Astronomy

Are humanoid robots the future of space exploration? New Scientist reporter James Woodford took NASA's Valkyrie for a spin to find out

The Arrhenius equation, which has accurately described rates of chemical reactions for more than a century, may have to be tweaked for the quantum realm

The Arrhenius equation, which has accurately described rates of chemical reactions for more than a century, may have to be tweaked for the quantum realm

The highly anticipated "Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2" came out today (Sept. 9). Get hyped for the new game by checking out this brutal new launch trailer.

Organisms on Earth living deep underground or at the bottom of the sea may give us an idea what alien life without a circadian rhythm could be like.

Levels of certain cells, fatty molecules and proteins in the blood are different in people with chronic fatigue syndrome than in those without it, which could help doctors spot the condition sooner

Levels of certain cells, fatty molecules and proteins in the blood are different in people with chronic fatigue syndrome than in those without it, which could help doctors spot the condition sooner

X-ray videos of Japanese eels swallowed whole by dark sleeper fish have revealed how the eels can make a daring escape from being digested

X-ray videos of Japanese eels swallowed whole by dark sleeper fish have revealed how the eels can make a daring escape from being digested

Forget atomic clocks. Nuclear clocks, which only drop a second every 300 billion years, can test whether nature's fundamental constants are constant after all

Forget atomic clocks. Nuclear clocks, which only drop a second every 300 billion years, can test whether nature's fundamental constants are constant after all

iss071e522460 (Aug. 20, 2024) --- The dome-shaped Brandburg Massif, near the Atlantic coast of central Namibia, containing Brandberg Mountain, the African nation's highest peak and ancient rock paintings going back at least 2,000 years, is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above.

Exoplanets have been discovered with a wide range of environmental conditions. WASP-76b is one of the most extreme with a dayside temperature of over 2,000 degrees. A team of researchers have found that it’s even more bizarre than first thought! It’s tidally locked to its host star so intense winds encircle the planet. They contain high quantities of iron atoms that stream from the lower to upper layers around the atmosphere.

Exoplanets exist outside of our Solar System and orbit other stars. The first confirmed discovery was back in the 1990’s and since then, over 5,200 have been discovered. Many of them are gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn and others are small rocky Earth like planets, minus perhaps their habitability status. As more advanced telescopes and detection techniques are developed not only will our detection levels increase further but so will our ability to explore these alien worlds. 

Artist impression of glory on exoplanet WASP-76b. Credit: ESA

One such exoplanet, WASP-76b has received quite a lot of attention of late. It is an ultra-hot gas giant that is 640 light years from us in the direction of the constellation Pisces. It was discovered back in 2013 and has an orbit that is very close to its host star, completing one orbit in just 1.8 Earth days! It’s the proximity to the star that has led to the extreme daytime temperatures of over 2,000 degrees. The intense heat is thought to vaporise iron which then condenses into liquid on the cooler night-time side and fall as iron rain! 

A team of astronomers, with some from the University of Geneva, announced their findings in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics of evidence for intense iron winds in the atmosphere of WASP-76b. Astronomers have been focussing on this planet since its discovery to try and understand the mechanisms in the atmosphere of this ultra-hot Jupiter world. It really is a fascinating world and even a rainbow was detected there last April! 

The team kept their attention on the day-time side where the temperatures are far higher. They used the ESPRESSO spectrograph that was installed on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (yes that’s its name!) It is known for its stability and high spectral resolution so it can discern wonderfully fine levels of detail in a stellar spectrum. 

The four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory complex. ESO/VLT

Using a technique known as high resolution emission spectroscopy, the team studied the visible light spectrum. The approach relies upon the detection of emission lines in a spectrum and enables the chemical composition to be decoded. Here they detected the chemical signature of iron and found that they were moving from lower levels to the higher layers of the atmosphere.

The study of exoplanet atmospheres help us to further develop our understanding of the range of environments on these alien worlds. As a gas giant, the discoveries on WASP-76b help us learn a little more about the climates of worlds that are barraged by extreme levels of radiation from their host star.

Source : Iron winds on an ultra-hot exoplanet

The post Iron Winds are Blowing on WASP-76 b appeared first on Universe Today.

A camera trap at an Australian nature refuge has captured a boisterous interaction between a northern hairy-nosed wombat and an echidna

A camera trap at an Australian nature refuge has captured a boisterous interaction between a northern hairy-nosed wombat and an echidna

"It's now a part of mainstream astrophysics."

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From the original series to the modern day, we've ranked all the Transformers animated TV series from worst to best.