Astronomy and Planetary Science Thread

[Flyaway]

JWST Reveals Dust Being Destroyed In The Galaxy’s Most Extreme Colliding-Wind Binary

As if the two stars creating the “Cosmic Serpent” were not overwhelming enough, a giant third star is carving a dust destruction zone out of the material the two make.

JWST Reveals Dust Being Destroyed In The Galaxy’s Most Extreme Colliding-Wind Binary

As if the two stars creating the “Cosmic Serpent” were not overwhelming enough, a giant third star is carving a dust destruction zone out of the material the two make.

www.iflscience.com

Related paper:

The formation and evolution of dust in the colliding-wind binary Apep revealed by JWST

Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are significant contributors of carbonaceous dust to the galactic environment, however the mechanisms and conditions for formation and subsequent evolution of dust around these stars remain open questions. Here we present JWST observations of the WR+WR...

arxiv.org

 

[publiusr]

There is an arxiv article by A Yaginuma on having a Mars orbiter reach 3I/ATLAS...I think Godier's YT channel has some information.

 

[dannydale]

....Yeah, does it have enough delta-v to do that?

 

[publiusr]

....Yeah, does it have enough delta-v to do that?

The abstract claims that you don't need as much to leave Mars:

www.arxiv.org/abs/2507.15755

The idea might be to use the same orbit-raising "phasing loop" burns kids use to go higher on swingsets using small taps of the foot--Beresheet style. Seems to work.

Janus is in storage somewhere....for the next interstellar object.

 

[NMaude]

I stumbled across this interesting video posted on YT on October 30, 2022 about a supercomputer simulation of 25 solar-mass star undergoing a type-II core-collapse supernova and the resulting neutron-star:

SC22 Scientific Visualization & Data Analytics Showcase

Title:
Visualizing the Supernova Explosion of a 25-Solar-Mass Star and the Simultaneous Birth of a Neutron-Star

Abstract:

This explanatory visualization shows the results of a state-of-the-art 3D simulation of supernova explosion and neutron-star birth. It is a rare instance where the full stellar evolution of an object, including the physics of the convection and the radiation, has been simulated in three dimensions. Among the highlights is the deep core that is shrinking after explosion due to neutrino cooling and deleptonization on its way to becoming a cold, compact neutron star. There is also evidence of inner proto-neutron star convection, perhaps the site of magnetic dynamo action that can turn a pulsar into a magnetar. An exterior view shows the blast wave, which cocoons the newly-birthed neutron star, moving at ∼10,000 km/s. Additionally, a reusable pipeline was developed, which leverages state-of-the-art tools for scientific data analysis and visualization resulting in high-quality renderings.​

Presentation:
https://sc22.supercomputing.org/prese...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ntation/?id=svs107&sess=sess277&v=0DSk1wPc_cE

SC22:
The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis
November 13–18, 2022

Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas
https://sc22.supercomputing.org

 

[Brett Davidson]

Project Hyperion, a design competition to produce concepts for a generation starship, has announced its winners.

Project Hyperion | interstellar generation ship design competition

Project Hyperion explores the feasibility of crewed interstellar travel via generation ships, using current and near-future technologies. A generation ship is a hypothetical spacecraft designed for long-duration interstellar travel, where the journey may take centuries to complete. The objective...

www.projecthyperion.org

Principium, the publication of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies is quarterly and is likely the first venue for publication. Free pdfs can be downloaded here:

Publications

i4is.org

It's quarterly and the next issue is due some time in August, so you may want to bookmark it.

Images of winners' entries, fuller details on the link above, including further links to the full submissions of the winners and honourable mentions.

 

[publiusr]

Very good!

As far as the supernova simulation---where the high explosive "lenses" of Fat Man type implosion devices are expected to be uniform--a supernova is under no obligation to do the same.

Might there be "hot spots" where sub-stellar mass black holes are generated in very large supernovae, unlike a central, single black hole in smaller examples?

 

[NMaude]

Astrum has put out an update video on 3I/ATLAS:

A new visitor from beyond our solar system is hurtling towards us. Larger and older than ‘Oumuamua, it's unlike anything we've seen before. This massive, fast-moving comet, named 3I/ATLAS, is the third interstellar object ever detected and promises to reveal new secrets about the cosmos. In this video, we explore what makes this celestial traveler so unique and what mysteries it might unlock as it makes its close approach to the Sun.​

▀▀▀▀▀▀
References:
"Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System", via fallingstar.com https://astrumspace.info/ATLAS"
Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS", via arxiv.org https://astrumspace.info/3IATLAShttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://astrumspace.info/3IATLAS&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"Minor Planet Center (MPC)", via iau.org https://astrumspace.info/MinorPlanetC...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...rumspace.info/MinorPlanetCentre&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"Rare find: interstellar visitor seen blazing through our Solar System", via nature.com https://astrumspace.info/rarefindhttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...tps://astrumspace.info/rarefind&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"NASA Discovers Interstellar Comet Moving Through Solar System", via nasa.gov https://astrumspace.info/interstellar...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...rumspace.info/interstellarcomet&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"About LCO", via lco.global https://astrumspace.info/LasCumbreshttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...s://astrumspace.info/LasCumbres&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"MPEC 2025-N12 : 3I/ATLAS = C/2025 N1 (ATLAS)", via minorplanetcentre.net https://astrumspace.info/C2025N1https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://astrumspace.info/C2025N1&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"Visible and near-infrared observations of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov with the 10.4-m GTC and the 3.6-m TNG telescopes", via academic.oup.co https://astrumspace.info/Borisovhttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://astrumspace.info/Borisov&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"'Oumuamua", via nasa.gov https://astrumspace.info/Oumuamuahttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...tps://astrumspace.info/Oumuamua&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"Interstellar Objects", via arxiv.org https://astrumspace.info/interstellar...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...mspace.info/interstellarobjects&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"The Kinematic Age of 3I/ATLAS and its Implications for Early Planet Formation", via arxiv.org https://astrumspace.info/3IATLASagehttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...s://astrumspace.info/3IATLASage&v=XEggZo3SXNM
"Horizons System", via nasa.gov https://astrumspace.info/HorizonsApphttps://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...://astrumspace.info/HorizonsApp&v=XEggZo3SXNM

▀▀▀▀▀▀
Credits:
Writer: Edie Abrahams
Video Editor: Suhith
Researcher: Edie Abrahams
Script Editor: Damaris McColgan
Thumbnail Designer: Peter Sheppard
Channel Manager: Georgina Brenner
Executive Producer: Raquel Taylor
Creator of Astrum: Alex McColgan

With special thanks to:
NASA/ESO/ESA
#astrum #space #3IATLAS #Oumuamua

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about Mars!
Links:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/aucti...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...y-2/martian-meteorite-nwa-16788&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.c...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...om/doi/abs/10.1029/2024JE008637&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...com/articles/s41467-025-59395-w&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409983121&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lps...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../meetings/lpsc2025/pdf/2797.pdf&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-c...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...mars-missing-carbonate-mystery/&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev....org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt1538&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39956...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...bmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39956268/&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentr...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...cles/10.1186/s40168-025-02082-1&v=sgLgFs4o6js
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/mav...https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lps...
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../meetings/lpsc2025/pdf/2797.pdf&v=sgLgFs4o6js
Mars videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JwwKxXi_qo&pp=0gcJCR0AztywvtLA
• We Finally Know Why NASA Helicopter Broke ...

• Strange Pyramid Shape on Mars and Other In...

• Massive Ocean Hiding Inside Mars and More ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQIQd721v2o
#mars #martian #solarsystem

0:00 Martian rocks
1:30 Water discoveries
5:00 Where is water now?
6:30 Toxicity
7:02 Atmosphere - where is it?
9:05 Martian imbalance
10:00 Sputtering
11:00 Aurora
11:40 Life?
13:55 Mars in a nutshell

 

[Flyaway]

UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years

Prof Dougherty is involved in one of the most exciting space missions to date: a European Space Agency probe to the icy moons of Jupiter to assess whether they have the potential to support life.

UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years

Prof Michele Dougherty is the first woman to be appointed to the influential post.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Flyaway]

Hubble Space Telescope spots rogue planet with a little help from Einstein: 'It was a lucky break'

The particular microlensing event the team studied to reveal this new rogue world is designated OGLE-2023-BLG-0524 and was observed by Hubble on May 22, 2023, remaining buried in data from the space telescope.

"It was discovered in the direction of the Galactic bulge by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment [OGLE] survey, and independently observed by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network [KMTNet]," Mroz said. "The Einstein timescale of the event was just eight hours, making it one of the shortest microlensing events on record."

Based on the microlensing event’s properties, Mroz and colleagues were able to estimate that the lensing body object could be either a Neptune-mass planet located in the Milky Way's galactic disk, around 15,000 light-years away. Alternatively, the rogue world could be a larger but more distant Saturn-mass object in the Milky Way's galactic bulge, roughly 23,000 light-years away.

"Both scenarios are consistent with the microlensing signal we observed," Mroz said.

Hubble Space Telescope spots rogue planet with a little help from Einstein: 'It was a lucky break'

"This discovery was partly serendipity! But, we believe there are many more such opportunities hidden in Hubble data."

www.space.com

Related paper:

HST pre-imaging of a free-floating planet candidate microlensing event

High-cadence microlensing observations uncovered a population of very short-timescale microlensing events, which are believed to be caused by the population of free-floating planets (FFP) roaming the Milky Way. Unfortunately, the light curves of such events are indistinguishable from those...

arxiv.org

 

[Flyaway]

Biggest cosmic explosion on record since the Big Bang is revealing the secrets of gamma-ray bursts

Astronomers have re-examined the biggest explosion ever seen, possibly the most massive explosion since the Big Bang, to learn more about mysterious blasts of high-energy called gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

Biggest cosmic explosion on record since the Big Bang is revealing the secrets of gamma-ray bursts

It's nicknamed the "Brightest Of All Time," or the "BOAT," for good reason.

www.space.com

Related paper:

Radware Bot Manager Captcha

 

[NMaude]

Might there be "hot spots" where sub-stellar mass black holes are generated in very large supernovae, unlike a central, single black hole in smaller examples?

An asymmetric supernova results in the blackhole (Or neutron-star) getting a kick making it move in reaction by leaving the area of the supernova at high-speed.

 

[Flyaway]

Intercepting 3I/ATLAS at Its Closest Approach to Jupiter with the Rejuvenated Juno Spacecraft

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1, 2025. It is expected to arrive at a distance of 53.6 million kilometers from Jupiter on March 16, 2026.

In a new paper (accessible here) that I wrote with the brilliant Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl, we show that applying a thrust of 2.675 kilometers per second on September 14, 2025 can bring the Juno spacecraft from its orbit around Jupiter to intercept the path of 3I/ATLAS.

…

Our paper shows that applying a thrust of 2.6755 kilometers per second on September 9, 2025, can potentially bring the Juno spacecraft from its orbit around Jupiter to intercept the path of 3I/ATLAS.

Intercepting 3I/ATLAS at Its Closest Approach to Jupiter with the Rejuvenated Juno Spacecraft

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1, 2025. It is expected to arrive at a distance of 53.6 million kilometers from…

avi-loeb.medium.com

Direct link to pdf of paper in the article.

 

[NMaude]

Has Juno completed its' primary mission?

 

[Flyaway]

No Life But Lots Of Water – Latest Observations From Controversial Planet K2-18b

The new work uses JWST data to better qualify what is going on. The work confirms the presence of an ocean on this peculiar exoplanet, although it can’t confirm if there is a thick or thin atmosphere. They couldn’t find water vapor in the atmosphere, suggesting that there is an efficient cold trap, keeping evaporation to a minimum on this temperate sub-Neptune world.

Those potential biosignatures were all below the threshold for an undeniable detection, and their model suggests that a possible presence of DMS could be explained by sources unrelated to life. They advise considering more and different molecules to use as biosignatures. Astronomers are studying worlds that are very different from our own, and the chemical signatures that seem obvious here on Earth might not fit well with those exoplanets.

…

“I think it's difficult to be able to claim biosignatures in hydrogen-dominated atmospheres if the underlying chemical properties of these gases, such as their absorption strengths at different pressures, are still not well understood,” exoplanet atmosphere expert Dr Jake Taylor, from Oxford University, who was not involved in the study, told IFLScience.

No Life But Lots Of Water – Latest Observations From Controversial Planet K2-18b

This planet had been reported as sporting “biosignatures”.

www.iflscience.com

Direct link to the paper pdf in the article.

 

[Flyaway]

Has Juno completed its' primary mission?

It’s on extended mission, meant to be for another three years. However, it’s one of the missions on the chopping block as part of the heavy budget cuts to NASA.

 

[FighterJock]

Oh Help!! I would not think that NASA should cut Juno's funding if at all possible, I would rather see no cuts than cuts.

 

[publiusr]

Oh Help!! I would not think that NASA should cut Juno's funding if at all possible, I would rather see no cuts than cuts.

If Juno is on the chopping block anyway, this is a way to go out in style.
Seeing Trump and Musk are on the outs again--now might be a good time to float some kind of requirement that private space companies must fund and launch 3 NASA missions a year or not be allowed to launch anything. Democrats and Trump supporters could come together on this one. If I were Ro Khanna, I'd offer to drop the Epstein files for a science boost.

Only one decent man in the Epstein files btw:

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/rgP4qeXhBas

Perhaps space advocates can approach him?

 

[dannydale]

If I were Ro Khanna, I'd offer to drop the Epstein files for a science boost.

Absolutely F҉ ing Not.

 

[publiusr]

Trust me--I get it.

Still, an argument can be made that a wounded city mouse under the Sword of Damocles is more tractable than a bumpkin country mouse hiding sight unseen.

If Trump is Dan Halen from Squidbillies, Vance is Gomer Pyle.

 

[NMaude]

Dr. Becky has a video out about intermediate mass blackholes:

Here’s two things that we know to be true about black holes: 1) when a massive star dies and goes supernova, the core of the star collapses under gravity to form a black hole that’s heavier than 3 times heavier than the Sun. 2) There’s a supermassive black hole at the centre of every galaxy, every island of stars in our Universe. And they’re anywhere from a million to 10s of billion times heavier than the Sun. But those two facts, that we have lots of evidence to support, means that we have a gap, both a knowledge gap and a mass gap, where we don’t find any black holes between 100 to 100,000 times heavier than the Sun. The only way we know to make a black hole is through a supernova, making the smaller star mass black holes, so the supermassive ones if they start out that small need to grow slowly through that mass gap until they reach supermassive status. So why don’t we find any of these intermediate mass black holes...?​

Chang et al. (2025) - https://assets.science.nasa.gov/conte...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...-01K0T9HB0Q878FTVP923EYC7MW.pdf&v=Dr8CJAOlGVc
Farrell et al. (2009) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1001.0567https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...https://arxiv.org/pdf/1001.0567&v=Dr8CJAOlGVc
Fiorito & Titarchuk (2004) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0409416https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0409416&v=Dr8CJAOlGVc
Freire et al. (2017) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.04908https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.04908&v=Dr8CJAOlGVc
Kiziltan et al. (2017) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.02149https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.02149&v=Dr8CJAOlGVc
Ma et al. (2007) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0702012https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev.../arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0702012&v=Dr8CJAOlGVc
Titarchuk & Seifina (2016) - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1609.00780https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/pdf/1609.00780&v=Dr8CJAOlGVc

00:00 Introduction
03:57 How we find black holes
08:39 Why IMBHs are particularly hard to find
12:06 The possible candidate IMBHs that we know of
16:16 Bloopers

 

[NMaude]

Here's a recent video about Wolf-Rayet stars:

Wolf-Rayet stars are among the most extreme, violent, and short-lived objects in the known universe. These are stars that live fast and die young — burning through their fuel at unimaginable speeds, shedding their outer layers in furious stellar winds, and preparing the stage for some of the most spectacular explosions in the cosmos: supernovae and even gamma-ray bursts.​

But what makes a star become a Wolf-Rayet? How do they shape galaxies? And why are these cosmic monsters so important for understanding the ultimate fate of massive stars?​

In this video, we’ll dive deep into the lives and deaths of Wolf-Rayet stars — unraveling the science behind their chaotic existence, their breathtaking beauty, and their catastrophic endings.​

 

[Flyaway]

Sun dogs, other celestial effects could appear in alien skies

Ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere sometimes align just right to create various striking visual effects, from a halo around the moon, to bright spots called sun dogs on either side of the sun in a winter sky, or a rainbowed pillar, called a crown flash, above a storm cloud.

Similar phenomena can appear in the skies over some exoplanets of the “hot Jupiter” variety, a common type of gaseous giant that always orbits close to its host star, Cornell astronomers have found. On WASP 17b, a hot Jupiter exoplanet, 10,000 mile per hour winds could align particles in clouds made of quartz and other crystalline mineral aerosols, creating conditions in which polarizing dust could interact with starlight in the same way aligned ice crystals interact with sunlight on Earth.

Sun dogs, other celestial effects could appear in alien skies | Cornell Chronicle

Phenomena common to Earth’s atmosphere can appear in the skies over some exoplanets of the “hot Jupiter” variety, a common type of gaseous giant that always orbits close to its host star, according to new research.

news.cornell.edu

Related paper:

Radware Bot Manager Captcha

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has an update on the "Little Red Dots":

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about Little Red Dots and three found in the not so distant universe
Links:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10659
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12618https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12618&v=-oX7tfz80DU
Green peas: • Discovery of Green Pea Galaxies by JWST Ma... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u-MTgYSSI4
#littlereddot #lrd #cosmology

0:00 Little Red Dots and what we know so far
2:20 Why they are mysterious
3:40 New study suggests these could be super massive stars
7:05 Most exciting finding - local findings!
9:00 What we know so far about these objects
11:20 Conclusions and what's next?

 

[Flyaway]

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/europ...ipper-radar-instrument-proves-itself-at-mars/ [Aug 1]

 

[NMaude]

Anton Petrov has a video out about some new JWST photographs of the strange Apes star-system:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about Apep - the weird snakey star system
Links:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14610https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...ttps://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14610&v=gumi4SZZl_Y
https://theconversation.com/swirling-...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...new-webb-telescope-image-258314&v=gumi4SZZl_Y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apep_(s...)

Other videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msr0KG5YE3g
• Potentially Dangerous Spiral WR 104 Is Mor...
• Bizarre Spiderweb Objects In the Milky Way... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsetBA6um0M

• New Findings About Eta Carinae - The Stran... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsetBA6um0M

#apep #jwst #jamewebbhttps://www.youtube.com/hashtag/jamewebb

0:00 Intriguing star called Apep and why it matters
1:30 Why this star is so strange and important
5:30 Strange features of the system
6:30 New JWST observations and explanations
8:00 Modeling and implications
9:40 Conclusions

 

[Michel Van]

About 3I/ATLAS
There allot claims that 3I/ATLAS is probe/Starship
Next a angry astronaut, is the usual suspects that claim that 1I/ʻOumuamua was alien interstellar probe...
...I believe this only if 3I/ATLAS start to make curse correction to get closer to Mars and Jupiter.

Here reasonable explanation by Anton Petrov, what is 3I/ATLAS really.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gb33OpArfU&pp=ygUIM2kvYXRsYXM%3D

0:00 3I/ATLAS comet once again!
1:00 So what is this thing?
2:35 Avi Loeb's claim - aliens?!
3:40 Is there a nucleus, a coma and is this too big?
5:20 Identifiable chemicals
6:35 Smearing of the telescope
7:55 Trajectory anomaly?
9:10 Origins
10:40 Why does Avi Loeb push this narrative?
12:20 Main criticism
13:20 Why this matters
15:00 Undermining science
16:00 Detrimental to SETI
17:20 Conclusions

 

[FighterJock]

Oh Help!!! Not this nonsense again Michel Van? This claim that Oumuamua was an alien interstellar probe is old news and it will be the same thing with 3I/ATLAS.

 

[Michel Van]

Oh Help!!! Not this nonsense again Michel Van?

Ohh yes and Avi Loeb is back again...
and again at next interstellar comet they find.

 

[Flyaway]

Scott Manley’s new video:

But we can dream.... or maybe that's the nightmare scenario. It's been a month since I talked about Comet 3/I ATLAS, and my math still checks out. Intercepting this object needed some extra heads up, but it's nice to see a good analysis of the possiblity of sending Juno to fly past the comet even if it can't get close with the propellent it has left.

View: https://youtu.be/MafmhXwPgmo

 

[Michel Van]

the issue with proposal
3I/ATLAS will pass about 56 million km at Jupiter
but the inclination is higher as plane of Jupiter orbit around Sun
theoretical Jupiter can sling shot a probe to 3I/ATLAS
and Juno has not use all of it Fuel on Main engine,
however it unclear if main engine still works and there not enough fuel for star sling shot...

 

[FighterJock]

That would be a good idea Michel Van using the Juno probe to intercept 3I/ATLAS that before Juno runs out of propellant.

 

[Flyaway]

NASA's Goldstone Planetary Radar Observes Fast-Spinning Asteroid [Aug 4]

This series of 41 radar images obtained by the Deep Space Network's Goldstone Solar System Radar on July 28, 2025, shows the near-Earth asteroid 2025 OW as it made its close approach with our planet. The asteroid safely passed at about 400,000 miles (640,000 kilometers), or 1.6 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

The asteroid was discovered on July 4, 2025, by the NASA-funded Pan-STARRS2 survey telescope on Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii. These Goldstone observations suggest that 2025 OW is about 200 feet (60 meters) wide and has an irregular shape. The observations also indicate that it is rapidly spinning, completing one rotation every 1½ to 3 minutes, making it one of the fastest-spinning near-Earth asteroids that the powerful radar system has observed. The observations resolve surface features down to 12 feet (3.75 meters) wide.

Asteroids can be "spun up" by sunlight being unevenly absorbed and re-emitted across their irregular surfaces. As photons (quantum particles of light) carry a tiny amount of momentum away from the asteroid, a tiny amount of torque is applied and, over time, the asteroid's spin can increase – a phenomenon known as the YORP effect. For 2025 OW to maintain such a fast rotation without breaking apart, it may be a solid object rather than a loosely bound rubble pile like many asteroids.

The Goldstone measurements have allowed scientists to greatly reduce uncertainties in the asteroid's distance from Earth and in its future motion for many decades. This July 28 close approach is the closest asteroid 2025 OW will come to Earth for the foreseeable future.

 

[Flyaway]

Vera Rubin Image Quality and Optical Performance:

Part 1:

View: https://youtu.be/bC_uNW600oE


Part 2:

View: https://youtu.be/LPYWPqJQ7Ag


Commissioning detailed status update:

View: https://youtu.be/IbqOPkJK11I

 

[Michel Van]

Einstein was wrong ?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v74TyFFegoM

0:00 MIT revisits an iconic quantum experiment proving Einstein wrong
0:50 Dual slit experiment
3:55 Friendly debate between Einstein and Bohr
5:20 New experiment using super cold atoms
8:00 What this means
9:45 Conclusions and what's next?

 

[FighterJock]

It was only a matter of time before Einstein was proven wrong Michel Van. And Einstein did not like Quantum Physics anyway so he would not like this result.

 

[Halcyon66]

More on the above posts.

Huge interstellar object aiming at Earth 'not natural,' says scientist

NASA detected the interstellar object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, traveling through our Solar System, sparking a flurry of scientific analysis to determine its origin.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Could be an interesting Xmas

Regards,

 

[NMaude]

It turns out that ice in outer-space is stranger than previously thought and this turns out to be important, from Anton Petrov:

Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about amorphous ice discoveries
Links:
https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...act/10.1103/PhysRevB.112.024203&v=BxAvat0PD8g
Videos: • Previously Unknown Type of Water Ice Calle...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Tk4JO4Ohc
• Experimental Evidence That Water Ice Can B...

• Bizarre Form of Water Ice Solves a Magneti... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNBv_U-95SM
#amorphous #ice #space

0:00 Ice in space and amorphous solids
2:00 Phases of ice in space
3:30 Most common type of ice in the universe
4:00 Unusual discovery and how it was found
6:00 Experimental evidence using crushed water ice
7:10 Why this matters
8:40 Application to modern technology
10:15 Water is just weird
10:50 Previous discovery and implications for moons
12:50 Conclusions

 

[dannydale]

More on the above posts.

Huge interstellar object aiming at Earth 'not natural,' says scientist

NASA detected the interstellar object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, traveling through our Solar System, sparking a flurry of scientific analysis to determine its origin.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Could be an interesting Xmas

Regards,

Daily Fail, LMAO.

 

[Michel Van]

It turns out that ice in outer-space is stranger than previously thought and this turns out to be important, from Anton Petrov:

more on that strange forme of ice

Phases of ice - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org