An accurate speedometer for astronomy

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An optical fiber is used to guide the light collected in telescopes to the spectrograph where it is split up into its individual colors. These are then compared with the frequency comb -- seen here as equally spaced lines -- to obtain an accurate det ...
An optical fiber is used to guide the light collected in telescopes to the spectrograph, where it is split up into its individual colors. These are then compared with the frequency comb -- seen here as equally spaced lines -- to obtain an accurate determination of the color. Credit: ESO
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Events on a cosmic scale are often barely discernable on Earth. This explains why astronomers are currently not able to prove directly that the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate, nor can they search for planets that are roughly the same size as Earth and revolve around a sun-like star.


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All News summaries for September 09, 2008

'Enlightened' Atoms Stage Nano-Riot Against Uniformity

Nov 18, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- When atoms in a crystal are struck by laser light, their electrons, excited by the light, typically begin moving back and forth together in a regular pattern, resembling nanoscale soldiers marching in a lockstep ...

Dancing droplets

Nov 18, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Our blood, sweat and tears are three precious fluids that can answer lots of questions about the state of our health but testing small amounts of bodily fluids, without contaminating them through contact with ...

Billions of particles of anti-matter created in laboratory

Nov 17, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- Take a gold sample the size of the head of a push pin, shoot a laser through it, and suddenly more than 100 billion particles of anti-matter appear.

'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' game provides clue to efficiency of complex networks

Nov 17, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
As the global population continues to grow exponentially, our social connections to one another remain relatively small, as if we're all protagonists in the Kevin Bacon game inspired by "Six Degrees of Separation," ...

Quantum calibration paves way for super-secure communication

Nov 17, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement has been developed with particular applications in optics and super-secure quantum communication.
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