https://phys.org/space-news/astronomy en-us The latest science news on astronomy, space, and astrophysics. Astronomers have discovered a rare in-sync solar system with six planets moving like a grand cosmic orchestra, untouched by outside forces since their birth billions of years ago. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-six-planet-solar-synchrony-milky.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Sun, 03 Dec 2023 08:20:01 EST news620536497 The universe is expanding. How fast it does so is described by the so-called Hubble-Lemaitre constant. But there is a dispute about how big this constant actually is: Different measurement methods provide contradictory values. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-explanation-hubble-tension.html Astronomy Sat, 02 Dec 2023 09:20:01 EST news620655654 Imagine you're a farmer searching for eggs in the chicken coop—but instead of a chicken egg, you find an ostrich egg, much larger than anything a chicken could lay. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-massive-planet-big-sun-astronomers.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Sat, 02 Dec 2023 08:10:01 EST news620640245 It first appeared as a glowing blob from ground-based telescopes and then vanished completely in images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Now, the ghostly object has reappeared as a faint, yet distinct galaxy in an image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). https://phys.org/news/2023-12-ghostlike-dusty-galaxy-reappears-james.html Astronomy Fri, 01 Dec 2023 15:18:24 EST news620666297 When the Vera C. Rubin Observatory comes online in 2025, it will be one of the most powerful tools available to astronomers, capturing huge portions of the sky every night with its 8.4-meter mirror and 3.2-gigapixel camera. Each image will be analyzed within 60 seconds, alerting astronomers to transient events like supernovae. An incredible 5 petabytes (5,000 terabytes) of new raw images will be recorded each year and made available for astronomers to study. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-vera-rubin-telescope-generate-mind-boggling.html Astronomy Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:56:33 EST news620650589 Our search for life beyond Earth is still in its infancy. We're focused on Mars and, to a lesser extent, ocean moons like Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus. Should we extend our search to cover more unlikely places like molecular clouds? https://phys.org/news/2023-12-life-molecular-clouds.html Astronomy Astrobiology Fri, 01 Dec 2023 09:06:40 EST news620643997 One of the biggest mysteries in cosmology is the rate at which the universe is expanding. This can be predicted using the standard model of cosmology, also known as Lambda-cold dark matter (ΛCDM). This model is based on detailed observations of the light left over from the Big Bang—the so-called cosmic microwave background (CMB). https://phys.org/news/2023-12-giant-void-puzzle-universe-expansion.html Astronomy Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:03:56 EST news620640233 In early November of this year, aurora borealis were observed at surprisingly low latitudes, as far south as Italy and Texas. Such phenomena indicate the impacts of a solar coronal mass ejection on the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. Far more dramatic than this recent light show was, it was nothing compared to a huge solar storm in February 1872. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-largest-magnetic-storms-history-quantified.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:00:04 EST news620593201 A new study develops a theory of how magnetic switchbacks are formed around the sun. This quantitative model can be used to predict magnetic field variations and potentially explain the heating and acceleration of the solar wind. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-theory-magnetic-switchbacks-solar.html Astronomy Space Exploration Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:42:04 EST news620581322 Most NASA missions feature one spacecraft or, occasionally, a few. The agency's Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) uses half a dozen. This month, mission members completed the construction of the six identical cereal box-size satellites, which will now go into storage and await their final testing and ride to space. SunRISE will launch as a rideshare aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket, sponsored by the United States Space Force (USSF)'s Space Systems Command (SSC). https://phys.org/news/2023-11-nasa-pack-mini-satellites-ready-moment.html Astronomy Space Exploration Thu, 30 Nov 2023 13:18:23 EST news620572701 Density turbulence in the solar corona and solar wind is evident via the properties of solar radio bursts; angular scattering-broadening of extra-solar radio sources observed through the solar atmosphere, and can be measured in-situ in the solar wind. A viable density turbulence model should simultaneously explain all three types of density fluctuation observations. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-anisotropic-density-turbulence-sun-au.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:57:52 EST news620571468 A group of dead stars known as "spider pulsars" are obliterating companion stars within their reach. Data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory of the globular cluster Omega Centauri is helping astronomers understand how these spider pulsars prey on their stellar companions. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-chandra-spider-pulsars-destroying-nearby.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:56:34 EST news620571392 NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency's Hubble Space Telescope after it entered safe mode Nov. 23 due to an ongoing gyroscope (gyro) issue. Hubble's instruments are stable, and the telescope is in good health. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-nasa-hubble-space-telescope-science.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:26:03 EST news620569562 An international team of astronomers have used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to provide the first observation of water and other molecules in the inner, rocky-planet-forming regions of a disk in one of the most extreme environments in our galaxy. These results suggest that the conditions for rocky-planet formation, typically found in the disks of low-mass star-forming regions, can also occur in massive-star-forming regions and possibly a broader range of environments. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-webb-reveals-rocky-planets-extreme.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:59:24 EST news620567961 Three astronomers from the Netherlands have proven that gas that was previously heated near a supermassive black hole flowed to the outskirts of the galaxy and cooled down, moving back towards the black hole. While there had been indirect evidence for this theory, this is the first time that the cooled gas moving toward the black hole has actually been observed. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-dutch-astronomers-piece-gas-feedback-feeding.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620483258 A cornerstone but surprising prediction arising from Einstein's theory of general relativity is the existence of black holes, which astronomers later found to be widespread throughout the universe. Key characteristics of black holes include their masses and their "spin"—they rotate even though they have no actual surface, with an event horizon that defines where light cannot escape. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-unveiling-black-hole-polarized-radio.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:58:04 EST news620564282 Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, astronomers from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville, Virginia, and elsewhere have investigated a batch of 36 high latitude supernova remnants. Results of the observations campaign, published Nov. 20 on the pre-print server arXiv, deliver important insights into the properties of these remnants. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-astronomers-supernova-remnants-meerkat.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:10:02 EST news620560719 To their surprise, an international team of researchers has discovered a giant and extremely faint stream of stars between galaxies. While streams are already known in our own galaxy and in nearby galaxies, this is the first time that a stream running between galaxies has been observed. It is the largest stream detected to date. The astronomers have published their findings in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-astronomers-giant-stream-stars-galaxies.html Astronomy Thu, 30 Nov 2023 04:00:01 EST news620491933 Those readers who have dabbled with astronomical imaging will be familiar with the technique of taking multiple images and then stacking them together to improve the strength of the signal, yielding better images. Taking this technique further many research projects require data of the same object spanning longer time frames than a night's observing. This data is usually captured from different locations and under different conditions. The problem has been matching the observations across all these survey runs. Researchers have shared a new approach to calculate if separate images of the same object will yield additional signals or just generate useless noise. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-telescopes-didnt-play-nicely.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:52:03 EST news620495521 Cutting-edge computer simulations combined with theoretical calculations are helping astronomers better understand the origin of some of the universe's most energetic and mysterious light shows—gamma-ray bursts, or GRBs. The new unified model confirms that some long-lasting GRBs are created in the aftermath of cosmic mergers that spawn an infant black hole surrounded by a giant disk of natal material. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-astrophysics-additional-source-gamma-ray.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Nov 2023 14:19:03 EST news620489941 Observations during a stellar occultation detected the presence of evolving material orbiting around Centaur (2060) Chiron, rather than a two-ring system interpretation, according to a paper by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Amanda Sickafoose. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-evolving-material-circling-centaur-chiron.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:52:44 EST news620484761 For nearly fifty years, astronomers have come up empty-handed in their search for stars within the sprawling structure known as the Magellanic Stream. A colossal ribbon of gas, the Magellanic Stream spans nearly 300 moon diameters across the Southern Hemisphere's sky, trailing behind the Magellanic Cloud galaxies, two of our Milky Way galaxy's closest cosmic neighbors. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-distant-stars-vast-magellanic-stream.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:52:04 EST news620481121 An international team of astronomers led by Durham University and including astronomers at the UK Astronomy Technology Center has reported the first detection of a rotating disk structure around a forming high-mass star outside of our Milky Way in another galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-astronomers-extragalactic-circumstellar-disk-massive.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620476146 An international team of astronomers has inspected a low-mass X-ray binary system known as GX 339-4. Results of the study, reported in a paper published Nov. 21 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the high-frequency bump observed in the power density spectrum of GX 339−4 and provide more insights into the properties of this system. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-high-frequency-x-ray-binary-gx-.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Nov 2023 10:26:42 EST news620475999 A study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, reports new findings in the performance test for simultaneous photometric redshift and stellar population parameter estimation of galaxies in the China Space Station Telescope (CSST) wide-field multiband imaging survey. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-sophisticated-bayesian-spectral-energy-synthesis.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Nov 2023 10:24:04 EST news620475841 This new Picture of the Month from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope reveals intricate details of the Herbig Haro object 797 (HH 797). Herbig-Haro objects are luminous regions surrounding newborn stars (known as protostars), and are formed when stellar winds or jets of gas spewing from these newborn stars form shockwaves colliding with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-webb-captures-prominent-protostar-perseus.html Astronomy Wed, 29 Nov 2023 03:24:58 EST news620450696 Researchers at the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India at IISER Kolkata have discovered a new relationship between the sun's magnetic field and its sunspot cycle, that can help predict when the peak in solar activity will occur. Their work indicates that the maximum intensity of solar cycle 25, the ongoing sunspot cycle, is imminent and likely to occur within a year. The new research appears in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-solar-peak-year.html Astronomy Tue, 28 Nov 2023 14:51:03 EST news620405461 Ripples in a pond can be captivating on a nice sunny day as can ripples in the very fabric of space, although the latter are a little harder to observe. Using the highly tuned Gaia probe, a team of astronomers proposes in a paper posted to arXiv preprint server that it might just be possible to detect gravitational waves through the disturbance they impart on the movement of asteroids in our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-gaia-background-gravitational-universe.html Astronomy Tue, 28 Nov 2023 13:24:02 EST news620400241 Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, orbits in the outer solar system, about two billion miles (3.2 billion kilometers) from Earth. It is an enormous world—quadruple the diameter of Earth, with 15 times the mass and 63 times the volume. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-unwrapping-uranus-icy-secrets-nasa.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Tue, 28 Nov 2023 12:06:03 EST news620395561 The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), in conjunction with the international Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration, announce the discovery of nearly 300 gamma ray pulsars in the publication of their Third Catalog of Gamma Ray Pulsars. This milestone comes 15 years after the launch of Fermi in 2008 when there were fewer than ten known gamma-ray pulsars. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-gamma-ray-pulsar-milestone-astrophysics-applications.html Astronomy Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:52:04 EST news620391121