Telescope

Webb telescope has been looking for extraterrestrial life for years. He just found the strongest signal so far in K2-18b

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The finding. An international team of scientists, headed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, has just made public sulfide detection or dimethyl disulfide in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2 –18B, which has been observing the James Webb space telescope. On earth, these molecules are only produced by living organisms, mainly marine phytoplankton. It is the strongest evidence so far of a biofirma, a sign of possible extraterrestrial life, outside the solar system. To confirm it, they will take between 16 and 24 hours of observation with the Webb Telescope, according to the study published by The Astrophysical Journal Letters. What is K2-18b. It is what is called a “subneptune”, a planet of 8.6 times the dough and 2.6 times the radius of the earth that orbits a red dwarf in the habitable zone (receiving a flow of energy from its star similar to the earth). It is 124 light years from us, in Leo’s constellation. He is also a candidate for planet Hacéano, worlds that could house global oceans under hydrogen -rich atmospheres. Webb’s first observations have already detected methane and carbon dioxide, which fits with this scenario. Reasons for optimism. When the planet passes in front of its star, part of the stellar light crosses its atmosphere. Each molecule leaves a pattern in the spectrum that scientists associate with molecules. Scientists They have seen twice the same pattern since 2023 With the Miri instrument of the Webb. We are facing the first coherent biofirma on a planet outside the solar system. Life could be more common than we think of planets greater than Earth. The planets made us would enter our external life search radar, today focused on rock worlds such as superstierras. Reasons for caution. Although on earth dimethyl sulfur is biological, researchers admit that in a world under high pressure and with an atmosphere of hydrogen, it could be the result of exotic geochemical reactions. They will need laboratory experiments and models to check.

Almost 20 years ago a telescope captured a “cosmic tornado.” Now, thanks to James Webb, we know he hid a galaxy behind

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Appearances often deceive. A unbridled eye could well confuse one of the planets in our solar neighborhood, such as Venus, with a distant star. We could also see an image taken by a telescope and think that the two objects that most attract attention on it are part of the same cosmic phenomenon. This is precisely what happens in the last image of the James Webb space telescope (JWST). A cosmic tornado. While the new image seems to show a huge nebula filled by a star on the tip; What we really see It is the combination of the emanations expelled by a nascent star, called Herbig-Haro 49/50, and a galaxy located far behind in the plane. Herbig-Haro. The calls Herbig-Haro objects They are produced by the form of a star formation, specifically they are the result of the expulsion of matter during this process, matter that can accumulate in regions several light years away from the birthplace of the star. This matter “cools” emitting light both in the visible spectrum and infrared. Herbig-Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50) It is one of these objects. The appellation of “cosmic tornado” received it after the Spitzer space telescope observed it in 2006. The image did not allow to distinguish with certainty what type of object we saw at the tip of this cosmic tornado. A distant galaxy. The new image of James Webb allows us to see this luminous object with great definition, showing us the small details of a distant spiral galaxy. In its bluish center are the oldest stars. In its spirals of more reddish tones the galactic dust and areas of intense star formation would be concentrated. Comparison between the image of the Spitzer Space Telescope taken in 2006, and the last Inagen captured by the James Webb. NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI, NASA-JPL, SSC Back to the foreground. But, let’s return to Herbig-Haro 49/50, the foreground of the image. The cloud of matter we see is within our galaxy, about 625 light years from our solar system. What we see are waves of bright hydrogen molecules, carbon dioxide and dust grains loaded with energy, red and orange tints in this false color photo. This formation is found in the Chamaeleon I cloudy complex, one of the regions with the formation activity of closer stars in our galaxy. Experts estimate that this “jet” of matter moves between 100 and 300 kilometers per second. And what about the star you are emanating? Astronomers believe that it is about cederblad 110 IRS4, a protoestrella Located at 1.5 light years From this cloud and visible in the image of the JWST, below right. Cederblad 110 IRS4 is a class I protoestrel, that is, it is in a rapid accumulation phase of matter. A combined image. The new image captured by the JWST is a combination of several snapshots taken by this telescope fruit of international collaboration. To create it Observations were combined of two of the instruments of James Webb, Nircam (Near-Infrared Camera), And Miri (MID-INFRAED INSTRUMENT). In Xataka | These real images were unthinkable before the Webb Telescope: they are planets orbiting other stars to 130 light years Image | NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI

The Webb Telescope observed the black hole in the center of the Milky Way. Has discovered a chaotic light show

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Three years ago we saw for the first time The Supermassive Black Hole that inhabits the center of our galaxy. Now the James Webb space telescope has opened a window to study its surroundings. And it has turned out to be a chaotic show of lights that never stops. Context. In the center of the Milky Way inhabits A gigantic black hole called Sagittarius a*. Astronomers have managed to unravel the extreme dynamics of their accretion disk, the spiral of gas and dust that turns around it. To do this, they observed it for 48 hours (distributed in several periods of 2023 and 2024) using the Nircam instrument of the Webb Telescope. A disco ball. The observations revealed that sgr a* emits A continuous game of lights and flashes which is characterized by constant blinking interspersed with a series of intense eruptions. These emissions have a weak and continuous component, probably originated in the internal turbulence of the disc, and a bright and short -term component, eruptions associated with magnetic reconnection, in which magnetic fields collide and release huge amounts of energy. Fluctuations can occur in seconds or as changes that extend for days, weeks and months. The explanation. The study of these variable emissions, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letterssuggests that fluctuations intensify at major scales. According to researchers, the small internal disturbances of the disk, associated with fluctuations in density and magnetic field, generate the faint flashes, while large eruptions are related to specific events of magnetic reconnection, comparable to the solar flares, but at levels much older energy. “In our data we observe a constantly changing luminosity,” Farhad Yusef-Zadeh explainsmain author of the study. “Suddenly, Boom! A great explosion of brightness appears suddenly and then calms down, without following a fixed pattern.” This nature, apparently random, demonstrates that the accretion disc is regenerated all the time, causing between five and six and six Great daily rashes, in addition to multiple intermittent outbreaks. The lags. An advantage of the NIRCAM instrument of the Webb Telescope is its ability to observe two infrared wavelengths simultaneously (2.1 and 4.8 micrometers). This allowed researchers to compare how the brightness of eruptions with each wavelength changed. Surprisingly, they discovered that the events observed in the shortest wavelength changed shine a little before the events of the longest. “It is the first time that we see a delay in the measurements of these wavelengths,” said Yusef-Zadeh. “We notice that the longest wavelength is delayed between three and 40 seconds.” This finding is a key clue that energy particles lose energy as they cool, a process known as syncrotron cooling. New observations. Researchers now plan to make a continuous observation of up to 24 hours from SGR A* using the Webb Telescope, which will help them determine if eruptions follow repetitive patterns or if they are truly random. Each flash and every flicker on the accretion disk of the supermassive hole offers us a deeper understanding of physics on the events horizon, one of the most extreme environments in the universe. In other words, it helps us discover how space-time and matter behave under the influence of overwhelming gravity. Image | NASA, ESA, CSA, RALF CRAWFORD (STSCI) In Xataka | The Webb Telescope has managed to penetrate the nucleus of a neighboring galaxy, home to a furiously active black hole In Xataka | Telescopes from all over the world worked together in this image: the black hole of the Milky Way and its magnetic fields

The Euclid telescope has discovered a ring in space-time

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He Euclid Telescope of the European Space Agency He has discovered his first Einstein ring. Not only is it one of the most impressive examples of gravitational lenses predicted by Albert Einstein, but a window through which astronomers can study more precisely the distribution of dark matter in distant galaxies. A unique gravitational lens. The NGC 6505 galaxy is located about 590 million light years from Earth. Although in cosmic terms this distance is relatively short, the ring -shaped light that surrounds the galaxy that is 4.4 billion light years. The perfect alignment between the NGC 6505 galaxy and the background light source formed a complete Einstein ring, a type of gravitational lens so rare that ESA does not expect the Euclid space telescope find more than 20 throughout your useful life. This first could be baptized as Altieri’s ring in tribute to the researcher who has discovered it: Bruno Altieri. What is an Einstein ring. Albert Einstein predicted with his Theory of general relativity of 1915 Something that even today, 110 years later, it is hard for us to understand: gravity can curve the space-time, causing the light to go through very massive objects. When a galaxy aligns almost perfectly between us and another galaxy that is more at the bottom, the light of the distant galaxy is curved so symmetrically that, instead of seeing a unique image, we observe a light circle. This phenomenon, formally known as strong gravitational lens, is what is called an Einstein ring. A powerful tool. Thanks to Einstein’s ring, scientists can “weigh” the NGC 6505 galaxy and study how its mass is distributed, including the portion of dark matter that would otherwise be invisible. Modeling how light folds, astronomers have discovered that in the center of this galaxy, dark matter represents approximately 11% of the total mass. It is interesting because, although dark matter constitutes about 85% of the total matter of the universe, in the central regions of the galaxies, the influence of visible matter (the stars) is much greater. A map of the universe. The Euclid space telescope is not limited to looking for gravitational lenses. Launched by ESA in July 2023, has the mission of Create the most precise 3D map of the universe Never done. It is expected to end up covering 14,000 square degrees of the sky and contains more than 100,000 gravitational lenses, which will help to better understand the Visible and dark matter distribution Throughout cosmic history. Image | ESA/EUCLID/EUCLID CONSORTIUM/NASA In Xataka | The new telescopes are taking us to places that we did not even imagine: comets orbiting other stars

The probability that the asteroid falls on Earth has risen to 2.3%. Even the Webb Telescope is monitoring it

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The last NASA calculations They place the probability that the asteroid 2024 YR4 impact with the land by 2.3%, a figure that the European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed with Its own 2.27% estimate. For those who have lost their account, in just one week of observations We have gone from 1 between 83 possibilities that the asteroid crosses the planet Earth to 1 between 43. The options are still low, but they are high enough for the offices of NASA planetary defense and that They have intensified their monitoring efforts. To the James Webb space telescope, 10,000 million dollars, will be monitoring The little asteroid. 2024 YR4 is not much, but with A diameter of between 40 and 90 meterscould destroy an entire city if it survived the reentry and impact an urban area. When? On January 22, 2032. Where? At some point in the strip that extends from the East of the Pacific Ocean to northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Arabian Sea and the south of Asia. It should be noted that These impact estimates They are calculated taking as reference the quotient between the diameter of the earth and the width of the area of ​​uncertainty of the asteroid, generated from simulations. The problem: 2024 YR4 is moving away from Earth In an elliptical trajectorywhich hinders its detection with conventional instruments. In a few weeks it will have become so faint that even professional four -meter telescopes have trouble capturing it. As of April, it will be necessary to resort to the Webb or the Vary Large Telescope of the Austral European Observatory to continue watching it until the object reappears In June 2028. The monitoring of the trajectory of an asteroid is a dynamic process that surely gives us a roller coaster of emotions. As more observations from the asteroid and its trajectory have, the probability of impact could increase again and then progressively reduce until reaching zeroconfirming the main hypothesis: that the asteroid will pass by instead of colliding with the earth. If not, the good news is that humanity has experience in asteroid diversion. In 2022, NASA’s dart mission He showed that it is possible to alter the trajectory of a spatial object through a kinetic impact. This historical achievement is the empirical test that we have the technology and knowledge necessary to at least try to protect our planet. Meanwhile, the UN has put on alert the Space Missions Advisory Group (SMPAG), which agreed to meet again at the end of April or early May to study possible mitigation measures in case the probability of impact is maintained or increased . Image | Daniel Bamberger In Xataka | The impact probability of asteroid 2024 YR4 has risen to 1.6%. The UN has already activated a special protocol

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