Thursday, March 14, 2013

ALMA finds 'monster' starburst galaxies in the early universe

ALMA finds 'monster' starburst galaxies in the early universe [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
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Contact: Charles E. Blue
cblue@nrao.edu
434-296-0314
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Observatory's early strides provide astounding view of cosmic history

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope have discovered starburst galaxies earlier in the Universe's history than they were previously thought to have existed. These newly discovered galaxies represent what today's most massive galaxies looked like in their energetic, star-forming youth. The research is the most recent example of the discoveries coming from the new international ALMA observatory, which celebrates its inauguration today.

The results, published in a set of papers to appear in the journal Nature and in the Astrophysical Journal, will help astronomers better understand when and how the earliest massive galaxies formed.

The most intense bursts of star birth are thought to have occurred in the early Universe in massive, bright galaxies. These starburst galaxies converted vast reservoirs of gas and dust into new stars at a furious pace - many thousands of times faster than stately spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way.

The international team of researchers first discovered these distant starburst galaxies with the National Science Foundation's 10-meter South Pole Telescope. Though dim in visible light, they were glowing brightly in millimeter wavelength light, a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that the new ALMA telescope was designed to explore.

Using only 16 of ALMA's eventual full complement of 66 antennas, the researchers were able to precisely determine the distance to 18 of these galaxies, revealing that they were among the most distant starburst galaxies ever detected, seen when the Universe was only one to three billion years old. These results were surprising because very few similar galaxies had previously been discovered at similar distances, and it wasn't clear how galaxies that early in the history of the Universe could produce stars at such a prodigious rate.

"The more distant the galaxy, the further back in time one is looking, so by measuring their distances we can piece together a timeline of how vigorously the Universe was making new stars at different stages of its 13.7 billion-year history," said Joaquin Vieira a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech who led the team and is lead author of the Nature paper.

In fact, two of these galaxies are the most distant starburst galaxies published to date - so distant that their light began its journey when the Universe was only one billion years old. Intriguingly, emission from water molecules was detected in one of these record-breakers, making it the most distant detection of water in the Universe published to date.

"ALMA's sensitivity and wide wavelength range mean we could make our measurements in just a few minutes per galaxy - about one hundred times faster than before," said Axel Weiss of the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn, Germany, who led the work to measure the distances to the galaxies. "Previously, a measurement like this would be a laborious process of combining data from both visible-light and radio telescopes."

The galaxies found in this study have relatives in the local Universe, but the intensity of star formation in these distant objects is unlike anything seen nearby. "Our most extreme galactic neighbors are not forming stars nearly as energetically as the galaxies we observed with ALMA," said Vieira. "These are monstrous bursts of star formation."

The new results indicate these galaxies are forming 1,000 stars per year, compared to just 1 per year for our Milky Way galaxy.

This unprecedented measurement was made possible by gravitational lensing, in which the light from a distant galaxy is distorted and magnified by the gravitational force of a nearer foreground galaxy. "These beautiful pictures from ALMA show the background galaxies warped into arcs of light known as Einstein rings, which encircle the foreground galaxies," said Yashar Hezaveh of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who led the study of the gravitational lensing. "The dark matter surrounding galaxies half-way across the Universe effectively provides us with cosmic telescopes that make the very distant galaxies appear bigger and brighter."

Analysis of this gravitational distortion reveals that some of the distant star-forming galaxies are as bright as 40 trillion Suns, and that gravitational lensing has magnified this light by up to 22 times. Future observations with ALMA using gravitational lensing can take a more detailed look at the distribution of dark matter surrounding galaxies.

"This is an amazing example of astronomers from around the world collaborating to make an exciting discovery with this new facility," said Daniel Marrone with the University of Arizona, principal investigator of the ALMA gravitational lensing study. "This is just the beginning for ALMA and for the study of these starburst galaxies. Our next step is to study these objects in greater detail and figure out exactly how and why they are forming stars at such prodigious rates."

###

ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.

ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


ALMA finds 'monster' starburst galaxies in the early universe [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Charles E. Blue
cblue@nrao.edu
434-296-0314
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Observatory's early strides provide astounding view of cosmic history

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope have discovered starburst galaxies earlier in the Universe's history than they were previously thought to have existed. These newly discovered galaxies represent what today's most massive galaxies looked like in their energetic, star-forming youth. The research is the most recent example of the discoveries coming from the new international ALMA observatory, which celebrates its inauguration today.

The results, published in a set of papers to appear in the journal Nature and in the Astrophysical Journal, will help astronomers better understand when and how the earliest massive galaxies formed.

The most intense bursts of star birth are thought to have occurred in the early Universe in massive, bright galaxies. These starburst galaxies converted vast reservoirs of gas and dust into new stars at a furious pace - many thousands of times faster than stately spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way.

The international team of researchers first discovered these distant starburst galaxies with the National Science Foundation's 10-meter South Pole Telescope. Though dim in visible light, they were glowing brightly in millimeter wavelength light, a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that the new ALMA telescope was designed to explore.

Using only 16 of ALMA's eventual full complement of 66 antennas, the researchers were able to precisely determine the distance to 18 of these galaxies, revealing that they were among the most distant starburst galaxies ever detected, seen when the Universe was only one to three billion years old. These results were surprising because very few similar galaxies had previously been discovered at similar distances, and it wasn't clear how galaxies that early in the history of the Universe could produce stars at such a prodigious rate.

"The more distant the galaxy, the further back in time one is looking, so by measuring their distances we can piece together a timeline of how vigorously the Universe was making new stars at different stages of its 13.7 billion-year history," said Joaquin Vieira a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech who led the team and is lead author of the Nature paper.

In fact, two of these galaxies are the most distant starburst galaxies published to date - so distant that their light began its journey when the Universe was only one billion years old. Intriguingly, emission from water molecules was detected in one of these record-breakers, making it the most distant detection of water in the Universe published to date.

"ALMA's sensitivity and wide wavelength range mean we could make our measurements in just a few minutes per galaxy - about one hundred times faster than before," said Axel Weiss of the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn, Germany, who led the work to measure the distances to the galaxies. "Previously, a measurement like this would be a laborious process of combining data from both visible-light and radio telescopes."

The galaxies found in this study have relatives in the local Universe, but the intensity of star formation in these distant objects is unlike anything seen nearby. "Our most extreme galactic neighbors are not forming stars nearly as energetically as the galaxies we observed with ALMA," said Vieira. "These are monstrous bursts of star formation."

The new results indicate these galaxies are forming 1,000 stars per year, compared to just 1 per year for our Milky Way galaxy.

This unprecedented measurement was made possible by gravitational lensing, in which the light from a distant galaxy is distorted and magnified by the gravitational force of a nearer foreground galaxy. "These beautiful pictures from ALMA show the background galaxies warped into arcs of light known as Einstein rings, which encircle the foreground galaxies," said Yashar Hezaveh of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who led the study of the gravitational lensing. "The dark matter surrounding galaxies half-way across the Universe effectively provides us with cosmic telescopes that make the very distant galaxies appear bigger and brighter."

Analysis of this gravitational distortion reveals that some of the distant star-forming galaxies are as bright as 40 trillion Suns, and that gravitational lensing has magnified this light by up to 22 times. Future observations with ALMA using gravitational lensing can take a more detailed look at the distribution of dark matter surrounding galaxies.

"This is an amazing example of astronomers from around the world collaborating to make an exciting discovery with this new facility," said Daniel Marrone with the University of Arizona, principal investigator of the ALMA gravitational lensing study. "This is just the beginning for ALMA and for the study of these starburst galaxies. Our next step is to study these objects in greater detail and figure out exactly how and why they are forming stars at such prodigious rates."

###

ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.

ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/nrao-af031213.php

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Friday, March 8, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S IV rumoured to have Smart pause, Smart scroll features

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New Delhi: After the New York Times report claimed the eye scrolling feature on the upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone, Sammobile released some leaked screenshots and confirmed the Smart scroll and Smart pause features on the next-generation Galaxy S IV.

But later, Sammobile claimed the leaked images to be false and said that those screenshots were actually from the Android 4.2.1 leaked firmware for Galaxy S III. But it also added that the Galaxy S IV will indeed have these features as confirmed by an insider with information on the same.

If this nugget is to be believed, the Smart scroll feature on the Galaxy S IV will enable users to scroll through webpages without even touching the screen of the phone. The screen will start to scroll automatically if the device detects that you are looking at the screen. On the other hand, Smart pause is a similar eye-tracking feature, which pauses videos when it detects your head moving away from the screen.

Samsung will unveil its next flagship smartphone - Galaxy S IV - on March 14 at an event in New York.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s-iv-rumoured-to-have-smart-pause-smart-scroll-features/377149-11.html

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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Analysis: Chavistas begin search for Latin America's next 'Comandante'

Hugo Chavez, socialist leader of Venezuela, dies after long battle with cancer at the age of 58.

News analysis

By Carlos Rajo, Commentator, Telemundo

Love him or hate him ? and plenty of people in Venezuela and around the world felt one of the two emotions ? firebrand President Hugo Chavez?s brand of leadership will be hard to replace.

Chavez died Tuesday?at age 58, after a long battle with cancer that was shrouded in mystery and prevented him from being inaugurated for a fourth term.

Beyond the country?s borders, question marks loom as to whether any regional leader will step into Chavez?s shoes and become the region?s voice of socialism and anti-Americanism.

Chavez, a self-declared socialist, often criticized the United States on its history of intervention in the Americas and Washington's stance on countries such as Iran.

In a 2006 address at the U.N. General Assembly, Chavez called President George W. Bush "the devil."


"The hegemonistic?pretensions?of the American empire are placing at risk the very existence of the human species," he said during the speech.

Such declarations gave voice to many wishing to shake-off perceived American dominance of Latin America.? His habit of using Venezuela?s vast oil wealth to help prop-up governments in the name of the "Bolivarian Revolution" ? named after Simon Bolivar who led 19th-century movements to end Spain?s colonial rule throughout Latin America ? won him many friends.

NBC's Mark Potter discusses the impact of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's death on the country and on the relationship between Venezuela and the United States.

He also supported cooperation among Latin American nations, and helped establish the Union of South American Nations, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and the Bank of the South.

Nobody in power in the Americas has Chavez?s charisma or power to galvanize millions. More importantly, no other leader ? even the ones that share his ideas like Ecuador?s Rafael Correa, Bolivia?s Evo Morales or Argentina?s Cristina Kirchner ? has the resources and influence of a country such as Venezuela, which has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.

So while many Chavistas are saying "Long live to the King," it is not clear how long the king?s project will survive internationally. The same is the case within Venezuela, but more so.

According to Venezuela?s constitution, an election will need to be called within 30 days of Chavez?s death. Who the Chavistas choose to succeed "El Comandante" will help determine the future of the Bolivarian Revolution.

If Chavez? will carries beyond the grave, Vice President Nicolas Maduro will be the candidate in the upcoming election. It isn?t only that the 50-year-old former Caracas bus driver and union organizer was appointed by Chavez as his successor, but also that he represents the closest thing to 'Chavismo' without Chavez.?

Preferred candidate
Maduro lacks Chavez?s charisma and popular appeal. At the same time, Maduro accepts all the tenants of Bolivarian socialism ? a mix of authoritarianism, state owned enterprises and anti-U.S. rhetoric functioning under some form of democratic governance.

Leo Ramirez / AFP - Getty Images

Hugo Chavez, seen here in 2011 standing next to his daughter Rosa Virginia, right, Minister of Penitentiary Services Maria Iris Varela, left, and Venezuelan Minister of Health Eugenia Sader.

It is no coincidence that Maduro is the preferred candidate of Cuba, Chavez?s closest ally and supporter.

Maduro?s main opposition within his sphere is Diosdado Cabello, a former military officer and currently the President of the National Assembly. Cabello is as wooden publicly as Maduro, but he has the support of another major player in Venezuelan politics and Chavismo itself?? the army.

The men in uniform may decide that it is time for a change of regime and not just a change in leader.? Under their influence, there could be a rapprochement with the business sector and thawing in relations with United States.?

Nevertheless, whoever ends up being the Chavistas? candidate, and assuming he wins the election, the project may still be in danger: Venezuela is still dogged by inflation rates of between 5 and 30 percent a year, a large government deficit, alarming rates of urban violence, shortages in many goods and services, such as electricity, milk, meat and toilet paper.?

So even if the military accepts a Maduro presidency, it isn?t a given that they will support civilian leader to whom they see as too leftist and too close to the Cubans indefinitely. It is also possible that there will be infighting among the Chavistas? civilian groups, both the politicians who are in charge of the state machinery and the "boligarchs," the moguls who have profited immensely with Chavez in power.?

The reaction of the Chavista popular bases is another potential problem. El Comandante won?t be there to convince them to wait for better times, to accept the shortages, inflation, insecurity and other realities of a dysfunctional and inefficient government.

But equally important, these sectors could become a threat to Chavez?s successor as many are more radical than their leaders...and some are armed.

Related:

Venezuela's 'Comandante' Hugo Chavez dies

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/05/17131428-analysis-chavistas-begin-search-for-latin-americas-next-comandante?lite

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