Planets and Water

To answer that question, the science team simulated how water behaves in the conditions present when planets are young. Many known exoplanets orbit close to their stars, which means they’re likely to be hot worlds. They probably have oceans of molten magma that haven’t yet solidified to make silicate bedrock mantles.

As it turns out water dissolves very well in these magma oceans. The iron core takes time to develop,” she said. “A large share of the iron is initially contained in the hot magma soup in the form of droplets,” she explained, noting that water sequestered in this soup combines with the iron droplets and sinks with them to the core. “The iron droplets behave like a lift that is conveyed downwards by the water,” Dorn said.

That kind of mixing of iron and water happened in the moderate pressure environment in Earth’s interior. Larger planets with higher interior pressures presented a challenge to understand. It turns out they mix water and iron, too. “The larger the planet and the greater its mass, the more the water tends to go with the iron droplets and become integrated in the core,” said Dorn. “Under certain circumstances, iron can absorb up to 70 times more water than silicates. However, owing to the enormous pressure at the core, the water no longer takes the form of H₂O molecules but is present in hydrogen and oxygen.”

Evolving Planets over Time

This result is a big deal if you want to understand how planets form and develop. That’s because the water never escapes the planet’s core. However, under the right conditions, water mixed in with the magma ocean can “de-gas” under the right conditions. Essentially, it separates and rises to the surface as the magma cools and forms the mantle. “So if we find water in a planet’s atmosphere, there is probably a great deal more in its interior,” explained Dorn.

That gives a lot of new information to use as scientists search for planets around other stars and look for habitable worlds. In particular, astronomers using the JWST can track the types of molecules in exoplanet atmospheres and use that information to find habitable worlds. “Only the composition of the upper atmosphere of exoplanets can be measured directly,” said Dorn. “Our group wishes to make the connection from the atmosphere to the inner depths of celestial bodies.”

Currently, the team studies exoplanet TOI-270d. “Evidence has been collected there of the actual existence of such interactions between the magma ocean in its interior and the atmosphere,” said Dorn. It’s at the top of her list of interesting objects to examine more closely for water, along with another one called K2-18b. It seems to be a promising candidate for habitability as well.

So, Does Deep Water Imply Life or Habitability?

Since water is important in the search for life-bearing worlds, looking for wet Earth-type and super-Earth worlds is the next step in searching out life. Dorn’s team found that planets with these deep water layers are likely to be fairly rare. That’s because most of their water is not on the surface. In other words, they may not be ocean worlds, but places with water trapped in their cores.

That’s not all bad. The science team assumes that even planets with a relatively high water content could have the potential to develop Earth-like habitable conditions. Dorn’s team may give scientists new ways to look for water-abundant worlds.

For More Information

• Planets Contain More Water Than Thought
• The Interior as the Dominant Water Reservoir in Super-Earths and Sub-Neptunes

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

08-09-2024 om 01:40 geschreven door peter  

Exogenesis

As indicated in their paper, impacts from asteroids, comets, and large meteors are more often associated with destruction and extinction-level events. However, multiple lines of evidence indicate that these same types of impacts may have supported the emergence of life on Earth roughly 4 billion years ago. These events not only delivered volatiles (such as water, ammonia, and methane) and organic molecules, but modern research indicates that they also created new substrates and compounds essential to life.

Moreover, they created a variety of environments that were essential to the emergence and sustainment of life on Earth. As they wrote:

“Exogenously delivered materials have been estimated to be an important source of organics on early Earth. Shockwaves could provide the energy for organic synthesis of important precursors like HCN or amino acids. The iron and heat from very large impactors can facilitate the reducing atmospheric conditions necessary for abundant HCN production. Impacts fracture and, in typical terrestrial events, melt the target: the more permeable substrates and excavation of deeper rock layers promote hydrothermal activity and endolithic habitats.”

According to the latest fossilized evidence, the earliest life forms emerged on Earth roughly 4.28 billion years ago. These fossils were recovered from hydrothermal vent precipitates in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec, Canada, confirming that hydrothermal activity played a vital role in the emergence of life on Earth. But what about the many “Ocean Worlds” that reside in the outer Solar System? This includes bodies like Europa, Ganymede, Enceladus, and Titan, as well as Uranus’ moons Ariel and Titania, Neptune’s moon Triton, and Trans-Neptunian bodies like Pluto, Charon, and possibly more.

Ocean Worlds

This term refers to bodies predominantly composed of volatile elements such as water and differentiated between an icy crust and a rocky and metallic core. At the core-mantle boundary, tidal flexing (the result of gravitational interaction with another body) causes a buildup of heat and energy released via hydrothermal vents into the ice. This allows these worlds to maintain oceans of liquid water in their interiors. In short, these worlds have all the necessary ingredients for life: water, the requisite chemical compounds, and energy.

Furthermore, data from the NASA/ESA Cassini–Huygens mission confirmed that the plumes regularly erupting from Enceladus’ southern polar region contain organic molecules. Last but not least, the presence of surface craters indicates that these bodies have experienced surface impacts throughout their history. The question naturally arises: could impacts have delivered the necessary building blocks of life to “Ocean Worlds” the same way they delivered them to the inner Solar System? And if so, what does that mean about their potential habitability today? As the team wrote in their paper:

“Impact processes are likely an important part of the answers to these questions, as impacts can drive exchange through the ice crust—either through direct seeding or flushing through the crust—and therefore drive episodic influxes of organic and inorganic materials from the surface and/or from the impactor itself. Impacts can also generate ephemeral microcosms: any liquid water melted during impact freezes out over timescales commensurate with the impact energy.”

“The exciting potential for chemistry within these pockets has been established, from concentrating salts to driving amino acid synthesis. Furthermore, shock-driven chemistry of icy, sometimes organic-rich (in the case of Titan especially) target materials may generate new “seed” compounds (e.g., amino acids or nucleotides) in the melt pool.”

Investigation

The first step for MacKenzie and her team was to investigate the initial shock levels created by the most common impacts for Ocean Worlds—comets that likely originated from the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. To do this, the team calculated the velocities and maximum pressure that would be achieved by impacts involving icy and rocky bodies. They also considered how this would vary based on different families (primary or secondary impacts) and which systems were involved – i.e., Jupiter or Saturn. Whereas primary impacts involve comets or asteroids, secondary impacts are caused by the ejecta they create.

In the case of the Jupiter and Saturn systems, secondary impactors may be icy or rocky depending on where they originated (an icy body like Europa, Enceladus, and Titan, a rocky body like Io and larger asteroids). Whereas primary impacts have higher velocities and produce larger melt volumes), secondary impacts are more frequent. To determine melt sizes, the team consulted observed crater sizes on Europa, Enceladus, and Titan, and dynamic models that calculate the cumulative rate of cratering over time. They then compared the peak pressures at impact to thresholds for the survivability of elements essential to life, organic molecules, amino acids, and even microbes identified in previous studies.

From this, they determined that most impacts at Europa and Enceladus experience peak pressures greater than what bacterial spores can survive. However, they also determined that a significant amount of material still survives these impacts and that higher first-contact pressures could also facilitate the synthesis of organic compounds in the meltwater that fills the craters. Meanwhile, on average, Titan and Enceladus experienced impacts with lower impact velocities, creating peak pressures that fall within the tolerance range for both bacterial spores and amino acids.

The next step was to consider how long fresh craters would survive and whether this would be sufficient for synthesizing biological materials. Based on the observed crater sizes on Enceladus and Europa, they determined that the longest-lived craters last only a few hundred years, whereas Titan could take centuries to tens of thousands of years for fresh craters to freeze. While Europa and Enceladus experience more high-velocity impacts (due to Titan’s dense atmosphere), the long-lived nature of Titan’s craters means that all three bodies have a chance for organic chemistry experiments to occur.

They also considered resurfacing rates on Europa, Enceladus, and Titan and how these would cycle biological material to their interiors. In all three cases, the satellites have relatively “young” terrain, implying regular resurfacing events.

Results

Based on these considerations, Mackenzie and her team determined that melts produced by comet impacts on Europa, Enceladus, and Titan have been frequent and long-lived enough to be of astrobiological interest. However, this varies based on the composition of the comets and the surface ice in question. As they summarized:

“At Europa and Enceladus, the survival and deposition of impactor organics is more important as there are fewer surface organics within the ice crust to seed the melt pool. On Titan, the survival of elements like phosphorous may be more important. Thus, even the small, more frequent impact events contribute to the astrobiological potential by delivering less modified compounds to the surface that are available either for immediate reaction if melt is produced or for future processing (including in subsequent impact events).”

For instance, they found that a comet impacting Europa at the average impact velocity would create a 15 km (9.3 mi) crater and provide ~1 km³ (0.24 mi3)of meltwater. Based on the abundance of glycine (an essential amino acid) found on the comet 67P Churyumov–Gerasimenko, they determined that several parts per million would survive – roughly three orders of magnitude higher than what has been observed forming around hydrothermal vents here on Earth. “Thus, impactors seed whatever chemistry happens in the melt, providing organic and other essential elements depending on the impactor composition,” they added.

While this does not necessarily mean that these and other “Ocean Worlds” are currently habitable or actively support life, they demonstrate potential for future study. In the coming years, missions like the ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), and NASA’s Europa Clipper and Dragonfly missions will reach Ganymede, Europa, and Titan (respectively). There are also plans to create an Enceladus Orbiter to pick up where the Cassini-Huygens probe left off by examining Enceladus’ plume activity more closely.

Therefore, conducting in-situ sampling and analysis on these moons could provide powerful insight into prebiotic chemical pathways and determine under what conditions life can emerge. These sample studies will also address the larger question of whether or not life could exist in the interiors of “Ocean Worlds,” providing a preview of what future missions prepared to explore beneath the ice will find.

Further Reading: 

• The Planetary Science Journal

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

08-09-2024 om 01:32 geschreven door peter  

Study: There Were Volcanic Eruptions on Moon as Recently as 123 Million Years Ago

There is extensive geologic evidence of ancient volcanic activity on the Moon, but it is unclear how long that volcanism persisted. Magma fountains produce volcanic glasses, which have previously been found in samples of the Moon’s surface. Dr. Qiuli Li and colleagues from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have analyzed around 3,000 glass beads from lunar soil samples collected by China’s Chang’e-5 mission. They’ve identified three glass beads as having a volcanic origin on the basis of their textures, chemical compositions, and sulfur isotopes. Uranium-lead dating of these volcanic beads shows that they formed approximately 123 million years ago.

Volcanic eruption producing glass beads on the Moon.

Image credit: T. Zhang & Y. Wang.

Samples collected by the Apollo, Luna and Chang’e‑5 missions have previously shown there was widespread basaltic volcanism on the Moon extending from about 4.4 to 2 billion years ago.

The findings of the current study demonstrate that volcanism persisted much longer than was previously suspected, at least on smaller, more localized scale

“Dating of lunar volcanic basalt samples returned to Earth by the Apollo and Luna missions or delivered to Earth as lunar meteorites has shown that lunar basaltic volcanism continued until at least 2.9-2.8 billion years ago,” the researchers said.

“However, analysis of lunar samples returned by the Chang’e-5 mission has demonstrated that basaltic volcanism persisted until at least 2 billion years ago.”

“Remote sensing observations have indicated potentially even younger volcanism during the late Copernican era (less than 800 million years ago) on the Moon.”

“However, none of these remote observations provide a precise date for the potential volcanism.”

“In addition, the proposed extrusions of late-Copernican mare basalt cover only restricted areas, no samples of which are available.”

“Eruptions of gas-rich magma can generate magma fountains, which produce submillimeter glass beads.”

“Such beads could potentially be deposited over wide areas and subsequently be transported further across the lunar surface by impact.”

“The volcanic glasses could be a trace component in existing samples.”

In their study, Dr. Li and co-authors sorted through 3,000 tiny glass beads they recovered from a lunar sample collected by Chang’e‑5, examining the bead’s chemical compositions, physical textures and sulfur isotopes to distinguish potential volcanic glasses from glasses produced by meteorite impacts.

They identified three beads as being of volcanic origin, then used radiometric dating to determine the beads formed 123 million years ago.

The volcanic beads contain high abundances of potassium, phosphorus and rare-earth elements, known as KREEP elements, which can produce radioactive heating.

Localized heating due to KREEP elements might melt rocks in the Moon’s mantle, leading to small amounts of magma erupting to the surface.

“We measured high abundances of rare earth elements and thorium in the volcanic glass beads, which could indicate that such recent volcanism was related to local enrichment of heat-generating elements in the mantle sources of the magma,” the researchers said.

• Their paper appears in the journal Science.
• Bi-Wen Wang et al. 2024. Returned samples indicate volcanism on the Moon 120 million years ago. Science 385 (6713); doi: 1077-1080; doi: 10.1126/science.adk6635

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

07-09-2024 om 21:23 geschreven door peter  

De Boeing-ruimtecapsule Starliner is zaterdag geland op aarde. Dat blijkt uit beelden die NASA heeft vrijgegeven. De capsule landde zonder de astronauten die het naar het internationale ruimtestation ISS heeft gebracht, nadat NASA had besloten dat het risico te groot was.

De Starliner landde zaterdag zachtjes op de White Sands ruimtebasis in New Mexico rond 06.01 uur. De landing werd vertraagd door parachutes en airbags.

De capsule had ongeveer zes uur eerder het ISS verlaten, zonder de twee astronauten die op de heenvlucht naar het ISS meereisden. Astronauten Sunita Williams en Butch Wilmore zijn al sinds 6 juni aan boord van het ISS. Ze voerden een testmissie uit die ongeveer een week had moeten duren. Maar door problemen met de Starliner konden ze niet terugkeren. Er werd gevreesd dat het toestel niet over de nodige stuwkracht zou beschikken om de baan rond de aarde te verlaten.

Williams en Wilmore kwamen aan op 6 juni

© Foto: NASA

De Starliner werd 3 maanden geleden voor het eerst met 2 Amerikaanse astronauten aan boord gelanceerd: Sunita Williams (58) en Butch Wilmore (61). Tijdens hun vlucht naar het Internationaal ruimtestation ISS waren er al technische problemen. 

Williams en Wilmore kwamen op 6 juni aan in het internationaal ruimtestation ISS. Het was de bedoeling dat ze er 8 dagen zouden blijven, maar een resem technische defecten besliste daar dus anders over. Zo was er een probleem met de stuwmotoren, maar er werden ook 3 heliumlekken ontdekt.

Door die problemen moest de automatische piloot tijdens de heenvlucht uitgeschakeld worden, en moesten de astronauten de capsule handmatig koppelen aan het ISS. Nadat een eerste poging mislukte, slaagden ze daar bij een tweede poging toch in.

Vrees voor gebrek aan stuwkracht onterecht

Omdat de technische problemen nog altijd niet helemaal opgelost zijn, is de Starliner nu dus onbemand teruggekeerd naar de aarde. Er werd gevreesd dat het toestel niet over de nodige stuwkracht zou beschikken om de baan rond de aarde te verlaten. 

Ruimtecapsule Starliner succesvol geland op aarde

De Starliner landde vanochtend rond 6.01 uur (onze tijd) zachtjes op de White Sands-ruimtebasis in New Mexico. De landing werd vertraagd door parachutes en airbags.

De capsule had ongeveer 6 uur eerder het ISS verlaten, zonder de 2 astronauten dus die op de heenvlucht naar het ISS meereisden. 

Een vlotte terugvlucht was belangrijk voor fabrikant Boeing, niet alleen voor het vertrouwen, maar ook voor toekomstige kansen om nieuwe goedkeuringen voor bemande vluchten te krijgen.

Williams en Wilmore keren pas in februari terug

Williams en Wilmore zullen in februari volgend jaar terugkeren naar de aarde met de Crew 9-missie van SpaceX, de grote concurrent van Boeing. Ze zullen dan 9 maanden doorgebracht hebben in de ruimte in plaats van de voorziene week. 

Volgens NASA gaat het momenteel goed met het duo en hebben ze regelmatig contact met hun familie. 

NASA heeft nu beslist om de twee astronauten met een ruimtevaartuig van SpaceX weer naar huis te brengen. De Crew 9-missie van SpaceX zal daarom later in september met slechts twee van de vier voorziene astronauten naar het ISS vertrekken. Bij de terugkeer naar aarde in februari volgend jaar, zullen Wilmore en Williams de twee vrijgekomen plaatsen innemen.

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

07-09-2024 om 20:47 geschreven door peter  

ScreenThe frost on Olympus Mons, is shaded in blue.

CREDIT: Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlishot

According to the team’s analysis, the layer of water frost appears each morning until the rising sun heats up the planet’s surface and causes it to evaporate back into the atmosphere. The process normally only takes a few hours, as the frost only appears as a very thin layer, likely only one-hundredth of a millimeter thick, before disappearing. For comparison, this is about the thickness of a human hair.

Still, the researchers say that the actual covering of frost is incredibly vast. In fact, the team calculates that as much as 150,000 tons of water are evaporated and then redeposited on the Martian surface every single day. “That’s roughly the equivalent of 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools,” they explain.

Discovery Atop Martian VOlcanoes is the Culmination of Six Year Long Project

In the team’s published study, which appears in the journal Nature Geoscience, Valantis notes how he first began searching for evidence of frost atop Martian volcanoes back in 2018 when he was still a Ph.D. student at the University of Bern. That effort involved combing through thousands of high-resolution photos of Mars captured by the Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) instrument onboard the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter.

When an image revealed a spectral signature consistent with water frost, Valantis says he placed it into a larger series of images sorted by time, location, and season. As more images joined the series, Valantis found that they began to reveal a daily cycle, where this ultra-thin layer of water frost was deposited overnight and then evaporated back into the atmosphere by the rising sun each morning.

“What we’re seeing may be a remnant of an ancient climate cycle on modern Mars,” Valantis posited, “where you had precipitation and maybe even snowfall on these volcanoes in the past.”

To ensure that what they were seeing was real since it was so unexpected, Valantis and his colleagues verified the images using separate observations made by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera onboard the ESA’s Mars Express orbiter and the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery spectrometer onboard the Trace Gas Orbiter. All told, the researchers say over 30,000 images were selected and verified during the six-year project.

In the study’s conclusion, the team says they believe the water frost, which sits inside the caldera of several Martian volcanoes within the Tharsis range, is created and deposited due to microclimates that form within these massive structures. These microclimates exist due to the enormous height of the Tharis volcanoes. According to the researchers, the mountainous volcanoes of Tharsis range between one and two times the size of Mount Everest on Earth. The largest, Olympus Mons, is as wide as France.

Astrobiology and the Search for Marian Life

Since his transition from Bern University to Brown University, Valantis says he is going to continue exploring “Martian mysteries.” This includes transitioning to a full-time astrobiology role, where he will apply his analysis skills to help characterize the ancient environments around Martian vents, where microbial life may have once thrived.

According to the press release announcing the discovery, the researchers believe that modeling how the frosts are forming atop these Martian volcanoes “could allow scientists to reveal more of Mars’ remaining secrets, including understanding where water exists and how it moves, as well as understanding the planet’s complex atmospheric dynamics, which is essential for future exploration and the search for possible signs of life.”

If everything goes well, Valantis said he hopes his work, including his discovery of water frost atop Martian volcanoes, can help lead to the detection and collection of high-value Martian soil samples that are brought back to Earth for study. In fact, he says that searching for life that evolved outside of Earth has always captured his imagination, so he is not going to miss out on the opportunity to help science try to make another major discovery.

“This notion of a second genesis, of life beyond Earth, has always fascinated me,” Valantinas said.

• Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

Inside Monster Martian Volcanoes

The newly discovered volcano has monstered-sized company in the form of three other gigantic Martian volcanoes

Background image: NASA Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) digital elevation model. Geologic interpretation & annotations by Pascal Lee and Sourabh Shubham 2024

The volcano, temporarily named the Noctis, spans 280 miles wide and was discovered alongside a buried ice glacier to the east of Mars.

NASA/USGS

“This area of Mars is known to have a wide variety of hydrated minerals spanning a long stretch of Martian history,” said Sourabh Shubham, a graduate student at the University of Maryland’s Department of Geology.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

05-09-2024 om 22:33 geschreven door peter  

In recent years, astronomers have identified several enigmatic objects emitting repeating radio signals. In 2020, GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3, located near the galactic center, was observed emitting unusually bright flashes for just three months before falling silent.

Another object, discovered last year, GPM J1839-10, behaves like a slow pulsar, emitting five-minute radio bursts every 22 minutes. 

However, the newly-discovered radio signal acts a bit differently.

The signal was first detected during routine observations by the ASKAP radio telescope, located in Australia’s Wajarri Yamaji Country. The telescope, known for its wide field of view, was monitoring a gamma-ray burst when it stumbled upon ASKAP J1935+2148. The signal stood out due to its unique properties, including its long period and distinct emission states. 

Dr. Manisha Caleb, an astrophysicist at the University of Sydney and the lead author of the study, said in a press release that she thinks this could be a new type of neutron star.

“It is highly unusual to discover a neutron star candidate emitting radio pulsations in this way,” she said in a press release. “The fact that the signal is repeating at such a leisurely pace is extraordinary.”

Following the initial detection, the team conducted further observations for several months using both ASKAP and the more sensitive MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. 

Equipped with a special type of radio receiver, the ASKAP telescope was set up in a grid pattern to scan the sky at a frequency of 887.5 MHz. The signals it picked up were divided into smaller chunks to get a clearer picture, and the data was processed every 10 seconds to catch the bright pulses from ASKAP J1935+2148. Meanwhile, the MeerKAT telescope, which operates at a higher frequency range (0.86-1.71 GHz), provided more detailed and sensitive observations. 

“What is intriguing is how this object displays three distinct emission states, each with properties entirely dissimilar from the others,” Caleb explained. “The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa played a crucial role in distinguishing between these states. If the signals didn’t arise from the same point in the sky, we would not have believed it to be the same object producing these different signals.”

According to the study, the astronomers observed bright linear pulses that lasted anywhere between 10 and 50 seconds, followed by weaker pulses that followed a circular pattern that only lasted 370 milliseconds, followed by a lull where no pulses were detectable. This would all then repeat. 

This new mysterious radio signal challenges the current astrophysical models of neutron stars and white dwarfs. Neutron stars, known for their rapid rotation, typically complete rotations in seconds or fractions of a second. The 53.8-minute period of ASKAP J1935+2148 places it in the “pulsar death valley,” where detectable radio signals are not expected. In other words, if this is a neutron star, it shouldn’t be giving off anything.

One hypothesis is that ASKAP J1935+2148 could be an ultra-long period magnetar, a type of highly magnetized neutron star. However, the slow rotation and continued radio emission are unusual for such objects. Another possibility is a highly magnetized white dwarf, but no known white dwarfs have been observed to emit radio waves in this manner, making this explanation less likely.

Caleb and her team currently believe that this radio signal is probably from a slow-spinning neutron star or a binary system with a neutron star or another white dwarf. They admit that this is only a hypothesis since something like this has never been observed before, and further research needs to be done.

“It might even prompt us to reconsider our decades-old understanding of neutron stars or white dwarfs,” Caleb concluded. “How they emit radio waves and what their populations are like in our Milky Way galaxy.”

• MJ Banias covers space, security, and technology with The Debrief. You can email him at mj@thedebrief.org or follow him on Twitter @mjbanias.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

05-09-2024 om 21:16 geschreven door peter  

 By Chris Eberhart Fox News

US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm (Photo: AP)

It's a drone; it's a UFO; it's really who you ask: What's buzzing around U.S. nuclear sites?

Going back from the 1940s and ‘50s to the present day, whistleblowers have reported UFO sightings around nuclear sites, but Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm said they’re "drones." 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., hit Granholm with rapid-fire questions, including if the DOE was reverse engineering crashed alien technology, and if it worked with a counter-terrorism task force. 

Granholm's answers were, "I have no knowledge of that," and "Yes," respectively, which an expert told Fox News Digital is a "big deal" admission.

• UFO SIGHTING ‘HOTSPOTS’ SHOW CLUSTERS AROUND NUCLEAR ACTIVITY AND WAR ZONES

A Fox News Digital-created UFO hotspot map based off information by the Department of Defense. 

(Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital based on AARO's Data)

The fiery exchange between Luna and Granholm was about five minutes of a 2.5-hour Congressional Oversight Committee hearing on May 23. 

Luna's last question, "Does the DOE work with JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command)?" raised eyebrows and created buzz on social media.

• RUSSIAN UFO ENGAGEMENTS, SECRET ‘TIC TAC’ REPORT AND 3 KEY FIGURES SLIP UNDER RADAR AT CONGRESSIONAL HEARING

Granholm danced around the question at first, but Luna repeated the inquiry and demanded a yes or no answer. 

Granholm finally responded, "Yes, we do." 

Investigative journalist and leading UFO expert Jeremy Corbell said, "This was a bold move by Congress." 

WATCH FULL EXCHANGE BETWEEN LUNA AND GRANHOLM

JSOC is a military task force that plans and executes special operations missions under the command of U.S. Special Operations Command.

Corbell said a whistleblower had pointed out that JSOC had worked with the DOE to recover crashed alien spacecraft and reverse-engineer their technology.

• This technology could turn us into charcoal

“JSOC is likely heavily involved in the aircraft recovery program under the purview of the CIA, so it’s a big deal for the Department of Energy to acknowledge that it’s working with JSOC,” Corbell told Fox News Digital. “Secretary Granholm has been loath to acknowledge that.”

JSOC has denied these allegations and implications in previous statements. Fox News Digital reached out to JSOC for comment but did not receive a response.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna questioned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about reverse engineering alien technology. 

(Fox News Digital/John Michael Raasch)

In an email to Fox News Digital, Luna said that while “some people, like Secretary Granholm, want to ridicule these things,” “more than 50 percent of Americans believe UAPs may exist.”

“That means the federal government should be taking this seriously,” the Florida Republican said. “I have confronted Energy Secretary Granholm directly with multiple reports and statements from the Department of Defense, and she continues to deny the facts.”

“And that’s why I think the American people have lost faith in government transparency.”

• UFOs aren’t just in the air, they’re in the water too, posing a threat to maritime safety, says former naval officer

Luna’s exchange with Granholm wasn’t the end of her interactions with the DOE.

She submitted nine questions to the DOE, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. The questions include:

“DOE has received the QFR and will respond directly to the committee and members of Congress,” a DOE spokesperson said in an email.

Footage of a UFO flying near the USS Omaha off the coast of San Diego in July 2019 and disappearing into the ocean without a splash or crash debris. 

(Jeremy Corbell/Weaponized Podcast)

Former Navy pilot Ryan Graves, former Navy commander David Fravor, and former U.S. intelligence officer David Grush testified before a House subcommittee specializing in UFOs. 

(House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Security, Borders, and Foreign Affairs)

Luna’s Question

1. How are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) designated by DOE?
2. What characteristics must an object have to be considered a UAP?
3. How many UAP intrusions have been reported to the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)?
4. F1 events deploy private companies that can disable drones and track the pilots. Is that technology available to DOE? Follow-up: If so, how many drones were able to track the pilots? And how many were able to be disabled?
5. Follow-up: If so, how many drones were you able to track to their operators? And how many were you able to disable?
6. This year alone, how many UAP intrusions have been reported internally at all critical infrastructure locations under DOE’s oversight (e.g., nuclear weapons, refining, and deployment sites such as Pantex and the Savannah River Site)?
7. There have been multiple reports of frequent drone intrusions over DOE nuclear facilities, including the incident that occurred at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on April 1, 2021. Can you tell us more about DOE’s current security measures to prevent unauthorized drone activity? Also, given the frequency of these incidents, what steps are being taken to strengthen these measures?
8. A recent AARO report emphasized that better data collection is essential to understanding the UAP phenomenon. What technologies and methodologies is DOE employing to collect and analyze data related to UAP sightings, especially near critical infrastructure?
9. Given the potential security and safety risks posed by UAPs near nuclear facilities, what protocols are in place to ensure the safety of DOE personnel and the public? Have there been any documented cases of personnel being adversely affected as a result of an encounter with a UAP?
10. In the spirit of transparency, how is the Department of Energy handling public disclosure of UAP incidents? Are there plans to declassify and release more detailed reports on UAP sightings over Department of Energy facilities to keep the public informed and reassured?

• Crime scene reconstruction experts say they see at least two aliens “trying to scare off troublesome humans.”

Watch Rep. Tim Burchett interview: “There’s a cover-up”

WATCH INTERVIEW WITH REP. TIM BURCHETT: "THERE'S A COVER-UP"

Video

Department of Energy: Sightings are ‘drones’, not UFOs

Before Luna’s exchange with Granholm, Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee questioned the Energy secretary about “suspicious sightings” of UFOs near nuclear facilities.

The question seemed to catch Granholm off guard.

• Pentagon UFO report says aliens don’t exist: ‘If America doesn’t come clean, other countries will’

She responded that the Department of Defense had concluded that there was no evidence of UFOs or aliens.

“But there is the possibility of malicious drones out there,” Granholm said, emphasizing that safety and defensive measures are in place.

As both senators pointed out, UFO sightings near nuclear facilities predate drones.

This was one of several examples of unexplained UAPs listed in NASA’s Sept. 14 report. 

(NASA)

In 2018, a mysterious jellyfish-like object was spotted flying over a military base in Iraq. 

(Jeremy Corbell/Weaponized Podcast)

Recently declassified documents about a UFO program called Kona Blue detail a government plan to collect and reverse engineer crashed alien technology.

“Several highly sensitive and unconventional aerospace discoveries have been identified and significant progress has been made,” former U.S. Senator Harry Reid said in a June 2009 letter.

An excerpt from a 2009 letter from former U.S. Senator Harry Reid discussing the need to keep the government’s crashed

alien technology recovery program and reverse engineering efforts secret. (Department of Defense)

• Alien video shows ‘beings’ using ‘cloaking’ device: ‘submit this for peer review’

“Given the current rate of success, continued research into these subjects is likely to lead to technological advances requiring special protection in the near future…”

“Given the potential applications of these technologies in future systems, including space flight, weapons, communications and propulsion, standard management and protection procedures cannot adequately ensure that all aspects of the project will be adequately protected.”

READ THE FULL DECLASSIFIED KONA BLUE REPORT

AARO, The Pentagon’s specialist unit investigating UAP said “multiple” whistleblowers mentioned Kona Blue during its investigation into the alleged aircraft recovery program.

In its report, AARO stated: History and origins Kona Blue said it was “proposed” to Homeland Security leadership but “never approved or formally enacted.”

According to AARO, the project has never received any materials or funding, and the Department of Homeland Security disapproved the project in 2011 “citing concerns about the adequacy of the program’s legitimacy” and ordered it immediately halted.

According to AARO, its complete origins and history can be found at: It is here.

{ https://www.foxnews.com/ }

05-09-2024 om 00:53 geschreven door peter  

04-09-2024 om 23:29 geschreven door peter  

NASA has an explanation for the “strange noise” emitted by Boeing Co.’s Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. 

The noise was heard by astronaut Butch Wilmore, who radioed mission control about the sound Saturday, as first reported by Ars Technica. “There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker [on Starliner],” he said. “I don’t know what’s making it … I don’t know if there’s something that’s maybe connected between here and there making that happen,” he added.

NASA said the noise — which is no longer being emitted — was the result of an audio configuration between the Boeing capsule and the International Space Station. Boeing referred MarketWatch to NASA for comment.

Related:

•  NASA astronauts to return to earth with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Boeing Starliner to come back empty

• https://youtu.be/FOd1ceFuzpQ

• https://youtu.be/Hnz-jsbUkLc?list=TLPQMDQwOTIwMjS2chNflp3Ogw

“A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner,” NASA’s Commercial Crew program wrote Monday on X, formerly Twitter. “The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback.”

“The crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system,” the Commercial Crew program added. “The speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner’s uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, Sept. 6.”

Starliner will return to Earth uncrewed with Wilmore and his fellow crewmember Suni Williams returning in a SpaceX capsule after the Boeing capsule was beset with problems. The Boeing spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously undock from the space station at approximately 6:04 p.m. Eastern time on Sept. 6 to begin the journey home, weather conditions permitting, NASA said, in an Aug. 30 statement. NASA and Boeing are targeting approximately 12:03 a.m. on Sept. 7 for the landing and conclusion of the flight test at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Also read: 

• Boeing Starliner saga: Do NASA astronauts get overtime pay in space?

NASA and Boeing have wrestled with helium leaks and thruster issues on Starliner, which launched on June 5 and arrived at the ISS the following day. The capsule was initially expected to be docked at the orbiting space lab for at least eight days before bringing the two astronauts home. They have now been there for more than 80 days.

The test, which has faced a number of delays in recent years, is the first crewed mission of the Starliner capsule. The spacecraft’s launch in June also marked the first time NASA has had three crewed vehicles in orbit.

SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission is scheduled to depart for the ISS no earlier than Sept. 24.

Related: 

• Boeing has recorded $1.5 billion of Starliner forward losses, says Jefferies

Boeing shares were down 8% at 11:09 a.m. Eastern time Monday, amid a Wells Fargo downgrade, outpacing the S&P 500 index’s decline of 1.4%.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

04-09-2024 om 22:43 geschreven door peter  

Een ster ontdekt, die uit de Melkweg zou kunnen “ontsnappen”: hij raast door de ruimte met ruim 1,6 miljoen kilometer per uur

door Janine

W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

Gewoonlijk draaien sterren rond het centrum van een sterrenstelsel, bijvoorbeeld de Melkweg: dit is het geval voor de zon en de meer dan 200 miljard sterren in ons sterrenstelsel... op één na. Sommige wetenschappers hebben een object gezien dat zo groot en zwaar is als een ster en dat zich met meer dan 1,6 miljoen kilometer per uur voortbeweegt, een snelheid die zo hoog is dat het aan de zwaartekracht van de Melkweg ontsnapt... vroeg of laat. Laten we eens kijken hoe dit mogelijk is!

Er is een ster ontdekt die op de vlucht is uit de Melkweg

We bevinden ons in het project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, dat tot taak heeft nieuwe planeten en bruine dwergen in de omgeving van ons zonnestelsel te ontdekken, ook met de hulp van amateurs. Door de beelden te bestuderen die zijn gemaakt door de Wide Field Infrared Explorer of WISE-missie en latere missies, hebben sommige amateurwetenschappers een nooit eerder gezien object gezien, een hemellichaam dat veel te snel door de ruimte beweegt, alsof het ontsnapt uit de Melkweg. Dit zijn de woorden van een van de ontdekkers, die samen met anderen een studie publiceerde in Astrophysical Journal Letters:

Ik kan het niveau van opwinding niet beschrijven. Toen ik voor het eerst zag hoe snel het bewoog, was ik ervan overtuigd dat het al was gemeld.

Het hemellichaam, CWISE J124909.08+362116.0 genaamd maar kortweg CWISE J1249 genoemd, heeft zo'n lage massa dat het moeilijk te classificeren is. Volgens onderzoekers zou het desondanks een kleine ster of een bruine dwerg kunnen zijn. Maar waarom beweegt hij zo snel?

Waarom zo'n hoge snelheid?

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Alleen al binnen het project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 zijn er al meer dan 4000 bruine dwergen geïdentificeerd, hemellichamen die het midden houden tussen een gasvormige planeet zoals Jupiter en een ster zoals de zon. Geen van hen beweegt echter met zo'n hoge snelheid dat ze zouden kunnen ontsnappen aan de zwaartekracht van de Melkweg. Bovendien heeft CWISE J1249 een andere samenstelling dan de andere bruine dwergen en sterren in ons melkwegstelsel, omdat hij minder ijzer en andere metalen bevat: hij zou deel kunnen uitmaken van de eerste generatie sterren in de Melkweg. 

Over zijn snelheid hebben wetenschappers twee hypotheses bedacht. Aan de ene kant kan de bruine dwerg deel hebben uitgemaakt van een binair systeem met een witte dwerg, die op een gegeven moment explodeerde als supernova en zo de ontsnapping van CWISE J1249 in gang zette. Aan de andere kant zou de snelheid veroorzaakt kunnen zijn door een ontmoeting met een binair systeem gevormd door twee zwarte gaten, waarvan de interacties de bruine dwerg de ruimte in zouden hebben geslingerd. En uit de Melkweg.

Het belang van Backyard Worlds: Planet 9

De ontdekking van CWISE J1249 en zijn ontsnapping aan de zwaartekracht van de Melkweg is slechts het laatste succes van Backyard Worlds: Planet 9. Het project bevordert de samenwerking tussen duizenden astronomen wereldwijd en heeft het mogelijk gemaakt om enorme hoeveelheden astronomische gegevens te analyseren. Het project bevordert de samenwerking tussen duizenden liefhebbers van de astronomie over de hele wereld en heeft het mogelijk gemaakt om enorme hoeveelheden astronomische gegevens te analyseren, vergelijkbaar met het project Black Hole Finder voor het zoeken naar zwarte gaten. Terwijl Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 ook uitgaat van het idee van het bestaan van een negende planeet in het zonnestelsel voorbij Neptunus, is het een initiatief dat heeft geleid tot de ontdekking van vele bruine dwergen en andere hemellichamen in ons melkwegstelsel.

In dit opzicht is het project een perfect voorbeeld van hoe wetenschap en passie voor de astronomie tot buitengewone resultaten kunnen leiden. Waaronder de ontdekking van een ster die ontsnapt uit de Melkweg, het eerste voorbeeld van een hemellichaam met zo'n hoge snelheid dat het ontsnapt aan de galactische zwaartekracht, maar niet aan onze ogen.

{ https://www.curioctopus.nl/ }

04-09-2024 om 21:49 geschreven door peter  

Most people consider Saturn's awe-inspiring system of rings that encircle the gas giant to be the most fascinating and iconic celestial feature in our solar system.

Back in the 17th century, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei first spied Saturn through his ancient telescope. He compared the planet's appearance to having "ears" due to the limitations of his device.

The diligent work of scientists like Galileo Galilei has laid the foundation for our modern-day ability to explore the incredible wonders of our universe.

Over the years, advances in technology and innovative techniques have empowered astronomers, such as Dr. Lucy Jones from the esteemed Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), to delve deeper into the enigmas surrounding celestial bodies.

Through cutting-edge research and observations, they have unraveled the intricate mysteries of Saturn's rings, revealing their composition and the dynamic processes that shape them.

Cosmic vanishing act

A fast-approaching and significant cosmic event will soon dramatically alter our view of this magnificent planet. Come March 2025, Saturn's majestic rings will become virtually invisible to earth-based observers.

This phenomenon occurs due to the unique tilt of Saturn's axis, which will position the rings edge-on to our line of sight.

Related video: 

• Saturn and the moon to join side by side on Aug. 20 (Dailymotion)

As a result, this is a rare opportunity for citizens and astronomers alike to witness this celestial transformation, while also reminding us of the ever-changing nature of our universe.

Thankfully, this isn't a permanent change. It's a fleeting cosmic event that recurs every 29.5 years, which is how long it takes Saturn to orbit the Sun. After March 2025, Saturn's axial tilt will bring the rings back into view, then vanish again in November 2025.

So, the rings are not really disappearing but rather playing a celestial game of hide and seek. At their reappearance, we can also enjoy an accentuated view of Saturn's moons.

Saturn's ring structure

So, what are Saturn's rings really made of? Mostly, they consist of ice particles, rocky debris, and cosmic dust, creating a stunning spectacle visible from Earth with a telescope.

Picture a bustling city with buildings of all sizes. Similarly, the ring particles vary from tiny grains, about the size of sand, to huge chunks as big as houses or even school buses. This mix gives the rings their intriguing look.

Saturn's rings aren't just one solid structure. They're made up of several distinct sections, including the A, B, and C rings, along with the fainter D, E, F, and G rings that are harder to see.

These sections are separated by gaps, like the well-known Cassini Division between the A and B rings, which is around 4,800 kilometers wide. The shapes and setups of these rings are mainly shaped by gravitational interactions with Saturn's many moons.

Some of these moons, dubbed "shepherd moons," hang out near the edges of the rings and help keep things in shape by pulling on the ring particles with their gravity.

As for how Saturn's rings came to be, that's still a hot topic among astronomers. There are plenty of theories, from being the leftovers of a destroyed moon or comet that got torn apart by Saturn's strong gravity to materials left over from when Saturn formed over 4 billion years ago.

Each theory has its own fascinating ideas, and ongoing research keeps revealing new insights about these amazing structures that orbit the planet.

Importance of the Cassini-Huygens Mission

The Cassini-Huygens mission was an amazing collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

This ambitious journey to uncover the cool mysteries of Saturn and its stunning rings started when the spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004, kicking off a thorough 13-year exploration that wrapped up in 2017.

Throughout its journey, the Cassini-Huygens mission brought us a treasure trove of information about Saturn and its complex system. One of the coolest finds was discovering gaps in the rings, especially the Cassini Division, which is the noticeable space between the A and B rings.

This division is shaped by the gravitational pull of Saturn's moons, showcasing how dynamic and ever-changing the ring system really is.

The mission also gave us deeper insights into Saturn's many moons, revealing their unique compositions and geological features. For example, Enceladus, one of Saturn's icy moons, has geysers that shoot out water vapor and organic materials, hinting at the possibility of subsurface oceans.

Thanks to the Cassini-Huygens mission, scientists gained valuable insights into the intricate dance of moons and rings around Saturn, completely transforming our understanding of the planet and its unique traits.

Saturn's moons and magnetic field

There is much more to Saturn than just those incredible rings. In fact, Saturn boasts a minimum of 145 moons, each with its own unique characteristics and mysteries.

Among these, Titan, the second-largest moon in the Solar System, truly steals the show with its thick atmosphere and intriguing surface. Interestingly, Titan has a magnetic field that, while weaker than Jupiter's, is stronger than Earth's, indicating complex interactions with Saturn's magnetic environment.

Titan radiates powerful radio waves, particularly from its spectacular auroras at the poles, which can provide valuable insights into both Titan's atmosphere and the overall dynamics of Saturn's magnetic field. The upcoming Dragonfly mission will search for life on Titan.

That said, Titan's mysteries pale in comparison to what we might find on Enceladus. Cassini discovered the presence of vital components for life on this icy Saturnian moon. 

Based on this data, experts have identified crucial organic compounds and a potent energy source, hinting at the moon's potential to support life.

"Not only does Enceladus seem to meet the basic requirements for habitability, we now have an idea about how complex biomolecules could form there, and what sort of chemical pathways might be involved," explains Jonah Peter, a doctoral student at Harvard University who conducted the research while working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Stargazers, Saturn, and those magnificent rings

To sum it all up, as Saturn's rings prepare to vanish from view in March 2025, stargazers have a unique opportunity to witness this fleeting cosmic event.

The rings will align edge-on with Earth, making them virtually invisible and highlighting the dynamic nature of celestial objects.

For now, Saturn remains a captivating target for those with telescopes or high-powered binoculars. The planet's stunning rings, composed of countless ice particles and rocky debris, offer a glimpse into the complex and beautiful structure of our solar system.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/ }

03-09-2024 om 23:57 geschreven door peter  

De lancering maakt deel uit van ESA's Sentinel 2-programma, een project dat in samenwerking met de Europese Commissie loopt. De Sentinel-2C zal de Sentinel-2A vervangen. Die was gelanceerd in juni 2015 en intussen staan we heel wat verder, wat voor een grote verbetering zal zorgen in de aangeleverde data. Dat zegt Inge Jonckheere van de ESA in een gesprek met VRT NWS.

Jonckheere werkt als directeur van de Green Solutions Division bij ESA die satellietdata gebruikt voor alle mogelijke wetenschappelijke en maatschappelijke toepassingen, specifiek dan voor het observeren van de aarde, het milieu en het klimaat. 

Over de missie

De Sentinel 2-missie telt 2 identieke satellieten, Sentinel 2A (gelanceerd in 2015) en Sentinel 2B (2017), die in dezelfde baan vliegen maar 180 graden uit elkaar om de dekking en de revisit-tijd te optimaliseren. De satellieten draaien elke 100 minuten in een baan om de aarde en bestrijken elke 5 dagen alle landoppervlakken, grote eilanden, binnenwateren en kustwateren.

Eenmaal in een baan om de aarde zal Sentinel-2C zijn voorganger Sentinel-2A vervangen, terwijl Sentinel-2D later Sentinel-2B zal vervangen om de continuïteit van gegevens na 2035 te waarborgen.

Sneller data, en een goed oog

De combinatie met de nog actieve Sentinel-2B wordt voortaan beter. Er zullen vaker data binnenlopen, wetenschappers zullen zowat om de week een update krijgen van wat er op de grond gebeurt. 

"We zullen met deze satellietcombinatie elke 5 tot 10 dagen beeld hebben van een specifiek gebied, afhankelijk van de breedtegraad - tegenover ongeveer tweewekelijks met 1 satelliet - waardoor de tijdsresolutie preciezer wordt", zegt Jonckheere.   

"We krijgen daardoor bijna continu een aanvoer van data. En hoe meer data je hebt, hoe beter de opvolging van natuurlijke processen en extreme events."

En er is meer. De nieuwe optische satelliet heeft ook een relatief scherp oog. "Je moet rekenen op een grondresolutie van 10 tot 30 meter, wat relatief gezien behoorlijk nauwkeurig is. Sommige satellieten die gebruikt worden voor het klimaat hebben amper een paar kilometer resolutie."

Het is wel zo dat wolken de observatie kunnen verstoren, maar net daarvoor is het zo belangrijk dat de omlooptijd door het gebruik van de 2 satellieten nu een stuk korter gaat worden. 

Van methaan tot algenbloei in het water

De nieuwe satelliet heeft toepassingen voor landbouw, waterkwaliteit, natuurrampen en de uitstoot van het sterke broeikasgas methaan. 

De ESA gaf deze illustratie vrij van de lancering van de Sentinal-2C.

© Foto: ESA

Zoveel mogelijk op eigen benen staan in tijden van AI (en fake data)

De lancering is niet enkel van belang voor meer en betere data. Het gaat er ook om dat Europa zelf zoveel mogelijk op eigen benen wil staan wat betreft datagaring. Momenteel is er voor zulke aardobservatie- programma's veel samenwerking met bijvoorbeeld de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA en/of met China, en worden veel data samengelegd.

{ https://www.msn.com/nl-be/ }

03-09-2024 om 23:39 geschreven door peter  

Ganymede Was Struck by Giant Asteroid 4 Billion Years Ago, New Research Suggests

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede has an ancient impact structure called a furrow system. This system is the largest impact structure in the outer Solar System, and the impact should have significantly affected Ganymede’s early history.

Distribution of furrows and location of the center of the furrow system shown in the hemisphere that always faces away from Jupiter (top) and the cylindrical projection map of Ganymede (bottom). The gray regions represent geologically young terrain without furrows. Furrows (green lines) exist only on geologically old terrains (black regions).

Image credit: Naoyuki Hirata, doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-69914-2.

Ganymede is the largest satellite in the Solar System and has many unique features, including tectonic troughs known as furrows.

Furrows are the oldest surface features recognized on Ganymede because they are crosscut by any impact craters with diameters exceeding 10 km. They can provide a window into the early history of this moon.

{ https://www.sci.news/ }

03-09-2024 om 22:25 geschreven door peter  

©Sources: Graphic Created using Canva, Pixabay / geralt, NASA CC0 Images via Canva

Black Hole in a Planet's Orbit Could Indicate an Advanced Civilization
An English mathematical physicist and Nobel-prize winner named Roger Penrose hypothesized how energy could be extracted from a rotating black hole in 1971. He proposed constructing a harness around the black hole's accretion disk—where infalling matter reaches near-light speeds—which would trigger an enormous release of energy across multiple wavelengths.

Since then, several scientists have proposed that advanced civilizations might use this idea—dubbed the Penrose Process—to power their technology. This technological possibility suggests just one interesting technosignature that scientists looking for life beyond Earth could search for in outer space.

©Unsplash / Aman Pal

Following Hypotheses
Building upon this idea, scientist John M. Smart has proposed the Transcension Hypothesis. In this hypothesis, he suggested that advanced intelligence may migrate to regions surrounding black holes. There, they could take advantage of the energy available.

The latest idea based on the Penrose Process comes from Harvard Professor Avi Loeb. His paper where he poses his latest findings and ideas, "Illumination of a Planet by a Black Hole Moon as a Technological Signature," was recently published in the scientific journal Research Notes of the AAS.

©Wikimedia Commons / Cmichel67

Avi Loeb’s Paper
Professor Avi Loeb is an extremely accomplished scientist. He is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, the Director of the Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center of Astrophysics (CfA), the founding Director of the Black Hole Initiative (BHI), and the head of the Galileo Project.

In his latest paper, he proposed that advanced civilizations could rely on a "Black Hole Moon" to provide their home planet with power indefinitely. He argues that the way a black hole would light up the planet it orbits could serve as a potential technosignature for future SETI surveys. (SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.)

©Stephen Hawking in the 1980s / Wikimedia Commons / NASA

Stephen Hawking’s Theory
In 1975, Stephen Hawking theorized that black holes emit photons, neutrinos, and some larger particles. These theoretical larger particles have been called "Hawking Radiation." Since then, proposals for harnessing black holes as an energy source typically fall into one of two categories.

Some scientists believe in the possibility of the Penrose Process, which involves capturing the energy from angular momentum of black hole accretion disks. Similarly, some believe that capturing the heat and energy generated by black hole hypervelocity jets would be possible, perhaps in the form of a Dyson Sphere. On the other hand, some believe that these black-hole-civilizations would have to feed matter into the black hole they rely on and harness the resulting Hawking Radiation in order to create power.

©Unsplash / NASA Hubble Space Telescope

An Orbiting Black Hole Engine
In his recent paper, Loeb proposed that an advanced alien civilization could rely on the latter process by engineering a black hole to orbit their home planet. This black hole would be relatively very small, weighing just one hundred thousand tons (10-11 g). (Yes, this sounds like a lot, but it is not in terms of black holes.)

However, without any sort of maintenance, this black hole would evaporate in just a year and a half through the emission of Hawking Radiation. Loeb explained that, luckily for any potential civilization, a black hole could be sustained by giving it small amounts of matter—about 4.85 lbs (2.2 kg) per second. In return, the black hole would offer a continuous supply of power.

©Unsplash / NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Powerful and Efficient
“This black hole system is the most efficient engine that I ever thought about,” Loeb explained. “The fuel is converted to energy with the perfect efficiency of 100%, because the mass falling into the black hole is ultimately coming out as Hawking Radiation. I have not seen this idea discussed before and had a ‘Eureka moment’ when I realized it a few weeks ago.”

According to Loeb, the amount of antimatter needed is currently beyond humanity’s capabilities—a civilization more advanced than our own would have to figure that out. However, Loeb's proposed 10-11 g black hole could continuously supply 40 quadrillion Watts of power, which is certainly enough to power a planet.

©Unsplash / NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Using Waste for Energy
"The global energy use is a few terra-Watts, ten thousand times less than the power supply of this black hole," Loeb explained. Another benefit is that a black hole can use any type of matter as fuel, including the waste generated by a civilization. In this way, a black hole engine could address an advanced civilization's waste disposal issues while simultaneously offering a limitless source of energy.

"The other advantage of this black hole engine is that it can use any form of matter as fuel,” Loeb said. “It could be trash. There is no better way to recycle trash than convert it into clean energy with 100% efficiency."

©Canva / Riddhima's Images

Possible for Advanced Civilizations
Humans produce roughly 1.92 billion metric tons of waste annually. This is having a severe impact on our planet Earth. However, this would be enough to feed a black hole of Loeb’s proposed size for more than 437 million years.

According to Loeb, a black hole engine that uses waste as its energy source would be much simpler than other proposed alien energy sources. Theoretically, it would be technology that a Type II civilization could engineer (for reference, Earth is only _almost_ a Type I civilization).

©Pixabay / GuillaumePreat

A Technosignature on Earth
“This is the big challenge,” Loeb said. “Any production line of a 10-11 g black hole requires compressing matter or radiation to a mass density that is 60 orders of magnitude above the density of solid iron. The density of atomic nuclei or neutron stars is only 15 orders of magnitude above solid density. This was possible to achieve in the cosmic radiation density less than a femtosecond after the Big Bang."

In another recently written paper by Loeb, he argued that, based on the theory of General Relativity, black holes could be made out of light. According to his theories, this proposed black hole engine would be detectable light-years away, which might be most interesting about his hypothesis. This would make black hole engines viable technosignatures that would indicate the existence of a far-away advanced civilization to scientists.

©Unsplash / NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Potential Extraterrestrial Power
As with many proposed technosignatures—such as science-fiction-like Dyson Spheres and other megastructures—the idea of a black hole engine remains speculative and theoretical. However, as Freeman Dyson noted, if something is within the realm of our imagination and the underlying physics are valid, a sufficiently advanced civilization might already be employing it.

Loeb speculated, “The black hole engine could be discovered as a rogue rocky planet that is illuminated by a gamma-ray moon with no stellar-mass companion. If we ever find evidence for such an engine, we would need to consider the possibility that the source was created or trapped as a primordial black hole by a highly advanced technological civilization. There is no better marker of technological innovation than creating a furnace out of spacetime curvature in the form of a mini black hole.” Loeb’s hypothesis is another interesting theory posed by scientists that could help to confirm life beyond our Earth.

{ https://www.msn.com/en-us/} 

02-09-2024 om 23:31 geschreven door peter  

Voyager 1 is back online! NASA's most distant spacecraft returns data from all 4 instruments

Even if Voyager 1 had gone dark for good, however, the mission would still have been a wild success. After it launched in 1977, its primary mission was to study Jupiter and Saturn — that was accomplished by 1980. (Its twin spacecraft, Voyager 2, went on to study Uranus and Neptune.) But Voyager 1 is on an unstoppable path. Continuing its journey away from Earth, the spacecraft entered interstellar space in 2012, returning crucial data about this mysterious realm.

Now that Voyager 1 is back online, the team will continue to "touch up" the spacecraft to get it back in top form, including resynchronizing its timekeeping software to execute commands at the right time, as well as performing maintenance on the digital tape recorder that measures plasma waves. And hopefully, Voyager 1 will have a long, happy life ahead.

{ https://www.space.com/ }

02-09-2024 om 01:05 geschreven door peter  

The Standard Model describes how the Universe has evolved at large scale. There are six numbers that define the model and a team of researchers have used them to build simulations of the Universe. The results of these simulations were then fed to a machine learning algorithm to train it before it was set the task of estimating five of the cosmological constants, a task which it completed with incredible precision. 

The Standard Model incorporates a number of elements; the Big Bang, dark energy, cold dark matter, ordinary matter and the cosmic background radiation. It works well to describe the large scale structure of the Universe but there are gaps in our understanding. Quantum physics can describe the small scale of the Universe but struggles with gravity and there are questions around dark matter and dark energy too. Understanding these can help in our understanding of the evolution and structure of the Universe. 

A team of researchers from the Flatiron Institute have managed to extract some hidden information in the distribution of galaxies to estimate the values of five of the parameters. The accuracy was a great improvement on values that were attained during previous attempts. Using AI technology the team’s results had less than half the uncertainty for the element that describes the clumpiness of the Universe than in the previous attempt. Their results also revealed estimates of other parameters that closely resembled observation. The paper was published in Nature Astronomy on 21 August. 

The team generated 2,000 simulated universes after carefully specifying their cosmological parameters. These included expansion rate, the distribution and clumpiness of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy and using these the team ran the simulations. The output was then compressed into manageable data sets and this was used to compare against over one hundred thousand real galaxies data. From this, it was possible for the researchers to estimate the parameters for the real Universe. 

The parameters the team managed to fine tune are those that describe how the Universe operates at the largest scale. These are essentially, the settings for the Universe and include the amount of ordinary matter, dark matter, dark energy, the conditions following the Big Bang and just how clumpy the matter is. Previously these settings were calculated using observations from the structure of galaxy clusters. To arrive at a more accurate group of settings observations needed to go down to smaller scale but this has not been possible. 

Instead of using observations, the team used their AI approach to extract the small scale information that was hidden in the existing observational data. At the heart of the approach was the AI system that learned how to correlate the parameters with the observed structure of the Universe – but at small scale. 

In the future the team hope to be able to use their new approach to solve other problems. The uncertainty about the Hubble Constant is an example where the team hope AI can help to fine tune its value. Over the next few years though, and as observational data becomes more detailed both Hubble’s Constant and the Settings of the Universe will become far better understood along with our understanding of the Universe. 

Source : 

• Astrophysicists Use AI to Precisely Calculate Universe’s ‘Settings’

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

01-09-2024 om 22:28 geschreven door peter  

The solar chromosphere is the second layer of the Sun’s atmosphere residing above the Sun’s surface, known as the photosphere (4,130 to 6,330 °C), and below the corona (just under 1,000,000 °C). The chromosphere is known for its red color that is observed hydrogen-alpha electromagnetic emissions and extends between 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers (1,900 to 3,100 miles) in height, which is approximately one percent of the Sun’s radius, while exhibiting temperatures ranging between 3,500 to 35,000 °C. It is the solar chromosphere that is responsible for producing coronal loops, which are arch-like structures produced by the Sun’s magnetic field activity, typically occurring from sunspots. In addition to the incredible image, McCarthy also posted an equally incredible 14-second video of these incredible features in action.

McCarthy tells Universe Today, “These are an example of the magnetic loops captured authentically by isolating the plasma caught in them. This produces coronal rain, plasma raining back onto the photosphere.”

Our Sun is essentially a giant ball of plasma that is undergoing constant change, both within its interior and on its surface, including radio waves, solar wind, and magnetic field. Studying the magnetic field teaches scientists about 22-year cycles where the poles of the magnetic field flip and then return to their initial position, resulting in increased solar activity occurring over 11-year cycles during each transition. This increased magnetic field activity results in increased solar wind emanating from the Sun, leading to solar storms that can strike Earth, causing auroras near our planet’s poles while also harming satellites in orbit and electronic ground stations. One of the most revered incidents of solar storms on Earth was the Carrington Event, which occurred between September 1-2, 1859, resulting in worldwide auroras and telegraph station fires across the globe, as well.

Scientists who study the Sun and its various features are known as solar physicists who use a combination of ground- and space-based telescopes to obtain data regarding the Sun’s activity on a 24/7 basis. Arguably one of the most successful missions to study the Sun is NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which was launched on August 12, 2018, and has traveled closer to the Sun than any human-made spacecraft in history, coming within 7.26 million kilometers (4.51 million miles) from the Sun’s surface in September 2023 and again in March 2024. During its mission, the Parker Solar Probe encountered magnetic field switchbacks, which is when the magnetic field reverses its direction, resulting in heating the solar corona.

Examples of ground-based telescopes that study the Sun include the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, which like McCarthy, uses specialized equipment to safely study the Sun and its various features, providing data and images that can be used for research and public outreach. Therefore, how can McCarthy’s work be used for scientific research, and has his past work been used for scientific research purposes?

“This image is in no way intended for scientific research, but rather a product of scientific research,” McCarthy tells Universe Today. “That said, hydrogen alpha images of the sun offer real insight into the behavior of the sun’s magnetic field and are used by scientists worldwide. Amateurs capturing the sun in detail can complement the data produced by professional observatories on earth and in space and play a role in public outreach that can sometimes be lacking by professional institutions.”

McCarthy has become well-known for capturing incredible images of the Sun and sharing them with the public, including breathtaking images and videos of tornado-like prominences emanating from the solar chromosphere in March 2023, which also captured images of the solar corona. Along with these images, McCarthy provides detailed descriptions of the events occurring in his work with the goal of exciting the public about the Sun and its many incredible features.

“The Sun is unique in that every time I photograph it, it looks completely different,” McCarthy tells Universe Today. “The features are always changing. For that reason, it’s a target I will keep coming back to. While intended purely as a piece of digital art, my goal with this piece was to inspire people to ponder our fragile existence kept in balance by our host star. Hopefully it inspires more people to study it, as it gives us a better understanding of this universe we live in!”

What new discoveries will we make about our Sun in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

• As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

Links:

• Andrew McCarthy: X (Twitter) & Website

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

01-09-2024 om 22:17 geschreven door peter  

Fly Over The 'Grand Canyon' Of Mars In High-Resolution Orbiter Imagery

{ https://www.space.com/ }

01-09-2024 om 20:30 geschreven door peter  

About 66 million years ago, a cataclysmic event marked the end of the dinosaur era. This episode is linked to the impact of a giant asteroid in the Chicxulub region of Mexico. Until now, the exact nature and origin of this celestial body remained subject to debate.

A new study published in Science sheds light on these mysteries by revealing that this asteroid originated from the outer Solar System, beyond Jupiter, and not from a comet as some had supposed.

Illustration image Pixabay

Researchers employed an innovative method to analyze samples of ancient sediments. These contain ruthenium, a chemical element absent from terrestrial rocks. By comparing the isotopes of ruthenium in the samples with those from different classes of meteorites, they determined that the asteroid that struck Earth was a carbonaceous type (type C). This indicates it formed beyond Jupiter's orbit, in a region where asteroids contain more carbon and volatile elements.

This discovery challenges the hypothesis put forward in 2021 by two Harvard researchers, who proposed that the Chicxulub impactor was a long-period comet. According to their theory, the comet was fragmented by the Sun's gravitational influence before a fragment collided with Earth. However, the new data confirm that the celestial object was indeed a carbonaceous asteroid, thus refuting the comet idea.

Ruthenium played a key role in this identification. In fact, the isotopes of this element allow for distinguishing type C asteroids, formed in the outer Solar System, from type S asteroids, which are more common and originate from the inner Solar System. The fact that the Chicxulub asteroid is type C is particularly significant, as most meteorites found on Earth are type S, formed in regions closer to the Sun.

The implications of this discovery extend beyond dinosaur history. According to Mario Fischer-Gödde, a geochemist at the University of Cologne and lead author of the study, better understanding the nature of asteroids that have impacted Earth over time could provide clues about the origin of water on our planet. He also suggests that if other mass extinctions were caused by type C asteroids, it would be essential to closely monitor this type of celestial object in the future, as they could pose a significant threat to life on Earth.

Ismar de Souza Carvalho / Southern Methodist UniversityL.(L)

A footprint left by a Theropod dinosaur discovered in the Borborema region in northeastern Brazil in South America. (R) Theropod tracks located in the Cameroon's Koum Basin from when South America and Africa were connected under the super continent of Gondwana. Brazil's and Cameroon's Koum Basin 

{ https://www.techno-science.net/en/ }

01-09-2024 om 17:16 geschreven door peter  

Being Stranded In Space Could Upend Starliner Astronauts’ Perception of Time

Waiting slows our perception of time.

by Ruth Ogden, Daniel Eduardo Vigo and The Conversation

 

NASA

They arrived in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft — the first test of the spaceship with astronauts. Wilmore and Williams were supposed to stay on the ISS for around eight days and return on the same spacecraft. But there is now debate about the safety of Starliner after it experienced helium leaks and thruster problems on its way to the ISS.

In the coming days, NASA and Boeing may decide to clear Starliner to carry the astronauts back to Earth. This means their stay might not last too much longer. But if officials decide against Starliner, the astronauts face waiting an additional six months in orbit before returning. So how do astronauts cope with a potential six-month wait for a lift home?

Waiting for things is difficult at the best of times. Under normal circumstances, it is frustrating, stressful and anxiety-provoking. But in extreme situations, with high stakes, waiting can be purgatory.

Part of the reason that waiting is difficult is that it distorts our sense of time. Think of the last time you were waiting for a delayed train, test results or a text from a potential new partner. Did it fly by or drag? For most people, time spent waiting crawls at a glacial pace. As a result, delays and periods of anticipation often feel much longer than they actually are.

Waiting slows our perception of time because it changes the amount of time that we spend thinking about time. During normal daily life, we often ignore time, and our brains have a limited capacity. If time isn’t important, we simply don’t think about it, and this helps it to pass quickly.

When we are waiting, our desire to know when the wait is over increases how much we think about time. This “clock watching” can make the minutes and hours feel like they are passing at a snail’s pace. Stress, discomfort and pain exacerbate this effect, meaning that waiting in difficult situations can seem even longer.

Waiting also slows our perception of time because it is what we do and how we feel. Normal life is busy and full of ever-changing activities and interactions. The sudden need to wait halts the flow of life, often leaving us with nothing else to do, thus increasing levels of boredom and frustration.

In general, time filled with activity passes more quickly. We all got a taste of this during COVID lockdowns. When we were stuck inside, unable to see friends and engage in normal daily activities, the loss of routine and distractions caused time to drag for many.

For the astronauts stuck on the ISS, anxiety about when they will return, limited opportunities for activities and fewer opportunities to contact friends and families combine to make their wait to return home feel significantly longer than six months — if it should come to that.

However, as academics who research the effects of time on human psychology and biology, our ongoing work with crew members at research stations in Antarctica aims to shed light on whether waiting in extreme environments is different to waiting during normal daily life.

A year in Antarctica

While being stuck for six months on the ISS may sound like many people’s worst nightmare, it is not uncommon for scientists to spend long periods isolated and confined in extreme environments. Every year, organizations such as the Instituto Antártico Argentino (which uses the Belgrano II Antarctic station), the French Polar Institute and the Italian Antarctic Programme, in cooperation with the European Space Agency (which all use Antarctica’s Concordia station), send crews of people for up to 16 months to conduct research on the frozen continent.

During the March to October polar winter, teams spend six months in near darkness – and from May to August, in complete darkness – facing outside temperatures of up to -60C, wind speeds of 160 km/h (100 mph) and storms which prevent almost all outdoor activity. Limited internet coverage can also prevent constant communication with the outside world.

For the last year, we have researched how life in Antarctica influences people’s experience of time. Each month, we asked crew members how time felt like it was passing in comparison to before their mission. Trapped on base, with limited contact with the outside world, you might expect time to drag. However, our results suggest the opposite may be true.

Analysis of crew members’ experiences indicated that being constantly busy with complex tasks such as scientific research helped the time to pass swiftly, according to 80% of crew responses. Only 3% of responses indicated that time actually dragged, and these reports occurred when nights were long, and there was little to do.

These experiences may provide hope for those stuck on the ISS. Like life in an Antarctic station, these NASA astronauts have busy and mentally demanding lives. These factors may help time to pass quickly.

However, a key factor of their wait may be their ability to tolerate the uncertainty of when they will return. Wilmore and Williams will spend their time in a space equivalent to the inside of a Boeing 747 plane. However, better information about “when” things will happen and “why” delays are being incurred can help people tolerate waiting and reduce its impact on their wellbeing.

• This article was originally published on The Conversation by Ruth Ogden at the Liverpool John Moores University and Daniel Eduardo Vigo at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Argentina. Read the original article here.

{ https://www.inverse.com/ }

01-09-2024 om 01:00 geschreven door peter