Video For My Newly Released Book, Pathway To The Stars: Part 7, Span Of Influence. As Always, It Was

Some thoughts - mostly philosophical

30 years after the detection of SN1987A neutrinos

On February 23, 1987, just before 30 years from today, the neutrinos emitted from the supernova explosion SN1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud, approximately 160,000 light-years away, reached the earth. Kamiokande, the predecessor detector of Super-Kamiokande, detected the 11 emitted neutrinos. Worldwide, it was the first instance of the detection of the emitted neutrinos from the supernova burst, and it served a big step toward resolving the supernova explosion system. In 2002, Dr. Masatoshi Koshiba, a Special University Professor Emeriuts of the University of Tokyo, was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics for this achievement.

Before the explosion of supernova SN1987A (right) and after the explosion (left) Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin

Kamiokande, the pioneer of neutrino research

Kamiokande detector was a cylindrical water tank (16 m in diameter and height) with 1000 of the world’s largest photomultiplier tubes inside it, and it was laid 1000 m underground in Kamioka-town, Yoshiki-gun, (currently Hida-city) Gifu Prefecture, Japan. (Currently the site of Kamiokande is used for KamLAND experiment.) Kamiokande was devised by Prof. Koshiba who started the observation in 1983. Originally, it was constructed for detecting the proton decay phenomenon, but it was modified for the solar neutirno observation. By the end of 1986, the detector modification was completed and the observation began.

Inside of Kamiokande detector

Overview of Kamiokande detector

Prof. Koshiba working in the tank

Prof. Kajita and Prof. Nakahata (then PhD students) tuning up the data aquision system in the mine

The day of detection of the supernova neutrinos

On February 25, 1987, two days after the observation of supernova SN1987A through naked eyes, a fax was sent from Pennsylvania University to the University of Tokyo to inform them about the supernova explosion. Soon after receiving the fax, Prof. Yoji Totsuka asked the researcher in Kamioka to send the magnetic tapes that recorded the Kamiokande data. (At that time, the information network was not developed, so the data was delivered physically).

The fax sent from Pennsylvania University to inform about the supernova explosion.

On February 27, when the magnetic tapes arrived at the laboratory in Tokyo, Prof. Masayuki Nakahata (currently the spokesperson of Super-Kamiokande experiment), who was then a PhD student immediately started the analysis. On the morning of February 28, while Prof. Nakahata printed out the analysis plot between the detection time and number of photo-sensors that detect the light, Ms. Keiko Hirata, a Master’s student found a peak, obviously different from the noise in the distribution. It was the exact trace to detect the neutrinos from SN1987A. (A two minutes blank period due to a regular system maintenance is recorded in the plot, at a few minutes before the explosion. If the explosion occurred during this period, Kamiokande could not have detected the SN1987A neutrinos.) After a detailed analysis, it was clear that Kamiokande detected 11 neutrinos for 13 seconds after 16:35:35 on February 23, 1987.

THe magnetic tape recorded SN1987A data

The printout of Kamiokande data and the envelope which stores the printout in. “Keep carefully Y.T.” written by Prof. Youji Totsuka.

The printout of the data. Horizontal axis shows time (from right to left and one line as 10 seconds) and the vertical axis shows the number of hit photo-sensors of each event (approximately proportional to the energy of the event). The obvious peak is the signal of neutrinos from SN1987A. The blank period due to the detector maintainance was recorded a few minutes before the signal.

When Prof. Nakahata finished the analysis and reported to Prof. Koshiba on the morning of March 2, Prof. Koshiba instructed him to investigate the entire data for the presence of similar signals. Under a gag rule, researchers analyzed the 43 days data of Kamiokande on March 2 to March 6, and obtained conclusive evidence that the occurrence of the peak was only from the signal of the supernova SN1987A; further, they published these findings as an article. Here are the the signatures of researchers who wrote the article.

The subsequent development of neutrino research

The Kamiokande’s detection of the supernova neutrinos became a trigger to recognize the importance of neutrino research, and the construction of Super-Kamiokande, whose volume is about 20 times larger than that of Kamiokande, was approved. Super-Kamiokande started observation from 1996 and discovered the neutrino oscillation in 1998. In 2015, Prof. Takaaki Kajita was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for this achievement. SN1987A made a worldwide breakthrough in neutrino research, including the K2K experiment, T2K experiment and KamLAND experiment.

If a supernova explosion in our galaxy occurs now, Super-Kamiokande will detect approximately 8,000 neutrinos, almost 1000 times greater than those detected 30 years ago. Further, it is expected that the detailed mechanism of supernova explosion will be revealed and we will understand the stars or our universe in depth. In our galaxy, the supernova explosion is expected to occur once in every 30-50 years. It may occur at this very moment. The neutrinos from the supernova will be detected in mere 10 seconds. Super-Kamiokande continues the observation and will not miss any explosion moment.

Source

Nine facts about neutrinos

Images: Kamioka Observatory,

All three versions (chill, rock, orchestra) ***** Further than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Part 1 -- Audible ***** “Nature and humanity can be amazing, but likewise, it can be brutal. Brutality, as far too many know it, is unnecessary if we consider and implement one thing, innovation with purpose—a good purpose is brutality’s ideal replacement, and it comes minus unnecessary misery. It’s starting to become clear to me now what it is that we can do and how we can do it.” - Eliza Williams to Yesha Alevtina (Further than Before: Pathway to the Stars, Part 1) ***** #books #sciencefictionbooks #SpaceOpera #scifi #ftbpathwaypublications #grahambessellieu #matthewjopdyke #politicalsciencefiction https://www.instagram.com/p/BxGgatnAtas/?igshid=1r6xgyjrd88m6

NASA Kepler’s Scientists Are Doing What Seems Impossible: Turning Pixels Into Planets

“It isn’t the image itself that gives you this information, but rather how the light from image changes over time, both relative to all the other stars and relative to itself. The other stars out there in our galaxy have sunspots, planets, and rich solar systems all their own. As Kepler heads towards its final retirement and prepares to be replaced by TESS, take a moment to reflect on just how it’s revolutionized our view of the Universe. Never before has such a small amount of information taught us so much.”

When you think about exoplanets, or planets around stars other than the Sun, you probably visualize them like we do our own Solar System. Yet direct images of these worlds are exceedingly rare, with less than 1% of the detected exoplanets having any sort of visual confirmation. The way most planets have been found has been from the Kepler spacecraft, which gives you the very, very unimpressive image of the star you see featured at the top. Yet just by watching that star, the light coming from it, and the rest of the field-of-view over time, we can infer the existence of sunspots, flares, and periodic “dips” in brightness that correspond to the presence of a planet. In fact, we can figure out the radius, orbital period, and sometimes even the mass of the planet, too, all from this single point of light.

How do we do it? There’s an incredible science in turning pixels into planets, and that’s what made NASA’s Kepler mission so successful!

Nice view of Earth...

Our pale blue dot, planet Earth, is seen in this video captured by NASA astronaut Jack Fischer from his unique vantage point on the International Space Station. From 250 miles above our home planet, this time-lapse imagery takes us over the Pacific Ocean’s moon glint and above the night lights of San Francisco, CA. The thin hue of our atmosphere is visible surrounding our planet with a majestic white layer of clouds sporadically seen underneath.

The International Space Station is currently home to 6 people who are living and working in microgravity. As it orbits our planet at 17,500 miles per hour, the crew onboard is conducting important research that benefits life here on Earth.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Happy Valentine's Day, Kimmy!

Happy Valentine’s Day 💗💜💗

Here’s round 2 of funny space themed Valentine’s Day cards to send to the people you love (or for yourself because you should love yourself too) 💞

I am pleased to announce a NEW RELEASE to my Space Opera series. It is now available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats! Pathway to the Stars: Part 4, Universal Party Autographed copies of printed material are available for direct purchase on the author website at https://www.ftb-pathway-publications.com Thank you, Kim, for putting this together! #spaceopera #futurism #scifiauthor #sciencefiction #scififantasy #biotech #nanotech #neurotech #spacetravel #solarsystem #politicalscifi #strongfemalelead #entertain #educate https://www.instagram.com/p/Bur_fTyA4xP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15y5ce5xhxpf5

I am pleased to announce a NEW RELEASE to my Space Opera series. It is now available on Amazon in eBook and paperback formats! Pathway to the Stars: Part 6, Erin Carter Enjoy Erin’s beginning journey, in the sixth of a multi-story series, called Pathway to the Stars! "We can guide you, we can answer questions whenever you have them, but the greatest learning comes from freedom." ~ Eliza Williams, "Pathway to the Stars: Part 6, Erin Carter" #spaceopera #futurism #scifiauthor #sciencefiction #scififantasy #biotech #nanotech #neurotech #spacetravel #solarsystem #politicalscifi #strongfemalelead #entertain #educate https://www.instagram.com/p/BvXufGTg5Lb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=i0paozefwqiv