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Category: space – Page 165

Photon Polarization: The Next Breakthrough in Fusion Technology?

New studies show photon polarization is constant in varying environments, potentially improving plasma heating methods for fusion energy advancement.

Light, both literally and figuratively, pervades our world. It eliminates darkness, conveys telecommunications signals across continents, and reveals the unseen, from distant galaxies to microscopic bacteria. Light can also help heat the plasma within ring-shaped devices known as tokamaks as scientists work to leverage the fusion process to produce green electricity.

Recently, researchers from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have discovered that one of the fundamental properties of photons—polarization—is topological, meaning it remains constant even as the photon transitions through various materials and environments. These findings, published in Physical Review D, could lead to more effective plasma heating techniques and advancements in fusion research.

The Physics of Failure: Analyzing Hubble’s Gyroscope Malfunction

The Hubble Space Telescope is currently in safe mode due to gyroscope problems, suspending its science activities. However, NASA remains optimistic about its future contributions to space exploration, working in tandem with other telescopes.

On May 24, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope entered safe mode due to an ongoing gyroscope (gyro) issue, suspending science operations. Hubble’s instruments remain stable, and the telescope is in good health.

The telescope automatically entered safe mode when one of its three gyroscopes returned faulty telemetry readings. Hubble’s gyros measure the telescope’s slew rates and are part of the system that determines and controls precisely the direction the telescope is pointed.

Strange Radio Signal From Deep Space Baffles Scientists

We’ve received a strange signal from across the galaxy, and astronomers are struggling to understand what it means.

They know what’s emitting the signals. It’s a neutron star named ASKAP J193505.1+214841.0 (ASKAP J1935+2148 for short), located in the plane of the Milky Way, some 15,820 light-years from Earth.

But the signals themselves are like none we’ve ever seen before. The star goes through periods of strong pulses, periods of weak pulses, and periods of no pulses at all.

NASA’s Juno provides High-Definition views of Europa’s Icy Shell

Images from the JunoCam visible-light camera aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft supports the theory that the icy crust at the north and south poles of Jupiter’s moon Europa is not where it used to be. Another high-resolution picture of the icy moon, by the spacecraft’s Stellar Reference Unit (SRU), reveals signs of possible plume activity and an area of ice shell disruption where brine may have recently bubbled to the surface.

The JunoCam results recently appeared in the Planetary Science Journal and the SRU results in the journal JGR Planets.

On Sept. 29, 2022, Juno made its closest flyby of Europa, coming within 220 miles (355 kilometers) of the moon’s frozen surface. The four pictures taken by JunoCam and one by the SRU are the first high-resolution images of Europa since Galileo’s last flyby in 2000.

“Extraordinary” Slow-Spinning Neutron Star Shakes Astrophysics

Most collapsed stars fully rotate in seconds. This one takes almost an hour.

Australian scientists from the University of Sydney and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, have detected what is likely a neutron star spinning slower than any other ever measured.

No other radio-emitting neutron star, out of the more than 3,000 discovered so far, has been discovered rotating so slowly. The results are published today (June 5) in Nature Astronomy.

Colonizing Ganymede

Go to https://hensonshaving.com/isaacarthur and enter “isaacarthur” at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. Ganymede is an enormous moon, larger than any other we’ve found, including our own, and may one day be the centerpiece of wider human settlements around Jupiter. Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net Join Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 Reddit: / isaacarthur Twitter: / isaac_a_arthur on Twitter and RT our future content. SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: Colonizing Ganymede Episode 449; May 30, 2024 Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik Kristijan Tavcar Rapid Thrash Sergio Botero YD Visual Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator Stellardrone, “Ultra Deep Field”, “Red Giant”, “Billions and Billions”, “Cosmic Sunrise” Lombus, “Hydrogen Sonata”, “Cosmic Soup”

Scientists Intrigued By Almost Perfectly Circular Pit on the Surface of Mars

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NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has discovered another intriguing formation on the planet’s barren surface.

As spotted by Universe Today, the spacecraft captured this image of a satisfyingly circular pit — and what its dark, yawning entrance leads to remains a question high on the minds of Mars scientists.

The image, “acquired to determine if any underlying void … and associated faults” were in the region, was taken with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, a powerful lens capable of detailing the Martian surface in both visible and near-infrared light.