Astronomy and Planetary Science Thread

The latest updates on the solar system new interstellar visitor, from Anton Petrov:


Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about everything we know about 3I/Atlas the 3rd interstellar comet found in the solar system
Links:
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/planet...
https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K2...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...center.net/mpec/K25/K25N12.html&v=21HSmydkxaE
Other videos: • Amazing First Images from Vera Rubin Obser...
• 2I/Borisov Comet Update: Home System and C...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkZRUs8A_9Q
• 'Oumuamua Finally Explained Using a Brilli... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkZRUs8A_9Q
Click to expand...
0:00 3I/Atlas interstellar comet
1:20 Previous two comets
2:30 How was this found?
3:50 Origins and what was seen in the coma
4:50 Unusual properties and size
5:30 Orbit and Mars
6:20 Why we didn't see it before
7:00 What will happen next
7:30 Why this matters
8:50 Can we catch it?
9:30 Future observations
10:30 Conclusions
Click to expand...
 
In late 2022, NASA celebrated its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) as a massive success, a proof of concept for saving humanity in case a similar space rock were to ever head straight for Earth.

The small spacecraft smashed into asteroid Didymos' moonlet Dimorphos at a violent 14,000 mph, knocking it severely off course.
But three years later, astronomers found that the collision had some unintended consequences. As detailed in a paper published last week in the Planetary Science Journal, a team led by the University of Maryland found that the DART spacecraft ejected a massive barrage of boulders, some of which carried more than three times the energy of the spacecraft itself.
Click to expand...

futurism.com

Remember That Asteroid NASA Deflected in a Test of Saving Earth? We Have Bad News

Scientists found that NASA's DART spacecraft ejected a massive barrage of boulders when it bashed into asteroid Dimorphos in 2022.
futurism.com futurism.com

Related paper:

 
Oops that did not go according to plan did it? Just as long as these boulders don't come any where near Earth.
 
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Launches Orbitviewer App [Jul 7]

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is thrilled to introduce Orbitviewer, a groundbreaking new web app that brings the dynamic movement of objects in our Solar System to life. Using real data from Rubin Observatory analyzed by the Minor Planet Center, Orbitviewer provides an unprecedented way to explore the structure of our cosmic backyard in three dimensions and in real time.

[...]

Orbitviewer is designed to showcase the incredible number of Solar System objects revealed by Rubin Observatory. In its first year, Rubin is expected to reveal more objects in our Solar System than have been discovered in the past 150 years combined. As Rubin Observatory embarks on its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Orbitviewer will serve as a key tool for exploring and contextualizing millions of new discoveries. The in-app ‘discovery counter’ reflects Rubin Observatory’s ongoing discoveries, and will increase in real-time as new data comes in and more objects are identified.
Click to expand...

orbitviewer.app

Orbitviewer

Explore the Solar System in 3D with NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Orbitviewer. Watch objects move through time and learn about Rubin’s new discoveries, right in your browser.
orbitviewer.app orbitviewer.app
 
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I just stumbled across this neutron star merger simulation video from the Max Planck Institute:


This video shows a computer simulation of two neutron stars merging, showing threedimensional visualizations of the data. The simulation models an event like the one responsible for the first gravitational waves detected by ‪@LIGOVirgo‬ in 2017 from a neutron star coalescence (GW170817).
Click to expand...
For general background information, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star&v=xIthgcx-axs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GW170817https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GW170817&v=xIthgcx-axs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravita...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...dia.org/wiki/Gravitational_wave&v=xIthgcx-axs
Click to expand...
The scientific details are described in the publication: W. Kastaun and F. Ohme, “Numerical inside view of hypermassive remnant models for GW170817”, Phys. Rev. D 104 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104....https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.023001&v=xIthgcx-axs
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The video shows research done by the research group “Binary Merger Observations and Numerical Relativity” at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (AEI) Hannover: https://www.aei.mpg.de/BinaryObservat...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...aei.mpg.de/BinaryObservationsNR&v=xIthgcx-axs
Click to expand...
Simulations and raytracing performed on the “Holodeck” cluster at AEI by Wolfgang Kastaun.
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Flyaway said:
The Closest Ever Images Ever Taken of the Sun’s Atmosphere:

Click to expand...

In related news:

The Helicity Barrier
New research utilizing data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe has provided the first direct evidence of a phenomenon known as the "helicity barrier" in the solar wind. This discovery, published in Physical Review X by Queen Mary University of London researchers, offers a significant step toward understanding two long-standing mysteries: how the sun's atmosphere is heated to millions of degrees and how the supersonic solar wind is generated. The paper presents compelling evidence that the "helicity barrier" is active and profoundly alters the nature of turbulent dissipation. This effect, previously theorized, creates a barrier to the turbulent cascade of energy at small scales, fundamentally changing how fluctuations dissipate and thus how the plasma is heated.

Implications for Starwisp type Magsails? Launch, coast--then deploy to surf?

I see how close 3I ATLAS is to Mars---Is the Tianwen-2 probe expected to be near the comet's path at any point?
I have this gut feeling there may be some asset close...

Lastly--this find:
phys.org

Webb telescope reveals long-lived dust shells around multiple Wolf-Rayet stars

Cosmic dust does far more than float through space. It's the raw material from which stars, planets and possibly even life emerge. Yet astronomers have long puzzled over where this vast amount of dust comes from and what it's made of.
phys.org phys.org

Are those *really* shells? Or some kind of optical artifact?
 
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Flyaway said:
futurism.com

Remember That Asteroid NASA Deflected in a Test of Saving Earth? We Have Bad News

Scientists found that NASA's DART spacecraft ejected a massive barrage of boulders when it bashed into asteroid Dimorphos in 2022.
futurism.com futurism.com

Related paper:

Click to expand...
Some time ago I met a shark biologist who used a rubber-tipped stick to deter those who got too close by "deflecting" them with a gentle push. The guy disappeared seven years ago, and no one knows anything about him, I hope it's just a problem with the tax authorities.

Deflecting is soft power, bursting is survival.
 
Scott Manley put out a video yesterday concerning why the Earth is rotating faster than normal...by ~1mS:


It's been in the news recently that the Earth is rotating faster than normal, in fact some sources incorrectly state that the shortest day ever happened a few days ago. While it's true the Earth's rotation is over a millisecond shorter than normal, it's not as short at the 1.66ms difference seen last year.​
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There are all sorts of subtle global forces which affect the rotation of the Earth, not just the speed, but the location of the polar axis. And the effects of this are important for precision astronomy and navigation so there's a group that specifically tracks these effectsThe International Earth Rotation Reference System:
https://www.iers.org/IERS/EN/Home/hom...​
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I found this interesting video from Dr. Becky concerning the Habitable Worlds Observatory but then I noticed it was uploaded just over a year ago and with the Trump regime in power there's a good chance it may be cancelled (Unfortunately):


The Habitable Worlds Observatory is a space based telescope that plans to directly image earth-like planets around sun-like stars, due to launch in the 2040s. It’s a space telescope that’s set to be the same size as JWST but instead of observing in the infrared, it detects visible and ultraviolet light. It’ll sit at the stable point Lagrange point 2, just like JWST, around 1.5 million km away from Earth AND the plan is for it to be serviced like the Hubble Space Telescope was by astronauts, but this time by robots. I chatted to Mark Clampin, the Director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA about the plans for this project. But don’t get too excited though because it’s not set to launch until the 2040s, so how come we’re already talking about it now?​
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My previous video on JWST's search for biosignatures - • JWST is hunting for these FOUR signs of al... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1soYYbHiCg
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1972 decadal survey (Hubble Space Telescope recommendation) - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/cat...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...or-the-1970s-volume-1-report-of&v=z2JIkAPcdnU
1982 decadal survey (Chandra X-ray Telescope recommendation) - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/cat...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...or-the-1980s-volume-1-report-of&v=z2JIkAPcdnU
1991 decadal survey (Spitzer Space Telescope recommendation) - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/cat...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...y-in-astronomy-and-astrophysics&v=z2JIkAPcdnU
2001 decadal survey (James Webb Space Telescope recommendation) - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/cat...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...rophysics-in-the-new-millennium&v=z2JIkAPcdnU
2010 decadal survey (Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope recommendation) - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/cat...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...s-in-astronomy-and-astrophysics&v=z2JIkAPcdnU
2023 decadal survey (Habitable Worlds Observatory recommendation) - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/cat...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...-and-astrophysics-for-the-2020s&v=z2JIkAPcdnU
Click to expand...
00:00 - What is the Habitable Worlds Observatory?
01:37 - Astrophysics decadal survey recommendations - Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer, JWST, Roman, HWO
04:55 - How is HWO different to JWST? Transits vs direct imaging
07:06 - The magic of integral field units
09:20 - Involvement of ESA and the UK Space Agency
10:49 - Interview with Mark Clampin, Director of Astrophysics Division, NASA
16:39 - Brilliant
18:12 - Bloopers
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LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detect most massive black hole merger to date

The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has detected the merger of the most massive black holes ever observed with gravitational waves, using the US National Science Foundation-funded (NSF) LIGO Hanford and Livingston Observatories. The merger produced a final black hole more than 225 times the mass of our Sun. The signal, designated GW231123, was observed during the fourth observing run (O4) of the LVK network on November 23, 2023.

The two black holes that merged were approximately 100 and 140 times the mass of the Sun. In addition to their high masses they are also rapidly spinning, making this a uniquely challenging signal to interpret and suggesting the possibility of a complex formation history.
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…

The high mass and extremely rapid spinning of the black holes in GW231123 pushes the limits of both gravitational-wave detection technology and current theoretical models. Extracting accurate information from the signal required the use of theoretical models that account for the complex dynamics of highly spinning black holes.

“The black holes appear to be spinning very rapidly—near the limit allowed by Einstein’s theory of general relativity,” explains Dr Charlie Hoy at the University of Portsmouth. “That makes the signal difficult to model and interpret. It’s an excellent case study for pushing forward the development of our theoretical tools.”
Click to expand...

 
So what would the end result be of that collision Flyaway? An Ultramassive Black Hole?
 
FighterJock said:
So what would the end result be of that collision Flyaway? An Ultramassive Black Hole?
Click to expand...
At the center of an elliptical super-galaxy made up of the merged Local Group.

It ends as it started---with the concept of an island universe all by itself. Already half-way there if we are in a void.
 
Third ever detection of interstellar object (University of Oxford)

www.physics.ox.ac.uk

Third ever detection of interstellar object

The discovery of 3I/ATLAS – an interstellar comet shooting through the Solar System – sent astronomers scrambling last week, excited for only their third chance to study a small body from another star.
www.physics.ox.ac.uk www.physics.ox.ac.uk

From a Different Star: 3I/ATLAS in the context of the Ōtautahi-Oxford interstellar object population model (Cornell University)

From a Different Star: 3I/ATLAS in the context of the Åtautahi-Oxford interstellar object population model

The discovery of the third interstellar object (ISO), 3I/ATLAS (`3I'), provides a rare chance to directly observe a small body from another Solar System. Studying its chemistry and dynamics will add to our understanding of how the processes of planetesimal formation and evolution happen across...
arxiv.org arxiv.org
 
While a bit less dramatic than detecting an interstellar object, today's Astronomy picture of the day is kind of cool,

Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2025 July 15

Collapse in Hebes Chasma on Mars
Image Credit & License: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Explanation: What's happened in Hebes Chasma on Mars?Hebes Chasma is a depression just north of the enormous Valles Marineris canyon. Since the depression is unconnected to other surface features, it is unclear where the internal material went.Inside Hebes Chasma is Hebes Mensa, a 5 kilometer high mesa that appears to have undergone an unusual partial collapse -- a collapse that might be providing clues.The featured image, taken by ESA's robotic Mars Express spacecraft currently orbiting Mars, shows great details of the chasm and the unusual horseshoe shaped indentation in the central mesa.Material from the mesa appears to have flowed onto the floor of the chasm, while a possible dark layer appears to have pooled like ink on a downslope landing. One hypothesis holds that salty rock composes some lower layers in Hebes Chasma, with the salt dissolving in melted ice flows that drained through holes into an underground aquifer.
Click to expand...

APOD: 2025 July 15 – Collapse in Hebes Chasma on Mars

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.
apod.nasa.gov

Well, that doesn't show the photo, but the link to their mirror account on Tumblr will,

https://apod.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F789130746519552000
View: https://apod.tumblr.com/post/789130746519552000/collapse-in-hebes-chasma-on-mars
 
Astronomers discover an unusual long-period radio transient

An international team of astronomers report the discovery of a long-period radio transient, which is unusually circularly polarized and showcases an accelerating spin period. The finding of the new transient, designated CHIME J1634+44, was detailed in a paper published July 7 on the pre-print server arXiv.
Click to expand...


Related paper:

CHIME/FRB Discovery of an Unusual Circularly Polarized Long-Period Radio Transient with an Accelerating Spin Period

We report the discovery of CHIME J1634+44, a Long Period Radio Transient (LPT) unique for two aspects: it is the first known LPT to emit fully circularly polarized radio bursts, and it is the first LPT with a significant spin-up. Given that high circular polarization ($>90$\%) has been observed...
arxiv.org arxiv.org

Subaru Telescope Discovers "Fossil" of the Early Solar System

The Subaru Telescope has revealed a fourth member of the sednoids, a group of small bodies with peculiar orbits around the outer edge of the Solar System that includes Sedna. The new object, officially designated 2023 KQ14, has been nicknamed "Ammonite" by the research team. Numerical simulations using computational resources including the PC Cluster of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) indicate that it has maintained a stable orbit since the early stages of the Solar System's formation. Ammonite is expected to serve as a "fossil" preserving memories of the Solar System's infancy. It may provide clues to the existence of the hypothetical Planet Nine and the origins of the Solar System.
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Subaru Telescope Discovers "Fossil" of the Early Solar System | CfCA - Center for Computational Astrophysics

The Subaru Telescope has revealed a fourth member of the sednoids, a group of small bodies with peculiar orbits around the outer edge of the Solar System that includes Sedna. The new object, officially designated 2023 KQ14, has been nicknamed "Ammonite" by the research team. Numerical...
www.cfca.nao.ac.jp www.cfca.nao.ac.jp

Related paper:

www.nature.com

Discovery and dynamics of a Sedna-like object with a perihelion of 66 au - Nature Astronomy

The discovery of 2023 KQ14, a Sedna-like object with a perihelion of 66 au, fills a gap in the known population. Its orbit does not align with other Sedna-like objects, shedding light on the diversity and dynamical history of the outer Solar System.
www.nature.com www.nature.com
 
Looks like the need for a planet nine are getting less and less likely now that we have Ammonite now on the scene. Will we find more objects like Ammonite in the outer depths of the Solar System? I suppose only time will tell.
 
FighterJock said:
Looks like the need for a planet nine are getting less and less likely now that we have Ammonite now on the scene. Will we find more objects like Ammonite in the outer depths of the Solar System? I suppose only time will tell.
Click to expand...

I suppose the next such object discovered will be called something like Trilobite.
 
An interesting simulation video uploaded onto YT last year showing what it would be like falling into a neutron-star:


Realistic simulation of what you would see if you'd fall into a neutron star: the second most extreme object in the universe. This was made using Space Engine and other various edits/montage.
Click to expand...
 
Astronomers Discover Rare Distant Object in Sync with Neptune

A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian has discovered a rare object far beyond Neptune, from a class known as trans-Neptunian objects, that is moving in rhythm with the giant planet. This object, called 2020 VN40, is the first confirmed body that orbits the sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes.
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…

What makes 2020 VN40 even more interesting is how it moves compared to Neptune. Most objects with a simple ratio of the duration of their orbit compared to the duration of Neptune's orbit always come closest to the sun when Neptune is far away. In contrast, 2020 VN40 comes closest to the sun when Neptune is very close by, if you look at their positions from above the solar system. The tilt of 2020 VN40's orbit means that the objects are not actually close, because 2020 VN40 is actually far below the solar system- they only appear close when flattened onto a map. All other known resonant trans-Neptunian objects orbit such that they avoid this alignment at their closest approach to the sun, even in the flattened view.
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Astronomers Discover Rare Distant Object in Sync with Neptune | Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Cambridge, MA — A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian has discovered a rare object far beyond Neptune, from a class known as trans-Neptunian objects, that is moving in rhythm with the giant planet. This object, called 2020 VN40, is the first confirmed...
www.cfa.harvard.edu www.cfa.harvard.edu

Related paper:

 
'Ice cube' clouds discovered at the galaxy's center shouldn't exist — and they hint at a recent black hole explosion

Twin orbs of superhot plasma at the Milky Way's center known as the "Fermi bubbles" contain inexplicable clouds of cold hydrogen, new research reveals. They could help scientists figure out when our galaxy's black hole last erupted.
Click to expand...

www.livescience.com

'Ice cube' clouds discovered at the galaxy's center shouldn't exist — and they hint at a recent black hole explosion

Twin orbs of superhot plasma at the Milky Way's center known as the "Fermi bubbles" contain inexplicable clouds of cold hydrogen, new research reveals. They could help scientists figure out when our galaxy's black hole last erupted.
www.livescience.com www.livescience.com

Related paper:

 
NASA’s IXPE Imager Reveals Mysteries of Rare Pulsar

An international team of astronomers has uncovered new evidence to explain how pulsing remnants of exploded stars interact with surrounding matter deep in the cosmos, using observations from NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) and other telescopes.

Scientists based in the U.S., Italy, and Spain, set their sights on a mysterious cosmic duo called PSR J1023+0038, or J1023 for short. The J1023 system is comprised of a rapidly rotating neutron star feeding off of its low-mass companion star, which has created an accretion disk around the neutron star. This neutron star is also a pulsar, emitting powerful twin beams of light from its opposing magnetic poles as it rotates, spinning like a lighthouse beacon.
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…

The result: scientists found the same angle of polarization across the different wavelengths.

“That finding is compelling evidence that a single, coherent physical mechanism underpins the light we observe,” said Francesco Coti Zelati of the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, co-lead author of the findings.

This interpretation challenges the conventional wisdom about neutron star emissions of radiation in binary systems, the researchers said. Previous models had indicated that the X-rays come from the accretion disk, but this new study shows they originate with the pulsar wind.
Click to expand...

www.nasa.gov

NASA’s IXPE Imager Reveals Mysteries of Rare Pulsar - NASA

Astronomers with NASA’s IXPE have uncovered new evidence to explain how pulsing remnants of exploded stars interact with surrounding matter deep in the cosmos.
www.nasa.gov www.nasa.gov

Related paper:

 
Using the Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i, a team of astronomers led by Karen Meech (Institute for Astronomy/University of Hawai‘i) has captured an image of comet 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object that was first detected on 1 July 2025 by ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System).
Click to expand...
noirlab.edu

Gemini North Observes Comet 3I/ATLAS - Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i captures image of the third interstellar object ever discovered

Interstellar objects are visitors from solar systems beyond our own, and the third ever such object, known as 3I/ATLAS, has just been discovered. Using the Gemini North telescope, astronomers have captured 3I/ATLAS as it makes its temporary passage through our cosmic neighborhood. These...
noirlab.edu noirlab.edu
 
Avi Loeb is at it again.

In a new, yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb — the same scientist who suggested that 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever detected back in 2017, was alien in nature — teamed up with researchers from the Britain-based Initiative for Interstellar Studies to hypothesize not only that the newly-discovered interloper 3I/ATLAS is alien in origin, but that it may be from a hostile civilization, too.
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futurism.com

Harvard Paper Explores Possibility That Object Approaching From Beyond Solar System Is Hostile Alien Technology

A strange interstellar object is hurdling its way towards Earth — and Harvard's top UFO hunter thinks it could be harmful alien tech.
futurism.com futurism.com

Paper linked to in article.
 
Not that again.

Oumuamua I think does deserve a probe due to anomalous acceleration.

I don't believe it to be ET, but the idea of it being a hydrogen blob is even more ridiculous.

My guess is that Oumuamua is either a volcanic plug/batholith shard--or a hunk of sedimentary stone similar to Vasquez Rocks.

I have seem climbers clambering around exposed rock that would shatter--all but explode- from the heat of the Sun.

I could see Oumuamua near the Sun warming--and then, after being cold-soaked again--the object fragments well away from Sol on the way out--and de facto "push" speeds up what remains.

If my guess holds--a probe might find extra-solar fossils without going interstellar distances.

That would be a scientific windfall even if the SLS that launched a probe cost 10 billion a shot--because this would be a voyage towards part of a planet that died a violent death...by being torn apart somehow.

Thus it deserves the name Shard (sorry London) or a splinter (1979's METEOR.)
 
Here's an interesting what-if video simulating what it would be like to fall into a Brown-dwarf:


Realistic simulation of what you would see if you'd fall into a brown dwarf. Not a planet, but not a star. This was made using the software Space Engine with a lot of editing and other stuff.
Click to expand...
 
The biggest blackhole collision has been detected and it doesn't make sense, from Anton Petrov:


Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about a bizarre new black hole collision found in a different galaxy (GW231123)
Links:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.08219
Additional videos: • We Just Detected a Rare Type of Supernova ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjo7CeR_oN4
• Study Claims Discovery of a Cosmic String ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjo7CeR_oN4
#blackhole #gravitationalwave #GW231123
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0:00 Strangest gravitational wave detection
0:55 What these waves are
1:55 New detection of impossible black holes
4:15 Explanations
6:35 Most accepted explanation
7:50 Where this is happening (maybe)
9:15 Exotic explanations
10:35 Conclusions
Click to expand...
 
science.slashdot.org

Birth of a Solar System Witnessed In Spectacular Scientific First - Slashdot

alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: Around a Sun-like star just 1,300 light-years away, a family of planets has been seen in its earliest moments of conception. Astronomers analyzed the infrared flow of dust and detritus left over from the formation of a baby star called...
science.slashdot.org
 
publiusr said:
Not that again.

Oumuamua I think does deserve a probe due to anomalous acceleration.

I don't believe it to be ET, but the idea of it being a hydrogen blob is even more ridiculous.

My guess is that Oumuamua is either a volcanic plug/batholith shard--or a hunk of sedimentary stone similar to Vasquez Rocks.

I have seem climbers clambering around exposed rock that would shatter--all but explode- from the heat of the Sun.

I could see Oumuamua near the Sun warming--and then, after being cold-soaked again--the object fragments well away from Sol on the way out--and de facto "push" speeds up what remains.

If my guess holds--a probe might find extra-solar fossils without going interstellar distances.

That would be a scientific windfall even if the SLS that launched a probe cost 10 billion a shot--because this would be a voyage towards part of a planet that died a violent death...by being torn apart somehow.

Thus it deserves the name Shard (sorry London) or a splinter (1979's METEOR.)
Click to expand...
A good commentary on this Loeb nonsense: https://sites.psu.edu/astrowright/2025/07/18/avi-and-3i-atlas/
 
 
Astrum has just put out a video concerning Jupiter's role in the Late Heavy Bombardment:


What happened to the Moon?
▀▀▀▀▀▀
Our Moon's cratered surface tells the story of a cosmic catastrophe - the Late Heavy Bombardment, when meteors rained down in an apocalyptic blitzkrieg that left its surface battered and scarred. What triggered this celestial assault? How did Earth escape the same fate? And could it be the key to understanding how we got here today?​
▀▀▀▀▀▀

1:38 Clue 1: Moonrocks
3:08 How Did the Planets Form?
5:14 Where Did the Rocks Come From?
7:47 Bombarding the Earth
11:07 Evolution of Our Planet
Click to expand...
 

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