16 Psyche is believed to be the core of a dead planet. NASA plans to explore asteroid 16 Psyche – long thought to be the core of a dead planet – in 2022 to determine if it actually contains the precious metal. worth 10 trillion USD, which means making everyone on Earth a billionaire or not. Before that time, however, a new study suggests that 16 Psyche is more than likely just a pile of debris. Research published in the journal Planetary Science shows that 16 Psyche is composed of 82.5% metal, 7% iron content pyroxene and 10.5% carbon chondrite. It can also have a bulk density – i.e. the degree of free space inside – of 35%. These numbers are much lower than previous estimates that said it could contain up to 95% metals, mainly iron, nickel and gold. NASA has planned to probe the asteroid 16 Psyche, which is said to be filled with iron, gold, nickel and platinum, in 2022. The study’s lead author, David Cantillo, a senior at UA Arizona University, said in a statement: “The drop in metal content and bulk density is interesting because it shows that 16 Psyche is very strong. different than previously thought”. “It would come as a surprise to see Psyche as a pile of debris, but our data continue to show low bulk density estimates despite its high metal content,” Cantillo said. If the “gold-filled” asteroid was more like a wreck and had less metal inside, as Cantillo and other researchers believe, it wouldn’t be that different from other asteroids in the Solar System, for example. like the asteroid Bennu. Now, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission recently embarked on a 2.2 billion-kilometer journey back to Earth after collecting nearly 1kg of rock and dust from Bennu, which could help shed light on how the Solar System formed. . To arrive at their new discovery, the researchers reconstructed the surface of 16 Psyche in the lab, mixing the different ingredients until the patterns of visible light matched those of the asteroid. “Having a lower metal content than previously thought means the asteroid may have collided with asteroids containing more common carbon chondrites, depositing a surface layer,” Cantillo said. that we are observing”. However, NASA notes 16 Psyche remains a major concern for scientists. It is the 16th asteroid discovered on March 17, 1852 by the Italian astronomer, Annibale de Gasparis. 16 Psyche takes about 5 years to orbit the Sun once, but only 4 hours to rotate on its axis, making the day on this asteroid only 1/6th of the day on Earth. According to EarthSky.org, 16 Psyche has a diameter of 182 km, containing 1% of all metals in the asteroid belt. Watch a simulation video of asteroid 16 Psyche (Source Daily Mail) Even if 16 Psyche is worth less than the $10 trillion figure, it’s still valuable to researchers hoping to learn more about what they believe to be the remains of a long-dead planet. . Study author Cantillo said: “The opportunity to study the exposed core of a planet is extremely rare, which is why they sent spacecraft missions there, but our work shows that 16 Psyche is much more interesting than anticipated.” The researchers also believe that there is water on 16 Psyche’s surface, so they will look to merge their data with other missions to asteroids to determine how much water is present. The $117 million spacecraft — which NASA began building in July 2020 — will go into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It is expected to reach asteroid 16 Psyche in the asteroid belt in early 2026. The spacecraft will travel for 21 months in asteroid orbit, mapping and studying the properties of the giant meteorite, with the goal of determining if it is indeed the core of a planet. Asteroid 16 Psyche has long been thought to contain large amounts of iron, nickel, gold and platinum. The Metal World of 16 Psyche 16 Psyche is located in the large asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and may have started as a planet, before it was partially destroyed during the formation of the Solar System. It is now a 200km-wide block of metal, made up of iron, nickel and several other rare metals, including gold, platinum and copper. Thus, it could provide a unique view of the violent collisions that created the Earth and the planets. NASA’s mission will seek to determine whether Psyche was the core of an early planet, how old it is, whether it formed in ways similar to Earth’s core and its surface. how. NASA will send an unmanned spacecraft mission to 16 Psyche, scheduled to launch in August 2022. 16 Psyche, which could be 370 million kilometers away from Earth, is one of the most mysterious objects in our Solar System, and scientists may soon get a close-up look thanks to a newly identified NASA mission take. If the asteroid could be transported back to Earth, the iron alone would be worth $10 trillion. Its value would be large enough to destroy commodity prices and cause the world economy – worth $73.7 trillion – to collapse. Assuming the market for material from asteroid 16 Psyche is returned to Earth, this could cause the value of precious metals to plummet, completely devaluing all holdings including those of governments and all companies engaged in the exploitation, distribution and sale of such commodities.

16 Psyche is believed to be the core of a dead planet. NASA plans to explore asteroid 16 Psyche – long thought to be the core of a dead planet – in 2022 to determine if it actually contains the precious metal. worth 10 trillion USD, which means making everyone on Earth a billionaire or not. Before that time, however, a new study suggests that 16 Psyche is more than likely just a pile of debris. Research published in the journal Planetary Science shows that 16 Psyche is composed of 82.5% metal, 7% iron content pyroxene and 10.5% carbon chondrite. It can also have a bulk density – i.e. the degree of free space inside – of 35%. These numbers are much lower than previous estimates that said it could contain up to 95% metals, mainly iron, nickel and gold. NASA has planned to probe the asteroid 16 Psyche, which is said to be filled with iron, gold, nickel and platinum, in 2022. The study’s lead author, David Cantillo, a senior at UA Arizona University, said in a statement: “The drop in metal content and bulk density is interesting because it shows that 16 Psyche is very strong. different than previously thought”. “It would come as a surprise to see Psyche as a pile of debris, but our data continue to show low bulk density estimates despite its high metal content,” Cantillo said. If the “gold-filled” asteroid was more like a wreck and had less metal inside, as Cantillo and other researchers believe, it wouldn’t be that different from other asteroids in the Solar System, for example. like the asteroid Bennu. Now, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission recently embarked on a 2.2 billion-kilometer journey back to Earth after collecting nearly 1kg of rock and dust from Bennu, which could help shed light on how the Solar System formed. . To arrive at their new discovery, the researchers reconstructed the surface of 16 Psyche in the lab, mixing the different ingredients until the patterns of visible light matched those of the asteroid. “Having a lower metal content than previously thought means the asteroid may have collided with asteroids containing more common carbon chondrites, depositing a surface layer,” Cantillo said. that we are observing”. However, NASA notes 16 Psyche remains a major concern for scientists. It is the 16th asteroid discovered on March 17, 1852 by the Italian astronomer, Annibale de Gasparis. 16 Psyche takes about 5 years to orbit the Sun once, but only 4 hours to rotate on its axis, making the day on this asteroid only 1/6th of the day on Earth. According to EarthSky.org, 16 Psyche has a diameter of 182 km, containing 1% of all metals in the asteroid belt. Watch a simulation video of asteroid 16 Psyche (Source Daily Mail) Even if 16 Psyche is worth less than the $10 trillion figure, it’s still valuable to researchers hoping to learn more about what they believe to be the remains of a long-dead planet. . Study author Cantillo said: “The opportunity to study the exposed core of a planet is extremely rare, which is why they sent spacecraft missions there, but our work shows that 16 Psyche is much more interesting than anticipated.” The researchers also believe that there is water on 16 Psyche’s surface, so they will look to merge their data with other missions to asteroids to determine how much water is present. The $117 million spacecraft — which NASA began building in July 2020 — will go into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It is expected to reach asteroid 16 Psyche in the asteroid belt in early 2026. The spacecraft will travel for 21 months in asteroid orbit, mapping and studying the properties of the giant meteorite, with the goal of determining if it is indeed the core of a planet. Asteroid 16 Psyche has long been thought to contain large amounts of iron, nickel, gold and platinum. The Metal World of 16 Psyche 16 Psyche is located in the large asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and may have started as a planet, before it was partially destroyed during the formation of the Solar System. It is now a 200km-wide block of metal, made up of iron, nickel and several other rare metals, including gold, platinum and copper. Thus, it could provide a unique view of the violent collisions that created the Earth and the planets. NASA’s mission will seek to determine whether Psyche was the core of an early planet, how old it is, whether it formed in ways similar to Earth’s core and its surface. how. NASA will send an unmanned spacecraft mission to 16 Psyche, scheduled to launch in August 2022. 16 Psyche, which could be 370 million kilometers away from Earth, is one of the most mysterious objects in our Solar System, and scientists may soon get a close-up look thanks to a newly identified NASA mission take. If the asteroid could be transported back to Earth, the iron alone would be worth $10 trillion. Its value would be large enough to destroy commodity prices and cause the world economy – worth $73.7 trillion – to collapse. Assuming the market for material from asteroid 16 Psyche is returned to Earth, this could cause the value of precious metals to plummet, completely devaluing all holdings including those of governments and all companies engaged in the exploitation, distribution and sale of such commodities.

In the past, all three planets were rocky planets, the surface of which was composed of solid metals and silicates. Among them, our Earth is the largest planet, the mass and radius of Venus is only about 82% and 95% of the Earth, respectively, the mass and radius of Mars only account for about 11% and 53% when compared to our planet. Over the past few decades, humans have launched many unmanned probes to Venus and Mars, and it turns out that the environments on these two planets are very harsh. Venus is too hot, and Mars is too cold, and there is no oxygen on either planet, so life on Earth could not exist in such an environment, and astronomers could not find it. see any other traces of life there. So, how were Venus and Mars 4 billion years ago? Why are Venus and Mars now barren, and only our planet is habitable? Calculated based on the radiant power of the sun, Venus and Mars also operate in the same habitable zone as Earth, which means they can receive just the right amount of solar radiation to water. on their surface can still be in a liquid state. Astronomers speculate based on current signs on Venus and Mars and surmise that there may have been an ocean of liquid water on both Venus and Mars 4 billion years ago. For the first few hundred million years, Venus was a warm and humid planet. In the primordial oceans of Venus, life was fully qualified to evolve. They could be carbon-based life like life on Earth or could be other life forms. However, Venus’s habitable period did not last long. Because Venus is so close to the sun, and the temperature of the sun gradually increases over time, making Venus hotter and hotter, and a large amount of liquid water has also been evaporated. At the same time, the volcanic activity on Venus is also gradually becoming more active and continuously releasing carbon dioxide, causing a strong greenhouse effect. Without oceans, carbon dioxide would not be neutralized. They enter the atmosphere and cause a severe greenhouse effect, which will increase the temperature on Venus. Meanwhile, on Earth, the oceans, plants and minerals absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, so the Earth will not become too hot due to the strong greenhouse effect during that period. Eventually, Venus’ greenhouse effect was completely out of control, liquid water completely evaporated, and life could have been destroyed. According to data returned by the Venus probe, the current concentration of carbon dioxide in Venus’s atmosphere is as high as 96.5%, and the surface atmospheric pressure is 91 times higher than the Earth’s surface. Under the influence of this extreme greenhouse effect, Venus has essentially reached thermal equilibrium, and the average surface temperature is as high as 464 degrees Celsius. Although it is essentially impossible to have life on the surface of Venus today, some astronomers speculate that there may be some strange life in the atmosphere of Venus. In the sky high enough above the surface of Venus, the atmospheric pressure will be moderate, and the temperature will not be high, possibly for the synthesis of organic matter and the evolution of life. On the other hand, ancient Mars was probably also a habitable planet. Currently, on Mars there is a large amount of water-washed terrain, and there are some iron ores that can only be generated in the aquatic environment, which is strong evidence for the existence of a large amount of water. liquid water on ancient Mars. So, how did Mars become such a uninhabitable planet as it is? At present-day Mars’ North Pole, there is a giant basin whose surface is equivalent to two-fifths of the surface of Mars. This huge Arctic basin was formed by a massive collision. Studies have shown that about 3.9 billion years ago, a dwarf planet (about the size of Pluto) with a diameter of about 2,000 km collided with the north pole of Mars. This massive collision completely changed the core of Mars, causing activities inside Mars to quickly stop, and the Martian magnetic field also gradually weakened and finally almost disappeared. lost. Without the protection of the magnetic field, the solar wind gradually strengthens and melts the atmosphere of Mars, liquid water continues to evaporate, causing Mars to quickly become a barren land. Currently, there is almost no atmosphere on Mars, but there is still some water ice in the polar regions. In addition, there may be a seasonal amount of liquid water in some areas of Mars, which has a high salt content and may be temporarily liquid in the low-temperature Martian environment. At the moment, the temperature on Mars is very low, the average temperature is only -63 degrees Celsius. If humans want to settle on Mars in the future, the first thing to do is to strengthen the star’s magnetic field. Mars and produces large amounts of greenhouse gases to “heat” Mars and melt the solid water that exists on Mars. Mars is much smaller than Earth, so it would have cooled from its molten state at its inception faster than Earth, so liquid water on Mars may have appeared earlier, which could This means that life on Mars may have formed and evolved earlier than our planet. Therefore, there are conspiracy theories that, when celestial bodies collided with Mars, the rocks that were thrown into space by the collisions could have carried the germ of life on Mars into space, and then some someday fall to Earth, becoming the source of life on Earth. And perhaps by coincidence, life on Earth also began to form around the same time that Mars’ North Pole collided. From the point of view of time, this is consistent. In addition, astronomers have discovered traces of suspected life in meteorites on Mars that have fallen to Earth. Life on Earth may have originated on Mars, but this has so far required more convincing evidence. In the past, the Curiosity rover has detected some carbon-containing organic substances in the rocks on Mars, which may be evidence that ancient Mars once had a few living things. Even now, it is still possible for life on Mars, they did not go extinct billions of years ago, but moved into the Martian underground and developed a unique survival mechanism to adapt to the harsh environment. harsh on this planet. Compared to Venus and Mars, our planet is very lucky. For billions of years, Earth has always been a habitable planet, so hundreds of millions of species have appeared here. Our Earth is like a “chosen planet”, a moderate distance from the sun, with a magnetic field that can resist solar radiation so that all kinds of life can continue to multiply and develop. Although it cannot be ruled out that some planets in the solar system (such as Europa) also harbor life, the environments of those planets are very different from those of Earth, and most life on Earth is not ruled out. Soil cannot exist there. In the near future, Earth will still be the only planet inhabited by humans in the universe.

For the past four billion years, life on Earth has been endless. But now on Earth there are only nearly 10 million species of creatures, this number is only 1% of the total number of species that have ever lived on Earth, the remaining 99% has disappeared in the long river of the Earth. Although our planet is a vibrant planet, it is very difficult for any living species to survive long on Earth. Over time, the Earth’s climate will continue to change and some ancient species have been unable to adapt to this change, leading to extinction. In addition, life on Earth could also be threatened by deadly threats from space. For example, a gamma-ray burst from a supernova could destroy Earth’s atmosphere and cause deadly cosmic radiation to reach our planet’s surface. Most life on Earth wouldn’t be able to withstand this. 450 million years ago a supernova caused the first mass extinction of the space threat on Earth. On the other hand, the impact of a giant asteroid falling to Earth will also cause drastic changes in climate, disrupt the food chain and cause mass death for life on Earth. The fifth mass extinction 65 million years ago was probably also caused by an asteroid collision. In addition to the threat from space, on Earth there may be superbugs that humans can’t fight off. Humanity also possesses nuclear weapons capable of destroying all life on Earth. Although humanity has enough intelligence to create such a powerful weapon, it is not known if humanity is intelligent enough to not use nuclear bombs on a large scale. And also for various reasons, Hawking believes that in order to continue to exist, humanity must expand its habitat into space in the future. Only by taking precautions and leaving Earth before disaster strikes and colonizing other planets can humans better cope with unknown disasters. So which planets should humans migrate to? Is there a “Second Earth” in the universe? Proxima b’s host star is Proxima Centauri – part of a trio of strange stars that scientists are still studying. The other two stars are binary – meaning they orbit the same center of gravity and are collectively known as Alpha Centauri. Although this “Second Earth” has similar properties to the Earth – where we live, Proxima b is still a mysterious and alien world. In the solar system, although life can exist on some satellites, but apart from Earth, there are no planets suitable for human existence. To achieve the goal of space colonization, we can only look beyond the extent of the familiar solar system. Current statistics show that almost every solar system has planets, and there are hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way, so there should be multiple targets to choose from. People need to choose rocky planets that are in the habitable zone, because only when the distance between the planet and the sun is neither too close nor too far can liquid water exist on its surface. Proxima b exists right in the middle of the habitable zone of stars, where water could theoretically exist in liquid form. Compared to our sun, Proxima Centauri’s habitable zone is very close to its host star. Scientists once believed that red dwarf stars like Proxima could not exist on habitable planets that were orbiting so close. But now, scientists think red dwarfs might be the best place to look for other habitable planets. And recently, astronomers discovered that Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our solar system, has a planet called Proxima Centauri b. This planet is a rocky planet the size of Earth and it is also in a habitable zone. Although Proxima b is the closest exoplanet to the solar system at a distance of only 4.2 light-years, humans are currently not capable of flying to this planet. Even with today’s fastest spacecraft, if we want to set foot there, it will take us tens of thousands of years to fly to Proxima b. However, humanity has never backed down from difficulties, we have been able to cross the ocean, as well as cross the distant interstellar space to reach the strange world, so it is very possible in the future , people will set foot here.

Mars hides the secret of life, always urging people to explore. Photo: NASA Today’s Earthlings are perhaps the most curious generation about the possibility of alien life on Mars, and are always wondering how humans might one day colonize there. From theories about Martian canals to alien radio messages, over the past three centuries, mankind has been constantly thinking about life on Mars. approach to his Martian “brothers”. Mars often appears in ancient texts as a “fire star,” or represents the god of War. In the 17th century, new early telescopes allowed scientists to get a glimpse of the Red Planet. Skilled “channel engineers”? Scientists need more powerful telescopes to be able to see up close, thereby trying to better clarify the hypothesis of life on Mars. In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli noticed crisscrossing lines covering the “Red Planet”. He called these lines “canali”, which means “canal”. Schiaparelli himself does not believe that this is an alien product, but some others are sure of it. Giovanni Schiaparelli’s map of the “canal” system on Mars. Image: Wikimedia Commons As information spread, the word “canali” was translated into English as “canal”, meaning “canal”. And if there were canals, wouldn’t that suggest that aliens would have to dig them? With that argument, many people believe that the interlaced lines on the surface of Mars are a beautiful system of waterways spreading across the planet.. Such a system not only shows that Martians exist, but that they are also amazing engineers. On Earth, it took man 10 years to complete the Suez Canal in 1869. The achievements of the Martians therefore seem to be far superior to those achieved by man. Astronomer Percival Lowell certainly thought so. In 1894, this American scientist-businessman began to expand the concept of a “canal” on Mars. Lowell used his family’s large textile fortune to open the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Professor Percival Lowell works with a telescope invested by his family. Image: Wikimedia Commons Percival Lowell mapped the “canals” on Mars with the help of the 24-inch Alvan Clark & ​​Sons refracting telescope he set up at the Lowell Observatory. He made meticulous maps of what was observed on the surface of Mars, wrote many books and regularly gave lectures on his shocking theory that Martians existed and that they were trying to irrigate the planet. their dying elf. Percival Lowell offers logical explanations to answer the question of how and why life exists on Mars. He used the example of life on Earth to illustrate his arguments: “As long as it was proved with certainty that no life could exist on the seabed, dredgers deep sea beds were invented, and before long, they ‘frustrated’ us. Behold, they see full of life. Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms. In short, the life of all common floating fish, from protozoa to marine ‘monsters’ – have been found living in the depths of the seabed. What is impossible, turns out to be possible.” But mapping Mars is one thing, and soon scientists are looking for ways to make contact with any life that might exist on the planet. “Message” from the Red Planet In 1899, Lowell’s theory of life on Mars received a “kick” from a prominent scientist: Nikola Tesla. Tesla, then a successful electrical engineer, claimed that he had detected an “inexplicable, faint” signal originating from Mars. Portrait of Nikola Tesla circa 1890. Photo: Wikimedia Commons While conducting experiments with his magnifier at high latitudes atop Pike Peak, Colorado Springs, Tesla claimed that he received “a message from another world, unknown and far away. “. What does that message say? According to Nikola Tesla, it is simply: “ONE – TWO – THREE”. A few years later, on a February 1901 day, in an interview with Collier’s Weekly, inventor Tesla announced that he could communicate with Martians by sending wireless messages to any point. on the “Red Planet”. This is a strange statement, because the successful transmission of radio messages on Earth has only become a reality since December of that year. Tesla doesn’t know what the aliens might look like, but he believes they have adapted to living conditions on Mars. Like Lowell, he suggested that “it is possible that in a frozen planet, such as the presumed conditions on our Moon, intelligent beings could still reside, within it, if not within it. on the surface”. To many people, when humans can receive messages from Mars, we can also send messages, that seems reasonable. In 1909, there were attempts to find a contact with life on Mars. Harvard professor William Henry Pickering proposed sending planetary light signals through a series of reflections produced by a network of 50 giant mirrors. The flashes would continue to flash for several years, allowing the Martians time to develop the necessary means to respond. Professor Pickering’s giant mirror illustration for sending signals to Mars. Photo: Library of Congress “In the hope of receiving such signals again, we must of course assume that Martians, if they exist, have telescopes, eyes, etc., just like humans have on this Earth.” Mr. Pickering said. But the Harvard professor’s plan cost $10 million, and no one wanted to fund it.

Overcoming prejudice to pursue passion Jocelyn Bell was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Burnell is her husband’s last name, Roger Burnell. Her parents, Allison and Philip Bell, were supportive of her interest in science. Mr. Philip is an architect, credited with building Ireland’s Armagh Planetarium. Her parents’ support was especially important because at the time, girls were discouraged from doing scientific research. In fact, the school she attended, Lurgan College, wanted girls to focus on housework skills. Thanks to the persuasion of her parents, she was finally allowed to study the sciences. Jocelyn Bell Burnell in her youth At the beginning of her academic and research career, she thought that she was not qualified to attend Cambridge University, and she was even ridiculed by male classmates. However, she did not stop striving and in 1965, she graduated from the University of Glasgow with a major in Physics. In 1969, she successfully defended her doctoral thesis at Cambridge University. During her time at Cambridge University, Jocelyn Bell worked on a team led by astrophysicist Antony Hewish that built the Mullard Observatory’s (MRAO) radio-receiving antenna array to observe the quasars. They also created a radio telescope to study quasars, bright distant objects that contain supermassive black holes within them. She detected the first radio signals of a pulsar on October 28, 1967 at the age of 24. This is the first pulsar, a star invisible to the naked eye that can only be detected by radio waves. Neutron stars rotate very quickly and emit beams of radiation, which have a huge gravitational pull. As for the discovery of pulsars, the press described it as “the greatest astronomical discovery of the 20th century”. Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s discovery was also called “one of the most surprising things in the history of astronomy”. Among many other findings, her discovery provided a kind of test for Einstein’s theory of relativity, providing a new treasure of knowledge about how heavy elements in the universe form. However, Burnell’s work was completely ignored. In 1974, together with radio astronomer Martin Ryle, Antony Hewish was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in the field of astronomical observations at radio wavelengths and the discovery of pulsars. It is unfair that Jocelyn Bell was not awarded a part of the Nobel Prize even though she was also named in the scientific report on the discovery of the pulsar. It was a gender-unfair decision, according to observers. Jocelyn Bell Burnell was honored by US scientists with the attendance of President Barack Obama in 2016. The world recognizes the merits Jocelyn Bell Burnell has taught at many universities in the UK and USA. She has won the Beatrice M. Tinsley Award from the American Astronomical Society (1989), was awarded the Royal Medal from the Royal Society in 2015, the Prudential Lifetime Achievement Award and many others. She became President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2002 to 2004 and was elected President of the Institute of Physics from October 2008 to October 2010. She was recognized by Queen Elizabeth as Commander of the British Empire for her services in the field of astronomy. Her curiosity, diligent observation, and rigorous analysis have revealed some of the most mysterious and interesting objects in the universe. Not only a pioneer and a great tree, Bell Burnell is also the most outstanding role model in the field, a worthy representative of women in science. She has dedicated her career to empowering women and minorities in science.” Chiara Mingarelli, astrophysicist at the Flatiron Institute in New York, USA Bell Burnell’s discovery had a great influence on world science. In early 2018, scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) demonstrated the feasibility of using pulsars for navigation in the SEXTANT experiment carried out on the International Space Station. This experiment stems from the idea that future robotic spacecraft could use the pulsar’s clock-like regular X-rays to triangulate the position of the pulsars. There is currently a project to use pulsars as lighthouses to guide the way during space travel. “Analyzing data in other regions, I found two more mysterious signals. I discovered four other examples of an entirely new class of stars, objects that emit signals as they rotate. Their signal swept across the universe like a lighthouse. We called it a pulsar,” she told the Guardian. Jocelyn Bell Burnell and her work on pulsars Pulsars have been used to weigh the solar system and accurately determine its mass. They are recommended signposts for long-term interstellar navigation. Astronomers also use pulsars to create maps that direct aliens to Earth’s position in space. In 2018, physicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell was awarded the Breakthrough Prize – the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, worth $3 million. She used the $3 million prize money to create scholarships to encourage female students, migrants, and disadvantaged ethnic minorities to pursue a career in physics. For a discovery that many consider worthy of a Nobel Prize, she was recognized by the Breakthrough Committee with a special prize in fundamental physics for her scientific achievements and her “inspirational pioneering role”. ” for more than five decades.

Dark matter is thought to be six times more abundant than normal matter. What is dark matter? First and perhaps most confusingly, researchers are still unsure what exactly dark matter is. Initially, some scientists surmised, the missing mass in the universe was made up of faint small stars and black holes. However, detailed observations have not shown enough evidence to explain the effects of dark matter. The current leading hypothesis is a hypothetical particle known as the weakly interacting mass particle, or WIMP. This particle would behave like a neutron and be 10-100 times heavier than a proton. However, this conjecture has opened a series of other unanswered questions. Is it possible to detect dark matter? In the 1930s, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky discovered that galaxies in a distant cluster were orbiting each other much faster than they should have been visible. At the time, he suggested, an invisible substance, dark matter, could be pulling gravity on these galaxies. Since then, researchers have confirmed, this mysterious matter can be found throughout the universe. They are six times more abundant than ordinary matter. If dark matter were produced from WIMPs, they would be all around us, invisible and virtually undetectable. While they won’t interact much with normal matter, there’s always some small chance that a dark matter particle could bump into an ordinary particle like a proton or electron as it travels through space. So the researchers carried out a series of experiments to study the huge numbers of ordinary particles deep underground, where they are shielded from interfering radiation. These particles can behave like a collision between dark matter particles. After decades of searching, none of these detectors have made a reliable discovery. Earlier this year, China’s PandaX experiment reported failing to detect WIMP. According to physicist Hai-Bo Yu at the University of California, Riverside, it seems that dark matter particles are much smaller than WIMP, or lack properties that make them easy to study. Does it include more than one particle? Ordinary matter is made up of particles like protons and electrons, as well as more exotic particles like neutrinos, muons, and pions. So some researchers have wondered, could dark matter, which makes up 85 percent of the matter in the universe, be just as complex? “There is no good reason to assume that all dark matter in the universe is made up of one type of particle,” said Harvard physicist Andrey Katz. According to Katz, dark protons can combine with dark electrons to form dark matter. From there, create configurations as varied and interesting as those found in the physical world. However, this problem has not been elucidated so far by scientists. Does the dark force exist? Some researchers have been looking for “dark photons,” analogous to photons exchanged between ordinary particles that generate the electromagnetic force. However, dark photons will only be sensed by dark matter particles. Physicists in Italy are preparing to break a beam of electrons and their antiparticles, called positrons, into a diamond. If dark photons exist, electron-positron pairs could annihilate and create one of the strange force carriers. From there, it is possible to open up a whole new realm of the universe. Is it made up of axions? As physicists pay more and more attention to understanding WIMPs, other dark matter particles are starting to gain favor. One of the top substitutes is the axion. This hypothetical particle is very light, smaller than a proton. Axion is currently being searched for in a few trials. Recent computer simulations have raised the possibility that these axions can form star-like objects. At the same time, they can produce radiation that is easily detected, similar to the mysterious phenomenon known as fast radio bursts. What are the properties of dark matter? Astronomers have discovered dark matter through its gravitational interaction with ordinary matter. This is also an indication that it is the main way that the presence of dark matter is known in the universe. According to some theories, dark matter particles must be their own antiparticles. This means that the two dark matter particles will annihilate each other when they meet. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment aboard the International Space Station has been looking for amazing signs of this destruction since 2011. As a result, AMS detected hundreds of thousands of events. Scientists are still unsure if these come from dark matter, and have yet to determine exactly what dark matter is. Does it exist in every galaxy? Because of its greater mass than normal matter, dark matter is often thought to be the driving force that organizes large structures such as galaxies and galaxy clusters. So it was strange that earlier this year, astronomers announced that they had found a galaxy called NGC 1052-DF2. Surprisingly, this galaxy barely contains any dark matter. At the time, Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University said: “Dark matter does not seem to be a necessary element to form a galaxy.” However, another team of researchers analyzed and showed that van Dokkum and colleagues miscalculated the distance to the galaxy. This means that visible matter is much fainter and lighter than first detected.

Humans have only found about 5% of the composition of the universe. So what is the remaining 95%? Although we know of its existence, we cannot see or study it specifically, directly because these components are invisible. Science fiction still frequently mentions the existence of other universes. In fact, in recent years, the scientific community is gradually accepting this hypothesis. A typical example is the multiverse theory, which comes from William James’s term of the same name in 1895. Accordingly, it is said that there are many parallel universes along with the one in which we live. The origin of cosmic rays has puzzled astronomers for a long time, who have spent a century studying the origin of these charged particles. However, the origin of this mysterious phenomenon remains an unanswered question. Since the birth and development of space science, a question that has always bothered the whole human society is whether there is anyone outside of Earth? Humans have launched spacecraft, explored many planets in search of other life, but so far, the above question has not been answered. Life likely existed on Mars and may even exist today. Mars used to have vast oceans. Scientists have found evidence that liquid water is still periodically flowing on the surface of Mars. Many countries are planning to send explorers to Mars to find the answer tree to this problem. Solar physicists have been baffled by the mystery of the Sun’s ability as it reheats its corona, the fragile crown surrounded by light that emerges brightly during a total eclipse. Crystal rain is a mysterious phenomenon that can only be seen in the universe. The star HOPS-68 is a star that closely resembles the Sun at its inception. Around this star exists a cloud of dust and gas, of which the main component is green olivine crystals. Due to the rather cold temperature of these dust clouds (about -170 degrees Celsius), the olivine crystals condense into small particles and fall like a magically beautiful blue crystal rain. Black holes are one of the great mysteries of the universe. This entity is one where the density of matter is greater than any other entity in the universe. With its huge weight, the black hole can bend time and space and nothing can escape if it accidentally falls into its gravitational field. Astronomers estimate that the Sun will destroy the Earth in about 6 billion years. Several theories about the end of the universe have been put forward. The universe can perish when all matter in the universe has the same temperature. That means all stars will perish and all matter will perish. Another opinion is that an event contrary to the Big Bang, the Big Crunch, will occur. If the universe continues to expand, eventually gravity will become too great, causing everything to contract. The entire universe will become a solid mass and the universe will come to an end. There is a mystery about the moon that has puzzled astronomers for a long time. That’s why only certain parts of the moon’s surface appear to have magnetic fields. But after conducting many tests and analyzing the moon’s surface, scientists believe that the moon once had a magnetic field – about 450 million years ago. Femi bubbles are giant and mysterious structures that arise from the center of the Milky Way and span about 20,000 light-years, accompanied by intense gamma rays and X-rays. Since it was first discovered until now, the Fermi Bubble has caused astronomers around the world a headache because it has not been able to find the origin of this giant gamma-ray structure. Please watch the video: NASA astronauts drop a mirror in space. Source: VTV

The 21-ton core of the Chinese Truong Chinh 5B missile was taken on the night of 5/5/2021. Photo: Project Virtual Telescope According to the Daily Mail, the Italy-based Virtual Telescope (VTP) project captured the core of the missile, which looks like a bright spot of light as it crashes through their Elena robot telescope. Chinese rockets have caught international attention throughout the week as debris of the 21-ton vehicle is expected to fly back to Earth uncontrolled over the weekend, with the risk of landing in areas with residents. According to Italian researchers, the Truong Chinh 5B missile has moved “extremely fast”, as it soared through a distance of about 700 km above the VTP’s telescope. The Space.com site said that Gianluca Masi, the Virtual Telescope project’s astronomer who took the photo, wrote in the photo description: “At the time of the photo shoot, the rocket core was far from the telescope. Ours is about 700 km, while the Sun is only a few degrees below the horizon, so the sky is extremely bright, making it difficult to take pictures. captured this giant fragment “- Masi wrote in the description of the photo. “This is another brilliant success, demonstrating the amazing ability of robotic vehicles to track such objects,” Mr. Masi affirmed. On April 29, China launched a 5B Truong Chinh missile that carries the main module of its own space station into the orbit of the Earth. This module, called Thien Ha, is 16.6 meters long. Watch the video of China launching a rocket carrying module of the Tianhe space station on April 29: Space agencies and astronomers around the world are now closely monitoring the 5B’s trajectory in the hope of being better prepared for the moment it falls back to Earth. The latest information shows that fragments of this giant rocket are expected to fall back to Earth on May 8 and the US government has warned they could fall into populated areas. US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby revealed the intended date of return to Earth’s atmosphere, but said the exact timing of that event was currently unidentifiable. Mr. Kirby said the government at this time “does not have enough information to be able to formulate specific plans”. However, he asserted that if there was information, they would share it appropriately.
The US Space Command is currently monitoring the Chinese missile as carefully as possible and giving daily updates to its position on the Space Track website. The Truong Chinh 5B Y2 missile carrying the Thien Ha core module was launched from the Van Xuong launch pad in Hainan province, China on April 29. Photo: THX Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard University (USA) and a specialist in orbital tracking, notes that the core of Truong Chinh 5B is the heaviest object that has fallen out of control through the atmosphere in nearly three decades. century. Before breaking, this core had a weight of nearly 21 tons. The last time a heavier object fell out of control was 1991, when the 43-ton Soviet Salyut-7 space station crashed on Argentina. Mr. McDowell calculated that the core was about to fall to Earth 7 times heavier than the second floor of the Falcon 9 rocket, which burned in the sky of Seattle, about a month ago. If returned to the atmosphere at night, it could produce a similar light trail. Despite US Department of Defense concerns, many industry observers believe the situation is not to the point of causing panic. The risk of being hit by debris is extremely small, says analyst McDowell. Meanwhile, Mr. Song Zhongping – a Chinese aerospace expert – on May 5 said that the rocket fragments returned to Earth is completely normal. China launched the Truong Chinh 5B rocket in May 2020 (photo) to test a vehicle for a program to send people to the Moon. Photo: Daily Mail Wang Ya’nan – editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine – added that during the missile development, Chinese aerospace officials have carefully considered from the initial stage of missile design and selection. Select launch location, to launch status and flight trajectory. “Most of the debris will burn up during its return to Earth’s atmosphere,” Wang explained. Only a very small fraction can fall to the ground and is likely to fall into the ocean or areas far away from where humans are active. Since Chinese rockets are mainly made of lightweight materials, most will easily be burned during high-speed fall through the atmosphere. Besides, Truong Chinh rocket also uses environmentally friendly fuel, so once the parts fall into the ocean, it will not cause water pollution. According to Space, if there is debris damage, the United Nations Convention on Liability of the Outer Space Treaty states that the launching country “must bear full responsibility for damages. caused by their space objects on the Earth’s surface or to an aircraft, and are responsible for damage caused by its fault in space “. The only time this convention was invoked was in 1978, when a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Kosmos 954, spread radioactive debris across the Canadian Arctic, leading to a campaign. urgent cleaning and cost at least S $ 3 million in 1981 (equivalent to $ 7.5 million today).

Illustration. That could improve your chances of discovering organisms in distant worlds. How to find exoplanets Since 1999, a process of detecting exoplanets called the transit method has found thousands of other worlds by measuring the brightness of the stars that these planets orbit around. No one knows if these planets have any life, but if scientists observe the Earth using this method, they will probably detect signs of life. Once those signs are identified from Earth observations, experts can then find similar clues in the exoplanets. Scientists have recently described this approach as a mission called the Earth Transit Observer (ETO). This year, they presented this at the 52nd Moon and Planetary Science Conference. Most of the exoplanets we know of are found by transit, according to the US NASA Space Agency. Modern telescopes such as the Kepler Space Telescope and the Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) can detect exoplanets when the path of a planet dims a star’s light overnight. slice. This is true even for stars thousands of light-years away. Scientists can estimate the magnitude of a planet based on the amount of light it is blocking and calculate the size of its orbit. The size and temperature of a host star as well as the distance between the planet and the star will provide additional clues as to whether exoplanets have life or not. The measure of transit can also hint at an exoplanet’s atmosphere. During a transit, a star’s light is filtered through atmospheric molecules. This could help researchers identify elements like oxygen and methane there. Such signs are often so small that astronomers need more transit observations to confirm the existence of these elements – according to a statement by the scientists. However, other factors on exoplanets and stars can affect the reading of molecules in the atmosphere. For example, planets change with the seasons, weather patterns and ocean currents. In addition, the activity of the Sun, such as the rise and fall of the solar wind, and the formation of solar storms also change. Any of these conditions can shape the behavior of the atmosphere, thus potentially affecting the proportion of molecules and elements in their atmosphere. Illustration. Finding “New Earth” Lead author Laura Mayorga of the planet-finding mission article in the Journal of Planetary Science says that, to understand those variables, “you need to know your stars as well as predict your planets. what do you look like ”. This can be a challenge when both the stars and the exoplanets are alien. “This is a very difficult problem,” says exoplanet astronomer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel Maryland (USA). Luckily, scientists already have all of those answers for a pair of inhabited planets and stars. That is our Earth and the Sun. For the ETO mission, a small satellite with a device capable of imaging near-violet to near-infrared light spectrum will observe the Earth as it passes in front of the Sun. The spectrophotometer will check for water and carbon dioxide markers as well as biological markers – oxygen and methane, ozone and methane. Besides, it is to point out the favorable conditions for life (of course, also to see if the signs are unique to Earth or not). The transit technique used in such an investigation would be similar to the technique used by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study some of the thousands of exoplanets, scientists say. know moving through their host stars ”. Since we all know the climate change on Earth and the patterns of the Sun’s activity, scientists can observe how they affect the reading of atmospheric molecules and then apply them to our observations. close to the “new Earth”. “The Solar System is the only place where we know all the answers. We can test our technique, point out limitations and make a connection between the results, ”said Mayorga in the statement -“ Then we can connect that with Unanswered observations from exoplanets ”. Scientists plan to submit the ETO proposal to NASA’s Astrophysical Pioneer Program in the fall of 2021.

People in the Eastern Hemisphere can observe Apophis without binoculars by 2029. Exclude from the risk Asteroid 99942 Apophis was discovered in 2004. Apophis was quickly identified as one of the most dangerous asteroids that can impact Earth. However, that impact rating changed as astronomers tracked Apophis and its orbit. Now, results from a new radar observation campaign combined with accurate orbital analysis have helped astronomers conclude that Apophis poses no risk of impacting our planet in the least. at most a century. About 340 meters across, Apophis is quickly known to be an asteroid that could pose a serious threat to Earth. At that time, astronomers predicted that this asteroid would come close to Earth by 2029. Thanks to additional observations of a near-Earth object (NEO), the risk of impact by 2029 has since been eliminated. The scientists then also ruled out the potential impact risk posed by another close approach in 2036. However, a small chance of impact by 2068 is thought to still exist. When Apophis moved away from Earth on March 5, astronomers had an opportunity to use the radar observations vigorously. As a result, it helps refine estimates of the orbits of asteroids around the Sun with extremely high accuracy. Thus, scientists can confidently eliminate all risks of collision by 2068 and much later. “An impact in 2068 is no longer in NASA,” said Davide Farnocchia of the Center for Near-Earth Objects Research (CNEOS) managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California (USA). possibilities could happen again. Our calculations do not show any risk of impact for at least the next 100 years ”. Mr. Farnocchia mentioned the Sentry Risk Impact Table. Maintained by CNEOS, this table holds information about some asteroids whose orbits bring them so close to Earth that the impact cannot be ruled out. With recent findings, the Risk Impact Table no longer includes Apophis. Optical telescopes and ground radars help characterize every orbit of objects near Earth. As a result, scientists can improve long-term risk assessment. CNEOS calculated a high-precision orbit to support NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. Apophis is no longer a threat to Earth. Opportunity to “follow” Apophis Apophis is the size of three soccer fields, weighing 27 million tons. If it collided with Earth, it would cause an explosion that was equivalent to 880 million tons of TNT. This power could destroy a country of mid-size. Its impact with the Earth will be 65,000 times stronger than the atomic bomb that once fell on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The impact hole it left could be 518m deep. To achieve new Apophis calculations, astronomers used 70 m radio antennas at the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California. As a result, they were able to accurately track Apophis’ movements. “Apophis used to be close to Earth, but it still has nearly 10.6 million miles (17 million km) to go. Despite this, we were able to obtain extremely accurate information about the distance of Apophis with an accuracy of about 150 m. This campaign helps us eliminate the impact of risk and a great scientific opportunity, ”said JPL scientist Marina Brozovic – who led the radar campaign. Goldstone also partnered with the 100-meter-long Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to allow Apophis to be photographed. Goldstone transmits while Green Bank receives – experiment that doubles the strength of the received signal. Although the Apophis radar image appears in pixels, the image has a resolution of 38.75 m per pixel. This is a remarkable resolution, considering whether the asteroid is 17 million kilometers away, or about 44 times the Earth-Moon distance. As the radar team analyzes more data, they also hope to learn more about the asteroid’s shape. Previous radar observations have shown that Apophis has a “double layer”, or peanut-like appearance. This is a relatively common shape among asteroids near Earth that are greater than 660 feet (200 m) in diameter. Astronomers are also working to better understand Apophis’ rotation speed and the asteroid axis orbit. On April 13, 2029, the Apophis asteroids will cross less than 20 thousand miles (32 thousand kilometers) from the surface to closer to Earth than the distance of geotechnical asynchronous satellites. On that close 2029 approach, terrestrial observers in the Eastern hemisphere could witness Apophis without the aid of a telescope or binoculars. This is also an unprecedented opportunity for astronomers to get a close-up look at a monument in the Solar System. In particular, now, Apophis is just a scientific curiosity, instead of a danger to our planet. “When I first started learning about asteroids after college, Apophis was a malformed child among dangerous asteroids,” said Mr. Farnocchia. There is a certain sense of satisfaction to see it removed from the list of risks. We are looking forward to knowledge that we can explore in its up-close by 2029 ”.