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Categories: Paleontology: Climate, Space: Astronomy

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

New cosmological constraints on the nature of dark matter      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research has revealed the distribution of dark matter in never before seen detail, down to a scale of 30,000 light-years. The observed distribution fluctuations provide better constraints on the nature of dark matter.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Stability inspection for West Antarctica shows: marine ice sheet is not destabilized yet, but possibly on a path to tipping      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Antarctica's vast ice masses seem far away, yet they store enough water to raise global sea levels by several meters. A team of experts has now provided the first systematic stability inspection of the ice sheet's current state. Their diagnosis: While they found no indication of irreversible, self-reinforcing retreat of the ice sheet in West Antarctica yet, global warming to date could already be enough to trigger the slow but certain loss of ice over the next hundreds to thousands of years.

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

Furthest ever detection of a galaxy's magnetic field      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have detected the magnetic field of a galaxy so far away that its light has taken more than 11 billion years to reach us: we see it as it was when the Universe was just 2.5 billion years old. The result provides astronomers with vital clues about how the magnetic fields of galaxies like our own Milky Way came to be.

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

Hot Jupiter blows its top      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The planet HAT-P-32b is losing so much of its atmospheric helium that the trailing gas tails are among the largest structures yet known any planet outside our solar system. Three-dimensional (3D) simulations helped model the flow of the planet's atmosphere. The scientists hope to widen their planet-observing net and survey 20 additional star systems to find more planets losing their atmosphere and learn about their evolution.

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

Webb reveals new structures within iconic supernova      (via sciencedaily.com) 

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has begun the study of one of the most renowned supernovae, SN 1987A (Supernova 1987A). Located 168,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, SN 1987A has been a target of intense observations at wavelengths ranging from gamma rays to radio for nearly 40 years, since its discovery in February of 1987. New observations by Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) provide a crucial clue to our understanding of how a supernova develops over time to shape its remnant.

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

Scientists detect and validate the longest-period exoplanet found with TESS      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have detected and validated two of the longest-period exoplanets found by TESS to date. These long period large exoplanets orbit a K dwarf star and belong to a class of planets known as warm Jupiters, which have orbital periods of 10-200 days and are at least six times Earth's radius. This recent discovery offers exciting research opportunities for the future of finding long-period planets that resemble those in our own solar system.

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

New giant planet evidence of possible planetary collisions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A Neptune-sized planet denser than steel has been discovered by an international team of astronomers, who believe its composition could be the result of a giant planetary clash.

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

Unprecedented gamma-ray burst explained by long-lived jet      (via sciencedaily.com) 

While astrophysicists previously believed that only supernovae could generate long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), a 2021 observation uncovered evidence that compact-object mergers also can generate the phenomenon. Now, a new simulation confirms and explains this finding. If the accretion disk around the black hole is massive, it launches a jet that lasts several seconds, matching the description of a long GRB from a merger.

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

Telescopes help unravel pulsar puzzle      (via sciencedaily.com) 

With a remarkable observational campaign that involved 12 telescopes both on the ground and in space, including three European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities, astronomers have uncovered the strange behavior of a pulsar, a super-fast-spinning dead star. This mysterious object is known to switch between two brightness modes almost constantly, something that until now has been an enigma. But astronomers have now found that sudden ejections of matter from the pulsar over very short periods are responsible for the peculiar switches.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Neptune's disappearing clouds linked to the solar cycle      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astronomers have uncovered a link between Neptune's shifting cloud abundance and the 11-year solar cycle, in which the waxing and waning of the Sun's entangled magnetic fields drives solar activity.

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

Mysterious Neptune dark spot detected from Earth for the first time      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune's atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time a dark spot on the planet has ever been observed with a telescope on Earth. These occasional features in the blue background of Neptune's atmosphere are a mystery to astronomers, and the new results provide further clues as to their nature and origin.

Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: General
Published

Using supernovae to study neutrinos' strange properties      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a new study, researchers have taken an important step toward understanding how exploding stars can help reveal how neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles, secretly interact with themselves.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Key role of ice age cycles in early human interbreeding      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recent paleogenomic research revealed that interbreeding was common among early human species. However, little was known about when, where, and how often this hominin interbreeding took place. Using paleoanthropological evidence, genetic data, and supercomputer simulations of past climate, a team of international researchers has found that interglacial climates and corresponding shifts in vegetation created common habitats for Neanderthals and Denisovans, increasing their chances for interbreeding and gene flow in parts of Europe and central Asia.

Anthropology: Early Humans Biology: Evolutionary Paleontology: Climate
Published

Elephant ancestors´ teeth evolved in response to long term changes in diet and climate in Africa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that the cheek teeth of proboscideans (elephants and their ancient relatives) evolved in response to dietary changes due to vegetation changes and climate change in East Africa during the last 26 million years.

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

Hundred-year storms? That's how long they last on Saturn      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Megastorms regularly appear on Saturn, marring the relatively bland surface before disappearing. But radio observations show that the storms have long-lasting effects deeper in the atmosphere, in particular in the distribution of ammonia. Using NRAO's Very Large Array, astronomers see such impacts from storms that happened hundreds of years ago. The findings will help explain the differences between storms on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

After seventeen years, a spacecraft makes its first visit home      (via sciencedaily.com) 

On Aug. 12, 2023, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft will pass between the Sun and Earth, marking the first Earth flyby of the nearly 17-year-old mission. The visit home brings a special chance for the spacecraft to collaborate with NASA missions near Earth and reveal new insights into our closest star.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Paleontology: Climate
Published

A climate-orchestrated early human love story      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study finds that past changes in atmospheric CO2 and corresponding shifts in climate and vegetation played a key role in determining when and where early human species interbred.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

How a massive North Atlantic cooling event disrupted early human occupation in Europe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study finds that around 1.12 million years ago a massive cooling event in the North Atlantic and corresponding shifts in climate, vegetation and food resources disrupted early human occupation of Europe.

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

Webb reveals colors of Earendel, most distant star ever detected      (via sciencedaily.com) 

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has followed up on observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of the farthest star ever detected in the very distant universe, within the first billion years after the big bang. Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals the star to be a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our Sun, and about a million times more luminous.