28 posts · 15,594 views
The rantings of a postgrad astrochemist. Life, lunacy, academia and the science of all things very big and very small...
Invader Xan
28 posts
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- March 1, 2010
- 09:53 AM
- 811 views
Stars Born as Planets
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Planets are resilient things. They can survive a lot of punishment from their host stars, with some planets having survived being broiled and others even having survived being engulfed as their parent star swells into a red giant. Amazingly, the means by which planets form is no less hardy, for instance being formed in the debris left after a supernova as pulsar planets. So if the method for planet formation is so rugged, what would happen if you started out with an extremely massive star? Could........ Read more »
Amit Kashi, & Noam Soker. (2010) Forming Low Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs in Protoplanetary Disks of Very Massive Stars. preprint. arXiv: 1002.4693v1
- April 19, 2012
- 12:25 AM
- 738 views
Explosions in the dark...?
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Picture the scene. You’re drifting in intergalactic space. There are no stars punctuating the darkness, like there are here on Earth. Instead of stars, the points of light you can see are fuzzier looking. Far fewer points of light than you’d see from home here in the Milky Way, those lights you’re seeing are whole galaxies. Indescribably distant. You’re all alone, lost in the inky blackness of intergalactic space. There’s nothing out here but silent drifting clouds ........ Read more »
P. -C. Zinn, M. Stritzinger, J. Braithwaite, A. Gallazzi, P. Grunden, D. J. Bomans, N. I. Morrell, & U. Bach. (2011) Supernovae without host galaxies? The low surface brightness host of SN 2009Z. Astronomy . arXiv: 1111.1833v1
- December 4, 2008
- 05:14 PM
- 690 views
Could life have evolved closer than we thought?
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Traditionally, anyone seriously researching extraterrestrial life has tended to ignore red dwarfs. Typically a disproportionately low number of them have been included in SETI searches, for instance. They’re troublesome, ill-tempered little things which like to randomly flare up for seemingly no reason. Small, cool and difficult to spot, relatively few red dwarfs can even be seen from Earth because they’re so faint. Their violent tantrums cause huge flares far more powerful than anyt........ Read more »
Jill C. Tarter, Peter R. Backus, Rocco L. Mancinelli, Jonathan M. Aurnou, Dana E. Backman, Gibor S. Basri, Alan P. Boss, Andrew Clarke, Drake Deming, Laurance R. Doyle.... (2007) A Reappraisal of The Habitability of Planets around M Dwarf Stars. Astrobiology, 7(1), 30-65. DOI: 10.1089/ast.2006.0124
- April 8, 2009
- 11:17 PM
- 689 views
The Thermodynamics of Life
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Now I’m a big fan of alternative biochemistry theories in the search for extraterrestrial life. It seems logical to think that given the size of the universe and the number of possible environments out there, life might have found more than one way to organise itself. However, thanks to some clever thermodynamics, it looks quite likely that at least some alien life out there might not be so “alien” after all…... Read more »
Paul G. Higgs, Ralph E. Pudritz. (2009) A thermodynamic basis for prebiotic amino acid synthesis and the nature of the first genetic code. Astrobiology (accepted). DOI: 0904.0402v1
- November 12, 2009
- 02:53 PM
- 689 views
Might as Well be Water on the Sun
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Water is all the rage. It gets mentioned in every single high profile space mission of late. Searching for water on Mars, water inside Europa, water in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Going to the Moon? Don’t forget to check for water! All with good reason, of course. Being made of 72.8% water, it’s rather important that wherever we might go in the Universe, we have a ready supply of it. But water’s been found in some surprising places.... Read more »
Wallace L, Bernath P, Livingston W, Hinkle K, Busler J, Guo B, & Zhang K. (1995) Water on the sun. Science (New York, N.Y.), 268(5214), 1155-8. PMID: 7761830
Polyansky, O. (1997) Water on the Sun: Line Assignments Based on Variational Calculations. Science, 277(5324), 346-348. DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5324.346
- August 17, 2010
- 05:31 PM
- 670 views
Spaceballs!
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Causing quite a big stir in the astrochemical world recently is the astronomical detection of C60, more popularly known as fullerene. This is kind of a big deal. Fullerenes have been known about since the 1980s when Harry Kroto et al first created them by vapourising graphite with electrical discharges. Since then, it’s been found that C60 molecules are very stable and readily formed molecules. Lots of people have hypothesised them existing in space, but up until now there’s been no ........ Read more »
Cami, J., Bernard-Salas, J., Peeters, E., & Malek, S. (2010) Detection of C60 and C70 in a Young Planetary Nebula. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1192035
- July 17, 2012
- 04:42 PM
- 661 views
Black hole nucleosynthesis
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
If I had to pick a handful of favourite things in all of physics, black holes and nuclear fusion would be among them. Hands down. This interesting little paper which I stumbled across earlier (via a link to the APS … Continue reading →... Read more »
Fabio Iocco, & Miguel Pato. (2012) Lithium Synthesis in Microquasar Accretion. Phys. Rev. Lett., 109(2), 21102. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.021102
- November 30, 1999
- 12:00 AM
- 641 views
How to spot exo-Earths...
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
It seems like we’re not going to stop discovering new exoplanets anytime soon. Around one sixth of all exoplanets currently known can be observed transiting their star’s disk. Given that transits are precisely what NASA’s Kepler mission is going to spend the next three years looking for, that number is certainly set to increase over the coming months. But with exoplanet transits comes a unique opportunity to study them…... Read more »
Pallé, E., Osorio, M., Barrena, R., Montañés-Rodríguez, P., & Martín, E. (2009) Earth’s transmission spectrum from lunar eclipse observations. Nature, 459(7248), 814-816. DOI: 10.1038/nature08050
- November 23, 2009
- 05:13 PM
- 621 views
Looking for planets? It’s all about the lithium!
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
I have a lot of respect for planet hunters. It’s not an easy job. Discovering and confirming the existence of a planet requires a lot of patience, and I’d imagine it must be frustrating at times. So I’m sure a few planet hunters are rejoicing at the news that knowing which stars to look at just became a lot easier. All you have to do is look for lithium.... Read more »
Israelian, G., Mena, E., Santos, N., Sousa, S., Mayor, M., Udry, S., Cerdeña, C., Rebolo, R., & Randich, S. (2009) Enhanced lithium depletion in Sun-like stars with orbiting planets. Nature, 462(7270), 189-191. DOI: 10.1038/nature08483
- December 30, 2008
- 08:42 PM
- 611 views
Could we help The Sun cheat death?
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Since they were first discovered in 1952, blue stragglers have baffled astronomers. Appearing strangely youthful amid their ageing brethren, many now believe blue stragglers are formed when two smaller stars merge. There is, however, one theory which is rather more… outlandish. In a fascinating paper dating back to 1990, Martin Beech suggests an alternative explanation. What if an advanced civilization, having invested so much time and effort into their home star system, decided to artifi........ Read more »
Martin Beech. (1990) Blue stragglers as indicators of extraterrestrial civilisations?. Earth, Moon and Planets, 49(2), 177-186. DOI: 10.1007/BF00053979
- April 14, 2009
- 10:07 PM
- 607 views
How different could life be under a red dwarf sun?
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
I’ve been mulling over this paper for a few days now. Last week, NASA JPL put out a press release about cool stars having a different mix of life forming chemicals to sun-like stars. The release was immediately picked up by news sites and bloggers alike. With good reason too — the findings could have a lot of implications for future astrobiology searches. With my interest piqued, I thought I’d get hold of a copy of the paper and find out more…... Read more »
I. Pascucci, D. Apai, K. Luhman, Th. Hemming, J. Bouwman, M. R. Meyer, F. Lahuis, A. Natta. (2009) The Different Evolution of Gas and Dust in Disks around Sun-like and Cool Stars. Astrophysical Journal (submitted). DOI: http://arxiv.org/abs/0810.2552v2
- August 7, 2009
- 08:37 PM
- 606 views
Ia! Ia! Cthonian Ftagn!
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Cthonian planets are an interesting little concept. I’m not talking about the planet Vhoorl, either, despite any similarities to the name of a certain “Great Old One”. Instead, cthonian planets (a name coined by the authors of this paper) bear their name in reference to ancient greek gods who came from the hot infernal underground, and the origins of these worlds are no less hellish. Former gas giants which ventured too close to their star, these are planets whose atmosphere ha........ Read more »
G. Hébrard, A. Lecavelier des Étangs, A. Vidal-Madjar, J. -M. Désert, & R. Ferlet. (2003) Evaporation rate of hot Jupiters and formation of Chthonian planets. Extrasolar Planets: Today and Tomorrow, ASP Conference Proceedings. arXiv: astro-ph/0312384v1
- December 24, 2008
- 11:42 AM
- 602 views
A Simple Kind of Life
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
As many an astrochemist will tell you without hesitation, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are important molecules to study, because they’re directly relevant to the origins of life. We tend to repeat this like a mantra, and perhaps we don’t always fully appreciate the ramifications of what we’re saying. Contentious, hotly debated and under researched, the origin of life is a difficult and heavily transdisciplinary subject. It’s also a long standing fascination of mine, a........ Read more »
Pascale Ehrenfreund, Steen Rasmussen, James Cleaves, & Liaohai Chen. (2006) Experimentally Tracing the Key Steps in the Origin of Life: The Aromatic World. Astrobiology, 6(3), 490-520. DOI: 10.1089/ast.2006.6.490
- February 28, 2009
- 08:39 PM
- 587 views
α's always welcome at the helium party!
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
I stumbled upon a fascinating paper on arXiv the other day. Anyone who works with lasers should be familiar with the concept of stimulated emission – the means by which photons excite electrons which, in turn, emit more photons (identical, in phase, energy and velocity, to the original photon). But could you elicit a similar effect with nuclear decay? Specifically, can you make α decay happen?... Read more »
A. L. Barabanov. (2009) Is it possible to stimulate nuclear alpha decay by superfluid helium?. preprint. DOI: 0902.4628
- May 13, 2012
- 06:16 PM
- 564 views
Blogging about science about blogging about science…
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
So… I’m writing a blog post for ResearchBlogging.org about a paper about blog posts written for ResearchBlogging.org. And that means that if ever anyone else writes a paper about blog posts for ResearchBlogging.org it will be a paper about blog posts for ResearchBlogging.org including at least one blog post about a paper about blog posts for ResearchBlogging.org. Yes.... Read more »
Shema, H., Bar-Ilan, J., & Thelwall, M. (2012) Research Blogs and the Discussion of Scholarly Information. PLoS ONE, 7(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035869
- June 2, 2012
- 12:51 PM
- 564 views
Dynamics of Cats
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
On caturday here at Supernova Condensate, I like to endeavour to bring you the very best combination I can of cats and science. Or at least, the very best combination I can find with a few minutes using Google… Continue reading →... Read more »
Kane, T., & Scher, M. (1969) A dynamical explanation of the falling cat phenomenon. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 5(7), 663-666. DOI: 10.1016/0020-7683(69)90086-9
- August 8, 2012
- 09:57 AM
- 561 views
Life’s first drink – Cold soup or warm soda?
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
It’s safe to say that we all know the phrase “primordial soup.” An idea originally put forward by J.B.S. Haldane in 1929, writers have been waxing lyrical about this proverbial soup from which life arose, for decades now. The phrase … Continue reading →... Read more »
Nick Lane, John F. Allen, & William Martin. (2010) How did LUCA make a living? Chemiosmosis in the origin of life. BioEssays, 271-280. DOI: 10.1002/bies.200900131
- September 9, 2009
- 05:45 PM
- 546 views
Looking for moons with Kepler's eyes...
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
The idea that moons around exoplanets could be host to life is certainly not a new one. Thanks to Star Wars (and Ewoks), the idea of habitable moons is quite deeply embedded into sci fi pop culture — and as with so many things in the wonderful world of astronomy, both serious science and science fiction have given a lot of thought to the idea ever since. Being as we have a distinct shortage of Millennium Falcons to use, however, the difficult part is actually finding these moons.... Read more »
David M. Kipping, Stephen J. Fossey, & Giammarco Campanella. (2009) On the detectability of habitable exomoons with Kepler-class photometry. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (accepted). arXiv: 0907.3909v2
- June 6, 2012
- 09:35 AM
- 539 views
Interstellar Sleuths
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
“Of course, this identification is simply wrong.” That one remark caused a subdued but audible commotion in the audience, and a handful of shocked responses to be posted on twitter. The remark in question had been made by Jacek Krełowski, … Continue reading →... Read more »
Harvey Liszt, Paule Sonnentrucker, Martin Cordiner, & Maryvonne Gerin. (2012) The abundance of C3H2 and other small hydrocarbons in the diffuse interstellar medium. ApJL. arXiv: 1206.0342v1
- December 22, 2008
- 03:02 PM
- 518 views
Protonation’s what you need
by Invader Xan in Supernova Condensate
Ah, the humble proton. Simple, stable, and able to drastically affect the chemistry of other molecules — and nowhere more so than in the Interstellar Medium (ISM). H2 molecules, for instance are readily protonated in dense interstellar clouds, forming H3 , and playing a key role in the formation of hydrides like ammonia and methane. CO forms HCO , N2 forms HN2 and so on. So what about those polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules I keep talking about…?... Read more »
A. Pathak, & P. J. Sarre. (2008) Protonated PAHs as carriers of diffuse interstellar bands. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2008.00544.x
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