Space Stories: Black Hole Stars, Globe-Trotting Student Astronomers, and Verifying Hawking’s Theorem

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Johnson Martin from Pixabay.

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—HotHardware: “Astronomers Baffled, Universe Weirder Than Ever Imagined On Strange Red Dot Discovery“

A team of Pennsylvania State University researchers has a unique take on mysterious red dots first observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Initially thought to be tiny, crimson galaxies, the red dots are now proposed to be a new and exotic class of celestial object: a hybrid of a black hole and a star, which researchers have dubbed “black hole stars.”

—University of Virginia: “Astronomy Students Travel the World to Peer Deep into Space“

The University of Virginia Occultation Group, astronomy undergraduates who observe and track asteroids and small planets, make most of their observations locally. But they also travel around the country and the world to catch glimpses of heavenly objects, from high-priority asteroid/minor planets and the dwarf planet Pluto to the distant Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth. They observe stellar occultations, which occur when asteroids and minor planets pass in front of distant stars, via telescope. The Group studies some asteroids that later will be studied by close spacecraft fly-bys, and seek out asteroids that may pose a threat to the planet.

—Cornell University: “On 10th Anniversary, LIGO Verifies Hawking’s Theorem“

Since September 14, 2015, when the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) made the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves, the observatory has been making history. Cornell astrophysicists Saul Teukolsky and Larry Kidder earned a share in the 2016 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics – a $3 million award – for their contributions to the project. Now, on the 10th anniversary of LIGO’s first discovery, the LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA team has announced a black hole merger similar to its first detection. However, thanks to a decade’s worth of technological advances improving the detector sensitivity, the signal is dramatically clearer, allowing unprecedented tests of General Relativity to be performed.

Space Stories: Planning Commercial Space Stations, Sloppy Black Holes, and Happy Birthday Voyager I

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s earlier rendering of a commercial space station called Orbital Reef envisioned by Blue Origin and  Sierra Space. (Blue Origin)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Space News: “NASA Releases Details on Revised Next Phase of Commercial Space Station Development“

NASA expects to spend up to $1.5 billion to support at least two companies to demonstrate crew-tended space stations as part of the agency’s revised approach to transition from the International Space Station. NASA released Sept. 5 a draft version of an announcement for partnership proposal, or AFPP, for the second phase of its Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program. NASA is seeking comments on the draft through Sept. 12. The draft reflects a new approach for supporting development of commercial space stations outlined in a July 31 policy directive by Acting Administrator Sean Duffy. Rather than award fixed-price contracts to cover certification of commercial space stations for use by NASA astronauts, it called for the use of funded Space Act Agreements for continued support of the design and development of such stations.

—University of Michigan News: “Small Black Holes are Surprisingly Sloppy Eaters“

When stellar-mass black holes—”small” black holes that are still a few times more massive than the sun—are actively gobbling up matter, they’re even more of a hot mess than scientists expected. That’s according to an international research team, led by Jon Miller of the University of Michigan, that uncovered this surprise that could have galactic implications. What researchers learn from stellar-mass black holes can help them better understand supermassive black holes, the behemoths that steer the evolution of galaxies like our Milky Way.

—USA Today: “Voyager 1 Marks 48 Years in Space. Here’s What to Know About Ramous NASA Mission“

For nearly five decades, NASA’s twin Voyager probes have plumbed the cosmos in search of answers to some of astronomy’s most perplexing mysteries about our solar system and its place in the wider universe. And now, both of the pioneering spacecraft – which launched two weeks apart in the late-1970s into space – have officially turned 48 years old. Voyager 2 was the first to have its birthday in August, followed now by Voyager 1, which marked its anniversary early in September.

Space Stories: Aliens Using Black Holes, Fire Approaches JPL, and New Approaches for the Mars Sample

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Universe Today: “Scientists Propose New Method to Detect Alien Civilizations via Black Holes“

A new paper looks at another way we might be able to detect advanced civilizations, and at its center is the need for energy. The more advanced a civilization becomes, the greater their need for energy and one of the most efficient ways, according to current theories, is to harness the energy from an actively feeding black hole. The paper suggests a civilization feeding matter into a black hole could harvest energy from it; more excitingly perhaps, the process could be detectable within 17,000 light years.

—LA Times: “Firefighters Battle to Protect NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mt. Wilson“

Officials said they are making progress in protecting two key institutions from the Eaton fire. Don Fregulia, an operations section chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which has joined in the Eaton fire response, said that efforts to protect Mt. Wilson had proved successful and he expected that to remain the case. “We’re actively engaged there, and so far, no loss to any values at risk at Mt. Wilson,” Fregulia said. “We’re feeling good about what we have to do up there tonight to keep that site secure.” He said the fire had also spread close to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but he said that’s a priority and crews were “making good progress there as well.”

—NASA: “NASA to Explore Two Landing Options for Returning Samples from Mars“

To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of humanity, NASA announced Tuesday a new approach to its Mars Sample Return Program. The agency will simultaneously pursue two landing architectures, or strategic plans, during formulation, encouraging competition and innovation, as well as cost and schedule savings. NASA plans to later select a single path forward for the program, which aims to better understand the mysteries of the universe, and to help determine whether the Red Planet ever hosted life. NASA is expected to confirm the program – and its design – in the second half of 2026.

Pic of the Week: Grand Design Spiral Galaxy NGC 5643

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Spiral galaxy NGC 5643, which is located roughly 40 million light-years away in the constellation Lupus. (ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess, D. Thilker, D. De Martin (ESA/Hubble), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble))

This week’s image comes from the NASA/European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope. It shows colorful spiral galaxy NGC 5643, which is located roughly 40 million light-years away in the constellation Lupus.

Here is more on the spiral galaxy from the ESA Hubble site:

NGC 5643 is what’s known as a grand design spiral, referring to how the galaxy’s two large, winding spiral arms are clear to see. The spiral arms are defined by bright blue stars, lacy reddish-brown dust clouds and pink star-forming regions. As fascinating as the galaxy appears at visible wavelengths, some of NGC 5643’s most interesting features are invisible to the human eye. Ultraviolet and X-ray images and spectra of NGC 5643 show that the galaxy hosts an active galactic nucleus: an especially bright galactic core powered by a feasting supermassive black hole. When a supermassive black hole ensnares gas from its surroundings, the gas collects in a disc that heats up to hundreds of thousands of degrees. The superheated gas shines brightly across the electromagnetic spectrum, but especially at X-ray wavelengths.

NGC 5643’s active galactic nucleus isn’t the brightest source of X-rays in the galaxy, though. Researchers using ESA’s XMM-Newton discovered an even brighter X-ray-emitting object, called NGC 5643 X-1, on the galaxy’s outskirts. What could be a more powerful source of X-rays than a supermassive black hole? Surprisingly, the answer appears to be a much smaller black hole!

While the exact identity of NGC 5643 X-1 is not yet known, evidence points to a black hole that is about 30 times more massive than the Sun. Locked in an orbital dance with a companion star, the black hole ensnares gas from its stellar companion, creating a superheated disc that outshines the galactic centre.

Space Stories: Venus Without Oceans, Evidence of Black Holes on Earth, and Organic Material on Ceres

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The planet Venus. (NASA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Astronomy.com: “Venus May Never Have Had Oceans“

The story of the inner early Solar System goes something like this: Billions of years ago, there were three rocky worlds with oceans of liquid water. Perhaps all three could have been primed for life. But as Mars lost its atmosphere and Venus’ atmosphere experienced a runaway greenhouse effect, only Earth could support life by the end. But a trio of researchers at the University of Cambridge, U.K., have a different view — that all those billions of years ago, Venus was already too hot to support oceans. There was water vapor (we still see evidence of this today), but it never had the chance to condense into oceans. Instead, Venus was a steam world, one that could reach surface temperatures as high as 1,340 degrees Fahrenheit (727 degrees Celsius). By most metrics, this means the surface of Venus was already a hellish, inhospitable world — and it never got much better.

—University at Buffalo: “Evidence of Primordial Black Holes may be Hiding in Planets, or Even Everyday Objects Here on Earth“

Imagine the formation of a black hole and you’ll probably envision a massive star running out of fuel and collapsing in on itself. Yet the chaotic conditions of the early universe may have also allowed many small black holes to form long before the first stars. These primordial black holes have been theorized for decades and could even be ever-elusive dark matter, the invisible matter that accounts for 85% of the universe’s total mass. Still, no primordial black hole has ever been observed. New research co-led by the University at Buffalo proposes thinking both big and small to confirm their existence, suggesting that their signatures could range from very large — hollow planetoids in space — to minute — microscopic tunnels in everyday materials found on Earth, like rocks, metal and glass.

—Astronomy.com: “New Evidence of Organic Material Identified on Ceres, the Inner Solar System’s Most Water-rich Object After Earth“

Six years ago, NASA’s Dawn mission communicated with Earth for the last time, ending its exploration of Ceres and Vesta, the two largest bodies in the asteroid belt. Since then, Ceres —a water-rich dwarf planet showing signs of geological activity— has been at the center of intense debates about its origin and evolution. Now, a study led by IAA-CSIC, using Dawn data and an innovative methodology, has identified eleven new regions suggesting the existence of an internal reservoir of organic materials in the dwarf planet. The results, published in The Planetary Science Journal, provide critical insights into the potential nature of this celestial body.