https://phys.org/space-news/ en-us The latest science news on astronomy, astrobiology, and space exploration from Phys.org. An international team has spotted a remote blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond. This 'fast radio burst' (FRB) is the most distant ever detected. Its source was pinned down by the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in a galaxy so far away that its light took 8 billion years to reach us. The FRB is also one of the most energetic ever observed; in a tiny fraction of a second it released the equivalent of our sun's total emission over 30 years. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-astronomers-distant-fast-radio-date.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Oct 2023 14:00:01 EDT news616926269 Jupiter has some of the most conspicuous atmospheric features in our solar system. The planet's Great Red Spot, large enough to envelop Earth, is nearly as well known as some of the various rivers and mountains on the planet we call home. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-webb-feature-jupiter-atmosphere.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Thu, 19 Oct 2023 12:13:04 EDT news616936382 An international team of researchers led by Dutch Ph.D. candidate Mark Snelders (ASTRON and University of Amsterdam) has discovered radio pulses from the distant universe that last only millionths of a second. They found these microsecond bursts after a meticulous examination of archival data from a known millisecond source. It's unclear how the ultrafast bursts are created. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-astronomers-telescope-archive-microsecond-duration.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Oct 2023 11:00:02 EDT news616670681 New observations have confirmed a key step in the process of star formation: a rotating "cosmic wind" made of molecules, which is vitally important for collapsing gas clouds to contract sufficiently so as to form a hot, dense young star. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-important-star-formation.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Oct 2023 10:47:04 EDT news616931220 Using various spacecraft and ground-based observatories, an international team of astronomers has performed a multi-wavelength study of a cataclysmic variable system known as Swift J0503.7-2819. Results of the study, published October 11 on the pre-print server arXiv, deliver important insights into the nature of this system. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-cataclysmic-variable-swift-j05037-.html Astronomy Thu, 19 Oct 2023 10:30:01 EDT news616929620 Astronomers have created a detailed atlas of almost 400,000 galaxies in our cosmic neighborhood. The Siena Galaxy Atlas was compiled using data from NSF's NOIRLab telescopes, and is designed to be the preeminent digital galaxy atlas for large galaxies. It's a treasure trove of information for researchers investigating everything from galaxy formation and evolution to dark matter and gravitational waves. It's also freely available online for the public to explore. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-space-precisely-nearby-galaxies.html Astronomy Wed, 18 Oct 2023 15:59:28 EDT news616863564 A team of astronomers and astrophysicists from INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 5, Universidad Diego Portales, the University of Exeter and Sorbonne Université has found evidence that gas giants may be more common than thought in some parts of the galaxy. In their study, reported in the journal Nature Communications, the group analyzed the mass and movement of 30 stars in the Beta Pictoris Moving Group. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-gas-giants-common-thought-galaxy.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:50:01 EDT news616844198 Using India's AstroSat spacecraft, astronomers have observed a magnetar known as SGR J1830–0645 during its recent bursting activity. Results of the observational campaign, published October 6 on the preprint server arXiv and accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, shed more light on the properties and behavior of this object. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-magnetar-sgr-j18300645-astrosat.html Astronomy Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:40:01 EDT news616844167 An advanced new three-dimensional (3D) computer simulation of the light emitted following a merger of two neutron stars has produced a similar sequence of spectroscopic features to an observed kilonova. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-simulating-three-dimensional-morphology-kilonovae.html Astronomy Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:38:51 EDT news616844328 Astronomers are one step closer to understanding one of the most enduring solar mysteries, having captured unprecedented data from the sun's magnetic field. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-patterns-sun-layers-scientists-solar.html Astronomy Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:36:47 EDT news616844204 A small team of political scientists and astronomers at the University of British Columbia has conducted a study of the number of filings to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by entities wishing to send satellites into low orbit and has found the numbers growing so fast that soon there will not be room for new satellite deployments. In their paper is published in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-itu-tighten-orbit-satellites.html Space Exploration Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:35:51 EDT news616844137 A landmark discovery by a collaborative team led by the Planetary Science Institute's Alexis Rodriguez has unveiled evidence of sedimentary plains created by aquifer drainage within Martian collapse formations termed chaotic terrains. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-biosignatures-ancient-mars-mud-lake.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:29:03 EDT news616843741 Spider pulsars are a subclass of millisecond pulsar binary systems with low mass companions in short-period orbits. In spider pulsars, the pulsar wind and electromagnetic emission ablate and may destroy the companion. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-magnetic-field-eclipse-medium-spider.html Astronomy Wed, 18 Oct 2023 08:29:30 EDT news616836568 Astronomers report the discovery of a new ultrastripped supernova in the galaxy UGC 3855. The supernova was detected using the Half Meter Telescope (HMT) at the Xingming Observatory in China. The finding was detailed in a paper published October 7 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-astronomers-discovery-closest-ultrastripped-supernova.html Astronomy Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:10:01 EDT news616755925 A global team of scientists have announced the results of an unprecedented collaboration to search for the source of the largest ever seismic event recorded on Mars. The study, led by the University of Oxford, rules out a meteorite impact, suggesting instead that the quake was the result of enormous tectonic forces within Mars' crust. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-international-team-reveals-source-largest.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 17 Oct 2023 09:01:03 EDT news616752061 The Space Age is leaving fingerprints on one of the most remote parts of the planet—the stratosphere—which has potential implications for climate, the ozone layer and the continued habitability of Earth. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-signatures-space-age-spacecraft-metals.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 16 Oct 2023 15:00:01 EDT news616679367 One of the most exciting findings from NASA's Dawn mission is that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, hosts complex organics. The discovery of aliphatic molecules, which consist of carbon and hydrogen chains, in conjunction with evidence that Ceres has abundant water ice and may have been an ocean world, means this dwarf planet might have once harbored the main ingredients associated with life as we know it. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-hypervelocity-impact-probe-dwarf-planet.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 16 Oct 2023 12:07:46 EDT news616676863 Researchers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have detected evidence for quartz nanocrystals in the high-altitude clouds of WASP-17 b, a hot Jupiter exoplanet 1,300 light-years from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-webb-quartz-crystals-clouds-hot.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:01:03 EDT news616672861 A research team led by Dr. Zhang Jujia from Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Wang Xiaofeng from Tsinghua University has revealed the stellar mass violently ejected from a progenitor at the end of its life by observing the once-in-a-decade supernova SN 2023ixf. Such mass loss processes can provide essential information for understanding the final evolution of a massive star. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-reveals-violent-material-ejection-dying.html Astronomy Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:24:23 EDT news616670661 China is building a new neutrino detector named TRIDENT, the Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope. They're building it in the South China Sea, near the equator. This next-generation neutrino telescope will feature improved sensitivity and should help clear up the mystery around cosmic rays and their origins. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-china-site-trident-neutrino-detector.html Astronomy Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:12:56 EDT news616669969 Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, an international team of astronomers has observed a Galactic globular cluster known as NGC 6522. As a result, they have discovered two new isolated pulsars in this cluster. The finding is reported in a paper published October 5 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-pulsars-globular-cluster-ngc.html Astronomy Mon, 16 Oct 2023 09:01:51 EDT news616665709 First came the darkening skies, then the crescent-shaped shadows on the ground, and finally an eruption of cheers by crowds that gathered Saturday along the narrow path of a rare "ring of fire" eclipse of the sun. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-eclipse-americas-shouts-joy.html Space Exploration Sat, 14 Oct 2023 17:07:16 EDT news616522028 After spending more than a year in space, Frank Rubio now has to get used to that pesky thing Earthlings call gravity. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-astronaut-earth-record-setting-days-space.html Space Exploration Sat, 14 Oct 2023 05:11:38 EDT news616479091 A fully automated process, including a brand-new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, has successfully detected, identified and classified its first supernova. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-supernova-ai.html Astronomy Fri, 13 Oct 2023 12:40:55 EDT news616419649 NASA's Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-nasa-spacecraft-mysterious-rare-metal.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Fri, 13 Oct 2023 10:28:08 EDT news616411682 It's a world like no other: a metal-rich asteroid that could be the remnants of a small planet, or perhaps an entirely new type of celestial body unknown to science. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-nasa-journey-metal-rich-asteroid.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 12 Oct 2023 15:53:44 EDT news616344819 Research led by the University of Hertfordshire has revealed the dramatic history of Andromeda, our nearest neighboring galaxy. Using state-of-the-art modeling, Professor Chiaki Kobayashi and a team of international astrophysicists have determined details about the galaxy's history through galactic archaeology—an approach that examines the chemical composition of stars and the development of their host galaxy, to reconstruct its past. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-galactic-archaeology-uncovers-history-next-door.html Astronomy Thu, 12 Oct 2023 14:29:41 EDT news616339778 A trio of astrophysicists, two from Carnegie Mellon University and the third from Bahamas Advanced Study Institute and Conferences, is proposing a new theory to explain the unique lensing seen with Abell 3827—a galaxy cluster approximately 1.3 billion light-years away. In their paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Joyce Lin, Richard Griffiths and Jenny Wagner, describe their new theory and explain how it might help better understand the nature of dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-theory-abell-hazy-askew-gravitationally.html Astronomy Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:22:04 EDT news616328522 It may be possible to create paved roads and landing pads on the moon by using lasers to melt lunar soil into a more solid, layered substance, reports a proof-of-concept study in Scientific Reports. Although these experiments were carried out on Earth using a substitute for lunar dust, these findings demonstrate the viability of the technique and suggest it could be replicated on the moon. However, further work may be needed to refine the process, according to the authors. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-small-lunar-roads-potentially-giant.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:00:01 EDT news616320072 Showers in bathrooms bring us comfort; showers from space bring astrophysicists joy. Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have observed, with their novel method, cosmic-ray extensive air showers with unprecedented precision, opening the door to new insights into the universe's most energetic particles. When a high energy cosmic ray collides with the Earth's atmosphere, it generates an enormous number of particles known as an extensive air shower. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-lens-universe-energetic-particles.html Astronomy Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:57:03 EDT news616323421