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20 quattuordecillion erg?
Studying star formation is is a big field in astrophysics, and studying young stellar objects (YSOs) helps us understand how our own sun and solar system formed. In this case, the JCMT and Gemini North Telescope on MK were used to investigate the clump of dust and gas that formed the star and the outflows created by the newly formed star. The researchers determined that the observed outflow had a mass of 82 suns and an energy of 20 quattuordecillion erg. Have to admit that means very little to me, I'm more used to SI units and can't remember any time I've used the word quattuordecillion...
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-astronomer...20044.html
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PS. Nice video from Big Island Video News about AstroDay in Hilo held just this last Saturday:
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/0...hio-plaza/
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there was a short party earlier today at the EAO office, home to the JCMT and UKIRT
Thanks for all the local astronomy news Tom. I had a few questions about that black hole cake at that party at the EAO office...
Did you have your black hole cake and eat it too or did the black hole cake consume everything in the room?
Did they play Pink Floyd music to go with the deformation of spacetime?
Isn’t a black hole cake too dense and heavy to eat?
If you were to put candles on a black hole cake could you see the light?
Mahalo
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Sorry, but like a typical black hole, information only goes in and never comes out...
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typical black hole, information only goes in and never comes out...
So it’s a bit like Las Vegas after you sit down and take out your money?
What happens in a black hole, stays in a black hole. Without all the blinking lights.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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I would say it's a bit like Vegas but hardly anyone takes out their money. A black hole removes information from the universe but to satisfy the 2nd law of thermodynamics, its surface increases by an equivalent amount, so in a way, it tells you about the information it removed. The analogy would be that most dollars that go into Vegas are somehow represented by the growing bank accounts of the casinos.
It's all about entropy.
https://youtu.be/rMk-_t5ls50
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A primer on astronomy literacy
This isn't directly related to the MK observatories, but their staff does a lot of outreach on the island as do other observatories around the world in their locations. These guys have proposed what astronomy literacy might mean and thought some here might be interested given how important the Big Island is to international astronomy.
From
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-blocks-ast...izens.html
"
Throughout history, astronomy has revolutionised the way humankind sees its place in the universe, from knowing only a handful of planets in the solar system, to the billions of galaxies currently known. But to what extent has this knowledge been integrated into society? The International Astronomical Union (IAU) wanted to find a way to determine how astronomically literate the public is. But before it is possible to assess this, you need to determine what literacy means: What should citizens, anywhere on the planet, know about astronomy? For that reason on 3 May, they published the first global astronomy literacy document, titled "Big Ideas in Astronomy: A Proposed Definition of Astronomy Literacy." Russo was one of the leaders of the project."
The first attempt to create a definition and description of astronomical literacy is here:
https://www.iau.org/static/archives/anno...19029a.pdf
It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but think it's a good start.
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"
Maunakea observatories shed new light on obscured infant solar system"
Using the Subaru and Gemini North telescopes on Mauna Kea, astronomers studied a distant solar system which may represent a very young version of our own solar system. One of the questions answered was how much light came from the planetoids versus how much came from the disk of gas and dust; the disk won out. The system also seems to have no super-giant young planets in it and therefore is likely similar to our own solar system when it was young and still forming.
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-maunakea-o...solar.html
"
Using Subaru Telescope and W. M. Keck Observatory, the team obtained and analyzed data for an infant Sun-like star named LkCa 15. Previous studies using an advanced interferometry method had inferred that three infant planets were orbiting this star. However, for this method, determining exactly how much light comes from a planet versus other sources like a disk can be particularly difficult. New Subaru and Keck Observatory data appear to solve this mystery; most of the light thought to come from the three candidate planets appears to originate from a disk of gas and dust."
[...]
"
LkCa 15 is surrounded by a massive protoplanetary disk made of gas and dust, which are the building blocks of planets. Early analysis of this disk showed it has a large cavity depleted of dust—a tell-tale sign that much of the disk material has already been incorporated into massive, developing planetary embryos, or "protoplanets." While the study rules out very bright superjovian planets, Currie says it is likely that fainter, less massive planets may be in the LkCa 15 system: perhaps those like Jupiter and Saturn."
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Looking for life on distant worlds
A nice article and (short) video on Big Island Video News about research being carried out using the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea looking for potential life-supporting planets in the Galaxy.
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/0...port-life/
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Subaru Badge of Ownership
Do you drive a Subaru? Do you stargaze on Mauna Kea or elsewhere?
The car company has just added a Telescope Badge of Ownership in their collection, with the image of a telescope and a The Pleiades (Subaru).
Click Lifestyle Icons, It’s in the first row, 4th badge:
https://www.badgeofownership.com/UI/dist/build
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
