For the past two months I have been scheming up an idea to explore the subsurface of Mars. I thought I was being clever, I thought "Haha! No one has done this yet"! But low and behold, I found a project called "Exomars". Exomars is a Mars mission set to launch in two parts. One in 2016 and the other in 2018. The 2016 launch will include a land rover and an orbiter. The orbiter is designed to search for gases that appear in small concentrations in the Mars atmosphere (less than 1%). The rover is designed to test entry methods to Mars and deliver a scientific package that will gather information for around 9 days.
You may be wondering "hey MrAstrowhat, what does this have to do with your revolutionary drill idea"? Well I'm so glad you asked!! The second launch in 2018 consists of a rover equipped with a drill module. The drill is built to drill two meters below the surface of Mars (which is much better than the half-meter depth of the Phoenix Lander) and bring up core samples to the surface so that they can be analyzed by the rover.
Now, I will say this is slightly different than my idea in which I had a drill that would dig down with heated drillheads and moisture sensors to detect liquid water. With this, no solid samples would be aquired, however, the vapours that developed would be analyzed by modules on the drill and, using an X-ray spectrometer, (which was an idea recommended to me) the drill would look for water (as opposed to other vapours that could arise, although we'd probably study those too).
I think this is a fantastic step in the search for life because it is the first time they will have explored the subsurface at a relatively deep level and if we actually found liquid water we might just find some extra terrestrial life! (it'd be about time....)
-MrAstrowhat
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
SPACE JUNK!!!
I couldn't really think of a clever title for this one so I just capitolized it to make it slightly more intense.
So we had a presentation in class last week about the construction of little cube satellites last week (which was awesome). These satillites are very cheap and can be brought into space exponentially cheaper than a normal satillite and in large numbers. However this brings up the question.... What if they break.... The answer was essentially they will probably be left there (that's what I remember, please correct me if I'm wrong). I then was browsing through space.com and I saw an article on recycling space junk to make new satellites! I then thought "oh my, tis a sign MrAstrowhat, we must do a blog on space junk"!!!!
The American Military Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on something called project Pheonix in which they want to create a robotic vehicle to retrieve the old antennas from old satellites and attach them on new ones so that they can be used once again. Actually, they specifically want to attach them to nanosatellites (which made me think of the in class presentation). I think this is a fantastic way to start recycling the dead material that is floating around our planet and just taking up space.
This will also continue to save money. The nanosatellites, as I said before, are very cheap to piggyback into space. Antenna are a whole different barrel of monkies, they are rather bulky and cost quite a bit of money so if we are able to use the working ones that are already in space..... Much money will be saved!!! Yay!!!!
There are some problems with this however. Satellites in Earths orbit were not made with the idea that they would be taken apart again so disassembling the satellite via robot could be difficult.
But yeah, I thought this was pretty awesome because we JUST had a presentation on nanosatellites. I wonder if they know anything about this?
-MrAstrowhat
So we had a presentation in class last week about the construction of little cube satellites last week (which was awesome). These satillites are very cheap and can be brought into space exponentially cheaper than a normal satillite and in large numbers. However this brings up the question.... What if they break.... The answer was essentially they will probably be left there (that's what I remember, please correct me if I'm wrong). I then was browsing through space.com and I saw an article on recycling space junk to make new satellites! I then thought "oh my, tis a sign MrAstrowhat, we must do a blog on space junk"!!!!
The American Military Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on something called project Pheonix in which they want to create a robotic vehicle to retrieve the old antennas from old satellites and attach them on new ones so that they can be used once again. Actually, they specifically want to attach them to nanosatellites (which made me think of the in class presentation). I think this is a fantastic way to start recycling the dead material that is floating around our planet and just taking up space.
This will also continue to save money. The nanosatellites, as I said before, are very cheap to piggyback into space. Antenna are a whole different barrel of monkies, they are rather bulky and cost quite a bit of money so if we are able to use the working ones that are already in space..... Much money will be saved!!! Yay!!!!
There are some problems with this however. Satellites in Earths orbit were not made with the idea that they would be taken apart again so disassembling the satellite via robot could be difficult.
But yeah, I thought this was pretty awesome because we JUST had a presentation on nanosatellites. I wonder if they know anything about this?
-MrAstrowhat
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Aquafina's got nothing on this.....
Scientists have recently discovered huge amounts of water in a planet forming disc surrounding the star TW Hydrae (which I am going to refer to as TWH for the duration of this blog). TWH is an orange dwarf star which is very similar to our own sun. It differs only in the fact that it is slightly less massive and luminous. It has always been thought that planet forming rings have held water but this is the first time it has been detected.
The UV rays from TWH caused water molecules to break free from the ice allowing the researches to capture the light signature of the water.
Fantastic..... So there is a big ol' ring of water in space.... Why is that so special?? WELL I'M GLAD YOU ASKED!!!!!!!!!!
See, life tends to be created when water is present under the proper conditions so we can make an assumption that if(water == true AND isHabitableZone == true){
life.create
}
else
{
planet == noLife
}
In other words, if a planet has water under the right conditions, chances are there will be the developement of some life. But where does this water come from? This is where these big ol' rings of water vapour come in (I'm sorry, I just felt the need to throw some java into the mix).
The planet forming ring has rather frigid outer edge which would cause the water to freeze around dust particles forming pieces of ice. These ice pieces could do one of two things. They could be used like a planetary adhesive and help planet formation by assisting in the sticking-together of dust particles or they could just chill in space (that's right, I made a space pun.... if you didn't get it, space is cold, chill is a verb that implies making something cold with a dual meaning found in american slang in which it is used to describe relaxing or hanging out.... chill....cold..... haha......) and be comets like the ones that pass through our solar system and chill in the kuiper belt (there I go with the puns again, my sense of humour is endless).
Ice sticking planets together creates the planet on which life can form is pretty important but its the free roaming comets that are of interes to us now.
After a planet is formed chances are it will have no water because it was probably vapourized during accretion (assuming it was created through accretion). So it is up to these ice bearing comets to supply our happy little planet with water! Due to the high volumes of ice in the planet forming ring, chances are there will be a lot of comets and these comets will most likely end up ramming into the planet and bring a bunch of elements and compounds with it!
If the environment allows it, the water can settle and form oceans and then, within these oceans, life has a chance of forming!
I get weekly emails from http://www.space.com (which I recommend checking out) and one of them was about an icy dwarf planet in the kuiper belt with a decaying atmosphere of methane. I was going to write about that.... But then I saw this, so I wrote about this. What a thrilling anecdote from MrAstrowhat.
What's green and has wheels????
Grass... I lied about the wheels.
-MrAstrowhat
The UV rays from TWH caused water molecules to break free from the ice allowing the researches to capture the light signature of the water.
Fantastic..... So there is a big ol' ring of water in space.... Why is that so special?? WELL I'M GLAD YOU ASKED!!!!!!!!!!
See, life tends to be created when water is present under the proper conditions so we can make an assumption that if(water == true AND isHabitableZone == true){
life.create
}
else
{
planet == noLife
}
In other words, if a planet has water under the right conditions, chances are there will be the developement of some life. But where does this water come from? This is where these big ol' rings of water vapour come in (I'm sorry, I just felt the need to throw some java into the mix).
The planet forming ring has rather frigid outer edge which would cause the water to freeze around dust particles forming pieces of ice. These ice pieces could do one of two things. They could be used like a planetary adhesive and help planet formation by assisting in the sticking-together of dust particles or they could just chill in space (that's right, I made a space pun.... if you didn't get it, space is cold, chill is a verb that implies making something cold with a dual meaning found in american slang in which it is used to describe relaxing or hanging out.... chill....cold..... haha......) and be comets like the ones that pass through our solar system and chill in the kuiper belt (there I go with the puns again, my sense of humour is endless).
Ice sticking planets together creates the planet on which life can form is pretty important but its the free roaming comets that are of interes to us now.
After a planet is formed chances are it will have no water because it was probably vapourized during accretion (assuming it was created through accretion). So it is up to these ice bearing comets to supply our happy little planet with water! Due to the high volumes of ice in the planet forming ring, chances are there will be a lot of comets and these comets will most likely end up ramming into the planet and bring a bunch of elements and compounds with it!
If the environment allows it, the water can settle and form oceans and then, within these oceans, life has a chance of forming!
I get weekly emails from http://www.space.com (which I recommend checking out) and one of them was about an icy dwarf planet in the kuiper belt with a decaying atmosphere of methane. I was going to write about that.... But then I saw this, so I wrote about this. What a thrilling anecdote from MrAstrowhat.
What's green and has wheels????
Grass... I lied about the wheels.
-MrAstrowhat
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Humans vs Aliens
Hello all!
When we think Alien, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For most of us it is little green humanoids with enlarged heads and giant black eyes that come from Mars that abduct people in the southern states and probe them to learn more about us. For those of us who spend a lot of time watching the space network the first thing that might come to mind are spider like creatures that attach themselves to your face and forcefully plant a baby alien into your chest cavity so it can later break out and wreak havoc apon which ever planet or spaceship it happens to be on.
What ever representation we look at, there seems to be, like with humans, good aliens and bad aliens (or two groups of bad aliens fighting however one sees that humans are no threat so they ignore us completely or use us as fodder for the other bad aliens). So why are we trying to find them? There is a large chance that if we ever make contact with an alien civilization we can make two implications. One, they live in a technologically advanced society because they have the ability to recieve and translate our signals. Whether or not their society is more advanced would have to be left to furthur investigation. Then there is two, if their society is more advanced, their is a very high likelyhood that they will try to either exterminate Earth for their own use or enslave the population.
We could also live in peace and harmony but where is the fun in that?
I suppose what I am trying to say is that should we really be trying to find life out in space?
Even if the life is just some single celled organisms, who's to say they do not have parasitic properties or have the ability to divide at alarming rates and grow into something rediculous. Quite honestly I'd rather have a fist fight with a Predator (from the movie series Predator) then have to deal with some microbial life that infects and kills everything forever.
But then again everything has risks and finding other life could be very benificial. If we were to encounter a peaceful, more advanced society, there could be the mutual sharing of technology and resources and not to mention a new ally if a galactic war ever broke out. If we were to encounter a peaceful, less advanced society then we probably wouldn't have to worry because our only source of communication would be radio waves and neither us or them would be able to travel that far.
Now that I have listed my pros and cons of finding life, time to take a side....
Personally, I am in support of finding life. If they come and enslave us or kill us all then I suppose that would just suck.... A lot..... HOWEVER! If they were peaceful and advanced there is a possibility we could all eventually be walking around with lightsabers and jetpacks a lot sooner then expected. This would be awesome. (don't take this last paragraph to seriously, I am in a mood to reference space movies today)
To celebrate this post I made my own alien. His name is Monty.
-MrAstrowhat
When we think Alien, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For most of us it is little green humanoids with enlarged heads and giant black eyes that come from Mars that abduct people in the southern states and probe them to learn more about us. For those of us who spend a lot of time watching the space network the first thing that might come to mind are spider like creatures that attach themselves to your face and forcefully plant a baby alien into your chest cavity so it can later break out and wreak havoc apon which ever planet or spaceship it happens to be on.
What ever representation we look at, there seems to be, like with humans, good aliens and bad aliens (or two groups of bad aliens fighting however one sees that humans are no threat so they ignore us completely or use us as fodder for the other bad aliens). So why are we trying to find them? There is a large chance that if we ever make contact with an alien civilization we can make two implications. One, they live in a technologically advanced society because they have the ability to recieve and translate our signals. Whether or not their society is more advanced would have to be left to furthur investigation. Then there is two, if their society is more advanced, their is a very high likelyhood that they will try to either exterminate Earth for their own use or enslave the population.
We could also live in peace and harmony but where is the fun in that?
I suppose what I am trying to say is that should we really be trying to find life out in space?
Even if the life is just some single celled organisms, who's to say they do not have parasitic properties or have the ability to divide at alarming rates and grow into something rediculous. Quite honestly I'd rather have a fist fight with a Predator (from the movie series Predator) then have to deal with some microbial life that infects and kills everything forever.
But then again everything has risks and finding other life could be very benificial. If we were to encounter a peaceful, more advanced society, there could be the mutual sharing of technology and resources and not to mention a new ally if a galactic war ever broke out. If we were to encounter a peaceful, less advanced society then we probably wouldn't have to worry because our only source of communication would be radio waves and neither us or them would be able to travel that far.
Now that I have listed my pros and cons of finding life, time to take a side....
Personally, I am in support of finding life. If they come and enslave us or kill us all then I suppose that would just suck.... A lot..... HOWEVER! If they were peaceful and advanced there is a possibility we could all eventually be walking around with lightsabers and jetpacks a lot sooner then expected. This would be awesome. (don't take this last paragraph to seriously, I am in a mood to reference space movies today)
To celebrate this post I made my own alien. His name is Monty.
-MrAstrowhat
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Big Computers do Cool Things
So, for post number two, I have found something quite interesting to talk about! Yesterday I recieved an email from space.com about a supercomputer simulation of the early universe so I have decided that shall be the topic of this blog.
The simulation was done using NASA's supercomputer named "Pleiades" which is the seventh most powerful computer in the world (12 terrabytes of RAM and 75TB Harddrive)! This amazing computer, combined with the Bolshoi Simulation Code, created the most accurate simulation of the universe ever done.
Bolshoi Simulation as seen on
http://www.space.com/13151-universe-evolution-nasa-supercomputer-simulation.html
The simulation shows filaments of dark matter spread throughout the universe which is important in helping the formation and evolution of galaxy clusters after the big bang.
As for how it helps the formation I am not sure exactly but I feel it will be fun to put fourth a theory.
We know that gravity pulls things in and dark energy pushes things apart, it's the combination of these that result in the expansion of the universe. If we have strands close together, the exert an outward force, pushing whatever is between them together.
A theoretical "strand" of darkmatter to help
show what I mean. Yellow arrows show the
force emitted by the dark matter.
Yes, my dark matter strand is extremely rough (and visible for our own purposes), however it relays my point. DARK MATTER PUSHES CLUSTERS TOGETHER!!!!
So..... Back to that planet I made..... I tried to put a tree on it.....
(Please ignore the white outline. Something went wrong when I rendered it and I couldnt find the problem)
Due to high temperatures, the tree instantly caught on fire.... But! That means there might be oxygen........ Hmmmmmm.......
-MrAstrowhat
The simulation was done using NASA's supercomputer named "Pleiades" which is the seventh most powerful computer in the world (12 terrabytes of RAM and 75TB Harddrive)! This amazing computer, combined with the Bolshoi Simulation Code, created the most accurate simulation of the universe ever done.
http://www.space.com/13151-universe-evolution-nasa-supercomputer-simulation.html
The simulation shows filaments of dark matter spread throughout the universe which is important in helping the formation and evolution of galaxy clusters after the big bang.
As for how it helps the formation I am not sure exactly but I feel it will be fun to put fourth a theory.
We know that gravity pulls things in and dark energy pushes things apart, it's the combination of these that result in the expansion of the universe. If we have strands close together, the exert an outward force, pushing whatever is between them together.
show what I mean. Yellow arrows show the
force emitted by the dark matter.
Yes, my dark matter strand is extremely rough (and visible for our own purposes), however it relays my point. DARK MATTER PUSHES CLUSTERS TOGETHER!!!!
So..... Back to that planet I made..... I tried to put a tree on it.....
(Please ignore the white outline. Something went wrong when I rendered it and I couldnt find the problem)
Due to high temperatures, the tree instantly caught on fire.... But! That means there might be oxygen........ Hmmmmmm.......
-MrAstrowhat
Saturday, September 24, 2011
No amounts of cold lemonade will fix this.....
Alright so I've been trying to come up with some sort of theme for this next set of blogs and I think I have an idea..... What makes a good planet? It's a topic we have covered and will be covering in class quite extensivly I feel. "Woah, hold up mrAstrowhat, so you mean to tell me you're just going to take what you've done in class and copy it to this blog???!" But of course not my dear theoretical friend! I have a plan to make this topic a bit more.... Zazzy (in the words of the great Sheldon Cooper).
What on earth is that?!
Well first of all, that is not on earth, second of all, it is a 3-D render of a planetary environment (made by yours truely) to represent a planet that is much to close to it's sun to have ample temperatures to support life (or any sort of liquid) and has a rather unfortunate atmosphere similiar to that of venus (well Venus does not have red cloud cover, I just put in red coulds because it looked cool) in which the green house gases are of rather high levels.
Well on second thought, maybe I should do something that we won't cover in class so I dont feel as if I'm being a copycat (or lazy for that matter). I will ponder on this further but for now, I leave you with this semi long and rather uninformative post. Yay uncertainty!!!!
-MrAstrowhat
What on earth is that?!
Well first of all, that is not on earth, second of all, it is a 3-D render of a planetary environment (made by yours truely) to represent a planet that is much to close to it's sun to have ample temperatures to support life (or any sort of liquid) and has a rather unfortunate atmosphere similiar to that of venus (well Venus does not have red cloud cover, I just put in red coulds because it looked cool) in which the green house gases are of rather high levels.
Well on second thought, maybe I should do something that we won't cover in class so I dont feel as if I'm being a copycat (or lazy for that matter). I will ponder on this further but for now, I leave you with this semi long and rather uninformative post. Yay uncertainty!!!!
-MrAstrowhat
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
New Physics Course Means More Blogging!!!!
So I am very excited... Because..... I get to write more blog stuff!!!! I figured since I'm going to be writing a new blog I might as well just continue and old one sooooooo..... yeah. You can expect more posts to be written now!!!
P.S. If you want me to make a different blog for this assignment, please email or tell me.
P.S. If you want me to make a different blog for this assignment, please email or tell me.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Final Countdown!
Well this will be my last post. It's not scientific (what?!) nor will it teach you anything. It is simply going to be a reflection on the course. The formatting will be a question and answer. I will right a question relating to my reflection and write a response as an answer.
What was my favorite part of the course?
This last week is has probably been my favorite. Cosmology, the Big Bang, Black holes, Quasars, and dark matter are some of my favorite topics, which you can see because I have a blog about each of them (except dark matter) and the overall mystery of the topics really intrigues me.
What is something you would've like to see more of in the course?
Well, honestly, I think it would've been cool to get a professionals opinion on M-Theory. I see a ton of videos on and have read articles on it but I can't really ask questions to a pixelated person on a 2D screen nor can I ask a book a question and expect a verbal response so yeah. Either than that I do not think I could expect more, it covered it all!
What was your least favorite part of the course?
Ooooo.... Hmm, that is a tough one. Overall I enjoyed all aspects of the course but I think my least favorite part.... was completely out of our control. The weather... It made constellation testing very difficult and got kind of ridiculous after a while. Thats the maritimes for you though!
I think those three basic questions cover just about everything that one could put in a reflective blog.
So yeah, this is it, the final post. I hope all of whom have read this was able to learn something, I know I have learned a lot while doing these blogs and even have more knowledge from the course that I could add to these blogs! But, that is for another time.
Who knows, I may continue this "blogging" thing. I rather enjoyed writing about these topics and if I don't move further Astronomy it is still a fantastic hobby.
-MrAstrowhat
What was my favorite part of the course?
This last week is has probably been my favorite. Cosmology, the Big Bang, Black holes, Quasars, and dark matter are some of my favorite topics, which you can see because I have a blog about each of them (except dark matter) and the overall mystery of the topics really intrigues me.
What is something you would've like to see more of in the course?
Well, honestly, I think it would've been cool to get a professionals opinion on M-Theory. I see a ton of videos on and have read articles on it but I can't really ask questions to a pixelated person on a 2D screen nor can I ask a book a question and expect a verbal response so yeah. Either than that I do not think I could expect more, it covered it all!
What was your least favorite part of the course?
Ooooo.... Hmm, that is a tough one. Overall I enjoyed all aspects of the course but I think my least favorite part.... was completely out of our control. The weather... It made constellation testing very difficult and got kind of ridiculous after a while. Thats the maritimes for you though!
I think those three basic questions cover just about everything that one could put in a reflective blog.
So yeah, this is it, the final post. I hope all of whom have read this was able to learn something, I know I have learned a lot while doing these blogs and even have more knowledge from the course that I could add to these blogs! But, that is for another time.
Who knows, I may continue this "blogging" thing. I rather enjoyed writing about these topics and if I don't move further Astronomy it is still a fantastic hobby.
-MrAstrowhat
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Ummm.... Flat Spaghetti?
Alright.... Here we go.... This is going to get messy..... M-Theory.... Please excuse any inaccuracies in this blog (and the previous one). These are very hard topics to talk about when one has rather limited knowledge. However, I find them so interesting that I feel obliged to talk about them now that I have reason to do so (they explain the beginning of our universe).
So String Theory didn't quite make the cut. There ended up being five different String Theories..... That makes no sense what so ever! So String Theory fell apart and was almost forgotten.
So now we go to our dear friend Michael Duff. A theoretical physicist who specialized in a theory called "Supergravity". Supergravity was not so different from String theory. There was one tiny difference between them that drew the line though. String Theory posed that there were 10 Dimensions while Supergravity posed 11.
Eventually String theorists became desperate, nothing was working so they did the very thing that they shunned Duff for. They added the 11th dimension.... And guess what?! It worked! Suddenly, the five String Theories became one and guess who had the last laugh? OH YEAH! MICHAEL DUFF!
But the strings..... They changed... Upon the addition of the 11th dimension the strings changed. They flattened out, they stretched, and they combined to become one giant structure, one giant membrane.
Essentially, our universe, our existence, everything we know and love, is on a single membrane.
dunh dunh dunnnnnnnhhhhh......
and so we have M-Theory (where M stands for anything you want it to be)
Now what does this eleventh dimension look like? How does it work? Well I can explain it in a few words however I find it near impossible to actually comprehend.
The 11th dimension is infinitely long but has a width of (1/1.0x10^20mm) which is really small. If you thought that was weird then you will love this. Dimension number 11 exists one trillionth of a millimeter away from every point in space..... Talk about invasion of personal space!
Its in this ridiculous space that our membrane is chillin. Have a grand old membrane party with its fellow membranes.... Woah.... Did I just say there were more membranes?!?!?!?! Does this mean.... No... It can't be..... Parallel dimensions?!?!!? Gasps..... (if you read my other posts you totally knew that already)
Yes, yes there are parallel dimensions. A dimension for every possibility, but you already knew that right? (see older posts)
I would also like to point out that M-Theory explains gravity (which gives M-Theory relevance to Astronomy). w00t!
That will be explained in my next blog for as long with some things that actually make sense...... For once!
-MrAstroWhat
So String Theory didn't quite make the cut. There ended up being five different String Theories..... That makes no sense what so ever! So String Theory fell apart and was almost forgotten.
So now we go to our dear friend Michael Duff. A theoretical physicist who specialized in a theory called "Supergravity". Supergravity was not so different from String theory. There was one tiny difference between them that drew the line though. String Theory posed that there were 10 Dimensions while Supergravity posed 11.
Eventually String theorists became desperate, nothing was working so they did the very thing that they shunned Duff for. They added the 11th dimension.... And guess what?! It worked! Suddenly, the five String Theories became one and guess who had the last laugh? OH YEAH! MICHAEL DUFF!
But the strings..... They changed... Upon the addition of the 11th dimension the strings changed. They flattened out, they stretched, and they combined to become one giant structure, one giant membrane.
Essentially, our universe, our existence, everything we know and love, is on a single membrane.
dunh dunh dunnnnnnnhhhhh......
and so we have M-Theory (where M stands for anything you want it to be)
Now what does this eleventh dimension look like? How does it work? Well I can explain it in a few words however I find it near impossible to actually comprehend.
The 11th dimension is infinitely long but has a width of (1/1.0x10^20mm) which is really small. If you thought that was weird then you will love this. Dimension number 11 exists one trillionth of a millimeter away from every point in space..... Talk about invasion of personal space!
Its in this ridiculous space that our membrane is chillin. Have a grand old membrane party with its fellow membranes.... Woah.... Did I just say there were more membranes?!?!?!?! Does this mean.... No... It can't be..... Parallel dimensions?!?!!? Gasps..... (if you read my other posts you totally knew that already)
Yes, yes there are parallel dimensions. A dimension for every possibility, but you already knew that right? (see older posts)
I would also like to point out that M-Theory explains gravity (which gives M-Theory relevance to Astronomy). w00t!
That will be explained in my next blog for as long with some things that actually make sense...... For once!
-MrAstroWhat
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Power of Spaghetti!
As you may have guessed from my last post, I am going to take a stab at string theory. What does this have to do with astronomy? Well, a huge part of Astronomy is gravity..... obvious really.... But can anyone really explain it? Why is gravity such a weak force and how can we unify it with the other forces?
String theory is the idea that everything ever created is composed of tiny vibrating strings. These strings are what make up, well, everything, from quarks all the way to super-massive Black Holes.
Lets look at a guitar, if you strum it one way you will get one sound, if you strum it a different way you will get a different sound. Well, these strings work the same way. Their frequencies determine how they will behave, different frequency means different outcome, just like a guitar.
But why the heck is this important?! Who cares a bout a few pieces of string, why is this foolishness relevant?! Well There are two general theories that explain, well, everything. There is Einsteins Theory of General Relativity which explains the world of the really large and there is Quantum Mechanics which explain the world of the really small. Now if we look at the four fundamental forces (electromagnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear, and gravity). Quantum mechanics explained the interactions of the nuclear forces and electromagnetics while relativity explain gravity. However, these could not combine! Essentially gravity is the one force we cannot explain.
Scientists needed a way to bring these theories together and somehow master gravity. After years of debate and study, String Theory was born.
But mrAstrowhat, you still haven't explained how String theory unifies all the forces.....
Well technically it doesn't...... There were still problems occurring with string theory, nothing would add up and by this time there were also five different versions of String Theory.
There is something we must understand before moving forward, we can perceive a 4-dimensional world containing three spacial dimensions and 1 dimension of time. However there are more dimensions that we cannot see. I cannot really explain these other dimensions for it is near impossible to really grasp their existence at all. But anywho, String Theory stated that there were 10 dimensions to work with.
So why wasn't this adding up? I sure don't know! Why were there five different solutions? I do know! And so will you! In my next blog for this one is getting rather hefty!
But before I go I feel as if I should express my feelings of the class again. It has still yet to disappoint me. I find every class to be interesting and even though I have spent years researching my hobby of astronomy it is a whole new experience being taught it by a professional.
I have my constellation testing coming up, I have been sitting outside at night multiple times, braving the bitter cold, and readying myself! Except there is one thing...... Trees and streetlights, they are now the bane of my astronomical existence! Certain constellations move below the treeline and out of view as the night goes on...... Either that or I really need to rethink my knowledge of constellation positioning!
-MrAstrowhat
String theory is the idea that everything ever created is composed of tiny vibrating strings. These strings are what make up, well, everything, from quarks all the way to super-massive Black Holes.
Lets look at a guitar, if you strum it one way you will get one sound, if you strum it a different way you will get a different sound. Well, these strings work the same way. Their frequencies determine how they will behave, different frequency means different outcome, just like a guitar.
But why the heck is this important?! Who cares a bout a few pieces of string, why is this foolishness relevant?! Well There are two general theories that explain, well, everything. There is Einsteins Theory of General Relativity which explains the world of the really large and there is Quantum Mechanics which explain the world of the really small. Now if we look at the four fundamental forces (electromagnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear, and gravity). Quantum mechanics explained the interactions of the nuclear forces and electromagnetics while relativity explain gravity. However, these could not combine! Essentially gravity is the one force we cannot explain.
Scientists needed a way to bring these theories together and somehow master gravity. After years of debate and study, String Theory was born.
But mrAstrowhat, you still haven't explained how String theory unifies all the forces.....
Well technically it doesn't...... There were still problems occurring with string theory, nothing would add up and by this time there were also five different versions of String Theory.
There is something we must understand before moving forward, we can perceive a 4-dimensional world containing three spacial dimensions and 1 dimension of time. However there are more dimensions that we cannot see. I cannot really explain these other dimensions for it is near impossible to really grasp their existence at all. But anywho, String Theory stated that there were 10 dimensions to work with.
So why wasn't this adding up? I sure don't know! Why were there five different solutions? I do know! And so will you! In my next blog for this one is getting rather hefty!
But before I go I feel as if I should express my feelings of the class again. It has still yet to disappoint me. I find every class to be interesting and even though I have spent years researching my hobby of astronomy it is a whole new experience being taught it by a professional.
I have my constellation testing coming up, I have been sitting outside at night multiple times, braving the bitter cold, and readying myself! Except there is one thing...... Trees and streetlights, they are now the bane of my astronomical existence! Certain constellations move below the treeline and out of view as the night goes on...... Either that or I really need to rethink my knowledge of constellation positioning!
-MrAstrowhat
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Surviving a Bear Attack
Now I know I said at the beginning of this that my blog would be set up as a "journey through time". I feel as though I may deviate from that a tad bit. I would like to shift our view to an awesome phenomena located close to the star "Porrima" in the constellation "Virgo". There is something happening there, something.... Amazing. There is a group of galaxies, five to be exact, all which are within very close proximity to eachother. This group is called "Stephen's Quintet".
One of these galaxies, NGC 7318b, is being a little invasive to say the least. It is crashing through the other galaxies at around 500 miles per hour and causing huge shockwaves to barge through the other members of Stephen's Quintet. This causes hydrogen molecules in the surrounding space to begin radiate large amounts of X-Ray radiation. This strange...... Considering Hydrogen is a very weak emitter compared to other molecules (such as CO).
When scientists first saw this huge outburst of X-Ray radiation they went right to infrared spectrum to determine what elements were causing this. Usually, elements heavier than helium and dust particles are found, HOWEVER! This time, to everyones surprise, the spectrum was that of pure molecular Hydrogen.
Now why is this so amazing? What makes this Hydrogen more special than the stuff that fuels our sun or the small amounts of hydrogen in our atmosphere? Well I suppose I should tell you.
Normally, shockwaves of this magnitude would destroy the molecular Hydrogen (one of the reasons scientists were surprised) but this time something was different. The Hydrogen accumulated into tight, dense regions where the shockwave would be slowed down enough to prevent the molecules from breaking. It's this survival method that allows Hydrogen to last for long periods of time and be a catalyst in the creation of heavier elements.
That seems like it could be connected to.... hmmm.... possibly the creation of a star?! Holy cow that's amazing!
Anywho, I find Stephen's Quintet to be a fascinating occurrence. It helps us to view how Hydrogen can survive for long enough to start the creation of stars and eventually galaxies!
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: We all know that we are composed of atoms. Atoms are composed of electrons, protons and neutrons, which are composed of subatomic particles such as quarks which are composed of...... Strings? *SPOILER ALERT*
One of these galaxies, NGC 7318b, is being a little invasive to say the least. It is crashing through the other galaxies at around 500 miles per hour and causing huge shockwaves to barge through the other members of Stephen's Quintet. This causes hydrogen molecules in the surrounding space to begin radiate large amounts of X-Ray radiation. This strange...... Considering Hydrogen is a very weak emitter compared to other molecules (such as CO).
When scientists first saw this huge outburst of X-Ray radiation they went right to infrared spectrum to determine what elements were causing this. Usually, elements heavier than helium and dust particles are found, HOWEVER! This time, to everyones surprise, the spectrum was that of pure molecular Hydrogen.
Now why is this so amazing? What makes this Hydrogen more special than the stuff that fuels our sun or the small amounts of hydrogen in our atmosphere? Well I suppose I should tell you.
Normally, shockwaves of this magnitude would destroy the molecular Hydrogen (one of the reasons scientists were surprised) but this time something was different. The Hydrogen accumulated into tight, dense regions where the shockwave would be slowed down enough to prevent the molecules from breaking. It's this survival method that allows Hydrogen to last for long periods of time and be a catalyst in the creation of heavier elements.
That seems like it could be connected to.... hmmm.... possibly the creation of a star?! Holy cow that's amazing!
Anywho, I find Stephen's Quintet to be a fascinating occurrence. It helps us to view how Hydrogen can survive for long enough to start the creation of stars and eventually galaxies!
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: We all know that we are composed of atoms. Atoms are composed of electrons, protons and neutrons, which are composed of subatomic particles such as quarks which are composed of...... Strings? *SPOILER ALERT*
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
World's Biggest Walkie Talkies
Alright! So first off I am going to finish off my segment on Black Holes (for now.... dunh dunh dunnnnnnh).
So many depictions of Black Holes show pictures of a large, flat disc with a jet of energy flowing out of the middle.. Wait a second MrAstrowhat! Aren't Black Holes supposed to be Black?!
Yes they are! But! Let me explain. As matter approaches a Black Hole it first has to fall into its orbit. Now, with objects of such a high mass the gravitational pull is unbelievably strong. This causes the velocity of orbiting objects to be very high. As objects get closer to the center of the Black Hole the velocity increases. Knowing this, we can assume that when gas gets near the center, because its so light and the Black Hole is so heavy the gravitational force is FREAKIN HUGE! This will cause the gas to spin really fast and heat up to searingly high temperatures. As this happens radiation is emitted (usually as X-Rays). Now what does this have to do with the large disc that is clearly not black nor is it a hole. Well according to angular momentum (oh lord, here I go with the equations again) as friction builds up in the center (there is a lot of friction due to high velocity) the angular momentum moves outwards. To better explain this, think of spinning pizza dough. As you spin it it spreads out into a disc shape. I think thats a good explination..... I could be horribly wrong! Who knows!
Holy cow that is a huge paragraph! I hope I explained everything well enough! Like I have indirectly mentioned before, its a lot easier to explain verbally. Now these X-Rays that I mentioned are one of the big reasons we can detect Black Holes! But not only are there X-Rays... Oh no, there are also Gamma and Radio waves! These waves are all quite detectable and we have given a name to objects that emit these. Thats right, you all know where I am going with this! Quasi Stellar Radio Sources!
Quasi Stellar Radio Sources, or Quasars, are emitters of electromagnetic energy. They exist in a tight region around their own Black Hole and are fueled by energy from the accretion disc. Oh, I'm so glad I waited to write about accretion discs, this all ties together so nicely now!
Quasars, even though they may not be as visible as our sun or Betelgeuse, are actually the brightest entities in our known universe. Quasars from up to 28 billion light years away can be viewed through radio telescopes from our happy little home here on earth. This is one little proof of how bright they are.
Lets take my favorite stellar body for example. Quasar 3C 273, located in the constellation Virgo close to the star Porrima. It is semi-easily viewed through any small scale telescope but is still extremely far away. Now, if it was approximately 10 parsecs away (32.6 lightyears) it would be viewed to be as bright as our sun. In other words, its really big and really bright. A more scientific explanation of this would simply be a difference between apparent and absolute luminosity. Apparent luminosity is the luminosity of a stellar object as we view it from earth. The Absolute luminosity is the actual luminosity of the object if you decided to go give it a little visit and stand right in front of it.
So essentially Quasars have a high absolute luminosity and a low apparent luminosity.
Wow.... I think I just a whole paragraph to say "Quasars are really bright"...... It's probably because I tend to ramble off about things that aren't quite on the given topic or am worried about not explaining things properly.
Look! Thats proof right there! Anywho that is my blog for this week. I wish everyone the best of luck on the test on Friday :)
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: Auriga, Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Ursa Major, Pegasus, Andromeda, and Cetus. Learn them, know them, love them.
So many depictions of Black Holes show pictures of a large, flat disc with a jet of energy flowing out of the middle.. Wait a second MrAstrowhat! Aren't Black Holes supposed to be Black?!
Yes they are! But! Let me explain. As matter approaches a Black Hole it first has to fall into its orbit. Now, with objects of such a high mass the gravitational pull is unbelievably strong. This causes the velocity of orbiting objects to be very high. As objects get closer to the center of the Black Hole the velocity increases. Knowing this, we can assume that when gas gets near the center, because its so light and the Black Hole is so heavy the gravitational force is FREAKIN HUGE! This will cause the gas to spin really fast and heat up to searingly high temperatures. As this happens radiation is emitted (usually as X-Rays). Now what does this have to do with the large disc that is clearly not black nor is it a hole. Well according to angular momentum (oh lord, here I go with the equations again) as friction builds up in the center (there is a lot of friction due to high velocity) the angular momentum moves outwards. To better explain this, think of spinning pizza dough. As you spin it it spreads out into a disc shape. I think thats a good explination..... I could be horribly wrong! Who knows!
Holy cow that is a huge paragraph! I hope I explained everything well enough! Like I have indirectly mentioned before, its a lot easier to explain verbally. Now these X-Rays that I mentioned are one of the big reasons we can detect Black Holes! But not only are there X-Rays... Oh no, there are also Gamma and Radio waves! These waves are all quite detectable and we have given a name to objects that emit these. Thats right, you all know where I am going with this! Quasi Stellar Radio Sources!
Quasi Stellar Radio Sources, or Quasars, are emitters of electromagnetic energy. They exist in a tight region around their own Black Hole and are fueled by energy from the accretion disc. Oh, I'm so glad I waited to write about accretion discs, this all ties together so nicely now!
Quasars, even though they may not be as visible as our sun or Betelgeuse, are actually the brightest entities in our known universe. Quasars from up to 28 billion light years away can be viewed through radio telescopes from our happy little home here on earth. This is one little proof of how bright they are.
Lets take my favorite stellar body for example. Quasar 3C 273, located in the constellation Virgo close to the star Porrima. It is semi-easily viewed through any small scale telescope but is still extremely far away. Now, if it was approximately 10 parsecs away (32.6 lightyears) it would be viewed to be as bright as our sun. In other words, its really big and really bright. A more scientific explanation of this would simply be a difference between apparent and absolute luminosity. Apparent luminosity is the luminosity of a stellar object as we view it from earth. The Absolute luminosity is the actual luminosity of the object if you decided to go give it a little visit and stand right in front of it.
So essentially Quasars have a high absolute luminosity and a low apparent luminosity.
Wow.... I think I just a whole paragraph to say "Quasars are really bright"...... It's probably because I tend to ramble off about things that aren't quite on the given topic or am worried about not explaining things properly.
Look! Thats proof right there! Anywho that is my blog for this week. I wish everyone the best of luck on the test on Friday :)
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: Auriga, Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Ursa Major, Pegasus, Andromeda, and Cetus. Learn them, know them, love them.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Pie are not Square.....
Holy Fiddlesticks! This is a post that actually has 100% relevance to the class that I am writing this for! Someone asked me "Hey, what do you think of Astronomy so far"? That got me thinking.... One of the things I haven't covered in this blog is my opinions of the class thus far! So here it goes....... Awesome..... I freaking love the class! Except sadly, I do not believe we are going to go to in depth into the intense physics of things i.e. Calculating lifespans of Black Holes, energy outputs of stars over "x" period of time. You know, the awesome equations and such! Yeah that's right, I love solving equations, I may not be the greatest at it but where a lot of people moan and groan when they see the stefan-boltzmann law of power, I jump for joy! Ohhh.... I can't wait until I can take Astrophysics!
-MrAstrowhat
-MrAstrowhat
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Omnomnom....
So! Black Holes! My favorite topic! Why is it my favorite topic? Well try to imagine one. Try to imagine a single point in time and space. A place where time slows down. A place where so much mass is packed into one infinitesimal space the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape. The grand mystery which is a Black Hole is what intrigues me.
If a star has enough mass when it goes into a supernova, even after it goes into neutron star phase, the gravitational force is still enough to continue crushing it. This crushing will continue until the star gets down to such a small size it exists pretty much as a single point (really, really small). This point has such a small size and such a high mass, its gravitational force becomes so great that it starts to suck in all surrounding mass (this can be proved through the equation Gm/r^2)n and even begins to suck in light. Because it absorbs all light it is viewed as a perfectly black circle (hence the name Black Hole).
A Black Hole is comprised of three main parts: The singularity, the Schwarzchild Radius, and the Event Horizon.
I have discussed the singularity before. It is a tiny object of infinite heat and density. It is found at the center of a Black Hole. Simple as that!
The Schwarzchild Radius is the distance from the singularity where the escape velocity is equal to that of the speed of light. This is what puts the "Black" in Black Hole for if light cannot escape than there is nothing for us to see!
The Event Horizon is simply the outer boundaries of the Schwarzchild Radius. It's also referred to as "The point of no return", for once and object enters the Event Horizon it cannot escape.
Arg! This is so hard to explain well by typing! There are so many awesome formulas and stuff I want to show but it would really just end up being a pile of mumbo-jumbo if i attempted to use it in typed words. I may have a solution, I am going to attempt to make some videos to just show any equations that help to prove what I am saying. It's not a guarantee but I am going to try. Back to Black Holes!
Now Black Holes love to eat light and matter but something else that is on the main menu of delicacies for a Black Hole is time. Its hard to imagine how something can warp time. I have come to a conclusion it's just something I have to accept rather than question it. If you dropped a clock into a Black Hole and watched it, the hands would move slower and slower, time would get slower and slower as the clock went deeper into the Black Hole. The clock would also experience Spaghettification (which I mentioned in my last blog) and Redshift. This redshift is a result of the light of the clock being moved towards the lower end of the spectra (red) this is due to the lower frequencies of light that are occurring due to the effects of the Black Hole.
Now here is a nice question, do Black Holes ever die? The answer is YES! Around the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, particles are being emitted. Everytime a particle is emitted, some energy is lost (I think this is related to matter and antimatter particles but I'm not 100% sure). To prove this there is an equation that is derived using a few very fun little equations such as: Stefan-Boltzmann Constant, Hawking Radiation Temperature, Schwarzchild Radius Equation, and Stefan-Boltzmann Power Law. These give an equation which allows you to find how much energy is being emitted from the Black Hole. You can then take the derivative of Einsteins mass-energy equation, set it equal to an little equation for Power, rearrange, integrate, then do some fun little algebraic manipulations (bazinga, the algebra is ridiculous) and get an equation which allows you to solve for time, exciting eh? It's not as exciting when you spend a long time actually learning to derive this......
I think this is enough Black Holes for now, I have some more I will cover next time I do a blog post.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for thought: Derivations suck
If a star has enough mass when it goes into a supernova, even after it goes into neutron star phase, the gravitational force is still enough to continue crushing it. This crushing will continue until the star gets down to such a small size it exists pretty much as a single point (really, really small). This point has such a small size and such a high mass, its gravitational force becomes so great that it starts to suck in all surrounding mass (this can be proved through the equation Gm/r^2)n and even begins to suck in light. Because it absorbs all light it is viewed as a perfectly black circle (hence the name Black Hole).
A Black Hole is comprised of three main parts: The singularity, the Schwarzchild Radius, and the Event Horizon.
I have discussed the singularity before. It is a tiny object of infinite heat and density. It is found at the center of a Black Hole. Simple as that!
The Schwarzchild Radius is the distance from the singularity where the escape velocity is equal to that of the speed of light. This is what puts the "Black" in Black Hole for if light cannot escape than there is nothing for us to see!
The Event Horizon is simply the outer boundaries of the Schwarzchild Radius. It's also referred to as "The point of no return", for once and object enters the Event Horizon it cannot escape.
Arg! This is so hard to explain well by typing! There are so many awesome formulas and stuff I want to show but it would really just end up being a pile of mumbo-jumbo if i attempted to use it in typed words. I may have a solution, I am going to attempt to make some videos to just show any equations that help to prove what I am saying. It's not a guarantee but I am going to try. Back to Black Holes!
Now Black Holes love to eat light and matter but something else that is on the main menu of delicacies for a Black Hole is time. Its hard to imagine how something can warp time. I have come to a conclusion it's just something I have to accept rather than question it. If you dropped a clock into a Black Hole and watched it, the hands would move slower and slower, time would get slower and slower as the clock went deeper into the Black Hole. The clock would also experience Spaghettification (which I mentioned in my last blog) and Redshift. This redshift is a result of the light of the clock being moved towards the lower end of the spectra (red) this is due to the lower frequencies of light that are occurring due to the effects of the Black Hole.
Now here is a nice question, do Black Holes ever die? The answer is YES! Around the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, particles are being emitted. Everytime a particle is emitted, some energy is lost (I think this is related to matter and antimatter particles but I'm not 100% sure). To prove this there is an equation that is derived using a few very fun little equations such as: Stefan-Boltzmann Constant, Hawking Radiation Temperature, Schwarzchild Radius Equation, and Stefan-Boltzmann Power Law. These give an equation which allows you to find how much energy is being emitted from the Black Hole. You can then take the derivative of Einsteins mass-energy equation, set it equal to an little equation for Power, rearrange, integrate, then do some fun little algebraic manipulations (bazinga, the algebra is ridiculous) and get an equation which allows you to solve for time, exciting eh? It's not as exciting when you spend a long time actually learning to derive this......
I think this is enough Black Holes for now, I have some more I will cover next time I do a blog post.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for thought: Derivations suck
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Elephants in my Closet
Hmmm I suppose after leaving everyone on a cliff hanger with what happens at the end of a stars life I have some explaining to do! Now when most people think about a stars death the think about a big explosion. Well... They are wrong. The star doesn't explode, rather, it implodes.
Picture this. You have a balloon in your hands and it is attached to a (very weak) air compressor. You put the nozzle in the balloon and begin to fill it. While its filling you squeeze the balloon to prevent it from growing but despite your efforts your applied force isn't enough. At this point, the balloon is a star, the air compressor is the core of the star that is fusing elements and providing an outward force, and you my friend, are gravity. Now get a friend to yank the nozzle out of the balloon and what happens? The outward force of the balloon stops and your applied force takes over and you squash the balloon.
The above analogy is exactly what gravity does to a star. The gravitational force crushes the star and causes it to essentially implode into itself! This implosion causes a massive release of radiation which creates a brilliant light show in our massive universe.
In this implosion mass amounts of gamma rays are released. These gamma rays have enough energy to decompose elements into nothing but free neutrons. As a result, the result of a supernovae is an extremely dense core made entirely of neutrons (and not to mention the ridiculous amounts of radiation surrounding). This little bundle of joy is called a "neutron star". These neutron stars can have a mass of twice our sun but have a radius of only 12 kilometers. After solving for the volume of a neutron star with that radius and then using the suns mass (times two) we get a density of approximately 5.5x10^17kg/m^2. To put that into perspective, take 110000000000000 fully grown African Elephants (10 000 pounds each) and put them into your dorm room closet. Thats the magnitude of density we are talking about here!
Now lets say, the remaining neutron star had a mass of over 3 solar masses. Gravity would not be satisfied with this neutron star. It would continue to crush! Remember, the heavier the object, the greater the gravitational force. Gravity would continue to crush and crush and crush until there is nothing left but a tiny spot. A tiny spot of such great mass (around 10^3 solar masses) and such little size (the singularity!) that creates a gravitational force so strong that nothing, not even light can escape (the universal law of gravitation (-Gm/r) can prove this, its just a matter of taking a really big number and dividing it by a really small number).
Now this entry is starting to get pretty hefty so I think I will end it here and pick up with Black Holes in my next installment.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: When something is dropped into a black hole (assuming it is not disintegrated from the mass outflow of energy) it experiences a phenomenon called spaghettification. (I just thought it was a cool name) This means exactly what it sounds like, the object is stretched vertically and squeezed horizontally. (again, this doesn't seem that amazing but look at the name!!!!)
Picture this. You have a balloon in your hands and it is attached to a (very weak) air compressor. You put the nozzle in the balloon and begin to fill it. While its filling you squeeze the balloon to prevent it from growing but despite your efforts your applied force isn't enough. At this point, the balloon is a star, the air compressor is the core of the star that is fusing elements and providing an outward force, and you my friend, are gravity. Now get a friend to yank the nozzle out of the balloon and what happens? The outward force of the balloon stops and your applied force takes over and you squash the balloon.
The above analogy is exactly what gravity does to a star. The gravitational force crushes the star and causes it to essentially implode into itself! This implosion causes a massive release of radiation which creates a brilliant light show in our massive universe.
In this implosion mass amounts of gamma rays are released. These gamma rays have enough energy to decompose elements into nothing but free neutrons. As a result, the result of a supernovae is an extremely dense core made entirely of neutrons (and not to mention the ridiculous amounts of radiation surrounding). This little bundle of joy is called a "neutron star". These neutron stars can have a mass of twice our sun but have a radius of only 12 kilometers. After solving for the volume of a neutron star with that radius and then using the suns mass (times two) we get a density of approximately 5.5x10^17kg/m^2. To put that into perspective, take 110000000000000 fully grown African Elephants (10 000 pounds each) and put them into your dorm room closet. Thats the magnitude of density we are talking about here!
Now lets say, the remaining neutron star had a mass of over 3 solar masses. Gravity would not be satisfied with this neutron star. It would continue to crush! Remember, the heavier the object, the greater the gravitational force. Gravity would continue to crush and crush and crush until there is nothing left but a tiny spot. A tiny spot of such great mass (around 10^3 solar masses) and such little size (the singularity!) that creates a gravitational force so strong that nothing, not even light can escape (the universal law of gravitation (-Gm/r) can prove this, its just a matter of taking a really big number and dividing it by a really small number).
Now this entry is starting to get pretty hefty so I think I will end it here and pick up with Black Holes in my next installment.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: When something is dropped into a black hole (assuming it is not disintegrated from the mass outflow of energy) it experiences a phenomenon called spaghettification. (I just thought it was a cool name) This means exactly what it sounds like, the object is stretched vertically and squeezed horizontally. (again, this doesn't seem that amazing but look at the name!!!!)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Big Ol' Group Hug
Alright to start things off I feel as I should reflect on the course I am doing this blog for so far. I've read through chapters one, two, and most of three and have explored the later sections quite thoroughly and it's all so interesting! So pretty much.... I'm pumped for this semester!
So back to our journey through the life of our universe! We have just witnessed the first few seconds of the big bang. We saw matter and antimatter particles appear and disappear, we saw quarks, neutrinos, and then neutrons, protons, and electrons. These particles then combined into the most basic of elements; Hydrogen.
Once enough of these hydrogen atoms are formed they start to collect into gas clouds called nebulae (nebula for singular). These nebulae continue to collect hydrogen particles and grow larger. BUT! As they grow larger the gravitational force pushing in on the center of the nebula increases. It's like a giant group hug of hydrogen atoms! How sweet!
Eventually, the atoms are squeezed together with such pressure and force they start to fuse together. The more pressure exerted on the center the hotter it gets. The hotter it gets, the more energy there is. This energy will be noted in a few paragraphs.
With enough pressure the Hydrogen atoms fuse into Helium, then, with enough pressure, the Helium fuse into higher mass elements like nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, all the way up to the heaviest of naturally occurring elements such as Uranium. As heavier elements are created, there densities cause them to layer out, think of it as a really big, hot, onion.
This continues until we have a fully formed star! Yay!
Now we know where there is life, there is death. After billions of years of fusing hydrogen, a star will get to a point where it will essentially run out of elements to fuse. Remember that energy I was talking about? Well that energy created an outward force that balanced out the crushing force of gravity (F-star = F-gravity). Once the star stops the fusion process, the energy source is depleted and the outward force stops. Now gravity takes over.
Wow, that's some awesome stuff! Now what happens next? Hmmm I know.... But! That's a story for the next installment of my blog!
-MrAstroWhat
Food for thought: We live in one of an infinite number of parallel universes. As people, we have an ability to conceptualize an event or thing in a certain way. Since there are an infinite number of parallel universes, everytime you think of something, you are creating the concept of a different type of world and, with an infinite number of universes, that means one of them is now the one you thought of. If that makes sense to you :)
and yes.... I changed the background =P
So back to our journey through the life of our universe! We have just witnessed the first few seconds of the big bang. We saw matter and antimatter particles appear and disappear, we saw quarks, neutrinos, and then neutrons, protons, and electrons. These particles then combined into the most basic of elements; Hydrogen.
Once enough of these hydrogen atoms are formed they start to collect into gas clouds called nebulae (nebula for singular). These nebulae continue to collect hydrogen particles and grow larger. BUT! As they grow larger the gravitational force pushing in on the center of the nebula increases. It's like a giant group hug of hydrogen atoms! How sweet!
Eventually, the atoms are squeezed together with such pressure and force they start to fuse together. The more pressure exerted on the center the hotter it gets. The hotter it gets, the more energy there is. This energy will be noted in a few paragraphs.
With enough pressure the Hydrogen atoms fuse into Helium, then, with enough pressure, the Helium fuse into higher mass elements like nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, all the way up to the heaviest of naturally occurring elements such as Uranium. As heavier elements are created, there densities cause them to layer out, think of it as a really big, hot, onion.
This continues until we have a fully formed star! Yay!
Now we know where there is life, there is death. After billions of years of fusing hydrogen, a star will get to a point where it will essentially run out of elements to fuse. Remember that energy I was talking about? Well that energy created an outward force that balanced out the crushing force of gravity (F-star = F-gravity). Once the star stops the fusion process, the energy source is depleted and the outward force stops. Now gravity takes over.
Wow, that's some awesome stuff! Now what happens next? Hmmm I know.... But! That's a story for the next installment of my blog!
-MrAstroWhat
Food for thought: We live in one of an infinite number of parallel universes. As people, we have an ability to conceptualize an event or thing in a certain way. Since there are an infinite number of parallel universes, everytime you think of something, you are creating the concept of a different type of world and, with an infinite number of universes, that means one of them is now the one you thought of. If that makes sense to you :)
and yes.... I changed the background =P
Heeeey!..... I like your shoes!
Ok, this isn't a formal post, just a little shout out saying that I have posted some links at the bottom of my page to some interesting sites and videos that I really found interesting.
Enjoy!
-MrAstroWhat
Enjoy!
-MrAstroWhat
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Particle Party!
Ok, so I am trying to figure in what order I should release my topics in. So I decided I should move from beginning to present, it only seems logical. However, this does mean some of the more complicated of concepts would come first and get slightly more imaginable as I moved forward, but... I must do it for organizational sanity.
According to some scientists (there are numerous theories on the beginning of our universe, this is the one of which I think to be true) our universe started out as a single, infinitesimal point of infinite density and heat. This point is called the Singularity.
A singularity is a term given to a point in space where all the four fundamental forces of physics (gravity, electromagnetics, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear) become one, a point where space and time converge, a point that no one will probably ever understand!
Now how does this singularity come into the creation of our universe? Well let me use a simple example.
Imagine a sphere that is divided into four equal sections, each section represents one of the four fundamental forces. You then begin to pump air into the sphere but suddenly one section begins to grow faster. Then before you know it the whole thing destabilizes and huge amounts of energy is released (A.K.A. The Big Bang). We will also look at the singularities when I do my bit on black holes.
After this destabilization occurred, the former singularity began to expand. Huge amounts of energy was released in the form of matter and antimatter particles.
These particles mentioned above are formed from the splitting of a photon. After creation they spread apart but then converge back into a photon. So if your dream is to be an antimatter particle when you grow up, take warning.... You will have a very short lifespan.
This little party of particles continued until the temperatures dropped and photons remained. Then quarks and gluons were eventually formed, these then formed into neutrons, protons, and electons, which formed into nuclei, and eventually, atoms!
This is the current ending on our little journey to the big bang, but one question remains. What caused the singularity to go haywire, what happened in the plank era (A.K.A the first 10^-43 seconds)? This is where M-Theory comes into play. I am not going to explain it just yet for my knowledge of it is very basic but it is because of M-Theory that scientists believe their are 11 dimensions.
-MrAstroWhat
Food for though: A kitchen magnet can lift a paper clip off the ground. In doing this it is defeating the entire gravitational pull of the earth.
According to some scientists (there are numerous theories on the beginning of our universe, this is the one of which I think to be true) our universe started out as a single, infinitesimal point of infinite density and heat. This point is called the Singularity.
A singularity is a term given to a point in space where all the four fundamental forces of physics (gravity, electromagnetics, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear) become one, a point where space and time converge, a point that no one will probably ever understand!
Now how does this singularity come into the creation of our universe? Well let me use a simple example.
Imagine a sphere that is divided into four equal sections, each section represents one of the four fundamental forces. You then begin to pump air into the sphere but suddenly one section begins to grow faster. Then before you know it the whole thing destabilizes and huge amounts of energy is released (A.K.A. The Big Bang). We will also look at the singularities when I do my bit on black holes.
After this destabilization occurred, the former singularity began to expand. Huge amounts of energy was released in the form of matter and antimatter particles.
These particles mentioned above are formed from the splitting of a photon. After creation they spread apart but then converge back into a photon. So if your dream is to be an antimatter particle when you grow up, take warning.... You will have a very short lifespan.
This little party of particles continued until the temperatures dropped and photons remained. Then quarks and gluons were eventually formed, these then formed into neutrons, protons, and electons, which formed into nuclei, and eventually, atoms!
This is the current ending on our little journey to the big bang, but one question remains. What caused the singularity to go haywire, what happened in the plank era (A.K.A the first 10^-43 seconds)? This is where M-Theory comes into play. I am not going to explain it just yet for my knowledge of it is very basic but it is because of M-Theory that scientists believe their are 11 dimensions.
-MrAstroWhat
Food for though: A kitchen magnet can lift a paper clip off the ground. In doing this it is defeating the entire gravitational pull of the earth.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
More like who put us here!
Alright, so, this is a blog I am putting together for a university project. Throughout the next three months I will be making weekly posts and trying to help explain some theories as to how our universe began, things beyond our solar system, and other crazy phenomena which will really turn your brain inside out. Some things I am hoping to research and share with you are: Supernovae, Black Holes, The Big Bang, The Expanding Universe, Theory of the really small and really big (Quantum and Relativity) Theories of Everything (String and Membrane Theory), and whatever else I find interesting!
Astronomy is one of my greatest passions and if anyone reads this and knows anything awesome I encourage you to POST IT, I always love learning new things about our universe.
The background is a visual of the Orion Nebula..... Just in case you were wondering.
Astronomy is one of my greatest passions and if anyone reads this and knows anything awesome I encourage you to POST IT, I always love learning new things about our universe.
The background is a visual of the Orion Nebula..... Just in case you were wondering.
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