antikythera-astronomy: The Invisible Galaxy A new form of…



antikythera-astronomy:

The Invisible Galaxy

A new form of diffuse galaxy has been discovered inside the Coma Cluster. This place is made 99.99% of dark matter, totally invisible as it doesn’t interact with light.

The galaxy is known as Dragonfly 44 and was discovered by astronomers Pieter van Dokkum and his colleagues.

The way star systems orbit around the center of a galaxy is inexplicable with “normal” physics. To account for the velocity variations and patterns we need to add a new ingredient to the gravitational pot: dark matter.

Dragonfly 44 in particular has so few stars that were the dark matter to be taken away, the galaxy would fly apart the same way you’d go flying if the cord holding the swing to a swing set were severed.

(Image credit: NASA, JPL-CalTech and L. Jenkins

willymaykit: Russian SETI researchers are pursuing a promising…



willymaykit:

Russian SETI researchers are pursuing a promising signal

It may not be aliens, but something weird was picked up by Russian radio astronomers, who are now digging for answers.

It could be nothing. In the kinds of circles that search for transmissions from alien civilizations, it always is. But nonetheless, Russian researchers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have something intriguing they’re pursuing.

Let’s heavily caveat this. SETI efforts worldwide have had plenty of promising signals. None of them have been confirmed to come from extraterrestrial civilizations. Several have turned out to be from terrestrial sources, and early on, two high profile “What ifs?” lead to the discovery of pulsars and quasars rather than alien megastructures or technologically advanced societies.

Still, there’s enough substance to this message that researchers working from the RATAN-600 observatory in Russia are investigating what might have caused it. They’ve pinpointed a likely star, HD 164595, which is located in the Hercules constellation. It’s known to have one planet, a Neptune-sized world in a 40 day orbit. Given that HD 164595 is a Sun-type star, that planet would be too hot for life, but there may be other undiscovered planets in the solar system.

The signal was first detected in May 2015 at the 2.7 cm band, which is around 11 Ghz in the super-high frequency band. That places whatever the signal was in the microwave band. As Lee Berger at Ars Technica points out, there’s no known astrophysical source at these wavelengths. There’s some chatter that if (BIG if) this is of non-natural origin, it could be slightly to moderately more advanced than our own. “… if it came from an isotropic beacon, it would be of a power possible only for a Kardashev Type II civilization,” Paul Gilster at Centauri Dreams writes. “If it were a narrow beam signal focused on our Solar System, it would be of a power available to a Kardashev Type I civilization.”

Read more ~ Astronomy Magazine

Image: This 2013 photo shows the RATAN-600 observatory, where a recent microwave transmission has SETI researchers excited.
   Wikimedia Commons / ратан 600

Afropunk Brooklyn 2016! Saturday, August 27, 2016 3:00 PM to Sunday, August 28, 2016, 9:00 PM

afropunk

Afropunk Brooklyn 2016 – Saturday, August 27, 2016 3:00 PM to Sunday, August 28, 2016, 9:00 PM

Wow, the Afropunk lineup this year is bonkers —
Flying Lotus, Janelle Monae, TV on the Radio, Ice Cube, Living Color, Fishbone, George Clinton, Shabazz Palaces and a million more.
Get your tickets RIGHT NOW!

The hour of Afropunk grows near, so this is just a little update. We’re going both Saturday and Sunday, so you guys can definitely hang out with us. It’s hard to say where exactly we’ll be until we scope out the lay of the land, so RSVP at Meetup to get get the details on where and when we’ll be, I’ll definitely send out an update once I get in line —
https://www.meetup.com/Black-Geek-Society-Nerd…/…/230490978/

Ok, see you there!

Luke Cage Premiere Party! Saturday, October 1, 2016

lukeMarvel fans like it raw, and it doesn’t get rawer than Marvel’s Netflix series, and Luke Cage promises to be no exception. Join us in watching the first three episodes the day after they’re released.

I’m trying to get a head count for the venue, so RSVP, ASAP and let us know if you’re coming —
https://www.meetup.com/Black-Geek-Society-Nerds-of-Color/events/233534368/

Sweet Christmas!

Luke Cage Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymw5uvViqPU

superheroesincolor: “Black Kirby, is an amalgam of pop culture…















superheroesincolor:

“Black Kirby, is an amalgam of pop culture aesthetics, ancestral beliefs and straight up comic fun. Celebrating and contrasting Jewish and African American contributions to society through sequential story telling and world building.

With a commercial and fine art approach, we are remixing, sampling and recreating art and ideas through the stylistic approach of artist Jack Kirby

With art by UB professor John Jennings

 and artist Stacey Robinson, the show is meant to inspire thought, spark conversation and celebrate life through African and African American cultural motifs and ideas.”

   More info hallwalls.org


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sci-universe:Black Hole Tearing a Star Apart: New Findings…

sci-universe:

Black Hole Tearing a Star Apart: New Findings Seen in Artist’s Rendering

What happens when a star gets too close to a black hole? Recent observations by a trio of orbiting X-ray telescopes of an event dubbed ASASSN-14li, in a distant galactic center, gives one star’s terrifying story. When a star wanders too close to a black hole, intense tidal forces rip the star apart. In these events, called “tidal disruptions,” some of the stellar debris is flung outward at high speed while the rest falls toward the black hole. This causes a distinct X-ray flare that can last for a few years. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Swift Gamma-ray Burst Explorer, and ESA/NASA’s XMM-Newton collected different pieces of this astronomical puzzle in ASASSN-14li. The event occurred near a supermassive black hole estimated to weigh a few million times the mass of the sun in the center of a galaxy that lies about 290 million light-years away. read more here Illustration Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, CI Lab