Fraser Cain

https://m.universetoday.com/@fraser

I'm the publisher of Universe Today and co-host of Astronomy Cast

Website: https://www.universetoday.com/author/admin/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/universetoday

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Last Notes

2024-11-13 19:46:04

Astronomers are continuing to find ultra-massive galaxies in the early history of the Universe. The three galaxies have a similar mass to the Milky Way, despite being within the first billion years after the Big Bang. These galaxies are forming stars nearly twice as efficiently as lower-mass galaxies or galaxies later on in the Universe. Although they're still within standard theories of cosmology, they demonstrate how much needs to be learned about the early Universe.
https://www.unige.ch/medias/en/2024/trois-monstres-rouges-galactiques-dans-lunivers-primitif
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/477/364/256/845/216/original/83287aefd3305ed3.jpg

2024-11-08 18:22:05

JWST's primary mirror consists of 18 individual segments, each of which can be moved on 6 different axes of freedom. This allows the telescope to maintain perfect focus, despite changing temperatures and micrometeorite strikes on its optics. The objective was 150 nanometers of wavefront error, but the current error is down to just 65 nanometers. In early October, engineers measured the telescope's jitter and refocused it again, bringing it to its perfect alignment.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2024/11/08/monitoring-webbs-mirrors-for-optimal-optics/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/448/722/449/892/548/original/cd2085da1e1dde59.webp

2024-10-31 19:58:04

Another week, another reminder that the twin Voyager spacecraft is getting old. Earlier this week, NASA explained that Voyager 1 had turned off one of its radio transmitters. This forced the agency to turn on Voyager's low-power radio to maintain communications with the spacecraft. The glitch happened when NASA instructed it to turn on a heater. Instead of acknowledging the command, it triggered the fault protection system, switching its communications mode.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/voyager/2024/10/28/after-pause-nasas-voyager-1-communicating-with-mission-team/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/403/801/364/176/211/original/afd955900dfb6cde.jpg

2024-10-30 15:59:04

Astronomers have analyzed a fascinating super-Earth planet orbiting a red dwarf star using JWST. Designated GJ 9827 d, the planet is twice the size of Earth and has an atmosphere made almost entirely of water vapor. This is not a habitable exoplanet, more like a steam world, but it's the first time anything like this has been observed. Most planetary atmospheres contain lighter elements, like hydrogen and helium, so seeing water vapor is an exciting development.
https://news.umich.edu/jwst-finds-first-exotic-steam-world-shrouded-in-water-vapor/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/397/199/322/837/042/original/f23862b011a7969b.jpg

2024-10-30 15:25:08

When ESA's Mars Express mission launched to Mars, it was carrying an instrument called the Visual Monitoring Camera. It was essentially a webcam with a 40x30-degree field of view, designed to monitor the separation of the Beagle 2 lander when the spacecraft arrived at Mars. Years later, it was turned on again, providing full-disk images of Mars. In 2018, scientists were regularly using it to track Martian weather, turning it into a productive scientific instrument.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.02999
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/397/065/810/802/692/original/f4f16f74e2997df6.jpg

2024-10-28 22:46:04

Last year, an intriguing theory was put forward: black holes could be causing dark energy. As more black holes formed in the Universe, the stronger the pressure from dark energy. Now, a survey from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is strengthening the case for this theory. The first year's data from the survey show that the density of dark energy increases over time in a way that seems to correlate with the number and mass of black holes.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1062904
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/387/475/052/084/597/original/2a4ecfcb6dfaed63.jpeg

2024-10-25 16:38:05

In 2022, astronomers released an image of the event horizon for the Milky Way's supermassive black hole Sgr A*. New observations of the region taken by a Japanese observatory suggest that the image might not have been fully accurate. According to their data, Sgr A* has an elongated accretion disk and not the ring-like donut image taken in 2022. The eastern half looks brighter than the western half, indicating that the black hole is spinning at 60% of the speed of light.
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/first-picture-milky-way-black-hole-may-not-be-accurate
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/369/041/148/990/866/original/bf3e30a35dc50f49.png

2024-10-23 20:03:05

NASA has identified 13 regions near the south pole of the Moon where the Artemis III mission could land. The final landing spot is still being decided, based on illumination, visibility, communication with Earth, and more. Researchers have identified 1,247 potential landing sites in the zones and rated each one based on NASA criteria. They believe they've found the perfect spot, which meets NASA's requirements and can maximize the science return.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.19863
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/358/522/630/118/864/original/bf75b4c86753be92.jpg

2024-10-23 18:50:05

There are a few telescopes under development that could reveal evidence of life on exoplanets. One is the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets, under consideration by the European Space Agency. This constellation of telescopes should be able to detect atmospheric biosignatures on nearby terrestrial planets. Recently, mission planners developed a preliminary database of targets that LIFE could point to, with the best chances of finding inhabited worlds.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad887e
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/358/235/582/451/724/original/1f3d1a64c2cca3f8.jpg

2024-10-22 18:00:04

Astronomers have detected ultra-high-energy gamma rays coming from the center of the Milky Way, with nearly 100 events of more than 100 teraelectron volts of energy. Researchers aren't sure what's generating so many of these extreme events, but it's where the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, which is surrounded by neutron stars and white dwarfs that strip material from nearby stars, is located. And all of this is surrounded by dense gas reaching millions of degrees.
https://discover.lanl.gov/news/1022-hawc-gamma-rays
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/352/376/584/894/621/original/c7b667322a30f1e7.jpg

2024-10-22 16:51:10

ESA's upcoming LISA gravitational wave mission will consist of three spacecraft flying in a perfect triangle 2.5 million km apart. They will fire lasers at each other, maintaining a perfect distance, which will be distorted as gravitational waves wash past them from merging supermassive black holes. NASA is building the telescopes that send and receive infrared beams from spacecraft to spacecraft, and this week they completed a full-scale engineering prototype.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/lisa/nasa-reveals-prototype-telescope-for-gravitational-wave-observatory/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/352/105/621/725/730/original/c74fea70918d1a06.webp

2024-09-25 18:46:05

The European Space Agency has opened a new mock-up of the Moon in Cologne, Germany. This simulated lunar surface measures 700 square meters (about a sixth of an acre) and contains 900 tonnes of simulated lunar regolith, as well as boulders, craters, and other lunar hazards. Cables can be attached overhead to artificially reduce the weight that astronauts and vehicles experience to match 1/6th lunar gravity. This will provide a test bed to learn about lunar exploration.
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/199/675/163/499/225/original/0ad4cd644dbf2958.jpg

2024-09-20 16:24:06

The Earth is located inside a 1,000 light-year void called the Local Bubble, which was created by a series of supernovae over the eons. Deposits of iron-60 in deep-sea crust samples tell us that one happened about 5 million years ago, and then another went off 2 million years ago. In a new study, researchers calculate that cosmic radiation levels increased by up to a factor of 30 for about 100,000 years after the explosion, increasing mutation rates in organisms.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.12307
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/170/805/341/584/049/original/ce950bf1dbeed459.webp

2024-09-19 20:48:05

Astronomers have found a supermassive black hole with twin jets blasting out 23 million light-years in length, the greatest distance ever seen. To put this distance in context, imagine lining up 140 Milky Way galaxies side by side. The galaxy, nicknamed Porphyrion, is seen at a time when the Universe was 6.3 billion years old, half our current age. These jets put out the equivalent energy of a trillion suns, traveling in opposite directions from the central black hole.
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/gargantuan-black-hole-jets-are-biggest-seen-yet
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/166/181/019/951/492/original/90705f0867cd6e48.jpg

2024-09-18 17:48:29

On September 16, 2024, the near-Earth asteroid 2024 ON came within 1 million kilometers of Earth (2.6 times the Earth-Moon distance). The radar system on the Goldstone Solar System Radar Group was directed onto the object, revealing that it is a peanut-shaped contact binary measuring about 350 meters long. The radar could resolve features down to about 3.75 meters across on the surface, including brighter boulders. About 14% of asteroids like this are contact binaries.
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26451
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/159/812/086/241/316/original/65d41240d53ed6aa.jpeg

2024-09-18 17:15:08

Long thought to be bone dry, scientists are finding more and more water on the Moon, and not just at the poles, but mixed in with the regolith at all latitudes, even near the equator. Researchers have developed new maps that show the distribution of water and hydroxyl across the lunar surface. They used data from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which measured reflected infrared light bouncing off the lunar surface, revealing areas with higher water concentrations.
https://www.psi.edu/blog/sources-of-water-and-hydroxyl-are-widespread-on-the-moon/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/159/681/317/445/922/original/e238bdd594fb8323.jpg

2024-09-18 16:46:03

As black holes spin, they drag space-time along with them, and scientists have proposed that this could be a source of energy for an advanced civilization, harvesting momentum from material ejected from this twisting spacetime. The concept has been generalized, and it's theoretically possible to extract energy from anything spinning. Now, researchers have mimicked the process in the lab, beaming electromagnetic waves at a spinning object and extracting energy.
https://theconversation.com/could-rotating-black-holes-be-the-wind-turbines-powering-the-distant-future-we-tested-the-physics-238903
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/159/567/017/323/479/original/e83b8fa9c255a278.jpg

2024-09-17 16:45:06

There are several 3D printers on board the International Space Station, which have been used to print a variety of plastic parts and tools. Now, the newly installed ESA Metal 3D Printer has fashioned a part out of medical-grade stainless steel using lasers. The printer will ultimately complete four different parts with varying shapes to test how microgravity printing compares to Earth-based prints. They'll be returned to Earth for testing.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/09/First_metal_part_3D_printed_in_space
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/153/900/901/895/870/original/58d156fa5bd607bc.jpg

2024-09-17 16:35:06

Mars has two small moons: Phobos and Deimos. But did it have a larger third moon in the past? In a new paper, a researcher proposes that a massive moon could help explain an outstanding puzzle about the shape of Mars. The planet has a "triaxial" shape, which means it doesn't just share the oblate spheroid shape of Earth and other rotating planets; it bulges out in a third axis. A massive moon could have distorted Mars into this shape, and then the moon was lost.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.14725
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/153/861/620/498/472/original/8a841f33d6d21057.jpeg

2024-09-17 15:46:06

60% of the world's population has already lost access to the night sky thanks to light pollution, and it's more like 80% for Europe and the US. Researchers are working to track the growth of light pollution and have developed an inexpensive sensor made from "off-the-shelf" parts. People around the world can install these sensors and share their data, tracking the increase of light pollution from year to year. If you've got technical skills, this could be a fun project.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.10298
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/153/668/991/935/267/original/89df0e28d1bab552.webp

2024-09-11 18:51:04

The solar corona is heated to millions of degrees, vastly hotter than the surface of the Sun. Astronomers suspect the magnetic fields that pierce the surface somehow trap energy and drive the increasing temperatures. Astronomers have observed the magnetic fields on the surface of the Sun for decades, and now, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Maui has mapped out the coronal magnetic fields for the corona in unprecedented detail.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1057450
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/120/422/445/465/075/original/18a95178e0da3bf4.jpeg

2024-09-05 20:54:04

Now that the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System has deployed its booms and sail, the spacecraft is receiving light pressure from the Sun. Now NASA is testing out how it handles. The spacecraft was slowly tumbling before it deployed its booms, and now controllers will see how well they can get its motions under control under sail power. You can spot the mission with your eyes if you know when and where to look. NASA's app can give you alerts.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/smallsatellites/2024/09/05/nasa-evaluates-deployed-advanced-composite-solar-sail-system/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/086/932/211/365/146/original/cd42791487a28b3e.webp

2024-09-02 18:48:06

Black holes absorb everything that falls into them, even radiation. And yet, astronomers have detected X-ray radiation coming from black holes, and this has been an unsolved mystery since the 1970s. Researchers have built a detailed simulation of the environment around a black hole, modeling the interactions between radiation, plasma, and magnetic fields. They found that the turbulence of the magnetic fields heats the local plasma and makes it radiate in X-rays.
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/space/explanation-found-x-ray-radiation-black-holes
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/069/449/979/040/772/original/ac4fe816f3efb27a.webp

2024-09-02 18:11:03

The Hubble Space Telescope is in low-Earth orbit and has been repaired multiple times. But spacecraft sent to the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange Point are beyond the reach of service, whether by robots or astronauts. A new paper proposes trajectories that servicing spacecraft could fly to rendezvous with L2 missions to bring them fresh parts and more propellant to extend their missions indefinitely. They specifically proposed flights to repair Gaia and JWST.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576524004715?dgcid=rss_sd_all
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/069/304/238/151/122/original/aedf7b82728a7bfb.jpg

2024-08-29 21:14:04

Gravitational wave observatories like LIGO/Virgo and KAGRA have detected the cataclysmic merger of black holes and neutron stars. But it's believed that the current crop of observatories should be able to detect another dramatic event in the cosmos: the collapse of massive, rapidly spinning stars, becoming black holes. Researchers simulated collapsing stars and predicted that any within 50 million light-years should be detectable by LIGO.
https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2024/08/22/new-detectable-gravitational-wave-source-from-collapsing-stars-predicted-from-simulations/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/113/047/374/701/601/800/original/b65c59b60ee10464.jpeg

2024-08-19 19:59:07

We've learned a tremendous amount about Mars because samples from the Red Planet have already been delivered to Earth: meteorites. Scientists have studied the composition of Martian meteorites and tracked down the specific craters on Mars where many of them came from. It's believed that Mars has been struck hard enough to produce meteorites about ten times in recent history. Some of these craters have yet to be matched with meteorites, but the rocks could be out there.
https://news.westernu.ca/2024/08/mars-meteorite-origin/
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/112/990/456/840/806/704/original/e36777ea6db20565.jpg

2024-08-12 21:21:05

NASA has committed to returning humans to the Moon within a few years. This time, they aim to establish a permanent presence. A new heavy-lift rocket and a commitment to lunar exploration create an opportunity: building a mind-bogglingly powerful telescope on the Moon. A recent NIAC grant proposes constructing a multi-telescope interferometer on the lunar surface, spanning 500 meters. This would provide 100 times the resolution of Hubble or JWST.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.04699
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/112/951/142/992/910/288/original/e601cf56f4df333e.jpg

2024-07-31 18:15:05

In 2017, astronomers detected the first confirmed interstellar object in the Solar System: 'Oumuamua. Could life spread between stars in the Milky Way? In a new paper, researchers calculated that over 190,000 interstellar objects large enough to harbor life could have collided with the early Earth before life appeared. While panspermia might be unlikely for Earth specifically, the model suggests that 100,000 worlds could have life seeded by interstellar objects.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02390
https://m.universetoday.com/system/media_attachments/files/112/882/463/879/034/897/original/ed59ca6a31931553.webp