Zero Mass Particles

Gamma-ray sources in the sky

May 24, 2012 Gamma-rays are said to be particles with no mass, yet possessed of extreme momentum. According to a recent press release, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected several unidentified sources of intense gamma-ray emissions that are not seen in any other frequencies. NASA launched the telescope (formerly known…

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Radio Elliptical

NGC 5128

May 23, 2012 One of the largest “active galaxies” is thought to be powered by a supermassive black hole. Electrical energy is a more likely driving force. A recent press release from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) announces that the elliptical galaxy Centaurus A is ejecting a light-years long jet…

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X-1 Files

Cygnus X-1

  May 21, 2012 Without a theory of electricity in space, astronomers must explain cosmic lightning with theories of falling gas. To get x-rays from falling gas, the gas must be attracted to a source of gravity with orders-of-magnitude more force than any known density of matter. Nevertheless, with suitable…

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Cluster Wires

May 18, 2012 A galaxy-wide filament connects two galactic clusters. The Herschel Space Observatory possesses the largest mirror ever launched into space: 3.5 meters in diameter. Herschel entered orbit around LaGrange point L2 (behind Earth in relation to the Sun) in July 2009, so that its extremely sensitive, supercooled infrared…

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Europa Oceania

Chaotic terrain on Europa

May 17, 2012 Do the features on Europa indicate subsurface lakes? I care not what the sailors say: All those dreadful thunder-stones, All that storm that blots the day Can but show that Heaven yawns; Great Europa played the fool That changed a lover for a bull. — William Butler…

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Daughter of Heaven

May 16, 2012 Recent analyses suggest that Saturn’s moon Phoebe resembles a planet. Saturn’s moon Phoebe is comparatively small, roughly 220 kilometers in diameter. Its surface gravity is 0.224m/s^2, compared to the 9m/s^2 on Earth. Phoebe is also as black as night, making it one of the darkest objects in…

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The Truth of False Knowledge

Asteroid Lutetia

  May 15, 2012 The key to modern knowledge is the exclusion of disproof and other possibilities. From the press release (emphasis added): Data from [five instruments] were combined to create the most complete spectrum of an asteroid ever assembled. This spectrum of Lutetia was then compared with that of meteorites found…

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