12-20-2018, 07:29 PM
Thanks, Dan. Most of the jobs at the MK observatories are not for astronomers but for people with reasonable technical backgrounds, i.e., technicians, engineers, computer and admin skills. Astronomers make up a tiny proportion of people working at the observatories.
So, I'm about to head off to spend Christmas with Pam, but there are a couple of news stories for now:
"NASA Research Reveals Saturn is Losing Its Rings at “Worst-Case-Scenario” Rate"
Saturn's rings may not last much longer as they are raining their material onto the planet. The planet may look very different from those of us that live a few hundred million more years than we expect (make sure you have your 401K in order). This is from observations made at the Keck on MK.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/godda.../ring-rain
Even the universe produces orphans
The Big Bang produced a lot of hydrogen and some helium (very roughly, the ratio was 75:25) but hardly any elements heavier than helium and those needed to create life in the universe. Those heavier atoms only got produced when H and He combined under high pressures and temperatures, i.e., the cores of massive stars. We know that at some point differences in the distribution of those atoms led to the formation of galaxies and then stars, but it seems one or two regions were left out of the star birth orgy. They still show something close to the original elemental abundance the universe once had.
Observations from the Keck on MK.
https://phys.org/news/2018-12-rare-relic...verse.html
So, I'm about to head off to spend Christmas with Pam, but there are a couple of news stories for now:
"NASA Research Reveals Saturn is Losing Its Rings at “Worst-Case-Scenario” Rate"
Saturn's rings may not last much longer as they are raining their material onto the planet. The planet may look very different from those of us that live a few hundred million more years than we expect (make sure you have your 401K in order). This is from observations made at the Keck on MK.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/godda.../ring-rain
Even the universe produces orphans
The Big Bang produced a lot of hydrogen and some helium (very roughly, the ratio was 75:25) but hardly any elements heavier than helium and those needed to create life in the universe. Those heavier atoms only got produced when H and He combined under high pressures and temperatures, i.e., the cores of massive stars. We know that at some point differences in the distribution of those atoms led to the formation of galaxies and then stars, but it seems one or two regions were left out of the star birth orgy. They still show something close to the original elemental abundance the universe once had.
Observations from the Keck on MK.
https://phys.org/news/2018-12-rare-relic...verse.html