Astronomy

A report found data privacy problems with the vast majority of 30 companies that sell neurotechnology devices to consumers. New US state laws aim to change that

A report found data privacy problems with the vast majority of 30 companies that sell neurotechnology devices to consumers. New US state laws aim to change that

A declaration signed by dozens of scientists says there is “a realistic possibility” for elements of consciousness in reptiles, insects and mollusks

Gamma-ray bursts are the universe's most powerful explosions, generating more energy in seconds than the sun will in billions of years — and scientists are slowly learning more about these eruptions.

Four years after a mysterious respiratory virus jumped from animals into humans and launched the COVID pandemic, wary epidemiologists are keeping a close eye on a strain of avian influenza that is spreading among U.S. dairy cows

A joint investment by the Australian federal government and the government of Queensland makes PsiQuantum one of the largest dedicated quantum computing firms in the world

A joint investment by the Australian federal government and the government of Queensland makes PsiQuantum one of the largest dedicated quantum computing firms in the world

India’s space agency has been remarkably successful in recent years, growing the country’s prestige on the global stage – and the 2024 election is unlikely to change that

India’s space agency has been remarkably successful in recent years, growing the country’s prestige on the global stage – and the 2024 election is unlikely to change that

SpaceX's Starship will make space-based solar power cheaper than nuclear, gas and coal-based electricity generation, start-up Virtus Solis believes.

A new book by Penn and Kim Holderness seeks to correct misconceptions about ADHD and accentuate the plus side of the condition

As the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, climate policy decisions taken by India will shape the fate of the entire world. But can it continue to develop its economy while keeping carbon dioxide down?

As the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, climate policy decisions taken by India will shape the fate of the entire world. But can it continue to develop its economy while keeping carbon dioxide down?

On 9 January 2024, the Einstein probe was launched, its mission to study the night sky in X-rays. The first image from the probe that explores the Universe in these energetic wavelengths has just been released. It shows Puppis A, the supernova remnant from a massive star that exploded 4,000 years ago. The image showed the expanding cloud of ejecta from the explosion but now, Einstein will continue to scan the skies for other X-ray events. 

The Chinese and European probe was designed to revolutionise our understanding of the Universe in X-rays. Named after none other than Albert Einstein, it houses cutting edge technology that will enable the observation of black holes, neutron stars and other events and phenomena emitting X-ray radiation. To achieve this it has two science instruments on board; the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) to give large field views of the sky and the Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT) which homes in on objects of interest identified by WXT.

The Einstein probe has three main questions it hopes to address focusing on black holes, gravity waves and supernovae. The recent image just released shows the stunning Puppis A supernova remnant. Supernova are a common process that takes place at the end of a massive star’s life. A star like the Sun is fusing hydrogen in its core into helium. The process is known as thermonuclear fusion and it releases heat, light and an outward pressure known as the thermonuclear force. While a star is stable, the thermonuclear force balances the force of gravity which is trying to collapse the star. 

Massive stars will continue fusing different elements in the core until an iron core remains. It’s not possible to fuse iron so the thermonuclear force ceases allowing gravity to win. the core collapses and the inward rushing material crashes down onto the core and rebounds into a massive explosion known as a supernova. 

Puppis A is one such object that is thought to have exploded 4,000 years ago. It lies about 7,000 light years from us which means the light that the radiation detected by the Einstein probe left about 7,000 years ago. 

In the image released from Einstein, the cloud like structure is all that remains of the star that went supernova. It is possible to see a bright dot at the centre of the cloud, this is the core of the star that remains, a neutron star. The FXT image was accompanied by a spectrum to show the distribution of energy to help understand the elements present. 

Source : Supernova remnant Puppis A imaged by Einstein Probe

The post First Light from Einstein Probe: A Supernova Remnant appeared first on Universe Today.

What created this giant X in the clouds?

The hypothetical ninth planet may be slingshotting Oort Cloud objects onto orbits that come closer to the sun than Neptune does.

Anyone familiar with astronomy will know that galaxies come in a fairly limited range of shapes, typically; spiral, elliptical, barred-spiral and irregular. The barred-spiral galaxy has been known to be a feature of the modern universe but a study from astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope has recently challenged that view. Following on observations using the James Webb Space Telescope has found the bar feature in some spiral galaxies as early as 11 billion years ago suggesting galaxies evolved faster in the early Universe than previously expected. 

Our own Galaxy, the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy with a central nucleus and spiral arms emanating out from the centre. Our Solar System lies about 25,000 light years from the centre. Look at the galaxies in the sky though and you will see a real mix but generally they fall under the four main categories. Edwin Hubble tried to bring some structure to the different shapes by developing his galaxy classification scheme to articulate not only the shape but also the sub categories within them. 

This research published in Nature is the first direct confirmation that supermassive black holes are capable of shutting down galaxies

It has been known for some time that galaxies aren’t static. They move and they evolve and change. Spiral galaxies for example, as they age, they often develop a bar feature. The bar joins up the spiral arms instead of a nucleus connecting them and it is believed they are temporary, forming when a build of gas creates a burst of star formation. 

The existence of a bar in a spiral galaxy suggests that the galaxy is fairly stable. Understanding just how the bar feature forms is key to understanding the evolutionary process of the galaxy itself. All previous observations showed that the appearance of the bar significantly reduces from the nearby Universe to redshifts near a value of one. This tells us that the bar seemed to be a modern feature and not present in the early Universe. 

The barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300. Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

In a new paper by lead author Zoe A Le Conte, observations from the more sensitive James Webb Space Telescope report that galaxies to greater redshift are studied for bar features. Data is used from the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey and the observations from the Public Release Imaging for Extragalactic Research studies. Only the galaxies that also appear in the Cosmic Assembly Near Infra Red Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey are used giving a sample of 368 face on galaxies. 

The team visually searched through the 368 galaxy selection to classify and identify those with bars between redshifts 1 and 2 and then repeated the exercise for those between redshift 2 and 3. As expected, the fraction of bars reduced from around 17.8% between a red shift of 1 and 2 down to 13.8% at the greater red shift of 2 to 3. 

The study revealed that JWST’s infra-red sensitivity picked up twice as many barred-spiral galaxies than the HST’s more blue sensitive imaging platform. Le Conte and her team conclude that the evolution of bars in spiral galaxies began to appear at a much earlier epoch, around 11 billion years ago. 

Source : A JWST investigation into the bar fraction at redshifts 1 ? z ? 3

The post Galaxies Evolved Surprisingly Quickly in the Early Universe appeared first on Universe Today.

NASA picked a crew of four volunteers to undergo a simulation of life on Mars. The project will begin on May 10.

With its "mighty mast," NASA's Polar Exploration Rover dubbed VIPER continues to be prepped for its mission to the moon slated for late 2024.

How old is that star? That planet? That nebula? Figuring out the ages of astronomical objects is surprisingly challenging. Fortunately, astronomers have developed a series of techniques they can use to work out the ages of stuff.

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