Hypernova Essays - Stellar Evolution, Space Observatories

Hypernova Mysterious Blast, Hypernova Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) have left astronomers scratching their heads since the late 1960s when they were discovered by U.S. military satellites. Part of the mystery began to unlock when astronomers at Northwestern University detected the first observational evidence for the remnants of hypernovae, explosions hundreds of times more powerful than supernovae, last year. Hypernovae may be the possible source of GRBs, making them the most energetic events known in the Universe besides the Big Bang. Northwestern astronomer Daniel Wang identified two hypernova remnants in galaxy M101, also known as the Pinwheel galaxy some 25 million light years away, in April 1999. The remnants were previously thought to be supernovae remnants, but Wang detected strong X-ray emission from them which led him to believe it was an explosion much more powerful than a supernova. One nebula, MF83, has a radius of over 430 light years and is one of the largest remnants known. The other nebula, NGC5471B, is expanding very fast at a velocity of 100 miles per second. The X-ray light from these nebulae is brighter than the brightest supernova remnants known. After Wang calculated the energy needed to produce these remnants, he concluded they were most likely a result from a hypernova. ?These are two of the most unusual remnants known,? Wang said. ?We see that they are bright in X-ray even at a distance of 25 million light years away. They must be from spectacular explosions.? Bohdan Paczynski, of Princeton University, first introduced the concept of a hypernova in 1998 as a why to explain GRBs. Gamma-ray bursts are brief but intense blasts of high-energy radiation. They only last for about 3 seconds, but in that brief time they can release enough energy to be more luminous than the rest of the universe. Paczynski theorized that a hypernova is most likely related to the formation of black holes. The collapse of a massive star and/or its merger with a neutron star could generate more energy than an average star explosion. This is a very possible theory because they have found evidence that GRBs appear close to massive star-forming regions. The Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) instrument aboard NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite has recorded more than 2,000 bursts, about one a day, since its launch in 1991. It also plotted their positions all around the sky and found that GRBs don't concentrate in the plane of the Milky Way, where most of the Milky Way stars are located. Until then, astronomers didn't know if the GRBs are coming from objects on the outskirts of our galaxy or from distant galaxies. These findings pointed to an origin from distant galaxies. In 1997, the Italian-Dutch BeppoSAX satellite pinpointed bursts with enough accuracy to allow optical and radio telescopes to view the burst's sources for the first time. On April 25, 1998, The galaxy ESO 184-G82 was host to a combined GRB and supernova explosion. Using Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, astronomers obtained the first detailed images of a galaxy in which a GRB occurred. This burst, GRB 980425, is the closest ever detected at 125 million light years away and thus must have been 1000 to 1,000,000 times fainter than normal bursts. Also, an unusually bright supernova, SN 1998bw, was seen in exactly the same location merely a day after the burst. Several groups of astronomers have followed the development of this event closely over the last two years. On June 12, 2000, a group of European astronomers obtained very detailed observations of the galaxy ESO 184-G82, the first time such a galaxy has been observed in such fine detail. The new observations allow astronomers to investigate the GRB phenomenon in much greater detail. Most astronomers today believe that GRB 980425 and SN 1998bw (less than 24 hours apart) did come from the same source and has made connection between the two most energetic events in the Universe highly possible. Astronomers, with these new discoveries, are coming closer to unlocking the mystery of the GRB phenomenon. They still know very little about the true nature of GRBs and hypernovae. ?I suspect GRBs may well be just a tip of an iceberg, as we have no clue why some explosions generate so

Unleashing Marijuana

Unleashing Marijuana Ralph SalazarDr. McFaddenENGWR 30023 November, 2014Unleashing MarijuanaWhen the average American thinks about marijuana they have one of two opposing perspectivesabout it: marijuana is illegal, consumers have sloth characteristics that make them unproductive in a fast pace society; marijuana is a natural remedy that soothes not only the body, but also the mind. It isalsoa great social stimulant and if legalized can help the economy. Both ideas about marijuana is true in certain situations, but neither of them is an absolute truth. Each opposing perspective, to an extent, holds certain unrealistic ideas that started with wholesome, accredited facts that could bring bothopposingviews to a neutral stand point. Unfortunately, only fragments of these facts are quoted to fita cause that a certain group orindividual'swishes to insert certain ideas into the minds of the public. Although marijuana has been criticized constantly to a high magnitude, the benefits of marijuana cannot only help t he individual but society as a whole.Looking at the original, wholesome facts from accredited resources, marijuana, is just like alcohol;when used in appropriate situations it canbe beneficial to the consumer as well as make social eventsmore appealing, but if used constantly andinappropriately to the point where it consumes a person's life,by replacing a person's productive habits with constant need to consume the substance, then it becomes a problem. Like any drug, both legal and illegal, the only way that it can bring out the "sloth" characteristics associated with marijuana is if the user has an addictive personality. The reason whyis, because people who have addictive personalities succumb easily to their desire, making them vulnerable by becoming dependent on a particular substance, situations, or whatever seems to excite them. In a typical human being, in the temporal cortex is therewards center where dopamine is created. Dopamine...

Alternative energy ((wind power)) Research Paper

Alternative energy ((wind power)) - Research Paper Example Wind power is one of the oldest sources of energy. The history of the wind power dates back to 5,500 years when the first sail boats made use of this great energy. Around 500-900 AD, the first documented windmills made use of the wind power to grind grain as well as water pumping. Since then, the man has progressed in leaps and bounds: from the traditional windmills to the modern day wind turbines greatly harnessing the energy of the wind for its many uses. (Dodge, 2006) Wind energy has, however, gained prominence in recent years around the globe as shown in figure 2. United States was the second largest producer of the wind energy with an installed capacity of 40.2 GW in the world. Energy analysts state that the lands of the United States have a vast potential of wind energy generation. They believe that the best areas in US have the potential to supply 20% of the total US energy requirement. Likewise, figure 3 shows the current installed wind energy capacity as of 2011 with the highest wind energy production in the state of Texas. In March 2012, the US energy department announced a budget of $180 million to develop offshore wind energy projects. This will enable the country to diversify its energy production mix while as the same time move towards the green energy agenda (US DOE, 2012). The future of the wind power around the world is very bright with the growing demand of cleaner energy. Energy analysts envision the wind energy source perched on every rooftop-be it a business or a house, in near future. Dennis Noonan, owner of Blanchard Machine Development in Hillsboro, has completely revolutionized the technology of the wind turbines, shown in figure 2, which delivers more power with less wind. This will enable the future generation to extract more energy at less cost. (Augustine,