Reel

Attosecond

The world’s shortest light pulse

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three physicists — Pierre Agostini at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ferenc Krausz at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, and Anne L’Huillier at Lund University, Sweden — for their research into attosecond pulses of light.Attosecond physics allows scientists to look

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We are losing our night sky

We are losing our night sky

Large constellations of bright artificial satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) pose significant challenges to ground-based astronomy. Current orbiting constellation satellites have brightness’s between apparent magnitudes 4 and 6. Satellite operators, astronomers, and other users of the night sky are working on brightness mitigation strategies. Radio emissions induce further potential risk to ground-based radio telescopes

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International Space Station

The End Is Near

The ISS’s fiery death will likely occur in three phases: Solar array and radiator separationBreakup of intact modules and the truss segmentIndividual module fragmentation and loss of truss structural integrity After that, the external skin of the modules will melt away, heating and disintegrating the internal hardware. Most hardware will likely burn up during the

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Neutron Star

Neutron Star

Many neutron stars are likely undetectable because they simply do not emit enough radiation. However, under certain conditions, they can be easily observed. A handful of neutron stars have been found sitting at the centers of supernova remnants quietly emitting X-rays. More often, though, neutron stars are found spinning wildly with extreme magnetic fields as

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