A new image obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope reveals a remarkable cosmic sight: at least 17 concentric dust rings emanating from a pair of stars. Located just over 5,000 light years from Earth, this stellar duo is collectively known as Wolf-Rayet 140. The research team led by US astronomer Ryan Lau includes Gerd Weigelt from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveals a remarkable…
Black hole spews out material years after shredding star. In October 2018, a small star was ripped to shreds when it wandered too close to a black hole in a galaxy located 665 million light years away from Earth. Though it may sound thrilling, the event did not come as a surprise to astronomers who occasionally witness these violent incidents while scanning the night sky. But nearly three years after the massacre, the same black hole is lighting up the…
Titanic stellar collision rattles space and time. Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have made a unique measurement that indicates a jet, plowing through space at speeds greater than 99.97% the speed of light, was propelled by the titanic collision between two neutron stars. The explosive event, named GW170817, was observed in August 2017. The blast released the energy comparable to that of a supernova explosion. It was the first combined detection of gravitational waves and gamma radiation from a…
To assess damage caused to the ozone layer by charged particles in space that surround the Earth, an international team of researchers from Japan, the United States, and Canada studied a type of aurora called an “isolated proton aurora”. They found more damage than predicted by simulations, suggesting a new factor to consider when assessing damage to the ozone layer. Along with solar radiation from the Sun, cosmic rays and high-energy plasma particles, such as ions and electrons, bombard the…
Current experiments and simulations show how to avoid destructive plasma instabilities in fusion reactors like ITER. Type-I ELM plasma instabilities can melt the walls of fusion devices. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) found a way to get them under control. Their work is published in the renowned journal “Physical Review Letters”. Nuclear fusion power plants could one day provide a sustainable solution to our…
Massive neutron stars colliding in space are thought to be able to create precious metals such as gold and platinum. The properties of these stars are still an enigma, but the answer may lie beneath the skin of one of the smallest building blocks on Earth – an atomic nucleus of lead. Getting the nucleus of the atom to reveal the secrets of the strong force that governs the interior of neutron stars has proven difficult. Now a new computer…
Novel navigation strategies for microscopic swimmers. Whereas the shortest way between two points is a straight connection, it might not be the most efficient path to follow. Complex currents often affect the motion of microswimmers and make it difficult for them to reach their destination. At the same time, making use of these currents to navigate as fast as possible is a certain evolutionary advantage. Whereas such strategies allow biological microswimmers to better access food or escape a predator, microrobots could…
Optics, the study of light, is one of the oldest fields in physics and has never ceased to surprise researchers. Although the classical description of light as a wave phenomenon is rarely questioned, the physical origins of some optical effects are. A team of researchers at Tampere University have brought the discussion on one fundamental wave effect, i.e., the debate around the anomalous behaviour of focused light waves, to the quantum domain. The researchers have been able to show that…
Exoplanet hunters should check for N2O. Scientists at UC Riverside are suggesting something is missing from the typical roster of chemicals that astrobiologists use to search for life on planets around other stars — laughing gas. Chemical compounds in a planet’s atmosphere that could indicate life, called biosignatures, typically include gases found in abundance in Earth’s atmosphere today. “There’s been a lot of thought put into oxygen and methane as biosignatures. Fewer researchers have seriously considered nitrous oxide, but we…
… discovered at the Korean Artificial Sun, KSTAR. ‘FIRE mode’ expected to resolve operational difficulties of commercial fusion reactors in the future. Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) and Seoul National University (SNU) research team announced that they have discovered a new plasma operating mode that can improve plasma performance for fusion energy based on an analysis of plasma operations with ultra-high temperatures over 100 million degrees (Celsius) at the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR). To generate energy through…
Adaptive imaging technique for materials science and structural biology. A new technique that combines electron microscopy and laser technology enables programmable, arbitrary shaping of electron beams. It can potentially be used for optimizing electron optics and for adaptive electron microscopy, maximizing sensitivity while minimizing beam-induced damage. This fundamental and disruptive technology was now demonstrated by researchers at the University of Vienna, and the University of Siegen. The results are published in PRX. When light passes through turbulent or dense material,…
Scientists measure the proton’s electric and magnetic polarizabilities using the High Intensity Gamma Ray Source (HIGS). The Science The proton is a composite particle made up of fundamental building blocks of quarks and gluons. These components and their interactions determine the proton’s structure, including its electrical charges and currents. This structure deforms when exposed to external electric and magnetic (EM) fields, a phenomenon known as polarizability. The EM polarizabilities are a measure of the stiffness against the deformation induced by EM…
Physicists answer a decades-old question about interacting quantum particles in a disordered system. Physicists at UC Santa Barbara and the University of Maryland, and also at the University of Washington have found an answer to the longstanding physics question: How do interparticle interactions affect dynamical localization? “It’s a really old question inherited from condensed matter physics,” said David Weld, an experimental physicist at UCSB with specialties in ultracold atomic physics and quantum simulation. The question falls into the category of…
Two of NASA’s Great Observatories, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, have captured views of a unique NASA experiment designed to intentionally smash a spacecraft into a small asteroid in the world’s first-ever in-space test for planetary defense. These observations of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact mark the first time that Webb and Hubble simultaneously observed the same celestial target. On Sept. 26, 2022, at 7:14 pm EDT, DART intentionally crashed into Dimorphos, the asteroid…
Extreme nonlinear wave group dynamics in directional wave states. Understanding the unpredictable behaviors of ocean waves can be a matter of survival for seafarers. Deep-water wave groups have been known to be unstable and become rogue, causing unsuspecting boats to tip over. This rogue wave behavior results from modulation instability, which generally occurs only for uni-directional waves. Wave focusing — the amplification of waves — is also expected to weaken when interacting with other wave systems. Now, a team led by Kyoto University…
Gemini observation of distant quasar uncovers evidence of first-generation star that died in ‘super-supernova’ explosion. Astronomers may have discovered the ancient chemical remains of the first stars to light up the Universe. Using an innovative analysis of a distant quasar observed by the 8.1-meter Gemini North telescope on Hawai‘i, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, the scientists found an unusual ratio of elements that, they argue, could only come from the debris produced by the all-consuming explosion of a 300-solar-mass first-generation star….
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