Monthly Archives: August 2017

With the recent mass discovery of such entities, made by physicists from the University of California, Irvine, the matter raises even more intense discussions.

By accurately inspecting the data detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), the scientists discovered that when big stars die out they create black holes with similar gravitational waves the observatory tracked.

Moreover, through the tracing of ripples in space-time, the researchers concluded that there may be more than 100 million more black holes out-there in the Milky Way, much more than previously calculated.

James Bullock, professor of physics and astronomy and co-author of the recent study explained: "We were able to work out how many big black holes should exist, and it ended up being in the millions many more than I anticipated. Fundamentally, the detection of gravitational waves was a huge deal. But then we looked closer at the astrophysics of the actual result, a merger of two 30-solar-mass black holes. That was simply astounding and had us asking, 'How common are black holes of this size, and how often do they merge?'".

The recent discovery is expected to significantly interfere with future generations eager to conquer space. The study was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal.

Source: express.co.uk

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Milky Way's black holes will affect future space travel - Travel Wires

August 11, 2017 Technicians lower ISS-CREAM into a chamber that simulates the space environment during system-level testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in summer 2015. Credit: University of Maryland Cosmic Ray Physics Laboratory

On August 14, 2017, a groundbreaking University of Maryland-designed cosmic ray detector will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the SpaceX-12 Commercial Resupply Service mission. The instrument, named ISS Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (ISS-CREAM), is roughly the size of a refrigerator and will remain installed on the ISS's Japanese Experiment Module for at least three years. The massive amounts of data ISS-CREAM will collect could reveal new details about the origin and diversity of cosmic rays.

Cosmic rays are not rays at all, but highly energetic particles that zoom through space at nearly the speed of light. The particles range in size, from subatomic protons to the atomic nuclei of elements such as carbon and boron. Scientists suspect that the particles are bits of subatomic shrapnel produced by supernovae, but could also be signatures of other cataclysmic phenomena.

Regardless of their origin, "cosmic rays are direct samples of matter from outside our solar systempossibly from the most distant reaches of the universe," said Eun-Suk Seo, a professor of physics at UMD and lead investigator for ISS-CREAM. Seo leads UMD's Cosmic Ray Physics Group and has a joint appointment in the UMD Institute for Physical Science and Technology.

ISS-CREAM builds on more than a decade of work by Seo's research group, which includes seven Long-Duration Balloon (LDB) missions in Antarctica dedicated to studying the nature of cosmic rays. Each of these LDB missions was facilitated by NASA with additional support from the National Science Foundation.

The first, known as Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass I (CREAM I), launched in December 2004. CREAM I carried instruments to measure the energy, charge, mass and direction of incoming cosmic ray particles. The following five missions, also named CREAM and numbered II-VI, carried the same basic suite of instruments. The seventh and most recent mission took on a different name: Boron and Carbon Cosmic rays in the Upper Stratosphere (BACCUS). The flight set a record for the earliest seasonal launch in the history of NASA's LDB program on November 28, 2016, and concluded 30 days later.

ISS-CREAM will carry a suite of instruments very similar to its balloon-borne cousins. But unlike the balloon experiments, ISS-CREAM's detectors will have direct, unimpeded access to incoming cosmic rayswith no atmospheric interference. Back on Earth, Seo's team will monitor operations around the clock, taking shifts to ensure the instruments are properly calibrated and collecting the maximum amount of data.

When a cosmic ray particle reaches Earth's atmosphere, it soon collides with another particlemost likely an atom of nitrogen or oxygen. This sets off a cascade of secondary particles that carry less energy than the original particle. The atmosphere serves as a protective filter, slowing down dangerous cosmic rays before they have a chance to damage life and property here on Earth's surface.

This also means that Earth-bound cosmic ray detectors can only see secondary particles. By orbiting above the atmosphere, ISS-CREAM addresses this challenge and offers several other benefits compared with balloon experiments.

"To see primary particles we have to fly an instrument in space. This removes atmospheric background," Seo explained. "Prior experiments were also limited to lower energies because of the payload size and flight duration. ISS-CREAM will extend our measurements to the highest energies possible and will allow us to increase our exposure by an order of magnitude."

ISS-CREAM also has to withstand harsh conditions far beyond those experienced during a balloon mission.

"ISS-CREAM has to survive a violent rocket launch. A balloon launch is very gentle by comparison," Seo said. "ISS-CREAM also has to continue working without repairs for years, while a balloon instrument only needs to last a month or two. And any space-based experiment has to be shielded from radiation, which makes everything more expensive and the design processes more exacting."

Cosmic ray particles could help solve one of today's most elusive scientific puzzles: determining the nature of dark matter. According to Seo, theory suggests that dark matter particles might collide and annihilate one another, resulting in energetic particles of conventional matter that we recognize as cosmic rays. If this theory is correct, studying cosmic rays could result in promising leads in the search for dark matter.

"The mysterious nature of cosmic rays serves as a reminder of just how little we know about our universe. The discovery of cosmic rays gave birth to the field of particle physics in the early 20th century. But no human-made particle accelerator can reach the energy levels we see in cosmic rays," Seo added. "Our team has been anxiously awaiting this launch for years. This is a very exciting time for us as well as others in the field of high-energy particle astrophysics."

Explore further: New mission going to the space station to explore mysteries of 'cosmic rain'

A new experiment set for an Aug. 14 launch to the International Space Station will provide an unprecedented look at a rain of particles from deep space, called cosmic rays, that constantly showers our planet. The Cosmic Ray ...

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is targeted for launch August 14 from Kennedy Space Center for its twelfth commercial resupply (CRS-12) mission to the International Space Station.

For decades, NASA has released enormous scientific balloons into Earth's atmosphere, miles above the altitude of commercial flights. The Balloon Program is currently preparing new missions bearing sensitive instruments, including ...

Working in the harsh conditions of Antarctica, Maryland researchers are creating new ways of detecting cosmic rays, high energy particles that bombard the Earth from beyond our solar system.

(Phys.org)Two teams working independently have conducted studies with similar results suggesting the possibility that some of the cosmic rays striking the Earth arise from dark matter particles colliding with one another. ...

On May 19, 2011, astronauts used a remote-controlled robotic arm to attach a nearly 17,000-pound payload to the side of the International Space Station. That payload was the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS-02, an international ...

(Phys.org)For the first time, physicists have demonstrated that clients who possess only classical computersand no quantum devicescan outsource computing tasks to quantum servers that perform blind quantum computing. ...

Investigators at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new sensor array-based instrument that offers ultra-low noise detection of small amounts ...

In quantum mechanics particles can behave as waves and take many paths through an experiment. It requires only combinations of pairs of paths, rather than three or more, to determine the probability for a particle to arrive ...

Boating through choppy waters can be an exciting but physically exhausting experience. Now researchers at Utah State University's Splash Lab are taking steps toward the design of an inflatable speedboat that absorbs wave ...

(Phys.org)Two Chinese teams working with quantum encryption and entanglement have achieved two more goals toward building a quantum space-based communication network. In the first experiment, one team succeeded in sending ...

Today almost all information stored on hard disc drives or cloud servers is recorded in magnetic media, because it is non-volatile (i.e. it retains the information when power is switched off) and cheap. For portable devices ...

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Space-based experiment will tackle the mysteries of cosmic rays - Phys.Org