HyperBaseline Telescopes – NanoArcSecond Resolution

Posted on July 1, 2011 by David

HyperBaseline Telescopes
(c) Copyright 2011 David j Dilworth

Imagine resolving details of nearby stars and their planets.

Sub-nano-arc second resolution should be possible with this proposal for a telescope that is composed of a set of three sets of two (six total) lens-sensor spacecraft systems that send images and data back to Earth from three baselines that can begin sending ground breaking data when the spacecraft are separated by 10 times Earth’s diameter. The baselines of the six spacecraft grow over some 100 to 200 years to about 100 billion miles (roughly 1100 AU, 2 hundredths of a light year or 160 terameters).

Solar Map - Credit:NASA

Solar Map
Credit: NASA

Six Directions for Six SpaceCraft

Six Directions for Six SpaceCraft

Three pairs of identical telescopes are launched in six X,Y,Z axis directions to escape our Solar System and return images from each of the three paired baselines. One axis is intended to be perpendicular to our galactic plane.

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Posted in Basic Science, Experiments, Fun, Proposal | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Article on Big Bang’s Inadequate Definition Disputed – But Article Emerges Unscathed

Posted on June 10, 2011 by David

I just found a critique by Ethan Siegel implying that there is some flaw in my article explaining Big Bang’s lack of an adequate scientific definition and hypothesis (titled “International Astronomical Union has no Definition for Big Bang“).

While flattering (I’ve made mistakes before and far prefer to get them corrected quickly), the critique fails to identify any flaws in my article and contains a number of incorrect or misleading assertions — including the false claim that the complete quote by Professor Peebles is somehow out of context.

It also spends most of its extensive effort with an elaborate distraction where it tries but falls short of describing a complete hypothesis for Big Bang. Since the article is copied on other blogs, its errors need correcting. So, here are some responses to the dispute article’s ideas and quotes.

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Posted in Basic Science, Big Bang Models, Education | 5 Comments

Inverse Femtobarns – Measuring Collider Effectiveness

Posted on May 31, 2011 by David

Here’s a fun article on possible identification of a new particle.

FermiLab - Illinois

FermiLab - Illinois

Update (July 2011): Unfortunately, this exciting potential evaporated under more rigorous scrutiny. But, that’s exactly the way science is supposed to work. We are supposed to abandon even our most treasured concepts when data can not support it, and embrace data even when it contradicts our wishes about natural phenomena.

Update (June 2011): Rats – verification by a second team failed; it shows no similar “bump” meaning that hope for the alleged new particle is evaporating, but not disappeared. Nevertheless, the amusing term remains :-)

It describes how the evidence is getting stronger – and we may have a new particle confirmed soon.
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Explore the Whole Night Sky – Interactively

Posted on May 12, 2011 by David

Ever want to explore the whole night sky ?

Whole Night Sky

Whole Night Sky

Here you go thanks to Nick Risinger—
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Posted in Basic Science, Education, Fun, News | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Earth from Orbit – Live Video

Posted on May 12, 2011 by David

Live video of our Earth from orbit (from the International Space Station or ISS courtesy of NASA)

Earth from Orbit

Earth from Orbit
Credit NASA

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload

And here’s the International Space Station ground tracking position to you can tell where on the earth it is. https://web.archive.org/web/20180509213552/http://iss.astroviewer.net/

Here’s a backup in case the NASA website is down: ISS Tracker

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New Record for Directly Measuring Astronomical Distances beyond our Local Supercluster – 450 million light years – with only 9% uncertainty

Posted on February 19, 2011 by David

The new record for the farthest object whose distance was directly measured is 450 million light years with an uncertainty of no more than 9 percent.

Our Milky Way galaxy is only 100,000 light years across. 450 million light years is more than four thousand times the diameter of our galaxy. Our “local” Supercluster centered on Virgo is only 150 million light years across – one-third of the new distance measurement record.

This was set by the world’s largest telescope, the Very Large Baseline Array telescope (VLBA) which extends from Hawaii to New Hampshire, and boasts a resolution a hundred times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.
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News: International Astronomical Union has no Definition for Big Bang

Posted on February 2, 2011 by David

IAU has no Definition for Big Bang

(c) copyright 2011 David Dilworth

3 Quarks Daily Semi-Finalist Logo

3 Quarks Daily Semi-Finalist Logo

“…the [Big Bang] definition is a mess.” – Prof. P. James E. Peebles, Princeton University, Feb. 2011

News: (Carmel, California) The world’s most widely respected astrophysics organization, the International Astronomical Union (or IAU), has affirmed that it has no definition for any Big Bang model.

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Posted in Basic Science, Big Bang Models, Contest, Education | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments

Rubber Rulers: Fundamental Astrophysics Distance Tool Not Constant

Posted on January 14, 2011 by David

News: A fundamental astrophysics distance tool called Cepheid stars are newly discovered to vary in brightness and mass with age.

Cosmological Distance Measuring Sticks "Ladder" and "Standard Candles"

Cosmological Distance Measuring Sticks “Ladder” and “Standard Candles”

“Everything crumbles in cosmology studies if you don’t start up with the most precise measurements of Cepheids possible,” said Cepheid research follow-up study lead author Pauline Barmby, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

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Posted in Basic Astrophysics, Basic Science, Distance Measuring, Education, Models, News, Structure | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Fun Cosmology Talk at MIRA Holiday Party

Posted on November 16, 2010 by David

MIRA (Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy) will hold their fabulous annual Holiday Party on December 12. During the fest / feast they are excited about me providing a 15-20 minute presentation titled “Ground Rules for Cosmology.” Come and join us.
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Posted in Basic Astrophysics, Education, Events, Fun, Models | 1 Comment

Ground Rules for Cosmology Physics

Posted on April 2, 2010 by David

Spring 2010: Click here to read my conference astrophysics paper “Ground Rules for Cosmological Physics”, or

to read the definitive version of — “Ground Rules for Cosmological Physics” you can buy it by clicking here, for a nominal sum at Astronomical Society of the Pacific (and provide support for a most laudable organization).
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Posted in Basic Astrophysics, Basic Science, Big Bang Models, Definitions, Education, Models, Plasma Models, Redshift, Spectral Line, Static Models, Steady-State Models | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ethan Siegel’s Science Errors

Posted on January 1, 2000 by David

Kept just to forward from old link

Ethan Siegel’s Science Errors

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