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☆ Ghostly lights paint a new portrait of the Milky Way
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. CNN —The universe is filled with infinite mysteries, and scientists are tackling them, one celestial puzzle at a time. Across the universeAn artist's illustration depicts the Milky Way seen through a neutrino lens, which is shown in blue. National Science FoundationThere is no shortage of scintillating imagery of the Milky Way galaxy — but we’ve never seen it from this perspective. Astronomers used a detector sunk deep into the thick ice of Antarctica to trace “ghost particles” that created a new portrait of the Milky Way.

Persons: James Webb, we’ve, you’ve, exoplanet, Halla, Adam Makarenko, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Virgin Galactic’s, James Webb Space, European Space Agency, . National Science, Schmidt Ocean Institute, Beatles, ”, Keck, —, CNN Space, Science Locations: Antarctica, Costa Rica, Strait, Gibraltar, Spain

☆ Europe's Euclid space telescope set for launch to explore 'dark universe'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The mission focuses on two foundational components of the dark universe. One is dark matter, the invisible but theoretically influential cosmic scaffolding thought to give shape and texture to the cosmos. Scientists estimate dark energy and dark matter together make up 95% of the cosmos, while ordinary matter that we can see accounts for just 5%. EUROPEAN-LED MISSION[1/2]An artist's concept shows the Euclid space telescope, built by the European Space Agency (ESA) that is set to be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, in operation, in this undated handout image. "Measuring the shapes and positions of galaxies allows us to infer the properties of dark matter and dark energy," Rhodes said on Friday.

Persons: Euclid, Elon Musk, James Webb, Jason Rhodes, Rhodes, Yannick Mellier, Steve Gorman, William Mallard Organizations: SpaceX, European Space Agency, ESA, Cape Canaveral Space Force, Space Agency, REUTERS, NASA, Euclid, Russian Soyuz, Elon, James Webb Space, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Euclid Consortium, Institut d'Astrophysique de, Thomson Locations: Florida, Cape, U.S, Canada, Japan, Russian, California, Ukraine, Los Angeles, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris

☆ ‘Ghost particle’ portrait of the Milky Way revealed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —For the first time, astronomers have assembled a glowing portrait of the Milky Way galaxy using cosmic “ghost particles” detected by a telescope embedded in Antarctica’s ice. Over the years, astronomers have showcased stunning images of the Milky Way through electromagnetic radiation from visible light or radio waves. These tiny, high-energy cosmic particles are often referred to as ghostly because they are extremely vaporous and can pass through any kind of matter without changing. The IceCube detector is seen under a starry night sky, with the Milky Way appearing over low auroras in the background. Cosmic rays are mostly made up of protons or atomic nuclei that have been stripped from atoms, according to NASA.

Persons: “, ’ ”, Naoko Kurahashi Neilson, Amundsen, Scott, Kurahashi Neilson, Yuya Makino, Steve Sclafani, Mirco, IceCube, ”, Chad Finley, ” Sclafani, Victor Hess, ” Kurahashi Neilson Organizations: CNN, Drexel University, National Science, Pole, NSF, Germany’s TU Dortmund University, Stockholm University, NASA Locations: Antarctica, Germany’s

☆ Astronomers ‘hear’ the celestial choir of gravitational waves for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Astronomers have been able to “hear” the celestial hum of powerful gravitational waves, created by collisions between black holes, echoing across the universe for the first time. Gravitational waves, initially predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916, are ripples in space-time that were first detected in 2015. Einstein theorized that gravitational waves would stretch and compress space as they moved across the universe, affecting how radio waves travel. More than 190 scientists set out to discover the frequencies of gravitational waves as part of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves collaboration, also known as NANOGrav. Searching for a celestial choirThe newly detected gravitational waves are the most powerful ever measured.

Persons: Albert Einstein, Einstein, ”, Chiara Mingarelli, We’ve, Simonnet, Scott Ransom, “, ” Ransom, Luke Kelley, ” Kelley, it’s, ” Mingarelli, “ It’s, Stephen Taylor Organizations: CNN —, American Nanohertz, Green Bank, Yale University, National Radio Astronomy, University of California, Vanderbilt University Locations: Arecibo, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, New Mexico, Berkeley, Europe, India, China, Australia

☆ 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

☆ Structures newly discovered in the Milky Way
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —An international team of astrophysicists has discovered hundreds of mysterious structures in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Sagittarius A* “is the closest supermassive black hole to us, but it’s relatively quiet and therefore somewhat difficult to really study,” Hamden added. The vertical filaments surround the nucleus of the Milky Way, but the horizontal ones appear to spread out to one side toward the black hole. The vertical filaments, on the other hand, are magnetic and hold cosmic ray electrons moving nearly as fast as the speed of light. “One way to confirm that the (filament) structure is created by something like a jet is to find both sides of it.”This would add “to the complex, active picture of our own Milky Way,” she said.

Persons: astrophysicists, Farhad Yusef, Yusef, Zadeh, “, ”, who’s, Erika Hamden, ” Yusef, Hamden Organizations: CNN, Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration, Research, Astrophysics, University of Arizona, South African Locations: Hamden

☆ NASA released stunning new space images by combining the visual powers of the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The images were enhanced using data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The images were made possible by data collected from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope. "The Chandra data also reveal young, hot, and massive stars that send powerful winds outward from their surfaces," NASA said. The beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1672 shows off its black holes and neutron starsNGC 1672 is a spiral galaxy about 60 million light-years from Earth. "Webb outlines gas and dust in the infrared while Chandra data spotlights high-energy activity from stars at X-ray wavelengths," NASA said.

☆ Stunning photos of the night sky in one of the darkest places on Earth will make you want to visit New Zealand ASAP
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Rebecca Strong | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is especially great for star gazing. But in one of the darkest places on Earth — the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve in New Zealand — that's not an issue. Aoraki is the second-largest dark sky reserve in the world, ranking at a level 2 on the nine-level Bortle Dark-Sky Scale for light pollution. The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is located in southern New Zealand. Igor HoogerwerfAccording to Jason Menard, an executive at Mackenzie Tourism, The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is one of the best places to view the Milky Way — and that's pretty evident in this photo.

☆ With a gulp and burp, a bloated star swallows a Jupiter-sized planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

As the star grew, its surface reached the orbit of the doomed planet, with mayhem ensuing. Red giant stars can swell to a hundred times their original diameter, engulfing any planets in their way. This planet, perhaps a few times bigger than Jupiter, orbited its star in less than a day at a distance closer than Mercury, our innermost planet, orbits the sun. Even before it is engulfed whole, our data provides evidence that the planet tries to rip out the star's surface layers with its own gravity. But the star happens to be a thousand times more massive so the planet can't do much and eventually makes the plunge," De said.

☆ Solving the mystery of the most powerful objects in the universe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Astronomers first discovered quasars, considered to be the brightest and most powerful objects in the universe, 60 years ago — but they didn’t understand their origin. Now, scientists think they have unlocked the mystery behind what ignites these celestial objects. Astronomers observed 48 different galaxies that contain quasars and compared them to more than 100 galaxies without them. When two galaxies merge, massive amounts of gas are pushed toward the supermassive black holes located at their centers. “Quasars play a key role in our understanding of the history of the Universe, and possibly also the future of the Milky Way.”

☆ Webb telescope captures glowing starburst as galaxies collide
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A brilliant starburst feature shines in the latest image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. The space observatory captured a bright burst of star formation triggered by two spiral galaxies crashing into one another. The colliding galaxies, known collectively as Arp 220, generated an infrared glow that contains the light of more than 1 trillion suns. This brilliant luminosity creates the diffraction spikes, or starburst feature witnessed by Webb. The new Webb image also reveals tails, or material streaming away from the galaxies due to gravity, in blue, to indicate activity as the galaxies continue to collide.

☆ First photo of a black hole resembles 'skinny' doughnut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The first photo ever taken of a black hole looks a little sharper now. The central region is darker and larger, surrounded by a bright ring as hot gas falls into the black hole in the new image. The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, called EHT, is a global network of telescopes that captured the first photograph of a black hole. Computers using PRIMO analyzed more than 30,000 high-resolution simulated images of black holes to pick out common structural details. But if heated materials in the form of plasma surround the black hole and emit light, the event horizon could be visible.

☆ Artificial intelligence may have just given astronomers a better idea of what black holes really look like
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Researchers released a new, clearer image of what they believe the M87 black hole looks like. They developed a machine learning algorithm to provide clearer images of the black hole first released in 2019. The algorithm used data from thousands of simulated black holes to fill in gaps of data that created the 2019 images. The new images, published Thursday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, could provide important information for scientists studying the M87 black hole and others in the future, researchers said. "Since we cannot study black holes up-close, the detail of an image plays a critical role in our ability to understand its behavior."

☆ Astronomers document a not-so-super supernova in the Milky Way
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

This binary system, studied using a telescope at the Chile-based Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, is located about 11,000 light years from Earth in our Milky Way galaxy in the direction of the constellation Puppis. Its companion star boasts a mass 18 to 19 times greater than the sun after cannibalizing its mate. The two stars orbit around each other every 59-1/2 days, separated by about eight-tenths of the distance existing between Earth and the sun. The type of binary system examined in this study is rare, with roughly 10 estimated to exist in a Milky Way populated by about 100-400 billion stars. "In the case of these massive stars, we have not yet detected planets around them.

☆ Breakingviews: Disney’s next 100 years hinges on a metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Walt Disney (DIS.N) in October will celebrate its 100th anniversary. In the past century, the Magic Kingdom’s theme parks have survived technological forces. The idea expanded and now the company operates parks in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, not to mention the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The theme parks, and their related consumer products, are an increasingly important part of the company. In the year ending September 2018, the division had a chunky 25% operating margin and represented almost 40% of Disney’s total operating profit of $16 billion.

☆ Disney’s next 100 years hinges on a metaverse
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Walt Disney (DIS.N) in October will celebrate its 100th anniversary. In the past century, the Magic Kingdom’s theme parks have survived technological forces. Taking the real Disneyland as a blueprint for the metaverse that marries its brand and streaming ambitions is not hard to fathom. The idea expanded and now the company operates parks in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, not to mention the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. In the year ending September 2018, the division had a chunky 25% operating margin and represented almost 40% of Disney’s total operating profit of $16 billion.

The first full-color image released from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope is the sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institut / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERONASA released the first batch of images from the tennis court-sized observatory to much fanfare in July. The exoplanet HIP 65426 b in different bands of infrared light, as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope. Back to the moonFifty years after the final Apollo moon mission, NASA took key steps toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Chinese officials have also said they intend to use the space station for space tourism and commercial space initiatives.

☆ Dazzling galactic diamonds shine in new Webb telescope image
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a unique perspective of the universe, including never-before-seen galaxies that glitter like diamonds in the cosmos. “I was blown away by the first PEARLS images,” said study coauthor Rolf Jansen, research scientist at Arizona State University and a PEARLS coinvestigator, in a statement. Together, the wavelengths of light from both telescopes reveal unprecedented depth and detail of a wealth of galaxies in the universe. The image represents just a portion of the full PEARLS field, which will be about four times larger. Other pinpricks of light in the image represent a range of stars in our Milky Way galaxy.

☆ This graphic shows how many more stars you can see under truly dark skies vs. city, suburban, and rural areas
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Astronomers classify night skies from dark to bright using the Bortle Scale, ranked from one to nine. Light pollution is when artificial light washes out the night sky and makes it hard to see stars. While it might not be as potentially harmful as other kinds of pollution, light pollution can affect human health. Level four classifies the transition from suburban to rural areas, where you can see the Milky Way. The night sky is brimming with stars, making it harder to parse out faint constellations.

☆ 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.

☆ Hubble vs. Webb: New NASA telescope reveals never-before-seen details from the early universe, within 400 million years after the Big Bang
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is 100 times stronger than the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble showed astronomers a single galaxy in the early universe, but JWST revealed it was two mysterious objects. Dan Coe, a researcher with the Space Telescope Science Institute, first discovered it 10 years ago with the Hubble Space Telescope, which was previously NASA's most powerful space observatory. One of the lensed images of MACS0647-JD, from the James Webb Space Telescope. Two galaxies colliding and merging, as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

☆ Eerie image shows spectacular aftermath of a large star's death
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - The aftermath of a large star's explosive death is seen in an image released on Monday by the European Southern Observatory, showing immense filaments of brightly shining gas that was blasted into space during the supernova. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). The image shows the supernova remnants about 11,000 years after the explosion, Leibundgut said. The beauty of such images is that we can directly see what material was inside a star," Leibundgut added. The star itself has been reduced in the aftermath of the supernova to an incredibly dense spinning object called a pulsar.

☆ 'Andor' review: 'Star Wars' revives Diego Luna's character in a slow-moving prequel to 'Rogue One'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

(CNN) A prequel to a prequel, "Andor" brings a gritty tone and look to the "Star Wars" universe, as much the washed-out landscape of "Blade Runner" as George Lucas' far-away galaxy. Yet whatever promise that entails is mostly lost in flabby storytelling, essentially stretching what would have been a 10-minute movie prologue over the first three episodes. Disney+ has wisely decided to launch the 12-episode prequel to "Rogue One," starring Diego Luna as the spy Cassian Andor, with those three episodes, providing a somewhat better sense of the series' framework than the plodding first installment. Following a less-trodden path, though, doesn't excuse moving at the pace of a wounded Bantha, bogged down by flashbacks to the protagonist's childhood. Nor do these early episodes do enough to distinguish the shifting cast of supporting characters, a group that doesn't provoke much more than indifference.

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