Astronomy Archives - Page 9 of 12

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Astronomy

Astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol: ‘I believe Mars still has some big surprises for us’ | Science

The astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol was born in 1963 and raised near Paris. She completed a PhD at the Sorbonne on the evolution of water on Mars and moved to the US in 1994 as a researcher at Nasa Ames. She has worked extensively in the Atacama desert and the Chilean Andes, exploring how life adapts to extreme environments analogous to those on other planets. Cabrol, who lives in Northern California, is now the director of the Carl Sagan Center at the Seti [Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence] Institute. Her latest book, The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist’s Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life, is published on 15 August.How did you get interested in the heavens? It’s not difficult to be interested in the heavens, we are in the heavens! I have a recollection of ...

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Super-black wood can improve telescopes, optical devices and consumer goods

Thanks to an accidental discovery, researchers at the University of British Columbia have created a new super-black material that absorbs almost all light, opening potential applications in fine jewelry, solar cells and precision optical devices. Professor Philip Evans and PhD student Kenny Cheng were experimenting with high-energy plasma to make wood more water-repellent. However, when they applied the technique to the cut ends of wood cells, the surfaces turned extremely black. Measurements by Texas A&M University's department of physics and astronomy confirmed that the material reflected less than one per cent of visible light, absorbing almost all the light that struck it. Instead of discarding this accidental finding, the team decided to shift their focus to designing super-black ...

Now Uranus’ Moon Ariel Might Have an Ocean too

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Astronomy

Now Uranus’ Moon Ariel Might Have an Ocean too

Venus is known for being really quite inhospitable with high surface temperatures and Mars is known for its rusty red horizons. Even the moons of some of the outer planets have fascinating environments with Europa and Enceladus boasting underground oceans. Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show that Ariel, a moon of Uranus, is also a strong candidate for a sub surface ocean. How has this conclusion been reached? Well JWST has detected carbon dioxide ice on the surface on the trailing edge of features trailing away from the orbital direction. The possible cause, an underground ocean! Uranus is the seventh planet in the Solar System and has five moons. Ariel is one of them and is notable for its icy surface and fascinatingly diverse geological features. It was discove...

THE ROBOT EXHIBITION ARRIVES THIS SUMMER AT ARMAGH OBSERVATORY & PLANETARIUM – Astronotes

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THE ROBOT EXHIBITION ARRIVES THIS SUMMER AT ARMAGH OBSERVATORY & PLANETARIUM – Astronotes

Get ready to embark on a journey through time and imagination as the Armagh Observatory & Planetarium proudly announces its upcoming “Robot Exhibition”, running from 2nd July to 31st August 2024. This summer, science-fiction enthusiasts and curious minds alike will have the unique opportunity to explore a mesmerising collection of robots, cyborgs, and androids. Science-fiction fans are sure to recognise their favourite metal movie stars in this comprehensive exhibit. The Robot Exhibition showcases memorable and iconic robots from science-fiction movies and TV shows, highlighting their role in storytelling and exploring how they represent our changing relationship with technology. Visitors are invited to delve into the past, present, and future of robots in science-fiction, cons...

Forming stars like the old days – Astronomy Now

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Astronomy

Forming stars like the old days – Astronomy Now

Did stars form differently 12 billion years ago compared to how they form today? The cosmic environment of the early Universe was metal-poor – that is, it was depleted in heavy elements that astronomers call ‘metals’ and that are formed inside stars. These metals were sparse because not enough time had passed for sufficient generations of stars to produce them. Image: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/A. Pagan (STScI). It’s thought that the abundance of these metals within giant molecular gas clouds can affect how stars form, for example potentially influencing the initial mass function that describes the distribution of stellar masses. In the present day Universe, the initial mass function leads to low-mass stars being extremely common and high-mass stars being extremely rare. In the early Univers...