Posted on Sep 25, 2022 in Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Extraterrestrial Life, James Webb Space Telescope, Milky Way Galaxy, NASA, quantum physics, Science, Space News, Universe
This weekend’s stories include JWST’s Data Is So Incredible That Even Those Who Built It Are Questioning Previous Science to to Do fundamental laws of nature apply to all objects, at all times and in all locations, all across the Universe? and much more.
JWST’s Data Is So Incredible That Even Those Who Built It Are Questioning Previous Science. “Over its few operational months, Webb has already offered an illuminating breadth of information — findings that have confirmed, confounded, and even contradicted existing theories about the cosmos.”
NASA Is About to Crash Into an Asteroid. Here’s How to Watch, reports Kenneth Change for The New York Times. The DART mission has been flying to its target since launching last year. On Monday night, it will connect.
A Universe Created from Nothing? A team of physicists says they have proven a 70-year-old quantum theory where something can be created out of nothing, reports The Debrief.
Astronomers detect hot gas bubble swirling around the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, reports the ESO. “We think we’re looking at a hot bubble of gas zipping around Sagittarius A* on an orbit similar in size to that of the planet Mercury, but making a full loop in just around 70 minutes. This requires a mind blowing velocity of about 30% of the speed of light!” says Maciek Wielgus of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, who led the study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.”
SETI Researchers Have Begun Scanning the Backgrounds of Images for Alien Signals, reports Extreme Tech. ” Michael Garrett of the University of Manchester and Andrew Siemion from the Berkeley SETI Research Center are more interested in the “astronomical exotica” in the deep background of Breakthrough Listen observations.”
Hubble Unveils an Astronomical Explosion, reports NASA. “A shroud of thick gas and dust surrounds a bright young star in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 inspected a young stellar object, over 9,000 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, to help astronomers understand the earliest stages in the lives of massive stars. This object – which is known to astronomers as IRAS 05506+2414 – may be an example of an explosive event caused by the disruption of a massive young star system.”
Maarten Schmidt dies; Caltech astronomer changed our understanding of the cosmos, reports The Los Angeles Times. “Schmidt had only recently arrived at Caltech when he ascended in the observing cage of the great Palomar Mountain telescope to try to understand measurements radio astronomers were getting from a bizarre object that should have been a star but couldn’t possibly be.”
Diving Into The Biggest Ideas In The Universe, reports NPR Science Friday. Sean Carroll talks about exploring where physics equations leave off and philosophical concepts begin, and the nebulous world in between.
Immortal Mystery Object–Every Brown Dwarf Ever Created Still Exists, reports Jackie Faherty, astrophysicist, Senior Scientist with the American Museum of Natural History for The Daily Galaxy.
Neptune and rings shine in photos from new space telescope, reports Phys.org The pictures taken in July show not only Neptune’s thin rings, but its faint dust bands, never before observed in the infrared, as well as seven of its 14 known moons.
Why does nature obey laws at all?–asks Ethan Siegal for Big Think. “As far as we can tell, the same fundamental laws of nature apply to all objects, at all times and in all locations, all across the Universe. It’s easy to imagine a Universe where this isn’t the case: where laws or constants vary in time and space or where things are simply inconstant and inconsistent from moment to moment. Yet our Universe doesn’t appear to be this way, reflecting a relatively recent shift in our thoughts as human beings. Why is this so; why does nature obey laws at all?”
Dead stars in Milky Way’s companion galaxy cause mysterious gamma-ray cocoon, reports Robert Lea for Space.com. The Fermi bubbles are massive structures extending from the Milky Way, reaching 50,000 light-years in length.
How infinity threatens cosmology –The mind-boggling mystery of infinity, reports Peter Cameron for iAi. “Infinity is back. Or rather, it never (ever, ever…) went away. While mathematicians have a good sense of the infinite as a concept, cosmologists and physicists are finding it much more difficult to make sense of the infinite in nature, writes Peter Cameron.”
What is the largest known star in the universe? (What about the smallest?) asks Isobel Whitcomb for Live Science. “The big stars make our sun look puny.”
Curated by The Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff
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Recent Galaxy Reports:
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