Skip to main content

China Makes History Again: Chang'e-6 Returns with Groundbreaking Moon Samples

In a remarkable achievement, China has successfully collected samples from the far side of the moon, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. The Chang'e-6 mission, launched on May 3, touched down in the Apollo crater within the vast South Pole-Aitken basin on June 1. During its brief but productive stay, the spacecraft gathered approximately 2 kilograms of lunar material using a scoop and drill. The samples, now stored in an ascent vehicle, are expected to return to Earth on June 25, landing in Inner Mongolia. This historic achievement not only demonstrates China's space program prowess but also provides scientists with a unique opportunity to unravel the mysteries of the moon's formation and evolution.   Achievements: - *First-ever samples from the far side*: Chang'e-6 successfully collects lunar material from the moon's less-explored hemisphere. - *Second successful farside landing*: China builds on its 2019 achievement with...
Post a Comment

Astronomers Revealed the Black Hole at the Center of Milky Way



The black hole is named Sagittarius A* (pronounced “A-star”), and the reveal of its image received an international rollout this morning in simultaneous press conferences held by the National Science Foundation (NSF) at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and the European Southern Observatory headquarters in Garching, Germany.

The image represents 3.5 million gigabytes of data taken at millimeter wavelengths by eight radio telescopes around the world. “It took several years to refine our image and confirm what we had,” said Feryal Özel, an astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, at the NSF press conference. “But we prevailed.”


The data that went into making the M87* and Sgr A* images were taken back in April 2017 during the EHT’s inaugural observing campaign. Despite its distance, M87’s central black hole appears roughly the same size on the sky as that of our own galaxy’s. Though M87* is about 2,000 times more distant, it is also about 1,500 times larger.

In fact, M87’s central black hole was actually easier to image. Part of that is because our view of it is clearer. At the Milky Way’s core, we are looking through the plane of our galaxy, with the disk’s gas in the way.

But another part of it is that because M87* is so large, its visual appearance is more stable. Because Sgr A* is smaller, the gas racing around it caused the overall ring to wobble and glimmer more quickly than M87*, which forced the team to develop new processing techniques.

It was “a bit like trying to take a clear picture of a puppy quickly chasing its tail,” said Chi-kwan Chan, an astronomer the University of Arizona in a statement.

However, in observing Sgr A*, astronomers did have one advantage. The M87* observations could not use all eight of the telescopes that were part of the EHT at the time — the galaxy’s location in the northern sky leaves it out of view of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. By contrast, the SPT could not only participate in observing Sgr A*, but could do so continuously. And its location at the end of the Earth increased the resolution of the observations significantly by widening the EHT’s baseline.

The results aren’t just a pretty picture. The extent of the black hole’s shadow — the event horizon — also provides an independent check of the mass of Sgr A*. And at 4 million solar masses, it is “perfectly aligned” with the previous measurements based on the orbital motions of stars, said Michael Johnson, an astrophysicist at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “This is an extraordinary validation of general relativity.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Did The Flat Earth Theory Really Means?

Flat Earth Theory is a controversial and often misunderstood belief that the Earth is flat rather than round. This theory has gained a significant amount of attention in recent years, with many people claiming that the Earth is not a globe, but a flat disk. While the vast majority of scientists and researchers reject this theory, it continues to attract a dedicated group of believers who argue that the evidence supports their claims. In this blog post, we will explore the history of Flat Earth Theory, examine the evidence that is often cited by its supporters, and explain why the vast majority of scientists reject this theory. History of Flat Earth Theory The idea that the Earth is flat dates back to ancient times, with early civilizations such as the Greeks, Egyptians, and Hindus all believing in a flat Earth. However, by the time of the ancient Greeks, most educated people believed that the Earth was a sphere. This belief was based on observations of the Earth's shadow during lun...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hubble Vs Webb Telescope: The Cartwheel Galaxy

The observatory has a packed schedule of science programs looking at all kinds of cosmic phenomena, like planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, and more. Webb will revolutionize our understanding of the universe — but first, researchers need time to analyze data and make sure that they understand what they’re seeing.  Webb has already captured more images beyond the ones you saw on July 12, and the Cartwheel Galaxy is just one example. Hold onto your intergalactic hats — we’ll be rolling those out in the coming weeks at nasa.gov/webb and on the NASAWebb social media channels. Some of those images give a first look at Webb’s capabilities, but are not part of science programs. In the meantime, you can revisit the first images at nasa.gov/webbfirstimages. We also have this page where you can find the full array of images and data at full resolution. News releases on results will be coming, too, once they have been reviewed. You may have seen scientists on social med...
Post a Comment
Read more

Facts You Need to Know About Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is often referred to as the "Red Planet" due to its reddish appearance in the night sky. It is the second smallest planet in the Solar System, with a diameter of approximately 6,779 kilometers. Mars is often of great interest to scientists and space enthusiasts due to its potential to support life and its similarity to Earth in terms of geological features. In this blog post, we will delve into various aspects of Mars, including its history, geological features, atmosphere, climate, and potential for life. History: Mars is believed to have formed around 4.6 billion years ago, shortly after the formation of the Solar System. Like Earth, Mars is a terrestrial planet, meaning that it is composed primarily of rock and metal. It is thought that Mars may have had a similar early history to Earth, with the presence of liquid water on its surface and the potential for the development of life. Geological Features: Mars is known for its divers...
Post a Comment
Read more