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science : On June 3, the six planets in the solar system will form a straight line

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 21:12 Sunday, June 2, 2024
From the victims of the Chancellor ship
On June 3, the six planets Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn will form a straight line in the pre dawn sky. About 20 minutes before sunrise, all six planets should be visible, but because Uranus and Neptune are too dim to be recognized by the naked eye, telescopes are needed. Through the naked eye, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn are all in a straight line of 73 degrees in the sky. In the early morning of June 4, Mercury will move to the lower right of Jupiter. In the early morning of June 5, Mercury will be located at the lower left of Jupiter.

science : Every few million years, there will be supernovae near the earth

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at 23:56
From the color of steel
Supernovae explosions near Earth may occur more frequently than we expected. Astronomers have found two layers of iron 60 isotopes with high proportion in the ancient sediments of the deep sea bottom, which represent the record that the Earth was bombed by a nearby supernova. Astronomers believe that the supernova that exploded came from the Scorpius Centaurus Association. At present, it is about 390-470 light-years away from the Earth. Most of the stars in this area are massive, and supernova explosions will occur at the end of life. The two recent peaks of the iron 60 isotope are believed to come from two supernovae in the region, which exploded 2.3 million years ago and 1.5 million years ago respectively, 300 light-years away from the Earth at that time. This means that every few million years or so, a nearby supernova ejects radioactive material to the Earth. At the time of the recent supernova explosion, modern humans have not yet been born, but close relatives such as Australopithecus afarensis have already existed. They may see bright supernovae in the daytime.

science : A potentially habitable Earth like planet found 40 light years away

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Saturday, May 25, 2024 at 23:34
From Wool Wars
Astronomers discovered a potentially habitable Earth like planet 40 light-years away. The planet is named Gliese 12b, and its surface temperature may be suitable for the existence of liquid water, potentially suitable for life. Gliese 12b is similar in size to Earth, or Venus is slightly smaller than Earth. Its surface temperature is about 42C. Its parent star is a cold red dwarf star Gliese 12 in Pisces, which is a quarter of the sun, and its surface temperature is about 60% of the sun. In terms of the amount of light received from the parent star, it is equivalent to being located between Venus and the Earth. NASA said this object is an excellent candidate for further observation of Weber Space Telescope in the future.

science : Euclid Space Telescope Discovered Dozens of Wandering Planets

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Friday, May 24, 2024 at 23:52
From Alien: Sea of Sorrow
The Euclid telescope of the European Space Agency (ESA) was launched on July 1 last year, named after the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid. Its orbital position is Lagrange L2 between the sun and the earth, 1.6 million kilometers away from the earth. Its mission is to map the large-scale distribution structure of dark matter in the universe and confirm the nature of dark energy. The telescope has a diameter of 1.2 meters. It mainly observes the universe through the near-infrared wavelength. Astronomers have found dozens of stray planets in the Orion Nebula with telescopes, that is, they have no parent stars. The first scientific results came only from 24-hour observations. It has observed 11 million objects in visible light and 5 million objects in infrared light. The age of the stray planet it found is only 3 million years, and it is very young on a cosmic scale, and its size is at least 4 times that of Jupiter. Telescopes are identified by the heat they emit, and they will wander all the time unless captured by nearby stars. Astronomers have also discovered stray planets before, but the scale is not as large as this one.

science : Weber Telescope Observes the Most Remote Black Hole Merging Event

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 15:29 Monday, May 20, 2024
From Oxford Time Travel: The Book of Doom
Using Weber Telescope, the international team of astronomers found evidence that two galaxies and their massive black holes were merging just 740 million years after the birth of the universe. This is the most distant black hole merger event that scientists have observed so far, and it is also the first time to detect this phenomenon in the early universe. Astronomers have found supermassive black holes in many massive galaxies (including the Milky Way) in the universe. The mass of these black holes is millions to billions of times that of the sun, which is likely to have a significant impact on the evolution of the galaxy where they are located. But scientists still lack a full understanding of how these black holes became so huge. The latest discovery shows that merging is an important way for the rapid growth of black holes, even in the dawn of the universe. Massive black holes have shaped the evolution of galaxies from the very beginning.

science : Weber Telescope Detects the Atmosphere of Exoplanets

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 17:41
Come and disappear! book
Astronomers used the Weber Space Telescope (JWST) to detect for the first time the atmosphere of a rocky planet outside the solar system, which is rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide. Although the planet may be covered by magma ocean and cannot sustain life, its research can improve the understanding of the early history of the Earth. This planet, named 55 Cancri e, orbits a sun like star with a 12.6 second gap. It is considered to be a super earth, with a radius about twice that of the earth, a weight more than 8 times that of the earth, and a thickness of the atmosphere about a few percent of the earth's radius. 55 Another reason why the Cancri e is not suitable for living is that it is very close to the stars - about 1/65 of the distance from the earth to the sun.

science : New image of Jupiter's satellite Io reveals eternal volcanic movement

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 23:20 Monday, April 22, 2024
From the spaceship under the apple tree
Jupiter's moon Io (or Io) is slightly smaller than Mercury and has the most active volcanic activity in the solar system. The gravitational action of Jupiter and its three giant satellites drives its volcanic activity. Io has so much volcanic activity that its surface has been completely remodeled without any sign of impact crater. Last week, JPL released its latest image to reveal its eternal volcanic movement. In the latest study, researchers from JPL, California Institute of Technology, found that Io had a long history of volcanic eruption by measuring the ratio of two sulfur isotopes in its atmosphere. The research team explained that on Io, volcanoes continuously spewed out these two sulfur isotopes. When Io orbits Jupiter, the top layer of its atmosphere (containing more light sulfur atoms) will be lost to space, thus changing the proportion of sulfur isotopes in the atmosphere. The researchers used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array in Chile to measure the ratio of two sulfur isotopes in Io's atmosphere. The results show that the volcanic activity on Io seems to have lasted for 2.5 billion to 4 billion years.

science : Astronomers discover huge stellar black holes in the Milky Way

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at 21:36
From the seventh element
Astronomers have found that the largest stellar black hole in the Milky Way so far, with a mass 33 times that of the sun, is named Gaia BH3. Gaia BH3 is about 1926 light years away from the Earth. It is the second closest black hole found so far to the Earth. It was formed by a star at the end of its life. No light can escape from a black hole, so most black holes are discovered by observing the glow of hot matter that runs around them and falls into them. However, Gaia BH3 is dormant and does not ingest any substance. Researchers discovered it by noticing the strange motion of a star, which seems to be rotating around an empty space. The star itself is also unusual - almost entirely composed of hydrogen and helium. Most stars contain at least some heavy elements, which are formed in the center of massive stars and distributed throughout the space through supernovae. But the content of heavy elements in the first generation stars is very low. The composition of the BH3 companion star shows that the giant star that finally collapsed to form BH3 is also one of these primitive objects, and its evolution mode may be different from today's massive stars. This explains why black holes become so huge. If its evolution process is more like ordinary stars, then its size is difficult to explain.

science : Mercury may have been as big as Earth

Space
one
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 17:47 Monday, April 15, 2024
From Mars
Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, only slightly larger than the moon. It is the nearest to the sun. It has no atmosphere. The temperature difference between day and night is huge. It takes 88 Earth days to circle the sun. Because the temperature is too high and too close to the sun, it is difficult for scientists to study it. The discovery of Mariner 10 and other missions highlights the unusual features of Mercury: Venus, Earth, Mars and other rocky planets all have thick mantle and crust, but Mercury's mantle and crust are unexpectedly thin relative to the core. Mercury has an unusual proportion of chemical substances on its surface. Its thorium concentration is close to that of Mars, and thorium will be evaporated under the extreme high temperature of the sun. Scientists put forward a hypothesis about these unusual phenomena: Mercury was originally formed at a place far away from the sun, close to Mars, and its initial mass was equivalent to that of the Earth. However, at some point in its evolution, Mercury collided with an object the size of another planet, causing it to spin and fly to the sun. Such collisions may scrape away the crust and most of the mantle, but leave behind huge liquid cores.

science : A big stellar explosion will take place in the next five months

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 20:22 Monday, April 8, 2024
From For Our Homeland
T Coronae Borealis, a binary star system located in the Corona Borealis constellation, is too dim to be recognized by the naked eye. However, between now and September, this binary star system will suddenly explode at some time, and amateur astronomers will have the opportunity to witness this astronomical spectacle. NASA says it will be as bright as Polaris and will last for several days. This will be the third time that humans have observed this event. The first time was in 1866, the second time was in 1946, and the third time this year, about 80 years apart. One of T Coronae Borealis is a dying red giant star, and the other is a white dwarf star. It takes 227 days for a white dwarf star to circle the red giant star. They are so close that the ejected material from the red giant will gather near the surface of the white dwarf. Once the mass of the accumulated material reaches the mass of the earth (it takes about 80 years), it will rise and cause uncontrolled fusion reaction, and the temperature will rise to 1-2 billion degrees within a few seconds. On earth, we can watch this event with the naked eye.

science : LIGO detects the merging of neutron stars and ultralight black holes

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 18:10 Monday, April 8, 2024
From Alien: Sea of Sorrow
On May 29, 2023, LIGO Livingston detector detected the gravitational wave event called GW230529, which is considered to be the combination of a neutron star and a mysterious object, and this mysterious object is likely to be an ultra low mass black hole, only several times the mass of the sun. Einstein's general theory of relativity predicted that the mass of the neutron star was less than three times the mass of the sun, but it was not clear how large the upper limit of its mass was before collapsing into a black hole. Astronomers rarely observe neutron stars or black holes in the range of 3-5 times the mass of the sun. Now one of the two objects GW230529 falls in this interval. One of the objects in GW230529 has a mass about 1.3-2.1 times that of the sun, and the other is 2.6-4.7 times that of the sun. According to the characteristics, the former is considered to be a neutron star, and the latter is an ultralight black hole. GW230529 has the smallest mass difference among the neutron star black hole merging events observed so far.

science : Jupiter Europa may not be suitable for life

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Monday, March 18, 2024 at 18:09
From computing stars
The ocean hidden under the icy crust of Europa, Jupiter's moon, is one of the most promising places in the solar system to look for life. Later this year, NASA will launch a $5 billion mission, the "Europa Express", to study the ocean, and perhaps even sample it. But two modeling studies recently published by scientists suggest that Europa's rock interior may have died geologically. Magma may not be able to penetrate the seafloor to form a hydrothermal vent on the earth, which is considered to be the paradise of early life, while Europa's rocky crust seems to be able to withstand earthquake rupture and can not produce fresh rocks. If there is no heat and fresh rock to jointly promote the geochemical reaction in the ocean, Europa is unlikely to create conditions conducive to life.

science : US regulators investigate fatal accidents related to Ford's semi-automatic driving

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 18:01 Monday, March 18, 2024
Call from the Earth
The National Transportation Safety Commission is investigating a fatal car accident in San Antonio, Texas, involving a Ford electric vehicle that may be equipped with a semi-automatic driving system. A Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV equipped with semi-automatic driving system collided with a Honda CR-V parked on the highway lane. The accident happened at about 9:50 p.m. Honda stopped in the middle lane without turning on the lights. The accident resulted in a 56 year old The owner of Honda died. Ford's semi-automatic driving system can handle steering, braking and acceleration on highways, allowing drivers to move their hands off the steering wheel. Ford said that the system is not fully automatic and requires drivers to pay attention to the road conditions at all times.

science : Scientists calculate the water content around stars for the first time

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 20:29 Monday, March 4, 2024
Song from the Far Earth
Italian astronomers found water vapor in the disk around a young star, where planets are forming. According to the observation results published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the water content in the inner disk of the young sun like star HL Tauri in Taurus, 450 light-years away from the Earth, is at least three times that of all the sea water on the Earth. Water is a key component of life on Earth and is also considered to play an important role in the formation of planets. Previously, however, astronomers were unable to map the distribution of water in a stable stellar disk. But this time, researchers can not only detect and capture detailed images, but also analyze water vapor at a distance of 450 light-years from the Earth.

science : The impact of NASA DART probe changed the shape of the asteroid

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 22:13 Tuesday, February 27, 2024
From ape friends and leopard friends
On September 26, 2022, NASA's spacecraft carrying out the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission hit an asteroid named Dimorphos. This is the world's first demonstration of planetary defense technology. The impact successfully deflected the asteroid orbit, and the asteroid orbit time was shortened by 33 minutes. The DART impact left a dent on the asteroid, releasing millions of tons of rock, and many rocks fell back to the surface of the asteroid. As a result, the impact also changed the shape of the asteroid, turning it from a dwarf sphere to a flat topped egg sphere, just like an M&M candy. According to the paper published in Nature Astronomy, scientists pointed out that the reason is that this asteroid is not a continuous solid rock, but a pile of sand and gravel gathered together, which is easy to disperse under the impact of external forces. This research also points out the possible problem of planetary defense in the future: one NEA is likely to become multiple NEAs under impact.

science : Astronomers found the brightest quasar

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 at 21:34
From the world master
Astronomers have found the brightest quasar by using the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which is also the brightest object observed so far. Quasars are bright cores of distant galaxies. Because the supermassive black hole at their center is devouring the surrounding materials and releasing huge energy, they can be observed from the Earth. Bright quasars usually indicate a rapidly growing supermassive black hole at their core. The quasar, numbered J0529-4351, is 12 billion light years away from the Earth, with a mass equivalent to 17 billion times the mass of the sun. The amount of material consumed every day is equivalent to the sun, and its brightness is more than 500 trillion times that of the sun. It is the fastest growing black hole ever observed.

science : Scientists found water molecules on the surface of asteroids

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 12:24 Sunday, February 18, 2024
Escape plan from robot
Using the data provided by the now retired Sophia Stratospheric Infrared Observatory (SOFIA) of NASA, scientists from the Southwest Research Institute of the United States first detected water molecules on the surface of two asteroids. This discovery provides a new clue to reveal the distribution of water in the solar system. The research team used the data collected by SOFIA to study four silicate rich asteroids. The observation results provided by the "Dark Celestial Infrared Camera" on SOFIA show that two asteroids Iris and Massalia emit light of specific wavelength, indicating the presence of water molecules on their surfaces. Although scientists have previously detected the existence of water molecules on asteroid samples returned to Earth, this is the first time that water molecules have been found on the surface of an asteroid. SOFIA's observation of the moon shows that there may be 12 ounces of water in a cubic meter of soil, which covers the surface of the moon. Research shows that the abundance of water on Iris and Massalia is similar to that on the moon, and these water may also combine with minerals on the moon surface or attach to silicates. Iris and Massalia have diameters of 199 km and 135 km respectively, and their average distance from the sun is 2.39 astronomical units.

science : Passing stars may affect the orbits of planets in the solar system

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 21:30
From empty color Gouyu
The Earth's orbit around the sun has been changing, but not significantly in the short term. Only on the scale of millions of years, orbital changes will be very obvious and have a significant impact on the Earth's climate. According to Newtonian mechanics and the law of gravity, the change of the Earth's orbit can be inversely deduced, but the accuracy of the calculation is affected by many factors, one of which may not have been taken seriously before - stars passing through the solar system at a short distance. Most stars are too far away from the earth to have measurable impact. However, some stars will fly from a relatively close distance, which is not enough to cause chaos in the solar system, but their gravity will produce a slight thrust on the planets. The last star that passed the solar system at close range is HD 7977, which is 250 light-years away from the sun at present, but 2.8 million years ago, it was 30000 astronomical units or 0.5 light-years away from the sun, and only 4000 astronomical units recently. It is estimated that one star is within 10000 astronomical units of the sun every 20 million years.

science : Scientists find the smallest star

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published at 22:20 Wednesday, February 14, 2024
From the Tower of the Sun
Researchers from Tsinghua University used the Tsinghua Ma Huateng Sky Survey Telescope (TMTS) to discover a compact binary system TMTS J0526, which is about 2760 light-years away from the Earth and has an orbital period of only 20.5 minutes. The binary system is composed of a carbon oxygen white dwarf with a mass of 0.74 times that of the sun and a hot sub dwarf with a mass of 0.33 times that of the sun. The radius of this hot sub dwarf star is only about 7 times that of the Earth, representing the smallest star found by humans at present. Such a pair of binary stars with extremely short orbital periods can generate strong gravitational wave radiation in the millihertz frequency band, which is expected to be significantly detected by future space gravitational wave observatories such as LISA, Tianqin and Taiji.

science : Saturn's moon Mimas may have underground oceans

Space
Wilson (42865)
 Published on Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 23:38
From the deadly valley of Mount Tai
According to the close measurement of the orbit of Saturn's moon Mimas (Mimas or Mimas), there seems to be a vast, global ocean under its icy shell. Mimas is the smallest of Saturn's seven major moons. For a long time, people believed that it was composed of solid ice and rock. However, in 2014, astronomers observed that it wobbled unexpectedly around Saturn's orbit, which could only be explained by a football shaped core or liquid ocean. In order to find more clues, Val é ry Lainey of the Paris Observatory in France and his colleagues analyzed the observation results of the orbit of Mimas by NASA Cassini spacecraft. They found that it has drifted about 10 kilometers around Saturn's orbit in 13 years. Such orbital drift can only be caused by the sliding of ice shells on the ocean, or by the wobble of the core that is physically impossible to form a pancake shape. If Enceladus does have a hidden ocean, it may indicate that the solar system or other icy planets and satellites have similar conditions, which increases the possibility of life.

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