Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 81 i All About Space

Welcome This month All About Space gets to the bottom of what happens when black holes turn white. It turns out that these mysterious, high-gravity objects have a penchant for exploding, becoming their exact opposites and, rather than ‘sucking’ everything in, they blow everything out. I am, of course, talking about the white hole, and it seems that they can reveal quite a bit about the nature of the fabric of space and time. Turn to page 16 for Colin Stuart’s full report on this incredible new breakthrough in research. Elsewhere in the issue, All About Space’s Staff Writer Lee Cavendish digs deeper into the recent discovery of organics in the plumes shooting out from the surface of icy moon Enceladus, which orbits ringed giant Saturn. What does this mean…

Docking over Crete © P. Horálek/ESO © NASA On 29 June, SpaceX launched its 15th resupply mission to the ISS, with all the necessary equipment locked inside one of SpaceX’s Dragon capsules. On 2 July the Dragon capsule was pictured almost within touching distance of the space station. The Dragon capsule is filled with over 2,700 kilograms (5,900 pounds) of living supplies as well as critical materials for more than 250 research investigations. Each resupply mission is as important as the last, and it’s good to know it is safely on its way, pictured here floating over Crete, Greece.…

Test further proves Einstein right yet again Neutrinos have been found to adhere to the German physicist's 113-year-old theory Einstein's genius has once again remained intact thanks to a new study using a particle detector constructed at the South Pole. Scientists used the IceCube Neutrino Observatory built beneath Antarctica to examine subatomic particles called neutrinos in a bid to test Einstein's theory of special relativity. The scientists were specifically testing Lorentz symmetry, which states that an experiment's outcome is not dependent on the velocity and direction of its surroundings, and that the laws of physics remain the same. In this case, they were looking to see if neutrinos – which oscillate between three flavours, electron, muon and tau, as they fly through space – would oscillate at a predictable rate.…

Rogue star thought to disturb the outer Solar System Scientists test the theory that a stellar object may have caused disruption to outer bodies billions of years ago © NASA/JPL-Caltech There's a raised possibility that a neighbouring star affected our Solar System, according to a set of simulations led by Susanne Pfalzner at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. They were keen to discover why the outer Solar System has so many anomalies, such as Neptune being larger than Uranus despite being further out and the stretched orbits of small objects such as the dwarf planet Sedna. They worked on the idea that a passing star had disturbed these tiny icy worlds by casting them into interstellar space while causing others to have tilted paths around…

Meet the white hole What do we know about these mysterious objects? © Nichoals Forder Black hole forms Normally black holes form when a massive star dies, but primordial black holes are also thought to have appeared shortly after the Big Bang. Sculpting a singularity According to Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity an infinitely small, infinitely heavy point called a singularity forms at the bottom. Pushed into the past You are eventually spat out of a white hole – an object you can never return through – to emerge in the past (or another universe). Spinning singularities A rotating black hole would form a ring-shaped singularity with a hole in the middle rather than a single point. Working a wormhole A bridge opens up between the present and the past…

Space explosion WHAT WAS THAT SPACE EXPLOSION? Astronomers recently observed a flash in the night sky 100-times brighter than a supernova, sparking huge interest across the world. All About Space speaks to the team to uncover what it could have been On a hot June day in Northern Ireland, a team of diligent young scientists were looking over a bunch of images taken from a twin-telescope system based in Hawaii. There was nothing inherently unusual about this. The students and post-doctoral researchers within the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast have long followed a set routine, one that has already seen them spot a fair few transient astronomical events. But this day was different, and it would make headline news not only in the specialist press, but mainstream newspapers…

Space explosion The explosion: what it’s likely to be An early theory is that the eruption was caused by a cataclysmic variable 1 Orbiting stars Although our own star – the Sun – lives alone in the Milky Way, binary systems are the norm. These consist of two stars orbiting each other. 2 Different types In a cataclysmic variable system, one of the stars will be a white dwarf and its companion will be a normal star. 3 On the pull As the pair get sufficiently close by, the white dwarf primary star will begin to pull material from the companion star. 4 Accreting matter The companion star will then begin to lose dust and gas to the white dwarf via accretion. Some energy is converted into observable X-rays. 5…

Planet Profile Uranus in the news Knocking Uranus about Uranus is shrouded in subtle mysteries, including its near 90-degree axial tilt and its substantially cold observed temperatures. Astronomers at Durham University, United Kingdom, have recently completed multiple computer simulations focused on collisions with Uranus and state that these certain characteristics can be explained by an ancient, calamitous collision that took place roughly 4 billion years ago with an object twice the size of Earth. “We ran more than 50 different impact scenarios using a high-powered super computer to see if we could recreate the conditions that shaped the planet's evolution,” says Jacob Kegerreis, a PhD researcher at Durham University's Institute for Computational Cosmology. "Our findings confirm that the most likely outcome was that the young Uranus was involved in a…

Focus on DRONES FLOATING ON THE CLOUDS OF VENUS With renewed interest in 'Earth's evil twin' once again, companies are uniting to create a craft that can examine the planet up-close © ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA Plans are slowly falling into place to explore Venus in a new and innovative way using a hard-shelled drone to swoop over the thick cloud tops, with the aim to learn about the planet’s past and present. Although Venus has always been regarded as an inhospitable environment, given that it is the hottest world in the Solar System with surface temperatures of 465 degrees Celsius (869 degrees Fahrenheit), recent research has turned a lot of scientists’ attention back in the direction of our planet's 'evil twin'. Although the surface temperature of the planet is hot enough to…

Faster than light HOW TO TRAVEL FASTER THAN LIGHT The laws of physics say that nothing can break the cosmic speed limit – but are there ways of bending the rules? Reported by Giles Sparrow Our universe is big – so big that we measure cosmic distances in terms of light years, the distance that light, the fastest thing in the universe, travels in a year. Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres (186,411 miles) per second, which means that a light year is equivalent to about 9.5 trillion kilometres (5.9 trillion miles). Even the closest stars are several light years away, while our own Milky Way galaxy is around 100,000 light years across. If humans ever hope to explore beyond the cosmic backyard of our Solar System we’ll somehow have…

How to build a wormhole Could C we build our own warp ggate through space-time? 1. Create negative energy The vital first step towards building a working wormhole would be to understand how to manufacture a source of ‘negative energy’ on a large scale. Although various forms of negative energy exist, there’s no guarantee that a form suitable for building wormholes exists. 2. Find a natural wormhole The precise types of wormholes that exist depend on cosmology and particle physics. Non-traversable wormholes may link black holes, while microscopic ones may connect entangled quantum particles. An advanced detector would be needed to identify and ‘collect’ one end of wormhole for manipulation. 3. Make it traversable Adding negative energy would create an anti-gravitational force. In the case of a non-traversable black hole…

How to… Catch noctilucent clouds During long summer nights the sky can be too bright to observe some of the fainter deep-sky targets, so why not see if you can spot this stunning ghostly phenomena? © Ireen Trummer; Jamie Cooper / Getty During the summer months the night sky doesn’t get dark enough to see faint stars and deep-sky objects, so many stargazers go into hibernation. Others find alternative celestial attractions to observe such as noctilucent clouds (NLC), which are clouds of ice crystals and dust that form in the upper atmosphere. Being so high means NLCs are illuminated by the Sun’s rays at night, long after sunset. NLCs can be distinguished from other clouds because they shine behind them, silhouetting them like ink blotches. You don’t need fancy equipment…

Deep sky challenge Treasures of Perseus and Cassiopeia A ghostly nebula and a rose-shaped star cluster are among your observing challenges this month © Hewholooks; Vanderbei; You’ve had it too easy recently, so there are some real observing challenges this month, hidden among the bright, familiar stars of the much-loved constellations of Perseus and Cassiopeia. However, with the sky staying bright until the very small hours at this time of year you’ll need to stay up late or get up early to see them. NGC 7789 is a loose cluster popularly known as ‘Caroline’s Rose’. Discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783, its many loops of stars and the dark gaps between them give it – some observers claim – a strong resemblance to a white rose. See what you think…

In the shops In the shops The latest books, apps, software, tech and accessories for space and astronomy fans alike “ They delivered excellent pinpoint views of stars across their 50 degree field of view” Book Columbus in Space Cost: £8.99 From: European Space Agency / Penguin Books Sometimes it is easy to forget that the International Space Station (ISS) is not purely a NASA affair, but it is a truly global project, as this book from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Penguin Books reminds us. It tells the story of the ISS’ Columbus module, built by ESA and attached to the space station in February 2008 in a procedure that took 12 days and 18 hours. The prose tells us to think of Columbus as a flying science…

The bleeding rivers of Madagascar © NASA Another snapshot from the International Space Station has returned a wonderful view of the heart of Madagascar. NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold imaged the Betsiboka Estuary, the largest river in Madagascar and the world’s fastest-changing coastline, as it bleeds into the ocean. The Madagascan rainforest and coastal mangroves are feeling the full effects of frantic erosion rates as the land becomes cleared. The red water, which is forging its path into the ocean, is cause by the upbringing of red soil from the hillsides and can be accentuated after heavy rainfall.…

Behind the scenes at the VLT At the Paranal Observatory in northern Chile sits the pinnacle of telescopic optics. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is the masterpiece of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and it continues to return truly breathtaking images of the night sky. The four 8.2-metre (27-foot) telescopes that constitute the VLT are run by an incredibly hard-working crew. Here one of the telescope’s innards has been imaged by Vincenzo Forchi. The imaged Unit Telescope is UT1, nicknamed Antu after the indigenous Mapuche’s name for the Sun. The other Unit Telescopes are named after the Moon, the Southern Cross and Venus, which are Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun respectively.…

Space agencies prepare for Mercury mission Teams from ESA and JAXA are getting ready for their first mission to the smallest terrestrial planet in our Solar System Space engineers in Europe and Japan are currently simulating their forthcoming mission to Mercury ahead of the planned launch in October. By acting as if the BepiColumbo mission is already underway they hope to iron out any potential problems and better equip themselves to deal with all eventualities once the mission's two satellites are sent to space. To do this, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have been using a replica of the spacecraft and computer. Since BepiColumbo's satellites – the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) – will be close to the Sun, challenges…

Quantum loop gravity One way physicists are trying to get gravity and quantum physics to play nicely together ©NASA; Nicholas Forder Black hole pressure As a black hole collapses, the pressure forces the loops together as matter approaches the point of a singularity. Space-time loops In direct contrast to general relativity, loop quantum gravity says space and time are not smooth, but made of a series of ’stitches’. Black hole pressure Before a singularity is reached the black hole bounces outwards to form a white hole, and matter is thrown outwards.…

Future Tech Space junk Obliterating space junk with a laser cannon The Russian space agency has recently announced plans to turn a three-metre optical telescope into a debris destroyer © Adrian Mann “The intensified light would bounce off the mirrors of the telescope until a powerful laser beam is created” Power supply This solid-base generator will excite electrons. This will emit the light waves that constitute laser beams before being concentrated through the mirrors and flash tube. Reflective mirror Using a series of mirrors with different percentages of reflectivity, the excited photons of light are thrown back into the quartz flash tube, amplifying the light into a laser beam. Quartz flash tube This can be thought of as an ‘optical pump’. Once the power is turned on the current begins…

Long March 9 RISE OF CHINA’S SUPER ROCKET The Long March 9 could steal the show in the race for the Moon and Mars, with surprising consequences Reported by Jonathan O’Callaghan At the turn of the century China had yet to send a human to space. But the 2003 launch of Yang Liwei on the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft propelled the country’s space programme into the limelight. Now, more than a decade on, their space exploits have advanced at a pace few thought possible. They have launched humans to an experimental space station, landed a rover on the Moon and are planning a mission to the far side of the Moon in late-2018. They have made no secret that their ultimate goal is to send humans to the Moon, or even…

Organics head-to-head: Mars vs Enceladus Two different terrains have both exhibited signs of organic compounds, which is an extremely positive sign for scientists trying to find life beyond Earth Nothing on the surface Looking for life on Mars' surface is futile, as it is hit by extreme radiation that makes it uninhabitable. Digging a bit deeper Slightly deeper into the surface there are remnants of ancient organic compounds hidden in the sedimentary rock. Could there be more? At lower levels there is much less exposure to radiation; this could mean there are genuine organic, carbon-based molecules. Crossing the line When these bubbles reach space they explode and cover the organics in an ice blanket, preserving them and ejecting on one of Enceladus’ plumes. Bubble transportation It is believed that the…

How a warp drive will work The principle behind a warp drive sounds simple enough: to create a moving wave through space, pushed forward at faster-than-light speeds by a force that first contracts space ahead, and then causes it to expand. The spacecraft generating the warp drive, meanwhile, sits in a relatively flat region of space on the crest of the wave. Getting the idea to work in practice, however, requires revolutionary science and huge amounts of energy. © NASA Contracting space at front of wave Causing space to contract is relatively easy, but still requires large amounts of mass and normal (positive) energy. Speed control The strength of the contraction and expansion governs the speed of the wave, but it’s impossible to control this from inside the warp bubble.…

How to… Observe the Perseid meteor shower With no Moon to spoil the view, this year’s show could be one of the best in years - make sure you're prepared enough to catch it © Kim MyoungSung Every mid-August sky-watchers flock to the countryside to watch shooting stars zip across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower. It’s one of the most reliable meteor showers, and unlike in 2017 this year there will be no bright Moon to spoil things, so we should be in for a real treat. Here’s how to make the most of this popular event. This year’s shower peaks on the night of 12 to 13 August, but you’ll see more meteors than usual for a few nights either side of that date. August nights…

Keeping a record Take note of any very bright meteors you see streak across the sky Bright meteors often leave behind wispy, glowing trails which can linger. Through binoculars you’ll be able to see them twisting and changing shape before they fade. If you are lucky enough to see any very bright meteors quickly jot down the time you saw them, where they were in the sky, their colour and how bright they were; professionals who study meteors will find such information extremely useful. 1 Choose the right location Find an observing site with no light pollution and no tall trees, hills or buildings around it. The more open sky, the more meteors you will see. 2 Dress up warm You will be outside a long time, so dress warmly…

Your astrophotography Astroshots of the month Ian Griffin Dunedin, New Zealand “Just over three years ago, a new job meant that I moved from Oxford in the United Kingdom to Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand. Since moving I’ve developed a passion for astrophotograpy, both with and without a telescope. The Southern Hemisphere sky is teeming with fascinating objects, and it’s a real pleasure to live in a part of the world where the centre of the galaxy passes overhead in winter. Here in Dunedin we also get frequent displays of the aurora australis, which can look truly spectacular against the backdrop of the beautiful New Zealand landscape.” Paul Swift Valencia, Spain “I have a background in the arts and worked professionally as a cinematographer and lightning cameraman…

LAUNCH PAD YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THE UNIVERSE X-periencing the Pillars of Creation © NASA The Eagle Nebula, also known as Messier 16, is one of the most famous nebulae around as it contains an iconic feature within: the Pillars of Creation. These pillars are long stretches of gas and dust from which stars are born. It was famously first photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 and continues to be the subject of the long-serving spacecraft, jointly operated by space agencies ESA and NASA. In this updated photograph, X-ray observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have been combined with optical data to reveal the extreme energies being emitted from the hot outer atmospheres of stars.…

Reminiscing on a failed supernova ©ESA/Hubble & NASA About 70 million light years from Earth in the constellation of Pegasus (The Winged Horse) is the irregular galaxy of UGC 12682. Pictured here by NASA/ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers look at this image and reminisce about the time a 14-year-old girl from New York, United States, discovered an extremely peculiar supernova within this galaxy, known as SN 2008ha. Further observations showed that SN 2008ha was one of the faintest supernovae ever discovered and was found in this galaxy that rarely produces stellar explosions. After its initial eruption it expanded very slowly, which suggests it didn’t have the energy for a full stellar outburst. This led scientists to put SN 2008ha down as a failed supernova, as it failed to destroy the…

Astronomers find two similar-looking planets An exoplanet doppelgänger has been discovered for the first time using direct imaging, but the pair's origins are very different A newfound planet has been getting astronomers excited because it looks remarkably similar to one already well known. The recently discovered ‘twin’, 2MASS 0249 c, is the same size, brightness and has the same spectrum as beta Pictoris b. The two planets have been discovered by direct imaging which, up until now, has always uncovered distinct objects. “Finding two exoplanets with almost identical appearances and yet having formed so differently opens a new window for understanding these objects,” says Michael Liu, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii and co-author of the new research. To explain, 2MASS 0249 c orbits a couple of small, faint…

WHEN BLACK HOLES TURN WHITE Can bouncing black holes help physicists find the ultimate theory of everything? Reported by Colin Stuart © Alper Durmaz Somewhere out there in the vastness of space lurks a black hole smaller than the full stop at the end of this sentence. Minuscule but mighty, it could hold the key to unlocking some of the greatest mysteries in the universe. Black holes are the ultimate cosmic laboratory, a way for physicists to test out their theories in an environment so extreme that space and time are curved and warped. Even light cannot resist their eternal grasp, so we see no light reflected from them at all. We can only spot them when their gravity affects something visible or they merge to create gravitational waves. Few…

Have we already discovered one? A gamma-ray burst from 2006 could be our first sighting Mission Profile: The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Launched: November 2004 Operator: NASA Launch vehicle: Delta 7320 Orbit: Low-Earth A possible white hole? Back in June 2006, the Swift satellite captured a burst of gamma rays. Since no supernova was seen following the event, astronomers realised that they had come across a possible new object. In 2011 it was hypothesised that the burst was a white hole. Possible origins GRB 060614 has behaviours of both long and short bursts, leaving astronomers to believe that its birth occurred unusually. The burst sits in a galaxy with very few stars that could produce either an exploding star or a long burst.…

Uranus Planet Profile Uranus The ice giant that is shrouded in mystery has fascinated explorers for decades © NASA/JPL; Tobias Roetsch “Observations throughout the years have revealed more subtle, yet surprising details about the planet” The seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus became the first planet to be found with the aid of a telescope on 13 March 1781 by British astronomer William Herschel. On that fateful night, he described observing a “nebulous star or perhaps a comet”. Little did he know that he had just discovered Uranus – named after the the Greek god of the sky – a name proposed by Johann Elert Bode in 1783. Over 230 years later, Uranus still remains to be a puzzle. What is known is that Uranus is located about 2.9 billion…

Uranus Exploration of an ice giant Uranus is a relatively secluded planet, with a grand total of one spacecraft having visited it in the past. This lone ranger, NASA’s Voyager 2 interplanetary probe, flew past the distant ice giant Uranus in 1986 while on its way out of the Solar System. Voyager 2 was able to get within 81,500 kilometres (50,642 miles) of the cloud tops, and its suite of instruments got to work. This flyby provided valuable data of the planet’s atmosphere, rings, moons and magnetic field. This included the discovery of 11 new moons, two new rings and revealed that the planet’s rotation rate is 17 hours and 14 minutes per rotation. Although no spacecraft is currently exploring Uranus up close, there are preliminary plans in place to…

Long March 9 Long March 9 vs BFR, Falcon Heavy, Saturn V and SLS How China’s biggest rocket stacks up to its past, present and future competitors ©ANASA; STR / Getty ; Adrian Mann Big Falcon Rocket If it’s completed, SpaceX’s BFR will be the most powerful rocket of them all. The idea is to fly a large booster on top of a single core, with a total height of 106 metres (348 feet). The entire rocket is reusable, with the booster and spaceship able to land on the ground. As there are no expendable stages, it could theoretically take 150,000 kilograms (330,693 pounds) to orbit, the Moon or Mars – including up to 100 people – enough for Elon Musk to realise his dream of colonising the Red Planet.…

Enceladus ENCELLADUS A NEW PLACE FOR LIFE? Forget Mars, this frozen member of Saturn's family of moons could hold the key to organisms beyond the confines of Earth Reported by Lee Cavendish To as Roe© Tobias Roetsch Enceladus is Saturn's sixth-largest moon and a world that is seven-times smaller than our natural satellite. It orbits Saturn at around 1.2 billion kilometres (746 million miles) away from Earth and reflects nearly 100 per cent of the sunlight that hits its surface. Very little was known about this icy world but that changed when NASA’s Cassini spacecraft performed its first flyby of Enceladus and imaged its south pole. This revealed plumes of ice and water vapour erupting into space, and Cassini returned about 2.5 years later on 12 March 2008. This was…

Postcards from the Solar System Spacecraft working tirelessly around and on other worlds check in to send back the most recent snapshots of unimaginable imagery © JAXA “The shape of Ryugu [was] revealed. Ryugu, which initially looked round from the distance, turned gradually into a square and it was a beautiful shape like a firefly stone as it got closer”Yuichi Tsuda – Hayabusa2 project manager Welcome to Ryugu  AllAboutSpace Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and it has recently sent back some remarkable pictures as it approaches its target Asteroid 162173 Ryugu. On 25 June 2018, Hayabusa2 snapped this glorious picture of Ryugu using its Optical Navigation Camera – Telescopic (ONC-T), and the spacecraft, after a 42-month journey, safely arrived at Ryugu…

Faster than light Travelling through space and time Space S travel via a wormhole relies on the fact that, according to to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, the three dimensions o of space can be distorted by concentrations of mass, creating ccurves on large scales Through the gap Crucially, the passage through the wormhole is ‘open’ – it forms a broad cylindrical tunnel so that the crushing gravity of the central singularity can be avoided. Other places and times? The other end of the wormhole emerges near a distant star. Depending on exactly how the universe works, it might even form a tunnel through the fourth dimension, time, as well. Safe passage In theory, it’s possible to steer a passage that hugs the outer edge of the wormhole to emerge…

Telescope advice Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS (AZ PRONTO) Perfect for astronomers on the go, this exquisite Newtonian has been built with the beginner in mind A telescope that can be easily transported to sites untouched by light pollution has great appeal whether used by a beginner or a more seasoned astronomer – and that’s exactly the sort of telescope Sky-Watcher’s Explorer-130PS is, fitting the bill nicely as a 'grab-and-go' instrument. The telescope and its AZ PRONTO mount are a compact and light package. Assembly and operation are user friendly in the hopes of providing a welcoming introduction to observing the night sky, making it an ideal telescope for those new to touring the heavens. It uses a Newtonian reflector design that employs a parabolic primary mirror to collect and focus the light,…