Latest news with #UniversityofWesternAustralia
ABC News
11 hours ago
- General
- ABC News
Milky Way may not collide with the Andromeda galaxy in 5 billion years after all: study
It's a fun fact pulled out at parties by every space nerd on the block — our Milky Way galaxy is going to crash into our nearest neighbour (the Andromeda galaxy) in 5 billion years. But forecasts of the impending "Milkomeda" mega-galaxy may be exaggerated. According to a new study, published in Nature Astronomy, there's a close to 50 per cent chance they won't collide at all. Even if they did collide, it would probably take much longer — more like 10 billion years. This means it will happen long after the death of our Sun, expected in roughly 5 billion years. It's a finding that surprised the team, said study co-author Ruby Wright, an astrophysicist at the University of Western Australia. "We expected [the study] to confirm the classic picture that the Milky Way and Andromeda merger is a done deal," Dr Wright said. The Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies are the two biggest galaxies in our section of the universe, referred to as the Local Group. Despite being 2.5 million light-years away, Andromeda's huge size, at about 200,000 light-years wide, makes it visible with the naked eye. From Australia, it can be seen just above the northern horizon in spring and summer. In 1913, US astronomer Vesto Slipher discovered Andromeda was getting closer to the Milky Way — even before we knew it was a separate galaxy, or how far away it was. We now know Andromeda is closing the distance to the Milky Way at about 100 kilometres per second. Astronomers have generally agreed that the two spiral galaxies would crash into each other within 5 billion years, leaving behind an elliptical pile of stars. To predict the fate of the galaxies, the researchers used datasets from the Gaia and Hubble space telescopes to model how they would move over the next 10 billion years. While it's fairly straightforward to learn whether something is getting closer or further in space, it's harder to tell if it's moving in any other directions. "At the moment, the galaxies are being drawn together by the influence of their own gravity, but obviously these galaxies don't exist in isolation," Dr Wright said. While Andromeda and the Milky Way are the biggest players, there are about 100 other smaller galaxies in the Local Group. The largest of these are the Triangulum Galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a major satellite galaxy of the Milky Way in the southern sky that is visible to the naked eye. The team ran 100,000 different simulations to test how the movements of the different galaxies affected each other. Although it is only about 15 per cent of the mass of the Milky Way, the study found the LMC could potentially tug our home galaxy out of Andromeda's path. In just under half of the simulations, the galaxies passed each other uneventfully: Andromeda got closer and then further away from the Milky Way, like watching a plane fly across the sky. In only 2 per cent of the simulations, the galaxies got close enough that they'd be pulled together within 5 billion years. "But if they miss by a certain amount, they end up in this almost galactic dance," Dr Wright said. "The gravity between them is still quite strong, so they'll pass by each other, reach another point where they are very far apart, and then they'll start coming back together again." These scenarios, which were roughly half of those modelled, saw the galaxies colliding within 10 billion years. Most simulations, though, predicted the Milky Way and the smaller LMC would merge within 2 billion years. But Dr Wright said there were huge uncertainties in each simulation. Lisa Harvey-Smith, an astrophysicist at the University of New South Wales who wasn't involved with the study, said predicting the future of Local Group movements was a very difficult thing to do. "It's almost like you're playing snooker, you've got 100 balls on the table, and you smash them and see where they're going to go in 10 billion years," she said. "The problem is the snooker balls are then soft and squishy, and they change shape, and there's all these invisible balls on the table as well — which is dark matter." Professor Harvey-Smith, who wrote a book centred on the collision of the Andromeda galaxy with our own, said the new study was "a really good paper to get people thinking". "You constantly have to update science knowledge," she said. "It's great to see a fresh perspective on things that sometimes become embedded." But she suspected that, because of the huge uncertainties involved, future research might come to different conclusions about the Local Group's movements again. "We in astronomy are always grasping at data beyond our reach," Professor Harvey-Smith said. Dr Wright believed data from newer telescopes would "absolutely" challenge the team's findings. "We're definitely not claiming to have predicted the future with certainty, but rather we're showing it's more uncertain than previously appreciated."
The Advertiser
3 days ago
- Science
- The Advertiser
Fears for heritage site as gas plant expansion approved
Industrial pollution is damaging priceless rock art, an expert says amid protests over a decision to extend the life of a major gas hub. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The approval has angered traditional owners, climate activists and scientists who have researched the impact of industrial pollution on the rock art at Murujuga. A report into pollution at the site, linked to a $27 million rock art monitoring project, was only released by the WA government a week before federal Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the approval. Benjamin Smith, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia, said the executive summary did not reflect the key findings of the 800-page report by Curtin University scientists who he claimed were gagged from speaking publicly about it. "They were outraged that their report and the integrity of their academic findings had been misrepresented." Professor Smith told AAP the Curtin scientists felt the summary had "lied about their findings" so he was speaking out about a cover-up by departmental "spin doctors". The Cook government has dismissed the claims as offensive and factually incorrect. The Curtin scientists subjected rocks in a climate chamber to acidic pollution equivalent to emissions from the Burrup gas plants and found all the rocks showed evidence of degradation. Prof Smith said the Curtin research and his own studies showed the pollutants would eat away at the manganese in the rocks until they developed "holes like a Swiss cheese" that then caused the rock surfaces to break down. "It is direct evidence for the first time from a government study that industrial pollution is damaging the rock art of Murujuga," he said. The damage could be mitigated by putting scrubbers on the industrial stacks to filter emissions and reduce pollution but the best solution was to switch the plants' power from gas to electricity, Prof Smith said. "If you transformed all of those plants to electricity ... they could operate cleanly and we could have the perfect solution, which is profitable industry operating responsibly alongside the world's most important rock art site." Prof Smith said the famous Lascaux caves in France held only a few hundred wall paintings and dated back 17,000 years. But the rock art at Murujuga has a million images going back at least 50,000 years, including the world's first-known depiction of a human face and images of now-extinct animals. Murujuga has been put forward as a UNESCO world heritage site, with strong indications it will be accepted as such. But the application has been referred back to the federal and WA governments with recommendations to stop building on the site, to stop the pollution and to prepare a decommissioning report. Industrial pollution is damaging priceless rock art, an expert says amid protests over a decision to extend the life of a major gas hub. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The approval has angered traditional owners, climate activists and scientists who have researched the impact of industrial pollution on the rock art at Murujuga. A report into pollution at the site, linked to a $27 million rock art monitoring project, was only released by the WA government a week before federal Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the approval. Benjamin Smith, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia, said the executive summary did not reflect the key findings of the 800-page report by Curtin University scientists who he claimed were gagged from speaking publicly about it. "They were outraged that their report and the integrity of their academic findings had been misrepresented." Professor Smith told AAP the Curtin scientists felt the summary had "lied about their findings" so he was speaking out about a cover-up by departmental "spin doctors". The Cook government has dismissed the claims as offensive and factually incorrect. The Curtin scientists subjected rocks in a climate chamber to acidic pollution equivalent to emissions from the Burrup gas plants and found all the rocks showed evidence of degradation. Prof Smith said the Curtin research and his own studies showed the pollutants would eat away at the manganese in the rocks until they developed "holes like a Swiss cheese" that then caused the rock surfaces to break down. "It is direct evidence for the first time from a government study that industrial pollution is damaging the rock art of Murujuga," he said. The damage could be mitigated by putting scrubbers on the industrial stacks to filter emissions and reduce pollution but the best solution was to switch the plants' power from gas to electricity, Prof Smith said. "If you transformed all of those plants to electricity ... they could operate cleanly and we could have the perfect solution, which is profitable industry operating responsibly alongside the world's most important rock art site." Prof Smith said the famous Lascaux caves in France held only a few hundred wall paintings and dated back 17,000 years. But the rock art at Murujuga has a million images going back at least 50,000 years, including the world's first-known depiction of a human face and images of now-extinct animals. Murujuga has been put forward as a UNESCO world heritage site, with strong indications it will be accepted as such. But the application has been referred back to the federal and WA governments with recommendations to stop building on the site, to stop the pollution and to prepare a decommissioning report. Industrial pollution is damaging priceless rock art, an expert says amid protests over a decision to extend the life of a major gas hub. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The approval has angered traditional owners, climate activists and scientists who have researched the impact of industrial pollution on the rock art at Murujuga. A report into pollution at the site, linked to a $27 million rock art monitoring project, was only released by the WA government a week before federal Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the approval. Benjamin Smith, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia, said the executive summary did not reflect the key findings of the 800-page report by Curtin University scientists who he claimed were gagged from speaking publicly about it. "They were outraged that their report and the integrity of their academic findings had been misrepresented." Professor Smith told AAP the Curtin scientists felt the summary had "lied about their findings" so he was speaking out about a cover-up by departmental "spin doctors". The Cook government has dismissed the claims as offensive and factually incorrect. The Curtin scientists subjected rocks in a climate chamber to acidic pollution equivalent to emissions from the Burrup gas plants and found all the rocks showed evidence of degradation. Prof Smith said the Curtin research and his own studies showed the pollutants would eat away at the manganese in the rocks until they developed "holes like a Swiss cheese" that then caused the rock surfaces to break down. "It is direct evidence for the first time from a government study that industrial pollution is damaging the rock art of Murujuga," he said. The damage could be mitigated by putting scrubbers on the industrial stacks to filter emissions and reduce pollution but the best solution was to switch the plants' power from gas to electricity, Prof Smith said. "If you transformed all of those plants to electricity ... they could operate cleanly and we could have the perfect solution, which is profitable industry operating responsibly alongside the world's most important rock art site." Prof Smith said the famous Lascaux caves in France held only a few hundred wall paintings and dated back 17,000 years. But the rock art at Murujuga has a million images going back at least 50,000 years, including the world's first-known depiction of a human face and images of now-extinct animals. Murujuga has been put forward as a UNESCO world heritage site, with strong indications it will be accepted as such. But the application has been referred back to the federal and WA governments with recommendations to stop building on the site, to stop the pollution and to prepare a decommissioning report. Industrial pollution is damaging priceless rock art, an expert says amid protests over a decision to extend the life of a major gas hub. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The approval has angered traditional owners, climate activists and scientists who have researched the impact of industrial pollution on the rock art at Murujuga. A report into pollution at the site, linked to a $27 million rock art monitoring project, was only released by the WA government a week before federal Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the approval. Benjamin Smith, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia, said the executive summary did not reflect the key findings of the 800-page report by Curtin University scientists who he claimed were gagged from speaking publicly about it. "They were outraged that their report and the integrity of their academic findings had been misrepresented." Professor Smith told AAP the Curtin scientists felt the summary had "lied about their findings" so he was speaking out about a cover-up by departmental "spin doctors". The Cook government has dismissed the claims as offensive and factually incorrect. The Curtin scientists subjected rocks in a climate chamber to acidic pollution equivalent to emissions from the Burrup gas plants and found all the rocks showed evidence of degradation. Prof Smith said the Curtin research and his own studies showed the pollutants would eat away at the manganese in the rocks until they developed "holes like a Swiss cheese" that then caused the rock surfaces to break down. "It is direct evidence for the first time from a government study that industrial pollution is damaging the rock art of Murujuga," he said. The damage could be mitigated by putting scrubbers on the industrial stacks to filter emissions and reduce pollution but the best solution was to switch the plants' power from gas to electricity, Prof Smith said. "If you transformed all of those plants to electricity ... they could operate cleanly and we could have the perfect solution, which is profitable industry operating responsibly alongside the world's most important rock art site." Prof Smith said the famous Lascaux caves in France held only a few hundred wall paintings and dated back 17,000 years. But the rock art at Murujuga has a million images going back at least 50,000 years, including the world's first-known depiction of a human face and images of now-extinct animals. Murujuga has been put forward as a UNESCO world heritage site, with strong indications it will be accepted as such. But the application has been referred back to the federal and WA governments with recommendations to stop building on the site, to stop the pollution and to prepare a decommissioning report.
West Australian
4 days ago
- Science
- West Australian
Fears for heritage site as gas plant expansion approved
Industrial pollution is damaging priceless rock art, an expert says amid protests over a decision to extend the life of a major gas hub. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The approval has angered traditional owners, climate activists and scientists who have researched the impact of industrial pollution on the rock art at Murujuga. A report into pollution at the site, linked to a $27 million rock art monitoring project, was only released by the WA government a week before federal Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the approval. Benjamin Smith, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia, said the executive summary did not reflect the key findings of the 800-page report by Curtin University scientists who he claimed were gagged from speaking publicly about it. "They were outraged that their report and the integrity of their academic findings had been misrepresented." Professor Smith told AAP the Curtin scientists felt the summary had "lied about their findings" so he was speaking out about a cover-up by departmental "spin doctors". The Cook government has dismissed the claims as offensive and factually incorrect. The Curtin scientists subjected rocks in a climate chamber to acidic pollution equivalent to emissions from the Burrup gas plants and found all the rocks showed evidence of degradation. Prof Smith said the Curtin research and his own studies showed the pollutants would eat away at the manganese in the rocks until they developed "holes like a Swiss cheese" that then caused the rock surfaces to break down. "It is direct evidence for the first time from a government study that industrial pollution is damaging the rock art of Murujuga," he said. The damage could be mitigated by putting scrubbers on the industrial stacks to filter emissions and reduce pollution but the best solution was to switch the plants' power from gas to electricity, Prof Smith said. "If you transformed all of those plants to electricity ... they could operate cleanly and we could have the perfect solution, which is profitable industry operating responsibly alongside the world's most important rock art site." Prof Smith said the famous Lascaux caves in France held only a few hundred wall paintings and dated back 17,000 years. But the rock art at Murujuga has a million images going back at least 50,000 years, including the world's first-known depiction of a human face and images of now-extinct animals. Murujuga has been put forward as a UNESCO world heritage site, with strong indications it will be accepted as such. But the application has been referred back to the federal and WA governments with recommendations to stop building on the site, to stop the pollution and to prepare a decommissioning report.
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Science
- Perth Now
Fears for heritage site as gas plant expansion approved
Industrial pollution is damaging priceless rock art, an expert says amid protests over a decision to extend the life of a major gas hub. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The approval has angered traditional owners, climate activists and scientists who have researched the impact of industrial pollution on the rock art at Murujuga. A report into pollution at the site, linked to a $27 million rock art monitoring project, was only released by the WA government a week before federal Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the approval. Benjamin Smith, an archaeologist at the University of Western Australia, said the executive summary did not reflect the key findings of the 800-page report by Curtin University scientists who he claimed were gagged from speaking publicly about it. "They were outraged that their report and the integrity of their academic findings had been misrepresented." Professor Smith told AAP the Curtin scientists felt the summary had "lied about their findings" so he was speaking out about a cover-up by departmental "spin doctors". The Cook government has dismissed the claims as offensive and factually incorrect. The Curtin scientists subjected rocks in a climate chamber to acidic pollution equivalent to emissions from the Burrup gas plants and found all the rocks showed evidence of degradation. Prof Smith said the Curtin research and his own studies showed the pollutants would eat away at the manganese in the rocks until they developed "holes like a Swiss cheese" that then caused the rock surfaces to break down. "It is direct evidence for the first time from a government study that industrial pollution is damaging the rock art of Murujuga," he said. The damage could be mitigated by putting scrubbers on the industrial stacks to filter emissions and reduce pollution but the best solution was to switch the plants' power from gas to electricity, Prof Smith said. "If you transformed all of those plants to electricity ... they could operate cleanly and we could have the perfect solution, which is profitable industry operating responsibly alongside the world's most important rock art site." Prof Smith said the famous Lascaux caves in France held only a few hundred wall paintings and dated back 17,000 years. But the rock art at Murujuga has a million images going back at least 50,000 years, including the world's first-known depiction of a human face and images of now-extinct animals. Murujuga has been put forward as a UNESCO world heritage site, with strong indications it will be accepted as such. But the application has been referred back to the federal and WA governments with recommendations to stop building on the site, to stop the pollution and to prepare a decommissioning report.
ABC News
5 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Concerns over "dire" regional mental health services
Right now, many rural Australians are grappling with the impacts of drought, floods and other natural disasters. But despite the added strain, there's a significant shortfall of mental health assistance available, driving calls for federal and state governments to de-centralise regional mental health services, to give local communities more control. FEATURED: Associate Professor Mathew Coleman, Chair of Rural and Remote Mental Health Practice at the University of Western Australia.
