Astronomy and Planetary Science Thread

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has a video concerning evidence of a stellar flyby of the Solar-System early in its' history:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about the evidence of a stellar flyby in the early solar system
Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4155...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41550-024-02349-x&v=Sl8K0wewrdQ
Other videos:
• Study Suggests Planet 9 May Be Earth ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB9K9gD4bok&t=0s
• Planet Nine Like Object Identified, B...

• New Strong Evidence for Existence of ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFU08fYL_xc&t=0s

#solarsystem #flyby #planet9

0:00 Strange orbits in the solar system
1:25 New study: was there a stellar flyby?
2:05 Trans Neptunian objects
3:35 Planetary disks in other systems
4:40 Flyby chances in the solar system
5:40 Simulations and discoveries
7:01 Implications and what this means
8:02 How we can prove this in the future and additional questions

Personally I suspect that this flyby occurred before the open star-cluster of which the Sun was a member of where it formed perhaps even before stellar nursery molecular-cloud disbursed.

 

[Flyaway]

For the first time, astronomers have captured images of a star other than the sun in enough detail to track the motion of bubbling gas on its surface. The images of the star, R Doradus, were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), in July and August 2023. They show giant, hot bubbles of gas, 75 times the size of the sun, appearing on the surface and sinking back into the star's interior faster than expected.

…

Convection motions had never been tracked in detail in stars other than the sun, until now. By using ALMA, the team were able to obtain high-resolution images of the surface of R Doradus over the course of a month. R Doradus is a red giant star, with a diameter roughly 350 times that of the sun, located about 180 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Dorado.

Astronomers track bubbles on star's surface

For the first time, astronomers have captured images of a star other than the sun in enough detail to track the motion of bubbling gas on its surface. The images of the star, R Doradus, were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope co-owned by the...

phys.org

One month convection timescale on the surface of a giant evolved star - Nature

Presenting a series of interferometric images of R Doradus, this study reveals prominent convective structures on the surface of this giant evolved star that have a timescale of about one month.

www.nature.com

Related video:

View: https://youtu.be/jaxyu4RP9-I?si=HDUgOtOgh3Dh_MoR

 

[NMaude]

Frasier Cain has a video about how astronomers determine a star's age:

Stars oscillate. Even the Sun does. And we can learn a lot about them by studying those oscillations. How is it done and what can we learn? Finding out in this interview.

Guest: Dr. Marc Hon
https://mtyhon.github.io/

00:00 Intro
01:39 What is Astroseismology
07:07 Measuring the oscillations of the Sun
12:45 Age of stars
24:17 The technique
36:03 Future instruments
49:32 Current obsessions
54:46 Final thoughts and more interviews

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has a new video out about a new study concerning how dark the Universe is from the New Horizons probe:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about new measurements of complete darkness of the universe from the New Horizons probe
Links:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...7/1538-4357/ad5ffc#apjad5ffcf14&v=4SZHy54vyrI
Cosmic Neutrino Background:
• What Exactly Is The Cosmic Neutrino B... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWT01fmXht8&t=0s
Gravitational waves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTFJPCUStxw&t=0s
• Does Universe Remember? Gravitational...

• Major Discovery of Loud Gravitational... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTDJ5uVlCOA&t=0s
#universe #darkness #astronomy

0:00 Different types of background radiation and why we study it
2:15 Cosmic Optical Background and why it matters
4:50 New Horizons missions and how it helped
5:45 Initial observations and anomalies
6:30 New study and results
7:45 Implications and conclusions
9:22 Unasnwered questions

 

[Flyaway]

Get your crash hats out!!!

Odds of asteroid 99942 Apophis striking Earth slightly higher than thought

An astrophysicist at the University of Western Ontario finds that the odds of the asteroid 99942 Apophis striking Earth are slightly higher than previously thought. In his study, published in The Planetary Science Journal, Paul Wiegert took a new look at the possibility of a smaller asteroid striking Apophis and changing its trajectory to a collision course with Earth.

…

To find that answer, he began by noting that differently sized objects moving at different speeds would lead to different changes in course. He found that an object as small as 0.6 meters across could be big enough to knock the asteroid into a collision course sometime past 2029. He also found that an object just 3.4 meters across could strike with enough force to push Apophis into a collision course with Earth by 2029.

Wiegert then looked for a way to make an estimate of the number of objects that could potentially strike Apophis—he used the number of objects 3.4 meters across that strike the Earth each year as a reasonable guide. He then used that number to calculate the odds of such an object striking Apophis and found it to be approximately 10–8, which is, of course, low.

Noting also that such a collision would have to be at just the right angle, he suggests the odds of just the right hit are likely 1 in 2 billion. And he estimates the chances of such a collision to result in a later impact to be 1 in 1 million.

Odds of asteroid 99942 Apophis striking Earth slightly higher than thought

An astrophysicist at the University of Western Ontario finds that the odds of the asteroid 99942 Apophis striking Earth are slightly higher than previously thought. In his study, published in The Planetary Science Journal, Paul Wiegert took a new look at the possibility of a smaller asteroid...

phys.org

Radware Bot Manager Captcha

 

[FighterJock]

Don't know whether to start panicking now or not Flyaway?

 

[Flyaway]

New IW And-type star discovered by astronomers

A team of Chinese astronomers has performed photometric observations of a dwarf nova known as Karachurin 12. As a result, they have found that Karachurin 12 is an IW And-type star. The discovery was detailed in a research paper published September 4 on the preprint server arXiv.

New IW And-type star discovered by astronomers

A team of Chinese astronomers has performed photometric observations of a dwarf nova known as Karachurin 12. As a result, they have found that Karachurin 12 is an IW And-type star. The discovery was detailed in a research paper published September 4 on the preprint server arXiv.

phys.org

[2409.03011] A New IW And-Type Star: Karachurin 12 with Tilted Disks and Diverse cycles

 

[Flyaway]

Huge gamma-ray burst collection 'rivals 250-year-old Messier catalog,' say astronomers

Hundreds of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been recorded as part of an enormous global effort so extensive it "rivals the catalog of deep-sky objects created by Messier 250 years ago", astronomers say.

…

The latest research recorded 535 GRBs—the nearest of which was 77 million light-years from Earth—from 455 telescopes and instruments across the world.

…

What the team found particularly interesting about their findings was that nearly a third of the GRBs recorded (28%) did not change or evolve as the light from the explosions traveled across the cosmos.

Co-author Dr. Rosa Becerra, of the University of Tor Vergata in Rome, said this suggests that some of the most recent GRBs behave in exactly the same way as those which occurred billions of years ago.

Such a finding is at odds with the big picture commonly seen in the universe, where objects have continuously evolved from the Big Bang.

Huge gamma-ray burst collection 'rivals 250-year-old Messier catalog,' say astronomers

Hundreds of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been recorded as part of an enormous global effort so extensive it "rivals the catalog of deep-sky objects created by Messier 250 years ago", astronomers say.

phys.org

An optical gamma-ray burst catalogue with measured redshift – I. Data release of 535 gamma-ray bursts and colour evolution

ABSTRACT. We present the largest optical photometry compilation of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with redshifts (z). We include 64813 observations of 535 events

academic.oup.com

 

[Flyaway]

Astronomers discover new planet in Great Bear constellation

Astronomers from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun have discovered a new planet in the constellation of the Great Bear. It has a mass as much as 11 times that of Jupiter, orbits its star in 14 years and has a temperature of no more than minus 100 degrees Celsius.

Astronomers discover new planet in Great Bear constellation

Astronomers from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun have discovered a new planet in the constellation of the Great Bear. It has a mass as much as 11 times that of Jupiter, orbits its star in 14 years and has a temperature of no more than minus 100 degrees Celsius.

phys.org

Tracking Advanced Planetary Systems (TAPAS) with HARPS-N - VIII. A wide-orbit planetary companion in the hot-Jupiter system HD 118203 | Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)

Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

www.aanda.org

 

[NMaude]

There's a new scientific paper out suggesting that the Moon was formed from a giant impact on Earth Mk-1 by The, from Anton Petrov:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about a new study that suggests Theia collision hypothesis is maybe not the best answer to how the Moon formed
Links:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.16840https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/abs/2408.16840&v=2e5Qbz00joc
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-relea...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...alert.org/news-releases/1005078&v=2e5Qbz00joc
https://sites.science.oregonstate.edu...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../ph205/moonMercury/mercury.html&v=2e5Qbz00joc

Other videos:
• Major Moon Updates: Magnetic Anomalie...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aoskcw1-dWQ&t=0s
• Heat Anomaly On the Moon Surface Is a...

• Major Moon Updates: Rock Anomaly, Wei...

• Why Near and Far Sides of the Moon Ar... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaDFdJ41xpg&t=0s

0:00 Is giant impact hypothesis incorrect?
1:00 Why do we think Earth and Moon were the result of a collision?
3:30 Potential explanations on how this happened
5:00 Why this is important
5:35 Unanswered questions
7:25 The biggest issue with this hypothesis
8:45 Isotopes are identical and no sign of impact
9:30 Conclusions and potential explanations
11:00 So Moon is a planet...maybe?
11:55 But we won't know more until future missions

#theia #moon #impact

 

[NMaude]

The ESA released this short clip showing BepiColombo's latest Mercury flyby yesterday:

Watch the closest flyby of a planet ever, as the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft sped past Mercury during its latest encounter on 4 September 2024.

This flyby marked BepiColombo’s closest approach to Mercury yet, and for the first time, the spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury’s south pole.

This timelapse is made up of 128 different images captured by all three of BepiColombo’s monitoring cameras, M-CAM 1, 2 and 3. We see the planet move in and out of the fields of view of M-CAM 2 and 3, before M-CAM 1 sees the planet receding into the distance at the end of the video.The first few images are taken in the days and weeks before the flyby. Mercury first appears in an image taken at 23:50 CEST (21:50 UTC) on 4 September, at a distance of 191 km. Closest approach was at 23:48 CEST at a distance of 165 km.

The sequence ends around 24 hours later, on 5 September 2024, when BepiColombo was about 243 000 km from Mercury.

During the flyby it was possible to identify various geological features that BepiColombo will study in more detail once in orbit around the planet. Four minutes after closest approach, a large ‘peak ring basin’ called Vivaldi came into view.

This crater was named after the famous Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). The flyover of Vivaldi crater was the inspiration for using Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ as the soundtrack for this timelapse.

Peak ring basins are mysterious craters created by powerful asteroid or comet impacts, so-called because of the inner ring of peaks on an otherwise flattish floor.

A couple of minutes later, another peak ring basin came into view: newly named Stoddart. The name was recently assigned following a request from the M-CAM team, who realised that this crater would be visible in these images and decided it would be worth naming considering its potential interest for scientists in the future.

BepiColombo’s three monitoring cameras provided 1024 x 1024 pixel snapshots. Their main purpose is to monitor the spacecraft’s various booms and antennas, hence why we see parts of the spacecraft in the foreground. The photos that they capture of Mercury during the flybys are a bonus.

The 4 September gravity assist flyby was the fourth at Mercury and the seventh of nine planetary flybys overall. During its eight-year cruise to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System, BepiColombo makes one flyby at Earth, two at Venus and six at Mercury, to help steer itself on course for entering orbit around Mercury in 2026.

BepiColombo is an international collaboration between ESA and JAXA.

BepiColombo’s best images yet highlight fourth Mercury flyby: https://www.esa.int/Science_Explorati...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev..._highlight_fourth_Mercury_flyby&v=vtP92WeCVYQ

BepiColombo images in ESA’s Planetary Science: https://psa.esa.int/psa/#/pages/home

Processing notes: The BepiColombo monitoring cameras provide 1024 x 1024 pixel images. These raw images have been lightly processed. The M-CAM 1 images have been cropped to 995 x 995 pixels.

Credits: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM
Acknowledgements: Image processing and video production by Mark McCaughrean

 

[NMaude]

A couple of interesting videos here (One from Anton Petrov) concerning origins of life on Earth and Earth's beginnings (This one is speculative):

Could Earth, our rocky blue planet, have once been a gas giant like Jupiter or Neptune? The question sparks the imagination, but this idea does have roots in some intriguing scientific theories that challenge our understanding of Earth's ancient past. So let’s dive into the possibility that Earth, our rocky blue home, could have once been something entirely different billions of years ago.

A rather interesting bit of speculation there.

Now this would be of astronomical interest as it would be useful as a reference for eco-biologists when they eventually get to investigate places such as Europa and Enceladus for alien life:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about our ancestors the Asgard archaea microbes
Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-024-50195-2&v=boVeFAXpXQQ
https://news.utexas.edu/2024/08/21/ne...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...thank-your-microbial-ancestors/&v=boVeFAXpXQQ
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7015854/&v=boVeFAXpXQQ
Previous video: • We Just Found a Missing Link For Evol... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vzOXj_lh58&t=0s
#asgard #archaebacteria #originoflife

0:00 Origins of life and asgard bacteria
0:45 How we divide life on Earth
1:55 How we learned about evolution of life
2:40 Why do we have bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes?
3:05 New organism called Asgard microbes
5:15 Asgards that form symbiosis and show links to the origins of life
6:15 Multiple mergers
6:55 New proof from the immune system studies
8:45 What these genes mean and conclusions

Of course when Anton is about the Asgard he's not referring to these guys:

 

[Rhinocrates]

Astronomy photographer of the year 2024 – winners and finalists

The winners of Royal Observatory Greenwich’s annual competition have been announced. The images will be on display in the accompanying exhibition, opening at the National Maritime Museum in London on Friday

www.theguardian.com

 

[Justo Miranda]

A couple of interesting videos here (One from Anton Petrov) concerning origins of life on Earth and Earth's beginnings (This one is speculative):

A rather interesting bit of speculation there.

Now this would be of astronomical interest as it would be useful as a reference for eco-biologists when they eventually get to investigate places such as Europa and Enceladus for alien life:

Of course when Anton is about the Asgard he's not referring to these guys:

Hermiod - Asgard engineer/liaison to the Daedalus.

 

[Flyaway]

Earth may have had a ring system 466 million years ago

In a discovery that challenges our understanding of Earth's ancient history, researchers have found evidence suggesting that Earth may have had a ring system that formed around 466 million years ago, at the beginning of a period of unusually intense meteorite bombardment known as the Ordovician impact spike.

…

The research team believes this localized impact pattern was produced after a large asteroid had a close encounter with Earth. As the asteroid passed within Earth's Roche limit, it broke apart due to tidal forces, forming a debris ring around the planet—similar to the rings seen around Saturn and other gas giants today.

…

The researchers speculate that the ring could have cast a shadow on Earth, blocking sunlight and contributing to a significant global cooling event known as the "Hirnantian Icehouse."

This period, which occurred near the end of the Ordovician, is recognized as one of the coldest in the last 500 million years of Earth's history.

Earth may have had a ring system 466 million years ago

In a discovery that challenges our understanding of Earth's ancient history, researchers have found evidence suggesting that Earth may have had a ring system that formed around 466 million years ago, at the beginning of a period of unusually intense meteorite bombardment known as the Ordovician...

phys.org

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X24004230?via%3Dihub

 

[Flyaway]

New tidally tilted pulsator discovered by astronomers

Astronomers have detected a new tidally pulsator star (TTP) by analyzing the data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The newfound pulsator, designated TIC 435850195, belongs to the rare class of tri-axial TTPs. The finding was detailed in a research paper published September 5 on the pre-print server arXiv.

New tidally tilted pulsator discovered by astronomers

Astronomers have detected a new tidally pulsator star (TTP) by analyzing the data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The newfound pulsator, designated TIC 435850195, belongs to the rare class of tri-axial TTPs. The finding was detailed in a research paper published...

phys.org

[2409.03815] TIC 435850195: The Second Tri-Axial, Tidally Tilted Pulsator

 

[Flyaway]

Astronomers detect black hole 'starving' its host galaxy to death

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. The results are reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.

…

The mass of gas being ejected from the galaxy is greater than what the galaxy would require to keep forming new stars. In essence, the black hole is starving the galaxy to death.

Astronomers detect black hole 'starving' its host galaxy to death

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. The results are reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.

phys.org

A fast-rotator post-starburst galaxy quenched by supermassive black-hole feedback at z = 3 - Nature Astronomy

A massive galaxy hosting an accreting supermassive black hole two billion years after the Big Bang shows fast neutral-gas outflows that are capable of stopping star formation by removing its fuel while the stars keep rotating in a disk.

www.nature.com

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has a video old about an old idea called the Tired Light Hypothesis:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about bizarre new evidence for either tired light hypothesis or some strange redshift measurement issues, but it's super preliminary
Links:
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-712X/7/3/41https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...//www.mdpi.com/2571-712X/7/3/41&v=gb5Nf1iNOxA
S8 tension: • Confirmation of a Problem With Gravit... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD69YBwyCzE&t=0s
Cosmic web: • New Evidence That Cosmic Web Feeds Th... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gZHvrKyNkw&t=0s
#tiredlight #redshift #universe

0:00 Tired light hypothesis
1:00 Big claims?
1:43 Basics of redshift measurements
2:20 Tired light hypothesis issues
3:00 Cosmology has issues too though
3:55 Could the redshift model be wrong? Methods used
5:15 Specific techniques used
6:30 Results and bizarre discoveries
7:45 Potential explanations
8:50 Hubble tensions connection - can this solve the cosmological issue?
9:30 Issues with the study
11:30 What needs to be done to confirm this

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has a video out about an explanation for the asteroid Phaeton's unusual blue colour:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about more unusual discoveries from a bizarre asteroid known as Phaethon
Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-024-51054-w&v=8oQJXzBU0hQ
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4155...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41550-023-02091-w&v=8oQJXzBU0hQ
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....org/article/10.3847/PSJ/acd538&v=8oQJXzBU0hQ
https://www.meteorshowers.org/https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...=https://www.meteorshowers.org/&v=8oQJXzBU0hQ
Other Phaethon videos:
• Strange Blue Object Phaethon Just Sur...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87ZeZeCgNiA&t=0s
• This Already Strange Asteroid Just Go...

• One of the Weirdest Rocks in the Sola... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RfqvVwvrqI&t=0s

#phaethon #asteroid #solarsystemhttps://www.youtube.com/hashtag/solarsystem

0:00 Strange rock that's blue and weird in other ways
0:45 How this was discovered and why it's strange
2:25 How meteor showers work for this asteroid
3:25 New type of an object
4:20 Properties of this asteroid that make it so unique
5:55 We now know how Phaethon creates its effects
7:25 Why this is important
8:50 Conclusions

 

[NMaude]

Dr. Rachel Phillips aka GEO GIRL uploaded a new video a couple of days ago concerning the asteroid Psyche:

References & Resources:
NASA Psyche Science page: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyc...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...asa.gov/mission/psyche/science/&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
NASA Psyche Team page: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyc...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...on/psyche/meet-the-psyche-team/&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
NASA Mission Info page (Discovery vs New Frontiers vs Flagship): https://www.nasa.gov/planetarymission...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...etary-mission-program-overview/&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
JPL Psyche Science page: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/press-kits/p...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ess-kits/psyche/mission/science&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
NASA Psyche Thrusters article: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/psyche-...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...up-its-sci-fi-worthy-thrusters/&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
Williams et al., 2018 (Geologic Map of Ceres): https://planetcarto.wordpress.com/wp-...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...mapglobal_march2019_preview.png&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
Shepard et al., 2021 (Albedo of Psyche): https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abfdbahttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ps://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abfdba&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
Cambioni et al., 2022 (Surface heterogeneity of Psyche): https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JE007091https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...://doi.org/10.1029/2021JE007091&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4
NASA’s Live view of Psyche at: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...cience.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/&v=je_Mg-Ir9u4

Check out my other interview about Pulverizing Asteroids on GSA's geosociety channel: • Pulverizing Asteroids For Planetary D... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQx5ZLdlJZs&t=0s

Video Chapters:
0:00 Intro to Topic & Interviewee
3:09 What is the Psyche Mission & Why Are We Doing it?
4:21 GSA Connects 2024 Meeting & Presentation
4:53 Why do we want to visit a ball of metal?
5:56 A Window into Earth’s Core!
6:18 Differentiation & Core Hypothesis
9:23 How Psyche lost its surface layers
10:03 When did Psyche lose its surface layers?
11:37 Science Goals & Objectives of Psyche Mission
13:48 Objective #1
14:44 Instruments on Psyche
16:02 Can we date the rocks on Psyche?
17:32 Objective #2
19:25 How Big is Psyche?
20:25 Objective #3
22:20 Objective #4
24:43 Objective #5
27:18 Mining on Psyche?
30:07 Why an Orbiter instead of Flyby or Lander?
31:49 How far along is the mission?
33:34 How to get started in Space Exploration!
35:18 Check out my Pulverizing Asteroids Interview!

 

[NMaude]

At the end of this month Earth will briefly have a second very small moon, from ABC:

Astrophysics Professor Adam Frank explains the gravitational capture event involving tiny asteroid 2024 PT5.

I wonder if Dr. Evil will try to set up a secret base on it?

 

[Flyaway]

Earth's new 'mini-moon' will orbit our planet for the next 2 months

Earth is set to gain another moon by the end of the month — a small asteroid that will be snared by our planet's gravity until the end of the year, scientists say.

The mini-moon, an asteroid called 2024 PT5, was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on Aug. 7. The space rock will make one complete orbit of our planet between Sept. 29 and Nov. 25 before escaping Earth's gravity.

Yet despite this 57-day close flyby of our planet, the asteroid will be hard to spot as it's just 33 feet (10 meters) wide.

Earth's new 'mini-moon' will orbit our planet for the next 2 months

A tiny asteroid will orbit around our planet for 53 days from the end of September.

www.livescience.com

Radware Bot Manager Captcha

 

[NMaude]

I wonder if SpaceX or some other space-launch outfit will quickly try to win up and launch a simple space-probe to investigate it?

 

[Flyaway]

Detailed model suggests organic matter on Mars was formed from atmospheric formaldehyde

This discovery indicates that formaldehyde contributed to the formation of organic matter on ancient Mars, implying that bio-important molecules such as sugars and ribose (a component of RNA, which is present in all living cells) may have been produced on the planet.

Detailed model suggests organic matter on Mars was formed from atmospheric formaldehyde

Although Mars is currently a cold, dry planet, geological evidence suggests that liquid water existed there around 3 to 4 billion years ago. Where there is water, there is usually life. In their quest to answer the burning question about life on Mars, researchers at Tohoku University created a...

phys.org

Stable carbon isotope evolution of formaldehyde on early Mars - Scientific Reports

Organic matter in the Martian sediments may provide a key to understanding the prebiotic chemistry and habitability of early Mars. The Curiosity rover has measured highly variable and 13C-depleted carbon isotopic values in early Martian organic matter whose origin is uncertain. One hypothesis...

www.nature.com

 

[Flyaway]

XRISM unveils black hole and supernova remnant surroundings

XRISM revealed the structure, motion and temperature of the material around a supermassive black hole and in a supernova remnant in unprecedented detail. Astronomers presented the first scientific results of the new X-ray telescope today, less than a year after the telescope’s launch.

www.esa.int

 

[Flyaway]

This seems a really big breakthrough.

Astronomers' new technique measures temperature of a star with high precision

Astronomers study stars by looking at the different colors of light they emit—colors they capture and analyze using spectroscopy. Now a team led by Université de Montréal's Étienne Artigau has developed a technique that uses a star's spectrum to chart variations in its temperature to the nearest tenth of a degree Celsius, over a range of time scales.

"By tracking a star's temperature, we can learn a lot about it, such as its rotation period, its stellar activity, its magnetic field," explained Artigau, an astrophysicist at UdeM's Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx). "Such detailed knowledge is also essential for finding and studying a star's planets."

…

”It's very difficult to confirm the existence of an exoplanet or to study its atmosphere without precise knowledge of the host star's properties and how they vary over time," explained Charles Cadieux, a doctoral student at IREx who contributed to the study.

"This new technique gives us an invaluable tool for ensuring that our knowledge of exoplanets is solid and for advancing our characterization of their properties." It's very difficult to confirm the existence of an exoplanet or to study its atmosphere without precise knowledge of the host star's properties and how they vary over time," explained Charles Cadieux, a doctoral student at IREx who contributed to the study.

…

The innovative technique will be directly applicable to observations from NIRPS, a spectrograph installed last year in the ESO telescope in Chili. According to the researchers, it would also be possible to use this technique with space-based instruments, such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

"The power and versatility of this technique means we can exploit existing data from numerous observatories to detect variations that were previously far too small to be perceived, even on very long timescales," said Artigau.

"This opens up new horizons in our study of the stars, their activity and their planets."

Astronomers' new technique measures temperature of a star with high precision

Astronomers study stars by looking at the different colors of light they emit—colors they capture and analyze using spectroscopy. Now a team led by Université de Montréal's Étienne Artigau has developed a technique that uses a star's spectrum to chart variations in its temperature to the nearest...

phys.org

[2409.07260] Measuring Sub-Kelvin Variations in Stellar Temperature with High-Resolution Spectroscopy

 

[robunos]

At the end of this month Earth will briefly have a second very small moon, from ABC:

I wonder if Dr. Evil will try to set up a secret base on it?

No, but Gru and the Minions will try to steal it . . .

cheers,
Robin.

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has a video out about an upcoming anticipated Nova event that may not happen:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about the predicted nova that was supposed to happen this year but is sure taking its time to appear
Links:
Original video: • We're About to Witness a Once in a Li...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4z5ovC5kQA&t=0s

https://academic.oup.com/mnras/articl...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWFHb3RMcTVNZjMwa2FNZHhoYXp1MDgyNFA4QXxBQ3Jtc0tsakdpZEt6dXpjVEJfcnBnM3piSmx5ZlYwb1A3S2RoNjJHQnRCSHdYVmlzMzZmQjh4V0NuV0xkek56d0ZrMl90eXkxbGtaVktJNzRZanAzUmtSa3NmXzlKSHJoQURqbWhVdzllSWxvYlduXy1EZnFOaw&q=https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/532/2/1421/7705604?login=false&v=UqcN57qhpy4
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.11506#nova
#tcoronaeborealis #newstar

I will be disappointed if it doesn't happen.

 

[NMaude]

An interesting new video from Fraser Cain including about the possibility that Earth had rings in the late Ordovician:

Could we repair missions like JWST and Gaia? Polaris Dawn returns to Earth, did Earth once have rings? and a peanut-shaped asteroid just drifted past Earth. https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...198440-universe-today-book-club&v=hm44Blv5Y0k

00:00 Intro
00:16 Repairing missions at L2 https://www.universetoday.com/168584/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...craft-at-l2-like-webb-and-gaia/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
03:10 Polaris Dawn returns to Earth https://polarisprogram.com/polaris-da...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...-during-their-five-day-mission/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
05:22 Peanut-shaped asteroid flyby https://www.universetoday.com/168616/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...aped-asteroid-drift-past-earth/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
07:20 Earth might have had rings https://www.universetoday.com/168579/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...rings-half-a-billion-years-ago/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
08:56 Earth's temporary moon https://www.universetoday.com/168574/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...new-mini-moon-for-a-few-months/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
10:13 Vote results10:54 Mission to Neptune https://www.universetoday.com/168559/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...udy-both-the-planet-and-triton/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
13:22 Building a global light pollution map https://gaia4sustainability.eu/gaia-4...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ility.eu/gaia-4-sustainability/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
14:35 Flying to Alpha Cen https://www.universetoday.com/168534/...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ft-will-swarm-proxima-centauri/&v=hm44Blv5Y0k
16:19 More space news
16:58 Getting involved in science

Host: Fraser Cain
Producer: Anton Pozdnyakov
Editing: Artem Pozdnyakov

 

[Flyaway]

New study uncovers unexpected interaction between Mars and the solar wind

Scientists of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) in Kiruna and Umeå University find that under certain conditions the induced magnetosphere of Mars can degenerate. The findings are presented in a new study published in Nature.

New study uncovers unexpected interaction between Mars and the solar wind

Scientists of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) in Kiruna and Umeå University find that under certain conditions the induced magnetosphere of Mars can degenerate. The findings are presented in a new study published in Nature.

phys.org

Mars’s induced magnetosphere can degenerate - Nature

When the cone angle between the solar wind velocity and the solar wind magnetic field is small at Mars, the induced magnetosphere degenerates.

www.nature.com

 

[FighterJock]

Could that explain why Mars eventually lost it's atmosphere? Just a thought Flyaway.

 

[publiusr]

I wonder if that might have implications for e-sails that use the solar wind---allowing them to bank before Jupiter?

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has uploaded a video about how recent advances in astronomy have enabled astronomers to start imaging the surfaces of stars:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about new studies and techniques that allow us to see surfaces of distant stars
Links:
https://www.eso.org/public/archives/r...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...encepapers/eso2412/eso2412a.pdf&v=A5cRrueHm4c
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...rticle/10.3847/1538-4357/ad5e7a&v=A5cRrueHm4c
https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.03257https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/abs/2309.03257&v=A5cRrueHm4c
Edwin Hubble and the discovery of the universe: • 100 Years Ago Scientists Failed to Re... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcKOV7IwlNc&t=0s

#stars #astronomy #surfacehttps://www.youtube.com/hashtag/surface

0:00 We can now see surfaces of distant stars
0:25 Polaris and R Doradus observed by astronomers
1:05 Observations of R Doradus and why it's exciting
4:02 Polaris - the closest cepheid variable
7:00 Solving some of the mysteries
8:48 Conclusions and what still needs to be learned

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has a video out about the biggest known galactic jet and astronomers have yet to have a satisfactory explanation for it:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about the new incredibly large galactic jets in a galaxy called Porphyrion
Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41586-024-07879-y&v=8jnp005gHPU
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/ful...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...4/02/aa48308-23/aa48308-23.html&v=8jnp005gHPU
Previous video: • Record Broken! Here's The Largest Gal... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU5ImOoNqxQ&t=0s
Voids: • So, What Exactly Is The Local Void? H... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPBrvxqI0m8&t=0s
Cosmic web: • First Direct Evidence of the Cosmic W... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlcGQDi5sNA&t=0s
Killer quasar: • Unbelievable Quasar Killed All Galaxi... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVgYWlgfisk&t=0s
#galaxy #jets #astronomy

0:00 Largest galaxic jet ever found - Porphyrion
0:48 We don't know how these jets are produced
3:15 Largest structure ever?
4:25 Several discoveries - so not an anomaly
5:35 Connection to the cosmic web
6:10 Potential explanations
7:10 Implications and final thoughts

 

[Flyaway]

A magnetic halo in the Milky Way: New discoveries about galactic outflow

A new study led by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), and with contributions from Radboud University's Marijke Haverkorn, has unveiled significant insights into the Milky Way: a magnetized galactic halo.

This discovery challenges previous models of our galaxy's structure and evolution. Researchers have identified several magnetized structures extending far above and below the galactic plane (reaching heights of more than 16,000 light-years or 150 quadrillion kilometers), revealing one of the origins of the so-called eROSITA Bubbles, which are large-scale powered by intense outflows of gas and energy that are also being generated by the explosive death of stars in supernovae.

…

The study discloses that the magnetic fields within these bubbles are highly organized, forming thin filamentary structures. These filaments stretch up to around 150 times the full moon's diameter, showing their immense scale. The filaments are related to the hot winds with a temperature of 3.5 million Kelvin, ejected from the galactic Disk and powered by star-forming regions.

A magnetic halo in the Milky Way: New discoveries about galactic outflows

A new study led by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), and with contributions from Radboud University's Marijke Haverkorn, has unveiled significant insights into the Milky Way: a magnetized galactic halo.

phys.org

A magnetized Galactic halo from inner Galaxy outflows - Nature Astronomy

A magnetic galactic halo featuring coherent ridges several kiloparsecs above and below the Galactic Disk has been detected in multi-wavelength observations. The halo is probably a consequence of outflows driven by active star-forming regions in the disk.

www.nature.com