Spacetime With Stuart Gary

*The mysteries of antimatter continue to puzzle physicists New super-precise measurements by physicists have placed new constraints on the differences between matter and antimatter. The new result improves by a factor 350 the precision of the previous measurement and allows physicists to compare matter and antimatter with an unprecedented accuracy. *New ways to determine the size of monster black holes Astronomers have discovered what could be an easy way to determine the size of a spiral galaxies supermassive black hole. The findings claim there’s a direct relationship between the geometry of some types of spiral galaxies and the hidden super massive black hole at their centres. *The origins of rich organic material on the dwarf planet Ceres A new study claims organic rich material discovered on the dwarf planet Ceres is most likely native to the tiny frozen world. The organics were detected by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft and were originally thought to have been deposited there by comet or asteroid impacts. *Dawn

*First evidence of Quantum fluctuations in deep space Evidence of a strange quantum effect first predicted in the 1930 may have been detected by astronomers studying the light emitted from an extraordinarily dense and strongly magnetised neutron star The polarisation of the observed light suggests that the empty space around the neutron star is subject to a quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence. *Out of control Chinese space station about to crash back to Earth China has confirmed that its Tiangong-1 orbiting space lab is out of control and likely to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at any moment. Beijing says the eight and a half tone orbiting outpost is expected to re-enter the atmosphere between now and April next year -- depending on orbital decay rates. *Back to the Moon US Vice President Mike Pence has called on NASA to return humans to the Moon. The call comes in the wake of Russia’s announcement that it will join the United States in building the new Deep Space Gateway space station which will b

*First neutron star merger confirmed through gravitational waves Astronomers have for the first time detected gravitational waves generated by merging neutron stars. The findings involved the detection on August 17 of the collision of two neutron stars each slightly more massive than the Sun -- in a relatively nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 4993, about 130 million light-years away. *Mapping the far side of the Milky Way Astronomers have for the first time directly measured the distance to a star-forming region on the far side of the Milky Way Galaxy. The study reaches deep into the Milky Way’s terra incognita and nearly doubles the previous record for distance measurement within the galaxy. *CERN smashes Xenon ions The Large Hardon Collider at CERN the European Organization for Nuclear Research has undertaken its first Xenon ion collisions. The eight-hour event allowed the, ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb experiments situated around the 27-kilometre-long underground ring to record xenon nuclei collisions for the fir

*A radio for dark matter Scientists are developing a new device that instead of searching for dark matter particles – will search for dark matter waves. A prototype of the new device is now being tested to listen for the sounds of mysterious dark matter particles. *Ring found around dwarf planet Haumea Astronomers have detected another ringed world in our solar system. As well as the gas giants; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the Kuiper Belt dwarf planet Haumea has now also been found to have a ring system. *JUNO’s eighth Jovian flyby NASA’s Juno spacecraft has completed its eighth close encounter with Jupiter -- flying just 7576 kilometres above the giant planet’s swirling cloud tops. The new observations show close-up images of two points of interest, known as ‘Whale’s Tail’ and ‘Dan’s Spot.’ *Asteroid 2012 TC4 zooms past Earth An asteroid the size of a house passed just 50,150 kilometres above the South Pacific Ocean on Thursday travelling at over 7.6 km per second relative to Earth. Known as a NEO

*A possible cradle of life discovered on Mars Evidence of massive ancient sea floor hydrothermal vent deposits have been discovered on Mars. Hydrothermal vents found on the mid ocean ridges of Earth, pump a rich chemical soup into the surrounding oceans, which many scientists believe could be where life on Earth began. *Chemical signatures for life discovered near and far Freon-40, a chemical signature of life has been detected -- both around a distant star -- and much closer to home – in a comet orbiting the Sun. The discovery includes the first ever detection of a saturated organohalogen chemical compound in interstellar space. *Cosmic rays from distant galaxies A fifty year long debate has finally been resolved with confirmation that the highest energy cosmic rays originate from sources far beyond our galaxy. The findings are based on the uneven distribution of high energy cosmic rays bombarding the Earth from different positions across the sky. *Mysterious Dimming of Tabby's Star May Be Caused by Dust Ast

*Narrowing down on Dark Energy A new study looking at pressure waves generated in the primordial universe has revealed possible evidence of dynamical dark energy. The potential discovery means dark energy could behave differently from the cosmological constant model first proposed by Professor Albert Einstein a hundred years ago to allow his general theory of relativity to work in cosmology. *Strange comet like binary asteroid discovered A strange comet like asteroid first discovered more than a decade ago has turned out to actually consist of two asteroids orbiting each. The findings represent the first known binary asteroid also classified as a comet. *More evidence that mega eruptions caused the great dying A team of scientists has found new evidence that the Great Permian Mass Extinction event 250 million years ago, was caused by the massive volcanic eruptions of the Siberian Trap. Known as the great dying – the Permian Mass Extinction killed over 90 percent of all species on Earth. *Deep Space Gateway ga

*Rare meteorite rocks scientific community A rare meteorite discovered by prospectors in far north Queensland (Australia) is providing new clues about the internal structures of large asteroids and possibly even some terrestrial planets. The 15 kilogram space rock was uncovered three years ago, about two metres below the surface, by a couple fossicking for gold with a metal detector. *New theory on the creation of supermassive black holes Scientists using computer simulations have shown how a supermassive black hole could be created from supersonic gas streams left over from the Big Bang. The findings reported in the journal Science, shows this simulated black hole could be the source of the birth and development of the largest and oldest supermassive black holes ever recorded. *Record setting comet NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the farthest active inbound comet ever seen. The comet, called C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS is still a whopping 2.4 billion kilometres from the Sun – placing it beyond the orb

*Fourth gravitational wave detection Astronomers have achieved a fourth gravitational wave detection of merging stellar mass black holes. The new discovery was a combined effort between the existing LIGO Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detectors in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington together with the New European VIRGO detector near Pisa in Italy. *Discovery of a pitch black planet that eats light. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observed a planet outside our solar system that looks as black as fresh asphalt because it eats light rather than reflecting it back into space. This light-eating prowess is due to the planet's unique capability to trap at least 94 percent of the visible starlight falling into its atmosphere. *New Pluto mission proposal NASA has received a new proposal for a surface mission to Pluto. The new plan would follow on from the highly successful New Horizons spacecraft which undertook an historic close flyby of Pluto its binary partner Charon, and their fiv

*Australia to finally establish a space agency The Australian Federal Government has announced plans to finally establish its own space agency in an attempt to cash in on the growing 420 billion dollar global space industry. The new agency will co-ordinate strategic long term plans supporting domestic aerospace industries currently worth over four billion dollars -- but which are often uncoordinated and fragmented, often developing similar competing systems. *Discovery of the nearest supermassive black hole binary Astronomers have detected the nearest ever binary supermassive black hole system. The twin monsters which are separated by only one light year -- were located just 400 light years away in a spiral galaxy named NGC 7674. *Fast Radio Bursts could be very common A new study claims mysterious nanosecond flashes of intense energy known as Fast Radio Bursts of FRBs may be firing off every second. When FRBs, were first discovered by the Parkes Radio Telescope in 2001, astronomers had never seen anything li

*Could interstellar ice provide the answer to the birth of DNA? Molecules brought to Earth in meteorite strikes could potentially be converted into the building blocks of DNA. A report in the Chemical Communications claims researchers found that organic compounds, called amino nitriles, the molecular precursors to amino acids, were able to use molecules present in interstellar ice to trigger the formation of 2-deoxy-D-ribose -- the backbone molecule, , of DNA. *The mysterious night side of Venus The winds and upper cloud patterns on the night side of Venus have been characterised for the first time- giving scientists some surprising results. A report in the journal Nature Astronomy claims the atmosphere on Venus’ night side behaves very differently to that on the side of the planet facing the Sun -- exhibiting unexpected and previously-unseen cloud types, morphologies, and dynamics -- some of which appear to be connected to features on the planet’s surface. *WASP 19B an inferno world with titanium skies Astro

*The best estimates yet of Earth’s composition Astronomers have determined the most accurate estimate yet of the Earth’s core, finding it makes up 32.5 per cent of the planet’s total mass. The findings are part of a new understanding of the Earth’s composition, which will help scientists develop new methods to determine if exoplanets orbiting distant stars are likely to be capable of supporting life. *New supernovae study reframes the Dark Energy debate A new study claims the accelerating expansion of the universe may not be real, but could just be an apparent effect. The study claims the fit of Type Ia supernovae to a model universe with no dark energy appears to be very slightly better than the fit for the standard dark energy model. *Curiosity climbing a Martian ridge NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has begun the steep ascent up an iron-oxide-bearing ridge that's grabbed scientists' attention since before its arrival on the red planet in 2012. The Vera Rubin Ridge stands prominently on the north western flank

Help support SpaceTime, become a patron for as little as $3 per month. And we have rewards. Check out the details at https://www.patreon.com/spacetimewithstuartgary * Farewell Cassini After an historic mission lasting 20 years -- including 13 years of ground breaking scientific observations of the majestic ringed world of Saturn and its many moons –Cassini’s journey of exploration has come to an end. On September 15 at 9:53 in the evening Australian Eastern Standard Time – after a five minute roll manoeuvre -- Cassini began its suicidal death plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere -- triggering the ultimate demise of the spacecraft. *New Horizons wakes up from hibernation NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has successfully woken from hibernation as it continues its marathon mission to the distant Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69. Mission managers at the Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland say the 480 kilogram probe woke up from its five month hibernation period in good health and operating normally, with all system

Help support SpaceTime, become a patron for as little as $3 per month. And we have rewards. Check out the details at https://www.patreon.com/spacetimewithstuartgary * NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft about to swoop over Australia Australian stargazers will have a chance to get a close up look at NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft when the three metre wide probe sweeps over the country during the early morning hours of September 23rd. The spacecraft is undertaking a gravity assist slingshot manoeuvre, designed to build up speed and modify its trajectory to eventually intercept the half kilometre wide asteroid 101955 Bennu, which has a 1-in-2700 chance of hitting the Earth in the next 200 years. *Jupiter's auroras present a powerful mystery Scientists on NASA's Juno mission have observed massive amounts of energy swirling over Jupiter's polar regions which are contributing to the gas giant’s powerful aurorae - only not in ways the researchers expected. Juno observed signatures from powerful electric potentials, aligned w

Help support SpaceTime, become a patron for as little as $3 per month. And we have rewards. Check out the details at https://www.patreon.com/spacetimewithstuartgary * New theories on the formation of primordial black holes Mysterious long hypothesized objects known as primordial black holes may have made the universe the way it is today. The claims speculates that these enigmatic black holes from the beginning of time formed before the first stars, and later helped create many of the heavier elements found in nature including gold, platinum, and uranium. *Tabby’s star probably just dusty rather than an alien megastructure A new analysis of a strange looking star which experiences wild fluctuations in brightness indicates massive amounts of dust could be causing the phenomenon. The spectral type F main white sequence star KIC-8462852 first sprung to attention in 2015 when citizen scientists looking through data from NASA’s planet hunting Kepler Space Telescope noticed abnormal cycles of dimming and brightening

Stream episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly) * Cassini mission end countdown On September 15 NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will finally end its historic mission to the ringed world of Saturn and its many moons. During its 13 years of groundbreaking observations -- Cassini has changed sciences understanding of the Saturnian system. *NASA's next Mars mission to investigate the red planet’s interior Preparation of NASA's next mission to the red planet Mars is ramping up on course for launch in May. NASA’s InSight lander will launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California – the first ever interplanetary mission to fly from the America's West Coast space port. *September Skywatch The September Equinox takes place in the early hours of September 23rd Australian Time, and late on September 22nd in Europe and the Americas. September’s skies also provides two meteor showers for backyard astronomers. *First launch of Minotaur rocket A Minotaur rocket has successfully carried out its first launch

Help support SpaceTime, become a patron for as little as $3 per month. And we have rewards includinga commercial free version of the show. Check out the details at https://www.patreon.com/spacetimewithstuartgary * Bizarre looking white dwarf star Astronomers have identified an unusual white dwarf star that may be the leftover remains of a recently discovered new type of “sub-luminous” supernova. The findings also point to more than one process for generating these powerful cataclysmic stellar explosions. *First X-rays detected from thermonuclear supernovae Astronomers have for the first time detected x-rays coming from exploding stars known as thermonuclear or type 1a supernovae. Type 1a supernovae has helped scientists develop their current understanding of the universe, but researchers are still in the dark about many of their features. *A new look at how the Earth was formed New geochemical research indicates that existing theories of the formation of the Earth could be wrong. The claims are based on exper

Stream episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly) Help support SpaceTime, become a patron for as little as $3 per month. And we have rewards. Check out the details at https://www.patreon.com/spacetimewithstuartgary * Diamonds rain on Neptune and Uranus Scientists have created diamond rain during experiments mimicking the conditions deep inside the giant ice planets Uranus and Neptune. The findings represent the first time diamond rain was created in the laboratory under the sorts of extreme pressures and conditions likely to occur inside the solar systems ice giants. *Large, distant comets more common than previously thought A new study has warned that there are far more long period comets out there than previously thought. The findings are based on observations by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer or WISE spacecraft. *Impact winter from the dinosaur killing asteroid could have thrust Earth into two years of darkness A new study claims the tremendous amounts of soot lofted into the air

* Moon's magnetic field lasted far longer than once believed New evidence indicates that the Moon's magnetic field lasted up to 2.5 billion years longer than previously thought. The findings have major implications for life and habitability on other moons and planetary bodies. *Is the universe’s dark matter disappearing? A new dark energy study suggests the amount of dark matter in the universe may be decreasing. The new findings are based on data showing a discrepancy between data on the early universe and what we see in the local cosmos today *Strange new type of supernovae Astronomers have identified a white dwarf that may be the leftover remains of a recently discovered type of supernova. The findings indicate that the properties of this unusual white dwarf, known as LP 40-365, may help scientists determine how such unusual supernovae are created. *New deep double white dwarf binaries discovered Astronomers have discovered two detached, eclipsing double white dwarf binaries – which could one day merge to

Stream episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly) * Counting Down to the Great American Solar Eclipse The United States is now in final countdown mode for the August 21st total eclipse of the Sun which will see the Moon block out the solar disk along a 113 kilometre wide path of totality stretching from the North West Pacific coast of Oregon to the Atlantic coast of South Carolina. The spectacle actually begins in the North Pacific Ocean -- south of the Aleutian Islands before reaching the continental United States at Lincoln Beach Oregon at 9:06 in the morning Pacific daylight time with totality occurring at 10:19. *Precursors of life discovered on Titan Scientists have discovered molecules that could form precursors for life on Saturn’s giant moon Titan. Researcher’s detected significant quantities of vinyl cyanide which can naturally coalesce into microscopic spheres resembling cell membranes. Subscribe to the Space Nuts podcast at Apple Podcasts https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/space-nuts

Stream episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly) * Galaxies at the cosmic dawn Astronomers have peered back to the dawn of time -- discovering 23 young galaxies, seen as they were just 800 million years after the Big Bang. The findings reported in the Astrophysical Journal represent one of the deepest ever observations into the 13.8 billion year old universe. *Cassini begins its final orbits around Saturn NASA's Cassini spacecraft has entered new territory in its final mission phase, the grand finale, as embarks on a set of ultra-close passes through Saturn's upper atmosphere with its final five orbits around the ringed world. Cassini completed the first of these five passes over Saturn on Monday. *The ancient Earth was a water world A new analysis of mineral grains indicates that the ancient Earth was most likely a water world -- barren, flat, and almost entirely under water with only a few small islands sticking out above the surface. The findings are based on a study of 4.4 billion year old