Adventures of Ash, an Aspiring Astrophysicist

This blog is for logging my adventures in science and interesting posts and links for reference. My Personal Voyage

[plasticpiranhas]

[microtear-deactivated20181213]

Very me

[aquaristlifeforme]

Anchovies are ram feeders, a lot like filter feeders. They swim through the water with their mouth and jaw expanded catching any little food particles that might be in the water.

[rudescience]

I remember from that Spongebob episode.

[ashtronauta]

MOVING

This blog started off as a side blog of a primary one that has now long since been deleted. As still a side blog that was renamed ashtronauta from ashtrophysics, there are some limitations: I can’t follow people back nor can I message them through this blog. Therefore, I decided to discontinue this blog and use my main blog that is now called ashtrophysics. 

tl;dr I am moving. Follow my new blog: ashtrophysics. 

It is currently under construction.

[tittily]

mars: i’m wet

earth: i’m coming over

[ashtronauta]

high school: you will call me Mr. Smith because in college you will have to call all your teachers Dr. or Professor and be v formal with them

College: Call me Steve ok literally if any of you call me professor I'm leaving

[patrick-jr]

The “Water Found on Mars” Google logo is pretty cute

[sixpenceee]

This is how tonight’s red moon looked. 

(GIF Source)

[planned-planethood]

Further not-news:

Todays discovery, announced by NASA, isn’t confirmation 100%-we’resoakingwet-drowningaliens- beyond a shadow of a doubt water on Mars.

It’s just really, really likely now. 

How likely? As in NASA won’t allow its rovers to go to these water locations, for the sake of protecting potential Martian environments that already exist.

Anyone interested in reading the actual research article: it’s located here.

[scienceisbeauty]

NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars

These dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks called recurring slope lineae flowing downhill on Mars are inferred to have been formed by contemporary flowing water. Recently, planetary scientists detected hydrated salts on these slopes at Hale crater, corroborating their original hypothesis that the streaks are indeed formed by liquid water. The blue color seen upslope of the dark streaks are thought not to be related to their formation, but instead are from the presence of the mineral pyroxene. The image is produced by draping an orthorectified (Infrared-Red-Blue/Green(IRB)) false color image (ESP_030570_1440) on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the same site produced by High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (University of Arizona). Vertical exaggeration is 1.5.

Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Via Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter site

h-t WIRED

[ashtronauta]

SO EXCITING!

[earthstory]

The first meteorite from Mercury?

A greenish achondrite meteorite that fell in Morocco in 2012 may be the first ever to be found from the solar system’s innermost planet.

Keep reading

[ashtronauta]

Lunar eclipse at Perigee taken by my iphone 5 through 8" meades telescope.

[thinksquad-deactivated20190405]

The key to successful critical thinking is to first be critical of your own thinking.

Will Spencer (via thinksquad)

[planned-planethood]

Exoplanet orbiting an alien star

[picturesquephysics]

A quantum lab for everyone

Explore modern experimental Physics  

This virtual laboratory is freely available online. It was developed by the Faculty of Physics at the University of Vienna, in collaboration with university and high-school students. 

Research group Quantum Nanophysics led by Markus Arndt at the University of Vienna created two complete and photorealistic computer stimulations of research laboratories that allows university, high-school students as well as the general public to virtually access unique instruments. “One could describe it as a flight simulator of quantum physics”, says Mathias Tomandl who designed and implemented the essential elements of the simulation in the course of his PhD studies.

“A learning path guides the visitors of the virtual quantum lab through the world of delocalized complex molecules. A series of lab tasks and essential background information on the experiments enable the visitors to gradually immerse into the quantum world. The engaging software was developed together with university and high-school students and was fine-tuned by periodic didactic input. The teaching concept and the accompanying studies have now been published in the renowned scientific journal Scientific Reports. The virtual laboratories provide an insight into the fundamental understanding and into the applications of quantum mechanics with macromolecules and nanoparticles. In recent years, the real-life versions of the experiments verified the wave-particle dualism with the most complex molecules to date. Now, everyone can conduct these experiments in the virtual lab for the first time.“

Above: Diffraction of molecules at nanomechanical gratings are shown in the interactive quantum lab. Credit: Copyright: Quantum Nanophysics group, University of Vienna; Mathias Tomandl & Patrick Braun

Above: Interference of complex molecules are pictured in the Kapitza-Dirac-Talbot-Lau interferometer. Credit: Copyright: Quantum Nanophysics group, University of Vienna; Mathias Tomandl & Patrick Braun

Read more at: x

Discover the quantum world step by step: access the stimulation here x

[ashtronauta]

[startswithabang]

Mostly Mute Monday: The Glory of Saturn’s Rings

“Saturn is remarkable in a number of ways; among all the planets we know of, it’s the least dense, and also the only one with a spectacularly visible set of rings. Composed of icy, dust-like material, these rings are not solid at all, but made up of particles that pass each other, stick together briefly and then fly apart once again.

Snowballs and planetesimals coalesce, only to be torn apart by tidal forces exerted by Saturn and its passing moons. Gaps in the inner rings are caused by the gravitational presence of moons themselves, while many of the outer rings — like Saturn’s E-ring, below — are actually caused by the moons themselves.”

From their discovery in the 1600s, Saturn’s rings have been a source of wonder and puzzlement to skywatchers everywhere. The only ring system visible through most telescopes from Earth, Saturn’s main rings at more than 70,000 km long, yet no more than 1 km in thickness. Once thought to have only two gaps in them, the Cassini spacecraft has revealed over a thousand, teaching us that Saturn’s rings are likely as old as the planet itself, and will likely continue to exist for as long as our Sun shines.

[ashtronauta]

Pictures from last night's public night at Whitin Observatory on International Observe the Moon day.  The first two pictures are of the moon a little before sunset through our 12″ Clark refractor. The last are of some our meteorites (stone, iron, stony-iron) that visitors got to view and feel. Look at those beauties!