Can't Tell Which Is More Confusing: Random Names That Don't Really Follow A Pattern But Are Relatively

Neutral good when the question asks for fractions in the answer

Decimals anytime else

Chaotic good - same as my D&D alignment

There is literally nothing that can compete with how satisfying cancelling down an equation is

Seven Sisters: one of the night sky’s brightest clusters

How To Prepare To Go Stargazing

Preparing To Go Stargazing

So you want to go stargazing...and you have the perfect night and location picked out...the question is: What do you bring? What do you wear? Should you bring food? Drinks? Chairs? A backpack? 

Well, you've come to the right place. Prepare to have all your questions answered here!

Clothing

Generally, the best nights for stargazing are colder ones or you'll be up at higher altitudes in the middle of the night, so dress cozily! Check the weather forecast before heading out and dress appropriately, with a nice, warm jacket, pants (shorts are probably a no-no), a beanie, and gloves depending on where you're going. It never hurts to have backup extra layers stored in the car as well.

Stargazing Materials

Obviously, bring your telescope! If you don't have one, no worries, you can bring binoculars, borrow a telescope from your nearby observatory, or just go watch the stars with your naked eye--I promise it won't be any less breathtaking. 

But if you're planning on bringing your telescope, make sure to bring a beach towel or something else to place your telescope on--a plastic tub as a base works well too for telescopes that don't have tripods. Also, make sure to have something handy to clean your lens with, just in case it gets dusty or windy. 

Lights

It's best to avoid looking at your phone or any white lights to help your eyes adjust to the darkness and see the stars better, so pack a red light torch and activate red light on your phone screen so if you need to check your phone for any reason, or to access an astronomy app, you don't blind your eyes with the white light. 

Food and Drinks

This is all based on preference, but it's always fun to have a small campfire and roast s'mores while drinking hot chocolate. Depending on how long you plan to be stargazing, prepare drinks (have a few water bottles on hand just in case) and some snacks and have a good time talking, watching the stars, and snacking with others. 

Other Essentials

Make sure to have extra power chargers--portable batteries, power tanks,  a pack of batteries, etc.--just in case anything runs out of power, especially if you're in a remote location. 

A first-aid kit is important because you never know what might happen or when someone will need a band-aid. Keep a small first-aid kit in your car, stocked with (at the very least) band-aids (large and small size), Neosporin, gauze, and clean anti-bacterial wipes.

If it's summertime, it's probably also a smart idea to invest in some mosquito or bug spray, or get bug-repelling bracelets to keep the bugs from spoiling your night. 

That's All!

You are set to go stargazing, so get out there and have a fantastic time!

Kind of reminds me of the inside of a marble...art really does imitate life!

Orion Nebula in visible & infrared

Modeling the merger of a black hole with a neutron star and the subsequent process in a single simulation

Using supercomputer calculations, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam and from Japan show a consistent picture for the first time: They modeled the complete process of the collision of a black hole with a neutron star. In their studies, they calculated the process from the final orbits through the merger to the post-merger phase in which, according to their calculations, high-energy gamma-ray bursts may occur. The results of their studies have now been published in the journal Physical Review D. Almost seven years have passed since the first detection of gravitational waves. On September 14, 2015, the LIGO detectors in the U.S. recorded the signal of two merging black holes from the depths of space.

Since then, a total of 90 signals have been observed: from binary systems of two black holes or neutron stars, and also from mixed binaries. If at least one neutron star is involved in the merger, there is a chance that not only gravitational-wave detectors will observe the event, but also telescopes in the electromagnetic spectrum.

When two neutron stars merged in the event detected on August 17, 2017 (GW170817), about 70 telescopes on Earth and in space observed the electromagnetic signals. In the two mergers of neutron stars with black holes observed so far (GW200105 and GW200115), no electromagnetic counterparts to the gravitational waves were detected. But when more such events are measured with the increasingly sensitive detectors, the researchers expect electromagnetic observations here as well. During and after the merger, matter is ejected from the system and electromagnetic radiation is generated. This probably also produces short gamma-ray bursts, as observed by space telescopes.

For their study, the scientists chose two different model systems consisting of a rotating black hole and a neutron star. The masses of the black hole were set at 5.4 and 8.1 solar masses, respectively, and the mass of the neutron star was set at 1.35 solar masses. These parameters were chosen so that the neutron star could be expected to be torn apart by tidal forces.

“We get insights into a process that lasts one to two seconds—that sounds short, but in fact a lot happens during that time: from the final orbits and the disruption of the neutron star by the tidal forces, the ejection of matter, to the formation of an accretion disk around the nascent black hole, and further ejection of matter in a jet,” says Masaru Shibata, director of the Department of Computational Relativistic Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam. “This high-energy jet is probably also a reason for short gamma-ray bursts, whose origin is still mysterious. The simulation results also indicate that the ejected matter should synthesize heavy elements such as gold and platinum.”

What happens during and after the merger?

The simulations show that during the merger process the neutron star is torn apart by tidal forces. About 80% of the neutron star matter falls into the black hole within a few milliseconds, increasing its mass by about one solar mass. In the subsequent about 10 milliseconds, the neutron star matter forms a one-armed spiral structure. Part of the matter in the spiral arm is ejected from the system, while the rest (0.2–0.3 solar masses) forms an accretion disk around the black hole.

When the accretion disk falls into the black hole after the merger, this causes a focused jet-like stream of electromagnetic radiation, which could ultimately produce a short gamma-ray burst.

Seconds-long simulations

It took the department’s cluster computer “Sakura” about 2 months to solve Einstein’s equations for the process that takes about two seconds. “Such general relativistic simulations are very time-consuming.

That’s why research groups around the world have so far focused only on short simulations,” explains Dr. Kenta Kiuchi, group leader in Shibata’s department, who developed the code. “In contrast, an end-to-end simulation, such as the one we have now performed for the first time, provides a self-consistent picture of the entire process for given binary initial conditions that are defined once at the beginning.”

Moreover, only with such long simulations the researchers can explore the generation mechanism of short gamma-ray bursts, which typically last one to two seconds.

Shibata and the scientists in his department are already working on similar but even more complex numerical simulations to consistently model the collision of two neutron stars and the phase after the merger.

Best Conditions for Stargazing

Stargazing

So you want to go stargazing...but when...and where?

Follow what I call the 3 C's:

1. Clear skies

You definitely want to go stargazing only when the night skies are clear because otherwise, you won't be able to see anything. What does it mean to be clear? Well, you want to make sure that the stars are easily visible and there's no dust, moisture, or anything else that could make the stars hazy or difficult to see. Another important thing to think about is the brightness of the moon; if the moon is too bright it might outshine the stars and make them harder to view--that's why New Moons are optimal times to go stargazing.

2. Close to sky

Stargazing is best done high up and closer to the stars, and far, far away from city lights. Light pollution can seriously ruin your experience, so plan ahead and go somewhere high up and with low levels of light pollution. Locations good for stargazing usually include mountains, the tops of buildings, and beaches (usually the cliffs by the ocean are great).

3. Cold air

This isn't a requirement, but generally, visibility is better during the winter when the air is cold and the Artic sends cleaner air southwards. Plus, you can bring hot chocolate and roast s'mores!

Pro tip: Google good locations in your area to go stargazing--your five minutes of google searching will definitely pay off!

Cosmic Witch Head © Utkarsh Mishra

Messier 101 : Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier’s famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse’s large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. Assembled from 51 exposures recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in the 20th and 21st centuries, with additional data from ground based telescopes, this mosaic spans about 40,000 light-years across the central region of M101 in one of the highest definition spiral galaxy portraits ever released from Hubble. The sharp image shows stunning features of the galaxy’s face-on disk of stars and dust along with background galaxies, some visible right through M101 itself. Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, about 25 million light-years away. via NASA

Breathtaking...🤩

Cosmic clouds in Orion © ESO