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9th January 2014, 13:38
http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.59.1/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png
9 January 2014 Last updated at 07:16
Universe measured to 1% accuracy
By James Morgan
Science reporter, BBC News, Washington DC
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72167000/jpg/_72167300_onepercent.boss.v4.300dpi.jpg
Artist's concept of measurement of universe from BOSS The spheres (BAOs) can be
used as a "standard ruler" (white line) to gauge intergalactic distances.
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Dark energy camera opens its eyes
Deepest galaxy cluster ever pictured
Dark energy's roller coaster ride
Astronomers have measured the distances between galaxies in the universe to an
accuracy of just 1%.This staggeringly precise survey - across six billion light-years - is
key to mapping the cosmos and determining the nature of dark energy.The new gold
standard was set by BOSS (the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey) using the
Sloan Foundation Telescope in New Mexico, US.
It was announced at the 223rd American Astronomical Society in Washington DC.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
"I now know the size of the universe better than the size of my house”
End Quote
Prof David Schlegel
BOSS principal investigator
"There are not many things in our daily lives that we know to 1% accuracy," said Prof
David Schlegel, a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the principal
investigator of BOSS.
"I now know the size of the universe better than I know the size of my house.
"Twenty years ago astronomers were arguing about estimates that differed by up to
50%. Five years ago, we'd refined that uncertainty to 5%; a year ago it was 2%.
"One percent accuracy will be the standard for a long time to come."
Frozen ripples
The BOSS team used baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) as a "standard ruler" to
measure intergalactic distances.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59385000/jpg/_59385782_59385781.jpg
SDSS telescope BOSS data is acquired by the 2.5m Sloan telescope at Apache Point
Observatory in New Mexico BAOs are the "frozen" imprints of pressure waves that
moved through the early universe - and help set the distribution of galaxies we see today.
"Nature has given us a beautiful ruler," said Ashley Ross, an astronomer from the
University of Portsmouth.
"The ruler happens to be half a billion light years long, so we can use it to measure
distances precisely, even from very far away."
Determining distance is a fundamental challenge of astronomy: "Once you know how far
away it is, learning everything else about it is suddenly much easier," said Daniel
Eisenstein, director of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III.
The BOSS distances will help calibrate fundamental cosmological properties - such as
how "dark energy" accelerates the expansion of the universe.The latest results indicate
dark energy is a cosmological constant whose strength does not vary in space or time.
They also provide an excellent estimate of the curvature of space.
"The answer is, it's not curved much. The universe is extraordinarily flat," said Prof
Schlegel.
"And this has implications for whether the universe is infinite.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72167000/jpg/_72167110_onepercent.boss.v4.jpg
Artist's concept of measurement of universe from BOSS The next challenge is to fill in
the gaps - enormous volumes have yet to be mapped
"While we can't say with certainty, it's likely the universe extends forever in space and
will go on forever in time. Our results are consistent with an infinite universe," he said.
When BOSS is complete, it will have collected high-quality spectra of 1.3 million
galaxies, plus 160,000 quasars and thousands of other astronomical objects, covering
10,000 square degrees.
An analysis of the current data - 90% complete - is published on the Arxiv preprint
server, with final results expected in June.
After that, future surveys will have to start filling in the enormous gaps between the
vast boundaries the BOSS team have defined - and to go much deeper in space. This
latter task will be a key objective of Europe's Euclid space telescope due to launch at
the end of the decade.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25663810
=======================================================
SPACE.COM
5 Rocky Alien Planets Revealed by NASA's Kepler Spacecraft
by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer | January 07, 2014 06:00am ET
http://i.space.com/images/i/000/035/735/i02/alien-planet-candidates-kepler-2014.jpg?1389040621
This NASA chart depicts the number alien planet candidates identified by NASA's Kepler
spacecraft as of January 2014. Image released Jan. 6, 2014.
Credit: NASA Ames Research Center
View full size image
Five rocky planets are among a slew of newly discovered alien worlds found by NASA's
prolific Kepler spacecraft. The planets, which range in size from ten to eighty percent
larger than Earth, were announced Monday (Jan. 6) at the 223rd meeting of the
American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C.
Two of the newfound rocky planets, named Kepler-99b and Kepler-406b, are both 40
percent larger than Earth and have densities similar to lead, the researchers said. But,
the chances of finding life on these exoplanets are slim, they added, since the two
planets orbit their respective stars in less than five days, making these worlds
sweltering and unable to support life as we know it.
Geoff Marcy, a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley,
presented the findings, which included the masses and densities of 16 new planets — so-
called mini-Neptunes — that are between one and four times the size of Earth.
http://www.space.com/24180-rocky-planets-mini-neptunes-aas223.html
9 January 2014 Last updated at 07:16
Universe measured to 1% accuracy
By James Morgan
Science reporter, BBC News, Washington DC
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72167000/jpg/_72167300_onepercent.boss.v4.300dpi.jpg
Artist's concept of measurement of universe from BOSS The spheres (BAOs) can be
used as a "standard ruler" (white line) to gauge intergalactic distances.
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Dark energy camera opens its eyes
Deepest galaxy cluster ever pictured
Dark energy's roller coaster ride
Astronomers have measured the distances between galaxies in the universe to an
accuracy of just 1%.This staggeringly precise survey - across six billion light-years - is
key to mapping the cosmos and determining the nature of dark energy.The new gold
standard was set by BOSS (the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey) using the
Sloan Foundation Telescope in New Mexico, US.
It was announced at the 223rd American Astronomical Society in Washington DC.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
"I now know the size of the universe better than the size of my house”
End Quote
Prof David Schlegel
BOSS principal investigator
"There are not many things in our daily lives that we know to 1% accuracy," said Prof
David Schlegel, a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the principal
investigator of BOSS.
"I now know the size of the universe better than I know the size of my house.
"Twenty years ago astronomers were arguing about estimates that differed by up to
50%. Five years ago, we'd refined that uncertainty to 5%; a year ago it was 2%.
"One percent accuracy will be the standard for a long time to come."
Frozen ripples
The BOSS team used baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) as a "standard ruler" to
measure intergalactic distances.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59385000/jpg/_59385782_59385781.jpg
SDSS telescope BOSS data is acquired by the 2.5m Sloan telescope at Apache Point
Observatory in New Mexico BAOs are the "frozen" imprints of pressure waves that
moved through the early universe - and help set the distribution of galaxies we see today.
"Nature has given us a beautiful ruler," said Ashley Ross, an astronomer from the
University of Portsmouth.
"The ruler happens to be half a billion light years long, so we can use it to measure
distances precisely, even from very far away."
Determining distance is a fundamental challenge of astronomy: "Once you know how far
away it is, learning everything else about it is suddenly much easier," said Daniel
Eisenstein, director of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III.
The BOSS distances will help calibrate fundamental cosmological properties - such as
how "dark energy" accelerates the expansion of the universe.The latest results indicate
dark energy is a cosmological constant whose strength does not vary in space or time.
They also provide an excellent estimate of the curvature of space.
"The answer is, it's not curved much. The universe is extraordinarily flat," said Prof
Schlegel.
"And this has implications for whether the universe is infinite.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72167000/jpg/_72167110_onepercent.boss.v4.jpg
Artist's concept of measurement of universe from BOSS The next challenge is to fill in
the gaps - enormous volumes have yet to be mapped
"While we can't say with certainty, it's likely the universe extends forever in space and
will go on forever in time. Our results are consistent with an infinite universe," he said.
When BOSS is complete, it will have collected high-quality spectra of 1.3 million
galaxies, plus 160,000 quasars and thousands of other astronomical objects, covering
10,000 square degrees.
An analysis of the current data - 90% complete - is published on the Arxiv preprint
server, with final results expected in June.
After that, future surveys will have to start filling in the enormous gaps between the
vast boundaries the BOSS team have defined - and to go much deeper in space. This
latter task will be a key objective of Europe's Euclid space telescope due to launch at
the end of the decade.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25663810
=======================================================
SPACE.COM
5 Rocky Alien Planets Revealed by NASA's Kepler Spacecraft
by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer | January 07, 2014 06:00am ET
http://i.space.com/images/i/000/035/735/i02/alien-planet-candidates-kepler-2014.jpg?1389040621
This NASA chart depicts the number alien planet candidates identified by NASA's Kepler
spacecraft as of January 2014. Image released Jan. 6, 2014.
Credit: NASA Ames Research Center
View full size image
Five rocky planets are among a slew of newly discovered alien worlds found by NASA's
prolific Kepler spacecraft. The planets, which range in size from ten to eighty percent
larger than Earth, were announced Monday (Jan. 6) at the 223rd meeting of the
American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C.
Two of the newfound rocky planets, named Kepler-99b and Kepler-406b, are both 40
percent larger than Earth and have densities similar to lead, the researchers said. But,
the chances of finding life on these exoplanets are slim, they added, since the two
planets orbit their respective stars in less than five days, making these worlds
sweltering and unable to support life as we know it.
Geoff Marcy, a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley,
presented the findings, which included the masses and densities of 16 new planets — so-
called mini-Neptunes — that are between one and four times the size of Earth.
http://www.space.com/24180-rocky-planets-mini-neptunes-aas223.html