Page 2 - Astronomy

Scientists find a solar eruption that has maintained its temp for six yrs

This phenomenon in space can impact the Earth's ground and space technologies and has been known to disrupt radio transmissions, this observation may help astronomers understand why this happens

NASA's Chandra observatory helps dig out black holes previously buried

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has helped discover hundreds of black holes previously buried, which will help astronomers get a more accurate census of black holes in the universe

NASA mission spots 2nd Earth-size world within 'habitable zone' of its star

NASA mission has discovered a second Earth-sized, rocky planet within the habitable zone of its star -- the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet's surface

Four eclipse events this year, two would be visible in India: Astro expert

Four eclipse events including a total solar eclipse would occur in 2023 and two of them would be visible in India, an astronomy expert said here on Wednesday. There would be two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses, said Dr Rajendra Prakash Gupt, Superintendent of Ujjain's Government Jiwaji Observatory. The celestial events will start with a total solar eclipse on April 20. "But it will not be visible from India," Dr Gupt said. It will be followed by a 'penumbral' lunar eclipse on the intervening night of May 5-6 which will be visible in India, he said. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through penumbra or lighter part of Earth's shadow, and sunlight falling on the Moon appears to be partially cut off. The Moon remains visible, but with less-than-usual brightness. The only 'annular solar eclipse' will take place on the intervening night of October 14 and 15, but it would not be visible in the country as it would happen at night. A partial lunar eclipse wou

Closest known black hole to Earth spotted, just 1,600 light-years away

Astronomers have discovered the closest known black hole to Earth, just 1,600 light-years away. Scientists reported Friday that this black hole is 10 times more massive than our sun. And it's three times closer than the previous record-holder. It was identified by observing the motion of its companion star, which orbits the black hole at about the same distance as Earth orbits the sun. The black hole was initially identified using the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft, said Kareem El-Badry of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics. El-Badry and his team followed up with the International Gemini Observatory in Hawaii to confirm their findings, which were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The researchers are uncertain how the system formed in the Milky Way. Named Gaia BH1, it's located in the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

Astronomers discover heaviest element in an exoplanet atmosphere barium

Astronomers have discovered the heaviest element ever found in an exoplanet atmosphere barium. They were surprised to discover barium at high altitudes in the atmospheres of the ultra-hot gas giants WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b two exoplanets, planets which orbit stars outside our Solar System. This unexpected discovery raises questions about what these exotic atmospheres may be like."The puzzling and counterintuitive part is: why is there such a heavy element in the upper layers of the atmosphere of these planets?" says Tomas Azevedo Silva, a PhD student at the University of Porto and the Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciencias do Espaco (IA) in Portugal who led the study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b are no ordinary exoplanets. Both are known as ultra-hot Jupiters as they are comparable in size to Jupiter whilst having extremely high surface temperatures soaring above 1000°C. This is due to their close proximity to their host stars, which also ...

Nasa to use SpaceX's Dragon to boost Hubble telescope to higher orbit

The deal signed by NASA and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. called for collaborating on a feasibility study of such a mission, though NASA has yet to commit to such a flight.

Astronomers map distances in the largest-ever catalog to 56,000 galaxies

Astronomers have assembled the largest-ever compilation of high-precision galaxy distances, called Cosmicflows-4.Galaxies, such as the Milky Way, are the building blocks of the universe, each comprised of up to several hundred billion stars. Galaxies beyond our immediate neighborhood are rushing away, faster if they are more distant, which is a consequence of the expansion of the universe that began at the moment of the Big Bang. Measurements of the distances of galaxies, coupled with information about their velocities away from us, determine the scale of the universe and the time that has elapsed since its birth."Since galaxies were identified as separate from the Milky Way a hundred years ago, astronomers have been trying to measure their distances," said Tully. "Now by combining our more accurate and abundant tools, we are able to measure distances of galaxies, and the related expansion rate of the universe and the time since the universe was born with a precision of a few per ...

Astronomers detect hot gas bubbles swirling around supermassive black hole

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have spotted signs of a 'hot spot' orbiting Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. The finding helps us better understand the enigmatic and dynamic environment of our supermassive black hole."We think we're looking at a hot bubble of gas zipping around Sagittarius A* on an orbit similar in size to that of the planet Mercury, but making a full loop in just around 70 minutes. This requires a mind blowing velocity of about 30% of the speed of light!" says Maciek Wielgus of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, who led the study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.The observations were made with ALMA in the Chilean Andes -- a radio telescope co-owned by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) -- during a campaign by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration to image black holes. In April 2017 the EHT linked together eight existing radio telescopes ...

Don't miss Jupiter's closest date with Earth in 70 years on September 26

Jupiter's opposition occurs every 13 months, making the planet appear larger and brighter than any other time of the year

Astronomers find new Saturn-like planet hiding in disc through novel method

All astronomers concur that planets are created in protoplanetary discs, which are the bands of gas and dust that encircle newly formed, young stars. Even though the universe has hundreds of these discs, it has been challenging to observe genuine planetary birth and development in these settings.Currently, astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have created a novel method to find these elusive newborn planets, along with "smoking gun" proof of a small Neptune or Saturn-like planet hiding in a disc. The Astrophysical Journal Letters today published a description of the findings.According to Feng Long, a postdoctoral scholar at the Center for Astrophysics and project leader, "directly finding young planets is highly tough and has thus far only been effective in one or two situations." Because they are encased in substantial amounts of gas and dust, planets are always too dim for us to see them.Instead, they must look for signs that a planet is forming ..

All you need to know about India's first dark sky reserve in Ladakh

Government plans to promote astronomy tourism at the reserve, which is located in Hanle in Ladakh

Length of Earth's day is mysteriously increasing, scientists don't know why

Atomic clocks, combined with precise astronomical measurements, have revealed that the length of a day is suddenly getting longer, and scientists don't know why

After Russian withdrawal, what next for International Space Station?

The International Space Station was a symbol of post-Cold War peace and cooperation, and the Russian announcement of withdrawal after 2024 signifies the reversal of that cooperation

Chinese astronauts enter lab module after docks with space station

It was the first time the Chinese astronauts had entered the lab module in orbit

How James Webb Space Telescope lets us see first galaxies in the universe

It has been an exciting week with the release of breathtaking photos of our Universe by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Images such as the one below give us a chance to see distant galaxies

James Webb telescope captures images of universe: How astronomy will change

Unveiled by US president Joe Biden, the stunning image of SMACS 0723, a cluster of thousands of galaxies, was released on July 11

International astronomers in Australia capture black hole eruption

Astronomers from Curtin University, as part of an international team, have produced the most comprehensive images of the nearest active black hole to earth.

Indian astronomers discover new exoplanet, rare stars hotter than Sun

Indian astronomers have added another feather to their cap as they have recently made two new discoveries -- an exoplanet 1.4x the size of Jupiter and a rare class of radio stars hotter than the Sun.

Star system with right-angled planets surprises astronomers

Two planets orbit the poles while another revolves around the star's equator, suggesting a mysterious force