INFORMATION

What processes are responsible for our Sun’s solar wind, heat, and energy? This is what a recent study published in Physical Review X hopes to address as a team of researchers presented evidence for a newly discovered type of barrier that the Sun exhibits that could help explain the transfer of energy to heat within the Sun’s outer atmosphere. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the underlying mechanisms for what drives our Sun and what this could mean for learning about other suns throughout the cosmos. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/Wqivw6A via IFTTT

In the cold darkness above Jupiter's poles, where temperatures plummet to hundreds of degrees below zero, something remarkable is happening that challenges our understanding of planetary science. Using data from NASA's Juno spacecraft, researchers have uncovered a completely new type of plasma phenomenon that creates auroras that can only be seen with specialised instruments, revealing that our Solar System's largest planet operates by rules we never knew existed. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/kP6T4Ai via IFTTT

What can binary star systems teach astronomers about the formation and evolution of planets orbiting them? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated past studies that claimed a specific binary star system could host a planet demonstrating a retrograde orbit, meaning it orbits in the opposite direction of the star’s rotation. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand binary and multiple star systems, specifically the formation and evolution of their planets and what this could mean for finding life beyond Earth. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/FVzIoAK via IFTTT

The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) suffered a communications anomaly on its way Venus for a gravity-assist maneuver. Thanks to swift and coordinated action by the teams at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) and Airbus, communications were restored in time to prepare for its upcoming flyby with Venus. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/zJYlGrD via IFTTT

On August 8, 2024, the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii achieved a historic milestone by capturing the sharpest images ever taken of a solar flare. The unprecedented observations revealed coronal loops in stunning detail. The arches of superheated plasma following the Sun's magnetic field lines were captured at such resolution that it’s possible to see individual structures as narrow as 21 kilometres across. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/uFs3UOW via IFTTT

What can the Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ), which is a galaxy’s region where complex life is hypothesized to be able to evolve, teach scientists about finding the correct stars that could have habitable planets? This is what a recent study accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated a connection between the migration of stars, commonly called stellar migration, and what this could mean for finding habitable planets within our galaxy. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the astrophysical parameters for finding habitable worlds beyond Earth and even life as we know it. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/HODuZ31 via IFTTT

Astronomers used a powerful virtual radio telescope to observe a distant active galaxy. The observations revealed a ribbon-like jet of super-heated plasma. The plasma reaches temperatures of more than 10 trillion Kelvin, indicating that a pair of supermassive black holes are energizing the center of the galaxy. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/Yla4UN5 via IFTTT

According to astronomers, water worlds, though admittedly not those containing Kevin Costner, are one of the most common types of planets in our solar system. This is partly due to low density estimates and the abundance of water ice past the “snow line” orbit of a star. But a new paper led by Jie Li and their colleagues at the University of Michigan, suggests there might be an alternative type of planet that fits the density data but is made up of a completely different type of material - soot. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/Izc3b8H via IFTTT

Deep in one of our Galaxy's most spectacular star forming regions, astronomers have undertaken the most detailed look yet at a pair of stellar giants that rank among the heaviest stars ever directly measured in the Milky Way. The binary system NGC 3603-A1, located 25,000 light years from Earth, consists of two massive stars locked in an incredibly tight orbital dance. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/PAGl1U8 via IFTTT

Hidden within meteorites that fall to Earth are tiny spheres that have puzzled scientists for decades. These mysterious droplets, called chondrules, are time capsules from the birth of our Solar Syste and now, a team from Japan and Italy have used them to pinpoint exactly when Jupiter formed, solving a long standing planetary mystery. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/FBbfMKU via IFTTT

Wait wait wait. There are other, less stressful options. I don’t want to end on such a downer note. There is hope for us yet! from Universe Today https://ift.tt/IzJcZBK via IFTTT

One of the advantages of having so many telescopes watching large parts of the sky is that, if astronomers find something interesting, there are probably images of it from before it was officially discovered sitting in the data archives of other satellites that noone thought to look at. That has certainly been the case for our newest interstellar visitor, 3I/ATLAS, which, though discovered in early July, had been visible on other telescopes as early as May. We previously reported on Vera Rubin’s detection of 3I/ATLAS well before it was officially found, and now a new paper has found the interstellar object in TESS’s data going back to early May - and it looks like it may have been “active” around that time. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/nXBGyAi via IFTTT

How exactly did the universe start and how did these processes determine its formation and evolution? This is what a recent study published in Physical Review Research hopes to address as a team of researchers from Spain and Italy proposed a new model for the events that transpired immediately after the birth of the universe. This study has the potential to challenge longstanding theories regarding the exact processes that occurred at the beginning of the universe, along with how these processes have governed the formation and evolution of the universe. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/0L8bpkr via IFTTT

New research based on samples from asteroid Bennu show that the asteroid contains materials from throughout the Solar System. Some of its materials are from even more distant realms: the asteroid contains stardust from stars that existed long before our Solar System did. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/7bJUynz via IFTTT

What about the middle stages? The march from single-celled organisms doing their single-celled thing to intelligent creatures that can wield tools and leave feedback reviews about them? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/z6bwSGR via IFTTT

Stars with eight or more stellar masses are termed high-mass stars. There are questions around how these stars can become so massive, since as they form they lose mass through stellar winds and radiation. New research shows that elongated streams of gas that feed these stars explains their high masses. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/fJM3x56 via IFTTT

For the first time, astrophysicists have spotted a supernova right before it explodes. This is a rare glimpse inside a massive star before it meets its doom. The star was stripped down to its core, and the observations confirm theories that show stars have onion-like layers. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/CySLRzu via IFTTT

Now versions of the Great Filter argument had been around for decades (just like Fermi was not the first person to ask where everybody is), but the most comprehensive form of the argument comes from Robin Hanson in 1996. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/epgnj04 via IFTTT

Scientists thought they had Jupiter figured out until NASA's Juno spacecraft peered inside our Solar System’s largest planet and discovered something completely unexpected. Jupiter doesn't have the solid, well defined core that researchers had imagined, instead, Jupiter's core is mysteriously fuzzy and blurred, defying everything we thought we knew about how giant planets form. Now, powerful computer simulations are overturning the leading theory about how this strange structure came to be, suggesting that Jupiter's secrets run deeper than anyone realised. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/hntTGvm via IFTTT

When NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches in October 2026, it won't just be peering into the distant universe to study dark energy and exoplanets. This powerful observatory will also serve as Earth's newest guardian, helping scientists track and understand potentially dangerous asteroids and comets that could threaten our planet. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/WC9mXyx via IFTTT

The “Wow!” signal has been etched red marker in the memory of advocates for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) since its unveiling in 1977. To this day, it remains one of the most enigmatic radio frequency signals ever found. Now a new paper from a wide collection of authors, including some volunteers, provides some corrections, and some new insights, into both the signal and its potential causes. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/3LcAsSz via IFTTT

A Ph.D. student and his supervisor at Imperial College London have developed a simple way to test for active life on Mars and other planets using equipment already on the Mars Curiosity rover and planned for future use on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/m0KMq3l via IFTTT

You know, if you think about it, and trust me we’re about to, the Moon is kind of weird. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/0OsgRZl via IFTTT

How can thermoelectric generators (TEGs) help advance future lunar surface habitats? This is what a recent study published in Acta Astronautica hopes to address as a team of researchers from the Republic of Korea investigated a novel technique for improving power efficiency and reliability under the Moon’s harsh conditions. This study has the potential to help mission planners, engineers, and future astronauts develop technologies necessary for deep space human exploration to the Moon and beyond. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/xgG2v1W via IFTTT

New analysis of human deep space communications suggests the most likely places to detect signals from an extraterrestrial intelligence. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/D1VtRQU via IFTTT

How do you tell how old an astronomical object is? I mean, the next time the Moon is in the sky, take a look at it. How would you even begin to answer that question? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/p8ionzP via IFTTT

The 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for NASA, scheduled to lift off from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in late August, is heading to the International Space Station with an important investigation for the future of bone health. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/Ap5UfCK via IFTTT

A set of instruments shut off almost 50 years ago are still producing useful results. It’s the seismometers left by the Apollo missions to monitor moonquakes, which as the name suggests are earthquakes but on the Moon. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/QV3dKIj via IFTTT

Comets are like the archeological sites of the solar system. They formed early on, and their composition helps us understand what the area around the early Sun was like, potentially even before any planets were formed. A new paper from researchers at a variety of US and European institutions used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) to capture detailed spatial spectral images of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, which is very similar to the famous Halley’s comet, and might hold clues to where the water on the Earth came from. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/gxhZIUV via IFTTT

In 2022, astronomers announced the discovery of GJ 3929b. It's a rocky planet, similar to Earth in both mass and size. Astronomers have examined the planet with the JWST and concluded that it's a barren world with no atmosphere. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/fiwuIRs via IFTTT

A new theoretical study by University of Virginia astrophysicist Jonathan Tan, a research professor with the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Astronomy, proposes a comprehensive framework for the birth of supermassive black holes. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/bPvual7 via IFTTT

For thousands of years, humanity viewed the skies as unchanging, except for a few “wandering stars” (that we now know are planets). As we improved our ability to perceive the cosmos with light-gathering telescopes and electronic detectors, we realized that the universe is full of things that change in brightness, whether it be an exploding star or a matter-gulping black hole. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is poised to deliver an avalanche of such transients, including thousands of “standard candle” supernovae that allow us to measure the expansion history of the universe. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/xl1LWjw via IFTTT

The discovery of an extremely rare quadruple star system could significantly advance our understanding of brown dwarfs, astronomers say. Brown dwarfs in wide binary orbits offer a chance to determine their properties more clearly. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/DuQ08kN via IFTTT

Sometimes inspiration can strike from the most unexpected places. It can result in a cross-pollination between ideas commonly used in one field but applied to a completely different one. That might have been the case with a recent paper on lightsail design from researchers at the University of Nottingham that used techniques typically used in video games to develop a new and improved structure of a lightsail. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/g49UmXK via IFTTT

How do tidal forces determine a planet’s orbital evolution, specifically planets in the habitable zone? This is what a recently submitted study hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated how tidal forces far more powerful than experienced on Earth could influence orbital evolution of habitable zone planets with highly eccentric orbits around low-mass stars. This study has the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of exoplanets, specifically regarding where we could find life beyond Earth. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/RLqKv5J via IFTTT

Some scientists thought that the asteroids Ryugu and Bennu were from the same family. Now that they have samples and JWST spectra from both, the verdict is in: They're both from the Polana collisional family, a diverse and widespread family of asteroids. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/Gi6tKfI via IFTTT

Astronomers have discovered what may be a massive star exploding while trying to swallow a black hole companion, offering an explanation for one of the strangest stellar explosions ever seen. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/ZRk1TXL via IFTTT

The Three Body Problem isn’t just the name of a viral Netflix series or a Hugo Award winning sci-fi book. It also represents a really problem in astrodynamics - and one that can cause headaches to mission planners in terms of its complexity, but also one that offers the promise of an easier way to enter stable orbits that might otherwise be possible. A new paper from researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology shows one way those orbital maneuvers might be enhanced while exploring planetary systems - by using a gravity assist from its moons. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/vmj3Mde via IFTTT

Compact, reflective, easy to manufacture mirrors are a critical component for advancing astronomical technology in space. Mirrors are a key component in most telescopes, though they are notoriously hard to manufacture with the necessary precision, especially at large scales. A new paper from researchers in the UK uses additive manufacturing to make a thin, flexible, and lightweight mirror out of aluminum and analyzes its properties to see if it will be useful in applications such as CubeSats. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/3CslBvd via IFTTT

Exoplanets with and without a magnetic field are predicted to form, behave, and evolve very differently. In order to understand the exoplanet population, and to make progress understanding habitability, astronomers need to understand and constrain exoplanets' magnetic fields. Detecting them may best be done from the Moon. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/iqyrTgA via IFTTT

Physicists from the University of Copenhagen have begun using the gigantic magnetic fields of galaxy clusters to observe distant black holes in their search for an elusive particle that has stumped scientists for decades. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/tPwikyW via IFTTT

We already know a decent amount about how planets form, but moon formation is another process entirely, and one we’re not as familiar with. Scientists think they understand how the most important Moon in our solar system (our own) formed, but its violent birth is not the norm, and can’t explain larger moon systems like the Galilean moons around Jupiter. A new book chapter (which was also released as a pre-print paper) from Yuhito Shibaike and Yann Alibert from the University of Bern discusses the differing ideas surrounding the formation of large moon systems, especially the Galileans, and how we might someday be able to differentiate them. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/1oOLZe2 via IFTTT

The Universe's early galaxies were engulfed in halos of high-energy cosmic rays. It's likely because they had tangled and turbulent magnetic fields. These fields accelerate cosmic rays to higher energies. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/gKXxyw8 via IFTTT

China took a step closer to the Moon, with the first short test for their crewed lunar lander. The test was completed on Wednesday, August 6th at a facility in China’s northern Hebei Province, and lasted just under 30 seconds. The tethered test successfully demonstrated the integration and performance of key systems, simulating descent, guidance, control and engine shutdown. This marks the first test for a China’s Manned (crewed) Space Agency (CMSA’s) human-rated lander. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/a2fjNw8 via IFTTT

What if the universe began with a fireworks show? A new theory suggests that supermassive black holes, the mysterious giants found at the heart of galaxies, were born from the universe's very first stars in a spectacular flash of light that ionised all of space before vanishing forever. This dramatic "Pop III.1" model could finally explain how these giant stellar remnants grew so impossibly large so quickly after the Big Bang, while potentially solving several major puzzles plaguing modern astronomy, from the Hubble Tension to the nature of Cosmic Dawn itself. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/OMjzkut via IFTTT

Our Moon is a seismically active world and its long history of quakes could affect the safety of permanent base structures there. That's one conclusion from a study of quakes along the Lee-Lincoln fault in the Taurus-Littrow valley where the Apollo 17 astronauts landed in 1972. “The global distribution of young thrust faults like the Lee-Lincoln fault, their potential to be still active and the potential to form new thrust faults from ongoing contraction should be considered when planning the location and assessing stability of permanent outposts on the Moon,” said Smithsonian senior scientist emeritus Thomas R. Watters, lead author of the paper. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/cetYhyx via IFTTT

Supercomputer simulations are helping scientists sharpen their understanding of the environment beyond a black hole’s "shadow," material just outside its event horizon. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/aQbLxDs via IFTTT

The exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d intrigues astronomers looking for possibly habitable worlds beyond our Solar System because it is similar in size to Earth, rocky, and resides in an area around its star where liquid water on its surface is theoretically possible. But according to a new study using data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, it does not have an Earth-like atmosphere. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/vEkT9Bz via IFTTT

Mars still holds the promise of being one of the first places in the solar system humanity will colonize. However, if there was evolutionarily distinct, extant life on the planet, it might sway the heart of even the most ardent Mars colonization fans. So astrobiologists are in a race against time to try to determine whether or not such life exists, before the entire planet becomes an analogue of the Earth’s biosphere, if only unintentionally, and only a shadow of the ones that exists here. A new paper from the Christopher Temby and Jan Spacek of the Agnostic Life Finder (ALF) team discusses one of the most promising ways to prove definitively that life exists on the Red Planet - finding polyelectrolyte polymers - in other words, DNA. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/OFL16Bk via IFTTT

When black holes are disrupted by things like infalling matter or gravitational waves, they vibrate like a bell struck with a clapper. The vibrations decay over time as the black hole returns to an equilibrium state. Astrophysicists can measure these vibrations to learn more about the black hole. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/ArX6mf1 via IFTTT

New research shows how the 'dancing' behaviour of dwarf satellite galaxies can predict mergers between their hosts. A distant pair of galaxies is undergoing the same type of merger that Milky Way/Andromeda will undergo. Can the behaviour of their dwarf satellites tell astronomers what will happen when the MW and Andromeda merge? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/ADvQJf3 via IFTTT