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James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Star-Forming Pillar in Carina Nebula

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Star-Forming Pillar in Carina Nebula

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a detailed image of a prominent dust pillar within the Carina Nebula, a vast region of star formation in our Milky Way galaxy. This towering formation of interstellar gas and dust is being sculpted by the intense radiation and stellar winds emanating from nearby massive stars, including the luminous Eta Carinae system. Within this pillar, a compact cluster of approximately 70 young stars has been identified. The most massive among these stars are about 19 times the mass of our Sun. These young stars are estimated to be only 1.3 million years old, a relatively short period in cosmic terms, highlighting the dynamic and rapid processes of star birth occurring in this region.

NASA says new Roman telescope's lifespan could more than double, to 22 years

NASA says new Roman telescope's lifespan could more than double, to 22 years

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Even before the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has reached its planned orbital position, NASA says its newest flagship observatory's potential operational lifespan may reach 22 years — more than double the length previously announced.

James Webb Space Telescope Captures Colossal Cosmic Cloud in IC 348, Aids Brown Dwarf Search

James Webb Space Telescope Captures Colossal Cosmic Cloud in IC 348, Aids Brown Dwarf Search

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a new image revealing an expansive cosmic cloud within the star-forming region IC 348, located approximately 1,000 light-years away. This image showcases glowing wisps of translucent gas and dust, where cold molecular hydrogen gas collapses to form new stars. The cosmic landscape is dotted with numerous twinkling stars. This observation is part of a scientific program aimed at identifying and studying brown dwarfs, which are celestial objects that form like stars but lack sufficient mass to initiate hydrogen fusion in their cores. Brown dwarfs are less massive than the smallest stars but more massive than the largest planets, making them a subject of ongoing scientific inquiry.

Astronomers Discover Youngest Exoplanet Elias 2-24b, Challenging Planet Formation Models

Astronomers Discover Youngest Exoplanet Elias 2-24b, Challenging Planet Formation Models

Astronomers have identified Elias 2-24b, the youngest exoplanet ever discovered, orbiting a young orange dwarf star approximately 453 light-years from Earth. This Jupiter-sized 'newborn' planet is estimated to be less than a million years old and is still embedded within its natal disk of gas and dust. The discovery was made by a team led by Andrea Bernardi, a doctoral candidate at the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile, who analyzed archival data from the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The findings confirm earlier observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, which hinted at a celestial body within a gap in the debris disk around the star Elias 2-24. Coronagraph technology, which blocks starlight to enable direct observation of orbiting planets, was crucial in confirming the exoplanet's presence within this gap, where planets are expected to form by carving out material.

NASA's LRO Discovers 'Once-in-a-Century' Moon Crater, Reveals Surface Changes

NASA's LRO Discovers 'Once-in-a-Century' Moon Crater, Reveals Surface Changes

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has identified the largest newly formed crater ever found in the solar system on the Moon’s eastern edge. Named McGetchin crater after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, it formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024, when a comet or asteroid, estimated to be the size of a three- to six-story building, impacted the lunar surface. The crater measures 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep. Robert Wagner, an image-processing specialist with Intuitive Machines working with LROC data, discovered the crater during a routine data-quality check by comparing before and after images of the Moon. Scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude occurs on the Moon approximately once a century or even less frequently. Further observations using LRO’s thermal instrument, Diviner, revealed a 4-mile-wide area around the crater that is about 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at night than its surroundings. This cooling effect is attributed to the impact fluffing up the regolith, makin...

Webb Telescope Discovers New Class of Brown Dwarfs, Challenges Star Formation Models

Webb Telescope Discovers New Class of Brown Dwarfs, Challenges Star Formation Models

Astronomers utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified 39 new brown dwarf candidates in the IC 348 star-forming region, located approximately 1,000 light-years away. Among these, nine have been spectroscopically confirmed as sub-stellar members of the cluster, meaning they lack sufficient mass to initiate hydrogen fusion. Notably, some of these newly discovered brown dwarfs possess masses as low as two times that of Jupiter, which is merely 0.19% of the Sun’s mass. This finding pushes the boundaries of the known lower mass limit for brown dwarfs. Furthermore, the research team, led by Kevin Luhman from Penn State University and Catarina Alves de Oliveira from the European Space Agency, observed an unusual absorption feature attributed to an unidentified aliphatic hydrocarbon in the spectra of 11 brown dwarfs within IC 348. This consistent presence of the hydrocarbon feature, particularly stronger at fainter magnitudes, has led to the proposal of a new spectral class, designated 'H', fo...

Scientists Discover Youngest Exoplanet, Elias 2-24 b, Offering New Insights into Planet Formation

Scientists Discover Youngest Exoplanet, Elias 2-24 b, Offering New Insights into Planet Formation

Astronomers have identified Elias 2-24 b, a 'baby' exoplanet orbiting a newly formed star approximately 450 light-years from Earth. This exoplanet is estimated to be less than 1 million years old, making it the youngest alien world ever discovered. Initial signs of its existence were noted in 2017 as a gap in the star's protoplanetary disk, a swirling cloud of gas and dust where planets form. Researchers utilized observations from three major telescopes—the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope—to directly image and confirm the exoplanet's presence. Elias 2-24 b is between two and four times the mass of Jupiter and orbits its star at nearly twice the distance Neptune is from the Sun. This discovery provides a unique opportunity to study the early stages of planet formation, a process rarely observed directly.

NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon

NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon

Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon that's bigger than the Roman Colosseum, the result of a powerful impact two years ago

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Exceeds Fuel Projections, Doubling Potential Mission Lifetime

NASA's Roman Space Telescope Exceeds Fuel Projections, Doubling Potential Mission Lifetime

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is projected to have its operational lifetime more than doubled, from an initial 10 years to at least 22 years, due to significant fuel savings. This extended lifespan is attributed to several factors: the exceptional accuracy of its first mid-course correction maneuver, which used less than 10% of the budgeted fuel; additional fuel loaded prior to launch because the spacecraft was lighter than initially projected; and anticipated further savings from its upcoming second mid-course correction and orbital insertion. The first burn, executed on August 31, was over 99% accurate and consumed only about 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of fuel, far less than the 441 pounds (200 kilograms) allocated. The spacecraft's actual launch weight of 17,760 pounds (8,056 kilograms) was significantly below the conservative maximum weight of 21,605 pounds (9,800 kilograms) used for fuel budgeting, allowing for propellant tanks to be filled beyond the 10-year requirement. These efficiencies m...

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Mysterious Changes in Chariklo's Rings

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Mysterious Changes in Chariklo's Rings

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) indicate mysterious changes in the rings surrounding Chariklo, a 'centaur' object located between Saturn and Uranus. Chariklo, approximately 400 miles in diameter, is a unique celestial body exhibiting characteristics of both asteroids and comets. Its rings were first discovered in 2013, marking it as the first small solar system body known to possess such a feature. Subsequent ground-based observations were made in 2014 and 2017. However, a JWST study published on September 9 in the journal Science Advances, based on 2022 observations, revealed significant differences over the past decade. Specifically, the inner ring of Chariklo shows a significantly higher opacity, while the outer ring exhibits lower opacity, a finding that challenges previous understandings of these ring systems.

Hubble Telescope Discovers First Extragalactic Globular Cluster Stellar Stream, Aids Dark Matter Mapping

Hubble Telescope Discovers First Extragalactic Globular Cluster Stellar Stream, Aids Dark Matter Mapping

The Hubble Space Telescope has provided the strongest evidence to date for a globular cluster stellar stream located beyond the Milky Way galaxy. This discovery involves a narrow ribbon of stars observed next to the ultra-diffuse galaxy UGC 9050-Dw1, situated approximately 115 million light-years away. Researchers, led by Julie Kiel Holm, described this feature, named Oyashio, in a peer-reviewed Nature paper. The stream appears to originate from a compact object, likely a globular cluster being torn apart by the host galaxy's tidal forces. The observation was independently confirmed using images from both the Hubble Space Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. This finding is significant because streams created by disrupted globular clusters are much narrower than those from dwarf galaxies, providing a unique 'test particle' to study the gravitational fields of distant galaxies.

Hubble Space Telescope's Orbit Decaying, Faces Uncontrolled Reentry Risk

Hubble Space Telescope's Orbit Decaying, Faces Uncontrolled Reentry Risk

The Hubble Space Telescope's orbit is steadily decaying due to atmospheric drag, raising concerns about an uncontrolled reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Unlike many modern spacecraft, Hubble was not designed with station-keeping thrusters or the ability to steer itself for a controlled deorbit. The drag on the telescope, which is roughly the size of a school bus, is influenced by solar activity; increased solar extreme ultraviolet and 10.7 cm radio flux cause the thermosphere to swell, increasing density at Hubble's altitude and accelerating its descent. While the telescope has undergone reboosts in the past by Space Shuttles, the last such mission was in 2002. NASA has not approved further reboosts, despite proposals such as one involving a Crew Dragon. The current rate of decay suggests an uncontrolled reentry could occur within the next decade if no action is taken. The website 'Hubble Reentry Tracker' monitors the telescope's altitude daily, providing real-time data on its orbital decay.