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Here’s Why Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Didn’t Gobble

November 5, 2014 By Jason Leathers 2 Comments

A celestial object known as ‘G2’, believed to be a cloud of hydrogen gas was discovered by researchers in 2003. However, earlier this year, it had a close encounter with a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

The astronomers were quite excited about this phenomenon because this would eventually enable them to see the huge gas cloud being gobbled up by the black hole called Sagittarius A*.

In contrast to what the astronomers expected, however, G2 was not smashed during its encounter with the black hole, and a recent study reveals an authentic explanation why.

Andrea Ghez from the department of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and colleagues said that, “the reason G2 proceeded intact after its encounter with the black hole is that it is not actually a cloud of hydrogen gas at all.” The study is published on 3^rd November in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The researchers claimed that if G2 had been a hydrogen gas cloud as initially assumed, it could have been torn apart by Sagittarius A* that would have produced celestial fireworks.

Ghez said, “G2 survived and continued happily on its orbit; a simple gas cloud would not have done that. G2 was basically unaffected by the black hole. There were no fireworks.”

The researchers conducted a detailed study of G2 with the help of the world’s largest optical and infrared telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and suggested that G2 is probably a pair of stars.

The binary star system had been orbiting the black hole together and then merged to become an extremely large star enveloped in the dust and gas with its movement being influenced by the powerful gravitational field of the black hole, Ghez and colleagues claimed.

Similarly, the researchers noted that G2 seemed to be one of a rising class of stars close to the black hole, which were created due to the powerful gravity of the black hole causing the binary stars to merge into one.

“G2 is a dusty red object linked with gas that reveals tidal interactions as it’s next to its closest approach to the Galaxy’s central black hole. We propose that G2 is a binary star merger product and will ultimately appear similar to the B-stars that are tightly clustered around the black hole (the so-called S-star cluster),” researchers wrote.

Researchers Reveal Mystery Behind ‘Space Weather’

October 29, 2014 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Researchers have been trying for the past several years to unveil the mystery behind space weather. However, it sounds like an alien fiction, space weather is something which is vital to all of us. The sun is thrusting millions of tons of charged, hot plasma into the space every second. This ‘solar wind’ thrashes the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth, which caused strong geomagnetic storms that can destroy satellites, blackout power grids and disrupt cell phone service.

Researchers, Conducting Studies From Across the U.S.

Researchers are continuously trying to predict these solar outbursts which will eventually help us take measures to cope with them. They conducted experiments in order to uncover the physics behind space weather. Researchers will present results of their studies at the 56^th annual meeting of the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics in New Orleans.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory researchers show how magnetic reconnection accelerates the solar wind to high energy, and how the subsequent solar wind interacts with the solar wind surrounding the Earth. Magnetic reconnection is an explosive phenomenon that occurs in solar flares. In the meantime, Michael Brown, Swarthmore College professor used a plasma “wind tunnel” to imitate signatures of magnetic turbulence in the solar wind.

University of California, Los Angeles researchers have recorded observations of how plasma magnetic waves interrelate with each other. Satellite measurements indicate that the observed interactions could explain the behavior of the hot plasma. These studies on physical processes were conducted to understand what happens in the space.

A Major Milestone in Space Weather Research

Huge bursts of plasma from the sun were created by magnetic reconnection.However, up till now, researchers had not been able to find out how reconnection converts magnetic energy into the explosive particle energy. Researchers at the Plasma Physics Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy have offered new insights into space weather.

The researchers conducted a Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) study, in which they identified how the transformation of magnetic energy to particle energy takes place. Moreover, they also experimentally measured the amount of magnetic energy that gets converted into explosive particle energy. The reconnection converts about 50% of magnetic energy, researchers said. 1/3 of the conversion heats the electrons and the remaining 2/3 speed up the ions in the plasma.

“It was a major milestone in the space weather research,” Masaaki Yamada, lead author of the MRX study said.

SpaceX Dragon Capsule Splashed Down West of Baja California

October 27, 2014 By Germaine Hicks Leave a Comment

After completing its successful mission to the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX Dragon spacecraft returned back to Earth this Saturday. The End of Mission (EOM) events started with an unberthing and the release of the CRS-4/SpX-4 spacecraft from the orbital outpost, in front of a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at around 15:38 Eastern.

The SpaceX’s Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle, Dragon, Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on 21st September. Dragon had been attached to the orbiting lab for about a month.

Dragon carried around 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the ISS, including 2.5 tons of food, supplies and critical science experiments, and a first 3D printer in space. The Dragon also contains 20 mice have now taken up residency on the orbital outpost.

Barry Wilmore and Reid Wiseman, two NASA astronauts maneuvered the robotic arm attached to the space station to unbolt Dragon for its trip home this morning.

The International Space Station crew removed and stored the cargo, before refilling Dragon with downmass. Dragon is the only American vehicle capable of returning downmass since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet.

Dragon had been expected to return some of the experiments, it brought to space, including a batch of mutant, stress-resistant fruit flies and some of the first test parts created in the 3D printer, built by the California-based company Made In Space. The capsule was also lined up to return a small crop of lettuce grown in space as part of NASA’s Veg-01 experiment, first brought to the space station during SpaceX’s last resupply mission in April.

SpaceX representatives said, Dragon splashed down west of Baja California today with 3,276 pounds (1,486 kilograms) of cargo and science experiments. However, it’s the only cargo ship that returns items to Earth intact. Dragon will be transported to the port of Los Angeles, before a trip to McGregor Texas for cargo removal.

Tesla Revealed Details About The Upcoming Superfast, Autopilot “D Model”

October 12, 2014 By Brian Galloway 2 Comments

NASDAQ: TSLA, Tesla Motors Incorporation has recently planned to reveal the details of some of the new vehicles. The electric car manufacturer’s top priority is mythical Tesla Model D.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), appeared at a special event, at Hawthorne Airport in Los Angeles on Thursday, and finally put an end to the mystery of the ‘D’ by confirming that it stands for ‘dual’, as in a dual – motor. This particular feature of the vehicle will enable it to reach pretty impressive speeds along with the lots of other information disseminated during the LA event.

Bananas

Elon Musk, one of the most charismatic and extrovert CEOs, who certainly wasn’t pulling any punches while describing the qualities of the Tesla Model D. Musk announces at the event that “this car is nuts. It’s like taking off from a carrier deck. It’s just bananas.” He also likened the Model D to a “personal roller coaster”, indicating that the acceleration it produces is “intense”. Can the vehicle live up to such exaggeration?

Powerful Engine

Tesla Model D has been fitted with an extremely powerful engine. The appearance of the car is similar to the formerly launched Model S, but this model certainly packs punch in the power department. The Tesla Model D comes with the dual- motor engine, which enables the vehicle to accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 3.2 seconds. This is considerably faster than its cousin Model S vehicle. It also has the ability to reach the speeds of around 155 mph (250 kmh), which is 25 mph (40 kmh) higher from previous vehicles.

In short, this appears to be the fastest car produced by Tesla, and in reality one of the fastest sedan vehicles that has ever been manufactured. While putting it acceleration capacities into perspective, it has been declared that it’s far superior than Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, which is a very impressive technical achievement.

Safety Features

Tesla Inc has also declared that the Model D is packed with safety features as well as power. The vehicle includes a raft of innovative features intended to ensure that all drivers and passengers become safe while riding it.

Moreover, the Tesla Model D also includes a radar that allows the vehicle to see through the fog and snow, an image recognition camera capable of seeing and understanding traffic signs, lights and pedestrian and a full 360-degree ultrasonic sonar system. Furthermore, the Tesla Model D is an extremely intelligent vehicle incorporating a smart-system that receives all information from sensors with real-time GPS, navigation and traffic systems. This feature eventually makes Model D a safe car to drive, but also an intuitive one.

Autopilot

After discussing the impressive safety features, another standout feature of the vehicle is its autopilot capability. Musk told, we are planning to include this feature in upcoming Model S cars, though the Tesla Model D is efficiently the prototype for this radical function.

Of course, the Model D car is not yet ready to pilot itself on open roads. It’s not just the system included in the vehicle, which is unable to do that presently, but regulations will not allow this too. Though, the autopilot doesn’t seem quite impressive. Tesla Company themselves has named this feature as “Model ’s brain”, and it is not too whimsical to suggest this.

Radars & Sensors

Tesla Model D’s autopilot feature utilizes a forward-mounted radar, along with a camera and a system of 12 sensors, which gives the vehicle a sight range of 16 feet. The overarching autopilot system is connected to steering, brakes and GPS. The intent is to improve safety, but to enhance the driver experience as well.

This impressive technology enables the car to detect and avoid pedestrians and stop the vehicle in order to avoid collisions. Elon Musk stated that, the Model D has the capability of sensing small children or dogs, even when driven at its fastest speed.

In addition, when the driver sets off a turn signal, the vehicle has the ability to change lanes on its own violation. Whereas, if the driver is drifting outside lane of traffic, Tesla Model D autopilot feature would automatically steer the vehicle back to the appropriate position. Lastly, the sensors in the vehicle are also capable of reading speed limit signs, and adjusting the vehicle accordingly.

Tesla’s Model D acquires a tremendously inspiring skill set, even if for the old-fashioned among us it may seem slightly strange!

Parking

Apart from the Autopilot features, vehicle also provides Autopark facility too. If you get out of the Model D car in front of your own home, the vehicle will automatically do everything on its own.

Price and Release Date

The Tesla Model D car will go on sale in December, with the most expensive P85D Model casting just over $120,000. More affordable 60kWh and 85kWh battery models will follow in February next year, with prices starting at $75,070 for the 60D and $85,070 for the 85D.