scienceyoucanlove:

What Does an Astrophysicist Do?

An astrophysicist is a scientist who researches the principles of light, motion, and natural forces as they pertain to the universe at large. He or she engages in theoreticalphysics studies in an attempt to learn more about the underlying properties of the cosmos. Many specialize in studying a particular phenomenon or theory, such as black holes, the development and extinction of stars, relativity and motion, or the origin of the universe.

Almost every past and present culture has attempted to explain the nature of the cosmos and determine how we came into existence. Astrophysicists incorporate their extensive knowledge of mathematical and physical properties with observable characteristics and to form modern explanations. Scientists frequently dedicate long, tiring hours to conducting trial and error mathematics and reviewing the work performed by their colleagues. So much is unknown or uncertain about the universe that it is not uncommon for a scientist to spend the majority of his or her career investigating a single astronomical circumstance. For example, many scientists have dedicated decades of their professional lives to forming the Big Bang theory, an concept that is now strongly supported yet still not fully understood.

Once an astrophysicist discovers an important trait or forms a valid theoretical explanation, he or she typically presents such information in a formal scientific paper. To become widely accepted, a theory is often subjected to strict peer reviews and tested rigorously by scientific committees. When possible, new theoretical principles or formulas are applied in practical laboratory tests to further support their validity.

To become an astrophysicist, a person must typically receive a PhD in astrophysics or astronomy from an accredited university. After completing educational requirements, he or she may assume a fellowship or internship position at a research institution or university. Post-doctoral research programs, which usually last one to three years, allows the individual to gain valuable firsthand experience about laboratory and theoretical research techniques by assisting and observing established scientists. Interns and fellows learn how to conduct research, apply for grants, and write scientific papers.

Most scientists in this field conduct independent research at home or in a private research institution. Some choose to become professors at colleges and universities, where they teach mathematics, physics, and astronomy courses to the next generation of scientists. They might opt to work in a research and development laboratory at a biotechnology company, putting their advanced knowledge of motion and energy to use in practical technology applications.

source

photo source from Alcalde, the official magazine of the Texas Exes (University of Texas), more info about Neil can be found on their site

thescienceofreality:

NASA Selects 2013 Carl Sagan Fellows

“NASA has selected five planet hunters to receive the 2013 Carl Sagan Exoplanet Postdoctoral Fellowships. The fellowship, named for the late astronomer, was created to inspire the next generation of explorers seeking to learn more about planets, and possibly life, around other stars. 

The primary goal of the fellowship program is to support outstanding recent postdoctoral scientists in conducting independent research related to the science goals of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program. 

Significant discoveries have already been made by previous Sagan Fellows. One recent discovery found that the size and location of an asteroid belt may determine whether complex life will evolve on an Earth-like planet . 

“In the past decade, astronomers have made incredible progress toward Carl Sagan’s goal of understanding the existence of life, and ultimately, of intelligent life throughout the universe,” said Charles Beichman, executive director of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The young scientists named as this year’s Sagan Fellows will help to make dramatic new progress toward this goal through their observational, theoretical and instrumental contributions.” 

The program, created in 2008, awards selected postdoctoral scientists with annual stipends of $65,500 for up to three years, plus an annual research budget of up to $16,000.

The 2013 Sagan Fellows are as follows [in order from left to right]:

— Jared Males, who will work at the University of Arizona, Tucson, to investigate exoplanetary habitability by perfecting instrumentation to image Jupiter- and Saturn-sized planets in the liquid- water habitable zone of nearby stars. 

— Katja Poppenhaeger, who will work at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass., to explore how stars and close-in planets influence each other’s evolution over time. 

— Jacob Simon, who will work at the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, to understand the formation of planets out of gas and dust disks. 

— Jennifer Yee, who will work at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., to measure the frequency of massive planets around low mass stars using microlensing. 

— Avi Shporer, who will work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., to find massive extrasolar planets that do not transit their parent stars. 

NASA has two other astrophysics theme-based fellowship programs: the Einstein Fellowship Program, which supports research into the physics of the cosmos, and the Hubble Fellowship Program, which supports research into cosmic origins. The Sagan Fellowship Program is administered by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute as part of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program at JPL. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.”

• A full description of the 2013 fellows and their projects, and other information about these programs is available here. 
• More information about the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute is available here. 
• More information about NASA’s Astrophysics Division is here.

discoverynews:

Dark Matter Found? Orbital Experiment Detects Hints

Around 400,000 positron detections have been confirmed in this first batch of data — positrons that are of energies consistent with the signature of dark matter annihilation.

 

distant-traveller:

Unusual starburst galaxy NGC 1313

Why is this galaxy so discombobulated? Usually, galaxies this topsy-turvy result from a recent collision with a neighboring galaxy. Spiral galaxy NGC 1313, however, appears to be alone. Brightly lit with new and blue massive stars, star formation appears so rampant in NGC 1313 that it has been labeled a starburst galaxy. Strange features of NGC 1313 include that its spiral arms are lopsided and its rotational axis is not at the center of the nuclear bar. Pictured above, NGC 1313 spans about 50,000 light years and lies only about 15 million light years away toward the constellation of the Reticle (Reticulum). Continued numerical modeling of galaxies like NGC 1313 might shed some light on its unusual nature.

Imag credit: Robert Gendler

(via anndruyan)

sciencecenter:

New high-speed, high resolution 3D printer prints on microscale

The printer, produced by a German company, printed the above tiny spacecraft - about the size of a dust mite - in under a minute. The craft is so tiny that it was imaged using an electron microscope. While the spaceship itself isn’t functional, there are plenty of potential applications that scientists could capitalize on, like tiny biological scaffolds or chips for microfluidics.

(via thescienceofreality)

jimmy-carrs-laugh:

“My parents were born in California. However, during World War II 100,000 Japanese-Americans were incarcerated in large relocation camps. So my parents never had a chance. Their property was confiscated. They lived behind barbed wires and machine guns from 1942 to 1946. And I was born afterwards, when my parents were dirt poor.”

Somehow, after the war, and after their release from the internment camps, Michio’s parents worked to rebuild their lives. They started out with nothing, but put everything they did have into creating a better life for their children. And when Michio began to show that he was more than a little prodigious as a teen scientist, they went along. They went along, even with limited resources and with virtually no idea of what was behind (or could be the consequences) of Michio’s sometimes more-than-a-little-risky boyhood experiments:

“So one day I went up to my mom and I said, ‘Mom, can I have permission to build a 2.3-million electron-volt atom smasher—a betatron—in the garage?’ And my mom stared at me, and she said, ‘Sure. Why not? And don’t forget to take out the garbage.’ So, I went out and took out the garbage. And then I went to Westinghouse. I got 400 pounds of transformer steel, 22 miles of copper wire, and built a 2.3-million electron-volt betatron in the garage. The wire was so heavy, I put the wire on the goal post [of the nearby high school football field] and I gave it to my mother. She ran with this strand of wire to the 50-yard line. My father grabbed it, ran to the goalpost and we wound 22 miles of copper wire on the football field. Well, the magnetic field was so powerful—about 20,000 times the Earth’s magnetic field. If you were to walk by my atom smasher, it would pull the fillings out of your teeth—that’s how powerful the magnet was going to be.”

When Michio actually plugged in his atom smasher, it did, of course, blow out every fuse in his house and likely every fuse for miles around—yet another kid scientist who made the lights go out and the authorities shake their fists (while grudgingly admitting that the kid was pretty smart).

(via anengineersaspect)