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Astronomers spot white dwarf star with two rings of planetary debris

Astronomers spot white dwarf star with two rings of planetary debris

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Billions of years from now, the sun is expected to run out of fuel and greatly expand into what is called a red giant, eventually shedding its outer layers and leaving behind its dense core, a white dwarf.

Caltech JPL's Historical Contributions to U.S. Space Exploration Highlighted in New Exhibition

Caltech JPL's Historical Contributions to U.S. Space Exploration Highlighted in New Exhibition

A new exhibition titled 'Dare Mighty Things: From Rocketry to Space Exploration at Caltech JPL' is showcasing the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) ninety-year history of contributions to rocketry and space exploration. The exhibition, drawing from the collections of both the Caltech Archives and Special Collections and the JPL Archives, traces the evolution of JPL's missions and the collaboration between JPL researchers and Caltech. Initially, in the 1930s, Caltech graduate students and rocket enthusiasts began small rocket engine experiments, attracting Army funding for rocket-assisted airplane takeoff. This led to the establishment of JPL in 1943. After the USSR launched Sputnik 1 in 1957, JPL built the first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. Following the establishment of NASA, JPL transitioned from Army work to designing uncrewed spacecraft for NASA, playing a pivotal role in lunar missions with Pioneer, Ranger, and Surveyor probes, and later sending Mariner probes to Venus and Mars. JPL...

William M. Thomas Planetarium to Host 'How Big? How Far?' Show on Solar System Scale

William M. Thomas Planetarium to Host 'How Big? How Far?' Show on Solar System Scale

The William M. Thomas Planetarium will present a new show titled 'How Big? How Far?' on November 19 at 7:30 p.m. The program, created by Nick Strobel, aims to provide audiences with a tangible understanding of the vast scales within our solar system and its relation to surrounding stars and the Milky Way galaxy. The show will utilize various methods to convey these immense distances, including scale models. For instance, a Nerf basketball represents the sun, with planets scaled down to grains of sand or small coins, and distances paced out across the Bakersfield College Panorama campus. The presentation will also explore travel times between planets using the speed of the New Horizons spacecraft as a reference. Additionally, the show will feature an evening sky tour using the Chronos star projector, highlighting visible planets like Saturn and constellations such as Taurus and Orion, along with details on the Leonid meteor shower peak.

University of Ottawa Researchers Propose 26.7-Billion-Year-Old Universe Without Dark Matter, Passes Big Bang Test

University of Ottawa Researchers Propose 26.7-Billion-Year-Old Universe Without Dark Matter, Passes Big Bang Test

Researchers at the University of Ottawa have introduced an alternative theory for the universe's origin, suggesting it is 26.7 billion years old, significantly older than the widely accepted 13.8 billion years. This theory, named covarying coupling constants plus tired light (CCC+TL), proposes that fundamental constants governing physical interactions change over cosmic time. These changes, according to the researchers, could explain phenomena currently attributed to dark matter and dark energy, thereby eliminating the need for these hypothetical components. The CCC+TL model has successfully passed a crucial test related to Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), the process that formed the first light elements in the early universe. By modifying the Kawano/NUC123 computer code to incorporate the CCC+TL model's scaling parameters, the researchers found that the predicted abundances of light elements were nearly identical to those of the standard model, indicating consistency with early universe observations.

Hubble Space Telescope Reveals 93-Billion-Mile Cosmic Dust Structure, 'Cat's Tail,' Challenging Astronomical Explanations

Hubble Space Telescope Reveals 93-Billion-Mile Cosmic Dust Structure, 'Cat's Tail,' Challenging Astronomical Explanations

Astronomers at the University of Arizona, utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope, have made a significant discovery: a gargantuan, 93-billion-mile-long cosmic dust feature dubbed the 'Cat's Tail.' This structure is located in the Beta Pictoris system, approximately 63 light-years away. Previously, this anomaly was only detectable by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in infrared light. Lead researcher Arin Avsar explained that the 'Cat's Tail' evaded visible-light detection for so long because it is composed almost entirely of heavily carbon-based organic refractory material, which effectively absorbs visible light. The structure is roughly 1,000 astronomical units long, equivalent to wrapping between the Earth and the Sun about 500 times.

NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Identifies First Dwarf Planet Candidate, Bolstering Space Research

NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Identifies First Dwarf Planet Candidate, Bolstering Space Research

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science are supporting the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which has revealed its first dwarf planet candidate within our solar system. This discovery is part of the observatory's operational phase, during which it will conduct the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. The NSF, an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1950, manages its funding for this project through the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) via a cooperative agreement. Concurrently, the DOE Office of Science, recognized as the largest supporter of basic physical sciences research in the U.S., manages its funding through SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) under a DOE contract. The Rubin Observatory itself is operated jointly by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC, signifying a collaborative effort in advancing scientific knowledge.

Vera C. Rubin Observatory Discovers Two New Milky Way Satellites, Advancing Galaxy Formation Research

Vera C. Rubin Observatory Discovers Two New Milky Way Satellites, Advancing Galaxy Formation Research

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes, has announced the discovery of two previously unknown satellites of the Milky Way: the dwarf galaxy Aquarius IV and the star cluster Rubin-GC1. These discoveries were made during preliminary observations that covered approximately 7% of the night sky. Aquarius IV is described as an extremely faint dwarf galaxy situated about 355,000 light-years from Earth on the distant outskirts of the Milky Way. Rubin-GC1 is a star cluster found on the opposite side of our galaxy, which had remained undetected until now, partly due to dense cosmic dust clouds in that region. These findings are part of the observatory's ongoing ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which utilizes an 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope and a 3.2-gigapixel digital camera to regularly photograph vast areas of the Southern Hemisphere sky.

Hubble Telescope Allocation Committee Approves Extensive Research Programs for Astronomical Observation

Hubble Telescope Allocation Committee Approves Extensive Research Programs for Astronomical Observation

The Hubble Telescope Allocation Committee (HST TAC) has approved a wide array of research programs for astronomical observation, spanning various cycles, including Cycles 31, 32, 33, and 34. These programs involve numerous principal investigators (PIs) from institutions across the United States and internationally, such as Northwestern University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California - Santa Cruz, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. The approved projects cover diverse areas of astrophysics, including studies of exoplanets, black holes, supernovae, galaxy evolution, stellar formation, and the composition of celestial bodies. For instance, Cycle 34 includes programs like 'Community Discovery Program: panchromatic CXO/VLA/HST observations of NS mergers' led by Wen-fai Fong, and 'Why is AGN Feedback Behaving Different in Clusters at z~1?' by Michael McDonald. Cycle 33 features 'STELa: Survey of Transiting Exoplanets in Lyman-alpha' by R. O. Loyd, and 'Where is the central blac...

Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Reenters Earth's Atmosphere After 22-Year Mission

Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Reenters Earth's Atmosphere After 22-Year Mission

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, previously known as the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, concluded its 22-year mission by reentering Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday. Launched in 2004, the space telescope plunged back into the atmosphere at 7:39 am ET, just four hours after NASA's prediction. The reentry occurred over the North Sumatra region of Indonesia, west of Malaysia. NASA anticipates that most of the telescope burned up during reentry, though some components may have survived. Operations for Swift were shut down in late October, with its final observation conducted on October 20, due to increased atmospheric drag at its orbiting altitude of 171 miles above Earth's surface.

NASA Warns Hubble Space Telescope Expected to Fall from Orbit by Mid-2030s, Considers Rescue Mission

NASA Warns Hubble Space Telescope Expected to Fall from Orbit by Mid-2030s, Considers Rescue Mission

NASA has announced that the Hubble Space Telescope is projected to fall from orbit and re-enter Earth's atmosphere by the mid-2030s. This follows the recent re-entry of NASA’s Swift Observatory on Wednesday, which had exceeded its two-year mission projection by lasting 11 times longer than planned. The agency is currently exploring the feasibility of a 'rescue mission' to push the Hubble Space Telescope further into space, thereby extending its operational life. The Swift Observatory's re-entry occurred after unsuccessful attempts to correct its sinking orbit. This development highlights the challenges of maintaining long-term space assets and the eventual fate of orbiting telescopes.

November 2026 to Feature Multiple Meteor Showers Across the U.S.

November 2026 to Feature Multiple Meteor Showers Across the U.S.

November 2026 is set to offer several opportunities for skywatchers across the United States to observe meteor showers. NASA has highlighted three main events: the Southern Taurids, the Northern Taurids, and the Leonids. The Southern Taurids are expected to peak around November 5, known for producing bright meteors, or 'fireballs,' with an estimated rate of about five meteors per hour under ideal conditions. Following this, the Northern Taurids will peak around November 12, also producing approximately five meteors per hour. The most anticipated event, the Leonid meteor shower, is slated to peak around November 17, with NASA recommending observation during the early morning hours of November 17 and 18, particularly after moonset. The Leonids could potentially offer up to 15 meteors per hour under optimal viewing conditions. These celestial events are observable without specialized equipment, requiring only dark skies and patience.

NASA's Voyager 1 Probe Recovers from Communications Glitch in Interstellar Space

NASA's Voyager 1 Probe Recovers from Communications Glitch in Interstellar Space

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, the most distant human-made object, has successfully recovered from a communications glitch that caused it to stop transmitting data to Earth for approximately 48 hours between October 18 and 20. The probe resolved the issue autonomously before engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) could send a remote fix. This incident marks the first time the spacecraft has experienced such a self-correction. Engineers are currently investigating the root cause of the communication loss, but initial findings suggest that one group of thrusters went offline, prompting its backups to activate automatically, a programmed response to detected anomalies. Voyager 1, launched in 1977 alongside its twin Voyager 2, continues its mission in interstellar space, nearly one light-day away from Earth, a milestone it is expected to reach on November 18, at a distance of 16.09 billion miles (25.89 billion kilometers).