detected

Astronomers have seen live the awakening of a giant black hole. They had never detected something so violent

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Good morning, Ansky. SDSS1335+0728 was a black hole so boring that it didn’t even have a nickname. Located 300 million light years, in the constellation of Virgo, he had been asleep from our point of view. But go aroused. The supermassive black hole has aroused in such a violent way that it has left fascinated and somewhat baffled astronomers. Now it is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) dodged affectionately “Ansky”. Years of study. The galaxy where Ansky is began to shine unexpectedly in visible light at the end of 2019. Chilean astronomer Paula Sánchez Sáez, of the Southern European Observatory (ESO), leads the first team that detected activation. “When we saw Ansky illuminate in optical images, we activate monitoring observations with the NASA X -ray space telescope and review archived data of the erosite German telescope,” Paula says in a statement. “But at that time we did not see evidence of X -ray emissions.” The surprise arrived in February 2024. A second team led by Lorena Hernández-García, from the University of Valparaíso (in Chile), saw how Ansky began to emit gusts of incredibly energy and regular X-ray. “It is the first time we observed such an event in a black hole that seems to be waking up,” Lorena explains. Out of the ordinary. He XMM-Newton telescope From the European Space Agency it has allowed to measure the faint x -ray light that comes to us from the explosions, which has been key to measuring how much energy releases Ansky in each “flash”. Known as “quasiperiódicas eruptions” (QPES), X -ray emissions turned out to be ten times longer and ten times luminous than other supermassive black holes. Each eruption of Ansky releases a hundred times more energy than the Qpes observed so far. In addition, it had never seen a time between eruptions so wide, with a cadence of four and a half days. Ansky takes astronomical models to the limit and challenges our current ideas on how these flashes are generated. What causes these explosions? The most accepted theory about the QPES is that they are caused by the interaction of an object (such as a smaller star or hole) with the accretion disc (the hot and bright material that revolves around the black hole before being engulf). They usually occur when the Black hole is eaten a starbut it does not seem to be the case of Ansky. This has led the international astronomer team to consider other possibilities. Perhaps the accretion disk will be formed from gas captured from the galactic environment, and the flares are the result of highly energetic shock waves caused by a smaller object that orbit and disturbed repeatedly the disc. Gravitational waves. Notice Real Time Awakening It is an unprecedented opportunity to check if their energy eruptions could be related to gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein’s relativity and detected for the first time a few years ago. The smooth mission of ESA and NASA will try to observe these disturbances in the space-time fabric from point L1 of Lagrange after its launch in an Ariane 6 rocket planned for 2035. Image | THAT In Xataka | We knew that the supermassive black holes were huge. Thanks to James Webb, now we know we were short

The US has detected an object in space with strange behavior. The source that released it has also located: Russia

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Last year there was a fact that formalized the rhetoric of the “spatial war” It was a fact. It was known, in some cases it was intuited, that the United States, Russia and China had transferred their confrontations hundreds of kilometers from the earth through their satellites. However, in December any glimpse of doubt was cleared: United States He designed the bases of a war attack in space. Now they have detected something unusual, and their source comes from Moscow. First was surveillance. In March, The CNN counted that the Pentagon had intensified the surveillance of the spatial activities of Russia and China in the face of growing evidence that both powers are testing New capabilities Offensive in orbit. As American defense officials then said, Russia had carried out coordinated satellite exercises that simulate attack and defense tactics, including maneuvers in which several satellites surround and isolate another, demonstrating a possible scenario of neutralization of enemy ships. China, meanwhile, had executed similar maneuversincluding the closed formation of satellites and offensive approach practices, actions that reinforce suspicions about the growing militarization of outer space. Three satellites and a stranger. Thus we arrive at the news of these days. Russia has launched space three highly secret satellites (Kosmos 2581, 2582 and 2583) that have revived concerns about a possible preparation for space war. On February 2, the satellites were sent to orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket, without Moscow revealing details about their purpose. Not just that. To the unusual maneuvers they have performed since their deployment, the recent appearance of A mysterious objectpossibly released by the Kosmos 2583 satellite on March 18, whose strange draw Observe with concern. The United States’s space force has already cataloged the new object, while some speculation suggests that these satellites could be practicing “attack and defense” tactics orbital, designed to isolate or neutralize enemy satellites in case of a future conflict. Trajectory of the object detected Theories Although astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, from Harvard-Smithsonian Center, nuanced interpretations Alarmists when considering that the observed maneuvers can simply be due to similar orbits, recent history also reinforces skepticism. In 2022, Russia had already launched the Kosmos 2558 in the same orbital trajectory as an American military satellite, which was interpreted as an act of spatial espionage. The geopolitical context and the background of the Kremlin in the matter of covert technologies They raise suspicions that this new satellite trio may be carrying out surveillance missions, interception or testing tests Antisatellite technologiesalthough for now there are no conclusive evidence of hostile actions. The “conquest” of space. We said it at the beginning. The maneuvers attributed to satellites Kosmos 2581-2583 They are framed in a broader scenario in which both Russia and China would be exploring New combat capabilities orbital. The Recent CNN reports They quote officials of the United States Department of Defense, who say that both countries are carrying out military training in low orbits, a key zone for their proximity to land and its frequent use for communication, recognition and intelligence satellites. This trend reinforces the fear that space will be consolidated as a new confrontation field Strategic, one where powers develop technologies to deactivate, interfere or even destroy enemy space assets. Uncertainty and surveillance. So far we write, the nature or function of the object released in March has not been determined with certainty, which increases the tension around this satellite trio. McDowell explained That between February 25 and March 14, proximity operations were registered between the satellites, and that two of them passed near Kosmos 2583 on March 7, although it could not be confirmed if there was an attempt at offensive coordination. Even so, the US spatial force maintains close surveillance on the orbital movements and patterns of these artifacts, given the possibility that it is covert tests of new military capacities in space, a dimension that is no longer purely scientific or commercial, but also tactic. The challenge of “interpreting.” In the background, a problem that until now had not taken place in space, that of the opacity of the nations with respect to the missions of their satellites and the repeated use of covert technologies in their space operations that make it difficult to obtain certainty. In an environment where the simple fact of sharing orbits or making approaches between satellites can have both harmless and aggressive aims, analysts, in this case of the United States, must move between caution and prevention. As We already explainedwhile the calls multiply to establish clear international standards on behavior in space, Washington and its allies already consider spatial domain as a Active strategic theaterand each new mysterious object, such as the newly released by Kosmos 2583, adds one more tension layer to technological and military rivalry in orbit. Image | POT In Xataka | The space is no longer a two thing with the arrival of China, so the US has devised a war plan just in case: “Space fire” In Xataka | Satellites with missiles from Earth is ended up: the United States takes the first step to end the practice

Its scientists have detected a design failure in NASA’s reactor

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United States and China are measuring their spatial capabilities In a race to build the first lunar base. Although NASA was victorious from the previous race to the moon against the Soviet Union, It is not so clear that it takes the lead On this occasion. For now, Chinese scientists They have found failures In a crucial element of NASA’s lunar program: its energy source. NASA’s lunar reactor. NASA leads US efforts to inhabit the moon with its partners of Artemisa agreements. The Chinese Space Agency CNSA and the Russian Roscosmos advancetogether with a small group of allies, in the development of the International Lunar Research Station (Ilrs), which It will start working in 2036 and Wait to house thousands of scientists. On the moon, one night lasts 14 terrestrial days, so more than solar panels will be needed to maintain the energy supply of the facilities. NASA He has been developing for years A small nuclear energy plant specially designed to function on the surface of the moon. This little fission reactor is called Fission Surface Power (FSP) and can generate 40 kW of power. China has found a failure. The researchers of the National Nuclear Corporation of China (CNNC) examined NASA’s proposal and discovered improveable aspects in their design. A study published by the Chinese scientific journal Atomic Energy Science and Technology Review these weaknesses focusing on the composition of nuclear fuel, the cooling system and the security control of the US reactor. Chinese scientists highlight the FSP reactor compact designbut they see a clear mistake in the choice of fuel. According to his study, the use of very enriched uranium cylindrical bars will require thick beryl layers as a armor to control intense radiation. In addition, it will limit the useful life of the reactor to about eight years due to the “fuel swelling” (fuel expansion), a phenomenon that makes the material increase in volume gradually due to radiation. To this we must add that the reactor has a simple control mechanism, less safe in critical situations. Remove, NASA, we do it. In addition to pointing out US design problems, CNNC scientists presented an improved version of the lunar nuclear reactor taking as reference both NASA design and an old Soviet space reactor called Topaz-II. The main improvements introduced by the Chinese lunar reactor are: Ring -shaped fuel bars: instead of solid cylinders, the bars have an annular shape, such as a hollow ring. Inside they have small uranium dioxide pills covered by stainless steel, allowing the heat generated by the nuclear reaction to dissipate better, using the interior and exterior of the refrigeration ring Double cooling system: The Chinese reactor has a cooling system based on a liquid metal (NAK-78) that flows through internal and external channels of annular fuel bars. This design allows the reactor temperature to be maintained below 600 ° C, which improves the safety and stability of the reactor Most efficient neutron moderator: Chinese design uses a material called ititrio hydride (YH1.8) as a moderator, the material responsible for slowing down neutrons, improving nuclear reaction and making it more efficient. Ititrium hydride is more stable than traditional nuclear moderators (such as zirconium hydride), which avoids dangerous hydrogen leaks and increases the safety and life of the reactor Less nuclear fuel necessary: ​​Thanks to its design and the use of Ititrium hydride as a moderator, the Chinese reactor needs only 18.5 kg of Uranium-235 in front of the NASA FSP reactor, which requires approximately 70 kg of U-235, almost four times more. Weight reduction is essential in space missions, not only due to cost savings, but because nuclear materials are being launched through the Earth’s atmosphere Your turn, United States. The Chinese reactor is up to 75% more efficient than that of NASA, and promises a useful life of 10 years, compared to the eight of the American reactor. This advance would potentially position China ahead of the United States in the objective of establishing a sustained and self -sufficient presence on the moon, since the constant energy that a nuclear reactor allows will be essential to be able to hold inhabited bases in the long term. But NASA design is not monolithic or closed. The expected thing is that, as China has done, the agency takes advantage of its opponent’s investigations to improve its own technology. What could also end up with companies that develop small modular reactors (SMR) for the supply of electricity on Earth. If something has space careers, they improve, based on research, technologies that end up moving to other industries. Images | POT In Xataka | We are building nuclear spacecraft again. NASA believes we will need them

I have detected the exact moment in which things in Marvel began to fail and that has culminated in ‘Captain America’

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Until the weekend, when the public’s opinion begins to fly over the Internet (which in the end is the one who pays and the one that interests Disney, since the consensus of criticism and public they generated ‘Infinity War‘ and ‘Endey me‘It is unlikely to be repeated again), we will not know if’Captain America: Brave New World‘It is a failure or a triumph. What we can analyze is at what point in the history of MCU Things began to twist. The majority opinion. We can all be more or less agree that there is an MCU stage with a more or less positive balance (which goes from acceptable to the glorious, according to the fan’s enthusiasm) that begins in ‘Iron Man’ and extends until ‘ Endgame ‘. And from there, things began to twist, with stages 4 and 5 mainly disastrous that led to the first Marvel box office failures, to a possible “Superheroic fatigue“And at the time of current uncertainty. But there are nuances. Matiz one: Not the whole field is oregano. 23 films, which is said soon, make up the MCU from ‘Iron Man’ to ‘Endgame’ (well, to ‘Spider-Man: Far from home‘). It is statistically impossible for all to be round, and we cannot even agree on our appreciations. For example, for the signer ‘Iron Man 3’ it is one of the peaks of the MCU, many would say the opposite, and I think it was a mistake that Marvel did not continue to cultivate that way. And there are a multitude of bland films, which are celebrated just because they are in the context of very grossing productions and well considered: ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Thor: The dark world’ or ‘Avengers: the era of ultron’ are some of them . Matiz two: Not everything is horrible from phase 4. And on the contrary, there are innumerable films (and series) to celebrate from ‘Endgame’: ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of madness‘It is hilarious, and the generally hated’Quantumanía‘ either ‘The Marvels‘They are failed films but with a very claimable personality. And of course, there are multiple remarkable moments in ‘Wandavision‘,’Knight Luna‘ either ‘Agatha, who if not?‘ The authentic problem. The drama of phases 4 and 5 is that they do not have that very pleasant style of the first three stages of going in one direction and with a purpose. Perhaps it became like this, perhaps not, but the feeling that ‘Endgame’ is designed from the first appearance of the Avengers is there, and that does not exist in phases 4 and 5. Of course, there are threads that connect everything, like The theme of the multiversos, but there are many films (‘Shang-Chi‘,’Thor: Love and Thunder‘,’Wakanda Forever‘), which seem to air shots, as looking for new charismatic heroes that replace the Avengers. And as in ‘Brave New World’, the feeling that is a useless effort floats. The movie hinge. And Marvel’s first failure, ‘Eternals‘It is the key point. Marvel had loose films previously, and possibly any did not give up at the box office as they expected, but ‘Eternals’ is the first one that forced them to go back. They wanted the group to become a new avengers, but a team capable of supporting the weight of several films: they raised sub -brains that would last in other films, and new characters seen fleetingly, such as Starfox, of which we did not return namely. Marvel reculled in his plan, and the worst thing is that he saw that he could reculate and the public accepted it, which multiplied the test movies, the ideas that were isolated in a film and the failed experiments. A world that played the mirage of being compact and coherent became one where neglect and carelessness predominates. Header | Disney In Xataka | The first trailer of ‘The fantastic 4: first steps’ reveals the key ingredient for Marvel’s future: its villain

We have just detected winds of more than 30,000 km/h on an exoplanet

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According to extreme weather record According to the World Meteorological Organization, the fastest wind gust ever recorded on our planet occurred on Barrow Island, Australia, and reached 113.2 meters per second or 407.5 km/h. If we expand the search to the solar system, we will discover that the winds can accelerate even more: up to 1,770 km/h on Neptune. 33,000 km/h. Wind records on Earth and other planets in the solar system pale in comparison to those recently observed by VLT instruments (Very Large Telescope) from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), located in the Atacama Desert, in Chile: up to 33,000 km/h is the speed they can reach in WASP-127b. WASP-127b. Exoplanet WASP-127b is located in our own galaxy, about 500 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in 2016 and has since attracted interest from the astronomical community. It is a planet very little densewith a volume somewhat larger than that of Jupiter (it is approximately 1.3 times its size) and a mass only 0.16 times the mass of the gas giant in our solar system. We also know about this planet that it orbits close to its star, so much so that it is believed to be in the state we know as tidal lock. That is, like the Moon with the Earth, WASP-127b orbits its star while rotating on itself, always offering the same face to it. Supersonic winds. The team responsible for the study used the CRIRES+ instrument of the VLT observatory to analyze the climate of the planet WASP-127b. The team was analyzing how light from the star WASP-127 interacted with the planet’s outer atmosphere to understand its composition when they came across a double peak in the spectrum, which seems to indicate that part of the atmosphere is moving towards us and part is moving away. moves away, both at high speed. “Part of the atmosphere of this planet is moving towards us at great speed, while another part is moving away from us with the same alacrity,” explained in a press release Lisa Nortmann, who led the study of the planet’s winds. “This signal shows us that there are very fast, supersonic winds around the planet’s equator.” With these data, the team estimated that the speed at which the atmosphere was moving could reach 9 kilometers per second, or in other words, about 33,000 km/h, something never seen until now. Job details were published in an article in the magazine Astronomy & Astrophysics. More than wind. The study of the planet’s atmosphere allowed us to learn other details about WASP-127b’s atmosphere and its climate, for example, its composition. The team was able to confirm the presence of water vapor in this atmosphere, as well as carbon monoxide molecules. They also observed that the atmosphere showed slight differences in temperature on its day side compared to its night side. “This shows that the planet has complex weather patterns like those of Earth and other planets in the solar system,” added Fei Yan, co-author of the work. In Xataka | The most extreme weather is not on our planet Image | IT/L. Calçada

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