Physics and Astronomy News Archive: June 2007

Image: It’s a gas when galaxies merge —a lot of gas

It’s a gas when galaxies merge —a lot of gas

Source: Stanford   Posted: 6/15/07

Using supercomputers to simulate galaxy mergers, scientists have seen the formation of a new type of structure—a central disk of gas that can be from a hundred to a few thousand light years wide and from a few hundred million to a billion solar masses.
Image: NASA Scientist Finds a New Way to the Center of the Earth

NASA Scientist Finds a New Way to the Center of the Earth

Source: NASA/JPL   Posted: 6/15/07

Humans have yet to see Earth's center, as did the characters in Jules Verne's science fiction classic, 'Journey to the Center of the Earth.' But a new NASA study proposes a novel technique to pinpoint more precisely the location of Earth's center of mass and how it moves through space.
Image: From Science Fiction to Reality: Personal Robots

From Science Fiction to Reality: Personal Robots

Source: Gatech   Posted: 6/15/07

It's 6 a.m., and the Clarks awake to fresh coffee served to them by Millie, one of the family's personal robots. As they get ready for work, Millie makes the bed, and their robotic dog Mickey gently reminds Mr. Clark to take his medicine.
Image: Strong evidence that Mars once had an ocean

Strong evidence that Mars once had an ocean

Source: Berkeley   Posted: 6/15/07

A paper in this week's issue of Nature demolishes one of the key arguments against the past presence of large oceans on Mars. Was Mars once a blue planet?
Image: Sun's Deep Interior Revealed by New Computer Model

Sun's Deep Interior Revealed by New Computer Model

Source: UCAR   Posted: 6/6/07

A new computer model simulates convection patterns in the deep interior of the Sun in unprecedented detail. The patterns, known as giant cells, play a critical role in solar variability, influencing magnetic storms that take aim at Earth.
Image: Magnetic Field Uses Sound Waves to Ignite Sun's Ring of Fire

Magnetic Field Uses Sound Waves to Ignite Sun's Ring of Fire

Source: NSF   Posted: 6/6/07

Sound waves escaping the sun's interior create fountains of hot gas that shape and power a thin region of the sun's atmosphere which appears as a ruby red 'ring of fire' around the moon during a total solar eclipse, according to research funded by the National Science Foundation NSF and NASA.
Image: Gazing up at the Man in the Star?

Gazing up at the Man in the Star?

Source: NSF   Posted: 6/6/07

Using a suite of four telescopes, astronomers have captured an image of Altair, one of the closest stars to our own and a fixture in the summer sky.
Image: Researchers Catch Motion of a Single Electron on Video

Researchers Catch Motion of a Single Electron on Video

Source: BrownU   Posted: 6/6/07

Using pulses of high-intensity sound, two Brown University physicists have succeeded in making a movie showing the motion of a single electron.