Month: July 2017

Flashes Of Light On Dark Matter

A web that passes through infinite intergalactic spaces, a dense cosmic forest illuminated by very distant lights and a huge enigma to solve. These are the picturesque ingredients of a scientific research — carried out by an international team composed of researchers from the International School for Adavnced Studies (SISSA) and the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, the Institute of Astronomy of Cambridge and the University of Washington — that adds an important element for understanding one of the fundamental components of our Universe: the dark matter.

In order to study its properties, scientists analyzed the interaction of the “cosmic web” — a network of filaments made up of gas and dark matter present in the whole Universe — with the light coming from very distant quasars and galaxies. Photons interacting with the hydrogen of the cosmic filaments create many absorption lines defined “Lyman-alpha forest.” This microscopic interaction succeeds in revealing several important properties of the dark matter at cosmological distances. The results further support the theory of Cold Dark Matter, which is composed of particles that move very slowly. Moreover, for the first time, they highlight the incompatibility with another model, i.e. the Fuzzy Dark Matter, for which dark matter particles have larger velocities. The research was carried out through simulations performed on international parallel supercomputers and has recently been published in Physical Review Letters.

Although constituting an important part of our cosmos, the dark matter is not directly observable, it does not emit electromagnetic radiation and it is visible only through gravitational effects. Besides, its nature remains a deep mystery. The theories that try to explore this aspect are various. In this research, scientists investigated two of them: the so-called Cold Dark Matter, considered a paradigm of modern cosmology, and an alternative model called Fuzzy Dark Matter (FDM), in which the dark matter is deemed composed of ultralight bosons provided with a non-negligible pressure at small scales. To carry out their investigations, scientists examined the cosmic web by analyzing the so-called Lyman-alpha forest. The Lyman-alpha forest consists of a series of absorption lines produced by the light coming from very distant and extremely luminous sources, that passes through the intergalactic space along its way toward the earth’s telescopes. The atomic interaction of photons with the hydrogen present in the cosmic filaments is used to study the properties of the cosmos and of the dark matter at enormous distances.

Through simulations carried out with supercomputers, researchers reproduced the interaction of the light with the cosmic web. Thus they were able to infer some of the characteristics of the particles that compose the dark matter. More in particular, evidence showed for the first time that the mass of the particles, which allegedly compose the dark matter according to the FDM model, is not consistent with the Lyman-alpha Forest observed by the Keck telescope (Hawaii, US) and the Very Large Telescope (European Southern Observatory, Chile). Basically, the study seems not to confirm the theory of the Fuzzy Dark Matter. The data, instead, support the scenario envisaged by the model of the Cold Dark Matter.

The results obtained — scientists say — are important as they allow to build new theoretical models for describing the dark matter and new hypotheses on the characteristics of the cosmos. Moreover, these results can provide useful indications for the realization of experiments in laboratories and can guide observational efforts aimed at making progress on this fascinating scientific theme.

Best Measure Of Star-Forming Material In Galaxy Clusters In Early Universe

The international Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey (SpARCS) collaboration based at the University of California, Riverside has combined observations from several of the world’s most powerful telescopes to carry out one of the largest studies yet of molecular gas — the raw material which fuels star formation throughout the universe — in three of the most distant clusters of galaxies ever found, detected as they appeared when the universe was only four billion years old.

Results were recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Allison Noble, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led this newest research from the SpARCS collaboration.

Clusters are rare regions of the universe consisting of tight groups of hundreds of galaxies containing trillions of stars, as well as hot gas and mysterious dark matter. First, the research team used spectroscopic observations from the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i, and the Very Large Telescope in Chile that confirmed 11 galaxies were star-forming members of the three massive clusters. Next, the researchers took images through multiple filters from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which revealed a surprising diversity in the galaxies’ appearance, with some galaxies having already formed large disks with spiral arms.

One of the telescopes the SpARCS scientists used is the extremely sensitive Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope capable of directly detecting radio waves emitted from the molecular gas found in galaxies in the early universe. ALMA observations allowed the scientists to determine the amount of molecular gas in each galaxy, and provided the best measurement yet of how much fuel was available to form stars.

The researchers compared the properties of galaxies in these clusters with the properties of “field galaxies” (galaxies found in more typical environments with fewer close neighbors). To their surprise, they discovered that cluster galaxies had higher amounts of molecular gas relative to the amount of stars in the galaxy, compared to field galaxies. The finding puzzled the team because it has long been known that when a galaxy falls into a cluster, interactions with other cluster galaxies and hot gas accelerate the shut off of its star formation relative to that of a similar field galaxy (the process is known as environmental quenching).

“This is definitely an intriguing result,” said Gillian Wilson, a professor of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside and the leader of the SpARCS collaboration. “If cluster galaxies have more fuel available to them, you might expect them to be forming more stars than field galaxies, and yet they are not.”

Noble, a SpARCS collaborator and the study’s leader, suggests several possible explanations: It is possible that something about being in the hot, harsh cluster environment surrounded by many neighboring galaxies perturbs the molecular gas in cluster galaxies such that a smaller fraction of that gas actively forms stars. Alternatively, it is possible that an environmental process, such as increased merging activity in cluster galaxies, results in the observed differences between the cluster and field galaxy populations.

“While the current study does not answer the question of which physical process is primarily responsible for causing the higher amounts of molecular gas, it provides the most accurate measurement yet of how much molecular gas exists in galaxies in clusters in the early universe,” Wilson said.

The SpARCS team has developed new techniques using infrared observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to identify hundreds of previously undiscovered clusters of galaxies in the early universe. In the future, they plan to study a larger sample of clusters. The team has recently been awarded additional time on ALMA, the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the Hubble Space Telescope to continue investigating how the neighborhood in which a galaxy lives determines for how long it can form stars.

The Moon Is Front And Center During A Total Solar Eclipse

In the lead-up to a total solar eclipse, most of the attention is on the Sun, but Earth’s moon also has a starring role.

“A total eclipse is a dance with three partners: the moon, the Sun and Earth,” said Richard Vondrak, a lunar scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “It can only happen when there is an exquisite alignment of the moon and the sun in our sky.”

During this type of eclipse, the moon completely hides the face of the sun for a few minutes, offering a rare opportunity to glimpse the pearly white halo of the solar corona, or faint outer atmosphere. This requires nearly perfect alignment of the moon and the sun, and the apparent size of the moon in the sky must match the apparent size of the Sun.

On average, a total solar eclipse occurs about every 18 months somewhere on Earth, although at any particular location, it happens much less often.

The total eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017, will be visible within a 70-mile-wide path that will cross 14 states in the continental U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina. Along this path of totality, the umbra, or dark inner shadow, of the moon will travel at speeds of almost 3,000 miles per hour in western Oregon to 1,500 miles per hour in South Carolina.

In eclipse maps, the umbra is often depicted as a dark circle or oval racing across the landscape. But a detailed visualization created for this year’s eclipse reveals that the shape is more like an irregular polygon with slightly curved edges, and it changes as the shadow moves along the path of totality.

“With this new visualization, we can represent the umbral shadow with more accuracy by accounting for the influence of elevation at different points on Earth, as well as the way light rays stream through lunar valleys along the moon’s ragged edge,” said NASA visualizer Ernie Wright at Goddard.

This unprecedented level of detail was achieved by coupling 3-D mapping of the moon’s surface, done by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, with Earth elevation information from several datasets.

LRO’s mapping of the lunar terrain also makes it possible to predict very accurately when and where the brilliant flashes of light called Baily’s Beads or the diamond-ring effect will occur. These intense spots appear along the edge of the darkened disk just before totality, and again just afterward, produced by sunlight peeking through valleys along the uneven rim of the moon.

In the very distant future, the spectacular shows put on by total solar eclipses will cease. That’s because the moon is, on average, slowly receding from Earth at a rate of about 1-1/2 inches, or 4 centimeters, per year. Once the moon moves far enough away, its apparent size in the sky will be too small to cover the sun completely.

“Over time, the number and frequency of total solar eclipses will decrease,” said Vondrak. “About 600 million years from now, Earth will experience the beauty and drama of a total solar eclipse for the last time.”

BREAKING NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: Prepare For Significant Earth Changing Events Within Weeks

Let me say right up front this is one of those extremely rare times that I will be forecasting extreme events to come within the next few weeks. Those who have followed my reports know I do not take such announcements lightly, hence the relevance of coming events.

There are two main areas of concern which are at the bases of this report. First, is the coming full solar eclipse occurring on August 21st 2017. This event will be along the geographical area of the United States, beginning off the Oregon Coast and heading southeast through Georgia.

History has shown a connection between eclipse events and an increase of earth changing events which include earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and extreme weather events. My published research identifies it may be the rapid temperature variations which can cause a shift (however slight) to Earth’s lithosphere (upper mantle). The full eclipse can also cause rapid temperature variations with our Oceans causing a destabilizing (however slight) in local atmospheric conditions which could contribute to extreme weather event including the escalation of tropical storms to hurricanes.

The second area of concern is the latest data showing an increase of cosmic ray radiation by 13% in Earth’s atmosphere measured over California, and a larger count of 19% measured over New England. This study was conducted by both amateur and space agency scientists using high-altitude space weather balloons and data gathered from commercial airlines.

The reason for the differences of increase in dose rates is the varying strengths of Earth’s weakening magnetic field. The evidence of a weakening magnetic field, coupled with a deep solar minimum, is allowing an alarming amount of galactic cosmic rays to enter our atmosphere and has a significant influence of Earth’s core.

I am setting up a link for you to help me with this project to keep us informed of the latest research and breaking news. I need to register with specific journals and research sites which average about $100 each. I would also like to attend one or two symposiums attended by the top scientists in the world, who will present their latest research regarding these topics – and before it ever hits the journals or news organizations.

 

 

 

 

Watch for ongoing reports as information comes in. I also plan to present greater outlines to the science behind by research, especially for those who may be new to my work.

Cheers, Mitch

July 14 Solar Flare And A Coronal Mass Ejection

A medium-sized (M2) solar flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the same, large active region of the sun on July 14, 2017. The flare lasted almost two hours, quite a long duration. The coils arcing over this active region are particles spiraling along magnetic field lines, which were reorganizing themselves after the magnetic field was disrupted by the blast. Images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light.

Solar flares are giant explosions on the sun that send energy, light and high speed particles into space. These flares are often associated with solar magnetic storms known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). While these are the most common solar events, the sun can also emit streams of very fast protons – known as solar energetic particle (SEP) events – and disturbances in the solar wind known as corotating interaction regions (CIRs).

The Solar Dynamics Observatory is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Its Atmosphere Imaging Assembly was built by the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), Palo Alto, California.