Astronomy and Planetary Science Thread

NASA Is Tracking a Huge, Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field

NASA is actively monitoring a strange anomaly in Earth's magnetic field: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa.

This vast, developing phenomenon, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, has intrigued and concerned scientists for years, and perhaps none more so than NASA researchers.

The space agency's satellites and spacecraft are particularly vulnerable to the weakened magnetic field strength within the anomaly, and the resulting exposure to charged particles from the Sun.
Click to expand...

www.sciencealert.com

NASA Is Tracking a Huge, Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field

NASA is actively monitoring a strange anomaly in Earth's magnetic field: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa.
www.sciencealert.com www.sciencealert.com
 
Flyaway, is the Growing Anomaly a part of the magnetic field reversal that we have been hearing about so much over the past several years? As I remember that Edinburgh airport had to modify the runway heading several years ago, and they said that was due to the reversal.
 
FighterJock said:
Flyaway, is the Growing Anomaly a part of the magnetic field reversal that we have been hearing about so much over the past several years? As I remember that Edinburgh airport had to modify the runway heading several years ago, and they said that was due to the reversal.
Click to expand...
No NASA has been studying this anomaly since the late 50s. That headline is rather OTT IMHO.
 
phys.org

New study explores the 'tsunami' in Venus's clouds

A group of scientists from the University of Seville, in collaboration with experts from the University of the Basque Country, has led the first detailed study of the evolution of the discontinuity of Venus's clouds, a gigantic atmosphere wave with the appearance of a "tsunami" that is...
phys.org phys.org
 
Discovery of a massive giant planet with extreme density around a sub-giant star TOI-4603

We present the discovery of a transiting massive giant planet around TOI-4603, a sub-giant F-type star from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The newly discovered planet has a radius of 1.042+0.038−0.035 RJ, and an orbital period of 7.24599+0.00022−0.00021 days. Using radial velocity measurements with the PARAS {and TRES} spectrographs, we determined the planet's mass to be 12.89+0.58−0.57 MJ, resulting in a bulk density of 14.1+1.7−1.6 g cm−3. This makes it one of the few massive giant planets with extreme density and lies in the transition mass region of massive giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfs, an important addition to the population of less than five objects in this mass range. The eccentricity of 0.325±0.020 and an orbital separation of 0.0888±0.0010 AU from its host star suggest that the planet is likely undergoing high eccentricity tidal (HET) migration. We find a fraction of heavy elements of 0.13+0.05−0.06 and metal enrichment of the planet (ZP/Zstar) of 4.2+1.6−2.0. Detection of such systems will offer us to gain valuable insights into the governing mechanisms of massive planets and improve our understanding of their dominant formation and migration mechanisms.

 
That is Einstein's Theory of Relativity verified yet again. We just need to find a way to combine Relativity to Quantum Mechanics and the Standard Model to come out with the Theory of Everything.
 
Vertical wind structure in an X-ray binary revealed by a precessing accretion disk

Abstract
The accretion of matter onto black holes and neutron stars often leads to the launching of outflows that can greatly affect the environments surrounding the compact object. An important means of studying these winds is through X-ray absorption line spectroscopy, which allows us to probe their properties along a single sightline, but usually provides little information about the global three-dimensional wind structure, which is vital for understanding the launching mechanism and total wind energy budget. Here, we study Hercules X-1, a nearly edge-on X-ray binary with a warped accretion disk precessing with a period of about 35 d. This disk precession results in changing sightlines towards the neutron star, through the ionized outflow. We perform time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy over the precession phase and detect a strong decrease in the wind column density by three orders of magnitude as our sightline progressively samples the wind at greater heights above the accretion disk. The wind becomes clumpier as it rises upwards and expands away from the neutron star. Modelling the warped disk shape, we create a two-dimensional map of wind properties. This measurement of the vertical structure of an accretion disk wind allows direct comparisons with three-dimensional global simulations to reveal the outflow launching mechanism.

www.nature.com

Vertical wind structure in an X-ray binary revealed by a precessing accretion disk - Nature Astronomy

Kosec et al. analyse X-ray spectroscopic observations of outflowing hot material from an accreting neutron star. An innovative technique reveals the vertical distribution of the outflow structure, which is challenging to measure otherwise.
www.nature.com www.nature.com
 
The Apertif Radio Transient System (ARTS): Design, commissioning, data release, and detection of the first five fast radio bursts

Abstract
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) must be powered by uniquely energetic emission mechanisms. This requirement has eliminated a number of possible source types, but several remain. Identifying the physical nature of FRB emitters arguably requires good localisation of more detections, as well as broad-band studies enabled by real-time alerting. In this paper, we present the Apertif Radio Transient System (ARTS), a supercomputing radio-telescope instrument that performs real-time FRB detection and localisation on the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) interferometer. It reaches coherent-addition sensitivity over the entire field of the view of the primary-dish beam. After commissioning results verified that the system performed as planned, we initiated the Apertif FRB survey (ALERT). Over the first 5 weeks we observed at design sensitivity in 2019, we detected five new FRBs, and interferometrically localised each of them to 0.4–10 sq. arcmin. All detections are broad band, very narrow, of the order of 1 ms in duration, and unscattered. Dispersion measures are generally high. Only through the very high time and frequency resolution of ARTS are these hard-to-find FRBs detected, producing an unbiased view of the intrinsic population properties. Most localisation regions are small enough to rule out the presence of associated persistent radio sources. Three FRBs cut through the halos of M31 and M33. We demonstrate that Apertif can localise one-off FRBs with an accuracy that maps magneto-ionic material along well-defined lines of sight. The rate of one every ~7 days ensures a considerable number of new sources are detected for such a study. The combination of the detection rate and localisation accuracy exemplified by the first five ARTS FRBs thus marks a new phase in which a growing number of bursts can be used to probe our Universe.


Related video:

View: https://youtu.be/3DgVFq_nsv4
 
Confirmation and Keplerian motion of the gap-carving protoplanet HD 169142 b

ABSTRACT
We present the re-detection of a compact source in the face-on protoplanetary disc surrounding HD 169142, using VLT/SPHERE data in YJH bands. The source is found at a separation of 0′′.319 (∼37 au) from the star. Three lines of evidence argue in favour of the signal tracing a protoplanet: (i) it is found in the annular gap separating the two bright rings of the disc, as predicted by theory; (ii) it is moving at the expected Keplerian velocity for an object at ∼37 au in the 2015, 2017, and 2019 data sets; and (iii) we also detect a spiral-shaped signal whose morphology is consistent with the expected outer spiral wake triggered by a planet in the gap, based on dedicated hydrodynamical simulations of the system. The YJH colours we extracted for the object are consistent with tracing scattered starlight, suggesting that the protoplanet is enshrouded in a significant amount of dust, as expected for a circumplanetary disc or envelope surrounding a gap-clearing Jovian-mass protoplanet.

academic.oup.com

Confirmation and Keplerian motion of the gap-carving protoplanet HD 169142 b

ABSTRACT. We present the re-detection of a compact source in the face-on protoplanetary disc surrounding HD 169142, using VLT/SPHERE data in YJH bands. The sour
academic.oup.com academic.oup.com

Related video:

View: https://youtu.be/Uxsk3TE_3L4
 
Cool Worlds looking at do galactic habitable zones exist as dictated by rates of GRBS, supernova, planet formation and retention - An event so EXTREME it Makes Parts of the Galaxy Uninhabitable:

View: https://youtu.be/M7PM8iDt_4w
 
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Direct imaging and astrometric detection of a gas giant planet orbiting an accelerating star

Abstract

Direct imaging of gas giant exoplanets provides information on their atmospheres and the architectures of planetary systems. However, few planets have been detected in blind surveys with direct imaging. Using astrometry from the Gaia and Hipparcos spacecraft, we identified dynamical evidence for a gas giant planet around the nearby star HIP 99770. We confirmed the detection of this planet with direct imaging using the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics instrument. The planet, HIP 99770 b, orbits 17 astronomical units from its host star, receiving an amount of light similar to that reaching Jupiter. Its dynamical mass is 13.9 to 16.1 Jupiter masses. The planet-to-star mass ratio [(7 to 8) × 10−3] is similar to that of other directly imaged planets. The planet’s atmospheric spectrum indicates an older, less cloudy analog of the previously imaged exoplanets around HR 8799.

 
Something simple from a pure astronomy perspective but cool nevertheless - time sequence of a total solar eclipse:

def43b05558fdb9ef6ebd6199fb754fb
 
UVIT view of NGC 5291: Ongoing star formation in tidal dwarf galaxies at ∼ 0.35 kpc resolution

ABSTRACT
NGC 5291, an early-type galaxy surrounded by a giant H I ring, is believed to be formed from collision with another galaxy. Several star forming complexes and tidal dwarf galaxies are distributed along the collisional ring which are sites of star formation in environments where extreme dynamical effects are involved. Dynamical effects can affect the star formation properties and the spatial distribution of star forming complexes along the tidal features. To study and quantify the star formation activity in the main body and in the ring structure of the NGC 5291 system, we use high spatial resolution FUV and NUV imaging observations from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope onboard AstroSat. A total of 57 star-forming knots are identified to be part of this interacting system out of which 12 are new detections (star forming complexes that lie inside the H I contour) compared to the previous measurements from lower resolution UV imaging. We estimate the attenuation in UV for each of the resolved star-forming knots using the UV spectral slope β, derived from the FUV − NUV colour. Using the extinction corrected UV fluxes, we derive the star formation rate of the resolved star forming complexes. The extinction corrected total star formation rate of this system is estimated as 1.75 ± 0.04 M⊙yr−1⁠. The comparison with dwarf galaxy populations (BCD, Sm, and dIm galaxies) in the nearby Universe shows that many of the knots in the NGC 5291 system have SFR values comparable to the SFR of BCD galaxies.

academic.oup.com

UVIT view of NGC 5291: Ongoing star formation in tidal dwarf galaxies at ∼ 0.35 kpc resolution

ABSTRACT. NGC 5291, an early-type galaxy surrounded by a giant H i ring, is believed to be formed from collision with another galaxy. Several star forming compl
academic.oup.com academic.oup.com
 
Detection of millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1730–22 with NICER

ABSTRACT
We report the discovery of millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations (mHz QPOs) from the neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1730–22 using the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). After being inactive for almost 50 years, 4U 1730–22 went into outburst twice between June and August 2021, and between February and July 2022. We analyse all the NICER observations of this source, and detect mHz QPOs with a significance > 4 σ in 35 observations. The QPO frequency of the full data set ranged between ∼ 4.5 and ∼ 8.1 mHz with an average fractional rms amplitude of the order of ∼2 per cent. The X-ray colour analysis strongly suggests that 4U 1730–22 was in a soft spectral state during the QPO detections. Our findings are consistent with those reported for other sources where the mHz QPOs have been interpreted as the result of a special mode of He burning on the NS surface called marginally stable nuclear burning (MSNB). We conclude that the mHz QPOs reported in this work are also associated with the MSNB, making 4U 1730–22 the eighth source that shows this phenomenology. We discuss our findings in the context of the heat flux from the NS crust.

academic.oup.com

Detection of millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations in the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1730–22 with NICER

ABSTRACT. We report the discovery of millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations (mHz QPOs) from the neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1730–22 using th
academic.oup.com academic.oup.com
 
Detection of a High-velocity Prominence Eruption Leading to a CME Associated with a Superflare on the RS CVn-type Star V1355 Orionis

Abstract
Stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have recently received much attention for their impacts on exoplanets and stellar evolution. Detecting prominence eruptions, the initial phase of CMEs, as the blueshifted excess component of Balmer lines is a technique to capture stellar CMEs. However, most of prominence eruptions identified thus far have been slow and less than the surface escape velocity. Therefore, whether these eruptions were developing into CMEs remained unknown. In this study, we conducted simultaneous optical photometric observations with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and optical spectroscopic observations with the 3.8 m Seimei Telescope for the RS CVn-type star V1355 Orionis that frequently produces large-scale superflares. We detected a superflare releasing 7.0 × 1035 erg. In the early stage of this flare, a blueshifted excess component of Hα extending its velocity up to 760–1690 km s−1 was observed and thought to originate from prominence eruptions. The velocity greatly exceeds the escape velocity (i.e., ∼350 km s−1), which provides important evidence that stellar prominence eruptions can develop into CMEs. Furthermore, we found that the prominence is very massive (9.5 × 1018 g < M < 1.4 × 1021 g). These data will clarify whether such events follow existing theories and scaling laws on solar flares and CMEs even when the energy scale far exceeds solar cases.

 
Supernova threat
www.universetoday.com

You Don't Want to Be Within 160 Light-Years of a Supernova

When it comes to supernovae, what is the minimum safe distance for habitable planets? Larger than we thought.
www.universetoday.com www.universetoday.com

Star ripped apart
www.universetoday.com

A Black Hole Tore a Star to Pieces. The Closest We've Ever Seen.

MIT Astronomers found an infrared view of a star getting ripped to shreds by a too-close encounter with a supermassive black hole.
www.universetoday.com www.universetoday.com

Stars coming together
www.universetoday.com

These Stars are Already Merging, but Their Future Will Be Catastrophic

Two stars are in the process of merging, but they will become black holes before they do.
www.universetoday.com www.universetoday.com
 
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered two "super-Earth" exoplanets orbiting a nearby M-dwarf star known as TOI-2095. The newfound alien worlds have short orbital periods and are slightly larger than the Earth. The findings were presented April 18 on the arXiv pre-print server.
Click to expand...
phys.org

Astronomers discover two super-Earths orbiting nearby star

Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered two "super-Earth" exoplanets orbiting a nearby M-dwarf star known as TOI-2095. The newfound alien worlds have short orbital periods and are slightly larger than the Earth. The findings...
phys.org phys.org
 
Well done TESS on discovering two Super-Earth exoplanets, interesting that they orbit an M-class dwarf star whereas our own planet orbits a G-2 class dwarf star. It will be fascinating to see if they have any life on them or not.
 
"a star getting ripped to shreds "...
Nowadays even even scientific journos are writing like tabloid crapsters. Shame on them.
 
Gaia discovers a new family of black holes

Using data from ESA’s Gaia mission, astronomers have discovered not only the closest but also the second closest black hole to Earth. The black holes, Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2, are respectively located just 1560 light-years away from us in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus and 3800 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. In galactic terms, these black holes reside in our cosmic backyard.

The two black holes were discovered by studying the movement of their companion stars. A strange ‘wobble’ in the movement of the stars on the sky indicated that they are orbiting a very massive object. In both cases, the objects are approximately ten times more massive than our Sun. Other explanations for these massive companions, like double-star systems, were ruled out since they do not seem to emit any light.
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As long as they do not come anywhere near Earth in the next million years or so.
 
Study using X-Ray telescope indicates that dark energy is uniformly distributed in space and time

phys.org

Study using X-Ray telescope indicates that dark energy is uniformly distributed in space and time

When Edwin Hubble observed distant galaxies in the 1920s, he made the groundbreaking discovery that the universe is expanding. It was not until 1998, however, that scientists observing Type Ia supernovae further discovered that the universe is not just expanding but has begun a phase of...
phys.org phys.org
 
I do wonder what that means for the future of the Universe Flyaway, I think that if dark energy is strong then the Universe‘s expansion will get faster and faster potentially ending in a Big Rip type scenario.
 
This inclines the existence of an area beyond what we know as the fabric of space/our universe.....
what is beyond it? Other universes?

We may never know or even begin to fathom it....
 
Astronomers have conducted photometric observations of a white dwarf known as J004917.14−252556.81. Results of the observational campaign detected photometric variability of this object, making J004917.14−252556.81 the most massive pulsating white dwarf known to date. The finding is reported in a paper published April 18 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Click to expand...

phys.org

Study finds J0049−2525 is the most massive pulsating white dwarf

Astronomers have conducted photometric observations of a white dwarf known as J004917.14−252556.81. Results of the observational campaign detected photometric variability of this object, making J004917.14−252556.81 the most massive pulsating white dwarf known to date. The finding is reported in...
phys.org phys.org
 
Ludicrous headline aside.

Scientists have made an incredible discovery on four moons of Uranus which could mean that they have alien organisms living on them.

Experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have improved the chance of finding alien life in our solar system after re-examining data captured by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft which had made several flybys of Uranus in 1986.

The data suggests that the moons Ariel, Umbriel, Oberon and Titania – the largest of Uranus' 27 moons – could hold vast and deep oceans beneath their icy crusts.
Click to expand...

www.unilad.com

Aliens could be hiding on the moons of Uranus

Experts have re-analysed data which suggests there are deep oceans on four of Uranus' moons.
www.unilad.com www.unilad.com
 
The attached paper completely blew my mind. The title only sounds like an hommage to the late Douglas Adams magnum opus.

The cosmic hitchhikers hypothesis: extraterrestrial civilizations using free-floating planets for interstellar colonization

Long story short: there are 200 billion stars in our Milky Way alone, and calculations show there might be 0.25 to 100 000 (!) times that number of "rogue" planets between them.

So there are at least a few billion planets free-floating in the galaxy, circling the galactic center in 250 million years like our solar system. Except the planets are all alone in the dark: self resilient.

And then it gets even better. With so many planets hanging around, smartass E.Ts might have landed their spaceships on them and hitched a free ride, with the according "free" resources provided by the planet.

This idea is so smart, so bold, my mind is blown.

The cosmic hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.

And if my spaceship breaks down on somewhere on the star route
(Star City, here we come)

I'll strap my ship to a planet and hitch a ride in my spacesuit
(Star City, here we come)
 

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An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new enigmatic galaxy system as part of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. The newfound system consists of a pair of galaxies and an extended highly collimated tail of gas and stars. The finding was reported May 2 on the arXiv pre-print server.
Click to expand...

phys.org

Astronomers detect unusual galaxy system with a long, highly collimated tail of gas and stars

An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new enigmatic galaxy system as part of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. The newfound system consists of a pair of galaxies and an extended highly collimated tail of gas and stars. The finding was reported May 2 on the arXiv...
phys.org phys.org

Related paper:

 
Hot air balloons launched by scientists have recorded mysterious sounds of “completely unknown” origin, high in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Large 6-7-metre-long balloons were sent to the stratosphere – the relatively calm layer of Earth’s atmosphere which is rarely disturbed by planes or turbulence – by researchers, including Daniel Bowman of Sandia National Laboratories in the US.
Click to expand...

While the balloons could detect such human and environmental sounds, researchers reported in a presentation at the 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, that they also managed to record some strange sounds that could not be identified.

“[In the stratosphere] there are mysterious infrasound signals that occur a few times per hour on some flights, but the source of these is completely unknown,” Dr Bowman said in a statement.
Click to expand...

www.independent.co.uk

Strange sounds recorded by balloons in stratosphere leave scientists puzzled

Balloons originally designed to monitor volcanoes on Earth to test if they can help explore other planets
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 

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