Post by swamprat on Dec 5, 2018 11:07:37 GMT -6
Thank goodness SOMEONE went to the time, trouble, and expense to determine this vital information! "Is that sarcasm?" Yes, Sheldon, it is!
A measurement of all the starlight ever produced
By Eleanor Imster and Deborah Byrd in SPACE | December 5, 2018
How much starlight has our universe produced? According to a new study, stars have radiated 4×1084 photons since the start of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. That’s the number 4 with 84 zeros behind it.
An international team of scientists says it has measured all of the starlight ever produced throughout the 13.7-billion-year history of the observable universe. Sounds wild, right? But the new study was published November 30, 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Science. According to the new measurement, the number of photons (particles of visible light) that have escaped into space since the universe began – after being emitted by stars – translates to 4×1084.
Or put another way …
That’s 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 photons of light.
Clemson College of Science astrophysicist Marco Ajello – who is featured in the video above – is lead author of the new paper. He said in a statement:
"… we were able to measure the entire amount of starlight ever emitted. This has never been done before."
And, of course, there are many variables, so this number is just a ballpark figure. Still, it’s impressive. How did scientists arrive at this number?
This is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. It shows some of the oldest starlight ever seen in our universe. Image via NASA/ ESA.
Astrophysicists believe that our universe started in a Big Bang, some 13.7 billion years ago. They think it started forming stars very quickly after its birth, when it was only a few hundred million years old. Since then, the universe has become a star-making tour de force.
In the universe today, there are about two trillion galaxies and about a trillion-trillion stars.
Measuring all of the starlight in this vast universe is clearly a daunting task. This team of scientists says it did it by analyzing data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
The new calculations are based on measurements of the extragalactic background light, also known as the EBL. You can think of the EBL as a cosmic fog composed of all the ultraviolet, visible and infrared light ever emitted by stars. If you could measure the EBL, you’d have taken a huge step toward measuring all the starlight in the universe.
But obtaining this measurement hasn’t been easy.
Abhishek Desai is a physics and astronomy grad student at Clemson, and a co-author on the new paper. Desai said:
"Scientists have tried to measure the EBL for a long time. However, very bright foregrounds like the zodiacal light(which is light scattered by dust in the solar system) rendered this measurement very challenging."
The new study used Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope data to analyze the light from 739 blazars – supermassive black holes that emit powerful jets of gamma rays – whose light was emitted in the ancient universe and has taken billions of years to arrive at Earth. The scientists said:
"Blazars are galaxies containing supermassive black holes that are able to release narrowly collimated jets of energetic particles that leap out of their galaxies and streak across the cosmos at nearly the speed of light. When one of these jets happens to be pointed directly at Earth, it is detectable even when originating from extremely far away. Gamma ray photons produced within the jets eventually collide with the cosmic fog [or EBL], leaving an observable imprint."
And thus the researchers were able to measure the density of the EBL not just at a given place, but also at a given time in the history of the universe.
The upshot is that, until a future team of scientists corrects this number (a high probability since, as we all know, science is a process, not a body of facts), we now have a number to describe the total photons of light emitted by stars since the universe began.
That number again … 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Despite this stupendously large number, the researchers said, it’s interesting to note that – with the exception of the light that comes from our own sun and galaxy – the rest of the starlight that reaches Earth is exceedingly dim. It’s equivalent to a 60-watt light bulb viewed in complete darkness from about 2.5 miles (4 km) away.
Why is this? It’s because our universe is almost incomprehensibly huge. The dimness of starlight also explains why the sky is dark at night, other than light from the moon, visible stars and the faint glow of the Milky Way.
Bottom line: How much starlight has our universe produced? According to a new study, stars have radiated 4×1084 photons since the start of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. That’s the number 4 with 84 zeros behind it.
earthsky.org/space/scientists-measure-all-starlight-ever-produced-by-universe
Now THIS, on the other hand, is a worthwhile endeavor:
A step closer to fusion energy
Imaging allows better testing of components for devices
Date: December 4, 2018
Source: Swansea University
Summary:
Harnessing nuclear fusion is a step closer after researchers showed that using two types of imaging can help them assess the safety and reliability of parts used in a fusion energy device.
Harnessing nuclear fusion, which powers the sun and stars, to help meet earth's energy needs, is a step closer after researchers showed that using two types of imaging can help them assess the safety and reliability of parts used in a fusion energy device.
Scientists from Swansea University, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, ITER in France, and the Max-Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Germany paired x-ray and neutron imaging to test the robustness of parts.
They found that both methods yield valuable data which can be used in developing components.
The sun is a shining example of fusion in action. In the extremes of pressure and temperature at the centre of the sun atoms travel fast enough to fuse together, releasing vast amounts of energy. For decades, scientists have been looking at how to harness this safe, carbon-free and virtually limitless source of energy.
One major obstacle is the staggering temperatures that components in fusion devices have to withstand: up to 10 times the heat of the centre of the sun.
One of the main approaches to fusion, magnetic confinement, requires reactors which have some of the greatest temperature gradients on earth, and potentially in the universe: plasmas reaching highs of 150 million °C and the cryopump, which is only metres away, as low as -269 °C.
It is critical that researchers can test -- non-destructively -- the robustness of engineering components that must function in such an extreme environment.
The research team focused on one critical component, called a monoblock, which is a pipe carrying coolant. This was the first time the new tungsten monoblock design has been imaged by computerised tomography. They used ISIS Neutron and Muon Source's neutron imaging instrument, IMAT.
Dr Triestino Minniti of the Science and Technology Facilities Council said:
"Each technique had its own benefits and drawbacks. The advantage of neutron imaging over x-ray imaging is that neutrons are significantly more penetrating through tungsten."
Thus, it is feasible to image samples containing larger volumes of tungsten. Neutron tomography also allows us to investigate the full monoblock non-destructively, removing the need to produce "region of interest" samples"
Dr Llion Evans of Swansea University College of Engineering said:
"This work is a proof of concept that both these tomography methods can produce valuable data. In future these complementary techniques can be used either for the research and development cycle of fusion component design or in quality assurance of manufacturing."
The next step is to convert the 3D images produced by this powerful technique into engineering simulations with micro-scale resolution. This technique, known as image-based finite element method (IBFEM), enables the performance of each part to be assessed individually and account for minor deviations from design caused by manufacturing processes.
The research was published in Fusion Engineering and Design.
________________________________________
Story Source:
Materials provided by Swansea University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
________________________________________
Journal Reference:
1. Ll.M. Evans, T. Minniti, M. Fursdon, M. Gorley, T. Barrett, F. Domptail, E. Surrey, W. Kockelmann, A. v. Müller, F. Escourbiac, A. Durocher. Comparison of X-ray and neutron tomographic imaging to qualify manufacturing of a fusion divertor tungsten monoblock. Fusion Engineering and Design, 2018; 134: 97 DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2018.06.017
A measurement of all the starlight ever produced
By Eleanor Imster and Deborah Byrd in SPACE | December 5, 2018
How much starlight has our universe produced? According to a new study, stars have radiated 4×1084 photons since the start of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. That’s the number 4 with 84 zeros behind it.
An international team of scientists says it has measured all of the starlight ever produced throughout the 13.7-billion-year history of the observable universe. Sounds wild, right? But the new study was published November 30, 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Science. According to the new measurement, the number of photons (particles of visible light) that have escaped into space since the universe began – after being emitted by stars – translates to 4×1084.
Or put another way …
That’s 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 photons of light.
Clemson College of Science astrophysicist Marco Ajello – who is featured in the video above – is lead author of the new paper. He said in a statement:
"… we were able to measure the entire amount of starlight ever emitted. This has never been done before."
And, of course, there are many variables, so this number is just a ballpark figure. Still, it’s impressive. How did scientists arrive at this number?
This is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. It shows some of the oldest starlight ever seen in our universe. Image via NASA/ ESA.
Astrophysicists believe that our universe started in a Big Bang, some 13.7 billion years ago. They think it started forming stars very quickly after its birth, when it was only a few hundred million years old. Since then, the universe has become a star-making tour de force.
In the universe today, there are about two trillion galaxies and about a trillion-trillion stars.
Measuring all of the starlight in this vast universe is clearly a daunting task. This team of scientists says it did it by analyzing data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
The new calculations are based on measurements of the extragalactic background light, also known as the EBL. You can think of the EBL as a cosmic fog composed of all the ultraviolet, visible and infrared light ever emitted by stars. If you could measure the EBL, you’d have taken a huge step toward measuring all the starlight in the universe.
But obtaining this measurement hasn’t been easy.
Abhishek Desai is a physics and astronomy grad student at Clemson, and a co-author on the new paper. Desai said:
"Scientists have tried to measure the EBL for a long time. However, very bright foregrounds like the zodiacal light(which is light scattered by dust in the solar system) rendered this measurement very challenging."
The new study used Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope data to analyze the light from 739 blazars – supermassive black holes that emit powerful jets of gamma rays – whose light was emitted in the ancient universe and has taken billions of years to arrive at Earth. The scientists said:
"Blazars are galaxies containing supermassive black holes that are able to release narrowly collimated jets of energetic particles that leap out of their galaxies and streak across the cosmos at nearly the speed of light. When one of these jets happens to be pointed directly at Earth, it is detectable even when originating from extremely far away. Gamma ray photons produced within the jets eventually collide with the cosmic fog [or EBL], leaving an observable imprint."
And thus the researchers were able to measure the density of the EBL not just at a given place, but also at a given time in the history of the universe.
The upshot is that, until a future team of scientists corrects this number (a high probability since, as we all know, science is a process, not a body of facts), we now have a number to describe the total photons of light emitted by stars since the universe began.
That number again … 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Despite this stupendously large number, the researchers said, it’s interesting to note that – with the exception of the light that comes from our own sun and galaxy – the rest of the starlight that reaches Earth is exceedingly dim. It’s equivalent to a 60-watt light bulb viewed in complete darkness from about 2.5 miles (4 km) away.
Why is this? It’s because our universe is almost incomprehensibly huge. The dimness of starlight also explains why the sky is dark at night, other than light from the moon, visible stars and the faint glow of the Milky Way.
Bottom line: How much starlight has our universe produced? According to a new study, stars have radiated 4×1084 photons since the start of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. That’s the number 4 with 84 zeros behind it.
earthsky.org/space/scientists-measure-all-starlight-ever-produced-by-universe
Now THIS, on the other hand, is a worthwhile endeavor:
A step closer to fusion energy
Imaging allows better testing of components for devices
Date: December 4, 2018
Source: Swansea University
Summary:
Harnessing nuclear fusion is a step closer after researchers showed that using two types of imaging can help them assess the safety and reliability of parts used in a fusion energy device.
Harnessing nuclear fusion, which powers the sun and stars, to help meet earth's energy needs, is a step closer after researchers showed that using two types of imaging can help them assess the safety and reliability of parts used in a fusion energy device.
Scientists from Swansea University, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, ITER in France, and the Max-Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Germany paired x-ray and neutron imaging to test the robustness of parts.
They found that both methods yield valuable data which can be used in developing components.
The sun is a shining example of fusion in action. In the extremes of pressure and temperature at the centre of the sun atoms travel fast enough to fuse together, releasing vast amounts of energy. For decades, scientists have been looking at how to harness this safe, carbon-free and virtually limitless source of energy.
One major obstacle is the staggering temperatures that components in fusion devices have to withstand: up to 10 times the heat of the centre of the sun.
One of the main approaches to fusion, magnetic confinement, requires reactors which have some of the greatest temperature gradients on earth, and potentially in the universe: plasmas reaching highs of 150 million °C and the cryopump, which is only metres away, as low as -269 °C.
It is critical that researchers can test -- non-destructively -- the robustness of engineering components that must function in such an extreme environment.
The research team focused on one critical component, called a monoblock, which is a pipe carrying coolant. This was the first time the new tungsten monoblock design has been imaged by computerised tomography. They used ISIS Neutron and Muon Source's neutron imaging instrument, IMAT.
Dr Triestino Minniti of the Science and Technology Facilities Council said:
"Each technique had its own benefits and drawbacks. The advantage of neutron imaging over x-ray imaging is that neutrons are significantly more penetrating through tungsten."
Thus, it is feasible to image samples containing larger volumes of tungsten. Neutron tomography also allows us to investigate the full monoblock non-destructively, removing the need to produce "region of interest" samples"
Dr Llion Evans of Swansea University College of Engineering said:
"This work is a proof of concept that both these tomography methods can produce valuable data. In future these complementary techniques can be used either for the research and development cycle of fusion component design or in quality assurance of manufacturing."
The next step is to convert the 3D images produced by this powerful technique into engineering simulations with micro-scale resolution. This technique, known as image-based finite element method (IBFEM), enables the performance of each part to be assessed individually and account for minor deviations from design caused by manufacturing processes.
The research was published in Fusion Engineering and Design.
________________________________________
Story Source:
Materials provided by Swansea University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
________________________________________
Journal Reference:
1. Ll.M. Evans, T. Minniti, M. Fursdon, M. Gorley, T. Barrett, F. Domptail, E. Surrey, W. Kockelmann, A. v. Müller, F. Escourbiac, A. Durocher. Comparison of X-ray and neutron tomographic imaging to qualify manufacturing of a fusion divertor tungsten monoblock. Fusion Engineering and Design, 2018; 134: 97 DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2018.06.017