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Webb telescope finds a ‘weird’ galaxy with something brighter than stars

Published

2 weeks ago

September 28, 2024

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When astronomers pointed the James Webb Space Telescope at the early universe, they found an ancient galaxy with an unusual light signature.

After a thorough study of the data, scientists determined stars within that galaxy aren’t the direct culprit of its extraordinary brightness. It’s space gas.

This finding, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, could provide a missing link in cosmic history, revealing a previously unknown phase of galaxy evolution — one in which superheated gas clouds can actually outshine their stars.

“It looks like these stars must be much hotter and more massive than what we see in the local universe,” Harley Katz, an astrophysicist at the universities of Oxford in the United Kingdom and Chicago in the United States, said in a statement, “which makes sense because the early universe was a very different environment.”

Webb finding exotic galaxy with brighter gas than stars

The James Webb Space Telescope found a galaxy in the early universe with brighter gas than stars.
Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Alex Cameron

In astronomy, looking farther translates into observing the past because light and other forms of radiation take longer to reach us. Webb, a collaboration of NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts, was built to study an extremely early period of the cosmos, detecting invisible light at infrared wavelengths. In short, a lot of dust and gas in space obscures the view to extremely distant and inherently dim light sources, but infrared waves can penetrate through the clouds.

Webb has been able to observe some of the oldest, faintest light in existence, including this strange galaxy, GS-NDG-9422, as it existed 1 billion years after the Big Bang. For perspective, the universe’s age is estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 13.8 billion years.

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Scientists think the galaxy is undergoing intense star formation within a cocoon of dense gas that is churning out massive, hot stars. A barrage of light particles from the starlight could be bombarding the gas, causing it to shine extremely bright.

Astronomers used computer models of hot, massive stars heating up clouds of gas. Not only did they demonstrate that the gas could be more luminous, but that the results closely replicated the recent telescope observations of galaxy GS-NDG-9422.

In the Milky Way’s neck of the universe, hot, massive stars generally have temperatures between 70,000 to 90,000 degrees Fahrenheit. But this galaxy has stars upward of 144,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the researchers said.

Cosmologists have predicted that gas could outshine stars in the environments of the universe’s first generation of stars, known as so-called Population III stars. Finding these pristine, pure-bred stars is one of the top priorities of modern astrophysics.

Given that most of the chemicals in the universe are thought to have come from exploded stars, scientists have rationalized that the firstborn must have been composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, the primitive material that emerged from the Big Bang. Over time, as stars died and enriched the universe with heavier chemical elements, subsequent generations of stars formed with more diverse ingredients.

Though the studied galaxy does not appear to have those highly-sought-after Population III stars — their light is too chemically complex — they seem to be something in between the universe’s first primitive stars and the kind that would likely inhabit more-established galaxies. Now the team wonders whether this is a common phenomenon among galaxies of this period.

“My first thought in looking at the galaxy’s [light] spectrum was, ‘that’s weird,’ which is exactly what the Webb telescope was designed to reveal,” said lead author Alex Cameron of Oxford in a statement. It’s discovering “totally new phenomena in the early universe that will help us understand how the cosmic story began.”

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Tech

Hurricane Milton: Online experts you can trust

Published

3 hours ago

October 12, 2024

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Hurricane Milton is the monster storm churning through the Gulf of Mexico, and is headed toward the populated Tampa Bay region of Florida. Numerous weather experts are watching the major hurricane closely, sharing real-time updates about what’s being forecast as possibly the worst storm to strike Tampa in a century.

The wind and storm surge predictions are so dire that both Tampa mayor Jane Castor and President Joe Biden are urging residents in evacuation zones to flee, or face imminent death.

But finding accurate information online about Milton’s path and landfall isn’t easy. Conspiracy theories and misinformation about the hurricane are rife. The situation is so bad that the White House’s new Reddit account will start debunking bad information circulating about Milton and Hurricane Helene, which tore through parts of Florida and the southeast just weeks ago.

Meanwhile, bona fide weather experts are worn out by untrained posters and commenters who think they know a thing or two about tropical cyclones.

To help you filter out the falsehoods, we’ve assembled a list of trusted weather experts on X/Twitter who’ve been tracking Milton. Of course, accounts run by the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service, federal agencies tasked specifically with updating the public around the clock, are also trustworthy.

Now, here are top weather experts to follow for accurate information, presented in alphabetical order:

Dr. Levi Cowan, @TropicalTidbits

Expertise: Owner and developer of the hurricane forecasting site Tropical Tidbits

Tomer Burg, @burgwx

Expertise: NWS Weather prediction center meteorologist

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Dylan Federico, @DylanFedericoWX

Expertise: FOX4 Dallas-Ft. Worth meteorologist

Bill Karins, @BillKarins

Expertise: Certified broadcast meteorologist for NBC News

Philip Klotzbach, @philklotzbach

Expertise: Senior research for the department of atmospheric science at Colorado State University

Brian McNoldy, @BMcNoldy

Expertise: Senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science

John Morales @JohnMoralesTV

Expertise: Hurricane specialist for NBC 6 South Florida

Stephen M. Strader, @StephenMStrader

Expertise: Severe storms meteorologist

Brian Tang, @btangyWx

Expertise: Associate professor of atmospheric science at University at Albany

Eric Webb, @webberweather

Expertise: Government meteorologist

Dr. Kim Woo, @DrKimWood

Expertise: Associate professor in the department of hydrology & atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona

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NASA Astronaut Flies Over Hurricane Milton As It Nears Landfall In Florida, Shares Scary Video

Published

8 hours ago

October 12, 2024

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NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick has photographed Hurricane Milton which is due to make landfall in Florida today. Currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Dominick captured scary views of the massive storm that is churning in the Gulf of Mexico from inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

“We flew over Hurricane Milton about 90 minutes ago. Here is the view out the Dragon Endeavour window,” Dominick captioned his post which featured another Dragon capsule visible through the station’s window. “Expect lots of images from this window as this is where I’m sleeping while we wait to undock and return to Earth,” he added.

He also posted a timelapse video as the station cruised over the hurricane.

Hurricane Milton, the National Hurricane Center (NHC), said is a category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of over 265 km per hour.

“Large area of destructive storm surge expected along portion of west-central coast of Florida Peninsula. If you are in a Storm Surge Warning area, please evacuate if told by local officials,” it said in a warning on X.

ALSO SEE: NASA Shares Frightening Video Of Hurricane Helene Shot From Space Station

It also said that Milton can be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida. Thousands have already fled the hazardous regions as a precautionary measure.

There are actually three Hurricanes that have developed in the Atlantic basin.

Hurricane Milton, Hurricane Kirk and Hurricane Leslie in the Atlantic Basin. Image: NOAA

The other two are Hurricane Leslie, which has grown stronger and could intensify in a day or two, and Hurricane Kirk west of Europe.

This is reportedly the first time in recorded history when three hurricanes are simultaneously active in the Atlantic basin which includes the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

ALSO SEE: NASA Astronaut On Space Station Captures Meteor Exploding Over Earth; Watch

(Image: X/@dominickmatthew)

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NASA Wants To Land Humans On Mars By 2035; Here’s What The Agency Has In Mind

Published

13 hours ago

October 11, 2024

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NASA is planning to land astronauts on Mars by the mid-2030s. The agency reportedly wants to take astronauts to the red planet for exploration by 2035 under the Artemis Program. The Program builds on the legacy of the Apollo missions which saw 12 men walk on the Moon.

Missions under Artemis will serve as a test bed to prepare NASA for journeys to Mars. The program began with the uncrewed launch of Artemis 1 on November 16, 2021 and lasted 25 days.

The surface of Mars. Image: NASA Perseverance rover.

NASA also wants to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time since 1972 during Artemis 3 which will launch no earlier than September 2026.

But the agency is already looking to humanity’s next stop – Mars. According to the plan chalked out by the agency, the astronauts flying to the red planet will travel 402 million kilometres over the course of six to seven months one way. Besides, the astronauts might spend up to 500 days on the Martian surface before they return.

Mars is believed to have formed about 4.6 billion years ago, making it as old as the solar system. Scientists say it was very Earth-like, as it had liquid water and a denser atmosphere roughly 3.8 billion years ago. But the modern-day Mars no longer resembles its past self as there are no traces of liquid water (although polar region have ice deposits) and the atmosphere is just 1 percent the volume of Earth. The atmosphere mostly comprises carbon dioxide, about 95 percent.

ALSO SEE: SpaceX’s Starship Will Launch With Astronauts To Mars In Four Years: Elon Musk

NASA has a Human Exploration of Mars Science Analysis Group which has been assigned the job to frame questions that the astronauts will attempt to find answers to. One of the major ones is finding signs of life, past or present on Mars.

Scientists are hopeful that they might just find something as water is considered an essential point of origin for life. They have found evidence that water once flowed on Mars and that there were vast oceans churning on the planet. The Perseverance rover, is exploring the Jezero crater, an ancient river delta.

Joel S. Levine, wrote in a report, that another key question that has been proposed by the analysis group is investigating the environmental changes that led Mars to lose its water and atmosphere.

The nearest crewed mission NASA is working toward is Artemis 2 targeted for launch in September 2025. Four astronauts – Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen – will make a trip around the Moon and return without landing on the Moon. The mission is intended only to test the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft with humans onboard.

ALSO SEE: Liquid Water Discovered On Mars? NASA Lander Unveils Explosive Evidence

(Image: NASA)

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