For the first time, researchers have produced an image of the Milky Way using neutrinos, which were observed with the IceCube telescope in the Antarctic ice. The neutrino image suggests that cosmic ray interactions are more intense in the center of our galaxy than once thought. The results are published in an article in the journal Science. For ages, the view of our Milky Way galaxy has inspired awe, visible with the naked eye as a hazy band of stars…
For the first time, astrophysicists have found compelling evidence for the existence of gravitational waves which oscillate with periods ranging from years to decades. For this, the researchers evaluated data from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves. Prof. Kai Schmitz from Münster University and Dr. Andrea Mitridate from DESY in Hamburg are involved in one of a total of five current research articles. This publication deals with the hypothesis that NANOGrav sees gravitational waves which were produced in…
An international collaboration of European astronomers including the Max Planck Institutes for Radio Astronomy and Gravitational Physics, together with Indian and Japanese colleagues, have published the results of more than 25 years of observations from six of the World’s most sensitive radio telescopes. Along with other international collaborations, the European and Indian Pulsar Timing Arrays have independently found evidence for ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves, expected to come from pairs of supermassive black holes found in the centres of merging galaxies. These…
NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission acquired stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along our neighboring planet’s orbit around the Sun. By viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists can gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways. MAVEN’s Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument obtained these global views of Mars in 2022 and 2023 when the planet was near opposite ends of its elliptical orbit. The IUVS…
A group of Chinese scientists has recently found key evidence for the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves, marking a new era in nanoHertz gravitational wave research. The research was based on pulsar timing observations carried out with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The research was conducted by the Chinese Pulsar Timing Array (CPTA) collaboration, which comprises researchers from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) and other institutes. Their findings were published online in…
Results point to importance of internal structure of nucleons—and need for new measurements to disentangle other contributions. New measurements of how particles flow from collisions of different types of particles at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have provided new insights into the origin of the shape of hot specks of matter generated in these collisions. The results may lead to a deeper understanding of the properties and dynamics of this form of matter, known as a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). QGP is…
Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the protoplanetary disk around a young star have discovered the most compelling chemical evidence to date of the formation of protoplanets. The discovery will provide astronomers with an alternate method for detecting and characterizing protoplanets when direct observations or imaging are not possible. The results will be published in an upcoming edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. HD 169142 is a young star located in the constellation Sagittarius that is…
A team of international scientists has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+), the molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. Methyl cation was detected in a young star system, with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, which is located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula. Carbon compounds form the foundations of all known life,…
… for aerosol single scattering albedo vertical profile. Recently, the research group of Professor ZHANG Weijun from Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (AIOFM), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), achieved in-situ measurement of aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) vertical profile for the first time. The relevant research work was published in Optics Express. Aerosol SSA (the ratio of scattering to extinction coefficient) is a key input parameter in evaluating radiative forcing. Measuring the vertical…
Bye bye, lens. Hello metasurface! So-called metasurfaces can help to make optical systems thinner in the future, while at the same time increasing their functionality. The problem: Until now, conventional manufacturing processes have often only been able to realize small metasurfaces, often smaller than one square millimeter. Researchers at Fraunhofer IOF have now succeeded for the first time in producing a metasurface with a diameter of almost 30 centimeters using electron beam lithography – a world record. The scientists have…
Using a new technique, researchers at the University of Basel have succeeded in cooling a small membrane down to temperatures close to absolute zero using only laser light. Such extremely cooled membranes could, for instance, find applications in highly sensitive sensors. As long as 400 years ago, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler came up with the idea of solar sails which could be used by ships to sail through the universe. He suspected that light exerts a force when reflected…
Isotope ratios found in meteorites suggest that a supernova exploded nearby while the Sun and Solar System were still forming. But the blast wave from a supernova that close could have potentially destroyed the nascent Solar System. New calculations shows that a filament of molecular gas, which is the birth cocoon of the Solar System, aided the capture of the isotopes found in the meteorites, while acting as a buffer protecting the young Solar System from the nearby supernova blast….
Comparisons between optical clocks at PTB enhance the search for a possible interaction of ultralight dark matter with photons. Can dark matter interact with photons and influence atomic structure? A case for optical atomic clocks: Two different types of such clocks were compared at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) within the scope of the Collaborative Research Center DQ-mat and the Cluster of Excellence QuantumFrontiers. It is the most accurate search for an interaction of ultralight dark matter with photons to date….
The discovery of the quantum Hall effects in the 1980’s revealed the existence of novel states of matter called “Laughlin states”, in honor of the American Nobel prize winner who successfully characterized them theoretically. These exotic states specifically emerge in 2D materials, at very low temperature and in the presence of an extremely strong magnetic field. In a Laughlin state, electrons form a peculiar liquid, where each electron dances around its congeners while avoiding them as much as possible. Exciting…
… as the limits of quantum physics are tested on Earth and beyond. Scientists are to build technologies to use and study nanoparticles in space – pushing the limits of quantum technologies. A UK-wide consortium is developing technologies to use nanoparticles as state-of-the-art sensors on small, shoebox-sized satellites known as CubeSats. The Universities of Warwick, Swansea and Strathclyde have been awarded £250k to further research into nanoparticles and quantum physics in the application of space technology. Recent advances in the…
Results from ‘golden measurement’ at RHIC’s PHENIX experiment show the spins of gluons align with the spin of the proton they’re in. A new publication by the PHENIX Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provides definitive evidence that gluon “spins” are aligned in the same direction as the spin of the proton they’re in. The result, just published in Physical Review Letters, provides theorists with new input for calculating how much gluons—the gluelike particles that hold quarks together within protons and neutrons—contribute to…
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