For the other Astronuts out there

Grand. Hoping to see this green comet tonight; it's due North, so should be able to see it from the living room window, as long as it isn't raining/snowing/cloudy etc.
"Scientists have released one of the most precise measurements ever made of how matter is distributed across the universe today.
When the universe began, matter was flung outwards, gradually forming the planets, stars and galaxies.
By carefully putting together a map of that matter today, scientists can try to understand the forces that shaped the evolution of the universe.
Combining data from two major telescope surveys of the universe, the Dark Energy Survey and the South Pole Telescope, the new analysis involved more than 150 researchers, including several with the University of Chicago and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
The research suggests matter is not as 'clumpy' as would be expected based on the current best model of the universe.
According to the scientists, this adds to a body of evidence that there may be something missing from the existing standard model of the universe.
By analysing the two sets of data, the scientists could infer where all the matter ended up in the universe.
They say it is more precise than previous measurements as it narrows down the possibilities for where this matter wound up, compared with previous analyses.
The majority of the results fit perfectly with the currently accepted best theory of the universe."
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11700695/Mapping-UNIVERSE-Scientists-release-one-precise-charts-made.html

 

Another week, another discovery.
"Scientists have discovered a hidden layer of Earth, which sits 100 miles below the surface and covers at least 44 percent of the planet.
This previously unknown region of molten rock is part of the asthenosphere, located under tectonic plates in the upper mantle, which forms a soft boundary that allows the solid rock slabs to move.
Whille the discovery is significant, it shatters long-held theories that molten rocks influence the asthenosphere's viscosity.
Junlin Hua, with the University of Texas, Austin, said in a statement: 'When we think about something melting, we intuitively think that the melt must play a big role in the material's viscosity.
'But what we found is that even where the melt fraction is quite high, its effect on mantle flow is very minor.'
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11723215/New-layer-Earth-discovered-100-miles-surface.html

 

Theres a super mega hot chick in there somewhere...We need to find her...

There are aliens that could give the NFL and AFL champions a run for their money out there also...We need to find them too!

 

Only cool people will get that...

 

And the discoveries just keep coming thick and fast.
"It is already well known that Earth has an inner core – a solid metallic ball made mainly of iron around 1,500 miles wide.
But a new study shows there is another dense sphere within this core – an 'innermost inner core' that is just over 800 miles wide.
Researchers say this 'centremost ball' is solid but that it has a different, as yet unknown structure to the inner core that surrounds it.
The presence and size of such an innermost inner core has long been hypothesised and subject to debate – but research is increasingly showing it really does exist.
It follows the discovery of a hidden layer of Earth that sits 100 miles below the surface and covers at least 44 per cent of the planet.
The new study was carried out by geologists at the Australian National University's Research School of Earth Sciences in Canberra, Australia.
'We now have enough seismological evidence from several different lines of investigation about the existence of IMIC [innermost inner core],' they say in their paper, published in Nature Communications.
'The findings... will hopefully inspire further scrutiny of existing seismic records for revealing hidden signals that shed light on the Earth's deep interior.' "
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11775935/Earth-innermost-inner-core-study-says.html

 

Try this one, old boy.
www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36074-2

 

There was an amazing aurora in my neck of the woods last night, but I only saw the FB notifications after it had finished.
Luckily an old school mate was quicker off the mark.

 

This study was published back in December, but is only appearing in today's papers for some reason.
"After studying an unusual solar eruption from 2017, researchers think they've pinpointed the likely origin of mysterious heartbeat-like signals emitted by the sun during solar flares.
Researchers have finally pinpointed the likely origin of mysterious heartbeat-like signals spat out by the Sun during solar flares. The findings could help us learn more about how potentially damaging solar storms are unleashed, a new study shows...
.."These beating patterns are important for understanding how energy is released and is dissipated in the Sun's atmosphere during these incredibly powerful explosions," Sijie Yu, a solar radio astronomer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and co-author of the study, said in a statement "However, the origin of these repetitive patterns has long been a mystery and a source of debate among solar physicists.".
www.livescience.com/puzzle-of-the-suns-mysterious-heartbeat-signals-finally-solved