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Astronomical News

Lobeydosser said:
What some of the clever "boffins" at my work are up to (I just fix the computers) -
https://www.strath.ac.uk/whystrathc...hersadvancespacequantumtechnologyontwofronts/
We have the UK space agency and the head of the Japanese Space agency (Jaxa) all coming out to for a chinwag on Monday, I'll post anything I am able that looks interesting.
Meanwhile I'll take the chance to plug the new building where I'm based most of the time-
https://www.strath.ac.uk/whystrathc...gthewayforthefutureofmanufacturinginscotland/
We are right next to Glasgow Airport and hard to miss with the "Heather" coloured roof, about half of the building will be open to the public so watch for interesting events coming up, especially related to space and aviation.
Click to expand...
Sounds interesting!
 
From The Guardian:

Two-faced star with helium and hydrogen sides baffles astronomers

White dwarf nicknamed Janus could be in transition from one element dominating at its surface to the other

Astronomers have discovered a two-faced star and are baffled by its bizarre appearance.

The white dwarf appears to have one side composed almost entirely of hydrogen and the other side made up of helium. It is the first time that astronomers have discovered a lone star that appears to have spontaneously developed two contrasting faces.


“The surface of the white dwarf completely changes from one side to the other,” said Dr Ilaria Caiazzo, an astrophysicist at Caltech who led the work. “When I show the observations to people, they are blown away.”

The object, which is more than 1,000 light years away in the Cygnus constellation, has been nicknamed Janus, after the two-faced Roman god of transition, although its formal scientific name is ZTF J1901+1458. It was initially discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), an instrument that scans the skies every night from Caltech’s Palomar Observatory near San Diego.

Caiazzo was searching for white dwarfs and one candidate star stood out due to its rapid changes in brightness. Further observations revealed that Janus was rotating on its axis every 15 minutes. Spectrometry measurements, which give the chemical fingerprints of a star, showed that one side of the object contained almost entirely hydrogen and the other almost entirely helium.

If seen up close, both sides of the star would be bluish in colour and have a similar brightness, but the helium side would have a grainy, patchwork appearance like that of our own sun, while the hydrogen side would appear smooth.
 
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SimonBurchell said:
From The Guardian:

Two-faced star with helium and hydrogen sides baffles astronomers

White dwarf nicknamed Janus could be in transition from one element dominating at its surface to the other

Astronomers have discovered a two-faced star and are baffled by its bizarre appearance.

The white dwarf appears to have one side composed almost entirely of hydrogen and the other side made up of helium. It is the first time that astronomers have discovered a lone star that appears to have spontaneously developed two contrasting faces.


“The surface of the white dwarf completely changes from one side to the other,” said Dr Ilaria Caiazzo, an astrophysicist at Caltech who led the work. “When I show the observations to people, they are blown away.”

The object, which is more than 1,000 light years away in the Cygnus constellation, has been nicknamed Janus, after the two-faced Roman god of transition, although its formal scientific name is ZTF J1901+1458. It was initially discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), an instrument that scans the skies every night from Caltech’s Palomar Observatory near San Diego.

Caiazzo was searching for white dwarfs and one candidate star stood out due to its rapid changes in brightness. Further observations revealed that Janus was rotating on its axis every 15 minutes. Spectrometry measurements, which give the chemical fingerprints of a star, showed that one side of the object contained almost entirely hydrogen and the other almost entirely helium.

If seen up close, both sides of the star would be bluish in colour and have a similar brightness, but the helium side would have a grainy, patchwork appearance like that of our own sun, while the hydrogen side would appear smooth.
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Looks like something within the interior of the star is having an effect only on one side of it's outer surface, which is changing it's appearance?
 
Cosmic question mark?

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-question-mark-galaxy-photo
-----------------------------------
"It is probably a distant galaxy, or potentially interacting galaxies (their interactions may have caused the distorted question mark-shape)," representatives of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which manages JWST's science operations, told Space.com.

According to STScI, the object's red color in the JWST image tells scientists that the object, whatever it may be, is quite distant. Even more exciting, this might be the first time astronomers have seen the cosmic question mark.

"This may be the first time we've seen this particular object," STScI added. "Additional follow-up would be required to figure out what it is with any certainty. Webb is showing us many new, distant galaxies — so there's a lot of new science to be done!"

2023_08_01_21_10_38_Cosmic_Question_Mark_Spotted_in_Deep_Space.jpg
 
There’s a nice short doco on the Webb tele on Netflix. Can’t recall the title but it’s Worth a bo peep.
 
kamalktk said:
Cosmic question mark?

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-question-mark-galaxy-photo
-----------------------------------
"It is probably a distant galaxy, or potentially interacting galaxies (their interactions may have caused the distorted question mark-shape)," representatives of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which manages JWST's science operations, told Space.com.

According to STScI, the object's red color in the JWST image tells scientists that the object, whatever it may be, is quite distant. Even more exciting, this might be the first time astronomers have seen the cosmic question mark.

"This may be the first time we've seen this particular object," STScI added. "Additional follow-up would be required to figure out what it is with any certainty. Webb is showing us many new, distant galaxies — so there's a lot of new science to be done!"

View attachment 68345
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Maybe it's a light source which does not adhere, or conform to spherical forms, but instead is a random form caused by when 'dark space' as we think of it, alters with unknown affects way out there?
 
There is a similar crescent shape to the right of the ? bit without the "dot" at the bottom looks like a U or C twisted round. I wonder whether the "dot" on the ? is a line of sight effect and the crescent/half eaten pie is something else?

No one's mentioned all the asterisks in the picture :evillaugh:
 
Bad news for attempts to change the course of asteroids...

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/planetary-defense-nasa-dart-mission-asteroid

Planetary defense test deflected an asteroid but unleashed a boulder swarm

UCLA-led study of NASA’s DART mission determines that the strategy presents previously unanticipated risks

In September 2022, NASA deliberately slammed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos to knock it slightly off course. NASA’s objective was to evaluate whether the strategy could be used to protect Earth in the event that an asteroid was headed toward our planet.

A new study led by UCLA astronomer David Jewitt found that the collision had an unintended consequence: It launched a cloud of boulders from its surface. And, as the paper notes, smaller rocks flying off into space could create their own problems.
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'Once-in-a-lifetime' event as newly found comet to be visible to naked eye

001eb318-800.jpg


People will, next week, have a "rare and exciting opportunity" to see a comet with the naked eye in a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, according to astronomers.

Comet Nishimura was discovered only in August but will be closest to Earth in a week's time — just before dawn on Tuesday 12 September.

More on this from RTE News.
 

Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway world​

Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope may have discovered tentative evidence of a sign of life on a faraway planet.
It may have detected a molecule called dimethyl sulphide (DMS). On Earth, at least, this is only produced by life.
The researchers stress that the detection on the planet 120 light years away is "not robust" and more data is needed to confirm its presence.
Researchers have also detected methane and CO2 in the planet's atmosphere.
Detection of these gases could mean the planet, named K2-18b, has a water ocean.
Prof Nikku Madhusudhan, of the University of Cambridge, who led the research, told BBC News that his entire team were ''shocked'' when they saw the results.

"On Earth, DMS is only produced by life. The bulk of it in Earth's atmosphere is emitted from phytoplankton in marine environments," he said.

From BBC News.
 
This seems a little bit dubious, since there is probably no solid surface on the planet for abiogenesis to occur. But there are many possible explanations for this biogenic compound, including life arriving via panspermia. Or it could just be a false positive.
Anyway, here's a hycean-type warm-water-world which I made earlier today for Celestia, inspired by this article.
hycean3.jpg
 
Quite interesting discovery, from the BBC:

James Webb telescope makes 'JuMBO' discovery of planet-like objects in Orion
Jupiter-sized "planets" free-floating in space, unconnected to any star, have been spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

What's intriguing about the discovery is that these objects appear to be moving in pairs. Astronomers are currently struggling to explain them.

The telescope observed about 20 pairs in a fabulously detailed new survey of the famous Orion Nebula.

They've been nicknamed Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or "JuMBOs" for short.

One possibility is that these objects grew out of regions in the nebula where the density of material was insufficient to make fully fledged stars.

Another possibility is that they were made around stars and were then kicked out into interstellar space through various interactions.

"The ejection hypothesis is the favoured one at the moment," said Prof Mark McCaughrean.

"Gas physics suggests you shouldn't be able to make objects with the mass of Jupiter on their own, and we know single planets can get kicked out from star systems. But how do you kick out pairs of these things together? Right now, we don't have an answer. It's one for the theoreticians," the European Space Agency's (Esa) senior science adviser told BBC News.
 
SimonBurchell said:
Quite interesting discovery, from the BBC:

James Webb telescope makes 'JuMBO' discovery of planet-like objects in Orion
Jupiter-sized "planets" free-floating in space, unconnected to any star, have been spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

What's intriguing about the discovery is that these objects appear to be moving in pairs. Astronomers are currently struggling to explain them.

The telescope observed about 20 pairs in a fabulously detailed new survey of the famous Orion Nebula.

They've been nicknamed Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or "JuMBOs" for short.

One possibility is that these objects grew out of regions in the nebula where the density of material was insufficient to make fully fledged stars.

Another possibility is that they were made around stars and were then kicked out into interstellar space through various interactions.

"The ejection hypothesis is the favoured one at the moment," said Prof Mark McCaughrean.

"Gas physics suggests you shouldn't be able to make objects with the mass of Jupiter on their own, and we know single planets can get kicked out from star systems. But how do you kick out pairs of these things together? Right now, we don't have an answer. It's one for the theoreticians," the European Space Agency's (Esa) senior science adviser told BBC News.
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More from the Guardian:

Discovery of ‘Jumbos’ may herald new astronomical category

Jupiter-mass binary objects floating freely in Orion Nebula appear to defy usual definition of planets
 
The US has given out its first ever fine for space junk!

US issues first ever fine for space junk to Dish Network​

The US government has issued its first ever fine to a company for leaving space junk orbiting the Earth.
The Federal Communications Commission fined Dish Network $150,000 (£125,000) for failing to move an old satellite far enough away from others in use.
The company admitted liability over its EchoStar-7 satellite and agreed to a "compliance plan" with the FCC.
Space junk is made up bits of tech that are in orbit around the Earth but are no longer in use, and risk collisions.
Officially called space debris, it includes things like old satellites and parts of spacecraft.
The FCC said that Dish's satellite posed a potential risk to other satellites orbiting the Earth at its current altitude.

Dish's EchoStar-7 - which was first launched in 2002 - was in geostationary orbit, which starts at 22,000 miles (36,000km) above the Earth's surface.
Dish was meant to move the satellite 186 miles further from Earth, but at the end of its life in 2022 had moved it only 76 miles after it lost fuel.

Via BBC News
 
First look at Bennu samples.
Osiris-Rex: Nasa reveals first look at 'beautiful' asteroid sample
Published
2 hours ago


Nasa says it has an "abundance of sample" from asteroid Bennu
Jonathan Amos, Science correspondent
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
@BBCAmos
"It's beautiful, it really is - certainly what we've seen of it so far," said Dr Ashley King.

The UK scientist was in a select group to put first eyes and instruments on the rocky samples that have just been brought back from asteroid Bennu.

The materials, scooped up by a US space agency (Nasa) mission and returned to Earth 17 days ago, are currently being examined in a special lab in Texas.

"We've confirmed we went to the right asteroid," Dr King told BBC News.

The three-day analysis by the Natural History Museum (NHM) expert and five others on the "Quick Look" team showed the black, extraterrestrial powder to be rich in carbon and water-laden minerals.
Click to expand...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67078632
 
Ascalon said:
The US has given out its first ever fine for space junk!

US issues first ever fine for space junk to Dish Network​

The US government has issued its first ever fine to a company for leaving space junk orbiting the Earth.
The Federal Communications Commission fined Dish Network $150,000 (£125,000) for failing to move an old satellite far enough away from others in use.
The company admitted liability over its EchoStar-7 satellite and agreed to a "compliance plan" with the FCC.
Space junk is made up bits of tech that are in orbit around the Earth but are no longer in use, and risk collisions.
Officially called space debris, it includes things like old satellites and parts of spacecraft.
The FCC said that Dish's satellite posed a potential risk to other satellites orbiting the Earth at its current altitude.

Dish's EchoStar-7 - which was first launched in 2002 - was in geostationary orbit, which starts at 22,000 miles (36,000km) above the Earth's surface.
Dish was meant to move the satellite 186 miles further from Earth, but at the end of its life in 2022 had moved it only 76 miles after it lost fuel.

Via BBC News
Click to expand...
I cant find the cost of building and launching echostar-7, but I'm betting that fine was both completely inconsequential with respect to the system's cost, and less than the cost to de-orbit it properly.
 
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