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May Podcast: Big Dipper Shows the Way
High above you on May evenings is an one obvious star pattern that just about everyone knows: the Big Dipper. This “Swiss Army Knife of the sky” can help you find many other key springtime stars and constellations. Just download or stream this month’s Sky Tour podcast.
The post May Podcast: Big Dipper Shows the Way appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
U.S. Department of State Open House at NASA Headquarters
This event was part of Space Diplomacy Week, focused on deepening bilateral relationships, specifically how international partnerships are strengthened by space exploration.
Running around a 'wall of death' could keep moon settlers fit
Running around a 'wall of death' could keep moon settlers fit
Carbon-negative cement can be made with a mineral that helps catch CO2
Carbon-negative cement can be made with a mineral that helps catch CO2
The highest observatory on Earth sits atop Chile's Andes Mountains — and it's finally open
NASA Ames Astrogram – March/April 2024
On April 23, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System CubeSat mission launched successfully aboard an Electron rocket launched by Rocket Lab and carried Ames’ payload from Māhia, New Zealand. The CubeSat was subsequently delivered to a Sun-synchronous orbit around Earth.
Ames has pioneered the use of CubeSats and small satellites to run innovative, cost-effective missions and test technologies in space, providing leadership in cost-effective spaceflight missions for NASA.
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft in orbit.NrediASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart
Under the auspices of STMD’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System mission demonstrates next-generation solar sail technology for small interplanetary spacecraft. It will test a new way of navigating our solar system when the mission’s CubeSat hoists its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. This technology could advance future space travel and expand our understanding of our Sun and solar system.
NASA, FAA Partner to Develop New Wildland Fire TechnologiesRecently, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established a research transition team to guide the development of wildland fire technology.
Wildland fires are occurring more frequently and at a larger scale than in past decades, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Emergency responders will need a broader set of technologies to prevent, monitor, and fight these growing fires more effectively. Under this Wildland Fire Airspace Operations research transition team, NASA and the FAA will develop concepts and test new technologies to improve airspace integration.
Artist’s rendering of remotely piloted aircraft providing fire suppression, monitoring and communications capabilities during a wildland fire.Credit: NASA
Current aerial firefighting operations are limited to times when aircraft have clear visibility – otherwise pilots run the risk of flying into terrain or colliding with other aircraft. Drones could overcome this limitation by enabling responders to remotely monitor and suppress these fires during nighttime and low visibility conditions, such as periods of heavy smoke. However, advanced airspace management technologies are needed to enable these uncrewed aircraft to stay safely separated and allow aircraft operators to maintain situational awareness during wildland fire management response operations.
Over the next four years, NASA’s Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project, in collaboration with the FAA, will work to develop new airspace access and traffic management concepts and technologies to support wildland fire operations. These advancements will help inform a concept of operations for the future of wildland fire management under development by NASA and other government agencies. The team will test and validate uncrewed aircraft technologies for use by commercial industry and government agencies, paving the way for integrating them into future wildland fire operations.
ACERO is led out of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley under the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
Studying the Ocean with NASA Computer Simulations A tool developed at NASA Ames’ Advanced Supercomputing division provides researchers with a global view of their ocean simulation in high resolution. In this part of the global visualization, the Gulf Stream features prominently. Surface water speeds are shown ranging from 0 meters per second (dark blue) to 1.25 meters (about 4 feet) per second (cyan). The video is running at one simulation day per second. The data used comes from the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) consortium.Credit: NASA/Bron Nelson, David Ellsworth
“Every time I help with visualizing [ocean] simulation data, I learn about an entirely new area of ocean or climate research, and I’m reminded of how vast and rich this area of research is. And…the real magic happens at the intersection and interaction of simulated and observed data.
It is a great honor – and a thrill – to collaborate with devoted, world-class scientists doing such important, cutting-edge research and sometimes to even help them learn something new about their science.”
—Dr. Nina McCurdy, a data visualization scientist with the NASA Advanced Supercomputing division at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley
Luxembourg Leaders Focus on Lunar Exploration During Visit to NASA Amesby Abigail Tabor
The challenges of working on the surface of the Moon are at the center of a facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The Lunar Lab and Regolith Testbeds help scientists and engineers – from NASA and industry alike – study how well science instruments, robots, and people might be able to safely work, manipulate, navigate, and traverse the tough lunar terrain. On March 7, three visitors from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Minister of the Economy Lex Delles, and Ambassador to the United States Nicole Bintner – learned more about the work happening here.
Left to right: Ames Deputy Center Director David Korsmeyer, Ames Center Director Eugene Tu, Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg Minister of Economy Lex Delles, and Ambassador Nicole Bintner meet at Ames on March 7, 2024.Credit: NASA Ames/Brandon Torres
During the visit, lunar rock and crater features crafted from lunar soil, or regolith, simulant were lit by harsh, low-angle illumination to simulate sunlight conditions at the Moon’s poles. Members of the VIPER mission (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) discussed their work testing optical sensors at the lab for NASA’s water-hunting Moon rover. Engineering versions of VIPER’s hazard-avoidance cameras and lighting system, tested in the facility, were also on display. The lab is managed by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI).
The Regolith Testbeds enable research applicable to places beyond our Moon as well, including Mercury, asteroids, and regolith-covered moons like Mars’ Phobos.
Luxembourg was one of the first nations to sign the Artemis Accords and has taken steps to enable commercial space exploration. At Ames, the visitors learned about the center’s support of NASA’s Artemis exploration goals, including with VIPER, agency supercomputing resources, and the development of advanced tools for lunar operations.
AI, Robots, Autonomy Software Discussed at Star Trek Convention Above: Left to right are Abigail Tabor of the Office of Communications Division, J. Benton, computer science researcher; and Dr. Jennifer Blank, senior scientist in the Space Science and Astrobiology Directorate speaking on a panel at the March Star Trek Convention held in Hyatt Regency SFO, Burlingham, California. They spoke about artificial intelligence for a future space station that will orbit the Moon and the use of legged robot technology, autonomy software, and remote science operations in a volcanic cave. At least 7,000 attended the Star Trek Convention. Majoring in Liberal Studies: Giving Back, Honoring Culture, and Working at NASA
Choosing a major can be intimidating, so finding Liberal Studies was perfect for community-centered Maria Lopez, deputy operations manager for the NASA Ames Exchange. Maria was interviewed by the Puente Project, a mission to increase the number of educationally underrepresented students who enroll in four-year colleges and universities, as part of the “Puente Major 2 Career Video Series.” The Major 2 Career video series, which is on YouTube, focuses on different majors. The project highlights various professionals’ journey from college to their career. The premise is to feature two professionals who earned the same bachelor’s degrees but following different professions to show the range and opportunities to first-generation college bound students currently at the middle school, high school, and community college levels.
Maria highlighted how she landed on Liberal Studies after trying a few majors, the challenges she faced along the way, and her unexpected and exciting career with NASA. She started out in STEM education and has supported the NASA mission in different roles with the technical publications office, international office, protocol office, and the office of diversity and equal opportunity. Maria shares an array of mission enabling positions with NASA and how NASA fuels her passion for celebrating culture and community outreach. In the video, she demonstrates by example that NASA is within reach and inspires students to pursue their dreams.
Watch and learn more about Maria’s journey!
Maria on detail with the Protocol Office supporting a presidential visit in 2023.Credit: photo by Lisa Lockyer Ames Engineer Natasha Schatzman Excites Kids about the Mars Helicopter On April 13, the Sunnyvale Public Library hosted “Space Camp 2024” with space-themed activities for kids, such as crafts, scavenger hunts, speakers, and more. Apollo 16 lunar samples were displayed at the event and Ames engineer Dr. Natasha Schatzman of Code AV gave a presentation to an enthusiastic crowd of a few hundred people about her NASA journey, her work on the Mars helicopter efforts, and led a Mars paper helicopter activity with the children. Students young and old enjoyed the fun of learning about vertical flight. Mayor Larry Klein attended the event and did a reading for the kids. Ames Staff Shares NASA Mission Info with Cal Academy Nightlife Attendees
Ames Office of Communications (OComm) supported a NASA exhibits booth at the California Academy of Sciences Nightlife festivities on the evening of Feb. 29, in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. About a third of the 2,000 plus attendees interacted with the NASA booth and presenters, experiencing many high-quality interactions with many of the attendees. The QUESST (NASA’s mission to demonstrate how the X-59 can fly supersonic without generating loud sonic booms), VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover), Artemis, Orion missions were discussed and many attendees were asked if they’d like to send their names with VIPER on its upcoming launch. Hillary Smith of OComm is seen below interacting with visitors at the event.
Hillary Smith at Academy of Sciences in San Francisco interacting with event attendees. Lego Exhibit Brings Out the Engineering Creativity with the Kids
On April 13 and 14, the Office of Communications team members facilitated VIPER’s (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) subject matter experts Vandana Jay and Hans Thomas who interacted with audiences at LEGOLand Bay Area in Miliptas, California. The experts worked alongside “master builders” supplied by LEGOLand to help younger engineers design and test moon rovers of their own creation, creating a fun engineering challenge. During the day, the team interacted with about 80 families and close to 500 individual attendees. See below for photos from the event.
Kids enjoying making their own little lego Moon rovers. Building rovers at the April 13 LegoLand Bay Area event. Moon rovers built by students at the April 13 LegoLand Bay Area event. Building model lego rovers. Ames Space Biology and Astrobiology Teams Engage Kids with Science Demos Tri-Valley Innovation Fair at Alameda County Fairgrounds was held April 18 – 19 and is an annual event featuring STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) providers and vendors across the Bay Area. The Ames booth highlighted the Space Biology and Astrobiology groups. The space biology team highlighted how model organisms, such as tardigrades, drosophila, yeast and C. elegans give researchers insights into the effects of space on living organisms and the astrobiology team highlighted the search for life in the universe and Earth’s extremophiles. Attendees to the event enjoyed posing with the astronaut cutouts and learning about the electromagnetic spectrum and the James Webb Space Telescope with an interactive infrared demo. Close to 1,000 interactions occurred during the event. SJCU Research Week Event Highlights its Partnerships with NASA Ames San Jose State University (SJSU) Research Week, April 15 – 19, consists of a series of events at the campus that highlight the university’s engagement in research with partners such as NASA Ames. The Ames booth at Paseo de Cesar Chavez on campus on April 15 featured the TechEdSat small sat project, the Ames Aeronautics directorate and OSTEM. Marcus Murbac and his team comprised of many SJSU alumni, showed off their latest iteration of the TechEdSat and Zach Roberts spoke about Ames aeronautics projects as well as a couple of drones. Francesa Bura, an intern at Ames, talked about internship and OSTEM resources. Information about Ames Atmospheric Sciences and NASA jobs also were shared. About 200 students visited the display and the event supported the activities that Ames has with the university. PASIFIKA STEM Fair Provides Engaging Hands-on STEM Experience The Bay Area PASIFIKA STEM Fair is an annual event organized by the Pacific Islander Encouraging Fun Engineering Science and Technology (PIEFEST) organization dedicated to improving Pacific Islander representation and access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) related careers. The event brings STEM organization and enthusiasts in the Bay Area together to provide Pacific Islander students and families an Interactive, hands-on STEM experience. The NASA booth featured a new VIPER mission demo, permanently shadowed craters of the Nobile region, and emissions spectra of various elements and molecules, the astronaut cutouts, as well as an electromagnetic spectrum demo. More than 1,000 students of varying grade levels and their parents and families attended the event, with more than 20 vendors participating with hands-on activities and demonstrations. Interacting with the exhibits at the Bay Area PASIFIKA STEM Fair. Jonas Dino of the Ames Office of Communications Division at the Bay Area PASIFIKA STEM fair, connecting with and inspiring kids of all ages as to the wonders of science. Kids enjoying the interactive exhibits at the NASA booth during the Bay Area PASIFIKA STEM Fair. Future Aspirations, the Importance of STEM Discussed at Grimmer Career Day Jonas Dino from the Ames Public Engagement team was the featured speaker at the Grimmer Elementary Career Day on April 26. He presented to the entire school body of more than 300 TK to 5th grade students, teachers and administrators talking about careers at NASA and the need for the students to be STEM literate and possibly entering the NASA workforce pipeline in the future. He also interacted with the students at lunch talking to them about their future aspirations and answering specific questions they had about NASA. The career day featured members of the Fremont community including fire, police, engineers and medical personnel visiting classrooms talking about their careers. Starling Stuns at Golden Gate Park Planetarium Show Bay Area audiences got a unique look at a NASA Ames CubeSat mission during a full-dome planetarium show as part of the Benjamin Dean lecture series at the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, on March 4. NASA Ames aerospace flight systems engineer and Starling mission deputy project manager Scott Miller shared Ames’ legacy in CubeSats and swarms and how technologies used in NASA’s Starling mission aims to tackle crowding in low Earth orbit and enhance how we study deep space, in his presentation, “NASA Spacecraft Swarms for Low Earth Orbit and Beyond.” Credit: photos by Josh Roberts In Memoriam …
Dr. Anna McHargue (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) passed away peacefully on March 26, 2024, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Palo Alto, California. Hospital staff honored her with a brief ceremony for passing veterans, which her close friends attended.
Dr. Anna McHargue
Dr. McHargue began her higher education at Murray State University in Kentucky, graduating in 1956 and eventually being selected as Distinguished Alumna. She pursued her medical degree at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky, at a time when women were not very welcome in the field. She persevered and finished at the top of her class in 1962. She chose not to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology until later at the Stanford University Hospital, where she was a faculty member from 1974-1980. She practiced in the specialty for several years in Oakland and in Redwood City, California, and became a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
She served in the United States Air Force (USAF), joining in 1966, was promoted to colonel, and was trained as an aviation medical examiner qualified to perform Federal Aviation Administration flight physicals. She enjoyed flying all over the world with transport aircraft crews on military and humanitarian missions. In the USAF Reserves, she was named the 1999 and 2000 Flight Surgeon of the Year by the 312th Airlift Squadron. She retired in 2001 after 25 years of service.
From 1989-2020, she served as a part-time physician at the Health Unit at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Ultimately, she dedicated herself to the field of medicine for 58 years. Dr. McHargue was actively involved in the Church of the Advent as a deacon and on the Board of Trustees of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
Her funeral service and internment are planned at her hometown in Kentucky. Friends can donate and send condolences online to:
Equal Opportunity if the Law
Satellite operator SES acquiring Intelsat in $3.1 billion deal
Insanely Detailed Webb Image of the Horsehead Nebula
Few space images are as iconic as those of the Horsehead Nebula. Its shape makes it instantly recognizable. Over the decades, a number of telescopes have captured its image, turning it into a sort of test case for a telescope’s power.
The JWST has them all beat.
The Horsehead Nebula is about 1300 light-years away in Orion. It’s part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. Horsehead is visible near the three stars in Orion’s Belt in a zoomed-in image.
The Horsehead Nebula is visible in this image of Orion’s Belt. It’s in the lower left, extending horizontally, to the lower left of the belt star Alnitak. Image Credit: By Davide De Martin (http://www.skyfactory.org); Credit: Digitized Sky Survey, ESA/ESO/NASA FITS Liberator – https://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/fits_liberator/fitsimages/davidedemartin_12/ (direct link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1329999The leading image shows JWST’s view of the Horsehead Nebula alongside two other views. The Euclid image was captured in November 2023. Euclid features a wide-angle, 600-megapixel camera, and its primary job is to measure the redshift of galaxies and the Universe’s expansion due to dark energy. It took Euclid about one hour to capture the image, showcasing the telescope’s ability to gather highly detailed images quickly.
The Hubble captured its image in 2013 and was released as the telescope’s 23rd-anniversary featured image. The venerable Hubble does a good job of revealing structures hidden by dust. There’s nothing left to say about the Hubble that hasn’t been said already. It’s the revered elder among telescopes, and if you feel no reverence towards it, its contribution to science, and the people responsible for it, you may have a bad case of ennui.
The third image is a new one from the JWST’s NIRCam instrument. It’s described as the sharpest image of the Horsehead ever taken. It shows a small part of the iconic nebula in detail we don’t usually see. The JWST is so powerful it even shows background galaxies.
A zoom-in of the JWST image. The detail is incredible. Image Credit: ESA/Webb, CSA, K. Misselt, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)The Horsehead Nebula is the result of stellar erosion. The nebula itself was formed by a collapsing cloud of material, and a nearby hot star called Sigma Orionis illuminates the structure. The nebula is denser than its surrounding gas and has resisted the dissipative energy of the star, while the gas that used to surround it is long gone.
This definitely isn’t the last we’ll see of Horsehead. New, powerful telescopes coming online soon, like the Giant Magellan Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope will likely take a crack at the nebula. Prepare to be wowed.
There’s no rush. According to astronomers, the Horsehead Nebula will eventually be eroded away, too, but not for another five million years or so.
The post Insanely Detailed Webb Image of the Horsehead Nebula appeared first on Universe Today.
Einstein Probe X-ray telescope releases 1st images taken with 'lobster vision'
Sols 4171-4172: Scoot Over!
3 min read
Sols 4171-4172: Scoot Over! This image was taken by Right Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4169 (2024-04-28 19:56:23 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech
Earth planning date: Monday, April 29, 2024
On this two sol-planning day, the Curiosity science team logged in and found ourselves face to face with ‘Pinnacle Ridge’ (pictured above), part of the upper Gediz Vallis Ridge (uGVR). We saw two types of rocks in our workspace: light-toned layered rocks and darker toned rocks. Rocks that look this different are very exciting to a geologist’s eye – it means the rocks could have been formed in different environments, and could be made of different things… so how did these two types of rock end up next to each other? That’s for our clever team of scientists to work out, and we need our full suite of instruments to do that. Unfortunately, one of Curiosity’s wheels wasn’t on firm ground so we couldn’t safely unstow the arm, but these rocks are so exciting, we decided to scoot backwards about 15 cm to readjust the wheels so we can hopefully get full contact science on Wednesday.
However, we made the most of the time we have here taking lots of images. On the first sol, Curiosity has a massive 2.5 hours of science planned! This includes ChemCam Laser Induced Bedrock Spectroscopy (LIBS) and a Mastcam documentation image on one of the lighter toned rocks in the workspace named ‘Dawn Wall,’ as well as a passive observation on a darker toned rock named ‘Banner Peak.’ ChemCam will also take an RMI of ‘Pinnacle Ridge,’ and a long distance RMI of the base of ‘Kukenan’ butte. Team members interested in Mastcam are making the most of the science time scheduling a massive 37×2 mosaic of ‘Pinnacle Ridge’ to look at the distribution of the light and dark toned rocks we are seeing, as well as two smaller mosaics including within Pinnacle Ridge including a 9×1 of a scarp and a 4×1 of a possible basal contact. On this sol, Curiosity will then scoot over – a drive of ~15 cm – hopefully giving us a stable base to unstow the arm and get full contact science on these rocks later in the week.
On the second sol, Curiosity performs a ChemCam LIBS target on a rock in our new(ish) workspace. Curiosity will also take some environmental monitoring activities, including a 30 minute Navcam dust devil movie and a suprahorizon movie. We are also performing the SAM instrument’s electrical baseline test (EBT) that periodically occurs to monitor the instrument’s functioning. Curiosity will be kept very busy over the next few sols exploring Pinnacle Ridge here at uGVR.
Written by Emma Harris, Graduate Student at Natural History Museum
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Binary Stars Form in the Same Nebula But Aren’t Identical. Now We Know Why.
It stands to reason that stars formed from the same cloud of material will have the same metallicity. That fact underpins some avenues of astronomical research, like the search for the Sun’s siblings. But for some binary stars, it’s not always true. Their composition can be different despite forming from the same reservoir of material, and the difference extends to their planetary systems.
New research shows that the differences can be traced back to their earliest stages of formation.
Binary stars are the norm, while solitary stars like our Sun are in the minority. Some estimates place the number of binary stars in the Milky Way at up to 85%. These pairs of stars form from the same giant molecular clouds. Each cloud has a certain abundance of metals, and that abundance should be reflected in the stars themselves.
But that’s not always the case.
Sometimes, the metallicity of a pair of binary stars doesn’t agree. Astrophysicists have proposed three explanations for this.
Two explanations involve events occurring later in a star’s life after they’ve left the main sequence. One is atomic diffusion, where chemical elements settle into gradient layers in the star. The layers are determined by a star’s gravity and temperature. The second one involves a nearby planet. As stars age, expand, and become red giants, they engulf nearby planets. The planet would introduce new chemistry into the star, differentiating it from its binary partner.
As stars like our Sun age and leave the main sequence, they expand and become red giants, engulfing nearby planets. That can change the chemistry of the stars. Image Credit: fsgregs Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 UnportedThe third explanation reaches back in time to the binary pair’s formation. This explanation says that the giant molecular cloud that spawned the stars wasn’t homogeneous. Instead, there were regional differences in the cloud’s chemistry, and stars formed in different locations showed noticeable differences in their chemical makeup.
A team of researchers wanted to dig into this third explanation to test its veracity. They used the Gemini South Telescope and its Gemini High-Resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST) to examine the light from a pair of giant binary stars. The observations revealed significant differences in their spectra.
Sunset over Gemini South, on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawai’i. Credit: GeminiThey presented their results in a paper titled “Disentangling the origin of chemical differences using GHOST.” It’s published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The lead author is Carlos Saffe of the Institute of Astronomical, Earth and Space Sciences (ICATE-CONICET) in Argentina. The researchers examined a pair of giant binary stars called HD 138202 + CD?30 12303.
The three explanations for chemical differences between binary stars all stem from studies of main sequence stars. The main sequence is where stars spend most of their time, reliably fusing hydrogen into helium for billions of years.
But Saffe and his colleagues took a different approach. They used Gemini and GHOST to examine a pair of binary stars that had left the main sequence behind and become giant stars. These stars are different from main sequence stars.
“GHOST’s extremely high-quality spectra offered unprecedented resolution,” said Saffe, “allowing us to measure the stars’ stellar parameters and chemical abundances with the highest possible precision.”
This table from the research shows some of the differences between the pair of giant binary stars. The third column shows their different metallicities, expressed by the Fe/H (iron hydrogen) ratio. The Star A is more metal-rich by ?0.08 dex than its companion. Image Credit: Saffe et al. 2024.These stars experience dredge-ups. Dredge-ups are when a star’s convection zone extends from the surface all the way down to where fusion is taking place. They’re powerful convective currents that mix fusion products into the star’s surface layer when a main sequence star becomes a red giant.
This diagram of the Sun helps explain dredge-ups. The Sun is still on the main sequence, so its convective region is on its surface. But when stars like the Sun become red giants, temporary convective cells called dredge-ups can reach from the surface all the way to the fusion core. This can introduce different chemical elements onto the visible surface. Image Credit: CSIRO/ATNF/Naval Research LaboratoryHowever, the researchers say that dredge-ups and the atomic diffusion they drive can’t explain the wide difference between stars.
The convection currents would also rule out the second proposed explanation: planetary engulfment. With such strong currents, the chemicals from an engulfed planet would quickly be diluted. “Giant stars are thought to be significantly less sensitive than main-sequence stars to engulfment events,” the authors write.
The authors went further and calculated the amount of planetary material a giant star would need to digest to cause the difference in metallicity between the stars. “We estimate that star A would need to have ingested between 11.0 and 150.0 Jupiter masses of planetary material, depending on the adopted convective envelope mass and metallic content of the ingested planet,” the authors explain. That’s an awful lot of material. They also explain that the planets must have had extremely high metallicity for the low value of 11 Jupiter masses to cause the chemical differences.
That only leaves one explanation: inhomogeneities in the molecular cloud.
This is a two-panel mosaic of part of the Taurus Giant Molecular Cloud, the nearest active star-forming region to Earth. The darkest regions are where stars are being born. Research shows that small inhomogeneities in the cloud can produce binary stars with different metallicities. Image Credit: Adam Block /Steward Observatory/University of Arizona“This is the first time astronomers have been able to confirm that differences between binary stars begin at the earliest stages of their formation,” said Saffe.
“Using the precision-measurement capabilities provided by the GHOST instrument, Gemini South is now collecting observations of stars at the end of their lives to reveal the environment in which they were born,” said Martin Still, NSF program director for the International Gemini Observatory. “This gives us the ability to explore how the conditions in which stars form can influence their entire existence over millions or billions of years.”
The results go a long way to explaining why a pair of binary stars can have differing compositions. But they reach even further than that. They also explain why a pair of binary stars can have such different planetary systems. “Different planetary systems could mean very different planets — rocky, Earth-like, ice giants, gas giants — that orbit their host stars at different distances and where the potential to support life might be very different,” said Saffe.
But the results also present a challenge. Astronomers use chemical tagging to identify stars that are associated with one another. Stars from the same stellar nursery are expected to have similar compositions. But that method seems unreliable in light of these findings.
The results also challenge the idea that differences in composition between binary stars can be explained by planet engulfment. Instead, those differences might stem from the stars’ earliest days of formation.
“By showing for the first time that primordial differences really are present and responsible for differences between twin stars, we show that star and planet formation could be more complex than initially thought,” said Saffe. “The Universe loves diversity!”
This artist’s concept shows a hypothetical planet covered in water around the binary star system of Kepler-35A and B. If differences in chemical compositions in stars stem from their earliest days of formation, then those differences must affect the types of planets that form around them. (Image by NASA/JPL-Caltech.)The only drawback of this study is the sample size of one. Small sample sizes are always cautionary: they can lead to an eventual conclusion but don’t form reliable conclusions independently. The authors know this.
“We strongly encourage the study of giant-giant pairs,” the researchers conclude. “This novel approach might help us to distinguish the origin of the slight chemical differences observed in multiple systems.”
The post Binary Stars Form in the Same Nebula But Aren’t Identical. Now We Know Why. appeared first on Universe Today.
Scientists reveal Southern Ring Nebula's unexpected structure: 'We were amazed'
NASA Balloons Head North of Arctic Circle for Long-Duration Flights
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)NASA is set to begin launch operations mid-May for the 2024 Sweden Long-Duration Scientific Balloon Campaign. Four stadium-sized, scientific balloons carrying science missions and technology demonstrations are scheduled to lift off from Swedish Space Corporation’s Esrange Space Center, situated north of the Arctic Circle near Kiruna, Sweden. The campaign will continue through early July.
Technicians attach the SUNRISE payload to its balloon and parachute from the launch site in Kiruna, Sweden, during the 2009 campaign. The mission returns for the 2024 Sweden Long-Duration Scientific Balloon Campaign as one of four primary missions set to launch between May and July.University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
“NASA’s Balloon Program is excited to conduct our long-duration balloon campaign from Sweden this year,” said Andrew Hamilton, acting director of NASA’s Balloon Program Office. “Our partnership with the Swedish Space Corporation is valuable to NASA and the scientific community by allowing us to use their high-quality facilities at Esrange.”
Esrange, located in a vast unpopulated area in the northernmost part of Sweden, is an ideal location for the campaign. This area in Sweden’s polar region experiences constant daylight during summer. NASA’s zero-pressure balloons, used during the campaign, typically experience gas loss during the warming and cooling of the day to night cycle. However, they can perform long-duration flights in the constant sunlight of a polar region. “The location of the launch range and the stratospheric winds allow for excellent flight conditions to gather many days of scientific data as the balloons traverse from Sweden to northern Canada,” said Hamilton.
Four primary missions on deck for the Sweden campaign include:
- HELIX (High-Energy Light Isotope eXperiment): A balloon-borne experiment that features a powerful superconducting magnet designed to measure the flux of high-energy cosmic ray isotopes to energies that have not been explored. The measurements will help determine the age of cosmic rays in our galaxy.
- BOOMS (Balloon Observation of Microburst Scales): A high-resolution imager of X-rays from energetic electron microbursts that appear in the polar atmosphere. The mission will fly on a 60 million cubic feet balloon, a test flight set to qualify the balloon for reaching altitudes greater than 150,000 feet, which is higher than NASA’s current stratospheric inventory.
- SUNRISE-III: A solar observatory that takes high-resolution imaging and spectro-polarimetry of layers of the Sun called the solar photosphere and chromosphere, and active regions to measure magnetic field, temperature, and velocities with high height temporal resolution.
- XL-Calibur: A telescope that will observe a sample of galactic black hole and neutron star sources to gain new insight on how these objects accelerate electrons and emit X-rays.
Piggyback missions, or smaller payloads, sharing a ride on the XL-Calibur balloon flight include:
- IRCSP (Infrared Channeled Spectro-Polarimeter): A technology development mission for high-altitude spectro-polarimetric measurements of cloud tops to help improve measurements of the size and shape of ice particles, which are crucial in understanding weather and improving climate models.
- WALRUSS (Wallops Atmospheric Light Radiation and Ultraviolet Spectrum Sensor): A technology development mission for a sensor package capable of measuring the total ultraviolet (UV) − split among UVA, UVB, and UVC wavelengths − and ozone concentration.
NASA’s scientific balloons are a quick and cost-effective way to test, track, and recover scientific experiments for NASA and universities from all over the world. These heavy-lift balloons offer near-space access for suspended payloads weighing up to 8,000 pounds.
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency’s scientific balloon flight program with 10 to 15 flights each year from launch sites worldwide. Peraton, which operates NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Texas, provides mission planning, engineering services, and field operations for NASA’s scientific balloon program. The CSBF team has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons over some 40 years of operations. NASA’s balloons are fabricated by Aerostar. The NASA Scientific Balloon Program is funded by the NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Division.
For mission tracking, click here. For more information on NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons.
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 30, 2024 EditorJamie AdkinsContactOlivia F. Littletonolivia.f.littleton@nasa.govLocationWallops Flight Facility Related Terms Explore More 3 min read NASA Wallops to Launch Three Sounding Rockets During Solar Eclipse Article 4 weeks ago 2 min read NASA, Salisbury U. Enact Agreement for Workforce Development Article 1 month ago 2 min read NRO Mission Launches from NASA Wallops on Electron Rocket Article 1 month agoNASA Showcases Innovations at the 2024 FIRST Robotics World Championships
NASA engaged with fans, student robotics teams, and industry leaders at the 2024 FIRST Robotics World Championships held April 17-20, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The exhibit highlighted the future of technology and spaceflight, attracting over 50,000 participants from across the United States and worldwide.
The FIRST Robotics World Championships was established in 1992. Since relocating to Houston in 2017, the event has featured significant involvement from NASA, which annually supports and mentors more than 250 robotics teams, from elementary to high school levels.
Students and mentors explored NASA exhibits at the 2024 FIRST Robotics World Championships at the George R. Brown Convention Center from April 17-20. Credit: NASA/Joseph Zakrzewski
The 2024 championships celebrated the integration of arts into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), empowering students to create a world of endless possibilities with big ideas, bold actions, and creativity.
Multiple NASA centers participated in the event including the Johnson Space Center, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Ames Research Center, Glenn Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility, Kennedy Space Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Langley Research Center, Michoud Assembly Facility, and Stennis Space Center.
The NASA exhibits offered a platform for engaging discussions about the agency’s latest projects, including the X-59 supersonic plane, the Automated Reconfigurable Mission Adaptive Digital Assembly Systems, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, Mars Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter, Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration, Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor, and the Europa Clipper mission. These interactions provided a firsthand look at NASA’s groundbreaking science and technologies and their potential to benefit all humanity.
Attendees learn about NASA’s Europa Clipper mission at the 2024 FIRST Robotics World Championships. Credit: NASA/Joseph Zakrzewski
“The energy during the event was phenomenal. It’s inspiring to see so many people passionate about robotics and eager to solve complex problems,” said Johnson Public Affairs Specialist Joseph Zakrzewski. “We are excited to unite tomorrow’s leaders from all corners of the world.”
The event also fostered discussions about STEM career opportunities, with many students expressing their aspirations to join the space industry.
As the championships drew to a close, the excitement was palpable, with students and mentors alike looking forward to the next season. With a successful turnout and the enthusiastic involvement of teams, sponsors, volunteers, and supporters, the future of STEM education appears brighter than ever.