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Astronomers Find Dust in the Wind of Black Holes baalke 10-09-2007
Posted by baalke on October 9, 2007, 6:25 pm
Please log in for more thread options
 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-114

Astronomers Find Dust in the Wind of Black Holes
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 09, 2007

The hit song that proclaimed, "All we are is dust in the wind," may
have
some cosmic truth to it. New findings from NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope suggest that space dust - the same stuff that makes up
living
creatures and planets - was manufactured in large quantities in the
winds of black holes that populated our early universe.

The findings are a significant new clue in an unsolved mystery: where
did all the dust in the young universe originate?

"We were surprised to find what appears to be freshly made dust
entrained in the winds that blow away from supermassive black holes,"
said Ciska Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester, U.K.
Markwick-Kemper is lead author of a new paper appearing in an upcoming
issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "This could explain where
the dust came from that was needed to make the first generations of
stars in the early universe."

Space dust is essential to the formation of planets, stars, galaxies
and
even life as we know it. The dust in our corner of the universe was
piped out by dying stars that were once a lot like our sun. But, when
the universe was less than a tenth of its present age of 13.7 billion
years, sun-like stars hadn't been around long enough to die and make
dust. So, what produced the precious substance back when the universe
was just a toddler?

Theorists have long-postulated that short-lived, massive exploding
stars, or supernovae, might be the source of this mysterious dust,
while
others have proposed that a type of energetic, growing supermassive
black hole, called a quasar, could be a contributing factor. A quasar
consists of a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dusty
doughnut-shaped cloud that feeds it. Theoretically, dust could form in
the outer portion of the winds that slowly blow away from this
doughnut
cloud.

"Quasars are like the Cookie Monster," said co-author Sarah Gallagher
of
the University of California at Los Angeles, who is currently a
visiting
astronomer at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. "They are
messy
eaters, and they can consume less matter than they spit out in the
form
of winds."

Nobody has found conclusive proof that either quasar winds or
supernovae
can create enough dust to explain what is observed in the early
universe. Markwick-Kemper and her team decided to test the former
theory
and investigate a quasar, called PG2112+059, located in the center of
a
galaxy about 8 billion light-years way. Although this particular
quasar
is not located in the early universe, because it is closer, it is an
easier target for addressing the question of whether quasars can make
dust. The team used Spitzer's infrared spectrograph instrument to
split
apart infrared light from the quasar and look for signs of various
minerals.

They found a mix of the ingredients that make up glass, sand, marble
and
even rubies and sapphires. While the mineral constituting glass was
expected, the minerals for sand, marble and rubies were a surprise.
Why?
These minerals are not typically detected floating around galaxies,
suggesting they could have been freshly formed in the winds rushing
away
from the quasar.

For instance, the ingredient that makes up sand, crystalline silicate,
doesn't survive for long free-floating in space. Radiation from stars
zaps the minerals back to an amorphous, glass-like state. The presence
of crystalline silicate therefore suggests something possibly the
quasars winds is churning out the newly made substance.

Markwick-Kemper and her team say the case of the missing dust is not
firmly shut. They hope to study more quasars for further evidence of
their dust-making abilities. Also, according to the astronomers,
quasars
may not be the only source of dust in the early universe. "Supernovae
might have been more important for creating dust in some environments,
while quasars were more important in others," said Markwick-Kemper.
"For
now, we are very excited to have identified the different species of
dust in a quasar billions of light-years away."

Other authors of this paper include Dean Hines of the Space Science
Institute, Boulder, Colo., and Jeroen Bouwman of the Max Planck
Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany. NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope
mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science
operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the
California
Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for
NASA.
Spitzer's infrared spectrograph was built by Cornell University,
Ithaca,
N.Y. Its development was led by Jim Houck of Cornell.

For graphics and more information about Spitzer, visit
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer and
http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer .

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Media contact: Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

2007-114


Posted by wayne.laird on October 11, 2007, 12:12 pm
Please log in for more thread options
 On Oct 9, 3:25 pm, baa...@earthlink.net wrote:
> http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-114
>
> Astronomers Find Dust in the Wind of Black Holes
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory
> October 09, 2007
>
> The hit song that proclaimed, "All we are is dust in the wind," may
> have
> some cosmic truth to it. New findings from NASA's Spitzer Space
> Telescope suggest that space dust - the same stuff that makes up
> living
> creatures and planets - was manufactured in large quantities in the
> winds of black holes that populated our early universe.
>
> The findings are a significant new clue in an unsolved mystery: where
> did all the dust in the young universe originate?
>
> "We were surprised to find what appears to be freshly made dust
> entrained in the winds that blow away from supermassive black holes,"
> said Ciska Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester, U.K.
> Markwick-Kemper is lead author of a new paper appearing in an upcoming
> issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "This could explain where
> the dust came from that was needed to make the first generations of
> stars in the early universe."
>
> Space dust is essential to the formation of planets, stars, galaxies
> and
> even life as we know it. The dust in our corner of the universe was
> piped out by dying stars that were once a lot like our sun. But, when
> the universe was less than a tenth of its present age of 13.7 billion
> years, sun-like stars hadn't been around long enough to die and make
> dust. So, what produced the precious substance back when the universe
> was just a toddler?
>
> Theorists have long-postulated that short-lived, massive exploding
> stars, or supernovae, might be the source of this mysterious dust,
> while
> others have proposed that a type of energetic, growing supermassive
> black hole, called a quasar, could be a contributing factor. A quasar
> consists of a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dusty
> doughnut-shaped cloud that feeds it. Theoretically, dust could form in
> the outer portion of the winds that slowly blow away from this
> doughnut
> cloud.
>
> "Quasars are like the Cookie Monster," said co-author Sarah Gallagher
> of
> the University of California at Los Angeles, who is currently a
> visiting
> astronomer at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. "They are
> messy
> eaters, and they can consume less matter than they spit out in the
> form
> of winds."
>
> Nobody has found conclusive proof that either quasar winds or
> supernovae
> can create enough dust to explain what is observed in the early
> universe. Markwick-Kemper and her team decided to test the former
> theory
> and investigate a quasar, called PG2112+059, located in the center of
> a
> galaxy about 8 billion light-years way. Although this particular
> quasar
> is not located in the early universe, because it is closer, it is an
> easier target for addressing the question of whether quasars can make
> dust. The team used Spitzer's infrared spectrograph instrument to
> split
> apart infrared light from the quasar and look for signs of various
> minerals.
>
> They found a mix of the ingredients that make up glass, sand, marble
> and
> even rubies and sapphires. While the mineral constituting glass was
> expected, the minerals for sand, marble and rubies were a surprise.
> Why?
> These minerals are not typically detected floating around galaxies,
> suggesting they could have been freshly formed in the winds rushing
> away
> from the quasar.
>
> For instance, the ingredient that makes up sand, crystalline silicate,
> doesn't survive for long free-floating in space. Radiation from stars
> zaps the minerals back to an amorphous, glass-like state. The presence
> of crystalline silicate therefore suggests something possibly the
> quasars winds is churning out the newly made substance.
>
> Markwick-Kemper and her team say the case of the missing dust is not
> firmly shut. They hope to study more quasars for further evidence of
> their dust-making abilities. Also, according to the astronomers,
> quasars
> may not be the only source of dust in the early universe. "Supernovae
> might have been more important for creating dust in some environments,
> while quasars were more important in others," said Markwick-Kemper.
> "For
> now, we are very excited to have identified the different species of
> dust in a quasar billions of light-years away."
>
> Other authors of this paper include Dean Hines of the Space Science
> Institute, Boulder, Colo., and Jeroen Bouwman of the Max Planck
> Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany. NASA's Jet Propulsion
> Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope
> mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science
> operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the
> California
> Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for
> NASA.
> Spitzer's infrared spectrograph was built by Cornell University,
> Ithaca,
> N.Y. Its development was led by Jim Houck of Cornell.
>
> For graphics and more information about Spitzer,
visithttp://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzerandhttp://www.nasa.gov/spitzer.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Media contact: Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
>
> 2007-114

how come you learn about space. please may i have more info about space


Posted by K. M. Kirby, esq. on October 12, 2007, 7:13 pm
Please log in for more thread options
Think about the origin of interstellar amino acids. Could singularites
be involved? Could some molecules only be the result of matter/
antimatter interactions?




wayne.la...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Oct 9, 3:25 pm, baa...@earthlink.net wrote:
> > http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-114
> >
> > Astronomers Find Dust in the Wind of Black Holes
> > Jet Propulsion Laboratory
> > October 09, 2007
> >
> > The hit song that proclaimed, "All we are is dust in the wind," may
> > have
> > some cosmic truth to it. New findings from NASA's Spitzer Space
> > Telescope suggest that space dust - the same stuff that makes up
> > living
> > creatures and planets - was manufactured in large quantities in the
> > winds of black holes that populated our early universe.
> >
> > The findings are a significant new clue in an unsolved mystery: where
> > did all the dust in the young universe originate?
> >
> > "We were surprised to find what appears to be freshly made dust
> > entrained in the winds that blow away from supermassive black holes,"
> > said Ciska Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester, U.K.
> > Markwick-Kemper is lead author of a new paper appearing in an upcoming
> > issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "This could explain where
> > the dust came from that was needed to make the first generations of
> > stars in the early universe."
> >
> > Space dust is essential to the formation of planets, stars, galaxies
> > and
> > even life as we know it. The dust in our corner of the universe was
> > piped out by dying stars that were once a lot like our sun. But, when
> > the universe was less than a tenth of its present age of 13.7 billion
> > years, sun-like stars hadn't been around long enough to die and make
> > dust. So, what produced the precious substance back when the universe
> > was just a toddler?
> >
> > Theorists have long-postulated that short-lived, massive exploding
> > stars, or supernovae, might be the source of this mysterious dust,
> > while
> > others have proposed that a type of energetic, growing supermassive
> > black hole, called a quasar, could be a contributing factor. A quasar
> > consists of a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dusty
> > doughnut-shaped cloud that feeds it. Theoretically, dust could form in
> > the outer portion of the winds that slowly blow away from this
> > doughnut
> > cloud.
> >
> > "Quasars are like the Cookie Monster," said co-author Sarah Gallagher
> > of
> > the University of California at Los Angeles, who is currently a
> > visiting
> > astronomer at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. "They are
> > messy
> > eaters, and they can consume less matter than they spit out in the
> > form
> > of winds."
> >
> > Nobody has found conclusive proof that either quasar winds or
> > supernovae
> > can create enough dust to explain what is observed in the early
> > universe. Markwick-Kemper and her team decided to test the former
> > theory
> > and investigate a quasar, called PG2112+059, located in the center of
> > a
> > galaxy about 8 billion light-years way. Although this particular
> > quasar
> > is not located in the early universe, because it is closer, it is an
> > easier target for addressing the question of whether quasars can make
> > dust. The team used Spitzer's infrared spectrograph instrument to
> > split
> > apart infrared light from the quasar and look for signs of various
> > minerals.
> >
> > They found a mix of the ingredients that make up glass, sand, marble
> > and
> > even rubies and sapphires. While the mineral constituting glass was
> > expected, the minerals for sand, marble and rubies were a surprise.
> > Why?
> > These minerals are not typically detected floating around galaxies,
> > suggesting they could have been freshly formed in the winds rushing
> > away
> > from the quasar.
> >
> > For instance, the ingredient that makes up sand, crystalline silicate,
> > doesn't survive for long free-floating in space. Radiation from stars
> > zaps the minerals back to an amorphous, glass-like state. The presence
> > of crystalline silicate therefore suggests something possibly the
> > quasars winds is churning out the newly made substance.
> >
> > Markwick-Kemper and her team say the case of the missing dust is not
> > firmly shut. They hope to study more quasars for further evidence of
> > their dust-making abilities. Also, according to the astronomers,
> > quasars
> > may not be the only source of dust in the early universe. "Supernovae
> > might have been more important for creating dust in some environments,
> > while quasars were more important in others," said Markwick-Kemper.
> > "For
> > now, we are very excited to have identified the different species of
> > dust in a quasar billions of light-years away."
> >
> > Other authors of this paper include Dean Hines of the Space Science
> > Institute, Boulder, Colo., and Jeroen Bouwman of the Max Planck
> > Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany. NASA's Jet Propulsion
> > Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope
> > mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science
> > operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the
> > California
> > Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for
> > NASA.
> > Spitzer's infrared spectrograph was built by Cornell University,
> > Ithaca,
> > N.Y. Its development was led by Jim Houck of Cornell.
> >
> > For graphics and more information about Spitzer,
visithttp://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzerandhttp://www.nasa.gov/spitzer.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Media contact: Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
> > Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
> >
> > 2007-114
>
> how come you learn about space. please may i have more info about space


Posted by wayne.laird@gmail.com on October 17, 2007, 3:03 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> Think about the origin of interstellar amino acids. Could singularites
> be involved? Could some molecules only be the result of matter/
> antimatter interactions?
>
>
>
> wayne.la...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Oct 9, 3:25 pm, baa...@earthlink.net wrote:
> > >http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-114
>
> > > Astronomers Find Dust in the Wind of Black Holes
> > > Jet Propulsion Laboratory
> > > October 09, 2007
>
> > > The hit song that proclaimed, "All we are is dust in the wind," may
> > > have
> > > some cosmic truth to it. New findings from NASA's Spitzer Space
> > > Telescope suggest that space dust - the same stuff that makes up
> > > living
> > > creatures and planets - was manufactured in large quantities in the
> > > winds of black holes that populated our early universe.
>
> > > The findings are a significant new clue in an unsolved mystery: where
> > > did all the dust in the young universe originate?
>
> > > "We were surprised to find what appears to be freshly made dust
> > > entrained in the winds that blow away from supermassive black holes,"
> > > said Ciska Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester, U.K.
> > > Markwick-Kemper is lead author of a new paper appearing in an upcoming
> > > issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. "This could explain where
> > > the dust came from that was needed to make the first generations of
> > > stars in the early universe."
>
> > > Space dust is essential to the formation of planets, stars, galaxies
> > > and
> > > even life as we know it. The dust in our corner of the universe was
> > > piped out by dying stars that were once a lot like our sun. But, when
> > > the universe was less than a tenth of its present age of 13.7 billion
> > > years, sun-like stars hadn't been around long enough to die and make
> > > dust. So, what produced the precious substance back when the universe
> > > was just a toddler?
>
> > > Theorists have long-postulated that short-lived, massive exploding
> > > stars, or supernovae, might be the source of this mysterious dust,
> > > while
> > > others have proposed that a type of energetic, growing supermassive
> > > black hole, called a quasar, could be a contributing factor. A quasar
> > > consists of a supermassive black hole surrounded by a dusty
> > > doughnut-shaped cloud that feeds it. Theoretically, dust could form in
> > > the outer portion of the winds that slowly blow away from this
> > > doughnut
> > > cloud.
>
> > > "Quasars are like the Cookie Monster," said co-author Sarah Gallagher
> > > of
> > > the University of California at Los Angeles, who is currently a
> > > visiting
> > > astronomer at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. "They are
> > > messy
> > > eaters, and they can consume less matter than they spit out in the
> > > form
> > > of winds."
>
> > > Nobody has found conclusive proof that either quasar winds or
> > > supernovae
> > > can create enough dust to explain what is observed in the early
> > > universe. Markwick-Kemper and her team decided to test the former
> > > theory
> > > and investigate a quasar, called PG2112+059, located in the center of
> > > a
> > > galaxy about 8 billion light-years way. Although this particular
> > > quasar
> > > is not located in the early universe, because it is closer, it is an
> > > easier target for addressing the question of whether quasars can make
> > > dust. The team used Spitzer's infrared spectrograph instrument to
> > > split
> > > apart infrared light from the quasar and look for signs of various
> > > minerals.
>
> > > They found a mix of the ingredients that make up glass, sand, marble
> > > and
> > > even rubies and sapphires. While the mineral constituting glass was
> > > expected, the minerals for sand, marble and rubies were a surprise.
> > > Why?
> > > These minerals are not typically detected floating around galaxies,
> > > suggesting they could have been freshly formed in the winds rushing
> > > away
> > > from the quasar.
>
> > > For instance, the ingredient that makes up sand, crystalline silicate,
> > > doesn't survive for long free-floating in space. Radiation from stars
> > > zaps the minerals back to an amorphous, glass-like state. The presence
> > > of crystalline silicate therefore suggests something possibly the
> > > quasars winds is churning out the newly made substance.
>
> > > Markwick-Kemper and her team say the case of the missing dust is not
> > > firmly shut. They hope to study more quasars for further evidence of
> > > their dust-making abilities. Also, according to the astronomers,
> > > quasars
> > > may not be the only source of dust in the early universe. "Supernovae
> > > might have been more important for creating dust in some environments,
> > > while quasars were more important in others," said Markwick-Kemper.
> > > "For
> > > now, we are very excited to have identified the different species of
> > > dust in a quasar billions of light-years away."
>
> > > Other authors of this paper include Dean Hines of the Space Science
> > > Institute, Boulder, Colo., and Jeroen Bouwman of the Max Planck
> > > Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany. NASA's Jet Propulsion
> > > Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope
> > > mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science
> > > operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the
> > > California
> > > Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for
> > > NASA.
> > > Spitzer's infrared spectrograph was built by Cornell University,
> > > Ithaca,
> > > N.Y. Its development was led by Jim Houck of Cornell.
>
> > > For graphics and more information about Spitzer,
visithttp://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzerandhttp://www.nasa.gov/spitzer.
>
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > > Media contact: Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
> > > Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
>
> > > 2007-114
>
> > how come you learn about space. please may i have more info about space-
Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

ohh thats cool. can you tell me more about the other galaxies


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