Astronomy and Planetary Science Thread

[Flyaway]

A new analysis of rocks thought to be at least 2.5 billion years old by researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History helps clarify the chemical history of Earth's mantle—the geologic layer beneath the planet's crust.

The findings hone scientists' understanding of Earth's earliest geologic processes, and they provide new evidence in a decades-long scientific debate about the geologic history of Earth. Specifically, the results provide evidence that the oxidation state of the vast majority of Earth's mantle has remained stable through geologic time and has not undergone major transitions, contrary to what has been suggested previously by other researchers.

New study supports stable mantle chemistry dating back to Earth's early geologic history

A new analysis of rocks thought to be at least 2.5 billion years old by researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History helps clarify the chemical history of Earth's mantle—the geologic layer beneath the planet's crust.

phys.org

Related paper:

Deep, hot, ancient melting recorded by ultralow oxygen fugacity in peridotites - Nature

Analysis of peridotites reveals ultralow oxygen fugacity, suggesting that rafts of ancient, ultrareduced mantle were generated by deep melting at high temperatures and continue to circulate in the modern mantle, although they contribute little to modern ridge volcanism.

www.nature.com

 

[Flyaway]

NASA’s Fermi Finds Novel Feature in BOAT Gamma-Ray Burst:

View: https://youtu.be/9hSf7UgeKvg?si=7c2GBqPFE9t8bc2O

 

[NMaude]

I wonder if a gamma-ray burst could be regarded as form of gamma-ray laser?

Edit: Dr. Becky has a new news article out with the lead item being the discovery of an intermediate mass blackhole that's in the mass gap:

In this month’s Night Sky News episode we’re chatting about how to spot the conjunction of Mars & Jupiter, the Moon occult Saturn, and the Pleiades meteor shower. Plus in space news we’ll be chatting about the intermediate mass black hole that’s been found in our galaxy, right in the mass gap where we’ve never found a black hole of that mass before, ESA’s recent Ariane 6 launch, JWST’s look at the famous Penguin galaxy, plus the asteroid Chiron turning into a comet.

00:00 Intro
01:02 Jupiter + Mars + Moon end of July
02:08 Jupiter + Mars Conjunction mid-August
03:21 How to watch the Perseids Meteor Shower
05:51 Saturn x Moon Occultation
07:21 Ariane 6 inaugural launch
09:10 JUICE Earth fly-by
11:31 Chiron turns into a comet?
14:16 JWST observes the Penguin Galaxy
16:22 New candidate intermediate mass black hole found
24:03 Bloopers

 

[Rhinocrates]

https://www.science.org/content/article/could-super-earths-mini-neptunes-host-life-among-stars

Well worth the read. Follow the links in the article too. Some excerpts:

JWST has yet to find any firm evidence of an atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1’s planets.

Others are beginning to think the search for habitability needs to expand to include other kinds of planets. Must they be rocky and Earth-size? Perhaps larger super-Earths, which could be wrapped in global oceans, should also be considered. Or maybe an even larger body, a mini-Neptune, could hold a water ocean under a thick hydrogen atmosphere that lets in just enough life-giving light.

Despite the setbacks, researchers are keen to push out from TRAPPIST-1b and c to the cooler planets in the system, farther from the star and more likely to hold on to any atmosphere. But that comes at a cost in terms of telescope time, because cooler planets emit less infrared, making eclipse photometry more difficult. Moreover, a cooler atmosphere will shrink closer to the planet, weakening any transit signal. For example, it’s estimated that JWST will need more than 100 hours of observing time to detect carbon dioxide around one of the cooler TRAPPIST-1 planets.

In unpublished work based on two transit observations of LHS 1140b taken in December 2023, Doyon and his colleagues confirmed the lack of hydrogen. That leaves two likely scenarios, according to their climate modeling: that the planet may be an airless rock wrapped in water ice, like Jupiter’s moon Europa; or, if its atmosphere is thicker and warmed by carbon dioxide, that ice could be punctuated by a comfortably warm “bull’s-eye ocean” in the middle of its star-facing side, half as big as the Atlantic Ocean, he says.

More speculative is the idea that something even closer to Neptune in size could host life beneath a thick hydrogen-rich atmosphere. One candidate is the planet K2-18b, 8.6 times Earth’s mass and 124 light-years away.

The hunt for cooler, wetter, habitable planets is sure to take surprising turns as well. Just last month, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, designed to discover exoplanets by monitoring stars for transits, found a planet that could become another promising target for JWST: an Earth-size temperate world around the red dwarf Gliese 12, even closer to Earth than TRAPPIST-1.

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has just released a video concerning evidence of a planet turning into a Hot Jupiter:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about the origins of hot jupiter planets

Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41586-024-07688-3&v=zDbEFP-qgPI
https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirl...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...u/public/news/noirlab2418/?lang&v=zDbEFP-qgPI
Cotton candy planet mystery: • Webb Solves a Mystery of Why 'Cotton ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eSwq1CD_ZM&t=0s
Kozai mechanism: • Lidov-Kozai Mechanism - Or How We Rea...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPQ33axCFpQ&t=0s
Chthonian planets • Chthonian Planets - What/Why/How - Un...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHfKj5I2_E8&t=0s

#hotjupiter #exoplanet #milkyway

0:00 Unusual new planet
0:30 What are hot jupiters?
3:20 How these planets may form
5:05 Definitive proof from a young planet
6:40 Another similar planet discovered before
7:20 Extreme conditions on the surface
8:50 Why not hot jupiter here?

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting video by Anton Petrov concerning the recent discovery of "Dark Oxygen" by scientists, it's a doozy and it has significant implications for the possibility of complex life in places where liquid water exists such as Europa and Enceladus:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about an incredible discovery of metallic rocks on the bottom of the ocean that seem to be responsible for a lot of oxygen on the planet

Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4156...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41561-024-01480-8&v=NlrHPycKKQ0
https://www.discol.de/initial-impact-...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....discol.de/initial-impact-study&v=NlrHPycKKQ0
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ticle/abs/pii/S2214790X18303137&v=NlrHPycKKQ0
https://dsmobserver.com/2020/05/a-3-d...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...tudy-on-the-deep-abyssal-plain/&v=NlrHPycKKQ0
#nodules #deepseamining #earth

https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/earth

0:00 Intro
0:35 Manganese nodules
2:00 1980s attempt to mine them
4:10 Results of mining
5:00 Production of oxygen by nodules
6:50 How they make oxygen
8:00 Biodiversity and dangers of mining
8:35 Origin of life implications
10:30 Conclusions

 

[NMaude]

Here's a new video from Anton Petrov about how powerful magnetic fields (No doubt the surrounding accretion-disk) and dark matter contribute to the growth of super-massive blackholes:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about formation of supermassive black holes and their relationship to dark matter

Links:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...47/1538-4357/ad27cc#apjad27ccs5&v=-xCOqW0fuyo
https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-colle...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...-black-holes-get-super-massive/&v=-xCOqW0fuyo
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.021401&v=-xCOqW0fuyo
https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0212270https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0212270&v=-xCOqW0fuyo

Previous videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AW8w4dvT_A&t=0s
• Final Parsec Problem - The Paradox of...

• Major Discovery of Loud Gravitational... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTDJ5uVlCOA&t=0s

#darkmatter #blackhole #astrophysics

0:00 Black hole development
1:10 How black holes usually grow
1:50 Observations from 1000s of galaxies
3:10 Accretion seems to be the main process
4:00 Magnetic wind similar to young stars
6:00 Universal effects even visible in the Milky Way
6:35 Direct collisions
7:20 Final parsec problem resolved with dark matter
9:30 How this helps us

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting video from Anton Petrov concerning the Solar Neutrino Problem and the Gallium detector developed for it - the Soviet-American Gallium Experiment (SAGE) or Russian-American Gallium Experiment (RAGE):

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about the unusual Gallium Anomaly

Links:
https://journals.aps.org/prc/abstract...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...act/10.1103/PhysRevC.109.055501&v=a7bkVYlQ95U
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.232501&v=a7bkVYlQ95U
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...e/article/pii/S0146641023000637&v=a7bkVYlQ95U
https://www.energy.gov/science/np/art...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...rticles/testing-gallium-anomaly&v=a7bkVYlQ95U
Neutrino video: • Major Discoveries about Neutrinos...B... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TliQumwzu-c&t=0s
#gallium #anomaly #physics
https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/physics

0:00 Gallium anomaly
0:30 Soviet-American experiment and what it was for
2:45 Why gallium?
3:20 Initial anomaly with Germanium
3:50 New experiment - BEST
4:40 Could half-life be the answer?
5:20 New physics? New neutrino?
6:50 Explanation using sterile neutrino
8:00 Conclusions

I wonder if this experiment ever got a mention in "The Big Bang Theory"? It's something would've fit in and I can see Sheldon and Leonard getting into an argument over it for example.

 

[Flyaway]

Webb confirms: Big, bright galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang

This week, Nature is publishing confirmation that some additional galaxies we've imaged also date back to just 300 million years after the Big Bang. Critically, one of them is bright and relatively large, allowing us to infer that most of its light was coming from a halo of stars surrounding its core, rather than originating in the same area as the central black hole. The finding implies that it formed through a continuing burst of star formation that started just 200 million years after the Big Bang.

…

One of the two galaxies was quite compact, so similar to the other galaxies of this age that we'd confirmed previously. But the other, JADES-GS-ZZ14-0, was quite distinct. For starters, it's extremely bright, being the third most luminous distant galaxy out of hundreds we've imaged so far. And it's big enough that it's not possible for all its light to be originating from the core. That rules out the possibility that what we're looking at is a blurred view of an active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole feeding on material.

Instead, much of the light we're looking at seems to have originated in the stars of JADES-GS-ZZ14-0. Most of those stars are young, and there seems to be very little of the dust that characterizes modern galaxies. The researchers estimate that star formation started at least 100 million years earlier (meaning just 200 million years after the Big Bang) and continued at a rapid pace in the intervening time.

Webb confirms: Big, bright galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang

Structure of galaxy rules out early, bright objects were supermassive black holes.

arstechnica.com

Related paper:

Spectroscopic confirmation of two luminous galaxies at a redshift of 14 - Nature

The first observations of JWST have revolutionized our understanding of the Universe by identifying for the first time galaxies at $$z\sim 13$$ 1–3. In addition, the discovery of many luminous galaxies at Cosmic Dawn ( $$z > 10$$ ) has suggested that galaxies developed rapidly, in apparent...

www.nature.com

 

[Flyaway]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1818958497536418073

View: https://twitter.com/alanstern/status/1818958497536418073

This peer reviewed @NASANewHorizons paper is just out https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.21142 The paper provides evidence for numerous, anomalously distant Kuiper Belt (KB) bodies, possibly due to an extended KB or 2nd KB, and has potentially deep implications for both the KB & KB exploration.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.21142

Candidate Distant Trans-Neptunian Objects Detected by the New Horizons Subaru TNO Survey

Abstract
We report the detection of 239 trans-Neptunian Objects discovered through the on-going New Hori- zons survey for distant minor bodies being performed with the Hyper Suprime-Cam mosaic imager on the Subaru Telescope. These objects were discovered in images acquired with either the r2 or the recently commissioned EB-gri filter using shift and stack routines. Due to the extremely high stellar density of the search region down stream of the spacecraft, new machine learning techniques had to be developed to manage the extremely high false positive rate of bogus candidates produced from the shift and stack routines. We report discoveries as faint as r2∼ 26.5. We highlight an overabundance of objects found at heliocentric distances R ≳ 70 au compared to expectations from modelling of the known outer Solar System. If confirmed, these objects betray the presence of a heretofore unrecognized abundance of distant objects that can help explain a number of other observations that otherwise re- main at odds with the known Kuiper Belt, including detections of serendipitous stellar occultations, and recent results from the Student Dust Counter on-board the New Horizons spacecraft.

 

[Flyaway]

A New Way to Make Element 116 Opens the Door to Heavier Atoms

Key Takeaways

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have successfully made known element 116 (livermorium) using a titanium beam for the first time, a breakthrough that enables the lab to try to make new element 120.
If discovered, element 120 would be the heaviest atom ever created and fall on the 8th row of the periodic table.
Element 120 is near the theorized “island of stability,” where superheavy elements could be long-lived – enabling scientists to better study them.

A New Way to Make Element 116 Opens the Door to Heavier Atoms

Researchers at Berkeley Lab’s 88-Inch Cyclotron successfully made superheavy element 116 using a beam of titanium-50. That milestone sets the team up to attempt making the heaviest element yet: 120.

newscenter.lbl.gov

Related paper:

[2407.16079] Towards the Discovery of New Elements: Production of Livermorium (Z=116) with 50Ti

 

[Flyaway]

Dr Becky - How we use AI in Astrophysics:

It seems overall AI hasn’t revolutionised astrophysics unlike something like Alphafold has done, instead it’s just sped things up somewhat.

View: https://youtu.be/NnhxYKn4bEY?si=85p0IoUJKidnA7m3

 

[Flyaway]

The rotation of a nearby star stuns astronomers

Astronomers from the University of Helsinki have found that the rotational profile of a nearby star, V889 Herculis, differs considerably from that of the Sun. The observation provides insights into the fundamental stellar astrophysics and helps understanding the activity of the Sun, its spot structures and eruptions.

The rotation of a nearby star stuns astronomers | University of Helsinki

Astronomers from the University of Helsinki have found that the rotational profile of a nearby star, V889 Herculis, differs considerably from that of the Sun. The observation provides insights into the fundamental stellar astrophysics and helps understanding the activity of the Sun, its spot...

www.helsinki.fi

Related paper:

Characterising the stellar differential rotation based on largest-spot statistics from ground-based photometry | Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

www.aanda.org

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting new video from Anton Petrov concerning an unusual gravitational point 3.81 light-years from Earth:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about a proposition for a new gravitational point outside of the solar system

Links:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.09560https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.09560&v=gM98Wki7BLo
#lagrange #solarsystem #gravity

0:00 Intro
0:45 Lagrange points in a nutshell
3:20 This applies to outside of the solar system too
4:20 2 points between the sun and the galaxy
5:20 Could this capture planets?
6:10 So the solar system is 3.81 light years large?
6:50 Fractal orbits
7:25 Still questionable

 

[Flyaway]

Cool Worlds - The Physics of Dyson Spheres:

Answer the universe may seem to disbar things like time travel and warp drives, it does not disbar Dyson Spheres.

Also that you could have swarms of rings around a star used for different things like accommodation, computing, waste management etc.

View: https://youtu.be/zU_R2ghfsBE?si=hyhjN_Q8g2ntNF_1

 

[NMaude]

I just watched this interesting video to do with Alpha Orionis:

Betelgeuse contains far more nitrogen in its outer atmosphere, which is a sign that its interior has been mixed recently and it's spinning far faster than other red supergiants: indicating that something happened to the star to spin it up.

Putting these pieces together, astronomers recently performed a systematic and careful analysis of the intriguing possibility that Betelgeuse did not start off as a single star, but is instead the product of a collision.

As the supergiant star aged, its atmosphere extended to the orbit of its companion. Scientists performed a simulation, that revealed the companion star's gravity funnelled that material onto itself, increasing its own mass. Eventually, the companion started swimming through so much material that this caused friction, slowing the companion and drawing it inward.

What happened next depended on a variety of factors including the speed of the companion, the stars' relative masses, and how much of the primary star's atmosphere had been extended. The influx of new material from the companion star disrupted the helium core, briefly returning the newly merged star to a hydrogen core fusing stage.Simulations show, however, that this didn't last long, and the newborn Betelgeuse soon became a red supergiant again.

Unfortunately, direct evidence for this scenario won't be easily apparent until Betelgeuse explodes into a supernova. It would be fascinating if that happened in our lifetimes. Since we're far enough away to be unaffected, it's exciting to think about the sky glowing brightly, for weeks.

As for the when of it: that's a mystery that keeps us gazing up at the night sky with anticipation.

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting video from Anton Petrov that relatively complex multicellular life may've evolved on Earth as long ago as 2.1 billion years:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about a hypothesis of ancient 2.1 billion year old life
Links:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ii/S0301926824001669?via%3Dihub&v=pzGhU6e33lE
https://people.earth.yale.edu/sites/d...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...%20et%20al%20PALAIOS%202016.pdf&v=pzGhU6e33lE
Another suggestion: • Previously Unknown Complex Lifeforms ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Sm179PlMw&t=0s
Actual life from 2 billion years ago: • Strange Life Forms That Appeared Aliv... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a04eZawA35s&t=0s
Stromatolites: • Ancient Bacterial Life Found on Saudi... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4ojdNvknp4&t=0s
Mars meteorite: • Martian Meteorite With Strange Bacter... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7jzrNrF6V4&t=0s
#ancient #life #earthhttps://www.youtube.com/hashtag/earth

0:00 Complex life 2.1 billion years ago
1:00 Where this was found
1:40 How this was found
3:00 How this went viral
4:00 Pseudofossil?
4:45 Additional evidence
6:00 Recent chemical evidence
6:45 Explaining how this could exist
8:30 Why this matters and what it means
9:40 Conclusions

 

[FighterJock]

We will never truly know when life started on Earth so I would take the figure of 2.1 billion years with a large pinch of salt.

 

[publiusr]

space exploration and the stars

What could a future sovereign Mars economy look like?

What would the economy of a future Mars society look like, and how could it be self-sustaining while being completely sovereign from Earth and its own economy? This is what a recent study submitted to Space Policy hopes to address as a sole researcher discusses a model that could be used for...

phys.org

Discovery of ancient stars on the stellar thin disk of the Milky Way

A surprising discovery about the evolution of our galaxy using data from the Gaia mission found a large number of ancient stars on orbits similar to that of our sun. They formed the Milky Way's thin disk less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang, several billion years earlier than previously...

phys.org

Astrophysicists build model to explain to rapid planet formation

Our solar system is our immediate cosmic neighborhood. We know it well: the sun at the center; then the rocky planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars; and then the asteroid belt; followed by the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn; then the ice giants Uranus and Neptune; and finally the Kuiper belt...

phys.org

New study uses self-interacting dark matter to solve the final parsec problem

In a new study, scientists from Canada have proposed a solution to the final parsec problem of supermassive black hole (SMBH) mergers using self-interacting dark matter.

phys.org

A higher-dimensional model can help explain cosmic acceleration without dark energy

Dark energy remains among the greatest puzzles in our understanding of the cosmos. In the standard model of cosmology called the Lambda-CDM, it is accounted for by adding a cosmological constant term in Einstein's field equation first introduced by Einstein himself. This constant is very small...

phys.org

Scientists pin down the origins of the moon's tenuous atmosphere

While the moon lacks any breathable air, it does host a barely-there atmosphere. Since the 1980s, astronomers have observed a very thin layer of atoms bouncing over the moon's surface. This delicate atmosphere—technically known as an "exosphere"—is likely a product of some kind of space...

phys.org

Moon fests, moon movie and even a full moon mark 55th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing

The cosmos is providing a full moon for the 55th anniversary of the first lunar landing this weekend, and plenty of other events honor Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's giant leap.

phys.org

Geoscientists narrow timing of enormous 'magmatic event' on the moon more precisely

A team of geoscientists affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Switzerland has more precisely dated an enormous "magmatic event" that occurred on the moon several billion years ago.

phys.org

Solar storms could cause more auroras

Massive explosions on the sun have triggered warnings of geomagnetic storms that could create dazzling auroras in the northern United States, Europe and southern Australia from Tuesday night.

phys.org

Massive solar wind disturbance caused Earth's magnetosphere to fly without its usual tail

Like a supersonic jet being blasted with high-speed winds, Earth is constantly being bombarded by a stream of charged particles from the sun known as solar wind.

phys.org

The sun's corona is weirdly hot, and Parker Solar Probe rules out one explanation

By diving into the sun's corona, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has ruled out S-shaped bends in the sun's magnetic field as a cause of the corona's searing temperatures, according to University of Michigan research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

phys.org

Why the solar corona is so much hotter than sun's surface

In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, a researcher from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, explores critical aspects of a phenomenon called kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) to provide fresh insights into an age-old heliophysics...

phys.org

First full 2-D spectral image of aurora borealis from a hyperspectral camera

Auroras are natural luminous phenomena caused by the interaction of electrons falling from the sky and the upper atmosphere. Most of the observed light consists of emission lines of neutral or ionized nitrogen and oxygen atoms and molecular emission bands, and the color is determined by the...

phys.org

Predicting solar storms before they leave the sun

When giant solar storms hit Earth, they trigger beautiful auroral displays high in Earth's atmosphere. There's a dark side to this solar activity, though. The "space weather" it sets off also threatens our technology. The potential for damage is why we need highly accurate predictions of just...

phys.org

How solar storms play havoc with our lives

Despite the 150 million kilometers that separate it from the Earth, the sun does more than just light our way: it also impacts our electricity networks, and even our transport.

phys.org

Creation of a deep learning algorithm to detect unexpected gravitational wave events

Starting with the direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015, scientists have relied on a bit of a kludge: they can only detect those waves that match theoretical predictions, which is rather the opposite way that science is usually done.

phys.org

Venus' 'continents' suggest surprising link to early Earth

New research has revealed that Venus, often considered Earth's inhospitable twin, may share a surprising geological history with our own planet.

phys.org

A cave discovered on the moon opens up new opportunities for settlement by humans

Almost 55 years after the launch of Apollo 11—the first mission to land humans on the moon—scientists have found evidence of a large cave system near the landing site of those astronauts.

phys.org

Lunar exploration ground sites will enhance the Near Space Network's communications services

NASA's LEGS can do more than help Earthlings move about the planet. Three Lunar Exploration Ground Sites, or LEGS, will enhance the Near Space Network's communications services and support of NASA's Artemis campaign.

phys.org

How to SUPPPPRESS light from a star that is ten billion times brighter than its habitable exoplanet

Searching for Earth 2.0 has been an obsession of almost all exoplanet hunters since the discipline's dawn a few decades ago. Since then, they've had plenty of technological breakthroughs help them in their quest, but so far, none of them have been capable of providing the clear-cut image needed...

phys.org

https://phys.org/news/2024-07-biodiversity-threat-scientists-biorepository-moon.h

https://phys.org/news/2024-07-oxygen-harder-gravity.htmltml

Moon dust could contaminate lunar explorers' water supply

Water purification is a big business on Earth. Companies offer everything from desalination to providing just the right pH level for drinking water. But on the moon, there won't be a similar technical infrastructure to support the astronauts attempting to make a permanent base there. And there's...

phys.org

A pair of CubeSats using ground penetrating radar could map the interior of near-Earth asteroids

Characterizing near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) is critical if we hope to eventually stop one from hitting us. But so far, missions to do so have been expensive, which is never good for space exploration.

phys.org

A new study shows how the sun could permanently capture rogue planets

Interest in interstellar objects (ISOs) was ignited in 2017 when 'Oumuamua flew through our solar system and made a flyby of Earth. Roughly two years later, another ISO passed through our solar system—the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov.

phys.org

Scientists say sun's influence penetrates into deep Earth

For years, scientists believed that changes in the Earth's interior, such as volcanic eruptions and tectonic plate collisions, primarily affected the surface environment. Events such as the mass extinction around 66 million years ago and the transitions between icehouse and greenhouse climates...

phys.org

Opinion: If we want to settle on other planets, we'll have to use genome editing to alter human DNA

When considering human settlements on the moon, Mars and further afield, much attention is given to the travel times, food and radiation risk. We'll undoubtedly face a harsh environment in deep space and some thinkers have been pointing to genome editing as a way to ensure that humans can...

phys.org

space

Investigating the possibility of using asteroid material to grow edible biomass for astronauts

A team of engineers and planetary scientists at Western University's Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, in Canada, has found that it might be possible to produce food for space travelers by feeding bacteria asteroid material, resulting in the growth of an edible biomass.

phys.org

Scientists discover planet orbiting closest single star to our sun

Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting Barnard's star, the closest single star to our sun. On this newly discovered exoplanet, which has at least half the mass of Venus, a year lasts just over three Earth...

phys.org

Traces of antimatter in cosmic rays reopen the search for 'WIMPs' as dark matter

One of the great challenges of modern cosmology is to reveal the nature of dark matter. We know it exists (it constitutes more than 85% of the matter in the universe), but we have never seen it directly and still do not know what it is.

phys.org

Winds of change: Webb reveals forces that shape protoplanetary disks

Every second, more than 3,000 stars are born in the visible universe. Many are surrounded by what astronomers call a protoplanetary disk—a swirling "pancake" of hot gas and dust from which planets form. The exact processes that give rise to stars and planetary systems, however, are still poorly...

phys.org

Five-mile asteroid impact crater below Atlantic captured in 'exquisite' detail by seismic data

New images of an asteroid impact crater buried deep below the floor of the Atlantic Ocean have been published today by researchers at Heriot-Watt University.

phys.org

Mercury's magnetic landscape mapped in 30 minutes

As BepiColombo sped past Mercury during its June 2023 flyby, it encountered a variety of features in the tiny planet's magnetic field. These measurements provide a tantalizing taste of the mysteries that the mission is set to investigate when it arrives in orbit around the solar system's...

phys.org

A new era of solar observation: International team produces global maps of coronal magnetic field

For the first time, scientists have taken near-daily measurements of the sun's global coronal magnetic field, a region of the sun that has only been observed irregularly in the past. The resulting observations are providing valuable insights into the processes that drive the intense solar storms...

phys.org

NASA's laser comms demo makes deep space record, completes first phase

The Deep Space Optical Communications tech demo has completed several key milestones, culminating in sending a signal to Mars' farthest distance from Earth.

phys.org

New triple star system sets shortest orbital period record

Professional and amateur astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery with the help of artificial intelligence, identifying a unique triple star system named TIC 290061484. This stellar trio was uncovered through cosmic "strobe lights" observed by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite...

phys.org

Influence of a black hole's spin: First evidence of precession in ultraluminous accretion disks

Gas swirls around a black hole due to its intense gravity, forming an accretion disk. These accretion disks, being among the most efficient energy conversion mechanisms in the universe, emit light and plasma jets. When a black hole spins on its axis, the accretion disk wobbles like a spinning top.

phys.org

Lunar gravity measurements hint at a partially molten mantle layer

We know that beneath its crater-pocked silicate crust, the moon has an olivine mantle and a metallic core. Some research has also suggested that a partially molten layer may lie at the base of the otherwise solid mantle, sandwiched between it and the solid core. But other evidence disagrees.

phys.org

Astronomers just detected the biggest black hole jets ever seen—and named them Porphyrion

The largest known black hole jets, 23 million light years across, have been discovered in the distant universe. This pair of particle beams launched by a supermassive black hole is over a hundred times larger than our galaxy, the Milky Way.

phys.org

Q&A: Researchers examine link between light pollution and interest in astronomy

Picture walking outside on a dark, cloudless evening. You look up to admire the stars—maybe even a planet, if you're lucky—and a sense of wonder washes over you. New research from the University of Washington shows this might be more than a memorable experience: It could ultimately spark...

phys.org

Asteroid Ceres is a former ocean world that slowly formed into a giant, murky icy orb

Since the first sighting of the first-discovered and largest asteroid in our solar system was made in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, astronomers and planetary scientists have pondered the make-up of this asteroid/dwarf planet. Its heavily battered and dimpled surface is covered in impact craters...

phys.org

Aliphatic hydrocarbons on Ceres' surface found to have short lifetimes

A team of astrophysicists from several institutions in Italy, working with a colleague in the U.S., has found that aliphatic hydrocarbons observed on Ceres' surface have short lifetimes, suggesting they likely appeared there within the last 10 million years.

phys.org

Study suggests moon may have been captured from space rather than formed from collision particles

Over six missions to the moon, from 1969 to 1972, Apollo astronauts collected more than 800 pounds of lunar rock and soil. Chemical and isotopic analysis of that material showed that it was similar to the rock and soil on Earth: calcium-rich, basaltic and dating to about 60 million years after...

phys.org

Ryugu samples call into question previous ideas about the formation of carbon-rich asteroids

Asteroid Ryugu possibly did not travel as far from its place of origin to its current near-Earth orbit as previously assumed. New research published in the journal Science Advances suggests that Ryugu was formed near Jupiter.

phys.org

Advanced data shed light on gravitational basins of attraction that shape the movement of galaxies

A new study has mapped out the gravitational basins of attraction in the local universe, offering fresh insights into the large-scale cosmic structures that shape the movement of galaxies. The study has been published in Nature Astronomy.

phys.org

How special is the Milky Way galaxy? Survey team releases new findings

Is our home galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy, a special place? A team of scientists started a journey to answer this question more than a decade ago. Commenced in 2013, the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) Survey studies galaxy systems like the Milky Way. Now, the SAGA Survey has published...

phys.org

Telescope captures the most detailed infrared map ever of our Milky Way

Astronomers have published a gigantic infrared map of the Milky Way containing more than 1.5 billion objects―the most detailed one ever made. Using the European Southern Observatory's VISTA telescope, the team monitored the central regions of our galaxy over more than 13 years. At 500 terabytes...

phys.org

Study uncovers first evidence of a volcanic spatter cone on Mars

While working under Erika Rader, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences at University of Idaho, a postdoctoral researcher identified a volcanic vent on Mars as a potential spatter cone and compared it to a spatter cone formed during the 2021 eruption of...

phys.org

Could stars hotter than the sun still support life?

Although most potentially habitable worlds orbit red dwarf stars, we know larger and brighter stars can harbor life. One yellow dwarf star, for example, is known to have a planet teaming with life, perhaps even intelligent life. But how large and bright can a star be and still have an inhabited...

phys.org

Existence of an Earth-like planet around a dead sun offers hope for our planet's ultimate survival

The discovery of an Earth-like planet 4,000 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy provides a preview of one possible fate for our planet billions of years in the future, when the sun has turned into a white dwarf, and a blasted and frozen Earth has migrated beyond the orbit of Mars.

phys.org

Hubble finds that a black hole beam promotes stellar eruptions

In a surprise finding, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the blowtorch-like jet from a supermassive black hole at the core of a huge galaxy seems to cause stars to erupt along its trajectory. The stars, called novae, are not caught inside the jet, but are...

phys.org

Turbulent solar wind originates in the sun's corona, study shows

Solar wind is a never-ending stream of charged particles coming from the sun. Rather than a constant breeze, this wind is rather gusty. As solar wind particles travel through space, they interact with the sun's variable magnetic field, creating chaotic and fluctuating motion known as turbulence.

phys.org

Frozen in time: Rock formations hint at Mars's ancient climate

Long ago, flowing wind and water shaped Mars's malleable sand and sediment into dunes, ripples and other landscape patterns, called bedforms. Over billions of years, some of these landforms hardened into rock—scientists then call them paleo-bedforms. Frozen in time, change only comes in the form...

phys.org

Study shows Mars' early thick atmosphere could be locked up in the planet's clay surface

Mars wasn't always the cold desert we see today. There's increasing evidence that water once flowed on the red planet's surface, billions of years ago. And if there was water, there must also have been a thick atmosphere to keep that water from freezing. But sometime around 3.5 billion years...

phys.org

Webb discovers 'weird' galaxy with gas outshining its stars

The discovery of a "weird" and unprecedented galaxy in the early universe could "help us understand how the cosmic story began," astronomers say.

phys.org

Walking on the Moon in Cologne: Europe's lunar life simulator

A large, ordinary-looking warehouse in the German city of Cologne is the closest you can get to walking on the moon—without leaving Earth.

phys.org

Astronomers catch a glimpse of a uniquely inflated and asymmetric exoplanet

An international group of researchers including University of Arizona astronomers, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, has observed the atmosphere of a hot and uniquely inflated exoplanet. The exoplanet, which is the size of Jupiter but only a tenth of its mass, is found to have an...

phys.org

Low gravity in space travel found to weaken and disrupt normal rhythm in heart muscle cells

Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists who arranged for 48 human bioengineered heart tissue samples to spend 30 days at the International Space Station report evidence that the low gravity conditions in space weakened the tissues and disrupted their normal rhythmic beats when compared to Earth-bound...

phys.org

 

[NMaude]

Geo Girl has a follow up video about "Dark Oxygen":

In my last video ( • Discovery of “Dark Oxygen” Produced a... ), we discussed the recent discovery of dark oxygen, which is molecular oxygen (O2) that is being produced at the seafloor. This is significant as it points to a source of oxygen other than photosynthesis, which changes our understanding of the oxygen cycle. But with this video came a lot of questions, which I try to address in this follow up video. These include:

1. How do these oxygen-producing nodules form? If they are acting as 'geo-batteries' to produce this oxygen, how are they recharged?
2. Where does the H go when the H2O is split during electrolysis?
3. Can we synthesize these polymetallic nodules instead of mining them?
4. How much O2 do these nodules contribute to the oceans & atmosphere compared to photosynthesis?
5. Did dark O2 drive the origin of life on Earth? If so, how? If not, what about the evolution of more complex life, like animals?

Let me know in the comments if you have any more comments or questions, I would be happy to do another follow up at some point!

0:00 First dark O2 video recap
2:23 Questions to be answered in this video
3:40 How do polymetallic nodules form?
6:48 3 types of nodule – control metal sorption
8:54 How the nodule ‘batteries’ produce O2
9:47 How are the nodules ‘recharged’?
10:54 Where does the H from H2O go?
13:33 Can we synthesize nodules instead of mining them?
14:55 How much O2 do the nodules produce?
16:10 O2 is in the deep sea, regardless
17:49 Does dark O2 increase the range of marine animals?
19:58 Implications for the origin of life on Earth
23:31 Do 2.4+ Gya enzymes implicate dark O2?
24:08 Requirement of O2 for nodule formation***
26:08 Did dark O2 contribute to animal evolution?

References:
Original dark oxygen video: • Discovery of “Dark Oxygen” Produced a...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDv09qM_YlE&t=0s

Main article: Sweetman et al., 2024: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa2tCTW1hN05fLTFuNlJRUTlDeEVZWTJxV0U5UXxBQ3Jtc0ttajhXTy1UZ2tXeGlrYW9BRkp6U2dCS1huSFU5SXM4WU9BSEJmNXRVUnhwTHo3WmRMendYTWR6S1VSb2hQSWlfZGYtSER0Szh2X1JQRnlnYjh3eG9wRUFZT0lVTG5YckpKd2tTYVNhODNqOEw3S2hCVQ&q=https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8&v=rSgIgI2weLw
CNN summary:
Scientific American summary: https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbmsxWUgtQ2x0TVFtdTllVkxrNmtvTUhHNXBzUXxBQ3Jtc0trR0M1d0d4MDNsaDJ0T2JJNVU2Z2N1cVljVU9aZ1RWM1V5RGZMRzEzbFlqSEZJNEdOTFlmaTZIb0ZkMTk1dTNFenhwVjJNb250SE1rYjR3c0YzS0QxWURuU3dFT1lEdVgyX0xTM0pFN3U4VUY0Uk1hRQ&q=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cells-discovered-making-dark-oxygen-underground/&v=rSgIgI2weLw
Cronan, 2019 (Mn Nodules): https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409...
Kuhn et al., 2017 (Composition, Formation, and Occurrence of Polymetallic Nodules): https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-525...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbFpmd0h3Y0I1c1NEM2kyN2ZaSEFxN1BGQmEtZ3xBQ3Jtc0tuY0JBT3pjSzdVTVc1dTVPQlRDbVlXOUFzUjJGMENxRk93SUJrV1RFZFdHYk9wa3lwZk83UW4wVWlwS01ZOGRkX1BTaG5uemEyN3R6N2ZfaHc2SVJ4czROa1FRNEZTdV9vOXB2MEFjQmpHY3FXanhDQQ&q=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52557-0_19&v=rSgIgI2weLw
Phillips et al., 2023 (Mn nodule metal sorption figure reference): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2023.07...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbXVmUVYwX2xwdGx5WHk4V3BUelF0NkZLSlAxd3xBQ3Jtc0ttWGJQTjJiWmRJUGdaVXpCNUNZZ2dSb2dwdHFCdHFoVzk5Nk1lMndxTFFjWDJSclF4SURwR1ptRVVFbnNzUDdQaFBqZlpkbDA5cF9hVmJ2ZWNnaTlrOFNnN3FiNDVyS0otUDh2eUZLc0NRZTVZOUNOSQ&q=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2023.07.011&v=rSgIgI2weLw
Sperling et al., 2022 (GOE figure reference): https://doi.org/10.1086/721754https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqblhQZE96UlZiQTdNeGw3eUIxY0JZRVJpc2REd3xBQ3Jtc0ttLUpDOUtCcFVhYjlUZFlKV00wRGEySllMZmNJQXZNY0VCOGN5bGJIS0g1Zk5jVHN2YWRReUVFZFhSRFVQbWt2NnJjNElXZ3dveF95bWt2aG1BYnVyVUtLWEV5NzBwZVJHeWwwQ2pyaVRZLWdEeGFaNA&q=https://doi.org/10.1086/721754&v=rSgIgI2weLw
Boden et al., 2021 (Timing the evolution of antioxidant enzymes in cyanobacteria. Nat Commun): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24...

Anton Petrov has an update video on NASA's DART mission:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about new updates about the NASA DART mission that collided with an asteroidLinks:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-024-50146-x&v=rRoIDCBidwo
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-024-50148-9&v=rRoIDCBidwo
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-024-50145-y&v=rRoIDCBidwo
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-024-50147-w&v=rRoIDCBidwo
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-024-50149-8&v=rRoIDCBidwo
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41586-023-06998-2&v=rRoIDCBidwo
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ad26e7&v=rRoIDCBidwo

Previous NASA DART videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEoKMWMlQiU&t=0s
• Wow, NASA DART Mission May Have Compl...

• DART Asteroid Collision Updates: Unex...

• NASA Just Smashed Into an Asteroid! D... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwrAhdyUChM&t=0s

#nasa #dart #asteroidhttps://www.youtube.com/hashtag/asteroid

0:00 DART mission by NASA
0:55 What this asteroid was
1:50 Huge brightening during the collision
2:25 Strange ejecta
3:25 Dramatic change of the shape and a weird wobble
4:35 Mars collisions
5:40 Analysis of the surface reveals the origins
7:15 Weak surface strength
7:40 Age of these rocks
8:15 Thermal fatigue phenomenon
9:30 Similarity to other asteroids
10:35 Conclusions and future missions

 

[NMaude]

Here's something that should bring the Trekkies out of the woodwork in the Astronomy and Astrophysics communities:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about the most powerful explosion humanity has seen and the discovery of antimatter powered jets

Links:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...org/doi/10.1126/science.adj3638&v=AX8J6JxD4G8
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2303.16223https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/pdf/2303.16223&v=AX8J6JxD4G8

Previous videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZtHLmkGy6w&t=0s
• Cosmic Explosion That Blinded Our Sat...

• Most Powerful Explosion Humanity Has ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHSoIDmolBE&t=0s

#grb #astrophysics #supernova
0:00 Most powerful GRB ever
1:40 How GRBs work
2:40 Why this event was so strange
3:35 New analysis using different techniques
5:00 Strange spike
6:20 Antimatter jet signs
8:10 Why this was not found until now
9:00 Conclusions

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting video from Astrum about why life can never come back into existence on Earth:

 

[NMaude]

Here's a video from PBS Space Time about whether or not Black Holes have to be black:

The primary characteristic that defines black holes is in the name. Black holes are black. The gravitational pull at the event horizon is so powerful that not even light can escape. In this case, black means absence of light. We also think of black as indicating absence of colour. But it turns out there is a way to make a coloured black hole—as long as by colour you mean quantum chromodynamic charge.

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting video by Anton Petrov about an antimatter anomaly first detected eight years ago by scientific instrumentation mounted on the ISS:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about an unexplained anomaly of antihelium particles detected on the ISS
Links:
https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...act/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.123028&v=wBoDke6gXQI
https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR2...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...org/Meeting/APR24/Session/F11.3&v=wBoDke6gXQI
#antimatter #internationalspacestation #physics

https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/physics

0:00 ISS anomaly involving anti matter
0:55 Samuel Ting's dream
2:05 Anti matter experiment on the ISS
3:20 Productive experiment
4:05 Antimatter results
4:45 Cosmic ray results
5:05 High energy positrons
5:45 Antihelium surprise
6:55 What this means and why it's important
7:40 Recent study tries to explain antihelium origins
9:45 Antimatter fireballs in a nutshell
10:20 Future experiment using a balloon
11:00 Conclusions

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting video from Astrum about what the three planets orbiting the super-massive blackhole, Gargantua, in the film "Interstellar" should've looked like:

The science behind the exoplanets (or "blanets") orbiting the black hole Gargantua in Part 2 of our Interstellar series.

And here's part 1:

A scientific take on the movie Interstellar.

I would've thought that the degree of scientific accuracy in the film was high due to Christopher Nolan consulting multi-award winning theoretical physicist Kip Thorne*.

*His book "The Science of Interstellar" is a good read.

 

[FighterJock]

I have also read Kip Thorne's book Black Holes and Time Warps book which is a highly interesting read. And is a good place to start after watching Interstellar.

 

[NMaude]

Here's an interesting Anton Petrov video about a strange new eco-planet recently discovered:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about a strange planet orbiting a white dwarf
Links:
https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-ca...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...exoplanet-catalog/wd-1856534-b/&v=zLiReB7FZ8U
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.14190https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.14190&v=zLiReB7FZ8U
Previous video: • White Dwarf With a Planet in The Habi... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b81AlweGxP8&t=0s
V838 Mon: • Ejecta From Red Luminous Nova V838 Mo... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A60fsMHsSJA&t=0s
#exoplanet #whitedwarf #astronomy

0:00 Strange white dwarf planet
0:50 Older discovery
2:05 Habitable zone!
3:10 Explaining its origins
5:40 Destroyed star created a planet
7:20 Implications and conclusions

 

[publiusr]

Mars

Model suggests spewing metal nanorods into Mars' atmosphere could warm the planet by 30 K

A small team of engineers and geophysicists from Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Central Florida has found, via modeling, that creating millions of metal nanorods from material on the Martian surface and then blasting them into the atmosphere would be a...

phys.org

Take a trip to the largest lake on Mars

Mars once hosted a lake larger than any on Earth. The broken-down and dried-up remnants of this ancient lakebed are shown here in amazing detail by ESA's Mars Express.

phys.org

Mars and Jupiter get chummy in the night sky. The planets won't get this close again until 2033

Mars and Jupiter are cozying up in the night sky for their closest rendezvous this decade.

phys.org

Moon(s)

Gaia spots possible moons around hundreds of asteroids

ESA's star-surveying Gaia mission has again proven to be a formidable asteroid explorer, spotting potential moons around more than 350 asteroids not known to have a companion.

phys.org

A tower on the moon could provide astronauts with light, power and guidance

Technologies for enabling NASA's Artemis mission are coming thick and fast, as plenty of problems must be solved before a permanent human presence on the moon can be established. A novel idea from Honeybee Robotics, one of the most prominent space technology companies now owned by Blue Origin...

phys.org

Space tech

Here's how Curiosity's sky crane changed the way NASA explores Mars

Twelve years ago, NASA landed its six-wheeled science lab using a daring new technology that lowers the rover using a robotic jetpack.

phys.org

Engineers conduct first in-orbit test of 'swarm' satellite autonomous navigation

Someday, instead of large, expensive individual space satellites, teams of smaller satellites—known by scientists as a "swarm"—will work in collaboration, enabling greater accuracy, agility, and autonomy. Among the scientists working to make these teams a reality are researchers at Stanford...

techxplore.com

An adaptive method to detumble non-rigid satellites using robots

More than 8,000 man-made satellites orbit planet Earth today, many of which were launched into space decades ago. Repairing and maintaining the proper operation of these satellites is not always easy and often requires carefully planned and targeted interventions.

techxplore.com

Study finds discrepancies between intended and actual use of certain areas aboard the International Space Station

An archaeological strategy adapted for space used daily photos to reveal how astronauts actually use areas aboard the International Space Station—and how this differs from intended uses. Justin Walsh of Chapman University, California, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access...

phys.org

Drop it like it's hot: Space Rider model falls gracefully

Over the last four months, the Space Rider team has been running a drop-test campaign whereby a full-scale model of the future orbital laboratory is dropped from a helicopter to test and qualify the deployment of its parachutes, at Salto di Quirra in Sardinia, Italy.

phys.org

The universe

Fast-tracking the search for habitable worlds

Modern astronomy would struggle without AI and machine learning (ML), which have become indispensable tools. They alone have the capability to manage and work with the vast amounts of data that modern telescopes generate. ML can sift through large datasets, seeking specified patterns that would...

phys.org

The universe on display: The powerful instruments that allow us to observe the cosmos

Starting today, the Earth will be passing through a meteor shower. But in astronomy, the human eye is very much a limited tool. But increasingly powerful instruments are allowing us to peer ever deeper into the cosmos and ever further back in time, shedding new light on the origins of the universe.

phys.org

Astronomers discover two new super-Earths orbiting nearby stars

Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has detected two new super-Earth exoplanets orbiting nearby M-dwarf stars. The newfound exoplanets, designated TOI-6002 b and TOI-5713 b, are two times larger than our planet. The finding was reported...

phys.org

What happens to the remains of neutron star mergers?

In the aftermath of a collision of neutron stars, a new celestial object called a remnant emerges, shrouded in mystery. Scientists are still unraveling its secrets, including whether it collapses into a black hole and how quickly this might happen.

phys.org

Image: Doomed star Eta Carinae

Eta Carinae may be about to explode. But no one knows when—it may be next year, it may be 1 million years from now. Eta Carinae's mass—about 100 times greater than our sun—makes it an excellent candidate for a full blown supernova.

phys.org

New study suggests that our galaxy is crowded or empty—both are equally terrifying

Is there intelligent life in the universe? And if so, just how common is it? Or perhaps the question should be, what are the odds that those engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) will encounter it someday?

phys.org

Astronomers discover new supergiant-rich stellar cluster

Astronomers report the discovery of a new galactic stellar cluster located some 24,000 light years away. The newfound cluster, which received the designation Barbá 2, turns out to host at least several supergiant stars. The finding was detailed in a research paper published July 30 on the arXiv...

phys.org

JWST unveils the structure of dust near a supermassive black hole

A team of international scientists led by researchers at Newcastle University, have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to reveal a hidden veil of dust in a galaxy 70 million light years away.

phys.org

Optical navigation tech could streamline planetary exploration

In a dim, barren landscape like the surface of the moon, it can be easy to get lost. With few discernable landmarks to navigate with the naked eye, astronauts and rovers must rely on other means to plot a course.

phys.org

Using small black holes to detect big black holes

An international team of astrophysicists with the participation of the University of Zurich proposes a novel method to detect pairs of the biggest black holes found at the centers of galaxies by analyzing gravitational waves generated by binaries of nearby small stellar black holes. The research...

phys.org

The Higgs particle could have ended the universe by now—here's why we're still here

Although our universe may seem stable, having existed for a whopping 13.7 billion years, several experiments suggest that it is at risk—walking on the edge of a very dangerous cliff. And it's all down to the instability of a single fundamental particle: the Higgs boson.

phys.org

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has just put out a video concerning a study about a cheap, effective way to terraform Mars (Sort of):

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about another intriguing proposition on how we could maybe terraform Mars
Links:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn4650&v=KfnaYRyoxMY
Cody's lab video: • Breathing The Heaviest Non Toxic Gas ... https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TG7gstXCt1A
Mars terraforming: • Terraforming Mars Using a Weird Green...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur3Pyuzjsuw&t=0s
• Did We Just Find Moss That Could Terr... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur3Pyuzjsuw&t=0s
Mars magnetosphere videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9shZxvtujg&t=0s
• Study Proposes Using Martian Moons To...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4T-Nltq_vk&t=0s
• Can We Create Artificial Magnetospher... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4T-Nltq_vk&t=0s

#mars #terraform #astronomy
0:00 Mars terraforming ideas
2:00 Magnetosphere and other ideas
3:20 Recent idea is a lot more feasible
5:00 Effects this would create
6:30 Problems that need to be solved

 

[Hood]

Scientists slam ‘indefensible’ axing of Nasa’s $450m Viper moon rover

In an open letter to the US Congress, experts say decision will undermine lunar exploration for the next decade

www.theguardian.com

 

[Flyaway]

Gaia spots possible moons around hundreds of asteroids

 

[Flyaway]

The most ambitious astronomy project EVER - The Vera Rubin Observatory:

View: https://youtu.be/X3N-DjVXh44?si=zDO740a4Kol_sR1G

 

[Flyaway]

A bizarre subset of extrasolar ocean worlds known as ‘hycean’ planets arguably offer the best near-term chance of detecting biosignatures of microbial life. Using NASA’s Webb Space Telescope, these planets could give up their astrobiological secrets quite quickly.

At a recent astrobiology conference in Copenhagen, Nikku Madhusudhan, a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at the U.K.’s University of Cambridge, argued that hycean planets could be plentiful and easily probed for biosignatures.

Bizarre Hydrogen-Rich Ocean Worlds Offer Shortcut To Detecting Life

Strange ocean-covered worlds that are geophysically unlike any rocky planet ever detected offer astrobiologists a shortcut to detecting life sooner rather than later.

www.forbes.com

Related video:

View: https://youtu.be/bNl2S_b70XU

 

[Flyaway]

Antimatter detected on International Space Station could reveal new physics

Eight years ago, the International Space Station detected weird antimatter particles that challenge our entire understanding of physics. Now, researchers have proposed that mysterious cosmic "fireballs" could help explain the detection.

Antimatter detected on International Space Station could reveal new physics

Eight years ago, the International Space Station detected weird antimatter particles that challenge our entire understanding of physics. Now, researchers have proposed that mysterious cosmic "fireballs" could help explain the detection.

www.livescience.com

Related paper:

Fireball antinucleosynthesis

The tentative identification of approximately ten relativistic antihelium ($\overline{\mathrm{He}}$) cosmic-ray events at AMS-02 would, if confirmed, challenge our understanding of the astrophysical synthesis of heavy antinuclei. We propose a novel scenario for the enhanced production of such...

journals.aps.org

 

[Flyaway]

Scientists have discovered a reservoir of liquid water on Mars - deep in the rocky outer crust of the planet.

However, they point out, the location of this Martian groundwater is not good news for billionaires with Mars colonisation plans who might want to tap into it.

"It's sequestered 10-20km deep in the crust," explained Prof Manga.

"Drilling a hole 10km deep on Mars - even for [Elon] Musk - would be difficult," he told BBC News.

Reservoir of liquid water found deep in Martian rocks https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxl849j77ko

 

[FighterJock]

And coming from NASAs InSight lander too, I wonder how much science they still have to reveal from InSight though?

 

[Flyaway]

The Closest Known Black Holes to Earth:

View: https://youtu.be/5xLiw9yJu1k?si=MUsCfRi601uitfvI

 

[NMaude]

Here's a new video from Anton Petrov concerning Venus:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about Venus
Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4156...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41561-024-01485-3&v=H6nbYJixXRs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cratonhttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craton&v=H6nbYJixXRs
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4192...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41928-024-01148-6&v=H6nbYJixXRs
Previous video: • Gases Hinting At Alien Life Detected ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXjHtBl4Qxg&t=0s
Venus missions: • Venus Curse Is Broken! NASA Confirms ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yjOJ61c4jQ&t=0s
New materials: • New NASA Venus Mission Will Lead to M...

0:00 Venus vs Earth
1:20 Venus atmosphere surprises
2:00 Volcanoes are still active
3:05 Ancient plate tectonics?
3:48 What are cratons on Earth?
6:10 Main reason why Earth is unique
6:40 Venusian Tesserae may be cratons!
7:45 Venusian Mt Everest?
8:30 Implications
8:55 Something on Venus was different though
10:30 Future missions and new materials

And here's one from Astrum about an extremely powerful extra-galactic supernova that very briefly compressed Earth's atmosphere in 2022:

The Brightest Explosion of All Time (B.O.A.T) how the universe's heavy elements are formed. A huge thanks to our Patreons who help make these videos possible.

 

[Flyaway]

Scottish and Irish rocks confirmed as rare record of ‘snowball Earth’

A rock formation spanning Ireland and Scotland may be the world’s most complete record of “snowball Earth”, a crucial moment in planetary history when the globe was covered in ice, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

The study, published in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1km thick, was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the Sturtian glaciation – the first of two global freezes thought to have triggered the development of complex, multicellular life.

One exposed outcrop of the formation, found on Scottish islands called the Garvellachs, is unique as it shows the transition into “snowball Earth” from a previously warm, tropical environment.

Scottish and Irish rocks confirmed as rare record of ‘snowball Earth’

The study, published in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1km thick, was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the Sturtian glaciation – the first of two global freezes thought to have...

www.eurekalert.org

Related paper:

https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/full/10.1144/jgs2024-029

 

[Michel Van]

Seem that Proton is build differently as expected

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1biTR-zJtfk


0:00 Intro
0:40 What is a Proton ?
2:50 Strange and Charm Quarks...
6:44 The Discovery
8:54 The Future

Sources

Evidence for intrinsic charm quarks in the proton - Nature

Through machine learning analysis of a large set of collider data, a study disentangles intrinsic from radiatively generated charm, and finds evidence for an intrinsic charm quark within the proton wavefunction.

www.nature.com

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0370269380903640