Daily Science Thread
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NASA scientists recreate space dust in the lab
NASA scientists have recreated, right here on Earth, dust grains similar to those that form in the outer layers of dying stars.
A team of researchers at NASA's Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California, has successfully reproduced the processes that occur in the atmosphere of a red giant star and lead to the formation of planet-forming interstellar dust.
Using a specialised facility, called the Cosmic Simulation Chamber (COSmIC) designed and built at Ames, scientists now are able to recreate and study in the laboratory, dust grains similar to the grains that form in the outer layers of dying stars.
Scientists plan to use the dust to gather clues to better understand the composition and the evolution of the universe.
Dust grains that form around dying stars and are ejected into the interstellar medium lead, after a life cycle spanning millions of years, to the formation of planets and are a key component of the universe's evolution.
Scientists have found the materials that make up the building blocks of the universe are much more complicated than originally anticipated.
"The harsh conditions of space are extremely difficult to reproduce in the laboratory, and have long hindered efforts to interpret and analyse observations from space," said Farid Salama, project leader and a space science researcher at Ames.
"Using the COSmIC simulator we can now discover clues to questions about the composition and the evolution of the universe, both major objectives of NASA's space research programme," Salama said.
The team started with small hydrocarbon molecules that it expanded in the cold jet spray in COSmIC and exposed to high energy in an electric discharge.
They detected and characterised the large molecules that are formed in the gas phase from these precursor molecules with highly sensitive detectors, then collected the individual solid grains formed from these complex molecules and imaged them using Ames' Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).
"During COSmIC experiments, we are able to form and detect nanoparticles on the order of 10 nm size, grains ranging from 100-500 nanometers and aggregates of grains up to 1.5 micrometres in diameter, about a tenth the width of a human hair, and observe their structure with SEM, thus sampling a large size distribution of the grains produced," said Ella Sciamma-O'Brien, of the BAER Institute and a research fellow at Ames.
These results have important implications and ramifications not only for interstellar astrophysics, but also for planetary science, researchers said.
For example, they can provide new clues on the type of grains present in the dust around stars. That in turn, will help us understand the formation of planets, including Earth-like planets.
NASA scientists have recreated, right here on Earth, dust grains similar to those that form in the outer layers of dying stars.
A team of researchers at NASA's Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California, has successfully reproduced the processes that occur in the atmosphere of a red giant star and lead to the formation of planet-forming interstellar dust.
Using a specialised facility, called the Cosmic Simulation Chamber (COSmIC) designed and built at Ames, scientists now are able to recreate and study in the laboratory, dust grains similar to the grains that form in the outer layers of dying stars.
Scientists plan to use the dust to gather clues to better understand the composition and the evolution of the universe.
Dust grains that form around dying stars and are ejected into the interstellar medium lead, after a life cycle spanning millions of years, to the formation of planets and are a key component of the universe's evolution.
Scientists have found the materials that make up the building blocks of the universe are much more complicated than originally anticipated.
"The harsh conditions of space are extremely difficult to reproduce in the laboratory, and have long hindered efforts to interpret and analyse observations from space," said Farid Salama, project leader and a space science researcher at Ames.
"Using the COSmIC simulator we can now discover clues to questions about the composition and the evolution of the universe, both major objectives of NASA's space research programme," Salama said.
The team started with small hydrocarbon molecules that it expanded in the cold jet spray in COSmIC and exposed to high energy in an electric discharge.
They detected and characterised the large molecules that are formed in the gas phase from these precursor molecules with highly sensitive detectors, then collected the individual solid grains formed from these complex molecules and imaged them using Ames' Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).
"During COSmIC experiments, we are able to form and detect nanoparticles on the order of 10 nm size, grains ranging from 100-500 nanometers and aggregates of grains up to 1.5 micrometres in diameter, about a tenth the width of a human hair, and observe their structure with SEM, thus sampling a large size distribution of the grains produced," said Ella Sciamma-O'Brien, of the BAER Institute and a research fellow at Ames.
These results have important implications and ramifications not only for interstellar astrophysics, but also for planetary science, researchers said.
For example, they can provide new clues on the type of grains present in the dust around stars. That in turn, will help us understand the formation of planets, including Earth-like planets.
HaPpY
Veteran XX
this seems like it would take far less damage from weather than our typical collection tech, and it can harvest moonlight into energy as well.
NightTrain
Veteran XX
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
we just need a sustained fusion reactor and we'll be fine
I don't think we're all that far away from that.
Obviously we're not going to arrive at anything that's perpetual, but I think in our lifetimes we're going to see a reactor that can go for a few thousand years before we have to dispose of the waste and refill.
My awesome solution for disposing of radioactive waste: build really cheap rockets with payloads big enough to hold say, a century's worth of nuclear fission waste, and then blast them off, heading straight for the sun. *shrug*
HelenKeller
Blind BitchXV
that would be all fun & games until rocket malfunctions/explodes before leaving atmosphere and spews all that waste on top of florida
nevermind, that should be fine
nevermind, that should be fine
Okay when I say cheap rockets, I don't mean Russia cheap, I mean cheap enough they are easily built, but just fancy enough that we can aim them at the sun and be done with them.
Think of it as an extension of European expansion and littering. =)
it's probably not the best idea to be littering on the source of all life on this planet.
I wonder if he knows that curved fresnel lens can do something similar, be made of plastic, and don't need robotic tracking.