Dynaverse.net
Off Topic => Engineering => Topic started by: Dracho on August 16, 2006, 10:09:55 am
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Er.. Evolution of star and galaxy formation
Astronomers puzzle over heavy hydrogen
Satellite’s findings run counter to theories on star and galaxy formation
WASHINGTON - A heavy form of hydrogen created just moments after the Big Bang has been found in larger quantities than expected in the Milky Way, a finding that could radically alter theories about star and galaxy formation, researchers said Monday.
This form of hydrogen, called deuterium, has apparently been hiding out in interstellar dust grains, changing from an easily detectable gaseous form to a harder-to-see solid form, the French and U.S. team of astrophysicists said.
Writing in the Aug. 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal, the researchers said they used NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE, to ferret out the hidden hydrogen.
Deuterium — a form of hydrogen with not only a proton but also a neutron in its nucleus — produces a telltale spectral fingerprint in the ultraviolet light range, which the FUSE satellite can see.
Jeffrey Linsky of the University of Colorado, who led the study, said scientists had assumed that at least a third of the primordial deuterium present in the Milky Way was destroyed over time as it cycled through the stars.
But FUSE found that deuterium exists in amounts less than 15 percent below what was there originally. And it is not distributed evenly.
"Where there are high concentrations of interstellar dust in the galaxy, we see lower concentrations of deuterium gas with FUSE," Linsky said in a statement. "And where there is less interstellar dust, we are measuring higher levels of deuterium gas."
So something in the theory is wrong, Linsky said.
"This implies that either significantly less material has been converted to helium and heavier elements in stars or that much more primordial gas has rained down onto the galaxy over its lifetime than had been thought," he said.
"In either case, our models of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way will have to be revised significantly to explain this important new result."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14353521
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Tease...
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So, scientists have proven that the Enterprise could replenish it's deuterium tanks by just flying around and scooping it up, right? That was the real purpose behind the study, and you know it. :D
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That does make sense when you think about it. I mean astronomy is probably where you'll find the biggest collection of Star Trek nerds...that and comic con's.
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Now where did I put my plans for the intersteller Ramjet?
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Now where did I put my plans for the intersteller Ramjet?
In your other pants?
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Solid deuterium? Theoretically a superb rocket fuel (5x the thrust of Liquid hydrogen) and a metallic superconductor at room temperatures. Quite valuable stuff if it were to be found near enough to "mine".
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Solid deuterium? Theoretically a superb rocket fuel (5x the thrust of Liquid hydrogen) and a metallic superconductor at room temperatures. Quite valuable stuff if it were to be found near enough to "mine".
Remember, it's only 'solid' because it's frozen at cryogenic temps.
You'd have to mine, refine, and on-load it from a space-based or you'd loose more than you'd gain.
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Wonder if that's what caused the Big Bang? Some fool species finding deuterium, and then someone lights a match and BAM.. the whole universe blows up.
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Deuterium is heavy water. It's not flameable as far as I'm aware.
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Deuterium is heavy water. It's not flameable as far as I'm aware.
Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen. Hydrogen is 1 proton and 1 electron. Deuterium adds a neutron. Chemically it reacts as hydrogen with oxygen to form water. Heavy water is just water with one deuterium isotope replacing a hydrogen atom.
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Solid deuterium? Theoretically a superb rocket fuel (5x the thrust of Liquid hydrogen) and a metallic superconductor at room temperatures. Quite valuable stuff if it were to be found near enough to "mine".
Remember, it's only 'solid' because it's frozen at cryogenic temps.
You'd have to mine, refine, and on-load it from a space-based or you'd loose more than you'd gain.
Cryongenic temperatures alone are not enough to solidify hydrogen (and by extension the deuterium isotope of hydrogen). It also takes pressure. Once formed metallic hydrogen (and therefore deuterium) is supposed to be stable at room temperatures and normal pressure.
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Link to full article (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060821_mystery_monday.html)
The basic idea is that the chemical bond between carbon atoms and deuterium atoms in the interstellar medium is slightly stronger, due to that extra neutron, than the chemical bond between carbon and hydrogen atoms. Over time then, deuterium atoms replace hydrogen atoms in dust grains made primarily of carbon. This process occurs when dust grains are very cold and undisturbed, which is typical in the interstellar medium.
So its not solid deuterium. It is deuterium preferentially used in a chemical reaction that results in a molecule that then solidifies.
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Wonder if that's what caused the Big Bang? Some fool species finding deuterium, and then someone lights a match and BAM.. the whole universe blows up.
Hey I told you it was not my fault. I was drunk at the time.
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Wonder if that's what caused the Big Bang? Some fool species finding deuterium, and then someone lights a match and BAM.. the whole universe blows up.
Hey I told you it was not my fault. I was drunk at the time.
I am torn between this and Khalee's theory that the Big Bang is the by-product of a particularly virulent Tex-Mex combo platter.
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Wonder if that's what caused the Big Bang? Some fool species finding deuterium, and then someone lights a match and BAM.. the whole universe blows up.
But then, where did that deuterium come from? Or that fool species? Or the match...? Or... Or... :-[
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http://www.answersingenesis.org/aftereden/cartoons/screen/20040315.jpg