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sciencespook:

Earth-like Planet detected in our Neighbourhood

Alpha Centauri system is made up of three stars:  a red dwarf named Proxima, and two stars very much like our own sun, imaginatively named Alpha Centauri A and B. It’s already famed in sci-fi, but just recently astronomers have discovered something that will make any space-lover swoon: a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B. This exoplanet is 1.13 times the mass of Earth, but that’s where the similarities end: while Earth orbits at a distance of 150 million kilometres from its sun, “Alpha Centauri Bb” orbits in a scorching hot zone just six million kilometres from its star—its surface could even be covered with molten rock. The planet is definitely not in the Goldilock’s Zone, so it does not contain liquid water and therefore is unlikely to harbour life as we know it. Still, it’s an amazing discovery for several reasons. The method with which the planet was detected is groundbreaking: planets don’t orbit a stationary star, but in fact the planet and star orbit a common centre of gravity, which means the star moves in miniscule amounts. Alpha Centauri B constantly wobbles as the planet orbits around it and exerts a gravitational tug, but this wobble is tiny—no more than 1.8 k/ph—so for us to detect it is phenomenal. More than 450 observations were made over four years in order to be sure, and the discovery marks the highest precision ever achieved using this method of detection. Even more exciting is the fact that Alpha Centauri Bb it’s the closest known exoplanet to Earth, at only 4.3 lightyears away. In cosmic terms, that’s just next door. Statistically, low-mass planets are formed in multi-planetary systems, so its mere existence suggests that Alpha Centauri holds even more undiscovered planets—and perhaps some formed in habitable zones.

(Artist’s Impressions Credit: 1, 2)

sciencespook:

A Perilous Turquoise Beauty

In Indonesia, a volcano called Kawah Ijen towers up 2,600 metres above East Java. At its peak is the world’s largest acidic crater lake, 200 metres deep and filled with the brilliant turquoise flames of burning molten sulfur. This sulfur comes from an active gaseous vent on the lakeshore, and it is capitalized on by local mining operations: the gases are capped by a network of manmade pipes so that the sulfur consenses into a molten red liquid, which then solidifies into pure, bright yellow sulfur. Under the light of the moon, pitifully-paid miners trek up the volcano and face the noxious fumes with barely any protection, quarrying the rich, solid sulfur deposits by breaking it into manageable chunks. They then carry sulfur-laden baskets (weighing up to 90 kg) out of the crater and several long kilometres down to the weighing station—not just once, but several times a day. The sulfur is used in a variety of industrial processes, including vulcanizing rubber and bleaching sugar. Miners extract approximately 14 tons a day, which, incredibly, is just 20 percent of the volcano’s awe-inspiring daily deposit.

Check out the full gallery by Olivier Grunewald

sciencespook:

Creepy Crypts and Catacombs

Feast your morbidly curious eyes on this season-appropriate gallery by National Geographic. From the bones of 4,000 Capuchin monks who have been used in a strange art to decorate rooms, to Pharaoh Ti erecting a statue of himself to guard his own tomb from looters, this gallery creepily demonstrates humankind’s fascination with death.

(via sciencesoup)

nickoftimela:

Elysian Park by woof336699 on Flickr.

nickoftimela:

Rancho Palos Verdes “LA” by woof336699 on Flickr.

plasmaterial:

that signature is an eyesore

(via nickoftimela)