Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers solve the 60-year mystery of quasars -- the most powerful objects in the Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have unlocked one of the biggest mysteries of quasars -- the brightest, most powerful objects in the Universe -- by discovering that they are ignited by galaxies colliding.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Medium-sized black holes eat stars like messy toddlers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In new 3D computer simulations, astrophysicists modeled black holes of varying masses and then hurled stars (about the size of our sun) past them to see what might happen. If they exist, intermediate-mass black holes likely devour wayward stars like a messy toddler -- taking a few bites and then flinging the remains across the galaxy.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astrophysicists reveal the nature of dark matter through the study of crinkles in spacetime      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astrophysicists have provided the most direct evidence yet that Dark Matter does not constitute ultramassive particles as is commonly thought but instead comprises particles so light that they travel through space like waves. Their work resolves an outstanding problem in astrophysics first raised two decades ago: why do models that adopt ultramassive Dark Matter particles fail to correctly predict the observed positions and the brightness of multiple images of the same galaxy created by gravitational lensing?

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Webb reveals early-universe prequel to huge galaxy cluster      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Every giant was once a baby, though you may never have seen them at that stage of their development. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has begun to shed light on formative years in the history of the universe that have thus far been beyond reach: the formation and assembly of galaxies. For the first time, a protocluster of seven galaxies has been confirmed at a distance that astronomers refer to as redshift 7.9, or a mere 650 million years after the big bang. Based on the data collected, astronomers calculated the nascent cluster's future development, finding that it will likely grow in size and mass to resemble the Coma Cluster, a monster of the modern universe.

Mathematics: Modeling Space: Astronomy Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Researchers use AI to discover new planet outside solar system      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has confirmed evidence of a previously unknown planet outside of our solar system, and they used machine learning tools to detect it. A recent study by the team showed that machine learning can correctly determine if an exoplanet is present by looking in protoplanetary disks, the gas around newly formed stars. The newly published findings represent a first step toward using machine learning to identify previously overlooked exoplanets.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

120-year-old storm's secrets key to understanding weather risks      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The conversion of handwritten weather records into digital information will help weather better understand future weather risks.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

A more precise model of the Earth's ionosphere      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The ionosphere -- the region of geospace spanning from 60 to 1000 kilometers above the Earth -- impairs the propagation of radio signals from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) with its electrically charged particles. This is a problem for the ever higher precision required by these systems -- both in research and for applications such as autonomous driving or precise orbit determination of satellites. Models of the ionosphere and its uneven, dynamic charge distribution can help correct the signals for ionospheric delays, which are one of the main error sources in GNSS applications. Researchers have presented a new model of the ionosphere, developed on the basis of neural networks and satellite measurement data from 19 years. In particular, it can reconstruct the topside ionosphere, the upper, electron-rich part of the ionosphere much more precisely than before. It is thus also an important basis for progress in ionospheric research, with applications in studies on the propagation of electromagnetic waves or for the analysis of certain space weather events, for example.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Could this copycat black hole be a new type of star?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

It looks like a black hole and bends light like a black hole, but it could actually be a new type of star. Though the mysterious object is a hypothetical mathematical construction, new simulations by Johns Hopkins researchers suggest there could be other celestial bodies in space hiding from even the best telescopes on Earth.

Biology: Biochemistry Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Metal-poor stars are more life-friendly      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A star's chemical composition strongly influences the ultraviolet radiation it emits into space and thus the conditions for the emergence of life in its neighborhood.

Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Temperature, drought influencing movement of Plains bison      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Temperature and severe drought can drive movement among herds of Plains bison, says a recent study. The team's GPS-backed data suggests that conserving the once-endangered species could depend on accounting for the climate extremes that Plains bison will likely encounter moving forward.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Scientists develop new way to measure wind      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Atmospheric scientists have developed an algorithm that uses data from water vapor movements to measure wind. This could help predict extreme events like hurricanes.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Playing hide and seek with planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of astronomers announced the first exoplanet discovered through a combined approach of direct imaging and precision measurements of a star's motion on the sky. This new method promises to improve the efficiency of exoplanet searches, paving the way for the discovery of an Earth twin.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

New exoplanet discovered      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers report the first exoplanet jointly discovered through direct imaging and precision astrometry, a new indirect method that identifies a planet by measuring the position of the star it orbits. Data from the Subaru Telescope in Hawai`i and space telescopes from the European Space Agency (ESA) were integral to the team's discovery.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

A sharper look at the M87 black hole      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The iconic image of the supermassive black hole at the center of M87 has gotten its first official makeover based on a new machine learning technique called PRIMO. The team used the data achieved the full resolution of the array.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

New look at climate data shows substantially wetter rain and snow days ahead      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new look at climate data shows that, by the end of the century, the heaviest days of rain and snowfall across much of North America will likely release 20 to 30 percent more moisture than they do now. Much of the increased precipitation will occur in winter, potentially exacerbating flooding in regions such as the upper Midwest and the west coast. Researchers also found that heavy precipitation days historically experienced once in a century will become more frequent -- as often as once every 30 or 40 years in the Pacific Northwest and southeastern United States.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

M87 in 3D: New view of galaxy helps pin down mass of the black hole at its core      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From Earth, giant elliptical galaxies resemble highly symmetric blobs, but what's their real 3D structure? Astronomers have assembled one of the first 3D views of a giant elliptical galaxy, M87, whose central supermassive black hole has already been imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. M87 turns out to be triaxial, like a potato. The revised view provides a more precise measure of the mass of the central black hole: 5.37 billion solar masses.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

James Webb Space Telescope images challenge theories of how universe evolved      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers find that six of the earliest and most massive galaxy candidates observed by the James Webb Space Telescope so far appear to have converted nearly 100% of their available gas into stars, a finding at odds with the reigning model of cosmology.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Researchers discover tiny galaxy with big star power using James Webb telescope      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers looked more than 13 billion years into the past to discover a unique, minuscule galaxy that could help astronomers learn more about galaxies that were present shortly after the Big Bang.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Shift to 'flash droughts' as climate warms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

'Flash droughts' have become more frequent due to human-caused climate change and this trend is predicted to accelerate in a warmer future, according to new research.