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☆ Rainbow-like phenomenon may glow on hellish exoplanet WASP-76b
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Observations from the European Space Agency’s Cheops space telescope, or Characterising ExOplanet Satellite, detected a “glory effect” on WASP-76b, an ultra-hot exoplanet 637 light-years from Earth. Cheops captured data from WASP-76b as the planet passed in front of its star, making 23 observations over three years. But the glory effect is created as light moves through a narrow opening and bends, creating colorful, patterned rings. An artist's illustration shows the night-side view of the exoplanet WASP-76b, where iron rains down from the sky. Lueftinger said she believes that the James Webb Space Telescope or Ariel may be able to help prove the presence of the glory effect on WASP-76b.

Persons: Cheops, ”, Olivier Demangeon, Wilson, ” Demangeon, Matthew Standing, —, “, Theresa Lueftinger, Lueftinger, James Webb, Ariel Organizations: CNN —, WASP, Astrophysics, of Astrophysics, Space Sciences, ESA, Hubble, Spitzer, Telescope, European Space Agency, “, James Webb Space Locations: Portugal, Cheops

☆ A Harvard professor is risking his reputation to search for aliens. Tech tycoons are bankrolling his quest.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

The Harvard professor's research is bankrolled by tech tycoons "pissed off" at academia's dogma. But this boundary-pushing is exactly why he's backed Loeb's research. AdvertisementDesch, the astrophysicist from Arizona University, posted a critique of Loeb's work on arXiv alleging "multiple fatal flaws with the manuscript's arguments." Asked whether he no longer believes in a possible technological origin for the meteor, Loeb said they need to investigate further. As he plans more extravagant expeditions to prove the origin of the interstellar meteor, Loeb likens his critics to crows pecking at the neck of an eagle.

Persons: Avi Loeb, Loeb, —, Steven Desch, they're, Loeb's, they've, Charles Hoskinson, that's, Anibal Martel, Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Hawking, Lucas Jackson, Oumuamua, Desch, It's, Meech, Hoskinson, Rather, Lane Turner, James Webb, Bill Diamond, Stenzel, AARO, UAPs, Loeb hasn't, Joe Rogan's, Eugene Jhong, Galileo, ", Frank Laukien, Laukien, Charles Alcock, Seth Shostak, Stephen Wolfram, Richard Branson's, Vera, Rubin, Avi Loeb Loeb, what's, Rob McCallum, Mariana Trench, James Cameron, Avi Loeb Hoskinson, spherules, Harvard's Stein Jacobsen, Loeb didn't, Monica Grady, Patricio Gallardo, it's, Diamond, That's Avi, Adam Glanzman Organizations: Harvard, Service, Arizona State University, Netflix, Galileo, Anadolu Agency, Reuters, University of Hawaii, Boston Globe, James Webb Telescope, NASA, SETI Institute, Pew Research Center, Department of Defense, UAP Department of Defense, Jhong, Bruker Corporation, Smithsonian's, for Astrophysics, MIT, Wolfram Research, Harvard University, Survey, US Space Command, Hoskinson, UK's Open University, University of Chicago, Arizona University, U.S . Government, The Washington, Getty, Loeb, Astronomy, Astrophysics Locations: Lexington , Massachusetts, United States, Getty, Loeb's, New York, Cambridge, Massachussetts, UAPs, Colorado, Chile, Papua New Guinea, 2401.09882, IM1

☆ Astronomers discover a possible water world in the search for a habitable planet, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But a Canadian research group said the planet is likely too hot for liquid water. Related storiesA liquid ocean is the preferred premise set out in a paper published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim (Princeton University)The James Webb telescope has played a key role in advancing the search for habitable planets beyond Earth. AdvertisementOne key that scientists look for in a potentially habitable planet is the presence of liquid water. Planets in this zone are neither too hot nor too cold to support liquid water.

Persons: NASA's James Webb, —, Nikku, Madhusudhan, Björn Benneke, Temim, James Webb Organizations: Guardian, Service, University of Cambridge, NASA, Astrophysics, Cambridge, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, ESA, CSA, Princeton University Locations: TOI

☆ White dwarf star has metal scar after gobbling planetary fragment
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers have spotted an unusual sign that a dead star feasted on a fragment of a planet orbiting it: a metal scar on the star’s surface. The observation revealed a metallic feature on the star’s surface that the researchers determined was related to a change detected in the star’s magnetic field. The strength of the metal detection also synced with changes observed in the star’s magnetic field, which led the team to determine that the metal scar was located on one of the star’s magnetic poles. The star’s magnetic field pulled the metals toward the star, which led to the presence of the scar, the finding has suggested. But WD 0816-310 presents an entirely different scenario orchestrated by the star’s magnetic field.

Persons: ”, Dr, Stefano Bagnulo, Jay Farihi, John Landstreet, Landstreet Organizations: CNN —, Southern, Planetarium, University College London, Western University, NASA Locations: Chile, Armagh, Northern Ireland, Swiss, Canada

☆ ‘Old smoker’ stars revealed at the heart of the Milky Way
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A decade-long survey of the night sky has revealed a mysterious new type of star astronomers are referring to as an “old smoker.”These previously hidden stellar objects are aging, giant stars located near the heart of the Milky Way galaxy. This illustration shows an eruption occurring in the swirling disk of matter around a newborn star. They help the newborn star in the middle to grow, but make it harder for planets to form. Infrared images show a red giant star, located 30,000 light years away near the center of the Milky Way. Understanding how the old smokers release elements into space could change the way astronomers think about the way such elements are distributed across the universe.

Persons: Philip Lucas, Lucas, ”, Zhen Guo, Fondecyt, Guo, ” Guo, ” Lucas, Dante Minniti Organizations: CNN, Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomers, Survey, Cerro Paranal Observatory, Southern, University of Hertfordshire, University of Valparaiso, University of Hertfordshire Red, NASA, Andrés Bello University Locations: Chilean Andes, Cerro, Chile

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered a rare in-sync solar system with six planets moving like a grand cosmic orchestra, untouched by outside forces since their birth billions of years ago. The find, announced Wednesday, can help explain how solar systems across the Milky Way galaxy came to be. The six found so far are roughly two to three times the size of Earth, but with densities closer to the gas giants in our own solar system. This solar system is unique because all six planets move similar to a perfectly synchronized symphony, scientists said. All solar systems, including our own, are thought to have started out like this one, according to the scientists.

Persons: Tess, —, Adrien Leleu, they're, ”, Enric Palle, Palle, University of Bern’s Hugh Osborn Organizations: —, University of Geneva, of Astrophysics, University of Bern’s, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Canary

☆ Astronomers are baffled after spotting strange cosmic flares that have 10 billion times more power than the sun
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The event, nicknamed Tasmanian devil, is puzzling scientists who don't know what is causing it. Ho and colleagues' observations suggest the Tasmanian devil released at least 14 irregular and highly energetic bursts, each lasting only a few minutes. This leaves a neutron star or a black hole surrounded by the remnants of a partial star. To produce such brilliant flares, a black hole or neutron star would need a lot of fuel. AdvertisementAnother possibility is that the Tasmanian devil was caused by a star merging with a black hole or a neutron star, said Ho.

Persons: —, Anna Ho, LFBOTs, Ashley Chrimes, Chrimes, Ho, We'd, haven't Organizations: Service, NASA, Cornell University, Nature News, European Space Agency

☆ A Supernova ‘Destroyed’ Some of Earth’s Ozone for a Few Minutes in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Katrina Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Oct. 9, 2022, telescopes in space picked up a jet of high energy photons careening through the cosmos toward Earth, evidence of a supernova exploding 1.9 billion light-years away. Such events are known as gamma ray bursts, and astronomers who have continued studying this one said it was the “brightest of all time.”Now, a team of scientists have discovered that this burst caused a measurable change in the number of ionized particles found in Earth’s upper atmosphere, including ozone molecules, which readily absorb harmful solar radiation. “The ozone was partially depleted — was destroyed temporarily,” said Pietro Ubertini, an astronomer at the National Institute of Astrophysics in Rome who was involved in discovering the atmospheric event. The effect was detectable for just a few minutes before the ozone repaired itself, so it was “nothing serious,” Dr. Ubertini said. But had the supernova occurred closer to us, he said, “it would be a catastrophe.”The discovery, reported Tuesday in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrates how even explosions that occur far from our solar system can influence the atmosphere, which can be used as a giant detector for extreme cosmic phenomena.

Persons: ”, Pietro Ubertini, Ubertini Organizations: National Institute of Astrophysics, Nature Communications Locations: Rome

☆ A Guide to the James Webb Telescope's View of the Universe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Kate Larue | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

V. Knowing and UnknowingIt’s tempting to decide that all this seeing amounts to knowing. But some of Webb’s observations challenge fundamental assumptions in our timeline of the universe. ‘‘In general, star formation is very inefficient,’’ says Erica Nelson, assistant professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder. In the latest models of cosmology, these unobserved phenomena make up 95 percent of the universe. Webb helps us know but also to “unknow”: It gives us stunning new discoveries while simultaneously challenging us to rethink and rebuild our understanding of the past.

Persons: Webb, ‘ ‘, ’, Erica Nelson Organizations: University of Colorado Locations: University of Colorado Boulder

☆ Did the same collision that formed the moon create mysterious blobs inside Earth?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The theory, called the giant-impact hypothesis, explains many fundamental features of the moon and Earth. And many scientists assumed any debris Theia left behind on Earth was blended in the fiery cauldron of our planet’s interior. They were already aware that there are two massive, distinct blobs that are embedded deep within the Earth. That’s when he learned new details about Theia, the mysterious projectile that presumably struck Earth billions of years ago. And, as a trained geophysicist, he knew of those mysterious blobs hidden in Earth’s mantle.

Persons: Qian Yuan, Yuan, ” Yuan, Hernán, ”, Steve Desch, it’s, wouldn’t, Desch, “, Dr, Seth Jacobson, —, Jacobson, Theia, ” Jacobson Organizations: CNN —, California Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, Arizona State’s School of Earth, Exploration, Arizona State, Caltech, NASA’s Ames Research Center, Michigan State University Locations: Africa, Arizona, Shanghai

☆ Webb telescope spies signs of water on habitable-zone exoplanet
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The Webb telescope, which can detect infrared light invisible to the human eye, searched for exactly what elements are featured in the planet’s atmosphere. On Earth, dimethyl sulfide “is only produced by life,” according to NASA. Hot ocean worldsThe discoveries about its atmospheric composition suggest it could be a “Hycean exoplanet,” a theoretical type of exoplanet that runs hot but is covered in oceans and has a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. There are no confirmed Hycean exoplanets just yet. “This means our work here is but an early demonstration of what Webb can observe in habitable-zone exoplanets.”

Persons: CNN — Waters, James Webb, Webb, Nikku Madhusudhan, Madhusudhan, —, ” Madhusudhan, ”, Savvas Constantinou Organizations: CNN, James Webb Space Telescope, NASA, Hubble, University of Cambridge, Astrophysical

☆ ‘Lunar Codex’ aims to bring human art to the moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Nicknamed “Moon Museum,” it was attached to a leg of the spacecraft and then left on the moon with it. Called the Lunar Codex, it will be split across three launches planned over the next 18 months. The artworks that make up the Lunar Codex will be miniaturized in nickel NanoFiche. Peralta originally intended the Lunar Codex to include only his own works, such as "Sonnets from the Labrador," but reconceived the project as a global endeavor during the pandemic. Jack Burns, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder, thinks the Lunar Codex is a cool concept.

Persons: —, Andy Warhol, Samuel Peralta —, ” Peralta, Peralta, I’ve, ”, “, Isaac Asimov's, Samuel Peralta, Mazzy, Olesya Dzhurayeva, Connie Karleta, Samuel Peralta “, Daniela De Paulis, ” Paulis, Jack Burns, “ I’m, Carl Sagan, Timothy Ferris, Bach, Beethoven …, Chuck Berry, Ferris, ” Ferris, ‘ Kilroy Organizations: CNN, NASA, “, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Virgin, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Colorado Locations: Canadian, North America, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Russia, American, Netherlands, Labrador, University of Colorado Boulder

☆ Webb telescope spots water in a nearby planetary system
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Astronomers have detected water vapor swirling close to a nearby star — indicating that the planets forming around it might someday be able to support life. Water vapor mysteryAstronomers were surprised to discover water vapor near the star given its age. The presence of water vapor suggests the planets could contain water in some form. Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument detected emission lines from water vapor in the inner disk around the star. The research team plans to observe the system with Webb more in the future to reveal additional secrets as a planetary system takes shape.

Persons: Olmsted, Webb, “, ”, Giulia Perotti, Max Planck, Rens Waters, Thomas Henning Organizations: CNN —, NASA, ESA, CSA, J, Max, Max Planck Institute, Astronomy, Radboud University Locations: Heidelberg, Germany, Netherlands

☆ Rare ‘Trojan’ world may share the same orbit as another planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Astronomers may have found a rare “sibling” that shares the same orbit of a Jupiter-like planet around a young star. Two Jupiter-like planets, known as PDS 70b and PDS 70c, are already known to orbit the star. Evidence for Trojans beyond our solar system — specifically Trojan planets — has been sparse until now. The signal suggested a cloud of debris with a mass of about twice that of our moon, which could be a Trojan planet or a planet in formation. A cloud of debris (circled by a yellow dotted line) may be a newly forming planet in the same orbit as the planet PDS 70b.

Persons: ”, Olga Balsalobre, Lucy, “ Exotrojans, Jorge Lillo, Itziar De Gregorio, Monsalvo, “, Ruza, ALMA Organizations: CNN —, Astrophysics, Madrid’s, Astrobiology, IAU, Southern, Science, NASA Locations: ALMA, Chile

☆ Stunning Webb telescope image shows closest star-forming region
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth, is seen in a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument released July 12, 2023. The Webb telescope, which was launched in 2021 and began collecting data last year, has reshaped the understanding of the early universe while taking stunning pictures of the cosmos. Rho Ophiuchi is only about a million years old, a blink of the eye in cosmic time. The Rho Ophiuchi images shows how Webb gives us a new window into the formation of stars and planets," Pontoppidan said. The orbiting observatory was designed to be far more sensitive than its Hubble Space Telescope predecessor.

Persons: James Webb, Klaus Pontoppidan, Alyssa Pagan, Handout, Webb, Pontoppidan, Hubble, Bill Nelson, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: NASA, ESA, CSA, REUTERS, Wednesday, James Webb Space Telescope, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Hubble, Telescope, Thomson Locations: REUTERS WASHINGTON

☆ Time appeared to move 5 times slower in the early days of the universe, scientists found
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A new study found that time appeared to move five times slower in the early days of the universe. Scientists used quasars — enormously bright supermassive black holes — to arrive at their findings. The researchers used quasars — supermassive black holes that feed on gas and are among the brightest known celestial objects — to arrive at their finding. Quasars "are crucial to understanding the early universe," one astronomer said in 2018. Albert Einstein, in his general theory of relativity, predicted that we live in an expanding universe, where time was slower in its early years, and now the researchers in this study observed that.

Persons: Albert Einstein's, —, Geraint Lewis, Albert Einstein Organizations: Service, Privacy, CNN, University of Sydney's School of Physics, Sydney Institute for Astronomy

☆ Quasars reveal the early universe moved slower than it does now
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Scientists have peered into the early days of the universe, when it was about 1 billion years old, and discovered that things moved in slow motion compared with now. Unlocking what happened during the early days of the universe can help scientists tackle the biggest mysteries about its origin, how it evolved and what the future holds. “This expansion of space means that our observations of the early universe should appear to be much slower than time flows today. While very bright, supernovas become much harder to observe at greater distances from Earth, which means that astronomers needed another source that would be visible deeper in the early universe. “What we have done is unravel this firework display, showing that quasars, too, can be used as standard markers of time for the early universe.”

Persons: Albert Einstein’s, ”, Geraint Lewis, Einstein, ” Lewis, Brendon Brewer Organizations: CNN —, University of Sydney’s School of Physics, Sydney Institute for Astronomy, University of Auckland

☆ Astronomers discover the fastest runaway stars in our galaxy racing away at over 5 million mph
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Astronomers found two renegades, runaway white dwarf stars on an escape route out of our galaxy. These runaway stars are on a one-way ticket out of our galaxy. Runaway stars racing away at breakneck speedsIn the new study, astronomers using data from the European Space Agency's Gaia survey identified two runaway stars with the fastest radial velocities ever seen. Two white dwarf stars orbiting each other can trigger an especially enormous explosion called a D^6 supernova. The first explosion kicks off when one of the white dwarf stars accumulates too much helium gas, which triggers a thermonuclear explosion, reported Starr.

Persons: —, Parker, Juan Ruiz Paramo, Tod Strohmayer, Dana Berry, Chandra X, Michelle Starr, Starr Organizations: renegades, Service, Probe, Parker, NASA, Ray, Science, Astrophysics

☆ A mysterious object has been spotted that is 10 million times brighter than the sun. Scientists can't work out why it hasn't exploded
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX) are objects that shine ten million times brighter than the sun. NASA has been tracking so-called ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX), impossible objects that can be 10 million times brighter than the sun, to understand how they work. A new study categorically confirms that M82 X-2, a ULX 12 million light-years away, is as bright as previous observation suggested it to be. But if it were not falling in, the matter shouldn't be radiating, which means the object shouldn't be that bright. (A neutron star is a superdense object left behind when a star has run out of energy and dies.)

☆ Messy eating habits might reveal elusive black hole
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The clues uncovered in the experiment might help astronomers find intermediate-mass black holes by searching for evidence of their behaviors. During the simulations, the intermediate-mass black hole snagged the star in its orbit, and each time the star made another lap, the black hole took another bite out of it. Each flare is brighter than the last, creating a signature that might help astronomers find them.”The search for elusive black holesAstrophysicists are still trying to prove if intermediate-mass black holes exist in the first place. The mass of a medium-mass black hole is thought to be between that of a supermassive black hole and a much lower-mass black hole. For example, what appears to be an intermediate-mass black hole might actually be the accumulation of stellar-mass black holes.”During the 3D modeling experiment, stars were able to complete as many as five orbits around an intermediate-mass black hole before being kicked away.

☆ Webb telescope finds two of the most distant galaxies ever observed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has spied one of the earliest galaxies formed after the big bang, about 350 million years after the universe began. Webb’s capability to look deeper into the universe than other telescopes is revealing previously hidden aspects of the universe, including astonishingly distant galaxies such as these two finds. Two distant galaxies were observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Just a few hundred million years after the big bang, there were already lots of galaxies. Detection of light invisible to the human eyeThe new findings about the two galaxies might mean there are other bright galaxies waiting to be found in the distant universe.

☆ U.S. vs. China: Military Bases and Commercial Ports Reveal Strategies to Extend Global Reach
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. vs. China: The Race to Launch the Next Generation of Space Telescopes China said it's set to launch the Xuntian survey space telescope in 2023, four years before NASA’s version, Roman. WSJ compares their technology and designs as scientists in the U.S. and China race to lead the future of astrophysics research. Correction: An earlier version of this caption incorrectly identified the launch date of the Xuntian telescope as 2027. Photo illustration: Adam Adada

☆ U.S. vs. China: Military Bases Reveal Strategies to Extend Global Reach
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Why a 17-Mile Stretch of Arizona Highway Is a Booming Logistics Hub
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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