Astronomy and Planetary Science Thread

Asteroid Ceres is a former ocean world that slowly formed into a giant, murky icy orb

Researchers at Purdue University and the NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) now believe Ceres is a very icy object that possibly was once a muddy ocean world.



“Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an ‘ocean world’ like Europa (one of Jupiter's moons), but with a dirty, muddy ocean,’” Sori said. “As that muddy ocean froze over time, it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it.”



“To me the exciting part of all this, if we're right, is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth. Ceres may be a valuable point of comparison for the ocean-hosting icy moons of the outer solar system, like Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus,” Sori said. “Ceres, we think, is therefore the most accessible icy world in the universe. That makes it a great target for future spacecraft missions. Some of the bright features we see at Ceres' surface are the remnants of Ceres' muddy ocean, now mostly or entirely frozen, erupted onto the surface. So we have a place to collect samples from the ocean of an ancient ocean world that is not too difficult to send a spacecraft to.”


 
James Webb Space Telescope maps gases spewing from strange, hybrid, icy relic of the early Solar System

The James Webb Space Telescope has mapped gases spewing from one of many ancient Solar System relics orbiting between Jupiter and Neptune.

Known as 'centaurs', these small icy bodies are leftovers from the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago.


 
Hubble and New Horizons offer dual perspectives on Uranus to inform exoplanet research

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and New Horizons spacecraft simultaneously set their sights on Uranus recently, allowing scientists to make a direct comparison of the planet from two very different viewpoints. The results inform future plans to study like types of planets around other stars.

 
I would treat this not just with a pinch of salt but literally a whole truck full of the stuff. I mean how often now have we heard a variation on this story, I’ve lost count.

 
Especially being the Mirror newspaper, I would not belive a word that they say, unless there is substantial proof on the wider World Wide Web. I will get all the news from the main SETI website.
 
Does Distant Planet Host Volcanic Moon Like Jupiter’s Io? [Oct 10]

The existence of a moon located outside our solar system has never been confirmed but a new NASA-led study may provide indirect evidence for one.

New research done at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reveals potential signs of a rocky, volcanic moon orbiting an exoplanet 635 light-years from Earth. The biggest clue is a sodium cloud that the findings suggest is close to but slightly out of sync with the exoplanet, a Saturn-size gas giant named WASP-49 b, although additional research is needed to confirm the cloud’s behavior. Within our solar system, gas emissions from Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io create a similar phenomenon.

Although no exomoons (moons of planets outside our solar system) have been confirmed, multiple candidates have been identified. It’s likely these planetary companions have gone undetected because they are too small and dim for current telescopes to detect.

The sodium cloud around WASP-49 b was first detected in 2017, catching the attention of Apurva Oza, formerly a postdoctoral researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and now a staff scientist at Caltech, which manages JPL. Oza has spent years investigating how exomoons might be detected via their volcanic activity. For example, Io, the most volcanic body in our solar system, constantly spews sulfur dioxide, sodium, potassium, and other gases that can form vast clouds around Jupiter up to 1,000 times the giant planet’s radius. It’s possible that astronomers looking at another star system could detect a gas cloud like Io’s even if the moon itself were too small to see.

Both WASP-49 b and its star are composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with trace amounts of sodium. Neither contains enough sodium to account for the cloud, which appears to be coming from a source that is producing roughly 220,000 pounds (100,000 kilograms) of sodium per second. Even if the star or planet could produce that much sodium, it’s unclear what mechanism could eject it into space.

Could the source be a volcanic exomoon? Oza and his colleagues set out to try to answer that question. The work immediately proved challenging because from such a great distance, the star, planet, and cloud often overlap and occupy the same tiny, faraway point in space. So the team had to watch the system over time.

A Cloud on the Move
As detailed in a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, they found several pieces of evidence that suggest the cloud is created by a separate body orbiting the planet, though additional research is needed to confirm the cloud’s behavior. For example, twice their observations indicated the cloud suddenly increased in size, as if being refueled, when it was not next to the planet.

They also observed the cloud moving faster than the planet in a way that would seem impossible unless it was being generated by another body moving independent of, and faster, than the planet.

“We think this is a really critical piece of evidence,” said Oza. “The cloud is moving in the opposite direction that physics tells us it should be going if it were part of the planet’s atmosphere.”

While these observations have intrigued the research team, they say they would need to observe the system for longer to be sure of the cloud’s orbit and structure.

A Chance of Volcanic Clouds
For part of their sleuthing, the researchers used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. Oza’s co-author Julia Seidel, a research fellow at the observatory, established that the cloud is located high above the planet’s atmosphere, much like the cloud of gas Io produces around Jupiter.

They also used a computer model to illustrate the exomoon scenario and compare it to the data. The exoplanet WASP-49 b orbits the star every 2.8 days with clocklike regularity, but the cloud appeared and disappeared behind the star or behind the planet at seemingly irregular intervals. Using their model, Oza and team showed that a moon with an eight-hour orbit around the planet could explain the cloud’s motion and activity, including the way it sometimes seemed to move in front of the planet and did not seem to be associated with a particular region of the planet.

“The evidence is very compelling that something other than the planet and star are producing this cloud,” said Rosaly Lopes, a planetary geologist at JPL who co-authored the study with Oza. “Detecting an exomoon would be quite extraordinary, and because of Io, we know that a volcanic exomoon is possible.”

A Violent End
On Earth, volcanoes are driven by heat in its core left over from the planet’s formation. Io’s volcanoes, on the other hand, are driven by Jupiter’s gravity, which squeezes the moon as it gets closer to the planet then reduces its “grip” as the moon moves away. This flexing heats the small moon’s interior, leading to a process called tidal volcanism.

If WASP-49 b has a moon similar in size to Earth’s, Oza and team estimate that the rapid loss of mass combined with the squeezing from the planet’s gravity will eventually cause it to disintegrate.

“If there really is a moon there, it will have a very destructive ending,” said Oza.
View: https://youtu.be/52uJItWKWH4?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZrNBx4W9OMDy7SPlPcKWUq_
 
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Considering that Jupiter has Io there must be a posibility that some Exoplanet moons must be volcanic depending on where they are orbiting the parent planet and if it has the same mass and magnetic field properties as Jupiter.
 
Space oddity: Most distant rotating disc galaxy found

Researchers have discovered the most distant Milky-Way-like galaxy yet observed. Dubbed REBELS-25, this disc galaxy seems as orderly as present-day galaxies, but we see it as it was when the Universe was only 700 million years old. This is surprising since, according to our current understanding of galaxy formation, such early galaxies are expected to appear more chaotic. The rotation and structure of REBELS-25 were revealed using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner.

 
Exobiology photosynthesis around K stars

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du2wWgATa1o


0:00 Question of photosynthesis around other stars
1:20 Types of stars out there and why we focused on red dwarfs
2:25 Why red dwarfs are not good for life
2:55 Orange dwarfs are better
4:20 Exciting planets around them
4:40 Photosynthesis around other stars
5:25 First ever experiment and exciting discoveries
7:10 Bacteria seems to love it?!
8:10 Implications and conclusions

Source:

 
info were to look for comet
GZF2WpObYAA0t98
 

This comet was mentioned on tonight's six o'clock news and while ti be a very, VERY long period comet I strongly suspect it's on a hyperbolic orbit.

Anton Petrov has put out a video about that exotic exo-moon recently discovered:


1:00 Why exomoons?
2:00 How we find them
3:20 How this was found
5:30 Compared to Io and Jupiter
6:40 Evidence
7:55 Why didn't it turn into rings?
8:40 Conclusions
 
Regarding the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet, if it is on a hypoebolic orbit (that is one that never returns to the inner Solar system) then this may be the only time to get out and observe it before it is gone for good.
 
Anton Petrov has just put out a video about recent discoveries concerning nanostructures in hydrothermal vents giving hints at the origin of life on Earth:


0:00 Hydrothermal vent discovery
1:55 Origin of life: soup or what?
2:50 Hydrothermal vents as perfect location for life
4:25 Previous propositions but it was just a hypothesis
5:45 New study finds evidence - chemiosmotic gradient
7:20 Proof
9:30 Why this is important not just for biologists

This has implications for ice-moons such as Europa and Enceladus and the possibility of life their.
 
Look at the figures here you really can’t grasp how vast the universe is the number of galaxies when you’re talking about only looking at 14 million galaxies, out of 100s of billions, at the moment it puts everything into scale for you.

 
Concerning the Europa Clipper, possible life on Europa and the speculative sub-surface geology of Europa here's an interesting video from Dr. Dr. Rachel Phillips (GEO GIRL):


References & Resources:
NASA Europa facts page: https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/moon...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...iter/moons/europa/europa-facts/&v=cFDADvxjGpo
NASA Europa Clipper Science page: https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/science/https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...uropa.nasa.gov/mission/science/&v=cFDADvxjGpo
NASA Europa Clipper main mission page: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/euro...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...asa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/&v=cFDADvxjGpo
NASA Europa Team page: https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/the-t...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....gov/mission/the-team/overview/&v=cFDADvxjGpo
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=cFDADvxjGpo

Leonard et al., 2024 (First USGS Global Geologic Map of Europa!): https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sim...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...bs.usgs.gov/publication/sim3513&v=cFDADvxjGpo
Images of Clipper at KSC: https://images.nasa.gov/album/SpaceX_...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...um/SpaceX_Europa_Clipper?page=1&v=cFDADvxjGpo
Great images of Europa’s chaos terrain and bands: https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/new...
Carr et al., 1998: Evidence for a subsurface ocean on Europa- https://doi.org/10.1038/34857https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...q=https://doi.org/10.1038/34857&v=cFDADvxjGpo
An amazing paper that Dr. Leonard is a co-author on all about the Geology Europa Clipper will do (w/amazing figures too)! Daubar et al., 2024 - https://link.springer.com/article/10....https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...icle/10.1007/s11214-023-01036-z&v=cFDADvxjGpo
Video Chapters:
0:00 Intro to Topic & Interviewee
2:06 What is Europa & Why Do We Care?
2:50 Why do we care about Geology on Europa?
3:53 How is Europa Heated?
5:35 First Global Geologic Map!
6:18 Diversity of Materials on Europa
7:48 Are there mid ocean ridges on Europa?
8:22 Ice Plate Tectonics on Europa?
9:29 Common Geologic Structures on Europa
10:40 How These Structures Form
11:35 'Chaos' on Europa?
13:48 Is Europa's Ice Shell Rotating Independently of its Core?
17:33 Age of Europa's Surface
18:38 Does Europa have Plumes?
20:26 What Europa Clipper Might Discover!
 
Hubble captures intricacies of R Aquarii
16/10/2024


The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided a dramatic and colourful close-up look at one of the most boisterous stars in our galaxy, weaving a huge spiral pattern among the stars. Hubble's images capturing its details and its evolution are featured by a unique timelapse video.

View: https://youtu.be/oiv3Fim6gls?si=Xo-E_Y9m_-Xxjv2J


 
The cool brown dwarf Gliese 229 B is a close binary

Abstract
Owing to their similarities with giant exoplanets, brown dwarf companions of stars provide insights into the fundamental processes of planet formation and evolution. From their orbits, several brown dwarf companions are found to be more massive than theoretical predictions given their luminosities and the ages of their host stars1,2,3. Either the theory is incomplete or these objects are not single entities. For example, they could be two brown dwarfs each with a lower mass and intrinsic luminosity1,4. The most problematic example is Gliese 229 B (refs. 5,6), which is at least 2–6 times less luminous than model predictions given its dynamical mass of 71.4 ± 0.6 Jupiter masses (MJup) (ref. 1). We observed Gliese 229 B with the GRAVITY interferometer and, separately, the CRIRES+ spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. Both sets of observations independently resolve Gliese 229 B into two components, Gliese 229 Ba and Bb, settling the conflict between theory and observations. The two objects have a flux ratio of 0.47 ± 0.03 at a wavelength of 2 μm and masses of 38.1 ± 1.0 and 34.4 ± 1.5 MJup, respectively. They orbit each other every 12.1 days with a semimajor axis of 0.042 astronomical units (AU). The discovery of Gliese 229 BaBb, each only a few times more massive than the most massive planets, and separated by 16 times the Earth–moon distance, raises new questions about the formation and prevalence of tight binary brown dwarfs around stars.

 
Anton Petrov has just put out a video concerning about how recent observations of 55 runaway stars in the R136 star cluster formation (Home of the truly massive R136a1)in the Large Magellanic Cloud is rewriting books on galactic formation:


0:00 R136 in Large Magellanic Cloud and the bizarre star cluster
1:10 Why this cluster is so important, 30 Doradus
3:25 First runaway stars
4:10 New study - nobody expected so many stars
5:30 Effects from these stars
7:00 When did this happen?
7:45 Reionization
9:05 Conclusions and implications
 
Scientists Use Allen Telescope Array to Search for Radio Signals in the TRAPPIST-1 Star System

October 16, 2024, Mountain View, CA — Scientists at the SETI Institute and partners from Penn State University used the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) to search for signs of alien technology in the TRAPPIST-1 star system. The team spent 28 hours scanning the system, looking for radio signals that could indicate extraterrestrial technology. This project marks the longest single-target search for radio signals from TRAPPIST-1. Although they didn’t find any evidence of extraterrestrial technology, their work provided valuable data and introduced a new way to search for signals in the future.



Using the upgraded ATA, the team scanned a wide range of frequencies, looking for narrowband signals, which are considered possible signs of alien technology. The team filtered millions of potential signals, narrowing down to about 11,000 candidates for detailed analysis. The team detected 2,264 of these signals during predicted PPO windows. However, none of the signals were of non-human origin.


Related paper:

 
Let's wait and see what they find if they do find anything, I wonder what will happen if they detect a signal from the TRAPPIST-1 system how long it will take to announce the result and what will happen post discovery knowing that we are not alone in the Milky Way anymore.
 
In regards to what the Europa Clipper might find here's an interesting video by Geo Girl:


References & Resources:
NASA Europa facts page: https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/moon...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...iter/moons/europa/europa-facts/&v=L8EMolOokYo
NASA Europa Clipper Science page: https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/science/https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...uropa.nasa.gov/mission/science/&v=L8EMolOokYo
NASA Europa Clipper main mission page: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/euro...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...asa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/&v=L8EMolOokYo
NASA Europa Team page: https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/the-t...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....gov/mission/the-team/overview/&v=L8EMolOokYo
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=L8EMolOokYo
Leonard et al., 2024 (First USGS Global Geologic Map of Europa!): https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sim...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...bs.usgs.gov/publication/sim3513&v=L8EMolOokYo
Images of Clipper at KSC: https://images.nasa.gov/album/SpaceX_...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...um/SpaceX_Europa_Clipper?page=1&v=L8EMolOokYo
Great images of Europa’s chaos terrain and bands: https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/new...
An amazing paper that Dr. Leonard is a co-author on all about the Geology Europa Clipper will do (with amazing figures too)! Daubar et al., 2024- https://link.springer.com/article/10....https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...icle/10.1007/s11214-023-01036-z&v=L8EMolOokYo
Pappalardo, 2010: Seeking Europa's Ocean- http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1743921310...
Roberts et al., 2023: Exploring the Interior of Europa with the Europa Clipper- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-023-00...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....org/10.1007/s11214-023-00990-y&v=L8EMolOokYo
Video Chapters:
0:00 Intro- What is Europa Clipper?
1:02 Check out Part 1 on Europa Geology
!2:05 Dr. Leonard's Role on Europa Clipper Team
3:25 What is Europa & Why Are We Going There?
4:05 Why Flyby rather than Orbit or Land?
5:40 Radiation Shielding on Clipper
7:08 Why a Flagship Mission?
8:32 Science Goals of the Mission
9:13 Investigating if Europa is Habitable
10:55 Are we going to drill into its ocean?
11:35 What kind of life might be on Europa?
13:40 Europa life vs Earth life origins
14:28 Instruments on Europa Clipper
17:38 How gravity tells us about Europa's Interior
19:13 Will we fly through any plumes?
20:19 JUICE Clipper Collaborations!
22:27 Mission Timeline!
24:50 Where to follow along!
 
A new video from Anton Petrov about red dwarves and their being flare-stars:


0:00 Aurora in 2024 and the powerful solar flares
1:50 Most powerful solar emissions
2:45 Other stars do it so much stronger
3:35 M-type flares and why it matters
5:00 New study reanalyzes the dangers
6:10 Why UV is so important
7:55 Previous assumptions and what was found now
8:35 So is Sun basically perfect?
 
Astronomers detect ancient lonely quasars with murky origins

The quasars appear to have few cosmic neighbors, raising questions about how they first emerged more than 13 billion years ago.


Related paper:

 
New discoveries concerning the Milky Way galaxy, from Anton Petrov:


0:00 Gaia discoveries keep rewriting books
0:35 Magnetic field discoveries and new magnetic maps
2:49 Magnetic fields are chaotic and cause star formation
4:02 eRosita bubbles form magnetic lines
5:57 Bubbles are produced by quiet galaxies in specific regions
7:20 Galaxy contains huge toroids that spin everything
8:20 Galactic collision signs - The Great Wave
10:28 Stars near us are super old - so is our galaxy
11:35 Wrinkles suggest recent collisions
12:50 Smith's cloud...coming soon
 
Massive Stars Born from Violent Cosmic Collapse

Controlled chaos is a key part of forming massive stars. An international team of astronomers has observed evidence that massive stars can be born from rapidly collapsing clouds of gas and dust, challenging long-held assumptions about star formation. The heavy elements that heavy stars create, like iron or calcium, are scattered across the Universe when they collapse as supernovas. These elements become part of new stars, new planets—and everything in between.


Related paper:

 
Quick video from Cool Worlds as they are currently observing their target with JWST which is a total of 60 hours of observation time:

View: https://youtu.be/QeKlu6yxYdk?si=HuFfbNLChSXIiGsc

One thing he mentions in the video is NASA suddenly slashed their budget in half so it sounds like they are using their YT channel to help support them.
 


 
Mega meteorite tore up seabed and boiled Earth's oceans https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g4g455p8lo
South Africa is a mineralogists dream--a partial explanation for that as well?

I have often wondered about impact refining...preparing tunnels to become veins so that liquid metals could concentrate on them.

Early astronomy

Space news



Comets

explosions

Space propulsion

Spaceship ceramics

Space comm
 
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