History Of Hydrogen

The Most Distant Quasar: Both Headache And Opportunity

Artist's conception of how the quasar would appear close up. The very hot extremely luminous quasar at the center of the image is very bright at ultraviolet wavelengths, and light from the quasar ionizes the surrounding gas, producing the red color that is characteristic of ionized hydrogen. Faint compact galaxies that have just been born appear in the background. The galaxies' hot stars also ionize their surroundings, but only in the immediate vicinity as they are far less luminous than the quasar which can ionize over a much larger volume. Image Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA by Lynette Cook.

An international team of astronomers have announced the discovery of the most distant known supermassive black hole, seen as a luminous quasar [1] caused by gas falling into the black hole.

The discovery came to light using data from an ongoing infrared sky survey being conducted at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and critical follow-up confirmation observations with the Gemini North telescope, both on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i. The results are presented in the June 30, 2011 issue of the Journal Nature [2].

The light from the quasar started its journey toward us when the universe was only 6% of its present age, a mere 770 million years after the Big Bang, at a redshift of about 7.1 [3]. "This gives astronomers a headache," says lead author Daniel Mortlock, from Imperial College London.

"It's difficult to understand how a black hole a billion times more massive than the Sun can have grown so early in the history of the universe. It's like rolling a snowball down the hill and suddenly you find that it's 20 feet across!"

However, as well as being a headache, the new quasar is a great opportunity, because it allows scientists to measure the conditions in the gas that the quasar's light passes through on its way to us. "What is particularly important about this source is how bright it is," says Mortlock. "It's hundreds of times brighter than anything else yet discovered at such a great distance. This means that we can use it to tell us for the first time what conditions were like in the early universe."

Cosmologists are extremely keen to measure the state of gas in the early universe, to understand the process of how stars and galaxies formed. Most of the gas in the universe is hydrogen, and most of it is ionized at the present time, meaning that the electrons have been stripped off the protons.

History Of Hydrogen - News

The Most Distant Quasar: Both Headache And Opportunity

Most of the gas in the universe is hydrogen, and most of it is ionized at the present time, meaning that the electrons have been stripped off the protons. As one looks further away and thus further back in time, one should eventually reach the time

Quaser Reveals Secrets Of The Universe

The hydrogen was ionised by quasars and hot stars, when they first formed, at a moment in the early history of the universe called the 'epoch of reionisation'. Before that time the hydrogen was mostly neutral, meaning the electrons and protons of

Seniors take a spin on new hydrogen-powered bus in Hamden

“We have such an unbelievable history in this state about building and making things. We continue to be at the cutting edge of innovation and manufacturing,” said DeLauro. Things get done when local, state and federal officials work together and join

NASA's shuttle program has brought dramatic changes during the past 40 years

They carry 1.5 million pounds of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel inside a skin so thin relative to their size that they are compared to soda cans. No discussion of the shuttle this year will minimize its two biggest failures, the losses of the orbiters

Energy: the new thirty years' war

Because that's how long it will take for experimental energy systems like hydrogen power, cellulosic ethanol, wave power, algae fuel, and advanced nuclear reactors to make it from the laboratory to fullscale industrial development.

History of Hydrogen Fuel Cells | Mechanical Engineering

Sir William Robert Grove, a Welsh judge, inventor and physicist. The first fuel cell was conceived in 1839, . He mixed hydrogen and oxygen in the presence of an electrolyte, and produced electricity and water. The invention, which later became known as a fuel cell, didn’t produce enough electricity to be useful.

In 1889, the term “fuel cell” was first coined by Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer, who attempted to build a working fuel cell using air and industrial coal gas. Another source states that it was William White Jaques who first coined the term “fuel cell.” Jaques was also the first researcher to use phosphoric acid in the electrolyte bath.

In the 1920s, fuel cell research in Germany paved the way to the development of the carbonate cycle and solid oxide fuel cells of today.

In 1932, engineer Francis T Bacon began his vital research into fuels cells. Early cell designers used porous platinum electrodes and sulfuric acid as the electrolyte bath. Using platinum was expansive and using sulfuric acid was corrosive. Bacon improved on the expensive platinum catalysts with a hydrogen and oxygen cell using a less corrosive alkaline electrolyte and inexpensive nickel electrodes.

It took Bacon until 1959 to perfect his design, when he demonstrated a five-kilowatt fuel cell that could power a welding machine. Francis T. Bacon, a direct descendent of the other well known Francis Bacon, named his famous fuel cell design the “Bacon Cell.”

In October of 1959, Harry Karl Ihrig, an engineer for the Allis – Chalmers Manufacturing Company, demonstrated a 20-horsepower tractor that was the first vehicle ever powered by a fuel cell.

During the early 1960s, General Electric produced the fuel-cell-based electrical power system for NASA’s Gemini and Apollo space capsules. General Electric used the principles found in the “Bacon Cell” as the basis of its design. Today, the Space Shuttle’s electricity is provided by fuel cells, and the same fuel cells provide drinking water for the crew.

NASA decided that using nuclear reactors was too high a risk, and using batteries or solar power was too bulky to use in space vehicles. NASA has funded more than 200 research contracts exploring fuel-cell technology, bringing the technology to a level now viable for the private sector.