Evan Gough, Author at Universe Today

September 17, 2024September 17, 2024 by Evan Gough

There are Plenty of Uses for Powerful Lasers in Space. But Where Should We Put Them?

Recently, Astronomers spotted three near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) hiding in the glare of the Sun. These NEAs are part of an elusive population that lurks inside the orbits of Earth and Venus. One of the asteroids is the largest object that is potentially hazardous to Earth to be discovered in the last eight years. Could we use space lasers to protect Earth from these hazards? Image Credit: DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine

Is it time for space lasers yet? Almost.

As time passes, ideas that were once confined to the realm of science fiction become more realistic. It’s true of things like using robots to explore other worlds. Space lasers are a well-used element in science fiction, and we’re approaching the time when they could become a reality.

Where would we put them, and what could we use them for?

September 16, 2024September 16, 2024 by Evan Gough

A Black Hole has Almost Halted Star Formation in its Galaxy

This is a quiescent galaxy in the early Universe named GS-10578 but nicknamed ‘Pablo’s Galaxy’. It has an SMBH in its center, and astronomers have used the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope to confirm that supermassive black holes can starve their host galaxies of the fuel they need to form new stars. Image Credit: JADES Collaboration

When the James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day in 2021, it faced a whole host of intriguing questions. By the time it finally launched, astronomers had a big list of targets begging for the type of detailed observations that only the powerful infrared space telescope could perform. One of the targets was an ancient, massive galaxy that’s basically dead and forms no new stars.

The results are in, and an international team of astronomers know what happened to the quiescent galaxy.

September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 by Evan Gough

A Gravity Map of Mars Uncovers Subsurface Mysteries

In this new gravity map of Mars, the red circles show prominent volcanoes and the black circles show impact craters with a diameter larger than a few 100 km. A gravity high signal is located in the volcanic Tharsis Region (the red area in the center right of the image), which is surrounded by a ring of negative gravity anomaly (shown in blue). Credit: Root et al.

A team of scientists presented a new gravity map of Mars at the Europlanet Science Congress 2024. The map shows the presence of dense, large-scale structures under Mars’ long-gone ocean and that mantle processes are affecting Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System.

September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 by Evan Gough

The Outer Reaches of the Milky Way are Full of Stars, and the JWST is Observing Them

This JWST image shows a region of rapid star formation in the Extreme Outer Galaxy. It's part of what's called Digel Cloud 2, one of two clouds that each hold multiple regions of rapid star formation. This area is called Digel Cloud 2S and contains a luminous main cluster full of bright young stars. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Ressler (NASA-JPL)

The Milky Way’s outer reaches are coming into view thanks to the JWST. Astronomers pointed the powerful space telescope to a region over 58,000 light-years away called the Extreme Outer Galaxy (EOG). They found star clusters exhibiting extremely high rates of star formation.

September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 by Evan Gough

How the ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Rover Will Drill for Samples on Mars

This screenshot from an animation shows the Rosalind Franklin rover's drill about to pierce the Martian surface. The rover can drill two meters deep and collect samples. Image Credit: ESA

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has delayed its launch, but the ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover is heading toward completion. It was originally scheduled to launch in 2018, but technical delays prevented it. Now, after dropping Russia from the project because of their invasion, the ESA says it won’t launch before 2028.

But when it does launch and then land on Mars, it will do something no other rover has done: drill down two meters into Mars and collect samples.

September 12, 2024September 12, 2024 by Evan Gough

Groundbreaking New Maps of the Sun’s Coronal Magnetic Fields

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has mapped the magnetic field of the Sun's corona for the first time. The corona is the source of most space weather, and this map will help scientists better understand the corona, space weather and other stars. Image Credit: Schad et al. 2024.

If you enjoyed this summer’s display of aurora borealis, thank the Sun’s corona. The corona is the Sun’s outer layer and is the source of most space weather, including aurorae. The aurora borealis are benign light shows, but not all space weather produces such harmless displays; some of it is dangerous and destructive.

In an effort to understand space weather and the solar corona, the National Science Foundation aimed the world’s most powerful solar telescope, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, at the corona to map its magnetic fields.

September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 by Evan Gough

Juno Sees a Brand New Volcano on Io

These are JunoCam images of Jupiter's moon Io from its 3 February 2024 encounter. The first two images show Io illuminated by Jupiter-shine, and the rest are lit up by sunlight. The new volcano was captured in the second image in the sequence. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS.

Jupiter’s moon, Io, is the most volcanic body in the Solar System. NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been getting closer and closer to Io in the last couple of years, giving us our first close-up images of the moon in 25 years.

Recent JunoCam images show a new volcano that appeared sometime after the Galileo spacecraft visited the region.

September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 by Evan Gough

A Swarm of Robots to Explore Mars’ Valles Marineris

This image of Mars' Valles Marineris, the 'Grand Canyon of Mars' is a mosaic of 102 Viking Orbiter images. The Tharsis volcanoes are visible to the west. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars is known for its unique geological features. Olympus Mons is a massive shield volcano 2.5 times taller than Mt. Everest. Hellas Planitia is the largest visible impact crater in the Solar System. However, Mars’ most striking feature is Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System.

This fascinating geological feature begs to be explored, and a team of German researchers think that a swarm of robots is best suited to the task.

September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 by Evan Gough

The Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole Might Have Formed 9 Billion Years Ago

This is the first image of Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. A reanalysis of EHT data by NAOJ scientist suggests its accretion disk may be more elongated than shown in this image. Image Credit: EHT

Large galaxies like ours are hosts to Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs.) They can be so massive that they resist comprehension, with some of them having billions of times more mass than the Sun. Ours, named Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), is a little more modest at about four million solar masses.

Astrophysicists have studied Sgr A* to learn more about it, including its age. They say it formed about nine billion years ago.

September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 by Evan Gough

A Stellar Flyby Jumbled Up the Outer Solar System

This is a screenshot from a supercomputer simulation. It shows how an ancient stellar flyby shaped the Solar System. Among other things, the flyby can explain the Solar System's population of irregular moons. Image Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich

An ancient passerby may have visited the Sun and inadvertently helped shape the Solar System into what it is today. It happened billions of years ago when a stellar drifter came to within 110 astronomical units (AU) of our Sun. The effects were long-lasting and we can see evidence of the visitor’s fleeting encounter throughout the Solar System.