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Categories: Mathematics: Puzzles, Space: Exploration
Published Will machine learning help us find extraterrestrial life?


Researchers have applied a deep learning technique to a previously studied dataset of nearby stars and uncovered eight previously unidentified signals of interest.
Published Volcano-like rupture could have caused magnetar slowdown


In October 2020, a highly magnetic neutron star called SGR 1935+2154 abruptly began spinning more slowly. Astrophysicist now show the magnetar's rotational slowdown could have been caused by a volcano-like rupture near its magnetic pole.
Published Starry tail tells the tale of dwarf galaxy evolution


A giant diffuse tail of stars has been discovered emanating from a large, faint dwarf galaxy. The presence of a tail indicates that the galaxy has experienced recent interaction with another galaxy. This is an important clue for understanding how so called 'ultra-diffuse' galaxies are formed.
Published NASA's Fermi detects first gamma-ray eclipses from 'spider' star systems


Scientists have discovered the first gamma-ray eclipses from a special type of binary star system using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. These so-called spider systems each contain a pulsar -- the superdense, rapidly rotating remains of a star that exploded in a supernova -- that slowly erodes its companion.
Published Webb spies Chariklo ring system with high-precision technique


In an observational feat of high precision, scientists used a new technique with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to capture the shadows of starlight cast by the thin rings of Chariklo. Chariklo is an icy, small body, but the largest of the known Centaur population, located more than 2 billion miles away beyond the orbit of Saturn.
Published Were galaxies much different in the early universe?


The most sensitive telescope now searching for radio signals from cosmic dawn, an era around 200 million years after the Big Bang when stars ignited, has doubled its sensitivity, a new paper reports. While not yet detecting this radiation -- the redshifted 21-centimeter line -- they have put new limits on the elemental composition of galaxies during the Epoch of Reionization. Early galaxies seem to be low in metals, fitting the most popular theory of cosmic evolution.
Published How a 3 cm glass sphere could help scientists understand space weather


Space weather can interfere with spaceflight and the operation of satellites, but the phenomenon is very difficult to study on Earth because of the difference in gravity. Researchers effectively reproduced the type of gravity that exists on or near stars and other planets inside of a glass sphere measuring 3 centimeters in diameter, or about 1.2 inches. The achievement could help scientists overcome the limiting role of gravity in experiments that are intended to model conditions in stars and other planets.
Published Darkest view ever of interstellar ice



Astronomers used observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to achieve the darkest ever view of a dense interstellar cloud. These observations have revealed the composition of a virtual treasure chest of ices from the early universe, providing new insights into the chemical processes of one of the coldest, darkest places in the universe as well as the origins of the molecules that make up planetary atmospheres.
Published Massive fuel-hungry black holes feed off intergalactic gas


Research has revealed how supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are feeding off gas clouds which reach them by traveling hundreds of thousands of light years from one galaxy to another.
Published Billions of celestial objects revealed in gargantuan survey of the Milky Way



Astronomers have released a gargantuan survey of the galactic plane of the Milky Way. The new dataset contains a staggering 3.32 billion celestial objects -- arguably the largest such catalog so far. The data for this unprecedented survey were taken with the Dark Energy Camera.
Published How was the solar system formed? The Ryugu asteroid is helping us learn



Our solar system is estimated to be about 4.57 billion years old. Previous analyses of ancient meteorites have shown that minerals were created through chemical reactions with water as far back as 4.5 billion years ago. New findings from the Ryugu asteroid samples indicate that carbonates were forming from water-rock reactions several million years earlier, even closer to the solar system's beginnings.
Published Tumultuous migration on the edge of the Hot Neptune Desert


A team reveals the eventful migration history of planets bordering the Hot Neptune Desert, these extrasolar planets that orbit very close to their star.
Published The rich meteorology of Mars studied in detail from the Perseverance rover


Perseverance has now completed its investigation of the atmosphere throughout the first Martian year (which lasts approximately two Earth years). Specifically, astronomers have studied seasonal and daily cycles of temperature and pressure, as well as their significant variations on other time scales resulting from very different processes.
Published New small laser device can help detect signs of life on other planets


As space missions delve deeper into the outer solar system, the need for more compact, resource-conserving and accurate analytical tools has become increasingly critical -- especially as the hunt for extraterrestrial life and habitable planets or moons continues. A University of Maryland-led team developed a new instrument specifically tailored to the needs of NASA space missions. Their mini laser-sourced analyzer is significantly smaller and more resource efficient than its predecessors--all without compromising the quality of its ability to analyze planetary material samples and potential biological activity onsite.
Published Researchers measure size-luminosity relation of galaxies less than a billion years after Big Bang


A team has studied the relation between galaxy size and luminosity of some of the earliest galaxies in the universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, less than a billion years after the Big Bang.
Published Hubble finds hungry black hole twisting captured star into donut shape


Black holes are gatherers, not hunters. They lie in wait until a hapless star wanders by. When the star gets close enough, the black hole's gravitational grasp violently rips it apart and sloppily devours its gasses while belching out intense radiation. Astronomers have recorded a star's final moments in detail as it gets gobbled up by a black hole.
Published How did the Butterfly Nebula get its wings? It's complicated


Something is amiss in the Butterfly Nebula. When astronomers compared two exposures of this planetary nebula that had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 and 2020, they saw dramatic changes in the material within its 'wings.' Powerful winds are apparently driving complex alterations of material within the Butterfly Nebula, behavior not seen in planetary nebulae to date. The researchers want to understand how such activity is possible from what should be a 'sputtering, largely moribund star with no remaining fuel.'
Published Martian meteorite contains large diversity of organic compounds


Unraveling the origin stories of the Tissint meteorite's organic compounds can help scientists understand whether the Red Planet ever hosted life, as well as Earth's geologic history.
Published Old and new stars paint very different pictures of the Triangulum Galaxy


Scientists have reported something unexpected about the distinct populations of stars that make up the Triangulum galaxy: In this satellite galaxy, a close companion of the much larger Andromeda galaxy, old and new stars occur in separate parts of the galaxy's structure, something not seen in galaxies like our own and so far not reporter for other satellite galaxies.
Published NASA's Webb uncovers star formation in cluster's dusty ribbons


NGC 346, one of the most dynamic star-forming regions in nearby galaxies, is full of mystery. Now, it is less mysterious with new findings from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.