DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Earth-size exoplanet may be covered in volcanoes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Instead, the exoplanet, called LP 791-18 d, is likely covered in volcanoes and may experience eruptions with the same frequency as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active place in our solar system, according to researchers. LP 791-18 d is located about 90 light-years from Earth in the Crater constellation, where it orbits a small red dwarf star. And astronomers believe the massive planet LP 971-18 c might be contributing to the newly detected exoplanet’s possible volcanism. As the two objects orbit their star, LP 971-18 c and the newfound exoplanet LP 791-18 d closely pass each other, allowing the gravitational pull of the larger planet LP 971-18 c to tug on planet d and reshape its orbit. The discovery of LP 971-18 d points to the importance of data collected by space telescopes.

☆ 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.)

☆ Webb telescope spies evidence of hidden planets around nearby star
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The revelation of the Fomalhaut’s two inner rings has suggested that planets hidden deeper within the star system may be affecting the dust belt’s shape. Stars form from gas and dust, and then a ring of leftover material called a protoplanetary disk orbits the star, where planets are born. Once the planets form around a star, debris belts form and become shaped by the gravity of the planets. Studying the dust belts can help unlock more of the secrets behind how planetary systems form. “I think it’s not a very big leap to say there’s probably a really interesting planetary system around the star.”

New data shows light pollution has made the night sky today twice as bright as it was eight years ago. That would mean 60% of the stars we see today will be gone by 2041 if light pollution keeps growing. For decades, astronomers have been building telescopes in the darkest places on Earth to avoid light pollution. However, satellites miss the blue light of LEDs, which are commonly used for outdoor lighting – resulting in an underestimate of light pollution. Note: If a night sky containing 250 stars today has only 100 stars in 18 years, that equates to a loss of 60% of the stars in the night sky by the year 2041.

☆ Fact Check-Moon visible during daytime is not proof of flat Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The moon visible during the day is not proof that the Earth is flat, despite claims shared online. The moon is commonly visible during the day, however, and it is not always directly opposite the sun, experts told Reuters. At full moon, the moon rises as the sun sets and at the end of that night the moon sets at sunrise. During this lunar phase, we see part of the moon illuminated because only a part of the moon that is being illuminated by the sun is visible to us, he said. “However, the best argument against flat Earth (using the moon) is that during a lunar eclipse, the moon enters Earth shadow,” Fe McBride, assistant professor in the Physics and Astronomy department at Bowdoin College told Reuters.

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.

☆ Gorgeous animation shows how the Earth changes with the seasons
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An animation showcases how the seasons change with Earth's orbit around the sun. Earth's angle causes very specific weather patterns and daylight during the course of a year. That ancient bump is what caused the Earth's seasons — times of the year that have very specific weather patterns and hours of daylight that vary depending on the latitude. Earth’s seasons are caused by its axis being tilted about 23 degrees. The angle of the Earth's tilt is relatively stable, but there are some slight shifts over large time scales (tens of thousands of years).

☆ A year only lasts 17.5 hours on the ‘hell planet’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

One year for this planet lasts about 17.5 hours on Earth. A team of researchers used a new tool known as EXPRES, or the EXtreme PREcision Spectrometer, to determine the precise nature of the planet’s orbit. But the hell planet is not the only planet orbiting Copernicus. An illustration shows just how closely the planet Janssen (left), depicted as an orange dot, orbits its host star Copernicus. Once Janssen moved in closer to Copernicus, the hell planet became even hotter.

☆ 7 times NASA's James Webb Space Telescope spotted something Hubble missed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The James Webb Space Telescope can capture a more complete view of galaxies, stars, and planets. Before Webb, astronomers had another workhorse cosmic observatory: the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb is 100 times stronger than Hubble, which allows astronomers to peer even further into space. Webb spied countless galaxies that Hubble missedA side by side collage of the same area taken by the Hubble and the James Webb space telescopes. Where Hubble saw a faint dot, Webb resolved 2 distinct mystery objectsOne of the lensed images of MACS0647-JD, from the James Webb Space Telescope.

☆ Webb telescope spies clouds beneath haze of Saturn moon Titan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has spied clouds on one of the solar system’s most intriguing moons. Titan’s atmosphere is made of nitrogen and methane, which gives it a fuzzy, orange appearance. Astronomers compared Webb (left) and Keck images of Titan to see how clouds evolved. The data, which is still being analyzed, was able to see deeper into Titan’s atmosphere and surface than the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn and its moons for 13 years. The cloud observations were a long time coming.

☆ AT 2022cmc: Rare cosmic event beamed light at Earth from 8.5 billion light-years away
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But the rare cosmic event actually occurred 8.5 billion light years away from Earth, when the universe was just a third of its current age — and it has created more questions than answers. This graphic shows how a tidal disruption event might look in space. Carl Knox/OzGrav/Swinburne University of TechnologyWhen a star is torn apart by a black hole’s gravitational tidal forces, it’s known as a tidal disruption event. Observing more events like this could reveal how black holes launch such powerful jets across space, according to the researchers. “Scientists can use AT 2022cmc as a model for what to look for and find more disruptive events from distant black holes.”

☆ The Visions of Octavia Butler
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lynell George | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +27 min

As a science fiction writer, Butler forged a new path and envisioned bold possibilities. Mural with a portrait of Octavia Butler and her name, composed of dots of various densities in 3-D space. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant. “‘Kindred’ was a story of ordinary people trapped in fantastic circumstances,” Butler wrote in a 1988 notebook. Her point of view was one not traditionally found in science fiction and, simply by writing, she demanded a larger world.

☆ Scholars found a long-lost star map from ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus hidden beneath layers of medieval Christian text
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Scholars discovered the oldest known star map beneath the text of a Christian manuscript, according to new study. The ancient Greek astronomer made the earliest known attempt to chart the entire night sky. The Christian text came from Egypt's Saint Catherine's Monastery and is now in possession of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. Researchers say the star map was scraped away so the parchment could be reused — a common practice at the time. The "new evidence is the most authoritative to date and allows major progress in the reconstruction of Hipparchus' Star Catalog," the study authors wrote.

☆ In its first 100 days, the James Webb telescope peered deep into space, took beauty shots of faraway galaxies and glittering nebula, and saw a spacecraft slam into an asteroid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In its first 100 days of observation, Webb has captured mind-blowing images, reaching astonishing cosmic distances. Webb captured violent interactions in a star system more than 5,000 light years awayWebb captured a series of 17 concentric dust rings spawned by the Wolf-Rayet 140 binary system. Webb took a 'deep field' image that filled astronomers with wonderThe James Webb Space Telescope's first deep field infrared image, released on July 11, 2022. Webb captured detailed views of the king of our solar system – JupiterWide-field view of Jupiter, captured by Webb. Webb snapped a beauty shot of the Carina NebulaThe star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, captured in infrared by Webb.

Search resuls for: "of Astronomy"

14 mentions found