that record. Holst may be a bit of a one hit wonder, but I believe The Planets has been hugely influential: I hear echoes of his orchestration style in a lot of film scores, most notably ones by John Williams, who's in turn influenced others.
Many thanks for finding this Fid - it's well worth a look :)
 
'Wyote' would actually be a great name for an astronomical object - but I think for an exoplanet, not a miniature moon :)

Hahaha! You are too kind my friend. Thanks :)
 
It's time to explore the heavens again while things are dodgy on earth for the time being. This image is a piece of digital artwork derived from a picture of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. I think it's :sunglasses:

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Artist Mik Petter created this unique, digital artwork using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The art form, known as fractals, uses mathematical formulas to create art with an infinite variety of form, detail, color and light. The tumultuous atmospheric zones in and around the Great Red Spot are highlighted by the author's use of colorful fractals.

Vibrant colors of various tints and hues, combined with the almost organic-seeming shapes, make this image seem to be a colorized and crowded petri dish of microorganisms, or a close-up view of microscopic and wildly-painted seashells.

The original JunoCam image was taken on July 10, 2017, at 10:10 p.m. EDT, as the Juno spacecraft performed its seventh close flyby of Jupiter. The spacecraft captured the image from about 8,648 miles (13,917 kilometers) above the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude of -32.6 degrees.

JunoCam's raw images are available for the public to peruse and process into image products at: www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam

Last Updated: March 5, 2020
Editor: Yvette Smith
 

Talking about planets - I took this photo of Venus with my SLR camera and a 500mm lens earlier this evening. It's not brilliant - needs more sharpness and less flare, but it's just about possible to see its disc, which is showing a crescent or gibbous phase by the look of things.

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