Lauren+B

Below is a link to my Life Cycle of a Star story:



__**Scrapbook Project**__
Unexpected Heavy Stars from Long Ago Puzzle Astronomers November 30, 2011 [] There is a new study that reveals ancient stars in the outer areas or the Milky Way Galaxy and are filled with some of the heaviest elements and most likely formed in the galaxy's early years. Astronomers were at a loss when the discovered an abnormal amount of heavy elements, such as gold, uranium, and platinum, in the Milky Way's oldest stars because such an amount of heavy metals is usually only common in later star generations. Researchers investigated this mystery by observing these ancient stars for several years using a group of telescopes from the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The telescopes were trained to view 17 "abnormal" stars in the Milky Way that are believed to be rich in the heaviest chemical elements. Terese Hansen, an astrophysicist at the Neils Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, and her colleagues calculated the orbit of the stars and an important clue was found out about what created the elements in the stars. Together, they came up with two possible theories to explain these ancient stars. Both theories are centered around supernova explosions. The first theory is that the massive stars spread newly formed elements as gas clouds into space after they died and collapsed in on themselves again to form new stars that contain heavier elements and the newer stars become richer in heavy elements. The second theory is that early supernovas were able to shoot jets of the elements in different directions and dispersed them into surrounding clouds of gas and eventually formed some of the stars that are seen in the Milky Way today. In my opinion, these scientists are coming up with these theories to make it seem like our galaxy is expanding.

Alien Planet Warps Its Solar System December 8, 2011 [] Scientists are observing an alien planet that has caused a disk of debris around a distant star and has now been warped into crookedness. Originally, astronomers that that another planet in the Beta Pictoris system caused the debris disk around the planet to warped, but a new study rules that option out. Researchers said that Beta Pictoris b, a Jupiter-sized world and the star's first-discovered planet, is the most likely culprit. Although the present orbit of the planet would not cause the disk to warp, new research states that the planet may have been moved by the disk itself out of the way of a path that may have altered the shape of the disk. In 2000, while knowing that gas and debris usually orbit stars in a smooth plane around their equators, astronomers figured out that Beta Pictoris' debris disk was slightly warped. Astronomers assumes that a planet created the warp. As it was moving through the disk, the way the particles within the debris moved changed due to the planet's gravitational effects. Astronomers managed to get a direct image of Beta Pictoris b after decades of searching, but, surprisingly, the planet's orbit indicated that the planet could not have created the tilt. In August 2011, NASA revealed that the planet's tilt was flat and was aligned with the outer edge of the disk rather than the inside. To me, it seems possible for the alien planet to be distorted because new chemicals may have somehow made their way into the disk.

Asteroid Crash May Explain Mercury's Strange Spin December 11, 2011 [] According to a new study, Mercury may have collided with an asteroid, causing its orbit to be off balance. For a long time, scientists assumsed that Mercury and the sun were tidally locked because of the planet's size and proximity to the sun, which suggested that the sun's gravitational force would pull Mercury into that state. However, Mercury led a far stranger life and rotated three times on its axis for every two orbits completed around the sun, according to radar observations. Now it is suggested that Mercury was once tidally locked and spun in the opposite direction to its orbit. A giant impact from an asteroid, as computer models suggest, knocked the planet into its current arrangement. The space rock is believed to have been about 43 miles wide and 1/600,000 the mass of Mercury. Mercury's largest impact crater, Caloris Basin, matches the predicted size, age, and location of the impact and is the "perfect candidate." It seems impossible for Mercury to be tidally locked with the sun and that the sun's gravity pulled Mercury into its current state, so it makes more sense to me that an asteroid knocked it off course.

Cosmic Autopsy Reveals Youngest Supernova's Origins December 14, 2011 [] Astronomers have discovered the first direct evidence that white dwarfs trigger some star explosions. Scientists worked backward while studying the youngest type of Ia supernova ever found in order to identify its explosion time with exceptional accuracy. In the process, they confirmed that the source of the explosion was a white dwarf, and gathered observations into the nature of the dwarf's star companion. Weidong Li of the University of Berkeley and his team examined over a decade's worth of data in search of the dwarf's companion. However, they detected no star, which allowed them to place a limit on the size of the companion. A red giant, for example, would have been seen in the images. Li and his team concluded that the second star might be a mainsequence star or subgiant star or maybe even another white dwarf. I feel like a white dwarf would cause a star explosion because of the radiation it gives off.

First True 'Alien Earth' May Be Found in 2012 December 20, 2011 [] Although 2011 was a great year for alien-planet discoveries, 2012 may bring an even more exciting discovery: the first true "alien Earth." Exoplanet discoveries are rapidly growing, and they suggest that the first Earth twin will be found very soon, according to researchers. I think it'll be exciting for observers to discover more alien planets, mainly because they could discovery other life forms.

Could There Be Life on the New Earth-Size Planets? December 20, 2011 [] In order for new life to arise on another planet, scientists believe that the alien world consists of three key ingredients, organic molecules that form complex structures, energy to move the moleculesm and liquid water for them to move around in. Although it is a short recipe, only planets similar to Earth will most likely have all three of those items. The planets are about the same size as Earth, but they unfortunately do not have the ability to sustain life. According to Guillermo Torres, a member of the Kepler team based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the planets are much too hot to be habitable. I disagree with Guillermo Torres' statement about the planets being too hot to be habitable because some life forms can survive in extreme temperatures, hot or cold.

Russian Satellite Crashes in Latest Failed Rocket Launch December 23, 2011 [] Just after liftoff on December 23, a Russian communications satellite crashed due to its rocket failing and is the lastest in the series of rocket launching failures for the country this year. The unmanned Soyuz-2 rocket failed to reach orbit after being launched along with the Meridian military communications satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodome in the northern Russia, resulting in the fifth failed space mission for the country in 2011. The Soy-uz2 rocket crashed near Tobolsk in Siberia. Vladimir Popvin, a Russin space agency chief, stated that an investigation in order to develop ways to fix any flaws in the Soyuz-2 rocket engine. It seems as if Russia doesn't know how to make proper engines because they keep failing, so they need to fix all of their problems before they try going into space again.

Earth Has Two 'Moons' Right Now, Theorists Say December 23, 2011 [] According to a group of scientists, Earth has two moons. One is the waxing and waning nightlight we all know so well and love. The other is a small asteroid that is no bigger than a Smart CAr and makes huge doughnuts around Earth and then zips away and is replaced by another. The space rock is at least 1 meter wide and orbits Earth at any given time, although the rock is not always the same, researchers argue. According to the scientists' theoretical model, Earth's gravity captures the asteroid as they are passing us on their way to the sun. One is drawn in and makes three irregularly shaped swings around Earth for about 9 months before rushing on its way. Researchers state that little attention has been paid to out planet's natural satellites other than our major moon. Astronomers assume that it may be possible to bring one of these temporary moons back to Earth for analysis. I think the asteroids get stuck in Earth's gravitational pull, causing it to seem like we have more than one moon.

Rare Slow-Spinning Star Reveals Space Oddity December 27, 2011 [] Scientists have discovered a strange spinning star that appears to be older than the explosion it apparently came from. This type of star is known as a pulsar, which is a rotating, super-dense core that a supernova left behind. This pulsar, named SXP 1062, spins quite slowly which suggests that it is of an advanced age. However, researchers believe that the star exploded less than 40,000 years ago, so there is no way the pulsar is as old as it looks. SXP 1062 only spins about every 18 minutes, while most pulsars spin rapidly, sometimes making hundreds of revolutions per second. In my opinion, this pulsar must be younger than it appears since the star it came from originally is believed to have exploded less than 40,000 years ago.

At the Earth's Core, Secrets Slowly Emerge December 29, 2011 [] Since the behavior of Earth's core and the ingredients of the core, besides iron, are geological mysteries, scientists aren't really able to go take a sample. It is a big deal to understand the exact makeup and conditions of the core and understand how Earth's geophysical systems work together. Not only has Earth's iron core play a role in the movements of the continents over the years, but it has also played a major role in preserving life. Our planet's iron core helps maintain our planet's magnetic field and shields the surface and the life it accomodates from damaging solar energy. Along with that, it also holds valuable clues about how our planet formed. Scientists at Caltech have put iron through harsh and high-pressure conditions inside Earth by using laboratory setups to better understand the core's behavior. I think scientists are trying to prove that Earth is more advanced than it seems.