Universe Today

October 21, 2023October 21, 2023 by Brian Koberlein

In 1952, A Group of Three “Stars” Vanished. Astronomers Still Can’t Find Them

The vanishing of three stars. Credit: Palomar Observatory/Solano, et al

On July 19, 1952, Palomar Observatory was undertaking a photographic survey of the night sky. Part of the project was to take multiple images of the same region of sky, to help identify things such as asteroids. At around 8:52 that evening a photographic plate captured the light of three stars clustered together. At a magnitude of 15, they were reasonably bright in the image. At 9:45 pm the same region of sky was captured again, but this time the three stars were nowhere to be seen. In less than an hour they had completely vanished.

October 20, 2023October 21, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

A New Weather Feature was Hiding in JWST’s Picture of Jupiter

Image of Jupiter taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) in July 2022 displays striking features of the largest planet in the solar system in infrared light, with brightness indicating high altitudes. One of these features is a jet stream within the large bright band just above Jupiter’s equator, which was the focus of this study. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, R. Hueso (University of the Basque Country), I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley), T. Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), L. Fletcher (University of Leicester), M. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), J. DePasquale (STScI))

In July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) used its NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) to capture stunning infrared images of the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter. Within these striking images, scientists recently discovered a jet stream in the northern latitudes just over Jupiter’s equator and 20-35 kilometers (12-21 miles) above Jupiter’s cloud tops. This jet stream stretches approximately 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) with speeds of 515 kilometers per hour (320 miles per hour), more than double the speed of a Category 5 hurricane on Earth.

October 20, 2023October 20, 2023 by Evan Gough

Do Red Dwarfs or Sunlike Stars Have More Earth-Sized Worlds?

This artist's concept illustrates a red dwarf star surrounded by exoplanets. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Earth is our only example of a habitable planet, so it makes sense to search for Earth-size worlds when we’re hunting for potentially-habitable exoplanets. When astronomers found seven of them orbiting a red dwarf star in the TRAPPIST-1 system, people wondered if Earth-size planets are more common around red dwarfs than Sun-like stars.

But are they? Maybe not.

October 20, 2023October 20, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Astronomers Release a Cosmic Atlas of 380,000 Galaxies in our Neighborhood

Optical mosaics of 42 galaxies from the SGA-2020 sorted by increasing angular diameter from the top-left to the bottom-right. This figure illustrates the tremendous range of types, sizes, colors and surface brightness profiles, internal structure, and environments of the galaxies in the SGA. Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/J. Moustakas.

The Milky Way is just one galaxy in a vast cosmic web that makes up the Universe’s large-scale structure. While ESA’s Gaia spacecraft is building a map of our stellar neighborhood, a team of astronomers with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Survey have released a comprehensive galactic map that includes all the data from three wide-ranging surveys completed between 2014 and 2017. Called the Siena Galaxy Atlas (SGA), it contains the distance, location, and chemical profile of 380,000 galaxies across half of the night sky.

“Previous galaxy compilations have been plagued by incorrect positions, sizes and shapes of galaxies, and also contained entries which were not galaxies but stars or artifacts,” explained Arjun Dey, an astronomer with NOIRLab, who was involved in the project. “The SGA cleans all this up for a large part of the sky. It also provides the best brightness measurements for galaxies, something we have not reliably had before for a sample of this size.”

October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by Evan Gough

Juno Completes its Closest Flyby of Io Yet

Not since the Galileo mission ended 20 years ago have we seen such great images of Io. NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this image with its JunoCam instrument on October 15th from less than 12,000 km altitude. Ted Stryk processed the image. Image Credit: Ted Stryk/NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/

Jupiter’s ocean moons capture most of our attention because of their potential habitability. But Io, Jupiter’s bad-boy volcanic moon, is in a class of its own. There’s nothing else like it in the Solar System, and NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured new images of the volcanic satellite during its closest approach yet.

October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by Matt Williams

Thinking About Time Travel Helps Solve Problems in Physics

Physicists have shown that simulating models of hypothetical time travel can solve experimental problems that appear impossible to solve using standard physics. Credit: Yaroslav Kushta via Getty Images

Time travel. We’ve all thought about it at one time or another, and the subject has been explored extensively in science fiction. Once in a while, it is even the subject of scientific research, typically involving quantum mechanics and how the Universe’s four fundamental forces (electromagnetism, weak and strong nuclear forces, and gravity) fit together. In a recent experiment, researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that by manipulating quantum entanglements, they could simulate what could happen if the flow of time were reversed.

October 19, 2023November 7, 2023 by Andy Tomaswick

There are 14,000 Near Earth Asteroids Left to Find

Everyone likes a cool infographic, right? Does that statement hold even if the infographic points out a gap in our knowledge that could kill millions of people? Because that’s what a cool-looking infographic NASA released on October 16th does.

October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

Blue Origin Reveals its Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle: Blue Ring

Artist rendering of Blue Origin’s spacecraft platform, Blue Ring, which is seen featuring a multitude of payloads and accessories. (Credit: Blue Origin)

The Jeff Bezos-founded aerospace company, Blue Origin, recently announced its new and upcoming Swiss army knife-style spacecraft platform, Blue Ring, which comes after very little public discussion by Blue Origin regarding this project. For example, a January 2023 story broke when Blue Origin briefly announced a job posting for “Blue Ring Senior Program Manager” on its “Careers” page, but the job was pulled less than 24 hours later. Overall, Blue Origin has been quite mum about Blue Ring.

October 18, 2023October 18, 2023 by Evan Gough

If There Was Ever Life on Mars, this Ancient Mud Lake is the Perfect Place to Look

This image of Mars shows a region dominated by massive outflows from the planet's Southern Highlands to its Northern Lowlands. All that sediment could hold evidence for ancient life, if scientists look in the right place. Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MOLA Science Team

When it comes to Mars and our ongoing efforts to understand that planet’s ancient habitability, evidence is so far elusive. But scientists have an idea where the evidence is likely hiding: in sediments.

New research shows that an ancient mud lake is a good place to explore.

October 18, 2023October 18, 2023 by Carolyn Collins Petersen

NASA Mission Had the Perfect View for the Recent Solar Eclipse

As the Moon crossed between the Sun and Earth during the 2023 annular eclipse, its shadow darkened skies across the United States. NASA image courtesy of the DSCOVR EPIC team. — As the Moon crossed between the Sun and Earth during the October 14, 2023 annular eclipse, its shadow darkened skies across the United States. NASA image courtesy of the DSCOVR EPIC team.

Eclipse-gazers across the United States got a chance last weekend to watch as the Moon aligned with the Sun to create an annular eclipse. They watched from the ground for a short experience of not-quite-darkness. NASA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCVR) caught the action from Earth orbit for a different view of the event.