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Category: cosmology – Page 46

Researchers develop glass sensors for the Einstein Telescope

From 2035, the Einstein Telescope will be able to study gravitational waves with unprecedented accuracy. For the telescope, researchers from Jena have manufactured highly sensitive sensors made entirely of glass for the first time.

Gravitational waves are distortions of space-time caused by extreme astrophysical events, such as the collision of black holes. These waves propagate at the speed of light and carry valuable information about such events throughout the universe. In the future, the Einstein Telescope will measure these waves with unprecedented precision, making it a world-leading instrument for detecting .

In order to minimize the impact of noise on the measurements, the telescope is to be built up to 300 meters underground. But even there, there are still , caused, for example, by distant earthquakes or road traffic above ground. Highly sensitive vibration sensors will measure these remaining vibrations.

Synchrotron Radiation Could Explain Black Hole’s Flaring

Variability in the brightness of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A•, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, could emerge through synchrotron radiation emitted by electrons accelerated by the supermassive black hole’s accretion disk [1]. That is the finding of a team of astronomers led by Farhad Yusef-Zadeh at Northwestern University, Illinois. The researchers hope that their results could lead to deeper insights into the distinctive flaring patterns in the material that surrounds many black holes.

Weighing in at just over 4 million solar masses, Sgr A* is a supermassive black hole, which is fueled by the material it draws in from interstellar space. Since it is both relatively close by and vastly more massive than any other body in the Galaxy, Sgr A* provides astronomers with an ideal opportunity to study how fueling material is irradiated, captured, accreted, and ejected by a black hole. In particular, astronomers have identified short outbursts, or flares, in the near-infrared (NIR) emission from infalling material. In many cases, radiation at this frequency is a key tracer of flow dynamics within a black hole’s inner accretion disk and can hint at the mechanisms driving those flows.

Yusef-Zadeh’s team observed these flares several times between 2023 and 2024 using the NIR instrument aboard the JWST observatory. This instrument allowed the team to observe Sgr A* at two different NIR frequencies, which enabled the researchers to study both the time variability of the flares and their energy distribution.

Black hole X-ray binary SLX 1746-331 shows unusual outburst pattern

Chinese astronomers investigated the spectral and temporal properties of a black hole X-ray binary system known as SLX 1746-331, during its recent outburst. Results of the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, could help us better understand the nature of this system and its behavior.

X-ray binaries are composed of a normal star or a white dwarf transferring mass onto a compact neutron star or a black hole. Based on the mass of the companion star, astronomers divide them into low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs).

SLX 1746-331 is a transient black hole LMXB at a distance of about 35,200 light years, discovered in 1985. After a 13-year-long period of quiescence, it entered an outburst in 2023, which peaked on March 14.

The Origins of Us: Where do we come from? | Deep Dive AI Podcast

This Deep Dive AI podcast discusses The Origins of Us: Evolutionary Emergence and The Omega Point Cosmology by Alex M. Vikoulov, Book I of The Science and Philosophy of Information eBook/audiobook series. This book serves as both an accessible introduction and a standalone work, exploring some of the most profound questions in science and philosophy.

In this epic work, Vikoulov delves into the origins of life, consciousness, and intelligence, examining topics such as abiogenesis, noogenesis, and the rise of Homo sapiens. The book also presents The Omega Point Cosmology, which envisions a teleological progression of intelligence toward a cosmic destiny. It blends scientific exploration with digital physics, complexity theory, and transcendental metaphysics, offering a novel perspective on the interconnectedness of information, mind, and reality.

*The Origins of Us: Evolutionary Emergence and the Omega Point Cosmology by Alex M. Vikoulov is available as a Kindle eBook and Audible audiobook:

#OriginsOfUs #EvolutionaryEmergence #OmegaPointCosmology #SyntellectHypothesis #DigitalPhysics #HomoSapiens #ScienceOfInformation #PhilosophyOfInformation #AlphaPoint #OmegaPoint #abiogenesis #noogenesis #evolution #consciousness

Enough water to fill trillions size oceans found circling a black hole

Astronomers have identified a remarkable water reservoir hidden in a corner of the cosmos, circling a quasar more than 12 billion light-years away.

At that distance, the light we see today began its journey not too long after the universe itself formed.

The water supply in this distant place is huge, containing the equivalent of about 140 trillion times all the water in Earth’s oceans combined.

Hubble’s Stunning Space Illusion Reveals a Hidden Supernova Secret

A stunning Hubble image showcases a spiral galaxy seemingly intertwined with a nearby star—but looks can be deceiving!

This new Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as Hubble or HST) is one of NASA’s Great Observatories and was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990. It is one of the largest and most versatile space telescopes in use and features a 2.4-meter mirror and four main instruments that observe in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It was named after astronomer Edwin Hubble.

Mysterious phenomenon at center of galaxy could reveal new kind of dark matter

A mysterious phenomenon at the center of our galaxy could be the result of a different type of dark matter.

Dark matter, the mysterious form of unobserved matter which could make up 85% of the mass of the known universe, is one of science’s biggest manhunts.

In this first of its kind study, scientists have taken a step closer to understanding the elusive mystery matter. They believe a reimagined candidate for dark matter could be behind unexplained chemical reactions taking place in the Milky Way.

Mind the Gap: Will Tiny Discrepancies Derail Cosmology?

Renowned astrophysicist and educator Alex Filippenko joins Brian Greene to discuss an increasingly disturbing cosmological mismatch known as the Hubble Tension, a gap that may require a radical rewriting of the history of the universe.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

Participant: Alex Filippenko.
Moderator: Brian Greene.

0:00:00 — Introduction.
0:00:50 — Welcome to Alex Filippenko.
0:03:58 — The Most Important Lesson of Science.
0:06:47 — The Hubble Tension.
0:12:04 — Measuring the Expansion Rate of the Universe.
0:23:31 — How far out can we measure?
0:27:10 — Galaxies with Type 1A Supernovae and Cepheids.
0:32:57 — Cosmic Distance Ladder Summary.
0:37:30 — The Universe’s Expansion Rate Today.
0:47:20 — How can we be certain the measurements are correct?
0:51:00 — CMB and using Theoretical Models to Extrapolate the Expansion Rate.
1:00:57 — Positive outcomes to this tension.
1:02:14 — Filippenko’s thoughts on the position of Wendy Freedman’s recent paper.
1:14:09 — Will the Cepheid data set remain at 42?
1:16:55 — Filippenko’s thoughts on the Hubble tension.
1:22:40 — How Cosmology became a precision science.
1:25:11 — Is Inflation a Falsifiable Theory?
1:29:30 — Filippenko’s view of Inflation and the Multiverse.
1:31:08 — Filippenko’s view of Cyclic Inflation and Steinhardt and Penrose’s theories.
1:35:15 — Falsifiable Aspects of Inflation.
1:41:54 — Discovering the Accelerated Expansion of the Universe.
1:47:54 — Filippenko’s thoughts on Saul Perlmutter’s team’s analysis methods.
1:50:47 — Filippenko’s reaction to the initial discovery.
1:59:04 — Thoughts on Dark Energy and the Great Rip.
2:01:58 — Conclusion.
2:03:16 — Credits.

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