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Shining Apparition

28 November 2019
Astronomy

At www.space.com/interstellar-comet-borisov-photo-keck-observatory.html … it is interesting to see how the idea Comet 21/Borisov is an interstellar intruder has become a mainstream mantra – without any really firm evidence apart from the fact it is travelling very fast and its trajectory. Never the less, going with the flow, the comet has now started to shine brightly – just like a comet. Its tail is extending behind it to around 100,000 miles, or 160,000 km in EU speak. The comet head itself is estimated at around one mile across. Analysis of its speed and trajectory seem to show it is an interloper, we are told, passing through the solar system. It will be at perehelion on December 8th. It is not expected to light up to any degree. We shall see.

Meanwhile, at https://phys.org/news/2019-11-theory-black-holes-neutron-stars.html … a massive super computer simulation, we are told, is said to show strong particle density fluctuations occurring in extreme trubulent environments hosting black holes and neutron stars. The high energhy radiation which makes black holes and neutron stars shine very brightly is probably generated by electrons moving at very high speeds but the process that accelerates the particles is unknown (hence the computer simulation in order to try and shed some light on the issue). The region of galaxies that hosts black holes and neutron stars is permeated by a hot gas of charged particles. The results of the analysis are said to show that turbulence in combination with reconnections of super strong magnetic fields are taking place. It seems they set out to identify the role of magnetic reconnection in the process. The simulation shows that reconnection is the key mechanism – as one might expect if that was the position to begin with. However, we are also told the ultimate goal is to understand what is really going on in the extreme environment surrounding black holes and neutron stars. Hence, the research is ongoing and the simulation is for starters. It is not finished by a long shot.

 

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