2nd June 2013

Photo reblogged from with 6,149 notes

spaceplasma:

Italians put ‘disco ball’ into orbit

Italian physicists have put a test particle into space to attempt to measure an effect predicted by general relativity.

The object, which is about the size of a football, made of tungsten and covered with 92 reflectors, is supposedly the “most perfect” test particle ever put into space. It’s entirely passive, weighs 400kg, and will be tracked by lasers from Earth.

It was launched on 13 February, 2012, and is known as Lares, or the “Laser Relativity Satellite”. Its objective is to provide data that will allow physicists to measure a phenomenon known as rotational frame-dragging.

This is a tiny, subtle effect predicted by general relativity where massive spinning bodies, like planets, drag space-time with them as they turn, changing the angle at which small particles close by rotate.

Nasa’s Gravity Probe B, launched in 2004, contained four small, spherical gyroscopes to try and measure this effect, but problems with the spacecraft reduced their accuracy to only about 20 percent. The Italians believe their approach is a much cheaper way of achieving the same goal.

It’s hoped that by tracing the angle of Lares’ rotation, along with a pair of other less-perfect balls already in orbit - Lageos 1 & 2 - the frame-dragging effect will finally be able to be observed.

Source: wired.co.uk

6th December 2012

Photo reblogged from "My inauspicious sky is neverending." with 55 notes

wonderfulmachine:

India. photo by Chris Sorensen

Source: wonderfulmachine

6th December 2012

Photo reblogged from COULEURS with 67 notes

yama-bato:

“Vortex” is the latest art installation by Tomoko Shioyasu; her work was presented in a group show at the Japan Society Gallery in New York City. Tomoko’s technique is all about “overlapping cuts in large, wide sheets of paper using utility knives, soldering-iron works, in which she creates images by melting holes in special synthetic paper, and drawings, using acrylics or charcoal.”

via

6th December 2012

Photo reblogged from Jo soy Lobon with 864 notes

josoylobon:

ikenbot:…….e VAMOS PARA O ESPAÇO!

Glowing Nebula Photo Marks New Telescope’s Inauguration

A gorgeous photo of a star-forming region of space called the Carina Nebula marks the inauguration of a new telescope — the largest instrument in the world devoted to surveying the sky in visible light.

Image: The spectacular star-forming Carina Nebula has been captured in great detail by the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. This picture was taken with the help of Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, during his visit to the observatory on June 5, 2012 and released on the occasion of the new telescope’s inauguration in Naples on Dec. 6, 2012. Credit: ESO. Acknowledgement: VPHAS+ Consortium/Cambridge

The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile was officially inaugurated today (Dec. 6) in Naples, Italy.

While the Carina nebula has been photographed many times before, most telescopes can only observe a small part of it at once. The VST, designed for large surveys of the sky, has a very wide field of view, and was able to image almost all of Carina in a single photo.

Source: space.com