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Astronomy (General/Chat)

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  • The Andromeda Paradox - When is "Now"? [11:09]

    11/04/2025 8:22:43 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    YouTube ^ | August 7, 2020 | Kyle Hill
    Is every "now" the same? Does the past, present, and future all equally exist? Am I having a crisis? The Andromeda Paradox - When is "Now"? | 11:09 Kyle Hill | 2.64M subscribers | 1,021,227 views | August 7, 2020 Andromeda Paradox [YouTube search]
  • The Hole In Relativity Einstein Didn't Predict [27:39]

    11/04/2025 8:12:44 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 8 replies
    YouTube ^ | April 14, 2025 | Veritasium
    Why does energy disappear in General Relativity? 0:00 What is symmetry? 4:25 Emmy Noether and Einstein 7:33 General Covariance 11:59 The Principle of Least Action 15:29 Noether's First Theorem 18:24 The Continuity Equation 23:20 Escape from Germany 24:49 The Standard Model - Higgs and Quarks The Hole In Relativity Einstein Didn't Predict | 27:39 Veritasium | 18.4M subscribers | 8,522,299 views | April 14, 2025 Emmy Noether [YouTube search]
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Ultraviolet Rings of M31

    11/04/2025 11:37:41 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 9 replies
    NASA ^ | 24 Jul, 2015 | Image Credit: GALEX, JPL-Caltech, NASA
    Explanation: A mere 2.5 million light-years away the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, really is just next door as large galaxies go. So close and spanning some 260,000 light-years, it took 11 different image fields from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite's telescope to produce this gorgeous portrait of the spiral galaxy in ultraviolet light. While its spiral arms stand out in visible light images of Andromeda, the arms look more like rings in the GALEX ultraviolet view, a view dominated by the energetic light from hot, young, massive stars. As sites of intense star formation, the rings have...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Starburst Galaxy M94

    11/03/2025 11:50:53 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 12 replies
    NASA ^ | 26 May, 2015 | Image Credit & Copyright: Leonardo Orazi
    Explanation: What could cause the center of M94 to be so bright? Spiral galaxy M94 has a ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an unusual appearance but also a strong interior glow. A leading progenitor hypothesis holds that an elongated knot of stars known as a bar rotates in M94 and has generated a burst of star formation in the inner ring. Recent observations have revealed the outer, fainter ring is not closed and relatively complex. M94, pictured here spans about 30,000 light years, lies about 15 million light years away, and can be...
  • Black Hole Blasts 23 Million Light-Years Long Plasma Jets

    11/03/2025 12:02:15 AM PST · by nickcarraway · 47 replies
    Greek Reporter ^ | November 3, 2025 | Luis Mendoza
    Astronomers recently spotted two unprecedented plasma jets blasting out of a supermassive black hole and into space beyond its galaxy. The two extremely powerful plasma jets are the largest ever seen, measuring 23 million light-years from end to end. This distance would cross approximately 140 Milky Ways arranged side by side. Researchers who spotted this unprecedented phenomenon called the pair of plasma jets “Porphyrion” after a giant in Greek mythology. The two jets originate from the top and bottom of the supermassive black hole and have the combined power of trillions of suns. What exactly are black hole jets? Black...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Messier 43

    11/02/2025 12:15:14 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 8 replies
    NASA ^ | 10 Jul, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Obs.), Igor Chilingarian (Harvard-Smi
    Explanation: Often imaged but rarely mentioned, Messier 43 is a large star forming region in its own right. It's just part of the star forming complex of gas and dust that includes the larger, more famous neighboring Messier 42, the Great Orion Nebula. In fact, the Great Orion Nebula itself lies off the lower edge of this scene. The close-up of Messier 43 was made while testing the capabilities of a near-infrared instrument with one of the twin 6.5 meter Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in the Chilean Andes. The composite image shifts the otherwise invisible infrared wavelengths to...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - An Unusual Mountain on Asteroid Ceres

    11/01/2025 12:27:19 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 4 replies
    NASA ^ | 30 Jun, 2015 | Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS/DLR/IDA
    Explanation: What created this large mountain on asteroid Ceres? No one is yet sure. As if in anticipation of today being Asteroid Day on Earth, the robotic spacecraft Dawn in orbit around Ceres took the best yet image of an unusually tall mountain on the Asteroid Belt's largest asteroid. Visible at the top of the featured image, the exceptional mountain rises about five kilometers up from an area that otherwise appears pretty level. The image was taken about two weeks ago from about 4,400 kilometers away. Although origin hypotheses for the mountain include volcanism, impacts, and plate tectonics, clear evidence...
  • Scientists Just Discovered How Planets Make Water from Magma, No Comets Needed

    11/01/2025 6:27:35 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 42 replies
    Daily Galaxy ^ | November 01, 2025 | Melissa Ait Lounis
    Scientists have recreated the conditions inside a young planet, with magma and hydrogen, and uncovered a surprising way water might form. In the early chaos of planetary formation, before crusts cooled or atmospheres settled, water might already have been bubbling into existence. Not from icy comets or far-flung asteroids, but from the blistering union of magma and hydrogen gas. That’s the picture emerging from a new study led by Carnegie Science researchers, who’ve managed to reproduce the extreme conditions of young rocky planets in a lab. Their results suggest that planets may be able to make their own water, deep...
  • Jupiter-Bound Mission To Study Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS From Deep Space This Weekend

    10/31/2025 12:35:57 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 20 replies
    IFL Science ^ | October 31, 2025 | Dr. Alfredo Carpineti
    JUICE might be bound to Jupiter, but it is fortuitously in place to peek at this object from beyond the stars. Comet 3I/ATLAS looking stunning! Image credit: International Gemini Observatory /NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist, Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) (CC BY 4.0) ================================================================ Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is about to be studied from not one but two locations in deep space. The comet has just gone through perihelion, the closest approach to the Sun, but unfortunately, it is on the opposite side of our star....
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Sharpless 308: Star Bubble

    10/31/2025 12:03:49 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 7 replies
    NASA ^ | 23 Jun, 2015 | Image Credit & Copyright: Kfir Simon
    Explanation: Blown by fast winds from a hot, massive star, this cosmic bubble is huge. Cataloged as Sharpless 2-308 it lies some 5,200 light-years away toward the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major) and covers slightly more of the sky than a Full Moon. That corresponds to a diameter of 60 light-years at its estimated distance. The massive star that created the bubble, a Wolf-Rayet star, is the bright one near the center of the nebula. Wolf-Rayet stars have over 20 times the mass of the Sun and are thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova phase of massive...
  • Discovery of Meteorite From Lost Protoplanet Upends Timeline of the Solar System's Formation

    10/31/2025 11:06:55 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 29 replies
    The Debrief ^ | July 9, 2025 | Tim McMillan
    A meteorite discovered in Northwest Africa... Scientists say this ancient rock -- formed more than 4.56 billion years ago -- proves that planet-building processes in the outer reaches of the solar system began just as quickly as they did closer to the Sun.In a study published in Communications Earth & Environment, researchers analyzed a rare meteorite known as Northwest Africa (NWA) 12264, revealing that the body it originated from -- a fully formed protoplanet beyond Jupiter -- was already active during the very dawn of the Solar System.The findings challenge the prevailing assumption that outer Solar System planets formed more...
  • How Dare You: U.N. Warns U.S. Attacks on Cartel Drug Boats ‘Unacceptable’

    10/31/2025 6:32:37 AM PDT · by Pete Dovgan · 57 replies
    Brietbart ^ | 10/31/2025 | Simon Kent
    Türk called for an immediate investigation into the strikes against narco terrorists in what is the first such condemnation of its kind from the globalist organization. AP reports Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Türk’s office, relayed his message on Friday at a regular U.N. briefing: These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable. The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats. She said Türk believed “airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.”...
  • Unexpected Earth-Sized Exoplanets Discovered in Binary Star System "Test the Limits of Planet Formation Models"

    10/30/2025 5:33:27 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 8 replies
    The Debrief ^ | October 28, 2025 | Ryan Whalen
    Defying expectations that binary systems are unlikely areas for planet formation, an international team of researchers has now identified a trio of Earth-sized exoplanets 190 light-years away in the TOI-2267 system.How these planets could form and maintain their stability in such an environment is a significant question for astronomers. The stars within this system are only separated by eight astronomical units (AU), far closer than the tens to hundreds of AU theoretically demonstrated to provide a stable planet-forming environment in earlier work...The system in question is unusual not just for its planets but also for the extremely tight orbit of...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Hubble's Messier 5

    10/30/2025 11:59:26 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 15 replies
    NASA ^ | 20 Jun, 2015 | Image Credit: HST, ESA, NASA
    Explanation: "Beautiful Nebula discovered between the Balance [Libra] & the Serpent [Serpens] ..." begins the description of the 5th entry in 18th century astronomer Charles Messier's famous catalog of nebulae and star clusters. Though it appeared to Messier to be fuzzy and round and without stars, Messier 5 (M5) is now known to be a globular star cluster, 100,000 stars or more, bound by gravity and packed into a region around 165 light-years in diameter. It lies some 25,000 light-years away. Roaming the halo of our galaxy, globular star clusters are ancient members of the Milky Way. M5 is one...
  • 3I ATLAS ( Ep . 62 ) : 🚨NOW WE WAIT , SO MUCH DATA | 🚨IS Corona Borealis Going NOVA ?

    10/29/2025 9:35:34 PM PDT · by Orlando · 12 replies
    Youtube ^ | 10-29-25 | Vetfather
    Space news
  • Space data centers could solve problem of 165% surge in AI power hunger

    10/29/2025 8:37:27 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 15 replies
    Interesting Engineering ^ | October 29, 2025 | Chris Young
    The space environment would provide natural radiative cooling, as well as unlimited solar energy. With the generative AI boom in full force, scientists have warned of the immense power requirements of data centers used to train and utilize these systems. Now, a team of researchers from NTU Singapore has joined the call to place data centers in space. Doing so would pave the way for sustainable computing, the claim. According to the team, space data centers would be powered by round-the-clock solar energy and would harness free cooling. Crucially, all of this is possible using existing technologies. Sending AI infrastructure...
  • NASA Spots a Glowing Blue Dune on Mars’ Surface

    10/29/2025 7:57:39 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 32 replies
    Daily Galaxy ^ | October 27, 2025 | Melissa Ait Lounis
    © Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizon ================================================================= A blue dune captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has raised new questions about wind, sediment, and geological diversity on the Red Planet. Though the coloring is artificially enhanced, the unique features of this formation, located in two distinct craters, are anything but ordinary. NASA scientists recently released two detailed images taken by the MRO’s HiRISE camera, showing separate dune fields inside Lyot Crater and Gamboa Crater. These images don’t just offer stunning visuals; they open a rare window into the complex interactions between Martian winds and surface materials. The unusually shaped and...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - NGC 2419: Intergalactic Wanderer

    10/29/2025 1:17:04 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 7 replies
    NASA ^ | 4 Jun, 2015 | Image Credit & Copyright: Bob Franke
    Explanation: Three objects stand out in this thoughtful telescopic image, a view toward the mostly stealthy constellation Lynx. The two brightest (the spiky ones) are nearby stars. The third is the remote globular star cluster NGC 2419, at distance of nearly 300,000 light-years. NGC 2419 is sometimes called "the Intergalactic Wanderer", an appropriate title considering that the distance to the Milky Way's satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, is only about 160,000 light-years. Roughly similar to other large globular star clusters like Omega Centauri, NGC 2419 is itself intrinsically bright, but appears faint because it is so far away. NGC...
  • Cotton blocks Trump-backed effort to make daylight saving time permanent

    10/29/2025 8:12:15 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 118 replies
    Politico (Yeah, I know) ^ | October 29, 2025 | Benjamin Guggenheim
    A bipartisan group of lawmakers sought unanimous consent approval for a bill that would stop the changing of the clocks. ============================================================== Sen. Tom Cotton wasn’t fast enough in 2022 to block Senate passage of legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent. Three years later, he wasn’t about to repeat that same mistake. The Arkansas Republican was on hand Tuesday afternoon to thwart a bipartisan effort on the chamber floor to pass a bill that would put an end to changing the clocks twice a year, including this coming Sunday. “If permanent Daylight Savings Time becomes the law of the...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945

    10/28/2025 11:23:41 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 7 replies
    NASA ^ | 28 May, 2015 | Image Credit & Copyright: Petri Kehusmaa, Harlingten Atacama Observatory
    Explanation: Large spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is seen edge-on near the center of this cosmic galaxy portrait. In fact, NGC 4945 is almost the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Its own dusty disk, young blue star clusters, and pink star forming regions standout in the sharp, colorful telescopic image. About 13 million light-years distant toward the expansive southern constellation Centaurus, NGC 4945 is only about six times farther away than Andromeda, the nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. Though the galaxy's central region is largely hidden from view for optical telescopes, X-ray and infrared observations indicate...