University of Birmingham have identified the brightest new supernova at 3.6 billion light-years

Nature Astronomy on Twitter: "A superlative supernova: SN2016aps

This finding was made by researchers at the University of Birmingham, UK.

A study led by Matt Nicholl, a lecturer at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute of Astronomy of Gravitational Waves at Birmingham University, UK, has uncovered the brightest supernova discovered so far. This supernova, SN2016aps, is 3.6 billion light-years away, notes Space

"We can measure supernovae using two scales: the total energy of the explosion and the amount of energy that is emitted as observable light or radiation," explains the researcher. "In a typical supernova, radiation is less than 1% of total energy. But in SN2016aps, I discovered that the radiation was five times higher than the blast energy of a normal-sized supernova. This is the most light I've seen from a supernova, "he adds.

The researchers explain that SN2016aps is a "strange" object, theorizing that it could be a particular type of supernova: unstable pulsation pair; in which two big stars collide before they explode. The existence of such supernovae has been theorized, but they have not yet been identified in the data provided by astronomical observers.

"If the supernova is synchronized, it may end up releasing a huge amount of energy during the collision. We believe that this is one of the most convincing candidates for this process that has not yet been observed, ”explains the researcher.

"The gas we detected was mostly hydrogen, but such a massive star would usually have lost all its hydrogen through stellar winds long before it started pulsing. One explanation is that two slightly less massive stars around, say 60 solar masses, merged before the explosion. The lower-mass stars keep their hydrogen longer, while their combined mass is large enough to trigger pair instability, ”said Dr. Nicholl.

The study was published in Nature Astronomy.

Astronomers have discovered a new planet named LHS 1140b with the greatest chances of sustaining life. '' It's the most exciting planet ''

This artist's impression shows the exoplanet LHS 1140b, which orbits a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and may be the new holder of the title 'best place to look for signs of life beyond the Solar System'. Using ESO's HARPS instrument at La Silla, and other telescopes around the world, an international team of astronomers discovered this super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone around the faint star LHS 1140. This world is a little larger and much more massive than the Earth and has likely retained most of its atmosphere. Credit: ESO/spaceengine.org

An exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth may be the new holder of the title 'best place to look for signs of life beyond the solar system.' Using ESO's HARPS instrument, and other telescopes, astronomers discovered a 'super-Earth' orbiting in the habitable zone around the star LHS 1140. This world is larger and more massive than the Earth and has likely retained most of its atmosphere. This makes it one of the most exciting targets for atmospheric studies.

The newly discovered super-Earth LHS 1140b orbits in the habitable zone around a faint red dwarf star named LHS 1140, in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). Red dwarfs are much smaller and cooler than the Sun and, although LHS 1140b is ten times closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, it only receives about half as much sunlight from its star as the Earth and lies in the middle of the habitable zone. The orbit is seen almost edge-on from Earth and as the exoplanet passes in front of the star once per orbit it blocks a little of its light every 25 days.

"This is the most exciting exoplanet I've seen in the past decade," said lead author Jason Dittmann of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (Cambridge, USA). "We could hardly hope for a better target to perform one of the biggest quests in science -- searching for evidence of life beyond Earth."

"The present conditions of the red dwarf are particularly favourable -- LHS 1140 spins more slowly and emits less high-energy radiation than other similar low-mass stars," explains team member Nicola Astudillo-Defru from Geneva Observatory, Switzerland.

For life as we know it to exist, a planet must have liquid surface water and retain an atmosphere. When red dwarf stars are young, they are known to emit radiation that can be damaging for the atmospheres of the planets that orbit them. In this case, the planet's large size means that a magma ocean could have existed on its surface for millions of years. This seething ocean of lava could feed steam into the atmosphere long after the star has calmed to its current, steady glow, replenishing the planet with water.

The discovery was initially made with the MEarth facility, which detected the first telltale, characteristic dips in light as the exoplanet passed in front of the star. ESO's HARPS instrument, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, then made crucial follow-up observations which confirmed the presence of the super-Earth. HARPS also helped pin down the orbital period and allowed the exoplanet's mass and density to be deduced .

The astronomers estimate the age of the planet to be at least five billion years. They also deduced that it has a diameter 1.4 times larger than the Earth -- almost 18,000 kilometres. But with a mass around seven times greater than the Earth, and hence a much higher density, it implies that the exoplanet is probably made of rock with a dense iron core.

This super-Earth may be the best candidate yet for future observations to study and characterise its atmosphere, if one exists. Two of the European members of the team, Xavier Delfosse and Xavier Bonfils both at the CNRS and IPAG in Grenoble, France, conclude: "The LHS 1140 system might prove to be an even more important target for the future characterisation of planets in the habitable zone than Proxima b or TRAPPIST-1. This has been a remarkable year for exoplanet discoveries!" [4,5].

In particular, observations coming up soon with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope will be able to assess exactly how much high-energy radiation is showered upon LHS 1140b, so that its capacity to support life can be further constrained.

Further into the future -- when new telescopes like ESO's Extremely Large Telescope are operating -- it is likely that we will be able to make detailed observations of the atmospheres of exoplanets, and LHS 1140b is an exceptional candidate for such studies.

Notes

[1] The habitable zone is defined by the range of orbits around a star, for which a planet possesses the appropriate temperature needed for liquid water to exist on the planet's surface.

[2] Although the planet is located in the zone in which life as we know it could potentially exist, it probably did not enter this region until approximately forty million years after the formation of the red dwarf star. During this phase, the exoplanet would have been subjected to the active and volatile past of its host star. A young red dwarf can easily strip away the water from the atmosphere of a planet forming within its vicinity, leading to a runaway similar to that on Venus.

[3] This effort enabled other transit events to be detected by MEarth so that the astronomers could nail down the detection of the exoplanet once and for all.

[4] The planet around Proxima Centauri is much closer to Earth, but it probably does not transit its star, making it very difficult to determine whether it holds an atmosphere.

[5] Unlike the TRAPPIST-1 system, no other exoplanets around LHS 1140 have been found. Multi-planet systems are thought to be common around red dwarfs, so it is possible that additional exoplanets have gone undetected so far because they are too small.

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• Another '' Habitable Planet Proxima B'' this exoplanet has important water reserves

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Sciencedaily . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Astronomer who rewrote the history of the Universe. He originally wanted to be a priest. Later, his mother had suffered from Church

The Great Comet of 1577, which Kepler witnessed as a child, attracted the attention of astronomers across Europe photo: wikipedia

December 27, 1571 was born Johannes Kepler, astronomer and astrologer, who discovered that the Earth and the planets move around the sun in an elliptical orbit (d. November 15, 1630)

Kepler was born  in Weil der Stadt, Württemberg, Germany, and studied since 1591 theology at the University of Tübingen. One of his teachers was Michael Maestlin, defender of the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. 

Michael Maestlin - Wikipedia

Kepler wanted to be a priest, a Protestant, but finally, with great penchant for math function supports 1594 teacher of mathematics and astronomy at the University of Graz, Austria. Here are working on a complex geometrical hypotheses aimed at explaining the remoteness of the orbits of the five planets known at that time (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn).

University of Tübingen Britannica

Kepler was a German mathematician and optician. photo: wikipedia

Kepler believes that the sun exerts a force that decreases in proportion to the removal of a planet: "Planets move accordingly on an elliptical path, the center of which is the sun." Thus states the first law of planetary motion (see Kepler's Laws), published in "Mysterium Cosmographicum" ( "The Mystery of cosmic world", 1596).

In April 1597, Kepler married Barbara Mühlek. Due to pressure from the Catholic Counter-Reformation, Kepler is forced to leave Graz and in 1600 accepted the offer to work in Prague as an assistant to Tycho Brahe, the astronomer court Emperor Rudolf II.

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor - Wikipedia

The Galileo Project

The qualities of Tycho Brahe's observatory are now complemented with exceptional knowledge of mathematics of Kepler. After the death of Brahe in 1601, Kepler became his successor as imperial mathematician and astronomer. 

Kepler observed 1604 "Supernova 1604" and published his observations in his "De Stella Nova in Serpentarii Pede" ( "About a new star in the constellation foot serpent"). In "Astronomia Nova" ( "New Astronomy", 1609) publishes research results on the ellipse Mars and the second law states: "The planet is closer to the sun, the faster it moves." 

Remnant of Kepler's Supernova SN 1604 photo: wikipedia

In 1612 Kepler is set at Linz in Austria, where his work appears "Harmonices Mundi" ( "Harmony of the World", 1619). In the last chapter of this book, based on observations and calculations, sets out the third law of planetary motion: "The square of time of revolution is proportional to the third power of the average distance between a planet and the sun."

In the years 1615-1620 Kepler had to defend his mother, who was accused of witchcraft. He eventually managed to obtain her release, but without being able to prevent the torture was subject, following which she died a year later. Kepler lived in an era of intolerance, struggles between Catholics and Protestants during the Thirty Years' War, was forced repeatedly to flee to escape persecution, although his attempts to remain neutral.

His last major work, published in his lifetime yet is Tabulae Rudolfinae (1627), which contains tables that describe the movements of the planets. It will be the basis for any astronomical for the next 200 years. In his theory of gravitation forces, Isaac Newton relied heavily on Kepler's observations.

Apart works of astronomy, Kepler described a process for determining the volumes on which will develop integral calculus. He also studied symmetry of snowflakes and calculated the natural forces involved in the growth and geometric structures that will be applied in the study of crystallography. He worked in the field of optics, which to remember his invention called "Kepler's telescope."


Johannes Kepler died on November 15, 1630 in Regensburg, Germany, aged 59 years. In his memory, the University of Linz called "Johannes Kepler Universität,".

Invenit Mundo presents major historical significance of the day December 27:

1585 - He died Pierre de Ronsard, the French poet, the main representative of the Pleiades (sixteenth-century French literary school) ( "Ode", "Hymns") (b. September 11, 1524)

1717 - was born Pope Pius VI (d. 1799)

1784 - peasant revolt led by Horea, Closca and Crisan, broke out November 2nd. 1784. Horea and Closca are trapped in the forest in the mountains Scoruşet Gilău, then imprisoned at Alba-Iulia

1806 - Constantine Ypsilanti returns to Bucharest. He organizes an army intended to enable the realization of his plan, establishing a kingdom of Dacia format Moldovan and Romanian Country Serbia

1816 - Held at the initiative of Gheorghe Asachi Iasi first theater performance in Romanian: "Mirtil and Hloe" pastoral in one act

1822 - Louis Pasteur was born chemist and biologist, member of the French Academy; He discovered the nature of infectious diseases of humans and animals and rabies vaccine (applied for the first time in 1885), thereby laying the foundations of immunology; established conservation beer pasteurisation method (d. September 28, 1895)

1831 - Charles Darwin embarked on his historic journey aboard the HMS Beagle royal

1832 - was born Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, Russian critic and humorist, founder of the art gallery that bears his name

1896 - He was born American novelist Louis Bromfield (d. March 18, 1956)

1897 - VIANU Tudor was born, poet, philosopher and esthetician Romanian member of the Romanian Academy; He was director general of the National Commission for UNESCO director general of the Romanian Academy Library, Director of the National Theatre in Bucharest; wrote aesthetic and stylistic studies, memoirs, analyzed in terms of aesthetics Romanian literary phenomenon and universal ( "Art and beauty," "Art Romanian prose writers") (d. May 21, 1964)

1901 - Marlene Dietrich was born, legendary figure of cinema, film actress, theater, music hall, vaudeville singer (movies: "Blue Angel", "stigma of evil") (d. May 6, 1992)

1909 - D.A. Sturdza, due to sickness, withdraws from the party and the leadership of the PNL; I.I.C. Brătianu was appointed prime minister

1925 - He died Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin, Russian poet, one of the most sensitive of the village evocators Russian (committed suicide) (n.1895)

1945 - Establishment of the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a result of the UN Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods (1 to 12 July 1945). Romania became a member of the two financial institutions to December 15, 1972

1977 - A Ciucurencu Alexander died, painter, member of the Romanian Academy; In 2003, UNESCO included in the calendar of cultural anniversaries and name Alexander Ciucurencu, marking 100 years since the birth of the painter (b. September 27, 1903)

1978 - In Spain establishes democracy after 40 years of dictatorship

1989 - In the first plenary NSFC was adopted Decree-Law no. 2 on the establishment, organization and functioning of NSFC and territorial councils of the NSF; also he was elected Executive Office of NSFC: President - Ion Iliescu; First Deputy Chairman - Dumitru Mazilu; Vice - Cazimir Ionescu, Karoly Kiraly; Secretary - Dan Martian; members - Teodoriu Bogdan, Vasile Neacsa, Silviu Brucan Manole Gheorghe Ion Caramitru, Nicolae Radu

1991 - It was open to the public, the Cotroceni National Museum, established on July 10, 1991

1995 - The Bosnian government army and Bosnian Serb forces evacuated the key positions on the front lines around Sarajevo

1998 - The European Commission approved the creation of a common bank, based in Vienna, by the third private bank German Dresdner Bank and National Bank of Paris (BNP), which aims to administer the activities of the two institutions in Europe East

2004 - Viktor Yushchenko has claimed victory in the presidential elections in Ukraine


2006 - Finished the former US president Gerald Ford life. He was the only president who was directly elected for the posts of president and vice president of the United States.


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Astronomers issued a shocking theory about the universe: 'The Universe is Flat!'

The local geometry of the universe is determined by whether the density parameter Ω is greater than, less than, or equal to 1.

From top to bottom: a spherical universe with Ω > 1, a hyperbolic universe with Ω < 1, and a flat universe with Ω = 1. Note that these depictions of two-dimensional surfaces are merely easily visualizable analogs to the 3-dimensional structure of (local) space. photo: wikipedia.org

The universe is flat, has said recently, but there are many subtleties behind this assertion. How can we tell the Universe form? It means that a 3D object to be flat? May be other interesting things to say?

Hubble Eyes Hanny's Voorwerp - Universe Today

For starters, we must define the notion of "flat". Screen that look is flat and the earth is curved, for example, but we can calculate mathematically how this? A plausible answer refers to the parallel lines, for as you draw two parallel on a sheet of paper and will continue, they will be forever parallel, it is the more common definition of parallel lines. 

43K Galaxies: Most Complete 3D Map of the Universe Ever

However, this exercise must be repeated in relation to the Earth's surface, each heading towards the north, and the shape of the curve of the Earth makes them meet at a time. Earth curbaţiei opposite that of a saddle, the surface of which parallel lines move away from each other. So you can measure "flat" structure using only parallels.

Slices through the Sloan Digital Sky Survey 3-dimensional map of the distribution of galaxies with the Earth at the center, an example of an experimental attempt to catalog the observable universe. photo: wikipedia.org

However, determining the shape of the universe is a matter of cosmology, and he has a plurality of deformation, there are masses of energy and there is a close correlation between time and space. Have you ever wondered what the difference between a sphere and a cylinder? Use your schools which have drawn two parallel lines and manufactured a cylinder. Meanwhile observed parallel lines: they remain, indeed, parallel to the cylinder is flat.


This happens because there is a clear distinction between geometry and topography, and as he studied the geometry of the universe is very careful, not topography. But if the universe is indeed flat, this is met in a very distant place, which can not be observed by astronomers, because they never observed galaxies and the CMB identical intersecting.

The universe is flat, has said recently, but there are many subtleties behind this assertion. How can we tell the Universe form? It means that a 3D object to be flat? May be other interesting things to say?

For starters, we must define the notion of "flat". Screen that look is flat and the earth is curved, for example, but we can calculate mathematically how this? A plausible answer refers to the parallel lines, for as you draw two parallel on a sheet of paper and will continue, they will be forever parallel, it is the more common definition of parallel lines. However, this exercise must be repeated in relation to the Earth's surface, each heading towards the north, and the shape of the curve of the Earth makes them meet at a time. Earth curbaţiei opposite that of a saddle, the surface of which parallel lines move away from each other. So you can measure "flat" structure using only parallels.

Mapping the Universe, containing the circular map of the universe

However, determining the shape of the universe is a matter of cosmology, and he has a plurality of deformation, there are masses of energy and there is a close correlation between time and space. Have you ever wondered what the difference between a sphere and a cylinder? Use your schools which have drawn two parallel lines and manufactured a cylinder. Meanwhile observed parallel lines: they remain, indeed, parallel to the cylinder is flat.

Mapping the Universe: Space, Time, and Discoveries

This happens because there is a clear distinction between geometry and topography, and as he studied the geometry of the universe is very careful, not topography. But if the universe is indeed flat, this is met in a very distant place, which can not be observed by astronomers, because they never observed galaxies and the CMB identical intersecting

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• The universe: Reading the future from the distant past

• 10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System

• Young galaxies "born" at least 50 stars annually

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Space . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

NASA's Chandra Observatory photographed "The Hand of God"

Pulsar B1509

A fascinating X-ray image of a "cosmic hand" was recorded by Chandra observatory

Chandra that rotates above the Earth at a height of 500 km, managed to photograph a rotating neutron star - a pulsar - that releases energy during its rotation. Although the pulsar is only 20 km in diameter, which gives birth nebula in space stretches over a distance of 150 light years.

 Pulsar called B1509, is located at a distance of 17,000 light-years from Earth. Golden-reddish portions of the photo represents parts of a neighboring gas cloud, energized by the flow of ions and electrons emitted by the pulsar. With a little imagination, the image can be likened to that of a hand, and astronomers have called a "hand of God", inspired by the "eye of God", another great cosmic image, obtained by European astronomers in February.















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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Telegraph Science . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

An unusual signal was obtained by Russian astronomers. It may have extraterrestrial origins

Signal is not very different from that used for digital television.

Astronomers have detected a burst of energy last year appeared to his level HD 164 595, a star located at a distance of about 94 light-years from Earth towards the constellation Hercules. This phenomenon was observed by Russian radiotelescope Ratan-600 and immediately aroused the interest of researchers seeking to prove the existence of extraterrestrial life.

,, An international team of researchers announced detection of a strong signal came from the direction of HD164595. Nobody claimed it was caused by an extraterrestrial civilization, but the signal is so obvious that specialists operating Ratan-600 want the target to be monitored further, "says American author Paul Gilster his blog,, Centauri Dreams" .

The signal HD 164595 (Foto:sciencealert.com/C. Maccone et al./Centauri Dreams)

Seth Shostak, an astronomer at the SETI Institute (Search for extraterrestrial intelligence), says that his team has recently tried again to detect the signal issued on 15 May 2015, but found nothing. Both Shostak and Gilster obtained information about the new discovery of the Italian astronomer Claudio Maccone, who collaborated with Russian researchers when they used the telescope Ratan-600.

Maccone Published results were analyzed by specialists. They argue that, in the event that they will prove to be true, would indicate the presence of signals from a star similar to the sun because it has a smaller table with only 1% to it, is younger by 100 million years, it has a similar temperature and, moreover, has a similar chemical composition.

During the research, astronomers have discovered a planet similar to Neptune orbiting the star HD 164595. that she was named ,, HD 164 595 ", and experts say it is possible that other cosmic objects of this kind exist in the area, but not have been detected until now.


Russian Astronomers are particularly fascinated by showing how the signal emitted by the star. He has a wavelength of about 2.7 centimeters and a frequency of 11 GHz, which means it is a very high frequency signal not very different from that used for digital television. Shostak argues that if it was real, the signal must have been extremely powerful to be detected on Earth.

The radio telescope Ratan-600 (Photo: sciencealert.com/александр с кавказа / Wikimedia)

Researcher at the SETI Institute clearly exclude the possibility that the signal had extraterrestrial origin. Specialist argues, first, that their astronomers had more than one year up to give early information about the signal they detected. Secondly, Ratan-600 radio telescope works with an error that does not allow him to ascertain with certainty whether the signal comes from a star system similar to that in the center of which is HD 164595. Moreover, the signal is so vast that is extremely difficult to verify.


SETI specialists will try again to find the new signals from HD 164 595, but expects first Maccone and Russian astronomers to publish their findings formally. Until then, the only hypothesis that American astronomers take still considering is the fact that the signals were emitted lens gravitational what would have been formed when the star HD 164 595 concentrated around its material universe.

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• KEPLER SPOTS 100+ MORE EXOPLANETS, SOME POTENTIALLY HABITABLE WE'VE GOT EXOPLANETS ON EXOPLANETS

• Cloudy days on exoplanets may hide atmospheric water

• 4,000 confirmed exoplanets similar to Earth

• 10 fascinating planets outside the Solar System

Source: sciencealert.com