Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

NASA's Webb draws back curtain on universe's early galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A few days after officially starting science operations, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope propelled astronomers into a realm of early galaxies, previously hidden beyond the grasp of all other telescopes until now.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Nuclear Space: Structures and Features
Published

How does radiation travel through dense plasma?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers provide experimental data about how radiation travels through dense plasmas. Their data will improve plasma models, which allow scientists to better understand the evolution of stars and may aid in the realization of controlled nuclear fusion as an alternative energy source.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

WALLABY builds an intergalactic map in the outback      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A radio telescope in remote Western Australia is helping to build a 3-dimensional map of the night sky, mapping nearby galaxies up to a billion light years away.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Cosmic chocolate pralines: General neutron star structure revealed      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Through extensive model calculations, physicistshave reached general conclusions about the internal structure of neutron stars, where matter reaches enormous densities: depending on their mass, the stars can have a core that is either very stiff or very soft.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers capitalize on early access to James Webb Space Telescope data      (via sciencedaily.com) 

First in line to receive data transmissions from the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is using the unprecedentedly clear observations to reveal the secret inner workings of galaxies.

Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Safety in space: Synthetic hibernation could provide protection from cosmic radiation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

It is still a glimpse into the future: Astronauts could be put into artificial hibernation and in this state be better protected from cosmic radiation. At present, there are already promising approaches to follow up such considerations. An international research team now has found decisive indications of the possible benefits of artificial hibernation for radiation resistance.

Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Study of 'polluted' white dwarfs finds that stars and planets grow together      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team of astronomers have found that planet formation in our young Solar System started much earlier than previously thought, with the building blocks of planets growing at the same time as their parent star.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

2400 new eyes on the sky to see cosmic rainbows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The Subaru Telescope successfully demonstrated engineering first light with a new instrument that will use about 2400 fiberoptic cables to capture the light from heavenly objects. Full operation is scheduled to start around 2024. The ability to observe thousands of objects simultaneously will provide unprecedented amounts of data to fuel Big Data Astronomy in the coming decade.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Searching for traces of dark matter with neutron spin clocks      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international research team has succeeded in significantly narrowing the scope for the existence of dark matter. The experiment makes an important contribution to the search for these particles.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Black holes don't always power gamma-ray bursts, new research shows      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Space scientists may need to rethink how gamma-ray bursts are formed after new research shows new-born supramassive stars, not black holes, are sometimes responsible for these huge extragalactic bursts of energy.

Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features
Published

Hubble captures three faces of evolving supernova in early universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Three different moments in a far-off supernova explosion were captured in a single snapshot by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The star exploded more than 11 billion years ago, when the universe was less than a fifth of its current age of 13.8 billion years.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

A supernova in distant space allows us to understand the origin of the elements in the universe      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A supernova is a stellar explosion, which occurs when the lives of some really massive stars come to an end. In this violent epilogue, the star expels the material from its outer layers by means of a shock wave, allowing us to see the various elements it was composed of.

Space: Exploration Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

NASA's MAVEN observes Martian light show caused by major solar storm      (via sciencedaily.com) 

For the first time in its eight years orbiting Mars, NASA's MAVEN mission witnessed two different types of ultraviolet aurorae simultaneously, the result of solar storms that began on Aug. 27.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Death of a star reveals midsize black hole lurking in a dwarf galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An intermediate-mass black hole lurking undetected in a dwarf galaxy revealed itself to astronomers when it gobbled up an unlucky star that strayed too close. The shredding of the star, known as a 'tidal disruption event' or TDE, produced a flare of radiation that briefly outshone the combined stellar light of the host dwarf galaxy and could help scientists better understand the relationships between black holes and galaxies.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Using 1980s environmental modeling to mitigate future disasters: Could Japan's 3/11 disaster have been prevented?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

On March 11, 2011, multiple catastrophes in Japan were triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake, including the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This event, also known as the 3/11 disaster, is what is known as a compound disaster. Now that over a decade has passed since this event, researchers are investigating how to prevent the next compound disaster.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features
Published

Red-supergiant supernova: Secrets of an earlier Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has measured the size of a star dating back more than 11 billion years ago using images that show the evolution of the star exploding and cooling. The research could help scientists learn more about the early Universe.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Ultrathin solar cells promise improved satellite performance      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As low Earth orbit becomes more cluttered, it becomes increasingly necessary to use middle Earth orbits, and radiation-tolerant cell designs will be needed. Making photovoltaics thinner should increase their longevity because the charge carriers have less far to go during their shortened lifetimes. Scientists propose a radiation-tolerant photovoltaic cell design that features an ultrathin layer of light-absorbing material. Compared to thicker cells, nearly 3.5 times less cover glass is needed for the ultra-thin cells to deliver the same amount of power after 20 years of operation.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Early planetary migration can explain missing planets      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Computer simulations by Rice University scientists and their collaborators are the first to integrate a model of planet formation and evolution that explains two puzzling observations of exoplanets orbiting distant stars: the rarity of worlds about 1.8 times larger than Earth and the near-identical size of adjacent planets in hundreds of planetary systems.

Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Report outlines plans for major research effort on subduction zone geologic hazards      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Subduction zones, where one tectonic plate slides beneath another, produce the most devastating seismic, volcanic, and landslide hazards on the planet. A new report presents an ambitious plan to make major advances in understanding subduction zone hazards by bringing together a diverse community of scientists in a long-term collaborative effort, deploying new instrumentation in subduction zones, and developing more sophisticated and accurate models.

Space: Cosmology Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Oldest planetary debris in our galaxy found from new study      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have identified the oldest star in our galaxy that is accreting debris from orbiting planetesimals, making it one of the oldest rocky and icy planetary systems discovered in the Milky Way.