The Astronomy Discussion Thread

[Ithekro]

Largest problem....getting there to confirm.

Seriously, will all these discoveries, someone with a clever idea should be coming up with a practical FTL theory for a FTL drive so out species can got and check out all these planets within a reasonable amount of time.

[AnimeFan188]

Astronomers Are Now Hunting for Planet 9 and Planet 10:

"New research indicates there may be an undiscovered planet lurking in our solar system,
in addition to the one we're already searching for.

Astronomers are still hunting for evidence of a proposed ninth planet lurking somewhere in
the outer reaches of our solar system. But now they have something else to search for.
New research from the University of Arizona hints that there may be another planet out
there, waiting for us to find it."

See:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...for-planet-10/

[becky collins]

Friends, I need your help. I was given a homework in the school to write an essay on astronomy. The theme is "Halley's Comet" I found one site Essayshark, online help for students. You can order any work there, but I'd like to write it myself. Can you give me good resources, please? Thank you in advance!

[Infinite Zenith]

Originally Posted by becky collins

Friends, I need your help. I was given a homework in the school to write an essay on astronomy. The theme is "Halley's Comet" I found one site Essayshark, online help for students. You can order any work there, but I'd like to write it myself. Can you give me good resources, please? Thank you in advance!

What level of education is this essay for (college, high school, junior high), and what is the essay's goal? Will you be talking about the scientific details behind Halley's Comet, or its historical aspects? The topic, and level you are writing for governs what sources you will be using. In secondary school, a couple of good books from your local library will do the trick. Otherwise, you will need to navigate an online journal to find sources.

[becky collins]

Originally Posted by Infinite Zenith

What level of education is this essay for (college, high school, junior high), and what is the essay's goal? Will you be talking about the scientific details behind Halley's Comet, or its historical aspects? The topic, and level you are writing for governs what sources you will be using. In secondary school, a couple of good books from your local library will do the trick. Otherwise, you will need to navigate an online journal to find sources.

high school, about historical aspects

[AnimeFan188]

Are Galaxies Flowing Toward a Point Beyond Our Universe?:

"We all know that the universe is constantly in motion. Earth revolves around the sun, our
solar system turns with the rest of the Milky Way galaxy, which in turn moves within a
larger cluster of galaxies, and all of these components move away from other galaxy
clusters as the universe expands. According to the theory of Hubble Flow, this expansion
should be equal in all directions. But by studying a map of the Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB)—the remaining radiation from the big bang that invisibly coats the
universe—astrophysicists discovered that some galaxy clusters seem to be moving
toward a point that appears to be beyond the perceivable universe. They call this
movement dark flow."

See:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...ow-space-time/

[AnimeFan188]

Dark Matter and Energy Don't Exist: Astronomer Claims to
Solve Universe's Greatest Mysteries With New Model:

"Dark matter and dark energy—the mystery forces believed to govern the universe—
may not exist after all. In a newly developed model, astronomer André Maeder has
found that neither of these concepts is needed for the universe to be expanding at an
accelerating rate."


"In the new study, published in The Astrophysical Journal¸ Maeder focuses on “scale
invariance.” This is the concept that says a feature of an object will not change even if
its length or energy scales are multiplied by a common factor."

See:

http://www.newsweek.com/dark-matter-...s/yahoous/news

[Grandy]

hi there! It’s great site. so many topics and opinions. I used to read, basically washingtonpost but now your site one of my favorites. Thank you!

[poonduh]

please advise online lectures on astronomy for beginners

[AnimeFan188]

Kepler’s forgotten ideas about symmetry help explain spiral
galaxies without the need for dark matter – new research:

"The 17th-century astronomer Johannes Kepler was the first to muse about the
structure of snowflakes. Why are they so symmetrical? How does one side know how
long the opposite side has grown? Kepler thought it was all down to what we would
now call a “morphogenic field” – that things want to have the form they have. Science
has since discounted this idea. But the question of why snowflakes and similar
structures are so symmetrical is nevertheless not entirely understood.

Modern science shows just how fundamental the question is: look at all the spiral
galaxies out there. They can be half a million light years across, but they still preserve
their symmetry. How? In our new study, published in Scientific Reports, we present an
explanation.

We have shown that information and “entropy” – a measure of the disorder of a
system – are linked together (“info-entropy”) in a way exactly analogous to electric
and magnetic fields (“electromagnetism”). Electric currents produce magnetic fields,
while changing magnetic fields produce electric currents. Information and entropy
influence each other in the same way."

See:

https://theconversation.com/keplers-...esearch-121017

[AnimeFan188]

There’s Growing Evidence That the Universe Is Connected by Giant Structures:

"The Milky Way, the galaxy we live in, is one of hundreds of billions of galaxies strewn
across the universe. Their variety is stunning: spirals, ring galaxies shaped like star-
studded loops, and ancient galaxies that outshine virtually everything else in the
universe.

But despite their differences, and the mind-boggling distances between them,
scientists have noticed that some galaxies move together in odd and often
unexplained patterns, as if they are connected by a vast unseen force.

Galaxies within a few million light years of each other can gravitationally affect each
other in predictable ways, but scientists have observed mysterious patterns between
distant galaxies that transcend those local interactions.

These discoveries hint at the enigmatic influence of so-called “large-scale structures”
which, as the name suggests, are the biggest known objects in the universe. These
dim structures are made of hydrogen gas and dark matter and take the form of
filaments, sheets, and knots that link galaxies in a vast network called the cosmic
web. We know these structures have major implications for the evolution and
movements of galaxies, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of the root dynamics
driving them."

See:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z...ant-structures

[AnimeFan188]

Scientists Found More Than 100 Tiny Worlds Hidden in the Solar System:

"A telescope looking for dark matter discovered 139 new minor planets lurking beyond
Neptune's orbit, which could help scientists look for hidden planets in the outer solar
system."

See:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d...e-solar-system

[Johnny Dy]

Ah! I like this. Just started the new Cosmos: Possible Worlds. Niel deGrasse Tyson for president of the world! He's got my vote, but Kim Jong-un won't like it.

Gonna share with you my favorite bit: TIMELAPSE OF THE FUTURE: A Journey to the End of Time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD4izuDMUQA It's made by some of the worlds top scientists, it's got awesome visualization and acoustics. I've seen it countless of times, I don't think anyone, fan of the cosmos wouldn't like it, at least seeing it once.

I suggest watching that with all lights out, in the middle of the night. It's worth it!

[AnimeFan188]

New study deepens the controversy over Planet Nine's existence:

"Is there a mysterious Planet Nine hiding in the outskirts of our solar system? While
there've been hypotheses making such claims, a new study looks to disprove its
existence.

The research from astronomers at the University of Pennsylvania strikes at the heart
of the clues that led some to believe such a planet was there. From 2014,
astronomers have been suggesting various explanations for the behavior of so-called
"trans-Neptunian objects" (eTNOs) that are farther from the Sun than Neptune. These
rocks in the outer reaches were previously found to be clumped together, traveling in
an elongated orbit, as reports New Scientist. One reason for that could be that they
were pulled by the gravity of a giant planet that is five to 10 times the mass of Earth.
One fascinating idea proposed about such a possible planet is that it may be
responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, as it knocks catastrophic comets
towards Earth when it passes through the Kuiper belt once every 27 million years.

The new research shows, however, that there may not be any clustering trans-
Neptunian rocks at all. The scientists used data from the Dark Energy Survey, carried
out at a Chilean observatory.

The University of Pennsylvania astronomer Pedro Bernardinelli, the lead author of the
paper, thinks their data doesn't bode well for Planet Nine's probability."

See:

https://bigthink.com/surprising-scie...1#rebelltitem1

[Ithekro]

A salty ocean found on the Dwarf Planet Ceres.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-s...-idUSKCN2562HE

Interesting. That's unexpected from what I recall about that asteroid belt object.