Space Stories: Japanese Spacecraft Leaves for Mars, Extreme Exoplanet Weather, and Ghostly Green Stars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: JAXA

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Sky & Telescope: “Japan Launches the Martian Moons Exploration Mission“

A two-stage, H3-24L rocket lit up the predawn skies over Tanegashima Space Center on the southern tip of Japan early on Tuesday, October 20th (3:41 p.m. EDT on October 19th), carrying a mission headed for the Red Planet: the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX)…The mission is complex, set to explore the moons of Mars with a series of flybys past Deimos before rendezvous with and landing on Phobos. If all goes well, MMX will collect and return a sample from Phobos and return it to Earth. The agency’s goal is nothing less than to understand the potato-shaped moons’ origins.

—SciTechDaily: “NASA’s James Webb Telescope Reveals a Giant Alien Planet That’s Not Quite Round“

One side of WASP-17b’s atmosphere extends farther into space than the other, giving this intensely hot giant planet an uneven outline. Astronomers have now mapped that distortion with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), finding a pattern consistent with predictions of how heat and powerful winds shape a world with permanent day and night sides. WASP-17b is a hot Jupiter, a giant planet that orbits close to its star, about 1,300 light-years from Earth. The study, co-led by Cornell University in the United States and the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, was published in Nature Astronomy. It marks the first application of a method called transmission strings, developed at Bristol by astrophysicists Dr. David Grant and Dr. Hannah Wakeford.

—ScienceDaily: “Astronomers Discover a Ghostly Green Star Unlike Any Known Before“

Astronomers at the University of Warwick have discovered that white dwarf stars can display a surprising variety of colors, including green, pink, purple, yellow, and cyan. Among their findings is the first known star that would appear genuinely green to the human eye. For most stars, color is closely tied to temperature. Cooler stars appear orange, stars like our Sun look white, and the hottest stars shine pale blue. The relationship is similar to heating a piece of iron, which changes from red to orange and eventually white as its temperature rises.

Space Stories: The Youngest Exoplanet, a Second Generation Exoplanet, and a Cold Lava Exoplanet

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A randomly rendered exoplanet. (Image by Adis Resic from Pixabay)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest related to exoplanets.

—Wired: “Astronomers Confirm Discovery of the Youngest Known Exoplanet Ever”

Newly formed exoplanets are often buried within disks of gas and dust, the leftover building blocks from a planet’s formation, also known as a protoplanetary disk. The difficulty of just locating such a new celestial body is part of what makes the discovery of the exoplanet Elias 2-24b—now the youngest ever confirmed—so exciting…Elias 2-24b is located approximately 450 light-years from Earth. It orbits its star at a distance of approximately 55 astronomical units (one astronomical unit being the average distance between Earth and the sun). Its mass is estimated to be at most 1.9 to 4.0 times that of Jupiter, though researchers believe its volume is likely to be much smaller than our local gas giant. Since its host star is less than 1 million years old, Elias 2-24b is estimated to be similarly young.

—CNN: “First-ever Evidence of a Second-generation Planet Detected Around Dead Star“

In a cosmic first, scientists say they have detected a planet that may have formed from the burned remains of its dead host star. The planet is likely a gas giant orbiting a white dwarf called HS 0209+0832 located about 270 light-years from Earth, according to the authors of a study published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. After analyzing observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments, the team found chemical evidence that suggests the planet could have condensed from material expelled by the star as it fizzled out of energy and collapsed into a white dwarf.

—Space.com: “Astronomers Discover a Cold Lava Planet That May Resemble Early Earth“

Scientists have discovered a new planet that defies all expectations. It’s a lava world, but it’s also cold. In fact, it’s the coldest lava world we’ve ever seen with an atmosphere. Researchers spotted HD 3167 b, a rocky super-Earth covered in lava, orbiting a star 154 light-years away. This planet orbits so closely to its star that a “year” on the world (one revolution around its star) takes only one Earth day. But it’s not just a lava-covered rock  — it’s the smallest lava world researchers have ever found. And yet, it has managed to hang onto its atmosphere.

Note: Here is the podcast version of this post.

Space Quote: A New Space Telescope is Being Planned

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the PRIMA space telescope. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

“With our Webb and Roman space telescopes, we set a cadence of launching premiere-class missions in both halves of the decade. We’re going to keep that up and kick off the next decade with PRIMA, as part of a pipeline that will consistently have missions of this caliber ready to go.”

–Statement by Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, regarding the planned $1.2 billion PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) space telescope. The plan is to launch the space telescope in 2033 to conduct a five-year mission. The main mission of the space telescope will pertain to exoplanet origins, galaxy growth and black hole evolution. It is encouraging to hear about NASA planning these future missions with all the talk of program cuts from the White House. It is probably presumed that the Congress will keep the funding coming.

Space Stories: Russian Supplies Arrive at ISS, Youngest Exoplanet Detected, and Greater European Flexibility in Space

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Sections of the International Space Station. (Russianspaceweb.com)

Here are some recent space-related stories of interest.

—Spaceflight Now: “Russian Progress cargo ship arrives at International Space Station”

An unpiloted Russian Progress cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station Saturday carrying supplies and equipment for the orbiting outpost. The Progress M-25 docked at the space-facing port of Russia’s Poisk module at 9:44 a.m. EDT (1344 UTC). It circled the station before making its final approach using the automated Kurs rendezvous system. Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina were standing by to take manual control of the approach using remote controls, but everything went smoothly as the craft closed in, 260 miles above the Black Sea. A series of hooks inside the docking mechanism were driven closed to complete the docking operation.

—Science Daily: “Astronomers Just Found the Youngest Known Planet Ever“

Astronomers have confirmed the youngest known planet yet, a world less than 1 million years old that is still surrounded by the gas and dust from which it formed. The planet, called Elias 2-24 b, was identified using observations preserved in NASA-funded archives. It is still orbiting within its young star’s dusty disk, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study planet formation while it is still happening.

—Radio France Internationale: “Europe Weighs the Cost of Sending Its Own Astronauts into Space“

French President Emmanuel Macron wants Europe to develop its own way of sending astronauts into space within a decade. Europe already builds rockets and satellites and sends astronauts to the International Space Station – but it still relies on American spacecraft to get them there. As the global space sector expands, the question is whether Europe should invest in closing that gap, and what it would take to do so.

Note: Here is the podcast version of this post.

Podcasts: Recommended Recent Episodes – Exomoons, Star Trek, and Mars

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: The MIT Press.

Here are a few recent podcast episodes you may want to check out.

First, I recommend the Star Talk episode “Rogue Planets & Exomoons with David Kipping.” This episode brings together two great promoters of astronomy who discuss a variety of topics, including not only planets without solar systems and the moons of exoplanets, but also the habitable zone of galaxies, civilizational monuments, and the idea that the inhabitants of a super-Earth may be trapped on the surface of their planet. It is a worthwhile tour of the galaxy.

Next, Planetary Radio had a fun episode celebrating the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. It is titled “Star Trek at 60: What do we value the most?” and it includes an interview with Robert Picardo, who you know from two Star Trek series as the Emergency Medical Hologram, yet he is also on the Board of Directors at The Planetary Society and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He discusses his more than 30 years with the Star Trek family, and discusses how Star Trek fans have a unique connection to the founding of The Planetary Society.

One more Planetary Radio podcast episode may be of interest as well. Last month in a Book Club Edition episode titled “Becoming Martian by Scott Solomon,” we heard from the author of Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds. Here is the quick summary from the book jacket:

We are on the cusp of a golden age of space travel in which, for the first time, it will be possible for large numbers of people to venture into space. Some intend to stay. But what happens—and will happen—to us in the extreme conditions of space? What should space tourists expect to happen to them during a journey to an orbiting space station, the Moon, or Mars? What would happen to children born on another planet? Would they evolve into a new species? In Becoming Martian, Scott Solomon explores the many ways in which humanity’s migration into space will change our bodies and our minds.

If you have a few minutes to listen in, you will not be disappointed.