Carolyn Collins Petersen, Author at Universe Today

May 28, 2024May 28, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

The Sun’s Magnetic Field Might Only Be Skin Deep

A new study suggests sunspots and solar flares could be generated my a magnetic field within the Sun's outermost layers. This shows the Sun's magnetic fields overlaying an image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSAL

It’s coming back! Sunspot AR3664 gave us an amazing display of northern lights in mid-May and it’s now rotating back into view. That means another great display if this sunspot continues to flare out. It’s all part of solar maximum—the peak of an 11-year cycle of solar active and quiet times. This cycle is the result of something inside the Sun—the solar dynamo. A team of scientists suggests that this big generator lies not far beneath the solar surface. It creates a magnetic field and spurs flares and sunspots.

May 27, 2024May 27, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Mars InSight Has One Last Job: Getting Swallowed by Dust on the Red Planet

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE imager captured this view of dust-covered InSight lander on Mars. Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Normally you don’t want dust to get into your spacecraft. That was certainly true for the InSight mission to Mars, until it died. Now, however, it’s acting as a dust collector, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) scientists couldn’t be happier.

May 26, 2024May 26, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

A Weather Satellite Watched a Space Rock Burn Up Above Spain and Portugal

A map of the track of the vaporizing space rock that lit up skies over Portugal and Spain on May 18, 2024. The track was created from position measurements of the fireball flashes as seen by ESA's MeteoSat weather satellite. Courtesy ESA.

It’s been a momentous May for skywatchers around the world. First the big auroral event of May 10-11, next a flaming space rock entering over Spain and Portugal. The inbound object was captured by ground-based cameras and the MeteoSat Third Generation Imager in geostationary orbit.

May 23, 2024May 23, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

The Largest Camera Ever Built Arrives at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The 3200-megapixel LSST Camera arrived at Vera C. Rubin Observatory on May 15th and is being readied for installation. Courtesy NOIRLab. — The 3200-megapixel LSST Camera arrived at Vera C. Rubin Observatory on May 16th and is being readied for installation. Courtesy NOIRLab.

It’s been 20 years in the making, but a 3200-megapixel camera built especially for astrophysics discoveries has finally arrived at its home. The Legacy of Space and Time (LSST) camera was delivered to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile in mid-May, 2024.

May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Webb Sees Black Holes Merging Near the Beginning of Time

The field in which the ZS7 galaxy merger was observed by JWST. Courtesy ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, J. Dunlop, D. Magee, P. G. Pérez-González, H. Übler, R. Maiolino, et. al

A long time ago, in two galaxies far, far away, two massive black holes merged. This happened when the Universe was only 740 million years old. A team of astronomers used JWST to study this event, the most distant (and earliest) detection of a black hole merger ever.

May 10, 2024May 10, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Why Hot Jupiters Spiral into Their Stars

Illustration showing one of the darkest known exoplanets - a hot Jupiter as black as fresh asphalt - orbiting a star like our Sun. The day side of the planet, called WASP-12b, eats light rather than reflects it into space. Something is pulling this planet into its star. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

Exoplanets are a fascinating astronomy topic, especially the so-called “Hot Jupiters”. They’re overheated massive worlds often found orbiting very close to their stars—hence the name. Extreme gravitational interactions can tug them right into their stars over millions of years. However, some hot Jupiters appear to be spiraling in faster than gravity can explain.

May 2, 2024May 2, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

The Highest Observatory in the World Comes Online

The high-altitude Tokyo Atacama Observatory in Chile just opened its eye on the mid-infrared Universe. ©2024 TAO project CC-BY-ND

The history of astronomy and observatories is full of stories about astronomers going higher and higher to get better views of the Universe. On Earth, the best locations are at places such as the Atacama Desert in Chile. So, that’s where the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory just opened its high-altitude eye on the sky, atop Cerro Chajnantor.

April 30, 2024April 30, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Earth Had a Magnetosphere 3.7 Billion Years Ago

The magnetic field and electric currents in and around Earth generate complex forces that have immeasurable impact on every day life. The field can be thought of as a huge bubble -- called the magnetosphere --, protecting us from cosmic radiation and charged particles that bombard Earth in solar winds. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab — The magnetic field and electric currents in and around Earth generate complex forces that have immeasurable impact on every day life. The field can be thought of as a huge bubble -- called the magnetosphere -- protecting us from cosmic radiation and charged particles that bombard Earth in solar winds. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

We go about our daily lives sheltered under an invisible magnetic field generated deep inside Earth. It forms the magnetosphere, a region dominated by the magnetic field. Without that planetary protection shield, we’d experience harmful cosmic radiation and charged particles from the Sun.

April 26, 2024May 22, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

Neutron Stars Could be Capturing Primordial Black Holes

This magnetar is a highly magnetized neutron star. This artist's illustration shows an outburst from a magnetar. Neutron stars that spin rapidly and give out radiation are called pulsars, and specific pulsars are rare in the core of the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/JPL-CalTech

The Milky Way has a missing pulsar problem in its core. Astronomers have tried to explain this for years. One of the more interesting ideas comes from a team of astronomers in Europe and invokes dark matter, neutron stars, and primordial black holes (PBHs).

April 22, 2024April 22, 2024 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

NASA Restores Communications with Voyager 1

An artist's concept of Voyager 1 in interstellar space. Courtesy: NASA.

The venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft is finally phoning home again. This is much to the relief of mission engineers, scientists, and Voyager fans around the world.