08-15-2018, 04:25 PM
OK, three items today so each will be brief especially as I've had a busy day!
1) "IfA Graduate BJ Fulton Receives Prestigious Trumpler Award"
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-rel...er_fulton/
Dr. Fulton was awarded a prestigious science prize for his PhD thesis using the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea. His work shows there is a gap between the size of rocky planets and those made primarily of gas, such as Jupiter or Saturn. This gap was known about in our own solar system but it now seems as though it also exists in other planetary systems which indicates some very fundamental process is in play.
2) The Great Void
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-massive-re...axies.html
OK, that sounds a little Star Trekish, but astronomers using the Subaru telescope on MK have found a vast region of space which is relatively opaque to light. I'm still struggling to understand this and haven't read the paper yet, but the idea is that for some reason there's a lack of galaxies in this region which means neutral gas can form in the area and block light. I need to read a little more about this as it was my understanding that neutral gas was less opaque compared to ionized gas, but am going back to my old undergraduate days from decades ago...
3) The Earth is Quite Normal
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-material-d...ients.html
More from observations carried out using the Keck Observatory. It's not that surprising given that we know that the physics and chemistry in our Galaxy is pretty much the same wherever you look, but it's reassuring to find that exoplanets roughly the size of Earth appear to have very similar compositions to our planet and of course raises hope that the circumstances that give rise to life may be ubiquitous.
1) "IfA Graduate BJ Fulton Receives Prestigious Trumpler Award"
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-rel...er_fulton/
Dr. Fulton was awarded a prestigious science prize for his PhD thesis using the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea. His work shows there is a gap between the size of rocky planets and those made primarily of gas, such as Jupiter or Saturn. This gap was known about in our own solar system but it now seems as though it also exists in other planetary systems which indicates some very fundamental process is in play.
2) The Great Void
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-massive-re...axies.html
OK, that sounds a little Star Trekish, but astronomers using the Subaru telescope on MK have found a vast region of space which is relatively opaque to light. I'm still struggling to understand this and haven't read the paper yet, but the idea is that for some reason there's a lack of galaxies in this region which means neutral gas can form in the area and block light. I need to read a little more about this as it was my understanding that neutral gas was less opaque compared to ionized gas, but am going back to my old undergraduate days from decades ago...
3) The Earth is Quite Normal
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-material-d...ients.html
More from observations carried out using the Keck Observatory. It's not that surprising given that we know that the physics and chemistry in our Galaxy is pretty much the same wherever you look, but it's reassuring to find that exoplanets roughly the size of Earth appear to have very similar compositions to our planet and of course raises hope that the circumstances that give rise to life may be ubiquitous.