{"title":"The Crab and the Jellyfish","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0015","url":null,"abstract":"Supernova explosions have been recorded as guest stars for thousands of years, but their true nature was only revealed in the twentieth century, largely through the work of Baade and Zwicky. Following Hubble’s determination of the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy, Baade and Zwicky established a new class of extremely bright stellar outburst that they named supernovae. They realized that such explosions in distant galaxies were comparable to the occasional guest star reported in the historical records including stars recorded by Tycho and Kepler. We now know that very large stars that have consumed their nuclear fuel may explode and produce a supernova. The star may be completed destroyed in the eruption or its core may collapse to form a neutron star or black hole.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"95 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131210900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diamonds in the Sky!","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0013","url":null,"abstract":"After consuming their nuclear fuel, most stars lose their outer envelopes and all that remains is the collapsed core of the star, an object known as a white dwarf. Ever since Galileo pointed a telescope at the night sky, each advance in telescope making has resulted in sensational discoveries. Alvan Clark & Sons ground some of the biggest telescope lenses ever made. Alvan Graham Clark discovered Sirius B while testing one of these lenses. Eddington deduced that Sirius B has a size similar to that of the Earth, but with the mass of the Sun, and was an example of a new class of stars—white dwarfs. The easiest white dwarf to see with a telescope orbits the star Keid. In Star Trek, the planet Vulcan orbits the star Keid A.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123428995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the Leviathan to the Behemoth","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0014","url":null,"abstract":"The world’s biggest telescopes are reflectors and every increase in size has given us a new perspective on the universe. The Rosse telescope, built in the middle of the nineteenth century by Lord Rosse in County Offaly, Ireland, was nicknamed the Leviathan of Parsonstown. It was the world’s biggest telescope for over half a century. Rosse’s drawings of the celestial objects that he viewed through the telescope were widely circulated. His drawing of the Whirlpool Galaxy is thought to have inspired Van Gogh’s painting Starry Night. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is now constructing the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile. It will be the largest telescope in the world when completed.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125277372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Rosetta Stone and Quantum Waves","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"It was discovered in the early decades of the twentieth century that light and matter exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behaviour and this led to the development of quantum theory. Thomas Young demonstrated the wave-like behaviour of light 200 years ago. Thomas Young had wide-ranging interests and played an important role in deciphering hieroglyphic inscriptions. In 1905 Einstein showed that light also behaves like a stream of particles. Louis De Broglie suggested that particles such as electrons might also show wave-like behaviour and his prediction was soon verified in the laboratory. This led to the development of quantum mechanics, as well as important technological applications, such as the electron microscope.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116514666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Forces of the World Unite!","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0008","url":null,"abstract":"The structure of matter and the forces that are important in particle physics are now understood in terms of the Standard Model, which is currently being tested at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Since the 1930s, physicists have used particle accelerators to investigate the structure of matter. Three forces are important in particle interactions, the strong force, the weak force and the electromagnetic force. The weak and electromagnetic forces are now recognized as two components of a unified electroweak force. The strong force and the electroweak force act on a small collection of fundamental particles that include quarks, the subcomponents of protons, neutrons and many other particles. The final missing piece of the Standard Model, the Higgs boson, was discovered by the LHC in 2012.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"251 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126152081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Alchemical Furnaces of the Cosmos","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"The Sun and other stars generate energy by nuclear fusion processes that convert hydrogen into helium. Eddington was first to suggest the conversion of hydrogen into helium might fuel the stars. At the time stars were thought to have a composition similar to that of the Earth, which cast doubt on Eddington’s idea. Cecilia Payne corrected this misconception and showed the Sun and stars are actually formed of hydrogen and helium with only traces of other elements. Bethe and Crichfield devised mechanisms for how hydrogen nuclear fusion takes place in stars. In more massive stars, such as Betelgeuse, helium is converted into carbon and oxygen. We now know that all the elements beyond helium are created in the stars.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128813418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supermassive Black Holes","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0020","url":null,"abstract":"The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is aiming to image the event horizon of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy. Andrea Ghez has mapped out the orbits of stars around this supermassive black hole and deduced it has a mass of four million Suns. An even bigger supermassive black hole of six billion solar masses lies at the centre of the M87 Galaxy. Shep Doeleman has marshalled several of the world’s radio telescopes to form the EHT with the aim of imaging the event horizons of these black holes.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124718719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Where Is Everybody?","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780198831860.003.0026","url":null,"abstract":"With so many stars in the galaxy, it might be assumed there must be advanced alien civilizations out there somewhere, but Enrico Fermi pointed out that if this were the case we should have been visited long ago, yet there is no evidence that this has happened. This puzzle is known as the Fermi paradox. Several explanations have been proposed. One possibility is that advanced civilizations do arise, but rapidly disappear due to their self-destructive tendencies. Another possibility is the zoo hypothesis—the aliens are here, but do not reveal themselves. There is also the rare Earth hypothesis which claims the Earth has unique features required for the evolution of intelligent life, so we really are the first advanced civilization in the galaxy.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129867761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Somewhere over the Rainbow","authors":"Glenn E. Lee","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0025","url":null,"abstract":"Frank Drake devised the Drake equation to estimate the number of advanced civilizations in the galaxy with the aim of gathering support for SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The earliest attempts to detect radio signals from extraterrestrials date back to the 1960s. Paul Allen has funded the Allen Telescope, Array which is dedicated to searching for such signals. When complete it will include 350 radio dishes. The citizen science project SETI@Home allows anyone with a home PC to participate in analysing the data amassed by the SETI project.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132740400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"To Boldly Go …","authors":"Nicholas Mee","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198831860.003.0024","url":null,"abstract":"The Breakthrough Starshot project was launched in 2016 with the aim of developing the technology to send robot spacecraft to the nearest stars. The first spacecraft to head out of the Solar System were launched in the 1970s. Pioneer 10 carries a plaque offering information about Earth and its inhabitants to any alien species that might one day intercept the craft. The Breakthrough Starshot panel included Stephen Hawking and Freeman Dyson. The idea is to use banks of lasers to accelerate mini robot craft to one-fifth of the speed of light with the aim of reaching the Alpha Centauri system within about twenty years.","PeriodicalId":210630,"journal":{"name":"The Cosmic Mystery Tour","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116852268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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