Scientists of the CDF collaboration at the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced the world’s most precise measurement by a single experiment of the mass of the W boson, the carrier of the weak nuclear force and a key parameter of the Standard Model of particles and forces. The new W-mass value leads to an estimate for the mass of the yet-undiscovered Higgs boson that is lighter than previously predicted, in principle making observation of this elusive particle more likely by experiments at the Tevatron particle collider at Fermilab.
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/LighterHiggs.html
Precise Measurement Of W-boson Mass
12. Januar 2007, 20:18 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Forschung & Technik - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/Mcswj
Schwarzer Diamant aus dem All?
12. Januar 2007, 19:37 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Asteroiden & Co. • Kosmologie - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/4Up4O
Kohlschwarze Diamanten stammen nicht aus dem Schoß der Erde, sondern aus dem Weltraum. Diese Vermutung bekräftigen neue Messungen amerikanischer Geowissenschaftler. In vielerlei Hinsicht ähnelt die Zusammensetzung der “Carbonados” demnach der von Diamanten, wie sie in Meteoriten gefunden und im All beobachtet worden sind. Carbonados fand man bislang nur in Brasilien und Zentralafrika. Anders als “normale” Diamanten, sind sie undurchsichtig und porös, weisen eine matte Oberfläche auf und erinnern insgesamt eher an Koks. Schon ihr Gehalt an metallischen Spurenelementen spreche gegen einen Ursprung im Erdmantel, erläutern die Forscher um Jozsef Garai von der Florida International University. Um mehr über den Aufbau der schwarzen Diamanten zu erfahren, bombardierten Garai und Kollegen vier Carbonados mit intensiver Infrarot-Strahlung. Frühere Untersuchungen dieser Art waren auf das Problem gestoßen, dass die Poren der Steine Silikatmineralien enthalten, welche ausgerechnet im besonders interessanten Wellenlängenbereich zwischen 7,7 und 10 Mikrometern absorbieren. Um diesen Störfaktor zu beseitigen, zermahlten die Forscher ihre Carbonados zunächst zu feinem Pulver, das sie mehrere Tage lang mit Salz- und Flusssäure behandelten. Wie die Gruppe in den “Astrophysical Journal Letters” berichtet, enthält das Material sowohl Stickstoff als auch Wasserstoff in Form und Menge, wie es typisch für Diamanten aus dem All ist. Daher sei es denkbar, dass sich der Kohlenstoff der Carbonados in einer wasserstoffreichen Region im All zusammengelagert habe. Vermutlich seien die schwarzen Diamanten dann vor 2,6 bis 3,8 Milliarden Jahren mit Asteroiden auf die Erde gelangt.
Infrared Absorption Investigations Confirm the Extraterrestrial Origin of Carbonado-Diamonds
Homer’s Ithaca Possibly Found
12. Januar 2007, 19:33 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Archäologie - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/PEoBn
Results of geologic tests released on January 9, 2007, by British businessman Robert Bittlestone, Cambridge classicist James Diggle, and University of Edinburgh geologist John Underhill suggest further evidence to support the hypothesis that Homer’s Ithaca can be found on western Kefalonia as reported in the January 2007 issue of “Geotimes”, published by the American Geological Institute (AGI). This hypothesis suggests that the western peninsula of the modern-day Greek island Kefalonia, called Paliki, was a separate island 3.000 years ago. Landslides and rockfalls from earthquakes filled in the valley between Kefalonia and Paliki, thus disguising the ancient landscape that was described by Homer in the Odyssey.
http://www.geotimes.org/jan07/WebExtra010907.html
New Multiple Star Systems In Ophiuchus Star Forming Region
12. Januar 2007, 19:28 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Kosmologie - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/oEvMe
After three years of observations using the 10-meter Keck II telescope in Hawaii, Lowell Observatory astronomer Lisa Prato announces the discovery of four new low-mass double star systems with separations similar to the Earth-Sun distance or smaller. This survey also serendipitously revealed five new wider binaries with separations of about 14 to 140 times the Earth-Sun distance. The results provide significant new evidence to better characterize the star and planet forming region in Ophiuchus. The research features the first such analysis for young, low-mass spectroscopic (closely spaced) binary stars undertaken in infrared light.
Lisa Prato: “A Survey for Young Spectroscopic Binary K7-M4 Stars in Ophiuchus”
Astronomers find the most distant star clusters
12. Januar 2007, 19:26 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Allgemein - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/5rbRf
Astronomers have discovered the most distant population of star clusters ever seen, hidden behind one of the nearest such clusters to Earth. At a distance of more than a billion light-years, the newly discovered star clusters provide a unique probe of what similar systems in our own galaxy once looked like.
http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/media/releases/2007/mr-07-001.html
New Evidence Of Extrasolar Asteroid Belt
11. Januar 2007, 08:12 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Allgemein - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/029SN
Providing the best evidence yet for an asteroid belt beyond the solar system, new measurements pinpoint the location of such a disk of warm dust surrounding the star Zeta Leporis. As the January 6, 2007 issue of “Science News” reports, this dust lies about the same distance from Zeta Leporis as the solar system’s asteroid belt lies from the sun.
Article @ Science News
Abstract: Mid-infrared resolution of a 3 AU-radius debris disk around Zeta Leporis
Chandra Discovers Light Echo from the Milky Way's Black Hole
11. Januar 2007, 08:10 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Allgemein - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/EE8SB
Like cold case investigators, astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to uncover evidence of a powerful outburst from the giant black hole at the Milky Way’s center.
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/gcle/
Radio Telescopes Provide Key Clue on Black Hole Growth
11. Januar 2007, 08:08 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Allgemein - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/PhcgK
Astronomers have discovered the strongest evidence yet found indicating that matter is being ejected by a medium-sized black hole, providing valuable insight on a process that may have been key to the development of larger black holes in the early Universe. The scientists combined the power of all the operational telescopes of the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) to peer deep into the heart of the galaxy NGC 4395, 14 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Canes Venatici.
http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2007/imbh/
Rethinking last century's closest, brightest supernova
11. Januar 2007, 08:06 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Allgemein - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/mVg2w
Twenty years ago next month, the closest and brightest supernova in four centuries lit up the southern sky, wowing astronomers and the public alike. Ongoing observations of the exploded star, called supernova 1987A, provided important tests for theories of how stars die, but it also raised some new questions.
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/01/09_LBV.shtml
Atlantis gains Hubble servicing swansong
10. Januar 2007, 03:33 Uhr - Veröffentlicht von Olaf in Space Shuttle & ISS - (Kommentare deaktiviert)Kurz-URL: http://solscape.astroarts.org/V5bV9
Shuttle Atlantis has been handed a flagship finale, following the confirmation that she will now be the orbiter that will conduct the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, with the launch date slipping to September 11, 2008. The decision to swap STS-125 – known as HSM-04 – from Discovery to Atlantis was confirmed by the January 8 launch schedule document, which sees a widescale change to the shuttle mission manifest.
Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com
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