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Today, ESA’s Euclid space mission releases five unprecedented new views of the Universe. The never-before-seen images demonstrate Euclid’s ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos and enable scientists to hunt for rogue planets, use lensed galaxies to study mysterious matter, and explore the evolution of the Universe.

Boeing is now targeting June 1 for the first-ever crewed launch of its Starliner capsule, a test flight that will send two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

The warm El Niño pattern in the Pacific Ocean combined with global warming and other factors to create the hottest year on record – and this year may not be any cooler

The warm El Niño pattern in the Pacific Ocean combined with global warming and other factors to create the hottest year on record – and this year may not be any cooler

The Full Flower Moon will be in the Scorpius constellation tonight (May 23), rising in the southeast just after sunset.

Autonomous and AI-enabled systems increasingly rely on optical and radio frequency sensors and significant computer power. They face growing vulnerabilities from directed-energy laser and microwave weapons

This beginner-friendly telescope from Celestron is on offer for under $200 now that it has a $40 discount.

The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope has taken images of galaxies, galaxy clusters and newborn stars in unprecedented detail

The European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope has taken images of galaxies, galaxy clusters and newborn stars in unprecedented detail

A first-of-a-kind AI system enables a person with paralysis to communicate in two languages

Video: 00:07:21

ESA is releasing a new set of full-colour images captured by the space telescope Euclid.

Five new portraits of our cosmos were captured during Euclid’s early observations phase, each revealing amazing new science. Euclid’s ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos is something you will not want to miss. 

A fun, affordable, portable and intuitively designed smart telescope for imaging galaxies, the sun and the moon.

Male proboscis monkeys use their enormous noses to make loud trumpeting sounds, and the organ’s size advertises their health and status to prospective mates and rivals

Male proboscis monkeys use their enormous noses to make loud trumpeting sounds, and the organ’s size advertises their health and status to prospective mates and rivals

A new set of images has been released from Europe's "dark universe detective" Euclid, and they show that the space telescope is set to change the game for astronomy.

I love the concept of a ‘puffy’ planet! The exoplanets discovered that fall into this category are typically the same size of Jupiter but 1/10th the mass! They tend to orbit their host star at close in orbits and are hot but one has been found that is different from the normal. This Neptune-mass exoplanet has been thought to be cooler but still have a lower density. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recently discovered that tidal energy from its elliptical orbit keeps its interior churning and puffs it out. 

WASP-107b is more than three quarters the volume of Jupiter but, like most fluffy planets, is one-tenth the mass making it one of the least dense planets known. Its unusual property however is that whilst most puffy planets are hot, WASP-107b is relatively cool. This goes against initial observations which had also suggested, due to its mass, radius and age it was thought to have a small rock core with a hydrogen and helium rich atmosphere.

Recent observations of this exoplanet by the JWST revealed far less methane in the atmosphere than expected. The orientation of the orbit making it edge on to us means we can study the planet’s atmosphere by examining the light from the star as it passes through the gas. This technique known as transmission spectroscopy can be used to identify the signatures of gasses in the star’s spectrum. Using JWSTs Near-Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument and data from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, the abundances of methane, water vapour, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and ammonia could be revealed.

Artist impression of the James Webb Space Telescope

Not only did this reveal the lack of methane but also provided evidence that hot gas from lower altitudes was mixing with cooler gas layers from higher up. One of the properties of methane is that it is unstable at high temperatures and, beyond 1200 degrees the bonds between hydrogen and carbon breakdown. This is not the case with other carbon based molecules suggesting the higher temperature.  It suggests that the interior of the planet must be hotter than thought with a more massive core than expected. It’s thanks to JWST’s higher level of sensitivity that the mystery looks like it may finally have been solved.

The team, led by Luis Welbanks from Arizona State University (ASU) explored a number of possibilities. First that it had more mass in its core than first expected. If this was true then the atmosphere is likely to have contracted as the planet cooled. In time and, without a source of heat to give the atmosphere energy and cause it to expand, the planet should be much smaller than observed. Even though the planet orbits the star at a distance of of just over 8 million kilometres it still does not get enough energy to drive the inflation of the atmosphere. 

One theory is that the higher internal temperatures are generated by tidal heating. In just the same way that the gravitational force of Jupiter causes tidal heating on Io, the highly elliptical orbit of WASP-107b could be the answer. As the planet swings by the host star in its non-circular orbit it is squished and squashed providing a source of heat. 

Understanding the source of heat on WASP-107b has helped the team learn more about the properties and processes. Knowing how much energy is there helps to determine the proportions of other elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur. Calculating this helps to determine the mass of the core  which, according to the recent studies reveal is twice as massive as originally estimated.

Source : Webb Cracks Case of Inflated Exoplanet

The post Webb Explains a Puffy Planet appeared first on Universe Today.

Image: An iceberg roughly the size of the Isle of Wight has broken off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica on 20 May.

New survey data estimates that 7.1 million children in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD at some point, about 1 million more kids than had been diagnosed as of 2016

New survey data estimates that 7.1 million children in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD at some point, about 1 million more kids than had been diagnosed as of 2016

It’s been 20 years in the making, but a 3200-megapixel camera built especially for astrophysics discoveries has finally arrived at its home. The Legacy of Space and Time (LSST) camera was delivered to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile in mid-May, 2024.

The camera traveled from its construction lab at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The technical crew outfitted it with specialized data loggers, monitors, and GPS attached to track the conditions of its trip. Then they put it into a specially built container and the whole assemblage made the trip from San Francisco airport to Santiago on the 14th of May via a chartered flight. Once in Chile, it traveled up to the site for five hours up a 35-kilometer dirt road. It arrived on the 16th, completing a huge step toward opening the Rubin Observatory, according to construction project manager. “Getting the camera to the summit was the last major piece in the puzzle,” he said. “With all Rubin’s components physically on-site, we’re on the home stretch towards transformative science with the LSST.”

This video documents the journey of the LSST Camera from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California to Rubin Observatory on the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile. The camera arrived on the summit on 16 May 2024. Credit:RubinObs/NSF/AURA/S. Deppe/O. Bonin, T. Lange, M. Lopez, J. Orrell (SLAC National Lab)

The LSST Camera is the final major component of Rubin Observatory’s Simonyi Survey Telescope to arrive at the summit. It’s about the size of a small car. Inside, its focal plane contains 189 CCD sensors arranged on an array of “rafts”. The sensors deliver a combined 3200-megapixel view.

Now that it has arrived, the camera undergoes several months of testing in the observatory’s white room. After that, it goes on the Simonyi Survey Telescope, with its newly-coated 8.4-meter mirror and 3.4-meter secondary mirror.

About the Vera Rubin Observatory

This unique observatory is named after astronomer Vera C. Rubin. Her work focused on the mysterious “dark matter” that seems to permeate the Universe. Along with her team, she studied dozens of galaxies to understand what was influencing their motions. It turned out to be dark matter. The search for dark matter and its existence throughout the Universe is one of the main goals of the observatory that now bears her name.

Understanding the distribution of dark matter is where the LSST Camera will come in handy. For one thing, it will spend a decade taking images of the sky each night, performing a massive survey that will provide a complete image of the visible sky every 3-4 mights. Each area it images will be about the size of 40 full moons and the survey will take advantage of the 8.4-meter telescope moving quickly between imaging positions. In full operation, the Observatory will deliver a 500-petabyte set of images and data products about the sky.

The complete focal plane of the future LSST Camera is more than 2 feet wide and contains 189 individual sensors that will produce 3,200-megapixel images. Crews at SLAC have now taken the first images with it. (Jacqueline Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

Not only will the Rubin Observatory perform this unprecedented survey in very high resolution, but will also track objects that change in brightness—called “transients.” That includes supernovae, variable stars, mergers of dense objects such as neutron stars or black holes, and other quickly changing events and objects. In addition, it will track asteroids and other objects that wander through the Solar System.

The formation and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy is another research area for telescope users. Rubin should be able to track stellar streams throughout the Galaxy and chart their paths. That information could give precious insight into just how our Galaxy formed and how stars from cannibalized galaxies move through it.

What’s Next for Vera Rubin Observatory and the LSST Camera

Once the LSST Camera got delivered to the Cerro Pachón site, technicians moved it into an immense white room. That’s a controlled environment that protects the instrument while they work to get it ready for installation on the telescope. They inspected the camera and downloaded data about the “ride” from the U.S. to Chile from all the instruments attached to it. “Our goal was to make sure the camera not only survived, but arrived in perfect condition,” said Kevin Reil, Observatory Scientist at Rubin. “Initial indications—including the data collected by the data loggers, accelerometers, and shock sensors—suggest we were successful.”

View of Rubin Observatory at sunset in December 2023. The 8.4-meter telescope at Rubin Observatory, equipped with the highest-resolution digital camera in the world, will take enormous images of the southern hemisphere sky, covering the entire sky every few nights. Rubin will do this over and over for 10 years, creating a timelapse view of the Universe. Image Credit: RubinObs/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand

The observatory is still in the final stages of construction. The telescope is in place, and other instruments and infrastructure are being finalized. It should all be ready for “first light” and the beginning of science operations sometime in 2025. Between now and then, more parts of the telescope and its mirrors should be installed, and there will be tests of various other instruments both on and off the sky as scientists get ready to start using Rubin next year. Once observations begin, astronomers using Rubin could discover around 17 billion stars and ~20 billion galaxies in the distant Universe.

For More Information

LSST Camera Arrives at Rubin Observatory in Chile, Paving the Way for Cosmic Exploration
Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The post The Largest Camera Ever Built Arrives at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory appeared first on Universe Today.