The discovery of a planet in the Goldilocks Zone next door to our solar system is reported in an article published in the journal Nature on August 24, 2016. The planet is known as Proxima b, and is reported to be orbiting to its star, known as Proxima Centauri, next door neighbor of our own Sun. Proxima b is about 4.22 light-years from our earth. The planet is 4.6 million miles from its dwarf star, Proxima Centauri, or just one-twentieth of the distance between our earth and Sun. Proxima b orbits its star in 11 days, and since it does not rotate like earth, one side of it is always dark and the other side is always bright. The planet is constantly bombarded by X rays and ultra-violet rays. That does not eliminate the possibility of life deep underneath. This is the first planetary jackpot closest to our solar system.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Monday, September 5, 2016
Kuiper Belt and Its Astronomical Objects
Possibility of Existence of a Pluto Sibling in Kuiper Belt
The icy spatial expanse outside the Neptune's orbit holds promise for having at least one more dwarf planets, according to a July 16, 2016, report carried by The New York Times based on findings from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. The object, designated in 2015 as RR245, revolves around the sun in about 700 years and is likely to contain characteristics to be clubbed with other dwarf planets such as Pluto, which was reclassified as dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, Ceres--the largest asteroid--and Eris.
The icy spatial expanse outside the Neptune's orbit holds promise for having at least one more dwarf planets, according to a July 16, 2016, report carried by The New York Times based on findings from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii. The object, designated in 2015 as RR245, revolves around the sun in about 700 years and is likely to contain characteristics to be clubbed with other dwarf planets such as Pluto, which was reclassified as dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, Ceres--the largest asteroid--and Eris.
Monday, March 7, 2016
BLACK HOLES
******************** Billion Year-Old Gravitational Energy Detected *******************
Scientists on February 11, 2016 announced a major discovery and proof that would confirm Einstein's theory of relativity and expand human reach to further gain insight into our complex working of the universe. The concept of gravitational energy emerged directly from Einstein's theory of relativity about 100 years ago. This is how scientists have explained the gravitational energy based on recent discovery and interpretation of Einstein's theory of relativity:
* TWO BLACK HOLES
Two black holes circled each other in a distant galaxy about 1.3 billion years ago. One of them had a mass of 36 times the mass of our sun, while the other had 29 times.
* COLLISION
The intense gravity accelerated the speed of the black holes to half the speed of light, distorting space and time and ever pulling them closer. In a fraction of second, both black holes had collided and merged into an irregular shape.
* RING DOWN
The unstable blob had smoothed itself into a sphere in a process called ring down. In the process, a new black hole was born with a mass of 62 times that of our sun, leaving three times the mass of our sun to vaporize in a storm of gravitational waves and distorting space and time.
* GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
The gravitational waves from the ring down process rippled outward with the speed of light, but the waves weakened in strength as they had traveled further. When the gravitational waves arrived at the earth, the strength was too weak to detect over the other distractions such as noise, heat and other vibrations.
* OBSERVATIORY
Eventually scientists from the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts University of Technology, backed by international space experts and Physicists, led the study at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) to detect such cosmic waves. After years of political squabbling and funding problems, LIGO began to work in 2002, but had no results to show in the first decade.
* CHIRP
Ultimately in the predawn hours of September 14, 2015, the breakthrough came as LIGO detected the chirp of gravitational waves generated more than billion years ago.
Scientists Report Two Additional Sets of Chirps
The Associated Press reported on June 15, 2016 that astronomers had reported two additional echo out of collision of two far-distant black holes about 1.3 billion years ago.
Latest LIGO-Identified Chirp Points to Violent Merger of Black Holes
The New York Times on June 1, 2017 reported a violent clash of two massive black holes, each with 19 and 31 times of solar mass, that had been recently identified by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) after a travel of 3 billion light-years. The resultant black hole is of mass of 49 times that of solar mass, resulting in dissipation of energy equivalent to a solar mass.
* TWO BLACK HOLES
Two black holes circled each other in a distant galaxy about 1.3 billion years ago. One of them had a mass of 36 times the mass of our sun, while the other had 29 times.
* COLLISION
The intense gravity accelerated the speed of the black holes to half the speed of light, distorting space and time and ever pulling them closer. In a fraction of second, both black holes had collided and merged into an irregular shape.
* RING DOWN
The unstable blob had smoothed itself into a sphere in a process called ring down. In the process, a new black hole was born with a mass of 62 times that of our sun, leaving three times the mass of our sun to vaporize in a storm of gravitational waves and distorting space and time.
* GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
The gravitational waves from the ring down process rippled outward with the speed of light, but the waves weakened in strength as they had traveled further. When the gravitational waves arrived at the earth, the strength was too weak to detect over the other distractions such as noise, heat and other vibrations.
* OBSERVATIORY
Eventually scientists from the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts University of Technology, backed by international space experts and Physicists, led the study at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) to detect such cosmic waves. After years of political squabbling and funding problems, LIGO began to work in 2002, but had no results to show in the first decade.
* CHIRP
Ultimately in the predawn hours of September 14, 2015, the breakthrough came as LIGO detected the chirp of gravitational waves generated more than billion years ago.
Scientists Report Two Additional Sets of Chirps
The Associated Press reported on June 15, 2016 that astronomers had reported two additional echo out of collision of two far-distant black holes about 1.3 billion years ago.
Latest LIGO-Identified Chirp Points to Violent Merger of Black Holes
The New York Times on June 1, 2017 reported a violent clash of two massive black holes, each with 19 and 31 times of solar mass, that had been recently identified by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) after a travel of 3 billion light-years. The resultant black hole is of mass of 49 times that of solar mass, resulting in dissipation of energy equivalent to a solar mass.
******************** Billion Year-Old Gravitational Energy Detected *******************
************************* OLDEST BLACK HOLE DISCOVERED*********************
Oldest Black Hole Detected
Two powerful telescopes--one at the Chandra X Ray Observatory and James Webb Telescope--detected a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy. The black hole, named UHZ1, within the faraway galaxy has a mass almost equal to that of all of the stars in that galaxy. The supermassive blackhole is the oldest black hole discovered by the scientists and is of 13.2 billions years of age. The finding was published on November 6, 2023 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
There are two categories of black holes: (A) Stellar and (B) Supermassive. Stellar black holes are 10 to 100 times the mass of our Sun. Supermassive black holes are hundreds of millions, or even billions, time heavier.
There are two competing theories of how supermassive black holes are formed. Under the Light Seed Theory, a star collapses, yielding to a stellar black hole which over time enlarges and achieves the status of a supermassive black hole. Under the Heavy Seed Theory, a massive amount of gas condenses, and as a result, a gargantuan amount of mass is formed almost from the get-go. Since UHZ1 is more than 13 billion years old, it has been formed pretty close to Big Bang, and thus, lends to the credence of the Heavy Seed Theory.
************************* OLDEST BLACK HOLE DISCOVERED*********************
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