NuSTAR

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array is the first telescope of its kind to be sent into space. It is unique in that it has actual focusing optics to observe the high energy x-ray (6-79 KeV) spectrum.


NuSTAR overview

The purpose of this mission is to basically allow for a wider and clearer range of detection. It give us a wide range of information, such as the distribution of black holes throughout the universe, data on the evolution of various structures in the universe, and information about super-massive black-holes and supernovae. The number of possible uses of this data is only limited by the time and interest of astronomers.

The resolution difference is quite profound as seen below





The Rocket was set to launch sometime this month, but was delayed so that software could be fine tuned to ensure smooth communication between the rocket and the launch vehicle's flight computer. The launch vehicle is actually a pegasus rocket, brought to about 40k feet altitude by an airplane, specifically an L-1011 aircraft named Stargazer. The rocket is then deployed and activates, bringing the array to its desired orbit before separating.





When the array reaches the desired orbit it unfolds a 33 foot extension arm, separating the optics from the detectors.

Let's get to leaping.

How long has it been since we've personally explored the stars? Too long I say. Too long have we been bogged down by other "important" projects that "need" funding: Green technology, feeding the poor, curing cancer, childhood diabetes...we need to focus on what's really important: a moon base. How are we to know whether or not the decepticons are going to start invading us tomorrow while we try to search for some guy named Kony today? How are we supposed to make nachos without all that Cheese? I ask what is more important to your daily life, the price of tea in china or being a member of United States of the MOON?

Finally showing some initiative, NASA has started humanity along the path that we fell off some 50 years ago: colonizing the stars. With the launch of the Orion Exploration First Flight-1 in 2014, NASA will obtain crucial data to this end, mainly testing the technology necessary for further manned space-flights into deep space. Here is a video showing the entirety of the mission that will take place.

Why aren't we giving them more money yet?

Why are we allowing our representatives to cut funding of our future. We all saw the graphs on sustainability in class. We don't have much time left to get off of this dying planet. Why clean up a trash bin I always say, even if you're the most conservative person in the world some uncaring, cancer-ridden, poor, diabetic is gonna come along and steal all your money and throw his trash all over your house. Do YOU want a messy house or a brand new house with a nice view of the world?

The Equipartition Theorem

I'll be deriving this with a little help from the partition function and a particle in a box.
First let's find out what the partition function is for this box of volume:





The wave function for this configuration is of the form:

To find the eigenstates of the Free-Particle Hamiltonian, that is the allowed energy levels of this configuration, we simply use the Free-particle wave equation:

The partition function is given by:

Where the spacing between modes is relatively small compared to tau, this can be written in integral form and calculated:

Now we define the quantum concentration, the concentration associated with one atom in a cube of side equal to the thermal average de Broglie wavelength:

Where n_c is just the concentration of particles. As ideal gas is defined as a gas of noninteracting atoms in the classical regime, that is Z1 >> 1.

Now that we have the partition function, we can go about calculating our thermal average energy similarly to how we did in a previous post.

It is useful now to define the Helmholtz free energy function, which is just how much energy is free to use from a closed system at constant temperature and volume; how obtainable energy is with regards to entropy:







Where sigma is the entropy of the system, which is just the logarithm of the number of states accessible to the system.

From differential relations of F and the thermodynamic identities relating entropy, thermal average energy, pressure, and volume it can be shown that:











Using logarithmic rules and our latest formula for Z in terms of tau, we can note that Log(Z) has only one term involving tau, namely: -3/2log(1/tau). We have thus found the equipartition theorem, the energy per atom of an ideal gas:

Sources: Thermal Physics 2nd edition by Charles Kittel and Herbert Kroemer.