Movie reveals details of massive star formation Nov 20, 2009
Such outflows foster star formation by carrying angular momentum away from the system. The bending path of these masers provides key evidence that magnetic fields may be influencing gas motions very close to the protostar, says Claire Chandler of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. (Astronomy Now Online)
Close-Up Movie Shows Hidden Details in the Birth of Super-Suns Nov 17, 2009
Such outflows foster star formation by carrying angular momentum away from the system. Intriguingly, the outflow streams appear to curve as they leave the disk. (Science Daily)
Solar lithium shortage blamed on planets Nov 17, 2009
One possibility is the transfer of angular momentum from gas giant planets to the star; hence if the 430 stars do turn out to have smaller, rocky planets with minimal angular momentum but no gas giants, they would not affect the lithium abundance ... This migration transfers angular momentum to the stellar atmosphere, which creates friction between the upper atmosphere and the inner radiative layer, triggering mixing. (Astronomy Now Online)
Lithium clue for planet-hunters Nov 12, 2009
"When discs form around stars there is interaction of angular momentum between disc, planets and parent star; and this interaction affects the rotation of the parent star and that will affect the lithium abundance," said Garik Israelian from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain. The relative low abundance of lithium in our Sun's upper layers has long been a fascination for scientists. (BBC News)
White dwarf's slow spin not just skin-deep Sep 25, 2009
Assuming that stars maintain their angular momentum throughout their evolution, a reduction in size at this evolutionary stage would be expected to spin up the star to a period of seconds to minutes ... The findings support the idea that single white dwarfs have slow rotation periods thanks to the transferral of angular momentum to the outer reaches of the progenitor star in the stages preceding white-dwarf formation ... "Observations of the surface layers had established that white dwarfs... (Astronomy Now Online)
Letters: Health care for illegal immigrants Sep 15, 2009
This would seem to substantiate the 1950s explanation by the British scientist Sir Fred Hoyle, who said that when a gaseous cloud collapsed into our rapidly spinning sun, most of the angular momentum was dissipated by jets of cosmic debris shooting out to provide the material that formed our rotating solar system. Our sun today has a leisurely rotational rate of approximately once a month, and presently, according to NASA, we may be seeing the end of magnetic reversals and sunspots for some... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Opinion)
Why Does Exoplanet WASP-18b Exist? Aug 28, 2009
And because it orbits in just 22; hours, faster than any other confirmed hot Jupiter and much faster than the star spins, this tidal interaction should be robbing WASP-18b of angular momentum ... The Moon likewise raises tides in Earth's oceans, and their mutual attraction is also transferring angular momentum between them. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
AGU journal highlights -- Aug. 27, 2009 Aug 28, 2009
The authors calculate the core angular momentum with a complex model that uses surface magnetic data as an input, and analyze the resultant data to capture the common variability among the different cylinders. They find that the first four robust modes, corresponding to torsional oscillations, propagate from the core-mantle boundary inward to the inner core with diminishing amplitude with periods of 85, 50, 35, and 28 years. (EurekAlert!)
> read more Aug 27, 2009
The Moon likewise raises tides in Earth's oceans, and their mutual attraction transferring angular momentum between them. However, because the Moon orbits much more slowly than Earth turns, the tradeoff is gradually pushing the Moon away from us (1 inches, or 38 mm, per year) and our day is ever-so-slightly getting longer (0. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Ytterbium gains ground in quest for next-generation atomic clocks Aug 12, 2009
The clock's enhanced performance was made possible by improvements in the apparatus and a switch to a different form of ytterbium whose nucleus is slightly magnetic due its "spin-one half" angular momentum. This atom is less susceptible to key errors than the "spin-zero" form of ytterbium used previously. (EurekAlert!)
Year 12 students in spin over Olympics Jul 11, 2009
A demonstration of conservation of angular momentum using a spinning chair was part of their last-minute preparations at the University of Sydney for the two five-hour physics exams, one theoretical and one experimental. Apart from the warm weather, Mexican food and ancient pyramids, they are looking forward to tomorrow night's opening ceremony. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Why Are We Moving Away from the Sun? Jun 3, 2009
", the four researchers conclude it's "because the Sun is losing its angular momentum. " Posted by Kelly Beatty, June 1, 2009 related content: links: | | | | comments (4) The following comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sky Publishing. By posting a comment, you agree to our and . all comments (4 total) Interesting Posted by Ryan June 1, 2009 At 10:34 AM PDT I wonder what these 'solar tides' turn into? If it is building up, it must go somewhere, right? Violation: lect> Additional... (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Last month's questions and answers Jun 2, 2009
This may have simply been due to the fact that the strongest winds were closest to the core of the tornado's rotation (conservation of angular momentum a la a spinning figure skater who pulls her arms in toward her body) or there may have been more than one vortex within this large tornado. Visit these websites to learn more about and the. (USA Today -- Weather)
Unlikely Suns Reveal Improbable Planets May 20, 2009
The conservation of angular momentum, or spin, kept some of the material from simply falling all the way to the newborn sun; instead it settled into a pancake shape. Within this disk, dust and gas coagulated into planets [see , by Douglas N. C. Lin; Scientific American, May 2008. (Scientific American)
Wii upgrade: InvenSense spins first pitch-and-yaw MEMS gyro May 1, 2009
A ring-shaped, two-axis gyro measures two perpendicular directions of angular momentum, unlike an acceleromter that measures its incline ... But a gyro senses the natural angular momentum of the arm as it waves the controller up and down and back and forth. (EETimes)
Fomalhaut's Disk and Fomalhaut's Spin Apr 28, 2009
This is true even though the planets (mainly Jupiter) carry most of the solar system's angular momentum (rotational inertia), while the Sun has most of the mass. Such a setup falls naturally into place from the physics of a gas-and-dust cloud collapsing due to its own gravity while necessarily conserving angular momentum as it shrinks. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Missing planets attest to destructive power of stars' tides Apr 28, 2009
" The researchers hope the work leads to better understanding of how stars destroy planets and how that process might affect a planet's orbit, Jackson said. The scientists also say their research will have to be updated as more extrasolar planets are discovered. NASA, which funded the research, recently launched the Kepler telescope, which is designed specifically to look for extrasolar planets that are closer in size to Earth. Jackson hopes new observations will provide new lines of evidence to... (EurekAlert!)
Physicists Discover Important Step For Making Light Crystals Apr 13, 2009
The researchers are trying to trap atomic particles called fermions, which have an internal angular momentum called spin. When fermions are hot, they spin chaotically. (Science Daily)
Can life thrive around a red dwarf star? Apr 10, 2009
However, the magnetic field also creates strong winds that carry away angular momentum, and thus slow the star down with time. The conclusion is that a red dwarf will calm down after about 2 or 3 billion years. (MSNBC -- Technology)
40-year Mystery Revisited: Newtonian System Mimics 'Baldness' Of Rotating Black Holes Feb 26, 2009
As described by the Kerr solution of Einstein's gravitational field equations, its spacetime geometry is completely characterized by only two numbers mass and spin and is sometimes described by the aphorism "black holes have no hair.'' A particle orbiting a rotating black hole always conserves its energy and angular momentum, but otherwise traces a complicated twisting rosette pattern with no discernible regularity. But in 1968, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Brandon Carter showed that... (Science Daily)
NASA Spacecraft Falling For Mars Feb 20, 2009
In Dawn's case, it is using the Red Planet's tremendous angular momentum (the speed at which Mars orbits the sun) to give it a little extra oomph. "A big oomph actually," said Rayman. (Science Daily)
College Quiz Bowl basics Feb 17, 2009
In the weak field case, spin-orbit coupling occurs in conjunction with this, causing the angular momentum and spin to precess around the total angular momentum. In this case, the resulting energy is the product of the Bohr magneton, the Lande g-factor, and the z-component of the angular momentum. (Boston Globe)
Nature Physics Feb 8, 2009
Nature Milestones in Spin recounts the major developments, through the twentieth century to the present day, that derive from 'spin' the idea that elementary particles possess intrinsic angular momentum. Starting from fundamental physics, the story moves through early technological developments and applications in chemistry, biology and medicine, to arrive at modern-day 'spintronics. (Nature News Service)
Nature Milestones Feb 8, 2009
Milestones in Spin, presented by Nature Physics, tells the story of 'spin' - the concept of intrinsic angular momentum for elementary particles that was developed in the 1920s and that has since inspired major advances in physics, as well as finding practical application in chemistry, biology and technology. Supported by Principal sponsor. (Nature News Service)
