News (Page 751)

A family of comets reopens the debate about the origin of Earth’s water Where did the Earth’s water come from? Although comets, with their icy nuclei, seem like ideal candidates, analyses have so far shown that their water differs from that in our oceans.  Now, however, an international team, bringing together CNRS researchers at the Laboratory for Studies of Radiation and Matter in Astrophysics and Atmospheres (Paris Observatory – PSL/CNRS/ Sorbonne University/University of Cergy-Pontoise) and the Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (Paris Observatory – PSL/CNRS/Sorbonne University/University of Paris), has found that one family of comets, the hyperactive comets, contains water similar toRead More →

Chemistry of stars sheds new light on the Gaia Sausage Chemical traces in the atmospheres of stars are being used to uncover new information about a galaxy, known as the Gaia Sausage, which was involved in a major collision with the Milky Way billions of years ago. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

A unique experiment to explore black holes What happens when two supermassive black holes collide? Combining the observing power of two future ESA missions, Athena and LISA, would allow us to study these cosmic clashes and their mysterious aftermath for the first time. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

New ultra diffuse galaxy found in the NGC 5846 group Astronomers have detected a new ultra diffuse galaxy (UDG) located most likely in the NGC 5846 galaxy group. The discovery is part of the ongoing VEGAS survey aimed at investigating early-type galaxies in a range of environments. Details of the finding were presented in a paper published May 15 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Galaxies as ‘cosmic cauldrons’ Star formation within interstellar clouds of gas and dust, so-called molecular clouds, proceeds very rapidly yet highly inefficiently. Most of the gas is dispersed by stellar radiation, revealing galaxies to be highly dynamic systems, like “cosmic cauldrons,” consisting of components that constantly change their appearance. Based on new observations of the NGC 300 spiral galaxy, a team of scientists led by astrophysicist Dr. Diederik Kruijssen from Heidelberg University has now managed for the first time to reconstruct the time-evolution of molecular clouds and the star formation process within them. Their analysis shows that these clouds are short-lived structures undergoing rapid lifecycles,Read More →

Neptune’s moon Triton fosters rare icy union Astronomers using the Gemini Observatory explore Neptune’s largest moon Triton and observe, for the first time beyond the lab, an extraordinary union between carbon monoxide and nitrogen ices. The discovery offers insights into how this volatile mixture can transport material across the moon’s surface via geysers, trigger seasonal atmospheric changes, and provide a context for conditions on other distant, icy worlds. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Eighteen Earth-sized exoplanets discovered Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), the Georg August University of Göttingen, and the Sonneberg Observatory have discovered 18 Earth-sized planets beyond the solar system. The worlds are so small that previous surveys had overlooked them. One of them is one of the smallest known so far; another one could offer conditions friendly to life. The researchers re-analyzed a part of the data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope with a new and more sensitive method that they developed. The team estimates that their new method has the potential of finding more than 100 additional exoplanets inRead More →

Three exocomets discovered around the star Beta Pictoris Just about a year after the launch of the NASA mission TESS, the first three comets orbiting the nearby star Beta Pictoris outside our solar system were discovered with data from the space telescope. The main goal of TESS is to search for exoplanets—planets orbiting other stars. The recognition of signals from much smaller exocomets compared to planets requires the analysis of a precise light curve, which can now be obtained using the technical sophistication of the new space telescope. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar NGC 300 ULX1 experienced unprecedented spin evolution, study finds Using NASA’s Swift space telescope and NICER instrument aboard the International Space Station (ISS), astronomers have investigated the properties of an ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar known as NGC 300 ULX1. Results of this study, presented in a paper published May 9 on the arXiv preprint server, indicate that this object experienced an unprecedented spin evolution as its spin period decreased significantly during a timespan of four years. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Formation of the moon brought water to Earth The Earth is unique in our solar system: It is the only terrestrial planet with a large amount of water and a relatively large moon, which stabilizes the Earth’s axis. Both were essential for Earth to develop life. Planetologists at the University of Münster (Germany) have now been able to show, for the first time, that water came to Earth with the formation of the Moon some 4.4 billion years ago. The Moon was formed when Earth was hit by a body about the size of Mars, also called Theia. Until now, scientists had assumed that TheiaRead More →