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☆ A mysterious Jupiter-sized planet that shouldn't exist is as puffy as a marshmallow and astronomers finally think they know why
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Ellyn Lapointe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

WASP 107b: The exoplanet that shouldn't existAn artist's impression of WASP 107b passing in front of its host star. But models suggested that WASP 107b's core would be too small to have formed a gas giant. Scientific models didn't align with observationsHubble images of WASP 107b didn't solve the mystery of its large size and low density. Venom82Why it took astronomers years to understand WASP 107b's mysterious origins stems from what many astronomers face: a lack of information due to technological limits. But WASP 107b's surface temperature was cold enough that it should have had more methane than what JWST observed.

Persons: —, they've, it's, David Sing, NASA's, Luis Welbanks, Sagan, James Webb, Welbanks —, Sing, Welbanks, Ralf Crawford, we're, Scott Gaudi, Gaudi, Olmsted, Russo Organizations: Service, Business, ESA, Hubble, NASA, Kornmesser, Bloomberg, Johns Hopkins University, WASP, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, ESO, Arizona State University, Telescope, Sing, WASP 107b's, CSA, JHU, Ohio State University

☆ 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

☆ ‘Sleeping giant’ massive black hole found in the Milky Way galaxy
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Astronomers have spotted the most massive known stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy after detecting an unusual wobble in space. The wobbling movement of an old giant star in the Aquila constellation revealed that it was in an orbital dance with a dormant black hole, and it’s the third such dormant black hole spotted by Gaia. So Gaia BH3 is the most massive black hole in our galaxy that formed from the death of a massive star. Stellar black holes observed across the Milky Way galaxy are about 10 times as massive as the sun on average. True to expectations, the researchers found that the star orbiting Gaia BH3 was metal-poor, which means that the star that formed Gaia BH3 was likely the same.

Persons: ”, Gaia BH3, —, munch, Aquila, Gaia, Pasquale Panuzzo, BH3, hadn’t, Elisabetta Caffau, “, Carole Mundell Organizations: CNN —, Southern, Astrophysics, “, France’s National, for Scientific Research, ESO, Space Locations: Atacama, Paris, France’s

☆ 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

☆ How to find a hobby
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But if that's not for you — or if you're struggling to find something to do outside of work — experts shared how to find a hobby. The big storyA guide to finding a hobbyRobyn Phelps/InsiderHaving a hobby can help people tackle their work and personal life with more energy. Treat finding a hobby like a projectYou likely won't find the perfect fit immediately, Laura Vanderkam, the author of "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think," told me. Or if they're also trying to find a hobby, ask what the people around them do for fun. Be patient but proactiveAdvertisementVanderkam told me that finding a hobby just takes a bit of time, experimentation, and being open to different things.

Persons: —, that's, Robyn Phelps, I've, Alexis Haselberger, Laura Vanderkam, It'll, Vanderkam, Haselberger, they're, she's, Joey Hadden, andresr, Kornmesser NASA's James Webb, Gen, Patrick Pleul Organizations: Service, Business, Orient, Express, Volkswagen, Ford, Tesla, LinkedIn, ESO, ESA, Hubble, Kornmesser NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, IKEA, Getty, Ikea Locations: Venice, Brandenburg, Schönefeld, Dahme

☆ 'Vampire' stars could be using galactic henchmen to help feed on their companions
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Type-Be stars, nicknamed "vampire" stars, are believed to strip the mass of a nearby star. Type-Be stars, characterized by their large size and surrounding rings of gas, are a subset of type-B stars , which are very hot, bright, and blue. The nickname "vampire stars" comes from the most accepted theory of how type-Be stars form rings, researchers said in the study — by sucking the metaphorical neck of an intergalactic victim. AdvertisementThe team observed the type-Be stars by comparing the positions of various stars over longer and shorter periods. However, the team was surprised to learn that they were detecting a higher rate of binary systems for type-B stars than for type-Be stars.

Persons: —, Jonathan Dodd, de Mink, thrall, Dodd Organizations: Service, Royal Astronomical Society, ESO, University of Leeds, European Space Agency

☆ Astronomers detect mysterious 8 billion-year-old energetic burst
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A fast radio burst, or FRB, is a pulse of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation. It lasts a small fraction of a second but outshines most other sources of radio waves in the universe. Radio waves have the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. "The radio waves in FRBs are similar to those used in microwave ovens. Fast radio bursts were discovered in 2007.

Persons: Ryan Shannon, Stuart Ryder, Shannon, Will Dunham, Daniel Wallis Organizations: ESO, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Australian SKA Pathfinder, European Southern, Swinburne University of Technology, Macquarie University, Thomson Locations: Handout, Western Australia, European, Chile, Australia

☆ Black holes mysteriously burp up fragments of stars they destroyed years earlier, and scientists have no idea why
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Black holes have been spotted spitting up remnants of stars years after gobbling them up. AdvertisementAdvertisementSince then, the collaborators have been turning their instruments to monitor 24 black holes for years on end. In another two of the cases, Cendes noticed the black holes peaking, then fading, then turning on again. Everything we know about accretion disks may be wrongThe findings could mean we need to rethink how black holes swallow up stars, Cendes said. The new findings suggest astronomers will have to rethink the relationship between stars and black holes.

Persons: Yvette Cendes, we'd, Cendes, They've, She's, Cendres, I've Organizations: Service, Harvard, Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, ESO, ESA, Hubble, Kornmesser Locations: Wall, Silicon, TDEs

☆ A brilliant cosmic burst 100 times as bright as our galaxy came from 2 black holes circling each other, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Chris Panella | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Huge cosmic bursts are coming from two black holes circling each other in a distant galaxy. In this case, the flare came from a binary system consisting of two black holes trapped in a rapid dance. A cosmic burst 100 times brighter than our galaxyThe recorded burst, which astronomers observed in February 2022, occurred when the smaller black hole crashed into a disk of gas surrounding the larger black hole, the study's scientists said. Up to this point, its presence was only predicted through observations of its gravitational influence on the larger black hole. An illustration of the binary black hole system, OJ 287, showing the massive black hole surrounded by an accretion disk.

Persons: —, Mauri Valtonen, Valtonen, Swift, Cruz, they've Organizations: Service, Royal Astronomical Society, ESO, ESA, Hubble, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, NASA, OJ, University of Turku Locations: OJ287

☆ Earth's neighboring star Betelgeuse unexpectedly got 50% brighter —part of a weird process that will end in the dying star going supernova
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This dying red giant had only recently mysteriously dimmed its shine after an enormous explosion. It is expected to explode into a supernova visible from Earth, though likely not for thousands of years. The red giant — a star not far from death — is now shining about 50% brighter than it usually would, scientists said. Scientists are keeping a close eye on Betelgeuse, as this red giant is a dying star that is close to turning supernova. Betelgeuse could burst into a supernova visible from Earth — one dayA pre-supernova star, called a Wolf-Rayet star, 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius.

☆ 5 times scientists thought they'd maybe discovered signs of extraterrestrial life but sadly didn't
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Extraterrestrial life could exist, but mysterious objects in the sky aren't evidence of aliens. Scientists have thought they were close to discovering alien life a few times — none of it via UFOs. As the US discovered a flurry of UFOs — officially called "unidentified anomalous phenomena," or UAPs — in early February, Google searches for "extraterrestrial life" and "are aliens real" spiked. There have been incidents in the past where some researchers thought they'd come close to discovering signs of alien life — or even extraterrestrial intelligence — but none were UFOs. They dubbed the first interstellar object 'Oumuamua, which is a Hawaiian term meaning "a messenger from afar arriving first."

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