Astronomy Archives

June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by Evan Gough

A 2nd Planet has been Confirmed for Proxima Centauri

An artist's illustration of the Proxima Centauri system. Proxima b is on the left, while Proxima C is on the right. Image Credit: Lorenzo Santinelli

Our closest stellar neighbour is Proxima Centauri, a small red dwarf star about 4.2 light years away from us. It’s the third member of the Alpha Centauri group, and even though it’s so close, it can’t be seen with the naked eye. In 2016 astronomers discovered a planet orbiting Proxima Centuari, named Proxima Centauri b. That planet was confirmed only a few days ago.

Now, astronomers have confirmed the existence of a second planet, Proxima Centauri c.

June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by Evan Gough

This is a Binary Star in the Process of Formation

Zoom into the Ophiuchus molecular cloud, highlighting the star forming system IRAS 16293-2422 with the proto-star B in the upper right corner and the now clearly identified binary proto-stars A1 and A2 on the bottom left. The binary system is shown also in a further zoom-in panel. Image: © MPE; background: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2; Davide De Martin)

About 460 light years away lies the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. It’s a molecular cloud—an active star-forming region—and it’s one of the closest ones. R. Ophiuchi is a dark nebula, a region so thick with dust that the visible light from stars is almost completely obscured.

But scientists working with ALMA have pin-pointed a pair of young proto-stars inside all that dust, doing the busy work of becoming active stars.

June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by Evan Gough

Early Life Was Pumping Out Oxygen, But the Earth’s Mantle Was Absorbing it

The Earth straddling the limb of the Moon, as seen from above Compton crater on the lunar farside, taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.

About 2.4 billion years ago, everything changed for Earth. That was the time of the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), when photosynthetic bacteria flooded the atmosphere with oxygen, banishing early, non-oxygen using lifeforms to the fringes of the Earth. The GOE laid the groundwork for the Earth we see today, dominated by complex, oxygen-breathing lifeforms.

But there’s one detail about the timing of the GOE that has scientists stumped. Photosynthetic bacteria were pumping out oxygen long before the actual GOE; hundreds of millions of years before, in fact.

Where did all the oxygen go?

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Evan Gough

Titan is Drifting Away from Saturn Surprisingly Quickly

Titan in front of Saturn. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Where did Saturn’s bizarro-moon Titan form? Did it form where it is now, or has it migrated? We have decades of data to look back on, so scientists should have some idea.

A new study based on all that data says that Titan is drifting away from Saturn more quickly than thought, and that has implications for where the moon initially formed.

June 9, 2020June 9, 2020 by Evan Gough

Hubble Photo of Globular Cluster NGC 6441, One of the Most Massive in the Milky Way

NGC 6441 is one of the most luminous and massive globular clusters in the Milky Way. It also hosts fours pulsars. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto

The Hubble Space Telescope has delivered another outstanding image. This one is of NGC 6441, a massive globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius. It’s one of the most massive ones in the Milky Way, and the stars in it have a combined mass of 1.6 million solar masses.

June 9, 2020June 9, 2020 by Evan Gough

Astronomers Have Found the Star/Exoplanet Combo That’s the Best Twin to the Sun/Earth

An artist's illustration of TOI 700d, an Earth-size exoplanet that TESS found in its star's habitable zone. Image Credit: NASA

At times, it seems like there’s an indundation of announcements featuring discoveries of “Earth-like” planets. And while those announcements are exciting, and scientifically noteworthy, there’s always a little question picking away at them: exactly how Earth-like are they, really?

After all, Earth is defined by its relationship with the Sun.

June 8, 2020June 9, 2020 by Matt Williams

At the Heart of the Milky Way, Stars Come Close to Each Other All the Time

The core of the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S. Stolovy (SSC/Caltech)

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At the center of our galaxy resides the Galactic Bulge, a densely-packed region of stars, dust, and gas. Within this massive structure, which spans thousands of light-years, there are an estimated 10 billion stars, most of which are old red giant stars. Because of this density, astronomers have often wondered if a galactic bulge is a likely place to find stars with habitable planets orbiting them.

Essentially, stars that are closely packed together are more likely to experience close encounters with other stars, which can be catastrophic for any planets that orbit them. According to a new study from Columbia University’s Cool Worlds Lab, most stars in the Bulge will experience dozens of close encounters over the course of a billion years, which could have significant implications for long-term habitability in this region.

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June 8, 2020June 8, 2020 by Evan Gough

Gamma Rays Detected Coming From the Crab Nebula

Crab Nebula (Credit:NASA, ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University). Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble))

Most people with any interest in astronomy know about the Crab Nebula. It’s a supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus, and its image is all over the place. Google “Hubble images” and it’s right there with other crowd favorites, like the Pillars of Creation.

The Crab Nebula is one of the most-studied objects in astronomy. It’s the brightest source of gamma rays in the sky, and that fact is being used to establish the function of a new telescope called the Schwarschild-Couder Telescope.

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020 by Paul M. Sutter

There are powerful magnetic fields at the core of the Milky Way, driven by the supermassive black hole

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured this stunning infrared image of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, where the black hole Sagitarrius A resides. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The center of the Milky Way is home to a giant black hole, but new research suggests that it isn’t the only big player in the downtown core of our galaxy – massive magnetic fields also shape and drive the flows of gas there.

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020 by Evan Gough

Much of the Lithium Here on Earth Came from Exploding White Dwarf Stars

A classical novae contains a white dwarf, and a larger companion star in orbit around it. The white dwarf attracts gas from its companion, leading to a massive explosion. Illustration Credit: David Hardy

The Big Bang produced the Universe’s hydrogen, helium, and a little lithium. Since then, it’s been up to stars (for the most part) to forge the rest of the elements, including the matter that you and I are made of. Stars are the nuclear forges responsible for creating most of the elements. But when it comes to lithium, there’s some uncertainty.

A new study shows where much of the lithium in our Solar System and our galaxy comes from: a type of stellar explosion called classical novae.