Thursday, September 26, 2013

STARS, GALAXIES, & THE UNIVERSE

Galileo

SCIENCE NEWS - VISION RESTORED #19

Blind Man Gets His Vision After Nasty Fall

August 5, 2013 – A Montreal man that was blind for 68 years can now see, thanks to a nasty fall down the stairs.

Pierre-Paul Thomas was born blind in 1945. He had a condition that damaged the optic nerves in his eyes, cataracts, and a syndrome called congenital nystagmus, which causes fast involuntary eye movements.

He'd had lots surgeries when he was younger to try and fix his vision. None of them worked and he learned to live only seeing faint shadows.

Then, in 2011 he fell down the stairs and had surgery to reconstruct his eye sockets. Several months later at a follow-up appointment, Dr. Lucie Lessard asked him, "Oh, while we're at it, do you want us to fix your eyes too?"

Thomas was thrilled and had the surgery. Now he can see, which makes him very happy but also very overwhelmed because he has to learn a lot of things that we learn when we are very young.

He has to learn colours and has trouble figuring out what objects are based on what they look like because he has figured out what things are using his hands his whole life. "I reassure myself about what something is by checking with my fingers," he said. "I'm like a child all over again."

But even though it can be scary at times, Thomas is overjoyed to have his sight!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

SCIENCE NEWS - AMPUTEE WITH LEGO LEG #18

– Amputees often feel like their lives are ruined and that people will see them as monsters. After Christina Stephens lost her left foot in an accident she came up with an idea to inspire fellow amputees and help them realize that they can rebuild their life– and she did it with Lego.

In January Stephens was changing the brake pads on her car when the car slipped off the jack and landed on her left foot. She thought it was broken but didn't think it looked that bad, but weeks later her foot turned grey and the pain had not gotten any better so she chose to have it amputated.

Stephens was joking with her friends one day about what kind of prosthetic leg she should use. One friend suggested she make her own out of Lego, and, having a Lego expert as a child, she decided to take up the challenge.

She shot a time-lapse video of the entire project, which took two hours. However the leg doesn't help her walk at all: When she puts her weight on it the foot and ankle crumble.

The video was uploaded to her YouTube account where she has over 30 videos detailing her life without her foot and talking about issues that face her and other amputees. "Part of what I want to do with my videos is de-stigmatize amputation and make it less scary," she said.

Since it was uploaded her Lego leg video has received more than 1.3 million views. "I thought my Legos video had some viral potential, but I had no idea it would explode like it did," Stephens said.

But why spend two hours building a Lego leg that doesn't work? "The video is sort of a metaphor for rebuilding your life after a disability," Stephens said. She works as an occupational therapist, who is someone who works on living and working skills with people who have physical, mental, or developmental conditions.

Now that she is also someone with a physical condition, Stephens is able to show people how they can live without limbs instead of just telling them.

ASTRONOMY - INTRODUCTION

OKAY! Let's start here...

So you're asking, what is ASTRONOMY? Well... Here's our best definition.

Astronomy is the study of SPACE and the changes that take place in and around all objects moving through space. It's more than just Earth and our Solar System.

The study of astronomy covers every planet, object, and bit of energy flowing through the universe.

So where did the word cosmos come from?

It's actually a Greek word that describes an orderly and interconnected universe.

Astronomy is the study of that universe and as you learn more, you will discover how each part is connected to the others.

But where do you start? There are moons, planets, stars, systems, and galaxies. We'll start with the big picture and a general overview of the universe. Go take a look!

UNIVERSE

YOU AND THE UNIVERSE
The universe is the whole enchilada. Everything that exists, exists in the universe. Before you start getting into the details about things that happen in the universe, try to think about how big it is.

Start with you. You are only a couple of feet long. Compare yourself to a whale, or a dinosaur. They are enormous. Then think about how big your city is and how much space you take up in your state, your country, or your continent. Then imagine the Earth. You're not very big now. Hold on it gets worse.

The Earth is pretty small when you compare it to Jupiter. Jupiter is pretty small compared to the Sun. As you go on, there are millions of suns in our galaxy and thousands of galaxies in the universe. No one really knows how many. There are some scientists and mathematicians with theories, but nobody really knows.

STARS

The Stars Life Begins From a Nebula:

THE NEBULA STARTS TO SHRINK FROM THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

Gravitational forces cause nebula to shrink

The interstellar medium (Nebula) is the gas and dust that is found between many stars. It is mostly hydrogen and some other trace elements. Some areas have heavier gases than other regions. Within the mixture there are large clouds of denser gases than other areas of the mixture.

Spheres of matter build with in the clouds

As the cloud shrinks the nebular sphere begins to rotate more rapidly.
With this Nebula collapsing:

The clouds center collapses further and concentrates into a gas/solid mass (ball)
the temperatures really increases to form a PROTOSTAR
- Temperature increase due to:
  - Collision between atoms creating friction
  - Increased pressure due to increased density

Incredible Detail
Image by NASA/STSCI/Nolan Walborn/Hubble Heritage Team

This beautiful image of the Keyhole Nebula, located within the larger Carina Nebula, illustrates Hubble's unprecedented power to resolve fine detail. Space images take on the vibrancy of family snapshots, with none of the grainy, two-dimensional quality often seen in telescope images of the past. "You have enough information that you can actually perceive 3-D structures in the nebulae," says Space Telescope Science Institute (STSCI) astronomer Nolan Walborn. "That is one of the advantages of Hubble that I don't think was necessarily foreseen."

Credit - National Geographic Magazinehttp://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0312/feature3/index.html

PROTOSTAR:

1st stage
of a stars life

As the protostars core reaches 10,000 degrees Celsius NUCLEAR FUSION BEGINS:

Nuclear Fusion:
Nuclear Fusion is when small atomic nuclei combine to form large atomic nuclei, which releases a lot of energy.

Example of energy released:
1 gram of hydrogen converts to helium, which makes enough energy to light 100-watt light bulb for 3000 (thousand) years.

Review 1st Stage of stars life: PROTOSTAR

Atoms attract to each other
Gravity makes atoms collapse into a sphere
Temperature and pressure increases
Nuclear fusion begins

MAIN SEQUENCE STAR
2nd Stage of Stars Life

When this happens the star is called a Main Sequence Star:
This is the stage that our sun is currently experiencing.
(Z.A.M.S = Zero Age Main Sequence)

Longest life stage of a star
Energy generated in core of star
1. Hydrogen (H) atoms fuse to become Helium (He) atoms
Energy radiating away from star which balances gravitational pull inward
1. Maintains a stable size as long as there is ample supply of hydrogen atoms
  1. When the H runs out it changes star type

3rd Stage of
Stars Evolution:

Giants
and Supergiants

Happens when almost all of the hydrogen atoms inside of the core have fused into Helium atoms.
Without H as a source of fuel the core contracts under the force of the stars gravity.
1. Stars core temperature increases as the core contracts
2. The stars shell of gas expands and cools
The increased core temperature causes the mainly He left to change into carbon atoms.

SIZE

Giants:
10X bigger than our sun

Supergiants:
100 X bigger than our sun

The star changes yet again towards a White Dwarf Star

4 th stage of
Stars Evolution:
White Dwarf Star

This Hubble Space Telescope image shows Sirius A, the brightest star in our nighttime sky, along with its faint, tiny stellar companion, Sirius B.

Astronomers overexposed the image of Sirius A [at center] so that the dim Sirius B [tiny dot at lower left] could be seen.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Bond (STScI), and M. Barstow (University of Leicester)

Very little H or He energy available for the Red Giant or Super giant star so it changes into a WHITE DWARF STAR
Gravity causes the core to collapse inwards
Leaves a hot really dense core of matter
Really hot in temperature but the star is dim in brightness due to its decrease in size

A white dwarf star begins its life by casting off a cocoon that enclosed its former self. In this analogy, however, the Sun would be a caterpillar and the ejected shell of gas would become the prettiest of all! The above cocoon, the planetary nebula designated NGC 2440, contains one of the hottest white dwarf stars known. The white dwarf can be seen as the bright dot near the photo's center.

Credit: H. Bond (STScI), R. Ciardullo (PSU), WFPC2, HST, NASA

Credit - www.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/evolgroup/

White dwarf either dies out into a dead star Black Dwarf which would be the end of stars life:
Or during the cooling process it might explode which is called a NOVA.

NOVA:

Nova Cygni 1992
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/category/star/nova/

a star that suddenly increases dramatically in brightness and then fades to its original luminosity over a short period of months or years.
May repeat process repeatedly

it might
SUPERNOVA

The Star needs a really large size to supernova
1. Stars with 10 to 100 X the size of our SUN
Due to the large amount of Carbon Atoms in the Core it fused again to form heavier element like Fe (iron)
Iron core absorbs huge amounts of energy and collapses.
1. Causes the outer part of star to VIOLENTLY explode
2. 100X brighter flash than a nova
3. In 1054 China records show flash that lasted over 3 week

5 TH Stage
of Stars Evolution
After major explosion
of a SUPERNOVA
NEUTRON STAR

It may contract into a very small dense ball of NEUTRONS called a Neutron Star
1 teaspoon of this would be approximately 100 million tons of Earth
Due to the great density it rotates very rapidly
It might have a diameter of only 30 kilometers

Some Neutron stars emit
2 beams of radiation.

These kind of stars
are called
PULSAR Stars.

What is a Pulsar?

Pulsars are rapidly-spinning neutron stars. These stars have very strong magnetic fields. Jets of charged particles are ejected from the magnetic poles of the star. This material is accelerated, producing beams of radiation (light) of all wavelengths from the magnetic poles.

The "north" and "south" poles of the magnetic field may not coincide with the star's rotational poles, as shown in the image below. This means that the beams of light sweep around as the star rotates.

We see a pulsar when one of its beams of radiation crosses our line-of-sight. A pulsar is like a lighthouse. The light from a lighthouse appears to be "pulsing" because it only crosses our line-of-sight once each time it spins. Similarly, a pulsar "pulses" because we see bright flashes every time the star spins. This is illustrated below.
Credit Information / Photos - www.airynothing.com/.../sources/pulsars.html

SOME STARS ARE SO MASSIVE IN SIZE THAT THEY ARE TO BIG TO BE NEUTRON STARS :
These form BLACKHOLES	Credit: Margaret Masetti (GSFC)
	Galactic (stellar sized) black holes are often found in a binary system. This artist's conception shows how the accretion disk forms as material is pulled from the companion star and swirls into the black hole. credit - NASA imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/.../black-holes.html

Due to their massive size after the star supernovas:

The stars core contracts with even greater force.
The huge amount of contraction even crushes the dense core of the star
Matter is continued to be pulled in and even traps light energy

A Chandra image of the supermassive blackhole
at the center of our Galaxy.

Credit NASA/CXC/MIT.F. K. Baganoff et al.

Astronomers have finally confirmed something they had long suspected: there is a super-massive black hole in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The evidence? A star near the galactic center orbits something unseen at a top speed of 5000 kilometers per second. Only a black hole 3 million times more massive than our Sun could cause the star to move so fast.

Still, a key mystery remains. Where did the black hole come from? For that matter, where do any super-massive black holes come from? There is mounting evidence that such "monsters" lurk in the middles of most galaxies, yet their origin is unknown. Do they start out as tiny black holes that grow slowly, attracting material piecemeal from passing stars and clouds? Or are they born big, their mass increasing in large gulps when their host galaxy collides with another galaxy?

STAR CHART

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

SCIENCE NEWS - YOUNGEST FRESHMAN #17

Texas Christian University Welcomes Its Youngest Freshman Ever!

By Meera Dolasia on August 31, 2013

CCSS

On Monday, August 26th, over 1,500 freshman made their way to Texas Christian University's beautiful campus for the first day of a four-year journey, one from where they will all emerge as adults. The only exception? Carson Huey-You who will not even be eligible to drive when he graduates because he happens to be only eleven years old!

What's even more amazing is that the University's youngest student ever, was only ten-years old when he was accepted. And while it may surprise all of us, it doesn't seem to faze Carson or his family. His mother says she realized that she may have a unique child when the young boy started reading chapter books at the age of two. By three the then homeschooled genius had mastered basic math conceptslike addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

When he turned five, his mother decided to enroll him in a private school. But instead of heading to kindergarten he went straight to eighth grade. By the age of ten, the school as well as Carson's mother decided that that he may be ready for University. Given that the young boy was graduating from Grapevine'sAccommodated Learning Academy with a 4.0 GPA and had scored a cumulativescore of 1770 on his SAT with a 620 in math, there was very little the dean of admissions at Texas Christian University could argue about. Of course the fact that the young boy was assertive in his interview, did not hurt either.

As you have probably guessed, the young boy who dreams of becoming aquantum physicist and earn his Ph.D. before he turns 20, is not wasting this opportunity with easy classes. His roster for the first semester comprises ofcalculus, physics, history and religion. The young boy who speaks almost fluent Mandarin Chinese and is a self-taught pianist, has also joined some school clubs. And incase you think that the Carson is all work and no play, the Minecraft fan loves to hang out with his friends and play basketball and football. He also loves MythBusters and is an avid Star Wars fan!

But if you think all these achievements result in Carson getting special treatment at home, think again. His mother is quite accustomed to hanging around geniuses, because believe it or not, her younger, seven-year old son also happens to be one. Already in eighth grade, he is on the track to become a freshman in less than five years, just before he turns 13 - Pretty amazing!

Monday, September 23, 2013

SCIENCE NEWS - STANDARD TIME #16

Sanford Fleming: Standard Time

Although you may not have heard of Sir Sanford Fleming, his Stuff of Genius influences every second of your life. Turn back the clock and take a look at the man who standardized time in this video podcast

Friday, September 20, 2013

STAR GAZING

Stargazing Information

There’s plenty to enjoy during the longer, cooler nights of late summer and early fall.

Venus, the “evening star,” creeps past two bright companions, the star Spica and the planet Saturn.
The Milky Way arches high overhead during the evening, putting on a grand display from sites with dark skies.
At the same time, the Big Dipper is at its most dipper-like, in the northwest, with its bowl to the lower right of the handle.

This Week's Stargazing Tips

September 19:

Cassiopeia, legendary queen of Ethiopia, is immortalized in the heavens with five bright stars that form a letter W or M. Cassiopeia is in the northeast on September evenings.

September 20:

The Big Dipper stands in the northwest this evening. The bowl is parallel to the horizon and the handle extends skyward. The dipper is part of Ursa Major, the big bear. The bowl represents the bear’s hindquarters, while the handle is its tail.

September 21:

To the people of Polynesia, the stars of Cassiopeia and Andromeda represented a dolphin, called Kwu. Cassiopeia formed its tail, while the brightest stars of Andromeda formed its fins. Andromeda's fainter stars outlined the dolphin’s body.

September 22:

Autumn Today is the autumnal equinox, which marks the start of autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere. The exact moment of the equinox is 3:44 p.m. CDT, when the Sun crosses the equator from north to south.

September 23:

The constellation Vulpecula, the fox, stands high in the south at nightfall. It is in the middle of the Summer Triangle, which is defined by the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair. The fox is so faint that you need dark skies to see it.

September 24:

Dumbbell Nebula Vulpecula, the fox, is high in the sky at nightfall. It contains the Dumbbell Nebula, which is about halfway between Deneb and Altair, two stars of the Summer Triangle. The nebula represents the final gasp of a dying star.

September 25:

Lacerta, the lizard, scurries high overhead on September evenings. It is between the outstretched wings of Cygnus, the swan, and W-shaped Cassiopeia. You need dark skies and a starchart to help you find this squiggle of five stars.

LUNAR PHASES

New - Sept. 5, 6:36 am
New Moon