Long, Long Ago @ Cosmic High Noon...

 

I mentioned the other day about the discovery of a rare , superluminous supernova. This supernova, one of the most distant ever found, resulted from the death of a massive star more than 10 billion years ago.

 

The brilliant explosion, was more than three times as bright as the light from all 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy combined. Folks, that's a bright explosion!!!!

 

The explosion occurred about 3.5 billion years after the Big Bang at a period in time known as "cosmic high noon." This "cosmic hign noon" was a period when star formation in the universe was at its peak.

 

Superluminous supernovae are 10 to 100 times brighter than a typical supernova resulting from the collapse of a massive star. But astronomers still don't know exactly what kinds of stars give rise to their extreme luminosity or what physical processes are involved.

 

The new observations may provide clues to the nature of stars and galaxies during peak star formation. Supernovae are important in the evolution of galaxies because their explosions enrich the interstellar gas from which new stars form with elements heavier than helium (which astronomers call "metals").

 

It is an important finding because it tells us that massive stars were exploding at that time in the universe's evolution. What astronomers would like to know is the relative rate of superluminous supernovae to more normal supernovae. However, the more normal supernovae are too faint to be seen at that distance. So was this huge explosion 10 billion years ago atypical or was it a fairly normal occurrence? Did something really out of the ordinary happen to cause this kind of massive blowup?

 

Previous observations of superluminous supernovae found they typically reside in low-mass or dwarf galaxies, which tend to be less enriched in metals than more massive galaxies. The host galaxy of this particular superluminous supernova , however, is a fairly massive, normal-looking galaxy.

 

Current thought is that a low-metal environment is important in creating superluminous supernovae, and that's why they tend to occur in low mass galaxies. This is because stars with fewer heavy elements retain a larger fraction of their mass when they die, which may cause a bigger explosion when the star exhausts its fuel supply and collapses. The puzzling thing here, then, is that this supernova occurred in a galaxy that is relatively massive when compared to the typical host galaxy of a superluminous supernova. So what's the deal?

 

Maybe because we are looking so darn far back in time, this galaxy would have had less time to create metals, so it may be that at these earlier times in the universe's history, even high-mass galaxies had low enough metal content to create these extraordinary stellar explosions. Who knows, probably at some point even our own galaxy may have had the conditions necessary to produce these kind super explosions.

 

One thing for certain, the ability to observe these unsual supernovae at these great diatances provides us with valuable information about the most massive stars in the universe and sheds light on this very important "cosmic high noon" period in the evolution of our universe.

 

Below you will a picture of some deep space objects. The yellow arrow points to the superluminous supernova that I spoke about above. Can you even fathom that the light seen from this exploding star originated over 10 billions years ago, when the universe was younger than the Earth is now?

 

 

***Reminder ***

 

The Perseid Meteor Show peaks this weekend. The official peak is tomorrow afternoon, so tomorrow evening will be closest to peak and will be the best viewing time. The Moon will be at about 78% luminosity so our celestial neighbor will be a hindrance. The Moon will rise at about 11:36 p.m. The Perseids will appear to originate in the Constellation Perseus, which will rise in the Eastern sky tomorrow evening. The very best viewing(assuming clear skies) may be the early morning hours when Pegasus in high in the sky. Happy "shooting star" viewing tomorrow evening!!!

Not a good night to view the meteors in my neck of the woods. I've been out a few times and it's cloudy and slightly foggy. I hope tomorrow night is clear because we have a glow ball golf scramble scheduled at our course and the participants are going to be out in the darkness of night until at least midnight. Should be some great viewing to go along with the glow ball competition.

Not a good night to view the meteors in my neck of the woods. I've been out a few times and it's cloudy and slightly foggy. I hope tomorrow night is clear because we have a glow ball golf scramble scheduled at our course and the participants are going to be out in the darkness of night until at least midnight. Should be some great viewing to go along with the glow ball competition.

 

I hope you have some good viewing conditions tonight. Meteors and glow golf makes for a perfect pairing and some great fun!!!

I saw a few meteors last night but the moon washed out a lot of them and the clouds played hide and seek with the rest. Not the best viewing conditions but I did see several between 2:30 - 3 :00 a.m.

***Reminder about Next Weekend ***

 

If you star gazers and eclipse watchers don't mind, would you check in next weekend and post where you are and what the atmosphere is like where you've settled in? If you are at ground zero in or near the Orchard Dale farm in Hopkinsville, I'd love to hear your report. Same goes regardless of where you are. Give us a report of what is going on all around your location. I will be reporting from parts unknown at this time. I will be monitoring the weather very closely and gravitating towards wherever clear skies are being predicted. Hopefully, that will be the historical Orchard Dale farm in Hop-Town.

Our Moon on its way to eclipsing the Sun:

 

If you recall, I said a few weeks ago that during totality, you will be able to see stars and planets. In fact, you will easily be able to see FOUR of the planets in our solar system. In order of brightness, they are Venus(the brightest), followed by Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury. Mars will just slightly brighter than Mercury.

 

About 15 to 30 minutes before totality, the planet Venus will gradually become clearly visible near the darkening sun. It’ll be to the west of the sun.

 

About 30 seconds before and after totality, two other planets will appear. Close to the west side of our star will be Mars, appearing as an orange “star.” At a similar apparent distance, on the east side of the sun, you’ll see planet Mercury. Jupiter – the second-brightest planet in Earth’s sky – will also be very easy to spot, as the bright planet will be located farther to the southeast of the eclipsed sun.

 

If you are going to be in the Music City for the eclipse, here's how the "night" sky will look during totality.

 

If you recall, I said a few weeks ago that during totality, you will be able to see stars and planets. In fact, you will easily be able to see FOUR of the planets in our solar system. In order of brightness, they are Venus(the brightest), followed by Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury. Mars will just slightly brighter than Mercury.

 

About 15 to 30 minutes before totality, the planet Venus will gradually become clearly visible near the darkening sun. It’ll be to the west of the sun.

 

About 30 seconds before and after totality, two other planets will appear. Close to the west side of our star will be Mars, appearing as an orange “star.” At a similar apparent distance, on the east side of the sun, you’ll see planet Mercury. Jupiter – the second-brightest planet in Earth’s sky – will also be very easy to spot, as the bright planet will be located farther to the southeast of the eclipsed sun.

 

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Note: In the image above, right=West ; left= East ; up=North ; down=South

What a treat it would be to see something like this next Monday!!! This image was captured from Norway during the total eclipse in 2015.

 

Anyone planning on braving the traffic and heading to Hopkinsville or vicinity?

Did you know there is a massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way?

 

Astronomers are preparing to watch a star as it makes its closest approach to the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy in 2018. The black hole, named Sagittarius A*, is about 26,000 LY away and is 4 million times as massive as our Sun.

 

The star whose orbit brings it closest to the black hole is called S2. Mounting evidence based on past measurements of the star's motion seems to indicate that it is deviating from the orbit expected if it wasn't affected by general relativity. In other words, Einstein's famous theory seems to be holding true in this case.

 

The orbit of S2 brings it closest brings it closest to the black hole every 16 years. So, when it reaches that closest point in the middle of next year, S2's orbit is expected (according to Einstein) to change as a result of the warping of space-time due to the massive black hole.

 

The upcoming pass-by is so important because astronomers will finally have the resolution needed to measure more definitively whether S2 follows a Newtonian orbit or an orbit predicted by Einstein's famous theory, which takes general relativity into account. Again, deviations in S2's orbit thus far have been extremely close to general relativity expected values. So far, so good, for Einstein, whose theory has withstood all previous challenges. These results are preliminary, however, and are subject to considerable uncertainty.

 

Only when the star swings by the black hole next year will we have the precise measurements that will allow us to determine with greater confidence whether general relativity is at play in the center of our beloved Milky Way. Using a new instrument called GRAVITY on the VLT array, astronomers will be able to produce images equivalent to those achievable by a telescope mirror nearly 400 feet across. That's one big star-gazing mirror!!! Even the biggest telescope mirrors available have diameters only one-twelfth that size. Btw, VLT stands for Very Large Telescope . (Just what you would have guessed, right?)

 

So, will the highest resolution images ever produced of this star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy convince scientists, once and for all, that Einstein was right about the warping of space and time??? Just another piece of the cosmic puzzle to hopefully solve next year.

Edited August 16, 20179 yr by Science Friction

Btw, if you are curious, the star that I mentioned above will come to within about 17 LH(Light Hours) of the black hole, or around four times the distance of Neptune from the Sun. It's speed at it closest approach will be about 11,000,000 mph , or about 1/60 the speed of light, making it the fastest known ballistic orbit !!!!

I've been telling you all how romantic space is. The couple below obviously gets the space-romance connection. They are getting married during the total eclipse on Monday in St. Joseph, Missouri , which is in the path of totality.

 

Why can't I find a space-lovin' woman like that who will totally eclipse my heart??? It would be fun testing the Big BangTheory with a bride like that.

 

 

 

 

The bride's space-themed tattoo:

 

 

 

Their wedding invitations:

 

 

 

Astronomy-loving bride to say 'I do' during total solar eclipse - ABC News