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Keyword: astronomy

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  • Rare Alignment Gives NASA A Chance To Peer Into Uranus

    04/25/2025 9:22:55 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 47 replies
    IFL Science ^ | April 24, 2025 | Dr. Alfredo Carpineti
    Fifteen observatories across the US, Mexico, and Hawai’i looked at the planet eclipsing a star. Uranus, its rings, and some of its moons as seen by JWST. Image credit: NASA, ESA,CSA, STScI, Joseph DePasqual ************************************************************ On April 7, 2025, star HIP 16271 was occulted by Uranus. As a star, it is by no means famous. A yellow-white star in the constellation of Taurus, not bright enough to be visible to the naked eye given its distance – about 400 light-years away – but bright enough to allow astronomers to look into the atmosphere of Uranus in great detail for the...
  • First Image From Upgraded Solar Telescope Shows Sun Like Never Before

    04/25/2025 6:28:18 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 26 replies
    Study Finds ^ | April 25, 2025 | The National Solar Observatory
    A narrow-band image of the Sun at a wavelength of λ=588.9nm, that of a well known solar sodium line also known as the “NaD line.” The image was acquired during recent first light efforts with the VTF at the Inouye, and shows how precisely the structures within a sunspot are resolved. Each pixel in the original version of the image corresponds to 10 km (or 6.2 miles) on the Sun. (Credit: VTF/KIS/NSF/NSO/AURA) *********************************************************************** In a nutshell * The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope’s new Visible Tunable Filter (VTF) instrument has achieved “first light,” capturing detailed images of sunspots at an...
  • Scientists Unlock a Hidden Dimension for Light—And It Could Revolutionize Technology!

    04/24/2025 9:32:51 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 72 replies
    Daily Galaxy ^ | April 24, 2025 | Lydia Amazouz
    Scientists have discovered a groundbreaking phenomenon where light materializes from nothingness, opening the door to revolutionary advances in physics and technology. In a groundbreaking new study, researchers from the University of Rostock and the University of Birmingham have made a surprising discovery that challenges the long-held understanding of time and space in physics. Their research, recently published in Nature Photonics, reveals the existence of “space-time-topological events” where light appears to emerge from and disappear into nothingness—a phenomenon that initially seems like magic, but is grounded in deep mathematical principles. Rethinking Time and Space in Physics Time has long been considered...
  • NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Had a Weird Close Encounter During Recent Asteroid Flyby, New Images Reveal

    04/23/2025 10:59:19 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 25 replies
    The Debrief ^ | April 22, 2025 | Micah Hanks
    (Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab) NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured the most detailed images yet of an oddly shaped asteroid during its recent flyby, revealing the space object’s weird features and “strikingly complex” attributes. Lucy’s visit to the peculiar asteroid, dubbed Donaldjohanson, marked the intrepid NASA probe’s second close encounter, showcasing the object’s unusual barbell shape and offering images that provide additional clues to its unique geology. The flyby occurred on April 20, 2025, as Lucy approached to within just 600 miles of Donaldjohanson. High-resolution images of the contact binary object, which possesses two outer lobes joined by a narrow “neck,” offered...
  • Lyrid meteor shower 2025: When, where & how to see it: best time to view early morning on April 22.

    04/21/2025 8:26:06 PM PDT · by UMCRevMom@aol.com · 13 replies
    https://www.space.com ^ | 4-21-2025 | Daisy Dobrijevic
    The best time to view the Lyrids this year will be early morning on April 22. The best time to observe the Lyrids is in the predawn hours when the shower’s radiant is at its highest in the sky. However, be mindful that as the morning progresses, the radiant will continue to climb, but so will the approaching sunrise and the brightening skies, which will hinder visibility. The shower is known for its luminous dust trains which can be observed for several seconds according to NASA. The Lyrids are associated with Comet Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits the sun...
  • Earth's Magnetic Field Once Collapsed. Humans Survived. Here's How

    04/21/2025 6:44:52 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 82 replies
    Study Finds ^ | April 18, 2025 | StudyFinds Staff
    Earth's Northern Lights typically dance near the poles, but 41,000 years ago, they lit up skies over North Africa and Australia. New research reveals how dramatically Earth's magnetic field weakened and shifted during an event called the Laschamps geomagnetic excursion, potentially influencing human evolution at a pivotal moment in our history...During the Laschamps excursion, Earth's magnetic field weakened to just 10% of its current strength, while the magnetic poles shifted dramatically away from the geographic poles...Using advanced computer modeling, the research team reconstructed Earth's magnetosphere during five key periods of the excursion. At its peak around 40,977 years ago, Earth's...
  • Astronomers Discover First-Ever Lone Black Hole Drifting Through the Milky Way

    04/19/2025 9:09:16 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 29 replies
    Daily Galaxy ^ | April 19, 2025 | Lydia Amazouz
    In a landmark discovery, astronomers have confirmed the existence of a solitary stellar-mass black hole—an object with immense gravity, yet no visible companion, quietly roaming the depths of the Milky Way galaxy. Identified in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation, this black hole is believed to be around seven times more massive than our Sun and marks the first confirmed detection of a black hole not bound to another star. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal and led by Kailash C. Sahu and colleagues at the Space Telescope Science Institute, relied on more than a decade of high-precision data...
  • New ‘Spinning Universe’ Theory Could Explain a Decades-Old Cosmological Mystery

    04/19/2025 9:24:25 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 27 replies
    The Debrief ^ | April 18, 2025 | Ryan Whalen
    The entire universe may be rotating—just like its individual components, from massive galaxies to solar systems and planets—a possibility that could help explain the long-standing “Hubble tension” that has puzzled scientists for years. None of the currently accepted models of the universe account for any overall spin. Instead, they describe it as expanding uniformly in all directions. However, these models run into trouble with the so-called Hubble tension, a discrepancy where different methods of measuring the universe’s expansion yield conflicting results. “To paraphrase the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, who famously said ‘Panta Rhei’—everything moves—we thought that perhaps Panta Kykloutai—everything...
  • NASA’s Perseverance Rover Is Investigating a Mysterious Dark Stone of “Uncertain” Origin

    04/18/2025 12:31:22 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 43 replies
    The Debrief ^ | April 18, 2025 | Micah Hanks
    NASA’s Perseverance rover has made a mysterious discovery during its exploration of Jezero Crater: a dark-colored stone with unusual features that “may have originated from elsewhere.” The unexpected discovery, which the Perseverance team has dubbed “Skull Hill,” was made last week while the intrepid rover continued its descent down the lower part of Witch Hazel Hill along the crater’s rim. At one point, the rover stopped at the boundary between a pair of distinct rock outcrops of contrasting coloration that were first revealed in orbital imagery of the crater. The intriguing location, which the Perseverance team had nicknamed “Port Anson,”...
  • Planet Found Orbiting Two Stars at a Perfect 90-Degree Angle

    04/18/2025 6:36:49 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 27 replies
    Scitech Daily ^ | April 16, 2025 | European Southern Observatory (ESO)
    A strange new planet has been found circling two stars at a right angle — like something out of sci-fi. It’s the first solid evidence of a so-called polar orbit around a binary system. Credit: SciTechDaily.com *************************************************************************** Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have discovered a truly bizarre planet — one that orbits two stars at a perfect 90-degree angle. This “polar planet” circles a rare eclipsing pair of brown dwarfs, making it the first confirmed world with this kind of alignment. It was a surprising and accidental find, defying expectations and proving that planet formation in extreme orbital setups...
  • Scientists detect signature of life on a distant planet, study suggests

    04/17/2025 3:17:37 PM PDT · by hardspunned · 48 replies
    CNN ^ | 4/17/25 | Ashley Strickland
    A team of astronomers have detected what they call the most promising signs to date of a possible biosignature, or signs of past or present life linked to biological activity, on an exoplanet named K2-18b. But the study authors, and other experts, remain cautious and have not declared a definitive discovery of life beyond our planet. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, the team detected chemical fingerprints within the atmosphere of K2-18b that suggest the presence of dimethyl sulfide or DMS, and potentially dimethyl disulfide or DMDS. On Earth, both molecules are only produced by microbial life, typically marine phytoplankton....
  • Astronomers Detect ‘Strongest Indication Yet’ of Life on Exoplanet 120 Light-Years From Earth

    04/17/2025 9:38:23 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 39 replies
    Gateway Pundit ^ | April 17, 2025 | Ben Kew
    Scientists may be getting closer than ever to answering the question of whether we are alone in the universe. According to The New York Times, a team of astronomers now claims to have found the strongest indication yet for extraterrestrial life. The location in question is a giant planet known as K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away. Repeated analyses of the planet’s atmosphere have found a high concentration of a molecule that, on Earth, is produced exclusively by living organisms like marine algae. “It is in no one’s interest to claim prematurely that we have detected life,” said...
  • Astronomers detect a possible signature of life on a distant planet

    04/16/2025 7:27:48 PM PDT · by Coronal · 36 replies
    Seattle Times ^ | April 16, 2025 | Carl Zimmer
    The search for life beyond Earth has led scientists to explore many suggestive mysteries, from plumes of methane on Mars to clouds of phosphine gas on Venus. But as far as we can tell, Earth’s inhabitants remain alone in the cosmos. Now a team of researchers is offering what it contends is the strongest indication yet of extraterrestrial life, not in our solar system but on a massive planet, known as K2-18b, that orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth. A repeated analysis of the exoplanet’s atmosphere suggests an abundance of a molecule that on Earth has only one known...
  • Clues of alien life discovered 120 light years from Earth as scientists detect ocean-covered planet 'teeming with organisms'

    04/16/2025 6:12:34 PM PDT · by fruser1 · 93 replies
    UK Daily Mail ^ | 4/16/2025 | Xantha Leatham
    Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have identified the chemical fingerprints dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) – molecules that indicate life. Here on Earth, these molecules are only produced by living organisms – primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton. The molecules have been detected in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b, which is located around 124 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Leo.
  • Spitzer's eyes perfect for spotting diamonds in the sky

    02/26/2008 7:52:41 PM PST · by NormsRevenge · 12 replies · 184+ views
    SpaceFlightNow.com ^ | 2/26/08 | NASA/JPL
    Diamonds may be rare on Earth, but surprisingly common in space -- and the super-sensitive infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are perfect for scouting them, say scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Using computer simulations, researchers have developed a strategy for finding diamonds in space that are only a nanometer (a billionth of a meter) in size. These gems are about 25,000 times smaller than a grain of sand, much too small for an engagement ring. But astronomers believe that these tiny particles could provide valuable insights into how carbon-rich molecules, the basis...
  • Webb Captures a Planet’s Final Plunge Into Its Star – And It Wasn’t What Scientists Expected

    04/15/2025 5:50:02 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 39 replies
    Scitech Daily ^ | April 15, 2025 | Space Telescope Science Institute
    A dramatic twist in cosmic storytelling: A Jupiter-sized planet didn’t get swallowed by an expanding red giant, as astronomers once believed. Instead, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope uncovered that the planet spiraled inward over time, ultimately plunging into its star in a fiery cosmic demise. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI) ********************************************************************** Lingering Brightness Provides Evidence for How the Planet Met Its Demise Each year, scientists from around the world compete for a chance to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Proposals go through a rigorous review process, and approved projects are added to Webb’s observation schedule, which is...
  • Sleeping Black Hole Erupts in Real Time – Blasting Out Record-Breaking X-Rays

    04/14/2025 6:11:42 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 30 replies
    Scitech Daily ^ | April 14, 2025 | European Space Agency (ESA)
    This artist’s impression illustrates the mechanism that could be at the origin of the powerful bursts of X-ray light seen from a newly awakened black hole named Ansky. Credit: ESA A mysterious black hole in a distant galaxy just woke up after decades of silence—and it’s putting on a cosmic light show! **************************************************************************** ESA’s XMM-Newton and other X-ray telescopes are capturing massive bursts of energy known as quasiperiodic eruptions (QPEs) that defy current theories. Unlike anything seen before, these powerful flashes may be rewriting the rulebook on how black holes behave, evolve, and interact with their surroundings. XMM-Newton Observes Rare...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - An Unusual Hole in Mars

    04/13/2025 12:25:01 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 24 replies
    NASA ^ | 13 Apr, 2025 | Image Credit: NASA, MRO, HiRISE, JPL, U. Arizona
    Explanation: What created this unusual hole in Mars? Actually, there are numerous holes pictured in this Swiss cheese-like landscape, with all-but-one of them showing a dusty, dark, Martian terrain beneath evaporating, light, carbon dioxide ice. The most unusual hole is on the upper right, spans about 100 meters, and seems to punch through to a lower level. Why this hole exists and why it is surrounded by a circular crater remains a topic of speculation, although a leading hypothesis is that it was created by a meteor impact. Holes such as this are of particular interest because they might be...
  • A Day on Uranus Just Got Longer

    04/08/2025 12:25:48 PM PDT · by rdl6989 · 29 replies
    newsweek ^ | Apr 08, 2025 | Ian Randall
    Astronomers have just revealed that a day on Uranus is longer than was previously thought, at 17 hours, 14 minutes and 52 seconds. This is 28 seconds longer than the previous estimate, which was made by NASA's Voyager 2 probe during its flyby of the ice giant planet back in 1986. The new figure—which is 1,000 times more accurate—was calculated based on a decade's worth of observations of Uranus's aurorae made by NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope. The long-term data on the planet's auroral emissions enabled the researchers to track the positions of the planet's magnetic poles and, by extension, its...
  • NASA warns asteroid now has 4% chance of striking the MOON in 2032

    04/07/2025 7:25:56 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 42 replies
    endtimeheadlines.org ^ | April 07, 2025 | Staff
    In a rare announcement that has captured the attention of scientists and the public alike, NASA has issued a warning about an asteroid with a 4% chance of striking the Moon in 2032. The news, which has stirred both intrigue and concern, highlights the ongoing efforts to monitor near-Earth objects (NEOs) and assess potential threats to our planet and its natural satellite. Astronomers tentatively designated the asteroid 2025-XF47. NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program first detected it earlier this year. According to a statement from the agency, widely reported by outlets like CNN and BBC News, the object measures approximately 150...