Astronomers discover filaments of the cosmic web that held the early universe together
The structure of the early universe looked similar to a spiderweb holding everything together, according to a new study.
a close up of a star filled sky: This is an image showing filaments in massive galaxy cluster using the C-EAGLE simulation.© Joshua Borrow This is an image showing filaments in massive galaxy cluster using the C-EAGLE simulation.
Astronomers used multiple telescopes to observe glowing filaments of gas acting like the strands connecting galaxies in a massive web. They were discovered in a proto-cluster of galaxies, or a group of galaxies forming a cluster, 12 billion light-years away in the Aquarius constellation. The cluster is known as SSA22.
Given its distance from us, that makes the cluster a structure from a time when the universe was much younger. Clusters can be filled with hundreds or even thousands of galaxies.
Previously, astronomers believed that galaxies formed and pulled themselves into cluster structures. Now, astronomers believe that gas filaments led to the creation of galaxy clusters. This also allowed galaxies to form in areas where filaments crossed. These galactic crossroads also created dense areas of matter.
When astronomers looked at where the gigantic filaments crossed, they found the supermassive black holes that act as engines of galaxies. They also spied galaxies that were actively forming stars.
The galaxies are fed by streams of cooling gas at these crossroads.
The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope helped the astronomers detect Lyman alpha radiation. This is ultraviolet light that is created by energized hydrogen gas that is irradiated by the galaxies in the cluster. They were able to pick out the faint filament wisps because they were energized by the bright light being thrown off by the galaxies creating stars.
Their findings published last week in the journal Science.
The radiation they encountered couldn't be caused by background radiation in the universe, but must be triggered by galaxies bursting with star forming and the formation of black holes -- both high energy events.
"This suggests very strongly that gas falling along the filaments under the force of gravity triggers the formation of starbursting galaxies and supermassive black holes, giving the universe the structure that we see today," said Hideki Umehata, study author at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research and the University of Tokyo.
The new observations provided the detail necessary to pick out the filaments.
"Previous observations had shown that there (are) emissions from blobs of gas extending beyond the galaxies, but now we have been able to clearly show that these filaments are extremely long, going even beyond the edge of the field that we viewed," Umehata said. "This adds credence to the idea that these filaments are actually powering the intense activity that we see within the galaxies inside the filaments."
While galaxy clusters are some of the most massive structures in the universe to be governed by gravity, much of the universe's gas actually exists between the galaxies. And simulations show that 60% of the hydrogen created during the Big Bang exists in these cosmic threads that help form a structured web.
The long filaments can extend for more than a million parsecs. A parsec is about 3.26 light-years. Across a super cluster of galaxies, it would provide enough fuel for star formation and growing black holes.
"These observations of the faintest, largest structures in the universe are a key to understanding how our Universe evolved through time, how galaxies grow and mature, and how the changing environments around galaxies created what we see around us," said Erika Hamden in a related Perspective, assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona. Hamden was not involved in the study.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo ... ar-AAItVrW
Voyager Mission Reveals Unexpected Pressure at The Edge of The Solar System
NASA astronomers have used data from the Voyager probes to measure the bustle of particles rippling at the very edge of our Solar System, and discovered the pressure in the distant borderlands of our star is higher than they expected.
The results suggest "that there are some other parts to the pressure that aren't being considered right now that could contribute," says Princeton University astrophysicist Jamie Rankin.
Maybe there are entire populations of particles out there that haven't been taken into account yet. Or maybe it's just a little hotter than anybody figured. The researchers have a number of possible explanations to explore in future research.
While the discovery itself is interesting enough, it's the way they found it that makes for a truly fascinating bit of science.
As plasma in the shape of solar wind emanates from our Sun, it forms a 'bubble' we call the heliosphere. Fourteen billion kilometres away from the star, that wind effectively runs out of steam, as charged particles rapidly slow to subsonic speeds.
The edge of this bubble, called the heliosheath, is a zone where the density of those charged particles drops off and magnetic fields grow weak.
Beyond this messy border is a thin shell called the heliopause, where the haze of plasma blown out by the Sun trickles away, nudged by the subtle influence of our galactic neighbours as our star moves through space.
At this 'pause', the pressure of local interstellar space pushing in and the heliosheath pushing out must balance out. Knowing exactly what this looks like, though, is no easy task. We can make models to estimate, but nothing beats hard evidence.
Fortunately, we happen to have two probes passing through that part of the Solar System. Take a look at NASA's handy diagram below to see how it all fits together.
NASA diagram of a heliosheath(NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith)
Voyager 1 is about 20 billion kilometres away, effectively out in the wild emptiness we think of as interstellar space. Its partner, Voyager 2, isn't far behind, right on the cusp of making an exit.
Neither has a direct way of telling us much about the pressures of space in that area, but a recent flare-up in solar activity called a global merged interaction region (GMIR) provided a prime opportunity to work it out.
"There was really unique timing for this event because we saw it right after Voyager 1 crossed into the local interstellar space," says Rankin.
"And while this is the first event that Voyager saw, there are more in the data that we can continue to look at to see how things in the heliosheath and interstellar space are changing over time."
The solar activity was effectively a shout into space, sending a pulse of particles roaring out into the distance. This cry rippled into the heliosheath in 2012, where Voyager 2 was watching and listening. Roughly three months later, Voyager 1 also felt its effects.
From each set of observations, the researchers calculated the pressure at the boundary to be around 267 femtopascals, which is an absolutely minuscule fraction of the kind of atmospheric pressure we experience here on Earth.
It might be a relatively tiny squeeze, but the researchers were surprised.
"In adding up the pieces known from previous studies, we found our new value is still larger than what's been measured so far," says Rankin.
The team were also able to calculate the speed of sound waves passing through this medium – a speedy 314 kilometres per second. Or a thousand times faster than sound travelling through our own atmosphere.
There was one other surprise to come. The wave's passage lined up with an apparent drop in the intensity of high speed particles called cosmic rays. The fact each of the probes experienced this same thing in two different ways gives astrophysicists yet another mystery to solve.
"Trying to understand why the change in the cosmic rays is different inside and outside of the heliosheath remains an open question," says Rankin.
The Voyager probes might be getting a little old, but given how busy it looks out on the edge of the Solar System, we're glad they haven't fully retired yet.
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists ... a-surprise
Move Over, Tardigrades — 'Mold Pigs' Are the New Micro-Beast in Town
By Nicoletta Lanese - Staff Writer 16 hours ago Animals
a mold pig
Fossils preserved in Dominican amber reveal a new family, genus and species of microinvertebrate from the mid-Tertiary period, nicknamed "mold pigs."
(Image: © Provided by George Poinar Jr.)
If you can't get enough of tardigrades — those tough, tubby microscopic critters with eight squirmy legs — you'll love this newly discovered microinvertebrate.
Behold, the "mold pig."
Discovered by paleobiologist and entomologist George Poinar Jr. of Oregon State University, mold pigs earned the nickname thanks to their fungi-heavy diet and vague resemblance to hogs, according to a statement released yesterday (Oct.. Only 0.003 inches (100 micrometers) long, the creatures boast four pairs of teensy legs, a flexible head and an exoskeleton that molts as they grow. The tiny swines' proposed scientific name, Sialomorpha dominicana, derives from words meaning "fat hog-shaped" in Greek.
"The mold pigs can't be placed in any group of currently existing invertebrates — they share characteristics with both tardigrades, sometimes referred to as water bears or moss pigs, and mites but clearly belong to neither group," Poinar said in the statement.
Poinar may be best known as the paleobiologist who inspired a major plot point in author Michael Crichton's signature novel, "Jurassic Park," according to Science Friday. Poinar and electron-microscopist Roberta Hess (Poinar's wife) discovered that organisms can be immaculately preserved in amber, the fossilized resin of ancient coniferous trees. Within the yellowish substance, an organism's cellular machinery can remain largely intact over the course of millennia.
A microscopic Tardigrade SB-1, Acutuncus antarcticus, was rehydrated and slowly came back to life. After 2 weeks it was a crawling, eating, and reproducing organism once again.
Inspired by this finding, Crichton dreamt up a world where dinosaurs could be summoned from DNA encased in amber.
Back in reality, Poinar never stopped digging for and discovering new organisms hidden in ancient resin. Recently, he and his colleague Diane Nelson of East Tennessee State University came upon several hundred mold pig fossils coated in amber from the Dominican Republic. The specimens date back to the mid-Tertiary period, about 30 million years ago, and would have shared their habitat with pseudoscorpions, nematodes, protozoa and fungi, the authors said.
"The large number of fossils provided additional evidence of their biology, including reproductive behavior, developmental stages and food," Poinar said. The creatures mostly fed on fungi but also ate some small invertebrates, the researchers found. Although mold pigs may resemble tardigrades at first glance, they represent a previously unknown new family, genus and species of microinvertebrate, according to Poinar. He and Nelson described their discovery in a paper published Sept. 28 in the journal Invertebrate Biology.
"Based on what we know about extant and extinct microinvertebrates, S. dominicana appears to represent a new phylum," Poinar said. "But we don't know when the Sialomorpha lineage originated, how long it lasted, or whether there are descendants living today."
https://www.livescience.com/mold-pig-discovery.html
Hidden Scottish Ruins May Have Been Illegal Whisky Stills, Says Archaeologist
By Tom Metcalfe - Live Science Contributor 2 days ago History
ruins of scotland whisky distillery.
By combining the digital data from the laser scans of the two ruined kilns, archaeologists have been able to reconstruct how a complete kiln would have looked.
(Image: © Forest and Land Scotland/AOC Archaeology)
Mystery surrounds a group of ruined stone buildings hidden in a remote forest in the Scottish Highlands, with an archaeologist suggesting they were once an illegal whisky distillery.
A local history group alerted the government agency Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) about the hidden ruins last year, indicating they were located in the forests above Loch Ard, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of the city of Glasgow.
Ahead of tree harvesting in the area, FLS archaeologist Matt Ritchie directed a detailed 3D survey of the site — the remains of two 18th-century stone farmsteads located about 650 feet (200 meters) apart, with a stream running between them.
Just a week after the death of their 6-year-old African elephant, Nyah, the Indianapolis Zoo delivered another sad message: Its other youngest African elephant, 8-year-old Kalina, has died.
Ritchie said he now thinks the site may have been used in the late 1700s and early 1800s to distill whisky for sale in Glasgow, a lucrative trade that was illegal at the time.
The long, narrow buildings would have been ideal for whisky stills, and both farmsteads, known as Wee Bruach Caoruinn and Big Bruach Caoruinn, were well hidden on a hillside, deep in the forest, Ritchie told Live Science.
"It is quite remote. You've got big corn-drying kilns, and you have got water nearby," he said. "My immediate thought was that maybe there was something interesting there."
Local legends describe how the region around Loch Ard was used to hide illicit whisky stills and stolen cattle, but historical research has found nothing conclusive. "There are whispers of this sort of activity going on, but there is nothing firm to tie distilling to that site," Ritchie said.
ruins of scotland whisky distillery.
The ruined stone buildings of the "Wee Bruach" in the forests above Loch Ard in the Scottish Highland would once have been the perfect hide-out for making whisky.
(Image credit: Forest and Land Scotland)
Whisky laws
Ritchie explained that laws on the production and sale of whisky from the late 1700s meant many small stills were shut down on farms throughout the Highlands, while commercial distilleries that could be taxed stayed in business. "There was a period in Scottish history where the government clamped down on whisky distilling," he said. "Suddenly, it becomes illegal, and what was your normal farm activity then goes underground."
Government officers known as "excisemen" scoured the Highlands for illicit stills, confiscating illegal whisky and distilling equipment. As such, it was important to have a site that was hard to find but still close to a major market like Glasgow.
The government also imposed a heavy tax on malted barley, a traditional ingredient of Scotch whisky, made by "toasting" the grain at high temperatures. To avoid the tax, commercial whisky distillers started using unmalted "corn spirits" to make their whisky, which resulted in a noticeably inferior drink, Ritchie said.
"The big lowland distilleries are using pretty rough stuff, but your Highland or illicit whisky still is producing good-quality whisky from good-quality ingredients," he said. "This was much in demand, and it could be smuggled south into the more-populated lowlands and sold on for a good profit."
At the time, whisky was bottled directly after being distilled, without the long aging process of "maturation" developed in the 19th century. "It must've been quite a rougher spirit than we would be used to, but equally, it is a simple process," he said.
Laser-scanning survey
ruins of scotland whisky distillery.
Three-dimensional data from laser scans of the buildings were used to create an artist's impression of how the site might have looked in the late 1700s.
(Image credit: Forest and Land Scotland/Alan Braby)
Ritchie and his colleagues have now used 3D data from laser scans of the buildings to create an artistic interpretation of some of the buildings as they may have looked as a whisky distillery in the 1700s.
Related: The 25 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth
"That for me is the story: the creative archaeological visualization of the ruins and taking that a stage further and imagining what the activity on the farmstead was like in the past," Ritchie said.
Of particular interest are two large brick kilns, which would have been used to dry "corn," a catchall name for farmed grains, as well as to malt barley for the whisky-distilling process.
The front of one kiln has collapsed, but its central, bowl-shaped chamber remains; the chamber of the second kiln has collapsed, but that kiln's front face is still intact. By combining the 3D data from the two ruined kilns, Ritchie has created an image showing how a complete corn-drying kiln would have looked.
The digital survey of the ruins also emphasizes their remote location in the forest. "They are very well preserved, and very visible, and they are in this kind of cathedral-like space, with all these big, mature conifers around," Ritchie said.
Any whisky distilling at the site would have been in secret, and the large kilns might only have been used to dry grain. Archaeological excavations of the buildings could uncover positive evidence of their earlier use, either as an illicit distillery or as a working farm. But "we have no plans to do that," he said, adding that the ruins are too remote to warrant further investigation.
For now, the old stone buildings high in the forest are keeping any secret history of illegal whisky distilling to themselves. "The ruins are just being left alone," Ritchie said.
https://www.livescience.com/hidden-scot ... llery.html
