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Can the Computer for an Interstellar Mission Stay Sane?
Generation starships may be the only way humans travel to other stars. These hypothetical spacecraft would travel at sub-light speed and take generations to reach their destination. Over the hundreds or even thousands of years, generations of human beings would be born, live, and then die on these ships. Even if that awkward arrangement could be made to work, how would everything else function for so long? What about the spacecraft? What about the AI?
Do we have free will? Quantum experiments may soon reveal the answer
Do we have free will? Quantum experiments may soon reveal the answer
Eccentric ‘Star’ Defies Easy Explanation, NASA’s Chandra Finds
Scientists have discovered a star behaving like no other seen before, giving fresh clues about the origin of a new class of mysterious objects.
As described in our press release, a team of astronomers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the SKA [Square Kilometer Array] Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope on Wajarri Country in Australia to study the antics of the discovered object, known as ASKAP J1832−0911 (ASKAP J1832 for short).
ASKAP J1832 belongs to a class of objects called “long period radio transients” discovered in 2022 that vary in radio wave intensity in a regular way over tens of minutes. This is thousands of times longer than the length of the repeated variations seen in pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that have repeated variations multiple times a second. ASKAP J1832 cycles in radio wave intensity every 44 minutes, placing it into this category of long period radio transients.
Using Chandra, the team discovered that ASKAP J1832 is also regularly varying in X-rays every 44 minutes. This is the first time that such an X-ray signal has been found in a long period radio transient.
In this composite image, X-rays from Chandra (blue) have been combined with infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (cyan, light blue, teal and orange), and radio from LOFAR (red). An inset shows a more detailed view of the immediate area around this unusual object in X-ray and radio light.
A wide field image of ASKAP J1832 in X-ray, radio, and infrared light.X-ray: NASA/CXC/ICRAR, Curtin Univ./Z. Wang et al.; Infrared: NASA/JPL/CalTech/IPAC; Radio: SARAO/MeerKAT; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
Using Chandra and the SKA Pathfinder, a team of astronomers found that ASKAP J1832 also dropped off in X-rays and radio waves dramatically over the course of six months. This combination of the 44-minute cycle in X-rays and radio waves in addition to the months-long changes is unlike anything astronomers have seen in the Milky Way galaxy.
A close-up image of ASKAP J1832 in X-ray and radio light.X-ray: NASA/CXC/ICRAR, Curtin Univ./Z. Wang et al.; Radio: SARAO/MeerKAT; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk
The research team argues that ASKAP J1832 is unlikely to be a pulsar or a neutron star pulling material from a companion star because its properties do not match the typical intensities of radio and X-ray signals of those objects. Some of ASKAP J1832’s properties could be explained by a neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field, called a magnetar, with an age of more than half a million years. However, other features of ASKAP J1832 — such as its bright and variable radio emission — are difficult to explain for such a relatively old magnetar.
On the sky, ASKAP J1832 appears to lie within a supernova remnant, the remains of an exploded star, which often contain a neutron star formed by the supernova. However, the research team determined that the proximity is probably a coincidence and two are not associated with each other, encouraging them to consider the possibility that ASKAP J1832 does not contain a neutron star. They concluded that an isolated white dwarf does not explain the data but that a white dwarf star with a companion star might. However, it would require the strongest magnetic field ever known for a white dwarf in our galaxy.
A paper by Ziteng Wang (Curtin University in Australia) and collaborators describing these results appears in the journal Nature. Another team led by Di Li from Tsinghua University in China independently discovered this source using the DAocheng Radio Telescope and submitted their paper to the arXiv on the same day as the team led by Dr Wang. They did not report the X-ray behavior described here.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryLearn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
Visual Description:
This release features two composite images of a mysterious object, possibly an unusual neutron star or white dwarf, residing near the edge of a supernova remnant. The object, known as ASKAP J1832, has been intriguing astronomers from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder radio telescope with its antics and bizarre behavior.
Astronomers have discovered that ASKAP J1832 cycles in radio wave intensity every 44 minutes. This is thousands of times longer than pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that have repeated variations multiple times a second. Using Chandra, the team discovered that the object is also regularly varying in X-rays every 44 minutes. This is the first time such an X-ray signal has been found in a long period radio transient like ASKAP J1832.
In the primary composite image of this release, the curious object is shown in the context of the supernova remnant and nearby gas clouds. Radio data is red and and X-ray sources seen with Chandra are in dark blue. The supernova remnant is the large, wispy, red oval ring occupying the lower right of the image. The curious object sits inside this ring, to our right of center; a tiny purple speck in a sea of colorful specks. The gas cloud shows infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and resembles a mottled green, teal blue, and golden orange cloud occupying our upper left half of the square image.
The second, close-up image shows a view of the immediate area around ASKAP J1832. In this composite image, infrared data from Spitzer has been removed, eliminating the mottled cloud and most of the colorful background specks. Here, near the inside edge of the hazy red ring, the curious object resembles a bright white dot with a hot pink outer edge, set against the blackness of space. Upon close inspection, the hot pink outer edge is revealed to have three faint spikes emanating from the surface.
The primary and close-up images are presented both unadorned, and with labels, including fine white circles identifying ASKAP J1832.
News Media ContactMegan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
The stately and inclined spiral galaxy NGC 3511 is the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble…
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Eccentric ‘Star’ Defies Easy Explanation, NASA’s Chandra Finds
Scientists have discovered a star behaving like no other seen before, giving fresh clues about the origin of a new class of mysterious objects.
As described in our press release, a team of astronomers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the SKA [Square Kilometer Array] Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope on Wajarri Country in Australia to study the antics of the discovered object, known as ASKAP J1832−0911 (ASKAP J1832 for short).
ASKAP J1832 belongs to a class of objects called “long period radio transients” discovered in 2022 that vary in radio wave intensity in a regular way over tens of minutes. This is thousands of times longer than the length of the repeated variations seen in pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that have repeated variations multiple times a second. ASKAP J1832 cycles in radio wave intensity every 44 minutes, placing it into this category of long period radio transients.
Using Chandra, the team discovered that ASKAP J1832 is also regularly varying in X-rays every 44 minutes. This is the first time that such an X-ray signal has been found in a long period radio transient.
In this composite image, X-rays from Chandra (blue) have been combined with infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (cyan, light blue, teal and orange), and radio from LOFAR (red). An inset shows a more detailed view of the immediate area around this unusual object in X-ray and radio light.
A wide field image of ASKAP J1832 in X-ray, radio, and infrared light.X-ray: NASA/CXC/ICRAR, Curtin Univ./Z. Wang et al.; Infrared: NASA/JPL/CalTech/IPAC; Radio: SARAO/MeerKAT; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. WolkUsing Chandra and the SKA Pathfinder, a team of astronomers found that ASKAP J1832 also dropped off in X-rays and radio waves dramatically over the course of six months. This combination of the 44-minute cycle in X-rays and radio waves in addition to the months-long changes is unlike anything astronomers have seen in the Milky Way galaxy.
A close-up image of ASKAP J1832 in X-ray and radio light.X-ray: NASA/CXC/ICRAR, Curtin Univ./Z. Wang et al.; Radio: SARAO/MeerKAT; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. WolkThe research team argues that ASKAP J1832 is unlikely to be a pulsar or a neutron star pulling material from a companion star because its properties do not match the typical intensities of radio and X-ray signals of those objects. Some of ASKAP J1832’s properties could be explained by a neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field, called a magnetar, with an age of more than half a million years. However, other features of ASKAP J1832 — such as its bright and variable radio emission — are difficult to explain for such a relatively old magnetar.
On the sky, ASKAP J1832 appears to lie within a supernova remnant, the remains of an exploded star, which often contain a neutron star formed by the supernova. However, the research team determined that the proximity is probably a coincidence and two are not associated with each other, encouraging them to consider the possibility that ASKAP J1832 does not contain a neutron star. They concluded that an isolated white dwarf does not explain the data but that a white dwarf star with a companion star might. However, it would require the strongest magnetic field ever known for a white dwarf in our galaxy.
A paper by Ziteng Wang (Curtin University in Australia) and collaborators describing these results appears in the journal Nature. Another team led by Di Li from Tsinghua University in China independently discovered this source using the DAocheng Radio Telescope and submitted their paper to the arXiv on the same day as the team led by Dr Wang. They did not report the X-ray behavior described here.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryLearn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
Visual Description:
This release features two composite images of a mysterious object, possibly an unusual neutron star or white dwarf, residing near the edge of a supernova remnant. The object, known as ASKAP J1832, has been intriguing astronomers from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder radio telescope with its antics and bizarre behavior.
Astronomers have discovered that ASKAP J1832 cycles in radio wave intensity every 44 minutes. This is thousands of times longer than pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that have repeated variations multiple times a second. Using Chandra, the team discovered that the object is also regularly varying in X-rays every 44 minutes. This is the first time such an X-ray signal has been found in a long period radio transient like ASKAP J1832.
In the primary composite image of this release, the curious object is shown in the context of the supernova remnant and nearby gas clouds. Radio data is red and and X-ray sources seen with Chandra are in dark blue. The supernova remnant is the large, wispy, red oval ring occupying the lower right of the image. The curious object sits inside this ring, to our right of center; a tiny purple speck in a sea of colorful specks. The gas cloud shows infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and resembles a mottled green, teal blue, and golden orange cloud occupying our upper left half of the square image.
The second, close-up image shows a view of the immediate area around ASKAP J1832. In this composite image, infrared data from Spitzer has been removed, eliminating the mottled cloud and most of the colorful background specks. Here, near the inside edge of the hazy red ring, the curious object resembles a bright white dot with a hot pink outer edge, set against the blackness of space. Upon close inspection, the hot pink outer edge is revealed to have three faint spikes emanating from the surface.
The primary and close-up images are presented both unadorned, and with labels, including fine white circles identifying ASKAP J1832.
News Media ContactMegan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
The stately and inclined spiral galaxy NGC 3511 is the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble…
Article 7 days ago 2 min read How Big is Space? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode: 61 Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAUniverse
IXPE
StarsAstronomers estimate that the universe could contain up to one septillion stars – that’s a one followed by 24 zeros.…
Solar System
Elon Musk’s AI Chatbot Grok Is Reciting Climate Denial Talking Points
The latest version of Grok, the chatbot created by Elon Musk’s xAI, is promoting fringe climate viewpoints in a way it hasn’t done before, observers say
Astronomers discover mystery cosmic body bursting with X-rays: 'This object is unlike anything we have seen before'
How Do We Do Research in Zero Gravity? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 62
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)How do we do research in zero gravity?
Actually when astronauts do experiments on the International Space Station, for instance, to environment on organisms, that environment is actually technically called microgravity. That is, things feel weightless, but we’re still under the influence of Earth’s gravity.
Now, the very microgravity that we’re trying to study up there can make experiments actually really kind of difficult for a bunch of different reasons.
First of all, stuff floats. So losing things in the ISS is a very real possibility. For example,
there was a set of tomatoes that was harvested in 2022 put it in a bag and it floated away and we couldn’t find it for eight months.
So to prevent this kind of thing from happening, we use a lot of different methods, such as using enclosed experiment spaces like glove boxes and glove bags. We use a lot of Velcro to stick stuff to.
Another issue is bubbles in liquids. So, on Earth, bubbles float up, in space they don’t float up, they’ll interfere with optical measurements or stop up your microfluidics. So space experiment equipment often includes contraptions for stopping or blocking or trapping bubbles.
A third issue is convection. So on Earth, gravity drives a process of gas mixing called convection and that helps circulate air. But without that in microgravity we worry about some of our experimental organisms and whether they’re going to get the fresh air that they need. So we might do things like adding a fan to their habitat, or if we can’t, we’ll take their habitat and put it somewhere where there might already be a fan on the ISS or in a corridor where we think they are going to be a lot of astronauts moving around and circulating the air.
Yet another issue is the fact that a lot of the laboratory instruments we use on Earth are not designed for microgravity. So to ensure that gravity doesn’t play a factor in how they work, we might do experiments on the ground where we turn them on their side or upside down, or rotate them on a rotisserie to make sure that they keep working.
So, as you can tell, for every experiment that we do on the International Space Station, there’s a whole team of scientists on the ground that has spent years developing the experiment design. And so I guess the answer to how we do research in microgravity is with a lot of practice and preparation.
[END VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]
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How Do We Do Research in Zero Gravity? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 62
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)How do we do research in zero gravity?
Actually when astronauts do experiments on the International Space Station, for instance, to environment on organisms, that environment is actually technically called microgravity. That is, things feel weightless, but we’re still under the influence of Earth’s gravity.
Now, the very microgravity that we’re trying to study up there can make experiments actually really kind of difficult for a bunch of different reasons.
First of all, stuff floats. So losing things in the ISS is a very real possibility. For example,
there was a set of tomatoes that was harvested in 2022 put it in a bag and it floated away and we couldn’t find it for eight months.
So to prevent this kind of thing from happening, we use a lot of different methods, such as using enclosed experiment spaces like glove boxes and glove bags. We use a lot of Velcro to stick stuff to.
Another issue is bubbles in liquids. So, on Earth, bubbles float up, in space they don’t float up, they’ll interfere with optical measurements or stop up your microfluidics. So space experiment equipment often includes contraptions for stopping or blocking or trapping bubbles.
A third issue is convection. So on Earth, gravity drives a process of gas mixing called convection and that helps circulate air. But without that in microgravity we worry about some of our experimental organisms and whether they’re going to get the fresh air that they need. So we might do things like adding a fan to their habitat, or if we can’t, we’ll take their habitat and put it somewhere where there might already be a fan on the ISS or in a corridor where we think they are going to be a lot of astronauts moving around and circulating the air.
Yet another issue is the fact that a lot of the laboratory instruments we use on Earth are not designed for microgravity. So to ensure that gravity doesn’t play a factor in how they work, we might do experiments on the ground where we turn them on their side or upside down, or rotate them on a rotisserie to make sure that they keep working.
So, as you can tell, for every experiment that we do on the International Space Station, there’s a whole team of scientists on the ground that has spent years developing the experiment design. And so I guess the answer to how we do research in microgravity is with a lot of practice and preparation.
[END VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]
Share Details Last Updated May 28, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 2 min read Summer Students Scan the Radio Skies with SunRISESolar radio bursts, intense blasts of radio emission associated with solar flares, can wreak havoc…
Article 1 day ago 3 min read NASA Interns Conduct Aerospace Research in MicrogravityThe NASA Science Activation program’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Enhancement in Earth Science…
Article 2 days ago 19 min read Summary of the 2024 SAGE III/ISS MeetingIntroduction The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III/International Space Station [SAGEIII/ISS] Science Team Meeting…
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Estrack - Half a century of European satellite tracking
2025 marks a landmark year for Europe’s ‘bridge between Earth and space’. The European Space Agency’s Estrack satellite tracking network turns 50.
Since its inception in 1975, Estrack – ESA’s global network of ground stations – has formed the vital communication bridge between satellites in orbit and mission control at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.
Now comprising six stations spanning six countries, Estrack has grown into a strategic asset for Europe, enabling communication with spacecraft, transmitting commands and receiving scientific data.
The network keeps an eye on satellites no matter their location: tracking them across Earth orbit, voyaging to comets or asteroids, keeping station at the scientifically important Sun-Earth Lagrange points, and deep into our Solar System. It even keeps tabs on European launchers as they soar into orbit, ensuring no rocket is ever out of reach.
Fittingly, this celebration of technological excellence coincides with the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II and the 50th anniversary of ESA. To honour this convergence of milestones, ESA and the Vienna Tourist Board are orchestrating a unique mission: broadcasting The Blue Danube Waltz to its destined home among the stars.
Don’t miss the live concert of the Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra) on Saturday, 31 May. The event will start at 20:30 CEST and the transmission from ESA’s Cebreros antenna will occur at 21:30 CEST.
The live stream can be followed via space.wien.info and the Vienna Instagram channel.
Waltzing celebration for half a century of European satellite tracking
How visualisation sets you up for success by changing your cognition
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Fossils show puzzling lack of evolution during last ice age peak
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Summer Students Scan the Radio Skies with SunRISE
Solar radio bursts, intense blasts of radio emission associated with solar flares, can wreak havoc on global navigation systems. Now, as part of the Ground Radio Lab campaign led by the University of Michigan and NASA’s SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission, which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, high school and college students across the nation are collecting, processing, and analyzing space weather data to help better understand these bursts.
Participating students have presented their findings at local science fairs and national conferences, including the Solar Heliospheric and INterplanetary Environment (SHINE) conference held in Juneau, Alaska in August 2024. These students sifted through thousands of hours of observations to identify and categorize solar radio bursts.
Your school can get involved too!Participating high schools receive free, self-paced online training modules sponsored by the SunRISE mission that cover a range of topics, including radio astronomy, space physics, and science data collection and analysis. Students and teachers participate in monthly webinars with space science and astronomy experts, build radio telescopes from kits, and then use these telescopes to observe low frequency emissions from the Sun and other objects like Jupiter and the Milky Way.
Visit the Ground Radio Lab website to learn more about the new campaign and apply to participate.
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Summer Students Scan the Radio Skies with SunRISE
Solar radio bursts, intense blasts of radio emission associated with solar flares, can wreak havoc on global navigation systems. Now, as part of the Ground Radio Lab campaign led by the University of Michigan and NASA’s SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission, which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, high school and college students across the nation are collecting, processing, and analyzing space weather data to help better understand these bursts.
Participating students have presented their findings at local science fairs and national conferences, including the Solar Heliospheric and INterplanetary Environment (SHINE) conference held in Juneau, Alaska in August 2024. These students sifted through thousands of hours of observations to identify and categorize solar radio bursts.
Your school can get involved too!Participating high schools receive free, self-paced online training modules sponsored by the SunRISE mission that cover a range of topics, including radio astronomy, space physics, and science data collection and analysis. Students and teachers participate in monthly webinars with space science and astronomy experts, build radio telescopes from kits, and then use these telescopes to observe low frequency emissions from the Sun and other objects like Jupiter and the Milky Way.
Visit the Ground Radio Lab website to learn more about the new campaign and apply to participate.
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