Physics and Astronomy

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Obtains Unique Spectrum of a Meteor
While observing a supernova in a distant galaxy with the FORS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory (Chile), astronomers were incredibly lucky to obtain serendipitously a high quality spectrum of a very large meteor in the terrestrial atmosphere.

The VLT spectrograph provided a well calibrated spectrum, making it a reference in this field of research. From this spectrum, the temperatu

A prototype microscope that uses neutrons instead of light to “see” magnified images has been demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Neutron microscopes might eventually offer certain advantages over optical, X-ray and electron imaging techniques such as better contrast for biological samples.

Described in the July 19 issue of Applied Physics Letters, the imaging process involves hitting a sample with an intense neutron beam. The neutrons tha

The NASA Swift satellite, which will pinpoint the location of distant yet fleeting explosions that appear to signal the births of black holes, is due to arrive at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida today in preparation for an October launch. UK scientists, from the University of Leicester and University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, have provided key technology for two of the instruments on Swift.

Professor Alan Wells from the University of Leicester, UK Lead Investi

Scientists at the University of Sheffield and Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab have solved a 127-year-old problem about the origin of supersonic plasma jets (spicules) which continuously shoot up from the Sun. Their findings are published in today’s edition of Nature.

Spicules, are jets of gas or plasma that are propelled upwards from the surface of the Sun at speeds of about 90,000 kilometres per hour. They are fairly short lived, with each jet lasting only about 5 minutes, but r

Two of the biggest physics breakthroughs during the last decade are the discovery that wispy subatomic particles called neutrinos actually have a small amount of mass and the detection that the expansion of the universe is actually picking up speed.

Now three University of Washington physicists are suggesting the two discoveries are integrally linked through one of the strangest features of the universe, dark energy, a linkage they say could be caused by a previously unrecognized subatomic

New research may lead to better catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and the New Jersey Institute of Technology have taken steps toward understanding how a titanium compound reacts with a hydrogen-storage material to catalyze the release and re-absorption of hydrogen. Their results, appearing in the July 19, 2004, issue of Applied Physics Letters, may help scientists learn how similar catalysts work, improve