Do you like to watch the sky? It's a very interesting hobby. How strange and beautiful is this universe. It is full of wonders that we even couldn't imagin. If you watch a star for a few minutes you can see it glowing, vanishing, changing colours, etc. Do you ever asked to yourself that why? I bet if you start watching the sky, you will get all these answers. If you wish to start it. This will help you a bit. You can use star charts at the begining,but after one year you can do it without a chart as you will become aware of star positions in each month( Not all, at least a few of them) You should start on the day which is mentioned in the star chart. You can get this chart from internet or from news papers.
POINTS TO BE NOTED FOR A BEGINER
1. Don't use telescopes at the first time
2. When you are watching there must not be any lights around you( if there it will disturb your eyes, consequently you cannot see all the stars).
3. Allways watch through open spaces, so that you can see a large portion of the sky.
4. Sit with the star chart according to the directions given in chart
5. The directions must be right(ie North, South, West & East)
6. While watching star groups there may be a chance that you won't see all memebers at all times. It depends on the position of the star and the position chages from month to month.
7. You can use telescopes after two or three weeks
8. While using telescopes you can go for watching galaxies and those stars which couldn't be watched through naked eye.
It is not necesary that you must have a telescope. You can watch the sky and know the wonders even without a telescope. In some months you can even see the moons of jupitor( europa, Ganimeda) by naked eye. And also if you want a telescope you can make a simple one. For that, You need two concave lenses (focal lenghts 5cm and 100cm), PVC pipes fitting the lenses and connecters for conneting the two pipes.
The problem is that by using this telescope you could see only the inverted image not straight one. For viewing straight one, you should use telescopes available in shopes but that is costly. so I prefer using this simple one.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
THE NEW SCHOOL
As the days slipped, Joe became more keen to be in his new school. He got up six at morning at the very first day and got ready around seven and began making his parents ready.
"Joe we got almost three hours to get there and it takes just fifteen minutes we'll go at nine ok?"Said John
"But dad I got to join and see the whole school, so it take time"
"Don't worry, you'll get enough time to do all this. Now go to your room and wait for us to call"
"Ok dad
Joe found his doll and sat with him on a chair
"Little I don't know anything about the school, Dad says its very interesting being there,but besides it's a school not a park to be play with"
"Why do you left your old school?"
"I actually didn't want to but as Grandma Hellene desided to shift, naturally I have to change my school too, But dad says it's the best he could find for me. Let's see"
"Joe it's really fantastic to be with friends, isn't it? I miss them a lot"
"Yeah me too, But I bet I can make good friends better than the old one"
The time was creeping very slowly, that Joe felt he was talking to Little for ages, but his attention was in the hall, listening to each sound and checking whether it was dad's call. What seemed one and half hour later he heard it dad's call. He bid good bye to Little and stepped down stairs, Found his parents ready. They got in to the car, it was a beautiful boxster.
The journey to the new school wasn't an eventful one. Along the way Joe watched the the buildings vanishing out of sight, after ten minutes the city burried out of view and large trees got in to and at last they reached the school.
Joe watched, there stood an old fashioned tripple decker building in a variety of coloured paint. A very large clock in the size of a chair was hanging in front of the large and top most tower in green, which was in between two small pink coloured ones. The compound wall, there was no wall at all. The trees around was so thick that it allmost looked as a wall.
"There we are, this is your new school. How is it?" Asked john with a charming smile on his face
"Dad it's.......it's like a clock tower, but I liked it"
"Come on, there is a lot to see and to be wondered for,the last year your dad brought me here."
Joe along with his parents moved to the main building and stepped inside a large room. It was The headmaster's room, a very large hexagonal room, but there was so many tables that empty space was just large enough to occupy more than five people. There was a man sitting in the square table at the centre. He was a fifteen year old,very thin bald man, his remaing hairs was tinged with white colour. He wore an oval shaped spectacles, his glasses were so thick that his eyes were enlarged twice than the real size. The man raised his head out of the paper when he realised them in the room and nodded to have a seat
"Good morning Professor Sebastian. I'm john Smith, a former student of here, this is my wife Zara and son Joe. I'd like my son to study here" Said John taking the seats
"Well Mr Smith I remember you very well. I was the arithametic teacher when you were here. Ofcourse Joe can join here. Before that I must ask you why he was not here in these years"
"Professor I was with my Grandma and done my schooling there. Now me and Grandma are shifting. I promise Sir I'll be a good student"Said Joe with an aswering skill
"Oh never mind it. Havn't your father told you anything? This school never changes its rools. You don't need to explain how you were and how you are going to be. If your father haven't told you, I suppose, he like you to know it by yourself. Anyway I can promise you one thing, you'll never feel boring here."
As the head master stopped the talking Joe nearly dropped his jaw and a lot of questions shot in to his head and he looked his father curiously, who smiled charmingly and said "Thank you Sir"
" Now you can leave and take him at four if you like otherwise we'll drop him there"Said the professor
Joe, was shocked of by the professor's behavior. It was not, what he expected. He watched his parents leaving him and the head master said
"Joe come on this is time for some personal information"
He followed the headmaster who turned to the next corridor and then to the first room in the right side. It was the teacher's room. Joe saw ten people in whatever they like clothes. As the head master entered the room, the teachers directed their eyes once at them and indulged in what they had been doing. The headmaster led him to a small table in the corner and took a big yellow coloured book. He began scanning the pages and at last he found a blank one at the very end. And he asked to Joe and he answered it was his own personal information. After completing the writing he turned his head to the teachers who just turned their head as if they were expecting it for ages and spoke
"Dear teachers this is our new student Joe Smith from today onwards he will be a member of our family and Joe this is your teachers, you'll find them teaching you in this year and in coming years. Come on I'll introduce them to you"
Joe met all the teachers, but he could rember only a few. Zyrina Blander- his class teacher, Dona Macross- the arithametic teacher, Liza Darwin- he couldn't remember the subject and a lot. After that professor Sebastian led him to the corridor and stepped upstairs, Joe followed him and entered the room right near the steps.
It was like a conference hall with a large round table of size of the class, at the centre there was a small table and a chair. He saw a number of students in common clothes of his age, sitting in the chairs around the table and talking feably. As they entered the room all of them stopped talking and watched them with a questioning face. The headmaster introduced him and left giving a wish. He took a seat near a round faced blond boy with golden brown eyes. He was taller than him. The boy was watching some thing in the table, his nose was nearly touching the table
"Hi I'm Steve Clark and you are Joe what?" Asked the boy without looking at him
"Hi I'm Joe Smith "Said Joe still sitting in his seat but trying to oversee what he was watching and wondered how he realised him beside
"Are you a Smith?" Said the boy taking his sight out of the table and watching him throughly"I know some one in Smith family.............one J....John Smith. He was my dad's best friend of here. Do you know him?"
"Yes he's my dad and.......then..your father must be James Clark!!"
"Yes. And you know what? he fancy, everyday? Talking about his old friends to me, mom and my sister Staize, but usually only us, me and mom manage it. Staize is just eight, still she hate it and runs out of the house when he starts saying"
It was the most interesting chat he ever had, within a few minutes he realised that he was not going to lose his bet with Little. The talk made him unaware of time. He nearly jumbed when he heard a music behind him and turned to see
"I'm just got in and Paul told me we got someone new in our class,hi I'm Jack Craser and you? "Said the boy raising a hand towards Joe, a thin faced boy with brown hair and black eyes, he looked pale as though he was running in the snow, he had an intellectual look
"Hi I'm Joe Smith"
"Jack, his father was my dad's bestfriend"
"Blimey! he didn't turn to here until his age of thirteen"Said Jack
"Yea I was wondering too"
"Well I was with my granma and did my schooling there. Now she wanted to shift to our house so me too chaged my school"
"Anyway how do you feel about this school? Is it funny?"Asked steve looking at the entrance of the class
"Er..... I'm not sure but........rather strange..... what are you looking for?"
"Oh me, Professor sandlots. She is supposed to be here. Its past ten."
"You idiot Steve, didn't notice me here in the class at ten, and didn't get that... how I got in the class so soon. There's a staff meeting going on
Joe helped himself not to laugh, but couldn't hold it more than a moment; he burst out and the whole class looked at him for a while and turned their heads to their previous work
"What was that for"said Steve getting of from his chair"we'll introduce you our M.M members"
"You already told him about M.M?"Asked Jack" I thought may be I'll get a chance to tell something to him. You told about every stuff?"
"You know Jack He has been talking to me for an hour"Said Joe grinning at Steve"He didn't talk too much about M.M. I just realised it's a gang,isn't it?And what the M.M stands for?"
"M.M means 'mischief makers'. Yea it's a gang but it got only 4 members, wanna join"Said Jack seaching some one in the crowd of students
"Mischief makers..............sounds good, but do you think, I mean Sir Sebastian really want me to be a part of such group at the very first day"Said Joe blankly,but he could feel his hands were sweting
"Oh don't worry Joe"Said Jack with a high pitched voice and then whispered near his ears"You know he's a big supporter of our group, he always like real mischief makers"
"Ok then come on, let's meet them"Said Joe Joining Jack and Steve
The three of them walked around the table, he met a lot of them, But wondered why Jack and Steve not mentioning the M.M members. As he met many more students, he felt that, being introdused as a teacher. At last he got all the answers for the questions shot out of his head. Jack And Steve stopped near the opening of the round table to the centre and winked to the girl and a boy sitting two chairs after them. The girl was too small to her age, with black straight hairs and blue eyes, she was quite pretty and bore a clever look. And the boy was a bit fatty and small necked. The girl was writing something in her book and at the same time giving insructions to the boy, who was reading something. The girl give out a cry as the boy spelt something wrong and began arguing
"Carry you're doing it wrong again. If you continue this. It'll be me who throwing you out of the class, Not professor sandlots"
"Joe we got almost three hours to get there and it takes just fifteen minutes we'll go at nine ok?"Said John
"But dad I got to join and see the whole school, so it take time"
"Don't worry, you'll get enough time to do all this. Now go to your room and wait for us to call"
"Ok dad
Joe found his doll and sat with him on a chair
"Little I don't know anything about the school, Dad says its very interesting being there,but besides it's a school not a park to be play with"
"Why do you left your old school?"
"I actually didn't want to but as Grandma Hellene desided to shift, naturally I have to change my school too, But dad says it's the best he could find for me. Let's see"
"Joe it's really fantastic to be with friends, isn't it? I miss them a lot"
"Yeah me too, But I bet I can make good friends better than the old one"
The time was creeping very slowly, that Joe felt he was talking to Little for ages, but his attention was in the hall, listening to each sound and checking whether it was dad's call. What seemed one and half hour later he heard it dad's call. He bid good bye to Little and stepped down stairs, Found his parents ready. They got in to the car, it was a beautiful boxster.
The journey to the new school wasn't an eventful one. Along the way Joe watched the the buildings vanishing out of sight, after ten minutes the city burried out of view and large trees got in to and at last they reached the school.
Joe watched, there stood an old fashioned tripple decker building in a variety of coloured paint. A very large clock in the size of a chair was hanging in front of the large and top most tower in green, which was in between two small pink coloured ones. The compound wall, there was no wall at all. The trees around was so thick that it allmost looked as a wall.
"There we are, this is your new school. How is it?" Asked john with a charming smile on his face
"Dad it's.......it's like a clock tower, but I liked it"
"Come on, there is a lot to see and to be wondered for,the last year your dad brought me here."
Joe along with his parents moved to the main building and stepped inside a large room. It was The headmaster's room, a very large hexagonal room, but there was so many tables that empty space was just large enough to occupy more than five people. There was a man sitting in the square table at the centre. He was a fifteen year old,very thin bald man, his remaing hairs was tinged with white colour. He wore an oval shaped spectacles, his glasses were so thick that his eyes were enlarged twice than the real size. The man raised his head out of the paper when he realised them in the room and nodded to have a seat
"Good morning Professor Sebastian. I'm john Smith, a former student of here, this is my wife Zara and son Joe. I'd like my son to study here" Said John taking the seats
"Well Mr Smith I remember you very well. I was the arithametic teacher when you were here. Ofcourse Joe can join here. Before that I must ask you why he was not here in these years"
"Professor I was with my Grandma and done my schooling there. Now me and Grandma are shifting. I promise Sir I'll be a good student"Said Joe with an aswering skill
"Oh never mind it. Havn't your father told you anything? This school never changes its rools. You don't need to explain how you were and how you are going to be. If your father haven't told you, I suppose, he like you to know it by yourself. Anyway I can promise you one thing, you'll never feel boring here."
As the head master stopped the talking Joe nearly dropped his jaw and a lot of questions shot in to his head and he looked his father curiously, who smiled charmingly and said "Thank you Sir"
" Now you can leave and take him at four if you like otherwise we'll drop him there"Said the professor
Joe, was shocked of by the professor's behavior. It was not, what he expected. He watched his parents leaving him and the head master said
"Joe come on this is time for some personal information"
He followed the headmaster who turned to the next corridor and then to the first room in the right side. It was the teacher's room. Joe saw ten people in whatever they like clothes. As the head master entered the room, the teachers directed their eyes once at them and indulged in what they had been doing. The headmaster led him to a small table in the corner and took a big yellow coloured book. He began scanning the pages and at last he found a blank one at the very end. And he asked to Joe and he answered it was his own personal information. After completing the writing he turned his head to the teachers who just turned their head as if they were expecting it for ages and spoke
"Dear teachers this is our new student Joe Smith from today onwards he will be a member of our family and Joe this is your teachers, you'll find them teaching you in this year and in coming years. Come on I'll introduce them to you"
Joe met all the teachers, but he could rember only a few. Zyrina Blander- his class teacher, Dona Macross- the arithametic teacher, Liza Darwin- he couldn't remember the subject and a lot. After that professor Sebastian led him to the corridor and stepped upstairs, Joe followed him and entered the room right near the steps.
It was like a conference hall with a large round table of size of the class, at the centre there was a small table and a chair. He saw a number of students in common clothes of his age, sitting in the chairs around the table and talking feably. As they entered the room all of them stopped talking and watched them with a questioning face. The headmaster introduced him and left giving a wish. He took a seat near a round faced blond boy with golden brown eyes. He was taller than him. The boy was watching some thing in the table, his nose was nearly touching the table
"Hi I'm Steve Clark and you are Joe what?" Asked the boy without looking at him
"Hi I'm Joe Smith "Said Joe still sitting in his seat but trying to oversee what he was watching and wondered how he realised him beside
"Are you a Smith?" Said the boy taking his sight out of the table and watching him throughly"I know some one in Smith family.............one J....John Smith. He was my dad's best friend of here. Do you know him?"
"Yes he's my dad and.......then..your father must be James Clark!!"
"Yes. And you know what? he fancy, everyday? Talking about his old friends to me, mom and my sister Staize, but usually only us, me and mom manage it. Staize is just eight, still she hate it and runs out of the house when he starts saying"
It was the most interesting chat he ever had, within a few minutes he realised that he was not going to lose his bet with Little. The talk made him unaware of time. He nearly jumbed when he heard a music behind him and turned to see
"I'm just got in and Paul told me we got someone new in our class,hi I'm Jack Craser and you? "Said the boy raising a hand towards Joe, a thin faced boy with brown hair and black eyes, he looked pale as though he was running in the snow, he had an intellectual look
"Hi I'm Joe Smith"
"Jack, his father was my dad's bestfriend"
"Blimey! he didn't turn to here until his age of thirteen"Said Jack
"Yea I was wondering too"
"Well I was with my granma and did my schooling there. Now she wanted to shift to our house so me too chaged my school"
"Anyway how do you feel about this school? Is it funny?"Asked steve looking at the entrance of the class
"Er..... I'm not sure but........rather strange..... what are you looking for?"
"Oh me, Professor sandlots. She is supposed to be here. Its past ten."
"You idiot Steve, didn't notice me here in the class at ten, and didn't get that... how I got in the class so soon. There's a staff meeting going on
Joe helped himself not to laugh, but couldn't hold it more than a moment; he burst out and the whole class looked at him for a while and turned their heads to their previous work
"What was that for"said Steve getting of from his chair"we'll introduce you our M.M members"
"You already told him about M.M?"Asked Jack" I thought may be I'll get a chance to tell something to him. You told about every stuff?"
"You know Jack He has been talking to me for an hour"Said Joe grinning at Steve"He didn't talk too much about M.M. I just realised it's a gang,isn't it?And what the M.M stands for?"
"M.M means 'mischief makers'. Yea it's a gang but it got only 4 members, wanna join"Said Jack seaching some one in the crowd of students
"Mischief makers..............sounds good, but do you think, I mean Sir Sebastian really want me to be a part of such group at the very first day"Said Joe blankly,but he could feel his hands were sweting
"Oh don't worry Joe"Said Jack with a high pitched voice and then whispered near his ears"You know he's a big supporter of our group, he always like real mischief makers"
"Ok then come on, let's meet them"Said Joe Joining Jack and Steve
The three of them walked around the table, he met a lot of them, But wondered why Jack and Steve not mentioning the M.M members. As he met many more students, he felt that, being introdused as a teacher. At last he got all the answers for the questions shot out of his head. Jack And Steve stopped near the opening of the round table to the centre and winked to the girl and a boy sitting two chairs after them. The girl was too small to her age, with black straight hairs and blue eyes, she was quite pretty and bore a clever look. And the boy was a bit fatty and small necked. The girl was writing something in her book and at the same time giving insructions to the boy, who was reading something. The girl give out a cry as the boy spelt something wrong and began arguing
"Carry you're doing it wrong again. If you continue this. It'll be me who throwing you out of the class, Not professor sandlots"
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
ANTI MATTER
To every action there is a reaction. This is Newton's third law of motion.The scientist Paldirack says that to every matter there is an anti matter with same mass and opposite charge. When the matter and anti matter collide with each other, large amount of energy is produced. This energy is that big that we can't imagin, according to Newton's equation(E=MC2). This makes the anti matter the powerful energy supplier. Anti matter in the size of a small aspirin tablet can supply an energy which enables a space craft to travell hundreads of light years within minutes. But the defect is that, to produce anti matter we require an energy which is larger than that of energy produced by anti matter.
Monday, April 30, 2007
TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS OF HOLOGRAPHY
adapted from Integraf (INTEGRAF, P0 Box. 586, Lake Forest, IL 60045).
Scanned, filtered by optical character recognition. For further details please see the original article. This resource is intended for engineering students.
Optical computers Will use holograms as "circuit elements". Parallel processing is made possible because when a hologram is addressed, all the information comes out simultaneously
Bubble chamber holography has been performed at the Enrico Fermi National Laboratory. Three-dimensional tracks in a 15-foot deep bubble chamber were recorded. The creation and annihilation of matter and antimatter can be seen through these holograms.
Biomedical applications of holography is actively pursued in the U.S. and Europe. Holograms are made inside live organs through optical fibers, providing more details than any previous alternate techniques.
Instantaneous growth rate of a live plant can be directly observed through a hologram. Using optical fibers, the rigid body movements can be isolated from the net growth information.
Holographic optical elements (HOE) are used to perform the same functions as lenses, mirrors, gratings, etc. It can also combine several functions together not possible with conventional optical elements. Some examples:
HOE bi-focal contact lenses are being manufactured.
Compact discs players use holograms to handle light.
Grocery store scanners use spinning holograms.
High resolution spectrometers use holographic gratings.
Holographic interferometry is used in numerous laboratories for non-destructive testing. It visually reveals structural faults without damaging the specimen.
Anti-counterfeiting in credit card is now a common practice. In some European countries, credit cards for telephone calls use erasable holograms. The 5000 Shilling (about $700) note of Austria is printed with a golden hologram of Mozart on it.
Head-up display (HUD) are holographic windshields installed in military aircraft (soon, in automobiles). It allows the pilot (driver) to keep his/her eyes at a distance target while information is relayed through the windshield.
Holographic microfiche for high density information storage is more attractive then conventional microfiche. It can be duplicated more economically and, like laser discs, is impervious to scratches and dirt. It also contains 50 times more information than microfiche.
Erasable holograms is in the market for routine real-time non-destructive testing and inspection
Light-in-flight measurements can be made using picosecond lasers, recording stop-action 3-D pictures of waterfronts of light. This can be used to study ultra-high speed phenomena as well as "seeing" through translucent specimen.
Femto-second lasers (gives off light pulses in one-billionth of one-millionth of one second! There are more femtoseconds in one second then there are seconds in 30 million years!) can be used to make holograms through translucent media, such as human flesh. The aim is to see your inside using light, not X-ray
Holographic scanners are used in store check-out counters for reading the bar codes. A rotating computer-generated hologram is responsible for both the scanning and the detecting of the scattered light.
Phase conjugation is the most exciting branch of electro-optical science. Holograms are recorded instantaneously on crystals and a "pump beam" projects the real image precisely back onto the object. The "time-reversed" object beam can be 10,000 times more intense than the original. This has wide range applications from star war to optical circuit components
Scanned, filtered by optical character recognition. For further details please see the original article. This resource is intended for engineering students.
Optical computers Will use holograms as "circuit elements". Parallel processing is made possible because when a hologram is addressed, all the information comes out simultaneously
Bubble chamber holography has been performed at the Enrico Fermi National Laboratory. Three-dimensional tracks in a 15-foot deep bubble chamber were recorded. The creation and annihilation of matter and antimatter can be seen through these holograms.
Biomedical applications of holography is actively pursued in the U.S. and Europe. Holograms are made inside live organs through optical fibers, providing more details than any previous alternate techniques.
Instantaneous growth rate of a live plant can be directly observed through a hologram. Using optical fibers, the rigid body movements can be isolated from the net growth information.
Holographic optical elements (HOE) are used to perform the same functions as lenses, mirrors, gratings, etc. It can also combine several functions together not possible with conventional optical elements. Some examples:
HOE bi-focal contact lenses are being manufactured.
Compact discs players use holograms to handle light.
Grocery store scanners use spinning holograms.
High resolution spectrometers use holographic gratings.
Holographic interferometry is used in numerous laboratories for non-destructive testing. It visually reveals structural faults without damaging the specimen.
Anti-counterfeiting in credit card is now a common practice. In some European countries, credit cards for telephone calls use erasable holograms. The 5000 Shilling (about $700) note of Austria is printed with a golden hologram of Mozart on it.
Head-up display (HUD) are holographic windshields installed in military aircraft (soon, in automobiles). It allows the pilot (driver) to keep his/her eyes at a distance target while information is relayed through the windshield.
Holographic microfiche for high density information storage is more attractive then conventional microfiche. It can be duplicated more economically and, like laser discs, is impervious to scratches and dirt. It also contains 50 times more information than microfiche.
Erasable holograms is in the market for routine real-time non-destructive testing and inspection
Light-in-flight measurements can be made using picosecond lasers, recording stop-action 3-D pictures of waterfronts of light. This can be used to study ultra-high speed phenomena as well as "seeing" through translucent specimen.
Femto-second lasers (gives off light pulses in one-billionth of one-millionth of one second! There are more femtoseconds in one second then there are seconds in 30 million years!) can be used to make holograms through translucent media, such as human flesh. The aim is to see your inside using light, not X-ray
Holographic scanners are used in store check-out counters for reading the bar codes. A rotating computer-generated hologram is responsible for both the scanning and the detecting of the scattered light.
Phase conjugation is the most exciting branch of electro-optical science. Holograms are recorded instantaneously on crystals and a "pump beam" projects the real image precisely back onto the object. The "time-reversed" object beam can be 10,000 times more intense than the original. This has wide range applications from star war to optical circuit components
Friday, January 26, 2007
SOME OF MY CRACES
Dark Matter
What do scientists look for when they search for dark matter? We cannot see or touch it: its existence is implied. Possibilities for dark matter range from tiny subatomic particles weighing 100,000 times less than an electron to black holes with masses millions of times that of the sun (9). The two main categories that scientists consider as possible candidates for dark matter have been dubbed MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects), and WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). Although these acronyms are amusing, they can help you remember which is which. MACHOs are the big, strong dark matter objects ranging in size from small stars to super massive black holes (1). MACHOs are made of 'ordinary' matter, which is called baryonic matter. WIMPs, on the other hand, are the little weak subatomic dark matter candidates, which are thought to be made of stuff other than ordinary matter, called non-baryonic matter. Astronomers search for MACHOs and particle physicists look for WIMPs.
Astronomers and particle physicists disagree about what they think dark matter is. Walter Stockwell, of the dark matter team at the Center for Particle Astrophysics at U.C. Berkeley, describes this difference. "The nature of what we find to be the dark matter will have a great effect on particle physics and astronomy. The controversy starts when people made theories of what this matter could be--and the first split is between ordinary baryonic matter and non-baryonic matter" (10). Since MACHOs are too far away and WIMPs are too small to be seen, astronomers and particle physicists have devised ways of trying to infer their existence.
MACHOs
Massive Compact Halo Objects are non-luminous objects that make up the halos around galaxies. Machos are thought to be primarily brown dwarf stars and black holes (2). Like many astronomical objects, their existence had been predicted by theory long before there was any proof. The existence of brown dwarfs was predicted by theories that describe star formation (7). Black holes were predicted by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (11).
Brown Dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are made out of hydrogen--the same as our sun but they are typically much smaller. Stars like our sun form when a mass of hydrogen collapses under its own gravity and the intense pressure initiates a nuclear reaction, emitting light and energy. Brown dwarfs are different from normal stars. Because of their relatively low mass, brown dwarfs do not have enough gravity to ignite when they form (7). Thus, a brown dwarf is not a "real" star; it is an accumulation of hydrogen gas held together by gravity. Brown dwarfs give off some heat and a small amount of light (7).
Black Holes. Black holes, unlike brown dwarfs, have an over-abundance of matter. All that matter "collapses" under its own enormous gravity into a relatively small area. The black hole is so dense that anything that comes too close to it, even light, cannot escape the pull of its gravitational field (11). Stars at safe distance will circle around the black hole, much like the motion of the planets around the sun (7). Black holes emit no light; they are truly black.
Detecting MACHOs
Astronomers are faced with quite a challenge with detecting MACHOs. They must detect, over astronomical distances, things that give off little or no light. But the task is becoming easier as astronomers create more refined telescopes and techniques for detecting MACHOs.
Searching with Hubble. With the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers can detect brown dwarfs in the halos of our own and nearby galaxies. Images produced by the Hubble Telescope, however, do not reveal the large numbers of brown dwarfs that astronomers hoped to find. "We expected [the Hubble images] to be covered wall to wall by faint, red stars," reported Francesco Paresce of the Johns Hopkins University Space Telescope Science Institute in the Chronicle of Higher Education (5). Research results are disappointing--calculations based on the Hubble research estimate that brown dwarfs constitute only 6% of galactic halo matter (12).
Gravitational Lensing. Astronomers use a technique called gravitational lensing in the search for dark matter halo objects. Gravitational lensing occurs when a brown dwarf or a black hole passes between a light source, such as a star or a galaxy, and an observer on the Earth. The object focuses the light rays, causing the light source to brighten (13). Astronomers diligently search photographs of the night sky for the telltale brightening that indicates the presence of a MACHO.
Wouldn't a MACHO block the light? How can dark matter act like a lens? The answer is gravity. Albert Einstein proved in 1919 that gravity bends light rays (13). He predicted that a star, which was positioned behind the sun, would be visible during a total eclipse. Einstein was right--the gravity of the sun bent the light rays coming from the star and made it appear next to the sun.
What do scientists look for when they search for dark matter? We cannot see or touch it: its existence is implied. Possibilities for dark matter range from tiny subatomic particles weighing 100,000 times less than an electron to black holes with masses millions of times that of the sun (9). The two main categories that scientists consider as possible candidates for dark matter have been dubbed MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects), and WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). Although these acronyms are amusing, they can help you remember which is which. MACHOs are the big, strong dark matter objects ranging in size from small stars to super massive black holes (1). MACHOs are made of 'ordinary' matter, which is called baryonic matter. WIMPs, on the other hand, are the little weak subatomic dark matter candidates, which are thought to be made of stuff other than ordinary matter, called non-baryonic matter. Astronomers search for MACHOs and particle physicists look for WIMPs.
Astronomers and particle physicists disagree about what they think dark matter is. Walter Stockwell, of the dark matter team at the Center for Particle Astrophysics at U.C. Berkeley, describes this difference. "The nature of what we find to be the dark matter will have a great effect on particle physics and astronomy. The controversy starts when people made theories of what this matter could be--and the first split is between ordinary baryonic matter and non-baryonic matter" (10). Since MACHOs are too far away and WIMPs are too small to be seen, astronomers and particle physicists have devised ways of trying to infer their existence.
MACHOs
Massive Compact Halo Objects are non-luminous objects that make up the halos around galaxies. Machos are thought to be primarily brown dwarf stars and black holes (2). Like many astronomical objects, their existence had been predicted by theory long before there was any proof. The existence of brown dwarfs was predicted by theories that describe star formation (7). Black holes were predicted by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (11).
Brown Dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are made out of hydrogen--the same as our sun but they are typically much smaller. Stars like our sun form when a mass of hydrogen collapses under its own gravity and the intense pressure initiates a nuclear reaction, emitting light and energy. Brown dwarfs are different from normal stars. Because of their relatively low mass, brown dwarfs do not have enough gravity to ignite when they form (7). Thus, a brown dwarf is not a "real" star; it is an accumulation of hydrogen gas held together by gravity. Brown dwarfs give off some heat and a small amount of light (7).
Black Holes. Black holes, unlike brown dwarfs, have an over-abundance of matter. All that matter "collapses" under its own enormous gravity into a relatively small area. The black hole is so dense that anything that comes too close to it, even light, cannot escape the pull of its gravitational field (11). Stars at safe distance will circle around the black hole, much like the motion of the planets around the sun (7). Black holes emit no light; they are truly black.
Detecting MACHOs
Astronomers are faced with quite a challenge with detecting MACHOs. They must detect, over astronomical distances, things that give off little or no light. But the task is becoming easier as astronomers create more refined telescopes and techniques for detecting MACHOs.
Searching with Hubble. With the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers can detect brown dwarfs in the halos of our own and nearby galaxies. Images produced by the Hubble Telescope, however, do not reveal the large numbers of brown dwarfs that astronomers hoped to find. "We expected [the Hubble images] to be covered wall to wall by faint, red stars," reported Francesco Paresce of the Johns Hopkins University Space Telescope Science Institute in the Chronicle of Higher Education (5). Research results are disappointing--calculations based on the Hubble research estimate that brown dwarfs constitute only 6% of galactic halo matter (12).
Gravitational Lensing. Astronomers use a technique called gravitational lensing in the search for dark matter halo objects. Gravitational lensing occurs when a brown dwarf or a black hole passes between a light source, such as a star or a galaxy, and an observer on the Earth. The object focuses the light rays, causing the light source to brighten (13). Astronomers diligently search photographs of the night sky for the telltale brightening that indicates the presence of a MACHO.
Wouldn't a MACHO block the light? How can dark matter act like a lens? The answer is gravity. Albert Einstein proved in 1919 that gravity bends light rays (13). He predicted that a star, which was positioned behind the sun, would be visible during a total eclipse. Einstein was right--the gravity of the sun bent the light rays coming from the star and made it appear next to the sun.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
FORTUITOUS DREAM
Not for the first time I forgot my car keys in my office. As usual I returned from the lift and picked it. It was a Saturday evening. That was a usual day but along the way back to home I met Miss Margaret. She had grown older, her rustier eyes, lean and rough skin indicated that. She had sold her home after their death and went to New York.
After some other talks we bid good bye each other. I was home at nine. I had been living in a cottage since I got a job. I had spent all nights, wandering along the corridors and watching the sky. But in that night I didn’t have any time to usual work. I just ate some sausages and went to bed. Something disturbing was flying around my mind. Exactly the sleep wasn’t a comfortable one. In its middle I went back to my school days, in to my higher secondary school. I saw myself standing among a number of students. It was the school day. I was watching the play.
"Hay Elude where’s nick? He’s not found anywhere."
Asked a pale-red faced gentle guy. He had blue eyes, golden brown hair and an intellectual look.
He was one of my best friends, Peter Clowding and the one whom he enquired was his twin brother, Nick Clowding. Both of them were my dearest friends, like my treasure.
"Well I don’t know. I didn’t see him today. Pete don’t worry he’ll be there at right time. I’m sure." I consoled him
"But you know Elude I don’t want him to lose his prize for music." Said he
"Yes I know"
Hm….. Ok, now we’ll wait him." Said he
"Hay guys what you two are doing there. Come on you need to be here. It’s my turn."
We looked around for the owner of the sound. It was Nick. In sight he was same as Peter except the eyes. He had golden brown eyes.
"Nick, where were you from morning?" enquired I
"Him I was in the mess."
"Mess?"
"Yes not for eating, for practice."
"You! And practice?"
"Oh! I can’t believe." Exclaimed I
"I couldn’t, but that Jack boy he persuaded me and was guarding me too. So I couldn’t escape." Said he
"Well he’s trying you to get the first prize, but it’s already yours." Said I
That was correct. As usual he got the first prize. He was good at every games and arts. Peter was also good at all these, but he didn’t want to compete.
***********
All of us enjoyed our life as best as we could and were perfect in our studying too. In those days I was with my uncle who was a teacher and helped us in studying.
Peter’s and Nick’s parents were in New York. They had business there. They wanted both of them to shift to New York, but they liked to stay with Miss Margaret, daughter of their father’s older sister.
***********
Months passed. It was the time of final exam. All lessons settled, revised a lot. One Saturday morning we made a visit to my house
My father was an architect and mother was a professor and I had a little sister too.
Early in the morning we reached my house. We spent the day time, playing with Catherine, my sister. In the evening my mother wanted me to stay. So I went with them to the bus stop which was opposite to my house. There was heavy traffic on the road. We had to wait a long time. After seeing the signal we started to cross. At that time when we reached the middle a bus came against traffic rules. I could only hold Peter. Nick was beyond my reach. I pulled Peter to the road side we two fell down. My head hit in the footpath side and fainted.
***********
I felt someone was calling me like a whisper. A sharp pain was lurking beneath my head. I slowly opened my eyes; saw myself lying in a hospital bed. Mom and dad were near me. I examined myself; found a thick bandage on my head. It was the day after the accident. I was anxious to know about Peter and Nick, especially about Nick. I asked to mom
"Mom, what about Peter and Nick?"
"Well…………they……………"
"What mom?"
"Elude you need rest so take rest. I’ll tell you later." Said she
"No mom. Please………………"
But they left me alone in that room I was sure something bad happened. The effect of medicine and the severe pain made me sleep for hours. But my mind was a disturbing one like a sailor. I was looking for answers, sailing around my mind without any aim.
I woke after along sleep. The pain had reduced. Mom gave me food; I wanted to ask about them, but wasn’t dare enough.
A couple of days passed. Miss Margaret came to see me. It seems that someone stole all her happiness. She looked older than she was. She asked
"How’re you feeling?"
"Better"
"Miss Margaret I need to pay the bill. I’ll be back." Said my mom
When she left I dare to ask Miss Margaret. I asked
"Please tell me what happened to them?"
She suddenly burst in to tears and hugged me tightly
"Oh! Elude they left me. They left me alone."
I felt that something sharp one just cut my mind. A sharp pain, that couldn’t be curable.
"But I pulled Peter. He couldn’t be dead."
"Yes he couldn’t, but he lost himself."
"You mean mad?"
"Yes mad."
"Oh no"
That was enough for us to bear. She left the room trying to hide her tears and agony.
After two days I returned home. There was only a fortnight for the exam. I wasn’t prepared. I was very dull and sad. Catherine tried a lot to cheer me up, but I always made angry words to her. She cried a lot saying, "Mamma Elude isn’t speaking to me."
"Cate, shut up don’t disturb him." Said she
Mom knew my mental pain. So she didn’t ask me anything. But she persuaded me to study for it was a public exam. I wasn’t dare enough to meet Peter. So I remained in my house as long as the exam lasted.
In the evening of the last exam I set out to Peter’s house. I was wandering in my thoughts, seeking an answer for how to face him. I reached his house, their parents behaved as if I’m a hero. I entered in to Peter’s room. He was sitting in the bed, holding Nick’s picture and was anxiously looking into it. His eyes were full of tears. For a moment I thought he was perfectly alright. Suddenly he threw the picture in to floor and laughed clapping his hand. I couldn’t bear more, left the house.
***********
I passed the exam with a good mark but not so high because of the perceived shock. After that I joined for higher studies in New York. But I put aside a day or two per month to visit Peter. I was staying in a hostel. He was recovering himself and after one year seemed to recognize me. Another year gone. I was studying well, but the fact was I couldn’t make any friends in that large campus in two years. The only satisfaction was my monthly visit to Peter, which gave me all the memories a man could have in all his life about his everlasting friends.
One Saturday morning I was just going outside then heard someone say.
"Elude a call for you"
I attended the phone. It was mom
"Elude, how’re you?"
"I’m fine. Mom, what’s the matter in this morning?"
"We all are fine, but I’ve a bad news for you."
"Bad news, for me?"
"Yes Peter, he’s dead."
I put the phone back. I couldn’t hear more. I felt my heart hitting my ribs and my head rolling around me. It was the last time, I felt, what the pain of losing a dear friend was.
***********
Suddenly I woke up with a heavy breath. It was a dream. Not a dream, a real thing happened in my life. It’s been years; still I could feel the fresh pain. Later I thought about the dream. What made me to see such a dream? I hadn’t seen any dreams related to me yet. I sought an answer too. It might be the meeting with Miss Margaret made it.
Next day I woke up right at my regular time, six and involved in my regular routine. I didn’t even think about that realistic dream before I wrote this.
***********
After some other talks we bid good bye each other. I was home at nine. I had been living in a cottage since I got a job. I had spent all nights, wandering along the corridors and watching the sky. But in that night I didn’t have any time to usual work. I just ate some sausages and went to bed. Something disturbing was flying around my mind. Exactly the sleep wasn’t a comfortable one. In its middle I went back to my school days, in to my higher secondary school. I saw myself standing among a number of students. It was the school day. I was watching the play.
"Hay Elude where’s nick? He’s not found anywhere."
Asked a pale-red faced gentle guy. He had blue eyes, golden brown hair and an intellectual look.
He was one of my best friends, Peter Clowding and the one whom he enquired was his twin brother, Nick Clowding. Both of them were my dearest friends, like my treasure.
"Well I don’t know. I didn’t see him today. Pete don’t worry he’ll be there at right time. I’m sure." I consoled him
"But you know Elude I don’t want him to lose his prize for music." Said he
"Yes I know"
Hm….. Ok, now we’ll wait him." Said he
"Hay guys what you two are doing there. Come on you need to be here. It’s my turn."
We looked around for the owner of the sound. It was Nick. In sight he was same as Peter except the eyes. He had golden brown eyes.
"Nick, where were you from morning?" enquired I
"Him I was in the mess."
"Mess?"
"Yes not for eating, for practice."
"You! And practice?"
"Oh! I can’t believe." Exclaimed I
"I couldn’t, but that Jack boy he persuaded me and was guarding me too. So I couldn’t escape." Said he
"Well he’s trying you to get the first prize, but it’s already yours." Said I
That was correct. As usual he got the first prize. He was good at every games and arts. Peter was also good at all these, but he didn’t want to compete.
***********
All of us enjoyed our life as best as we could and were perfect in our studying too. In those days I was with my uncle who was a teacher and helped us in studying.
Peter’s and Nick’s parents were in New York. They had business there. They wanted both of them to shift to New York, but they liked to stay with Miss Margaret, daughter of their father’s older sister.
***********
Months passed. It was the time of final exam. All lessons settled, revised a lot. One Saturday morning we made a visit to my house
My father was an architect and mother was a professor and I had a little sister too.
Early in the morning we reached my house. We spent the day time, playing with Catherine, my sister. In the evening my mother wanted me to stay. So I went with them to the bus stop which was opposite to my house. There was heavy traffic on the road. We had to wait a long time. After seeing the signal we started to cross. At that time when we reached the middle a bus came against traffic rules. I could only hold Peter. Nick was beyond my reach. I pulled Peter to the road side we two fell down. My head hit in the footpath side and fainted.
***********
I felt someone was calling me like a whisper. A sharp pain was lurking beneath my head. I slowly opened my eyes; saw myself lying in a hospital bed. Mom and dad were near me. I examined myself; found a thick bandage on my head. It was the day after the accident. I was anxious to know about Peter and Nick, especially about Nick. I asked to mom
"Mom, what about Peter and Nick?"
"Well…………they……………"
"What mom?"
"Elude you need rest so take rest. I’ll tell you later." Said she
"No mom. Please………………"
But they left me alone in that room I was sure something bad happened. The effect of medicine and the severe pain made me sleep for hours. But my mind was a disturbing one like a sailor. I was looking for answers, sailing around my mind without any aim.
I woke after along sleep. The pain had reduced. Mom gave me food; I wanted to ask about them, but wasn’t dare enough.
A couple of days passed. Miss Margaret came to see me. It seems that someone stole all her happiness. She looked older than she was. She asked
"How’re you feeling?"
"Better"
"Miss Margaret I need to pay the bill. I’ll be back." Said my mom
When she left I dare to ask Miss Margaret. I asked
"Please tell me what happened to them?"
She suddenly burst in to tears and hugged me tightly
"Oh! Elude they left me. They left me alone."
I felt that something sharp one just cut my mind. A sharp pain, that couldn’t be curable.
"But I pulled Peter. He couldn’t be dead."
"Yes he couldn’t, but he lost himself."
"You mean mad?"
"Yes mad."
"Oh no"
That was enough for us to bear. She left the room trying to hide her tears and agony.
After two days I returned home. There was only a fortnight for the exam. I wasn’t prepared. I was very dull and sad. Catherine tried a lot to cheer me up, but I always made angry words to her. She cried a lot saying, "Mamma Elude isn’t speaking to me."
"Cate, shut up don’t disturb him." Said she
Mom knew my mental pain. So she didn’t ask me anything. But she persuaded me to study for it was a public exam. I wasn’t dare enough to meet Peter. So I remained in my house as long as the exam lasted.
In the evening of the last exam I set out to Peter’s house. I was wandering in my thoughts, seeking an answer for how to face him. I reached his house, their parents behaved as if I’m a hero. I entered in to Peter’s room. He was sitting in the bed, holding Nick’s picture and was anxiously looking into it. His eyes were full of tears. For a moment I thought he was perfectly alright. Suddenly he threw the picture in to floor and laughed clapping his hand. I couldn’t bear more, left the house.
***********
I passed the exam with a good mark but not so high because of the perceived shock. After that I joined for higher studies in New York. But I put aside a day or two per month to visit Peter. I was staying in a hostel. He was recovering himself and after one year seemed to recognize me. Another year gone. I was studying well, but the fact was I couldn’t make any friends in that large campus in two years. The only satisfaction was my monthly visit to Peter, which gave me all the memories a man could have in all his life about his everlasting friends.
One Saturday morning I was just going outside then heard someone say.
"Elude a call for you"
I attended the phone. It was mom
"Elude, how’re you?"
"I’m fine. Mom, what’s the matter in this morning?"
"We all are fine, but I’ve a bad news for you."
"Bad news, for me?"
"Yes Peter, he’s dead."
I put the phone back. I couldn’t hear more. I felt my heart hitting my ribs and my head rolling around me. It was the last time, I felt, what the pain of losing a dear friend was.
***********
Suddenly I woke up with a heavy breath. It was a dream. Not a dream, a real thing happened in my life. It’s been years; still I could feel the fresh pain. Later I thought about the dream. What made me to see such a dream? I hadn’t seen any dreams related to me yet. I sought an answer too. It might be the meeting with Miss Margaret made it.
Next day I woke up right at my regular time, six and involved in my regular routine. I didn’t even think about that realistic dream before I wrote this.
***********
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