Yes, There is Activity in The Darkness of Space

Hello reader!

It follows an article published in the day (11/01), in the website www.spacedaily.com, pointing out that yes, there is activity in the darkness of space.

Duda Falcão

STELLAR CHEMISTRY

Yes, There is Activity in The Darkness of Space

by Staff Writers

White Sands Missile Range NM (SPX) Nov 01, 2013

Image Credit: NASA

X-ray Quantum Calorimeter payload undergoes
testing at the NASA sounding rocket facility at
the White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

Looking up at the night sky one sees only the darkness between the stars. An area void of activity? Not exactly. This area between the star systems in our galaxy, also known as the interstellar medium, is populated with dust and hot gas. This gas is thought to have a role in planetary and solar system formation.

On November 1 NASA will launch a Black Brant IX sounding rocket carrying the X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC) payload from the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., to study the role of this hot gas in solar system formation via the X-rays that it produces.

Dan McCammon, principal investigator from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said," When this gas reaches temperatures around one million degrees and above, it begins to glow in X-rays.

This hot gas is thought to be produced by past supernova explosions and to be the initial conduit for transporting the elements formed in the center of stars throughout the galaxy, where they are necessary for making solar systems with rocky planets (everything the Earth is composed of except its hydrogen must once have been buried in the center of a star). But the details of how this happens and the distribution and composition of the very hot gas are still not well understood."

X-rays are also produced in inter-planetary space when ions from the solar wind exchange electrons with interstellar neutral hydrogen and helium passing through our solar system. XQC will use detectors called microcalorimeters to measure the heat deposited when an X-ray is absorbed by the detector.

Because the amount of energy carried by a single X-ray photon is very small, the detectors must be operated at very low temperatures (around 50 millikelvin or 1/20th of a degree above absolute zero) in order to measure the small temperature rise.

"The temperature change in a microcalorimeter can be translated into a very precise measurement of the energy of the incoming X-ray. By building up a spectrum of these measurements across a range of energies, we can determine which element produced the X-rays and much additional information on the conditions in the hot gas. We can begin to differentiate the contribution of the solar wind from that of the interstellar medium" McCammon said.

In addition, to the science that will be gained with this mission, university students are gaining invaluable hands-on experience in space research. McCammon noted that several graduate students have been assisting in the development of the experiment and will participate in the launch.

The students are NASA Space Technology Research Fellow Kelsey Morgan; graduate students Dallas Wulf and Gabriele Betancourt-Martinez ; postdoctoral researcher Felix Jaeckel; and undergraduate students Mitch Hokin, Clayton Bennet, Natalia Petre, Ethan Kay, Laura Luo and Dylan Mattox.

The 54-foot tall Black Brant IX is projected to carry the 928 pound XQC payload to an altitude of 175 miles during the 15 minute flight. The payload will descend via parachute and land about 48 miles downrange where it will be recovered.

Fonte: Site http://www.spacedaily.com

Comentário: Pois é leitor, trago essa notícia aqui para demonstrar como é feito um programa espacial de verdade, um programa que não só realiza pesquisas cientificas em diversas frentes, como também apresenta resultados, justificando assim os investimentos realizados. Nesse caso especifico que aborda pesquisas na área de Astronomia/Astrofísica e Química Estelar, o que me chama atenção é o fato de não estamos fazendo o mesmo no Brasil. Temos os foguetes, temos os centros de lançamento, temos instituições que poderiam estar realizando pesquisas nessa área (INPE, LNA, IAG/USP, UFRJ, UFRGS, UNESP), mas infelizmente não realizamos. E porque isso acontece leitor? Simples, por falta de atitude, de seriedade, de comprometimento com o desenvolvimento de PEB por parte desse governo irresponsável. É sabido que o INPE e outras instituições fazem pesquisas nessa área utilizando balões, mas evidentemente que se essas instituições tivessem a disposição um programa especifico de foguetes de sondagem, o avanço e os resultados nessa área seriam alcançados não só com mais rapidez, mas principalmente com grande significado científico e tecnológico. Mas não, o que acontece no PEB é completamente o contrário. Enquanto mundo afora notícias brotam aos montes, vindas de diversos países diariamente, no Brasil temos de conviver com a notícia do lançamento do CBERS-3, um satélite que tem mais de cinco anos de atraso e que nem se quer se tem a mínima certeza que irá funcionar. Além disso, além das notícias das viagens de turismo do presidente da AEB pelo mundo, que junto com o Ministro Marco Antônio Raupp, vive a declarar que o PEB esta avançando e que tudo está as mil maravilhas, o programa espacial brasileiro, um verdadeiro barco sem rumo, caminha a passos largos para o buraco. E acredite leitor, antes do fim do ano vem mais bomba por aí, tenha certeza disso. Triste.