Hard Science Fiction di Brandon Q. Morris
Here we are: a signal for extraterrestrial civilizations Life

Here we are: a signal for extraterrestrial civilizations

Would it be possible to alert extraterrestrial civilizations to our presence in the universe? Yes, says a feasibility study that was carried out by MIT doctoral candidate, James Clark, and was published in The Astrophysical Journal. Clark combined two already available technologies: a strong laser with an output power of 1 or 2 MW, similar to, for example, the U.S. Air Force’s Airborne Laser, and a large telescope with 30-meter (100-feet) or 45-meter (150-feet) optics, like those already in construction. (altro…)
Dark matter + dark energy = fluid with negative mass? Space

Dark matter + dark energy = fluid with negative mass?

Physicists introduced the concept of dark matter after they determined that, among other things, galaxies didn’t have enough mass to explain their rotation. Dark energy with its strange properties is needed to explain, for example, the evolution of the universe during its early childhood when it must have experienced a sudden, tremendous growth spurt. Both concepts are incorporated into the current model of the universe called Lambda-CDM. This model, however, has a small disadvantage: it says nothing about what dark matter and dark energy are made from. Experimental physicists haven’t gotten any closer to an answer to this question…
Eu:Cropis – more than just growing tomatoes in space Life

Eu:Cropis – more than just growing tomatoes in space

On the evening of December 3rd, I was at the German Space Operations Center in Oberpfaffenhofen and witnessed the successful launch of a SpaceX rocket into space and the final transfer of control over the deployed satellite to the team at the German Aerospace Center (Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)). Now there is a new garden floating in space. Developed by researchers at the Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen and built by DLR specialists, Eu:Cropis is intended to study how a closed-loop biological life support system works in space and how it can be used to supply…
A better weather report for the seven worlds of the Trappist system Space

A better weather report for the seven worlds of the Trappist system

The red dwarf Trappist-1 is orbited by seven rocky planets. For a long time, this large number of planets has made it seem likely that at least one of them might be habitable. Now, in an article in the Astrophysical Journal, astronomers have reported on their results from calculations using previously known data to produce more precise atmospheric models for the seven worlds. (altro…)
Where did the extrasolar comet ʻOumuamua come from? Space

Where did the extrasolar comet ʻOumuamua come from?

This past year, our Solar System had an interstellar visitor. ʻOumuamua, which was discovered in October 2017, was first thought to be an asteroid. Then it was determined that it had changed its course by itself (and not due to gravitational interaction with the Sun or the planets). Its “propulsion system” is thought to be volatile substances that sublimated during the object’s approach to the Sun – typical behavior for a comet. But where did this extrasolar comet come from? (altro…)
Dark matter: the universe has gotten lumpier Space

Dark matter: the universe has gotten lumpier

Four-fifths of the matter in the universe is invisible. Nevertheless, this “dark matter” will determine the fate of the cosmos. But how is it distributed? That can be determined by measuring its gravitational effects. Gravity also changes the path that light takes as it travels from distant galaxies. The Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) of the Japanese Subaru telescope has studied these effects for approximately ten million galaxies. The farther away a galaxy is, the longer it takes its light to reach us, and the farther back we can see into the past. This allows us not only to measure the…
Right in the neighborhood: a super-Earth orbiting Barnard’s Star Space

Right in the neighborhood: a super-Earth orbiting Barnard’s Star

The closest individual star to the Sun is apparently orbited by a rocky planet. This was discovered by astronomers using the radial velocity method. This method is based on the fact that stars and planets affect each other. With each revolution of a planet around its host star, the star will also move a little, toward and away from the Earth. This produces a red-shift or blue-shift in the star’s light and this shift can be measured. However, the effect is very small, so very precise observations are needed over a very long time period. In the case of…
Epsilon Indi C: a moon as massive as 70 Jupiters? Space

Epsilon Indi C: a moon as massive as 70 Jupiters?

The star Epsilon Indi is just barely visible with the naked eye in the southern sky. It is at a distance of 11.8 light-years from the Earth and has approximately the same size as the Sun but is somewhat older. It has also turned the usual classification of star, planet, and moon upside down. This is because what we see is only Epsilon Indi A, but the star is orbited by a brown dwarf with a mass of 75 Jupiters and this brown dwarf has, in turn, a companion with a mass of 70 Jupiters. (altro…)