Space and astronomy news
In 2019, astronomers observed an unusual gravitational chirp. Known as GW190521, it was the last scream of gravitational waves as a black hole of 66 solar masses merged with a black hole of 85 solar masses to become a 142 solar mass black hole. The data were consistent with all the other black hole mergers we’ve observed. There was just one problem: an 85 solar mass black hole shouldn’t exist.
Continue reading “Building the Black Hole Family Tree”
Telling time in space is difficult, but it is absolutely critical for applications ranging from testing relativity to navigating down the road. Atomic clocks, such as those used on the Global Navigation Satellite System network, are accurate, but only up to a point. Moving to even more precise navigation tools would require even more accurate clocks. There are several solutions at various stages of technical development, and one from Germany’s DLR, COMPASSO, plans to prove quantum optical clocks in space as a potential successor.
Continue reading “Need to Accurately Measure Time in Space? Use a COMPASSO”
Binary stars are common throughout the galaxy. Roughly half the stars in the Milky Way are part of a binary or multiple system, so we would expect to find them almost everywhere. However, one place we wouldn’t expect to find a binary is at the center of the galaxy, close to the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. And yet, that is precisely where astronomers have recently found one.
Continue reading “A Binary Star Found Surprisingly Close to the Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole”
Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, with roughly 400 active volcanoes regularly ejecting magma into space. This activity arises from Io’s eccentric orbit around Jupiter, which produces incredibly powerful tidal interactions in the interior. In addition to powering Io’s volcanism, this tidal energy is believed to support a global subsurface magma ocean. However, the extent and depth of this ocean remains the subject of debate, with some supporting the idea of a shallow magma ocean while others believe Io has a more rigid, mostly solid interior.
In a recent NASA-supported study, an international team of researchers combined data from multiple missions to measure Io’s tidal deformation. According to their findings, Io does not possess a magma ocean and likely has a mostly solid mantle. Their findings further suggest that tidal forces do not necessarily lead to global magma oceans on moons or planetary bodies. This could have implications for the study of exoplanets that experience tidal heating, including Super-Earths and exomoons similar to Io that orbit massive gas giants.
Continue reading “New Research Suggests Io Doesn’t Have a Shallow Ocean of Magma”
The star HD 65907 is not what it appears to be. It’s a star that looks young, but on closer inspection is actually much, much older. What’s going on? Research suggests that it is a resurrected star.
Continue reading “The Mysterious Case of the Resurrected Star”
It’s axiomatic that the Universe is expanding. However, the rate of expansion hasn’t remained the same. It appears that the Universe is expanding more quickly now than it did in the past.
Astronomers have struggled to understand this and have wondered if the apparent acceleration is due to instrument errors. The JWST has put that question to rest.
Continue reading “The JWST Looked Over the Hubble’s Shoulder and Confirmed that the Universe is Expanding Faster”
Astrophotography is a challenging art. Beyond the usual skill set of understanding things such as light exposure, color balance, and the quirks of your kit, there is the fact that stars are faint and they move.
Continue reading “Astronaut Don Pettit is Serious, He Rigged up Astrophotography Gear on the ISS”
We’ve already seen the success of the Ingenuity probe on Mars. The first aircraft to fly on another world set off on its maiden voyage in April 2021 and has now completed 72 flights. Now a team of engineers are taking the idea one step further and investigating ways that drones can be released from satellites in orbit and explore the atmosphere without having to land. The results are positive and suggest this could be a cost effective way to explore alien atmospheres.
Continue reading “Drone Test Flights Are Being Tested for Flights on Alien Worlds”
Since the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1992, thousands more have been discovered. 40 light years away, one such system of exoplanets was discovered orbiting a star known as Trappist-1. Studies using the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed that one of the planets, Trappist-1 b has a crust that seems to be changing. Geological activity and weathering are a likely cause and if the latter, it suggests the exoplanet has an atmosphere too.
Continue reading “One of the Most Interesting Exoplanets Just Got Even More Interesting!”
Even if you knew nothing about astronomy, you’d understand that exploding stars are forceful and consequential events. How could they not be? Supernovae play a pivotal role in the Universe with their energetic, destructive demises.
There are different types of supernovae exploding throughout the Universe, with different progenitors and different remnants. The Zwicky Transient Facility has detected 100,000 supernovae and classified 10,000 of them.
Continue reading “Zwicky Classifies More Than 10,000 Exploding Stars”