Idiots…all day long. I swear, sometimes I wonder why I even try. No one ever told me this would be easy, but some day’s it feels damn impossible. Since when is it okay to only be skinny & happy? Wear revealing clothing? Laugh? Succeed? Why must size warrant what one is capable of or how far they are allowed to chase their dreams? Why do I have to feel like the black sheep of society because the label in my clothing has one extra x..or two? Why is it okay to make fun of me? Because we have tolerated it for so damn long. No matter how painful (& unpopular) it is, I will continue to voice my opinion for respect that is deserved.
(Source: deppobsessed, via perlamedina)
(via halt-the-body-hate)
Astronomers Spot A Planet Using Einstein’s Theory Of Relativity
A different algorithm for discovering planets recently proved its mettle, identifying a new planet that’s like a bigger, hotter Jupiter.
A team of astronomers from Israel, the U.S. and Denmark discovered a new gas giant using a method originally proposed 10 years ago, based on Einstein’s theory of relativity. This is the first time they’ve used the method to find a planet.
The planet orbits a star in the constellation Cygnus, about 2,000 light-years away from Earth. It’s about 25 percent larger than Jupiter in diameter and twice as massive. It always presents the same face to its star, the way the moon always shows the same face to the Earth, so its star-facing surface is a piping 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit. Its formal name is Kepler-76b.
To find Kepler-76b, researchers looked for three effects predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Two of the effects make the planet’s star seem brighter and dimmer at different times. The star brightens when the planet moves toward Earth, tugging the star with it. Relativistic effects focus the star’s light. The star then dims as it moves away from Earth.
The star also brightens when the viewers on Earth see it from particular angles. Kepler-76b pulls its star into a slight elliptical shape and when the ellipse’s long side faces viewers, it appears brighter. When Earth viewers see the ellipse’s pointy end, however, the star looks dimmer.
The third effect comes from starlight reflecting off the planet.The team used data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft to figure out when the star brightened and dimmed. Afterward, they confirmed that the planet existed by using established planet-finding methods, such as the transit method…
The Kepler-76b discoverers wrote a paper they’ve posted on arXiv, a site for physics papers, many of which haven’t yet been peer-reviewed. The BEER (BEaming effect with Ellipsoidal and Reflection/emission modulations) paper should get a review soon, however. The Astrophysical Journal has accepted it, according to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center.
Source: popsci.com
Cool!
