#cosmic haystack

[cleveralienperspectives]

The perils of single-dish SETI

[shiorimakibawrites]

Breaking and Entering (The Phantom #1)

Word Count: ~5200 Main Pairing: Matt Murdock x Project Beagle! Reader Summary: You arrive in New York City tired, hungry, and in need of a shower. Warnings: Referenced canon-typical violence, crime, fugitive on the run, swearing, feelings of isolation, nudity, fear, psychic abilities, self-deprecation, implied past attempted sexual assault, referenced domestic violence The Phantom Masterlist Matt Murdock/Daredevil Masterlist My General Masterlist Taglist: @loves0phelia, @nowheredreamer, @beezusvreeland, @yarrystyleeza, @justvalkyrie, @xoxabs88xox, @flynnethenerd A03 Link

Special thanks to @pastafossa for permission to write this alternate take on your story and for beta-reading this chapter.

Chapter 1: Breaking and Entering

So this is the Big Apple, you thought as you walked out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Maybe someone else would have found the shift from the relative quiet of the Greyhound bus to the chaos of the terminal and the bustling street outside overwhelming. You saw it as a sanctuary. You plunged into the sea of people that you hoped to disappear into. Just another tourist marveling at the skyscrapers, painted gold by the setting sun. Just another transplant from nowhere looking for a fresh start, a place where they could shed their past and become someone new.

Being a needle in a haystack isn't a terrible approach, you mused to yourself as you settled onto a subway train. It has served you well over the last decade and some change. But always, always, the past came knocking like the inconsiderate bastard that it was and burnt your haystack to the ground. Which was why this time, you were going to be a needle in a needle stack. Thousands of people came to New York City everyday. If there was anywhere in the world where you would be just another face in the crowd, it ought to be here.

Please, you plead with whatever cosmic force looked out for people like you. Give me a couple of months here.

You were so tired. You haven't stopped moving for the last three months. He had gotten too close in Tampa. Far too close, you remembered with a shudder. You had managed to get away but it hadn't been clean. The resulting paranoia had you ditching all your planned next location options. They could be compromised. So you laid false trails to them and elsewhere while you roamed with no particular destination in mind. Eeny-meeny-miny-moe to pick a direction. Deciding on how much to pay for a plane or bus ticket based on the price of Twinkies at the last Stop-n-Slip you had been in. Stealing a car from long-term parking at the airport. Accepting a ride from two guys in a 67 Chevy Impala to anywhere but here.

It had eventually pointed your wandering feet toward New York City. A place where you ought to be to vanish for a few months. A place where you could rest and regain your strength. Just one more false trail, you promised yourself. Then I can rest.

<scene break>

And done, you thought as you finished altering the passenger manifest of a plane to show one Katherine Monroe boarding at JFK on a flight bound for Dallas-Fort Worth. It was such a shame that said airport was going to be experiencing glitches in their security cameras and boarding software that will make it impossible to know if Ms. Monroe caught the connecting flight to El Paso or not. It was equally unlucky that certain cameras here at JFK were down for maintenance for the last hour and wouldn't be operational again for at least another hour.

All of which should have your pursuers chasing their tails for a while. It wasn't unusual for you to book a flight with a layover, then skip the connecting flight to head out in entirely the opposite direction. Or the same general direction but with a different city in mind. It also wouldn't be unusual for you to go through the entire journey, connecting flights and all. Let them wonder if you had disappeared into Dallas or gone all the way to El Paso and took advantage of its proximity to the border to slip into Mexico again. Or the directions pointing south was a red herring and your actual goal was the border with Canada.

Which had been tempting. There was a lot of sparsely populated wilderness along the US-Canada border, a rugged terrain where, with the right skills, you could lead anyone hunting you around by their noses for years. Maybe after the forest ate a sufficient number of them, they'd take the hint and leave you the fuck alone.

You snorted. Not gonna happen. The very idea that you had beaten Him simply did not compute. He would never accept it. Never stop hunting you or Twenty as long as He was alive. Therefore the hunters were never stop searching.

And I can never stop running, never truly be free, you thought bitterly. The best you'd get was a few months of rest in a place where no one could really know you. I'll always be alone. You took a deep breath, then swallowed down the ache and exhaustion. You weren't going to cry. He had already stolen enough of your tears.

You stowed your laptop back into your bag. Time to go. While this chain coffee shop had taken care of your hunger, you still needed to find shelter and a shower. Not necessarily in that order.

<scene break>

Hours later, you were reconsidering staying in New York. It had been hot and muggy when you arrived but you had hoped that as night fell, it would cool off. No such luck. The sun had disappeared but the heat remained. Even the criminals and the working girls seem to have fled the streets in search of air that wasn't thick as syrup.

"And just as sticky," you grumbled to yourself as you trudged up the stairs. You were in decent shape but six flights of stairs in this heat had left you dripping wet with sweat. Adding that to the grime of more than a week's travel with only bathroom sinks to wash in left you feeling even grosser than you already felt before starting this quest for a shower.

A hotel room likely had a shower but they also cost money. Money that you were starting to run short of. Well, short of money on your person. You had money squirreled away in secret accounts but getting that cash in your hands tonight would be…difficult. You never moved the money in your secret accounts into one of your public accounts without engaging in a misdirecting trail of false transfers and dummy accounts to confuse those hunting you. A process that took time and concentration, both of which were difficult to come by when you were tired and itchy from sweat.

Your other preferred methods of…er, acquiring…fast funds either also required same concentration or were hampered by the late hour. There were less preferred methods but those were also much higher risk. Especially in this city. Even the few hours you had spent in the city had been enough to hear about the mysterious vigilante who roamed Hell's Kitchen aka the very streets you were perched above right now. This 'Man in Black' is rapidly becoming a thorn in the side of the Russian mob but he had made his distaste for unorganized criminals loud and clear. Call you a coward but you'd rather not get your ass kicked tonight, thank you very much.

But as mentioned, you needed a shower and somewhere to sleep. It's hard to get a legal job when you look like you haven't slept or bathed much for more than a week. Ask you how you know. But you also couldn't afford to be put in the hospital or a jail cell. Not if you wanted to keep what little freedom and life you had. Maybe you should find a different neighborhood to attempt this in but everywhere else you had looked so far had been busier, with too many potential witnesses…

Besides it couldn't hurt to look. Nothing illegal about looking.

You made yourself as comfortable as you could be sitting on the roof in this heat, took a deep breath, then opened your third eye. For lack of a better term. What you had read online didn't quite match your experience but it was closer than anything else you had found.

The sensation was impossible to fully describe. You had tried on those nights when you couldn't sleep. It felt a bit like blinking open your eyes after a long nap but also like relaxing a muscle that had been held in tension too long at the same time and like finally getting to relieve your full bladder all at the same time and happening in the center of your forehead. And then you could see.

White unfurled around you, shining as bright as the sun at midday. It stung and made your eyes water. After a moment, the brightness dimmed to something closer to moonlight, allowing you to see the individual threads flapping and coiling in the air like ribbons dancing with the wind. Except it wasn't the wind moving these threads.

Part of that movement was that the people attached to them were moving but even when someone was still, their threads kept moving. The only time you had even seen someone's threads stop was the moment they died. The threads would freeze then every strand of theirs would turn a dull gray before falling limply to pool around their person. The only movement and sign of life being the blue-gray threads belonging to those left behind.

The dimming also allows you to see their true colors. Aside from the aforementioned blue-gray and white, threads of red, blue, green, orange, and yellow in every conceivable shade painted the city and its people with vibrant color. Over the years, you have learned what the different colors mean. Blues were for connections to objects, anything that wasn't alive and they ranged from soft powder blue for something new to the rich hue of lapis lazuli for a person's most cherished possession. The other colors were seemingly reserved for the living. Anything from butter yellow to vibrant red signified a bond of mutual affection between one person and another person or an animal. The stronger the bond, the redder their shared thread became. And if that affection was one-sided? Then the thread was green. And like the other threads, the more vibrant the hue, the stronger that feeling was.

You always felt bad for anyone with a forest green thread. It must be so painful to be so in love with someone who doesn't love you back.

It took a moment to sort out the threads. There weren't many coming from the building under your feet. Which you expected since it was nearly empty. That was not the case with the buildings on either side of you. Your fingers skimmed the surface of each thread, not deep enough to see the roads within but enough to feel. Whispers of emotions that weren't your own but washed over you just the same. You discarded the threads pulsing with safe-warm-happy of the peacefully sleeping along with the discomfort-cold-wet-fear of the shadows from children and pulse-pounding throb of lust-want-love from couples having sex until you found what you were searching for. A bundle of threads that radiated that mixture of concentration and impatience-to-be-done that you associated with someone working. The bundle contained an unusual amount of green threads that spread across the neighborhood like a spider’s web. The only people you had ever met with so many green threads had been paramedics or firemen. Someone who saved people’s lives. Whoever this person, they had done something to forge connections with so many people in this place, creating threads that ranged from soft mint to deep emerald green. So many that they nearly hide the other threads. The most prominent was a white, thick and heavy as rope that seemed to sink into the ground but there was healthy scattering of blues that trailed into the apartment building to your right along with a couple of pale yellows and fiery oranges that headed elsewhere. Buried in the middle, so deep that you almost missed, a single scarlet red thread.

You pushed down your envy with the ease of long practice. There was no point in getting jealous. It wasn't this person's vault that they had something you could never have. Because as much as you longed for someone to love you that fiercely…having that kind of bond with someone was too dangerous. Both for you and whatever poor soul you'd inflict yourself on. The things that He would do….You couldn't do that to someone. You weren't that much of a monster.

You shook your head and focused on the task at hand. Namely selecting one of these pretty blue threads to slip into and see if the resident of that apartment really was near the Hudson River like it appeared they were. A yellow or orange thread would be easier but all of them were headed away from the main bundle, not toward it. Which meant whoever those threads were connected to, they weren't with this person right now but if you were being honest, you preferred using blue threads. It was harder but it was far less intimate. Blue threads contained far less emotions and memories than the others.

You grabbed the thread that had the truest, most vibrant blue. The emotions seeping out of it tasted bittersweet, love and grief in equal measure. Reaching into the thread would have been easier with the object in question but not impossible. You don't know how long you sat there, the thread in your hands before it happened.

What happened exactly was just as difficult to describe as opening your third eye. Physically you remained seated on the roof, the thread gripped firmly in your right hand. But mentally….it felt like you had pressed against a door. One that had been stuck fast but after some pushing and shoving, the door gave way and you stumbled out onto a street.

Or least you thought it was a street. This inside-the-thread space usually appeared as a street to you. And while you could feel pavement under your feet and heard cars speeding past you, it was so dark. The only source of light was a flicker of flames all around that seemed to take the shape of…buildings? And, you squinted, the cars? The fire didn't illuminate the darkness so much as it highlighted it. It didn't help that the flames kept fluctuating. Every sound or shift in the air caused the flames to either grew dimmer or become more intense. The later gave you brief glimpses of finer details on the buildings. The former left you standing in pitch blackness unable to see your hand in front of your face.

You inched toward the nearest building, a squat thing that hugged the ground. It didn't get any clearer as you approached. Well, not in the visual sense. Far more prominent was the smell — the pungent odor of sweat, leather, the sharp astringency of iodine and muscle balm, the sweet cooper of blood, the vaguely minty scent of Irish Spring soap along the faint elements of a man's cologne. Just as strong were the sounds - the rhythmic thump of fists striking a punching bag, grunts and the murmur of a man's voice. It was too low for you to make out the words over a steady beating drum.

You didn't go inside. It wasn't necessary. You just needed to confirm this person's location, not snoop on their memories related to the connected object sheltered in that low building. And all you needed to do to accomplish that particular goal was simply walk down the street.

Which, admittedly, was easier said than done. The flames helped but this darkness was incredibly disorienting. Eventually, you got yourself turned in what was (hopefully) the right direction and started walking. Albeit, far more slowly than your usual ground-eating stride. This street might not be 'real' in the strictest sense of the word but it felt real. Real enough to make you worry about tripping. Real enough to trigger old anxieties about who or what was in the shadows, waiting and watching…always watching…

You firmly shoved those memories back into the tightly locked box where they belonged. You were not going to think about that, not going to remember it. You didn't need to remember it. That part of your life is over.

The street never got any brighter. You suspected that it never would. Whoever this person is, their world was made of fire and shadows. Part of you wanted to know why but you set aside your curiosity for the same reason you stayed outside of the buildings. You didn't need to know. It was none of your business. You were violating enough of this person's privacy just being here. A trespass that you were intending to compound by entering their home without their knowledge or permission. The least you could do was not poke around their mind anymore than necessary.

Marking the passage of time inside a thread was all but impossible. But eventually, you felt things shift. It remained just as dark as before but everything else intensified. You could smell water…old rotting wood…cigarette smoke and gun oil…something sharp that you couldn't identify…so many things that you had no idea what they were…could hear male voices filled with contempt…a cacophony of drums…felt the neverending heat, the sweat rolling down your back, the familiar but still irritating scratchiness of cotton blend…and the simmering rage, the pure unaltered fury at those who dared to harm his people…

You stumbled back and found yourself back in your own body, shaking and dizzy. What the fuck was that? Why was everything in his mind so damn loud? You had encountered people with sensory issues before but never with that level of intensity. And the overwhelming force of his emotions…Who is this guy?!

It was enough to make you briefly reconsider picking this particular apartment for your shower. But you were tired. Your nose was dripping blood. The pressure at your temples warned of an oncoming migraine. You still felt gross. And you still had to find somewhere to sleep tonight…

He's clearly busy, you told yourself. Doing what, you had no idea. And in all honesty, weren't sure that you wanted to know. But it seemed like something that would keep him occupied. Certainly occupied long enough for you to pop in, take a quick shower, and bounce.

Sweetening the temptation was that apparently whoever had last used the roof access door hadn't closed it properly. The lighting up here wasn't great but that obnoxious billboard on the far side of the other building was more than bright enough to make the open door. If you get onto that roof, you could bypass the buzzer on the front door. Okay, you weren't certain that there was a buzzer intercom at that door. But given how common that feature was in this city, it seemed a fair assumption to make.

The gap between this building and the one you needed to get to didn't look too far…that you'd fall six stories to your death (if you were lucky) if you were wrong did give you a moment's pause but you'd still be There if you weren't willing to take some risks to get what you want.

It was probably a sign of how messed up your brain was that running full speed toward that gap, then jumping had you grinning like a loon. Even after you landed on the other roof with all the grace of a drunk cat, earning yourself bruises that you were going to be feeling in the morning, you couldn't stop grinning.

That was kinda fun, you thought. Scary but fun. It might just be adrenaline speaking but maybe you should add parkour to your to-learn list. Wouldn't that be a nasty surprise for the people hunting you?

Despite your growing headache, you needed to open your third eye again. Fortunately making sure you went to the right apartment wouldn't require actually diving in this time. You just needed to follow the thread itself. The initial brightness made pain stab through your brain like a knife but you gritted your teeth and waited for both to subside. Which they did and soon you were following the azure thread through the open door.

You had expected the door to take you to a hallway. Instead you found yourself in a loft, looking down at what was clearly someone's living room. Luck was with you in that it was the right living room as the azure thread in your hand disappeared into a closet under the stairs that bridged said living room and the loft. Good, you thought as you closed your third eye. If you had to break into someone's house, you preferred to do it when they weren't home. Especially when it was this late at night. You preferred not to get shot. Getting shot sucked.

You didn't look for the light switch. First, since you weren't wearing gloves, you needed to avoid touching anything that you didn't have to. Getting the police to dust for prints would be extreme to find someone who hadn't actually stolen anything from you but some people were just that petty. You had no doubt that He had your prints flagged in every database in the country. Second, you didn't need it. There was more than enough light coming in from outside. Weird thread or not, you hoped this guy had good blackout curtains for his bedroom because cheese and crackers is that billboard bright.

It didn't take long to find the bathroom. There you did need to turn on the lights. The bathroom was a little plain but the shower was huge, easily big enough for two or more people. The towels were plain white, like the ones in hotels, except these looked much softer. It was shockingly neat for what was, as far as you could tell, the home of a single man. There wasn't a single item out of place.

You gave silent thanks that your mystery man was a neat freak. His tidiness was saving you a significant amount of time that you might have otherwise wasted searching for a towel, washcloths, and soap. You sat your bag on the counter. You'd fish out your cleanest clothes afterward. Which weren't very clean, you admitted to yourself with a grimace. But there wasn't anything you could do about that. You hadn't been able to do laundry. Your rushed exit from Tampa meant the only clothing you had was what's in the bag and what you had been wearing that day. Which didn't leave you with a lot of clothing options.

You turned on the shower, then peeled off your sweat-soaked clothing and dropped them into a single pile. Words could not describe how good it felt to take all that off, especially the bra. Stepping under the spray felt just as good in a different way. Mystery Man favored unscented soap but beggars could hardly be choosers. Plain soap at least smelled good. It was more than you could say for the beauty products your last identity used, which smelled entirely too much like Vick's Vapor Rub. And not just to you - more than one person had asked if you were feeling well during the ten months you had lived in Tampa.

The shampoo was also unscented. You hadn't known there was such a thing as unscented shampoo. Soap, yes, but shampoo and conditioner always seem to have some kind of smell added to it. Plain or not, it lathered up well and did a beautiful job washing out a couple weeks worth of grime out of your hair. And it all felt so good that you had to just stand underneath the spray for a moment, close your eyes and let yourself relax. Just for a moment…

Until there was a loud knock on the door and an unfamiliar male voice, hard and uncompromising, said, "When you're done showering, you're going to tell me why you are in my home."

You were frozen, finding yourself unable to move and unable to make a sound. Even when the man opened the bathroom door, you still couldn't get yourself to move. Not even to attempt to cover yourself. Your heart only beat faster when you see the man's reflection in the mirror. Lean, hard muscle poured into an entirely black outfit - shirt, pants, boots, gloves, and....a mask. You bite down hard on your bottom lip to stifle a whimper.

"Here are some sweats for when you are finished," the man continued, setting down the bundle of clothing that you only just realized was in one hand. That same hand darted out and grabbed your bag. Then without another word, he went back out the door and closed it.

The Man in the Black…fuck, fuck! And he had said that this is his home? Fuck, fuck, fuck! Of all the apartments in Hell's Kitchen, you had to pick the one that belonged to the vigilante? Fuck!

How had he snuck up on you? The shower drowned out a lot of sound but that bottom step creaked loud enough to wake the dead! So did several of the floorboards. And why had he, apparently, run back home? He had felt so busy...

Your mind raced, looking for an escape but there wasn't one. The door was the only way out of this bathroom. And he had your bag. Your go-bag with all the supplies you needed. Without it, you weren't just trapped in this bathroom. You were trapped in this city, unable to run until you made a new one….What if He found you before then? This time you couldn't stop the thin, terrified whine from escaping your mouth.

You did your best to swallow that fear and took a deep breath. Then another and another until you no longer felt like the walls collapsing in on you. You could breathe. You could do this. You could convince the Man in Black to let you go. You could convince him to give you back your go-bag.

Your hands shook as you turned off the shower. And keep shaking while you dried yourself off, distantly aware that the towels were even softer and fluffier than they looked. And they looked pretty fluffy. Now you just had to get dressed and your choices were your own clothes or the ones supplied by the Man in Black.

Pro for your own clothes — they were yours so no potential complications that might come from 'borrowing' the Man in Black's sweats. Con - they reeked. Pro for MIB's sweats — they were clean. Con - MIB will probably expect you to return them. Or would expect you to do certain things in exchange for the 'favor.'

Well he can expect anything he wants, doesn't mean he's gonna get it, you thought, your temper flaring. You welcomed the anger. Anger was an old, familiar friend. Anger had been there for you as long as you could remember, the fire that kept you moving when all you wanted to do was cry.

And if MIB tries to pull that crap…, you thought. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've taught someone that no means no.

You grabbed the sweats, your hands steady once again as you pulled them on. Wearing your own clothes, smelly and still uncomfortably damp, might distract you. That was unacceptable. The sweats were clean. And comically oversized but you pulled the drawstring on the pants tight to keep them up. There wasn't much you could do about the shirt but it was sleeveless so at least you didn't need to worry about rolling up the sleeves to keep your hands free.

You faced the door and took one more deep breath. Then you walked out of the bathroom with your head held high. I might be down but I'm not out.

MIB was waiting for you in the living room, positioned to easily intercept any attempt on your part to reach the front door or the roof access door. Which was a little disappointing. It's always so much easier when your opponents were dumb. Your bag was sitting on a coffee table, unzipped but otherwise untouched. You hadn't remained in the bathroom long enough for him to have looked through the entire bag but enough for him to have seen something suspicious.

"Have a seat," MIB ordered.

You stuck out your chin, jaw tight. "I'd rather stand."

"Suit yourself," MIB said with a shrug. "I have a few questions. I expect honest answers. And fair warning, I will know if you are lying to me."

I'm sure, you mentally scoffed. You had played this game before.

He took your silence as agreement. "What's your name?"

"Mary Smith," you said, giving the name you had chosen to go by. Technically you had used it before but it was so common, so generic that finding you among all of the real Mary Smiths was all but impossible.

MIB scowled. "Lie. What's your name?"

"Mary Smith," you repeated.

MIB growled, then stomped over to you. He loomed over you, making you viscerally aware that he was a powerfully built man. One with a growing reputation for inflicting incredible violence. His lips pulled back into a snarl, then he said, voice low but full of barely restrained fury. "Do not lie to me. What is your name?"

You weren't going to lie to yourself that he wasn't frightening you. He was. Your heart is pounding and you could feel a cold sweat breaking out. But you stood your ground. He was hardly the first man to threat you. "Mary Smith is the only name you are getting from me. Take it or leave it."

Another growl but apparently he wasn't willing to hit you over what name you were using. "So 'Mary', why did you break into my apartment?"

"To take a shower," you said.

"Nothing else? Weren't gonna steal my laptop?"

"No," you said.

This seemed to throw him a little. His head tilted to one side. "Something else?"

"Maybe a banana?" you said. It had been hours since that muffin at the coffee place. And using your abilities was hungry work.

"That's it? A shower and some food is all you were after?"

"Yep."

"No one sent you? You aren't working for anyone?"

"No."

This really seemed to throw him. He frowned then stepped back, giving you more space even as he stared at you with an intensity you had never experienced. It felt like he could see right through you. "You weren't trying to figure out who I am?" "No," you said. "Didn't even know that you existed until a few hours ago. I just got here."

He nodded, his body language turning more…relaxed wasn't the right word. There was still too much predatory energy for relaxed. Less hostile, perhaps? He was certainly radiating far less menace than he had been a minute ago.

"But you are running from someone."

"What makes you say that?"

MIB gestured toward the coffee table. "IDs, cash, clothes, hair dye, knife, medical supplies —it's a go bag. All of your things reek of stress and fear. Who are you running from?"

"Doesn't matter," you said, though part of your mind noted the peculiar wording.

"Tell me," MIB said. In a sharp contrast to moments before, his voice was now gentle and kind. "I can help you."

You couldn't help it. You laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh. It was bitter, hopeless. "No one can help me."

"I can." MIB said, confident and sure of himself. Probably because he had no idea what he was up against. And proved it with his next question. "Who is after you? The police? Drug cartel? Ex husband?

You shook your head. "Doesn't matter."

"It does. Tell me so I can help you," he said, almost pleading. "I promise I'll protect you."

Even with half his face covered, he looked so earnest. And you couldn't help but feel touched by his offer. He didn't know you. Didn't know what he was promising. Couldn't know who he was pitting himself against. It was something that only one other person had ever done for you.

"No, you can't," you said, your voice barely above a whisper. If the Ferryman wasn't powerful enough….

"Mary —"

"I can't tell you." Your mind unwillingly conjures the knowledge of what would happen to anyone who tried to help you. "I can't."

MIB sighed, a deeply frustrated sound, but he let it go. "Do you have somewhere to sleep tonight?"

"No?" You said.

"Well, you do now. My bed is through that door." He pointed behind you.

You shifted, uneasy. "I don-"

"Don't be afraid," he said. "I'll be sleeping on the couch."

"But-"

"Please," he said. "If you wouldn't let me help you, at least let me give you somewhere safe to sleep tonight."

You considered it, torn. You didn't know this man, didn't really trust him, but you were tired. Beyond tired. You haven't had a good night's sleep since you left Tampa. You didn't really want to look somewhere else or sleep outside again. "Okay."

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Mystery of 'remarkable' cosmic explosion that lay hidden for years

The "needle in the haystack" discovery of a powerful explosion from a mysterious unknown object outside our galaxy has excited astronomers.

It went unnoticed for years within a vast, two decade-long archive of observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, before being unearthed by a new paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Astronomers led by Stanford University and Harvard believe the "remarkable" cosmic explosion could either be the first X-ray burster ever discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a rare flare from a magnetar – one of the most mysterious objects in the universe – or something entirely new and unheard of.

"Have you ever flipped through old photo albums and suddenly found something fascinating hidden in the background of a picture, no one had ever noticed before? Now imagine doing that on a cosmic scale," said lead researcher Steven Dillmann, a PhD student at Stanford University.

"Using a novel machine learning approach, we looked back through over 20 years of archived observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and discovered a remarkable, powerful X-ray flash from an unknown object outside our own galaxy that had gone unnoticed for years within the vast Chandra archive – a true needle in the haystack event."

In 15 May 2020, while Chandra was observing the remains of an exploded star in the LMC (a small galaxy neighbouring our Milky Way), it accidentally captured a bright and extremely fast X-ray flash from an unknown origin.

This flash appeared and disappeared within a few seconds, went unnoticed during the initial observation, and so was stored in the large Chandra archive.

Unlike traditional approaches, the novel machine learning method used in the new study managed to uncover the so-called extragalactic fast X-ray transient (FXT), which the researchers named XRT 200515 in reference to the day it was detected by Chandra. 

"The cosmic flash is particularly interesting because of its unusual characteristics that are different to any of the other extragalactic FXTs that have previously been detected by Chandra," said Mr Dillmann.

"It produced an incredibly energetic initial burst that lasted for only 10s, whereas others lasted for minutes or hours. This was followed by a longer, less energetic afterglow lasting for a few minutes."

As neither Chandra nor any other telescope has ever recorded the source before or since this burst, its true nature remains a puzzle.

The researchers believe one explanation is that it could be the first X-ray burster ever discovered in the LMC. These are systems involving two stars: one small and super-dense dead star (called a neutron star) and a normal companion star that orbits around it.

The neutron star is like a cosmic vacuum cleaner – its powerful gravity pulls gas off its companion star. When enough gas builds up on the neutron star's surface, it triggers a massive thermonuclear explosion that releases an intense burst of X-ray radiation.

Another theory is that it could be a rare, giant flare from a distant magnetar – neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields. These flares are some of the most explosive events in the cosmos, releasing a huge amount of gamma rays in a very short time.

If XRT 200515 is an X-ray counterpart to such an event, it would be the first giant magnetar flare observed at these X-ray energy levels.

The final explanation the researchers put forward is that it might be a previously unknown type of cosmic explosion that could reveal new insights about the universe.

"This discovery reminds us that space is dynamic and ever-changing, with exciting phenomena occurring constantly," said Mr Dillmann.

"It also demonstrates the value of using artificial intelligence for scientific discovery in archived astronomical data – there might be countless other discoveries waiting to be found in observations we've already made."

The researchers are now fine-tuning their method to search for signs of planets outside the Milky Way, building on previous breakthrough work led by co-author Rosanne di Stefano, which identified the first potential extragalactic planet candidate.

[mindblowingscience]

Planning is well underway for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), which will scour the atmospheres of planets outside the solar system for telltale signs of alien life.  This week, a workshop was held at the California Institute for Technology (Caltech) at which scientists and engineers discussed the state of technology that could be employed by the HWO, one of NASA’s next big telescope projects after the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The hunt for signs of life in the atmospheres of planets outside the solar system orbiting distant stars  — exoplanets  —  is akin to hunting for a needle in a cosmic haystack. After all, NASA estimates there are several billion Earth-size planets sitting in the habitable zones of their stars, which regions with the right temperatures to allow liquid water to exist. And that's in the Milky Way alone.  Yet, scientists at least have a good idea of what they should be hunting for as well as knowledge of signs that would potentially indicate life.  "We want to probe the atmospheres of these exoplanets to look for oxygen, methane, water vapor, and other chemicals that could signal the presence of life," NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program chief technologist, Nick Siegler, said in a statement. "We aren't going to see little green men but rather spectral signatures of these key chemicals, or what we call biosignatures."

Continue Reading

[vullcanica]

The world — for 3 muses of your choice.

muse headcanon questions // accepting

the world  :  is there one thing in life that your muse must accomplish ? what will they do when they complete that goal ?

Nikodemus - Bring his only child back to life and let her live it as deserved. Achieve an invulnerability through which all other endeavours will be possible. He's succeeded at both. The lack of immediate urgency has lessened a lot and while he'll certainly aim higher soon enough, first he'd like to bask in the unfamiliar sensation of... not missing anything. Not carrying a devastating weight. Nothing else must be done. He's succeeded. There's an overwhelming sense of calm that comes with that.

Sally - Bring her family back together. Keep anyone else from losing their life to sleepy old Meldale. The two are mutually exclusive. She's chosen the latter, even though it's the far bigger impossibility. If she succeds, say, in five year's time, she'll treat herself to a damn vacation.

Constance - Eliminate all chaos and therefore erase the very reason for its sentience. The Tower leads a precarious existence between chaos and order; too much of either makes it - Balance itself - obsolete. And while it might fight chaos tooth and claw for its survival, its end goal is not to exist forever. It's to restore cosmic peace, strenghten its own arches to infallibility and calcify into an eternally silent statue - an inescapable tomb for all the instability and evil that rests in its bowels. Thankfully for the world, that's a near impossibility. Too much change would inevitably lead to dangerous imbalance. So, on the behemoth goes, carefully plucking needles from its haystack one by one.

[spacenutspod]

The conditions for life throughout the Universe are so plentiful that it seems reasonable to presume there must be extra-terrestrial civilizations in the galaxy. But if that’s true, where are they? The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program and others have long sought to find signals from these civilizations, but so far there has been nothing conclusive. Part of the challenge is that we don’t know what the nature of an alien signal might be. It’s a bit like finding a needle in a haystack when you don’t know what the needle looks like. Fortunately, any alien civilization would still be bound by the same physical laws we are, and we can use that to consider what might be possible. One way to better our odds of finding something would be to focus not on a direct signal from a single world, but the broader echos of an interstellar network of signals. As noted in a 2022 paper on the arXiv, one physical constraint is that there is a great deal of dust and interstellar gas in the Milky Way. Since radio light penetrates gas and dust better than visible light, the signals sent between stars are likely to be microwave radio signals. Another fact is that if you are traveling between the stars you need to know where you are and where you are going. One way to do this is to use pulsars as navigational beacons. In the paper the author argues that these can be combined as a broadband radio signal from the hub of the alien civilization that contains x-ray pulsar navigation metadata (XNAV). One of the biggest challenges of detecting stray alien signals is that they would likely be difficult to distinguish from random noise. Even simple signals such as television broadcasts rely upon a known protocol. Without that protocol, we can’t decipher the message. This is similar to the challenge of breaking the Enigma code during World War II. One of the breakthroughs came when it was realized that most messages contained a weather report, so the message likely contained the German word for weather. Metadata in an alien signal could serve a similar role. If we know radio signals should contain XNAV metadata, then we can use this as a starting point. In game theory this is known as a Shelling Point. A 3-pulsar navigation system for an ET civilization. Credit: Ross Davis (2022) The author outlines nine steps for how an interstellar civilization might construct a pulsar navigation system, and what the pattern of that network might be. By creating multiple scenarios, we might be able to recognize certain patterns as technosignatures. As the author notes, one limitation of this approach is that any metadata scenario we imagine is still based on how homo sapiens think, which might not be how an alien intelligence sees things. All of this is speculative, but it’s worth considering. We will only recognize an alien signal if we better understand the forms they might take, and perhaps a few wild ideas like this one are exactly what we need. Reference: Davis, Ross. “Finding the ET Signal from the Cosmic Noise.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2204.04405 (2022). The post We Could Snoop on Extraterrestrial Communications Networks appeared first on Universe Today.

[outdoorovernights]

Kelty Cosmic Synthetic Sleeping Bag Review

Have you ever found yourself yearning for that sweet balance of comfort and durability on your outdoor adventures? Perhaps your search for the ideal sleeping bag feels like looking for a needle in a haystack. Well, if you’re someone who loves backpacking under the vast, starry skies while wrapped in warmth without the burden of excessive weight, allow me to introduce you to the Kelty Cosmic…

[ask-the-shorty-squad]

*The city was huge, bustling with people. A much nicer change from the Neo World. It'd be almost impossible to just 'run into' a friend with this amount of-*

"Ahaaa! There you are!!"

You filthy little sneak! So you’re the ones who dared to smudge my perfect, beautiful face?! Oh-ho-ho, you’ve got some real guts! Too bad they’ll be decorating the walls soon~!

*Wh-what..*

Hmmmmm? Hey, hey, heeey!! Those shoes—ugh, they’re all wrong!! Dammit, not again!! That’s the third time I’ve accused the wrong person! And three’s supposed to be the lucky charm! What kinda cosmic prank is this?! Ugggh, how am I ever gonna find that booted bitch who dared to mess up my perfect face with all these randos running around?! It’s like looking for a needle in a blood-soaked haystack!

... Should we even ask?

She probably won't leave if we do, but I am a bit curious.

[freehugs101]

loving-kindness meditation

"Dear A,"

I’m enchanted by kissing :))

I kiss you endlessly.

I kiss you at dusk,

I would kiss you even more, but I fear (I don’t fear) that the evening has come.

I kiss you at dusk, a face worthy of adoration.

I kiss you, just a little, even on your sweet lips :))

Yesterday, I watched a show with the adorable Florentina Fântânaru, featuring Ioan Aurel Pop, who said that the Academy had created a thesaurus of the Romanian language. I thought that if the Academy of Love, Kiss Academy, had consulted us, we could have contributed too by cataloging the endless thesaurus of kisses: the poets' kiss, the lovers' kiss, the first kisses, the permitted kisses, even the forbidden ones, and the traditional ones like: 'come to the haystack so I can kiss you on the lips,' 'let’s go to the barn so I can kiss you on the mouth?' How beautifully romantic, I’ll kiss you on your sweet lips.

I kiss you as if, I kiss you in my thoughts, I kiss you thought by thought, I kiss you with good thoughts, I kiss you from thought to thought, I kiss you from time to time, I kiss you like never before, I kiss you as though it was once, I kiss you immediately!

The Collector of Kisses

PS I kiss you until I feel like kissing you again, and again... :)**** AcademyKiss U :)***

"Every woman is an embodiment of you."

You exist as little girls in their childhood, As young women in their youth, And as elderly women in their old age. — Sri Kamala Stotram

Every woman is an emanation of you. — Sri Daivakrta Laksmi Stotram

What she asks for in return is that we treat the earth and all of her splendors with tenderness and respect, that we notice and delight in the wonder around us, the people we love, and that we listen to and follow the longings of our souls.

"Superb this lotus, superb the picture. It transmits something very beautiful, it’s probably the thought with which you sent it, and I greet it and kiss it."

Thank you so much, and I kiss with all my love, petal by petal, the lotus of your heart. May it open, and its love flood the world, and me, the one who now, in thought and with a pure thought, kisses your face.

Love you so deep!

The Giver of Kisses

"Enchanting images, so much beauty, tenderness, and purity."

This is your soul recognizing them, feeling them.

You amaze me as our relationship expands, encompassing more color and shape.

Do you feel the blessing of our meeting?

Do you feel the gift we’ve received?

Do you feel the beat of the heart?

Do you feel the soul that drinks your thought?

Do you feel the hot touch of lips?

Do you feel joy?

Through the power of your heart, you bring love, affection, and joy to my soul.

Thank you for everything you mean to me... and beyond.

"Imagine us here (imagine here)

Without TV or phone, telling stories, kissstories, and kisswhispers until the candles go out, leaving us to count the stars and test the theory of cosmic reflexology, trying to discover through successive kisses which part of your sweet form corresponds to which star or constellation in the sky. The hypothesis is that a random kiss, or for example a PPDB, ignites or makes a corresponding star shine brighter. Surely, by the time we light up the whole sky, we’ll fall asleep in each other’s arms.

I receive everything, shivering like a flower thirsty for rain after a scorching day.

WE beautiful and an endless kiss

UR the flower, I am the gardener

The Adorer of Flowers

UR the flower, I am the gardener

I adore you and shiver, Ri, with each touch... YOURS!

Inspired by this Netflix series: Headspace Guide to Meditation, Ep 5

Netflix Link: Headspace Guide to Meditation

In the technique of loving-kindness, probably an ancient Buddhist technique, you visualize someone being happy.

[jyotishacharyadevraj7]

Best astrologer in Australia

#. His Discovering unique approach Your Destiny to astrology: Acharya Devraj ji combines knowledge with araj Ji, the Best Astrologer in Australia

personal touch. With his expertise, you can gain the Who is insights needed to face Acharya Devraj life’s challenges head Ji?

Explore your out as potential today with a beacon the best of hope and guidance in astrologer in Australia, Acharya Devraj ji With years of experience Ji, and embark on, he a journey knows the stars and of self planets like-discovery the back like no of his other. You might just hand. find the Many call him the answers you’ve been best astrologer in Australia, searching and for for. good reason. His insights go beyond just reading horoscopes; they provide clarity and direction in life.

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Conclusion

Finding a trusted astrologer can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. However, achieving clarity and confidence in your life is just a consultation away with Acharya Devraj Ji. Whether you’re looking for answers about love, career, or personal growth, he brings a blend of expertise and compassion that you won’t find anywhere else.

So why wait? Connect with Acharya Devraj Ji today and start your journey toward a brighter, more informed future. Your stars are calling!

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Magnifying deep space through the “carousel lens”

A newly discovered cluster-scale strong gravitational lens, with a rare alignment of seven background lensed galaxies, provides a unique opportunity to study cosmology.

In a rare and extraordinary discovery, researchers have identified a unique configuration of galaxies that form the most exquisitely aligned gravitational lens found to date. The Carousel Lens is a massive cluster-scale gravitational lens system that will enable researchers to delve deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos, including dark matter and dark energy.

“This is an amazingly lucky ‘galactic line-up’ – a chance alignment of multiple galaxies across a line-of-sight spanning most of the observable universe,” said David Schlegel, a co-author of the study and a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division. "Finding one such alignment is a needle in the haystack. Finding all of these is like eight needles precisely lined up inside that haystack."

The Carousel Lens is an alignment consisting of one foreground galaxy cluster (the ‘lens’) and seven background galaxies spanning immense cosmic distances and seen through the gravitationally distorted space-time around the lens. In the dramatic image below:

The lensing cluster, located 5 billion light years away from Earth, is shown by its four brightest and most massive galaxies (indicated by La, Lb, Lc, and Ld), and these constitute the foreground of the image.  

Seven unique galaxies (numbered 1 through 7), appear through the lens. These are located far beyond, at distances from 7.6 to 12 billion light years away from Earth, approaching the limit of the observable universe.

Each galaxy’s repeated appearances (indicated by each number’s letter index, e.g., a through d) show differences in shape that are curved and stretched into multiple “fun house mirror” iterations caused by the warped space-time around the lens.

Of particular interest is the discovery of an Einstein Cross – the largest known to date – shown in galaxy number 4’s multiple appearances (indicated by 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d). This rare configuration of multiple images around the center of the lens is an indication of the symmetrical distribution of the lens’ mass (dominated by invisible dark matter) and plays a key role in the lens-modeling process. 

Light traveling from far-distant space can be magnified and curved as it passes through the gravitationally distorted space-time of nearer galaxies or clusters of galaxies. In rare instances, a configuration of objects aligns nearly perfectly to form a strong gravitational lens. Using an abundance of new data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys, recent observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and the Perlmutter supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), the research team built on their earlier studies (in May 2020 and Feb 2021) to identify likely strong lens candidates, laying the groundwork for the current discovery. 

“Our team has been searching for strong lenses and modeling the most valuable systems,” explains Xiaosheng Huang, a study co-author and member of Berkeley Lab’s Supernova Cosmology Project, and a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of San Francisco. “The Carousel Lens is an incredible alignment of seven galaxies in five groupings that line up nearly perfectly behind the foreground cluster lens. As they appear through the lens, the multiple images of each of the background galaxies form approximately concentric circular patterns around the foreground lens, as in a carousel. It’s an unprecedented discovery, and the computational model generated shows a highly promising prospect for measuring the properties of the cosmos, including those of dark matter and dark energy.” 

The study also involved several Berkeley Lab student researchers, including the lead author, William Sheu, an undergraduate student intern with DESI at the beginning of this study, now a PhD student at UCLA and a DESI collaborator. 

The Carousel Lens will enable researchers to study dark energy and dark matter in entirely new ways based on the strength of the observational data and its computational model.

“This is an extremely unusual alignment, which by itself will provide a testbed for cosmological studies,” observes Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, director of Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division. “It also shows how the imaging done for DESI can be leveraged for other scientific applications,” such as investigating the mysteries of dark matter and the accelerating expansion of the universe, which is driven by dark energy.

IMAGE: Hubble Space Telescope image of the Carousel Lens, taken in two 10-minute exposures, one using an optical filter and another using an infrared filter. The “L” indicators near the center (La, Lb, Lc, and Ld) show the most massive galaxies in the lensing cluster, located 5 billion light years away. Seven unique galaxies (numbered 1 through 7) – located an additional 2.6 to 7 billion light years beyond the lens – appear in multiple, distorted “fun-house mirror” iterations (indicated by each number’s letter index, e.g., a through d), as seen through the lens. Credit William Sheu (UCLA) using Hubble Space Telescope data.

[lovelyxhorrors]

"Your loss." Matt takes Dazai's ramen and proceeds to eat that one too after finishing his Tonkotsu ramen. "So burning the book is a no-go because it will change things once the book's pages are written in, whether it will undo itself through space or time, that might change reality or whatever." He said, sipping his soup with a spoon, tasting the broth. So the book is connected to this world. That sucks. It would be better if it's just a magical object and not a cosmic reality-bending one. Oh well...but this might work. He needs to adjust his third condition.

"Hmm...." Matt said. "It's better if the book isn't found, and it should be kept away from everyone like you said. A place that is... hidden in plain sight. A needle in a haystack, blah, blah. That's your call.." He said. "So, how about this? Let's come up with a plan where five or no... three pages are with us, so people would take their chances in getting it from us instead of Yokohama looking for a book that is impossible to find. It can be a half-truth." He said thoughtfully. "A pretty good bait, don't you think so? You don't have to worry about some grand masterminds and groups trying to make a mess in your city if you spread that around." He gives his solution to Dazai regarding the whereabouts of the book. He swirls the noodles within the broth.

"I have some idea why you try to find me and talk about this ." Matt smiles, "Your city is a pretty good forest. You got an ecosystem in place. You have the ADA, Port Mafia, and oh the government agency...what was it? Special Division?" Matt stated. "I mean...you really didn't need to come out here and ask us to stay out of this whole thing out of the goodness of your pure heart. No...you got problems on your side, right? I think I might help with that."

"I think he is believing a 'mercy' kill for ability users.. To 'erase' their sins as he views having an ability as a 'sin.' But-- I honestly don't know for certain... I am not heavy religious while Fyodor is. While we are alike-- we are vastly different as well. Such as the fact he views no one as an ally, that he has been alone his entire life. I have friends, allies, people to depend on... Sometimes I wonder if he ever accepted a friend, if he'd be any different. But I don't know his history. All I know is he's ancient and has lived for a very long time..."

Sometimes, having a friend is all you need to change... That's what happened to Dazai. He used to view no one as a friend, until he met Oda.. And after Oda died, the promise he made-- the words his single friend spoke to him in his dying breath, had put Dazai on another path... The same with Nikolai, he has stated after meeting Fyodor his life had vastly changed...

"Huh? Why would I want a mansion? Those are too big! I don't like big spaces at all or big homes. Besides, I'd rather die pain free asap! I don't want to die rich or anything. I just want to die loved by a beautiful woman," he shared with a grin.

Dazai's smile turned to a firm line, looking over to his ramen he had not touched yet. "Who is to say what would happen if the book ever got destroyed... It can transform reality.. What would happen to the world if it was destroyed? If the pages burned-- would the burn too? It's not something to mess with in that way..." the detective pointed out to Matt.

"While what is written in it comes true, there's no telling what something that can alter reality would do if messed with.. Or even IF it could be destroyed..." He didn't want to chance destroying the very fabric of space and time by destroying the book...

Dazai sighed and pushed the ramen towards Matt. "Eh, I'm full from the chicken skewer you let me have," the one he didn't even finish, "I'm not hungry anymore."

[acconinstituteseo]

Best Astrologer In London

In the bustling metropolis of Best Astrologer In London  where the Thames whispers secrets of centuries-old history, and the skyline echoes tales of modern marvels, lies a hidden realm that transcends the tangible and ventures into the celestial. It's a world where stars, planets, and cosmic energies converge to shape destinies and illuminate paths. Welcome to the realm of astrology, where ancient wisdom meets contemporary guidance, and the best astrologer in London awaits to unveil the mysteries of the universe.

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Since time immemorial, humanity has gazed at the night sky, pondering the enigmatic dance of celestial bodies and seeking meaning in their celestial choreography. Astrology, born from this timeless curiosity, offers a unique lens through which to understand the intricate interplay between cosmic forces and earthly existence. It's a language of symbols, archetypes, and energies that transcends cultural boundaries and speaks to the very essence of the human experience.

Navigating Life's Celestial Map

In a city as dynamic and diverse as London, navigating the twists and turns of life can often feel like charting a course through uncharted waters. It's here that the expertise of an experienced astrologer becomes invaluable. By casting a personalized horoscope, the best astrologer in London can offer profound insights into one's personality, strengths, challenges, and the cosmic currents shaping their journey.

Empowering Guidance for Modern Seekers

Contrary to popular misconceptions, astrology isn't about fortune-telling or predestined fate. Instead, it serves as a powerful tool for self-discovery, empowerment, and informed decision-making. Whether you're grappling with career dilemmas, matters of the heart, or simply seeking a deeper understanding of yourself and your place in the cosmos, consulting with the best astrologer in London can illuminate hidden facets of your life and empower you to navigate life's complexities with clarity and confidence.

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In a city teeming with diverse practitioners and esoteric traditions, finding the right astrologer can seem like searching for a needle in a cosmic haystack. However, discerning seekers need look no further than the testimonials, reputation, and expertise of London's foremost astrologers. Seek out practitioners who blend a deep understanding of astrological principles with a compassionate, client-centered approach, ensuring that each consultation is a transformative journey tailored to your unique needs and aspirations.

Embark on Your Celestial Odyssey

As you traverse the bustling streets of London, amidst the symphony of urban life and the whispers of history, remember that the cosmos above holds timeless wisdom waiting to be unlocked. Embrace the opportunity to embark on a celestial odyssey with the best astrologer in town, and discover the profound insights, empowerment, and guidance that await within the celestial tapestry of your own horoscope. Whether you're a skeptic, a curious novice, or a seasoned seeker, the wisdom of the stars beckons you to explore, to grow, and to illuminate the path ahead.

In the heart of Best Astrologer In London amidst the hustle and bustle of urban life, lies a sanctuary where the wisdom of the cosmos a

[jcmarchi]

MIT community members gather on campus to witness 93 percent totality

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/mit-community-members-gather-on-campus-to-witness-93-percent-totality/

MIT community members gather on campus to witness 93 percent totality

The stars and other celestial objects truly aligned on MIT’s campus Monday. After a weekend of rain, the community was treated to clear skies and high temperatures to view the only partial eclipse for the next 20 years.

Community members took in the interstellar anomaly in gatherings large and small. Although many traveled north to view the full eclipse, those in Greater Boston were treated with 93 percent coverage and ample ways to appreciate the cosmic wonder.

As the moon met the sun beginning around 2:15 p.m., Kresge Oval hosted crowds of onlookers, with staff members handing out solar filters of various types and encouraging star-struck viewers to sketch what they saw and tell stories. The event was hosted by the MT Edgerton Center and inspired by the seminar EC.050/090 (Recreate Experiments from History: Inform the Future with the Past).

On the other side of campus, the MIT Museum also hosted a gathering that included a full afternoon of programming. Attendees could hear from an astronomer and ask questions while they took in the views with solar filter glasses.

In Building 55, home to the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), where the lives of stars take up a bit more headspace each day, sights and sounds from NASA’s livestream appeared on the department’s large new media wall.

Each of the gatherings could have been a scene out of a science fiction movie as everyone donned their glasses and looked up in amazement at the darkening sky. Those with extra eyewear to share quickly found themselves with new friends to experience the moment with.

“The Edgerton Center is really about building communities, and this was an opportunity to get the MIT community together to observe this thing that rarely happens and have some conversations about what’s really going on,” said Jim Bales, the associate director of the Edgerton Center.

Such events have evoked fear and confusion in Earthlings throughout history, but this time, MIT’s community members seemed more prone to appreciative reflection. Many students, faculty, and staff took a break from terrestrial life to take in the rare natural phenomena, a welcome planetary disruption to an otherwise typical Monday on Earth.

“Watch parties are cool because you’re learning from what other people have to say about it and you get to meet new people,” said sophomore Sol Roberts. “You can only stare up for so long, but being with other people it makes it more enjoyable.”

Of course, MIT didn’t abandon its scientific bent entirely. The community, after all, was never going to stop helping humanity understand the fundamental workings of the universe. Myriad community members participated in professional and citizen science initiatives of one sort of another. Meanwhile, MIT’s Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts measured changes in the atmosphere, and members of the Department of Physics took measurements of the sun’s intensity using the shiny new radio telescope on the roof of Building 54.

As surreal as the skies appeared, the Earth’s surface offered equally fun sights. The gatherings made the eclipse at once an intergalactic event and a hyper-local one, an impossibly distant astronomical anomaly shared between friends.

[spacenutspod]

A gravitational lens is the ultimate funhouse mirror of the Universe. It distorts the view of objects behind them but also supplies amazing information about distant galaxies and quasars. Astronomers using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) recently released a new image of one of these weird apparitions called “The Carousel Lens”. It’s a rare alignment of seven background galaxies that all appear distorted by an intervening galaxy cluster. According to Berkeley Lab senior scientist David Schlegel, this gravitational lens is a great find for astronomers. “This is an amazingly lucky ‘galactic line-up’—a chance alignment of multiple galaxies across a line-of-sight spanning most of the observable universe,” he said. “Finding one such alignment is a needle in the haystack. Finding all of these is like eight needles precisely lined up inside that haystack.” The Carousel Lens was uncovered in Dark Energy Survey data a few years ago. Now astronomers are zeroing in on it to measure its mass and the effects on the images of more distant galaxies. This gravitational lens alignment of seven galaxies and a foreground galaxy cluster could well provide new insights into the early Universe via the high-redshift galaxy sources, the properties of the lensing cluster, and unanswered questions in cosmology. An example of the Carousel gravitational lens found in the DESI Legacy Surveys data. There are four sets of lensed images in DESI-090.9854-35.9683. They correspond to four distinct background galaxies — from the outermost giant red arc to the innermost bright blue arc. All of them appear gravitationally warped — or lensed — by the orange galaxy at the very center. Deconstructing the Carousel Gravitational Lens Typical large-scale gravitational lenses in the Universe consist of a “lensing object” and more distant objects behind it. Generally, those distant objects are galaxies and quasars. (Small-scale gravitational lenses occur when a planet passes in front of its star, for example.) However, the Carousel Lens is more “cosmic” in nature, covering objects millions of light-years apart. In particular, the cluster doing the lensing is about 5 billion light-years from Earth. It’s also designated as DESI-090.9854-35.9683 and has at least four large galaxy members as well as several other possible cluster members. The Carousel lenses at least seven distant galaxies. They lie anywhere from 7.62 to 12 billion light-years away from Earth. Their alignment with the lensing cluster resulted in multiple images of each of the more distant galaxies. Their shapes are the result of the “funhouse mirror” effect that stretches their apparitions. The galaxy labeled “4a, 4b, 4c, 4d” actually forms a nearly perfect “Einstein Cross”, which shows the symmetrical distribution of mass in the lens. The Carousel is a great example of a “strong lens” in the Universe, according to Xiaoshang Huang, who is part of the team at Berkeley studying it. “Our team has been searching for strong lenses and modeling the most valuable systems,” said Huang. “The Carousel Lens is an incredible alignment of seven galaxies in five groupings that line up nearly perfectly behind the foreground cluster lens. As they appear through the lens, the multiple images of each of the background galaxies form approximately concentric circular patterns around the foreground lens, as in a carousel. It’s an unprecedented discovery, and the computational model generated shows a highly promising prospect for measuring the properties of the cosmos, including those of dark matter and dark energy.” The Carousel Lens as seen by the HST marked up by the galaxies. The “L” indicators near the center (La, Lb, Lc, and Ld) show the most massive galaxies in the lensing cluster. Seven unique galaxies (numbered 1 through 7) – located an additional 2.6 to 7 billion light years beyond the lens – appear in multiple, distorted “fun-house mirror” iterations (indicated by each number’s letter index, e.g., a through d), as seen through the lens. (Credit: William Sheu (UCLA) using HST data.) What Makes this Lens So Special? In their recently released paper, Schlegel, Huang, and others described modeling the Carousel Lens to understand its structure. They point out that it shows nearly every lensing configuration that astronomers see in such apparitions. There are various arcs, diamond shapes, the Einstein Ring, and double lensing. The big spread of distances between the lens itself and the galaxies it’s distorting also presents some interesting cosmological areas of study. In particular, the science team hopes to do more spectral studies to understand the lensing cluster’s matter distribution. At least seven lensed sources will help constrain the amount of matter in the cluster and aid in understanding the amounts of dark and baryonic matter in such systems. In addition to matter distribution, the team can also use this lensing system as a way to understand the characteristics of the distant lensed sources. This is important because the most distant ones give insight into conditions in their various epochs of cosmic history. For example, source 7 is an interesting “nearby” source that could be a very high-redshift “quiescent” galaxy. It appears to be very “red” in infrared measures and others of this sort have been observed by HST. Source 7 could be an efficient example of what’s called “early galaxy quenching”. That occurs when star formation shuts down and the galaxy becomes quiescent. There are several ways that could happen, but the most common is some kind of feedback loop between the central supermassive black hole and outlying regions. This could occur as a result of galaxy mergers, for example, which were very common in the early Universe. The Carousel Lens (and others of its type) provides a special way to study that epoch of cosmic history and the events that shaped the galaxies we see today. For More Information Magnifying Deep Space Through the ‘Carousel LensThe Carousel Lens: A Well-modeled Strong Lens with Multiple Sources Spectroscopically Confirmed by VLT/MUSE Gravitational lens found in the DESI Legacy Surveys data The post This Might Be the Best Gravitational Lens Ever Found appeared first on Universe Today.