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NASA's NEOWISE mission, which concluded in July 2024, has made a significant impact on the field of astronomy. Originally launched as WISE in 2009, NEOWISE conducted 21 complete sky surveys, identifying over 3,000 near-Earth objects. The mission's final data release includes over 26 million images and nearly 200 billion detected sources. IPAC, a Caltech science center, has released six new images from the archival data, highlighting regions like the California Nebula. The NEOWISE archive continues to be a valuable resource for astronomers, offering insights into comets, asteroids, and other celestial phenomena.

https://buff.ly/4ed9BOg NASA's TESS observes so many stars all across the sky that it has so far amassed over 7,000 candidate worlds. But because TESS is so busy trying to detect as many planets as possible, almost all of these detections rely on a single transit event: just one pass of the exoplanet in front of its star. The task of confirming the existence of the exoplanet is left to follow-up surveys with ground-based observatories, which is a tedious, difficult, and time-consuming job. This is where citizen scientists come to the rescue. Using a network of telescopes scattered across the globe, amateur astronomers can perform the necessary observations needed to turn a candidate exoplanet into a confirmed one. Recently, the Unistellar Network and Exoplanet Watch have confirmed a new exoplanet, TIC 393818343 b, which sits about 300 light-years away from Earth. To make the confirmation, half a dozen amateur astronomers independently observed the planet over the course of two months, all donating their time and their expertise in the name of science. And what they found is astounding.

Evidence of a “cataclysmic” collision of giant?asteroids?which took place just 20 years ago has been found by scientists. Astronomers said the event could help them to further understand how Earth and other planets are formed. The collision happened in Beta Pictoris, a bright star system in the constellation of Pictor around 63 light years away. One light year is equal to nearly six trillion miles. Researchers have been studying the system, which is 20 million years old, for more than three decades. The evidence was found from latest data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which was launched in 2021 as part of a joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The collision would have occurred just before another NASA telescope, Spitzer, gathered data from the region between 2004 and 2005, astronomers said. Dust disappearance The data showed some previously observed dust around Beta Pictoris had disappeared – while experts said the findings represented a change in how they understood the star system. Christine Chen, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins University in the US who led the research, said: “The best explanation we have is that, in fact, we witnessed the aftermath of an infrequent, cataclysmic event between large asteroid-size bodies, marking a complete change in our understanding of this star system.” The violent clashes would have crushed some of the larger space rocks into fine dust particles smaller than pollen or powdered sugar, the researchers said. They added the amount of dust generated would have been about 100,000 times the size of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. In the aftermath of the explosion, Spitzer’s instruments were able to identify the dust closest to the star by looking at their heat signatures. Read more on Sky News:‘Super fluffy’ candy floss planet discoveredSpace images help experts understand changing universe But gradually, this dust started to cool off as it moved far enough away from the star to become undetectable by JWST two decades later. Conclusions from the unseen Cicero Lu, a former PhD student in astrophysics at Johns Hopkins University, said: “Most discoveries by JWST come from things the telescope has detected directly. “In this case, the story is a little different because our results come from what JWST did not see.” The researchers said the findings, presented at the 244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in the US, offer a “unique glimpse” into how the solar system came into existence more than four billion years ago and whether it is unique.

Sample Regions of The Orion Nebula | European Southern Observatory FriendsofNASA.org | High-res image: https://lnkd.in/gVJTgph8 The Orion Nebula (Messier 42) is 1,500 light-years away. It is the nearest star-forming region to Earth within our Milky Way Galaxy. The Orion Nebula is estimated to be 24 light-years across. This nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary disks and brown dwarfs within the nebula, intense and turbulent motions of the gas, and the photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula. On the upper-left, the central region of Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) view of the Orion Nebula is shown, centered on the four dazzling stars of the Trapezium. A rich cluster of young stars can be seen here that is invisible in normal, visible light images. In the lower-right panel, the part of the nebula to the north of the center is shown. Here there are many young stars embedded in the dust clouds that are only apparent because their infrared glow can penetrate the dust and be detected by the VISTA camera. Many outflows, jets and other interactions from young stars are apparent, seen in the infrared glow from molecular hydrogen and showing up as red blobs. On the upper-right, a region to the west of center is shown. Here the fierce ultraviolet light from the Trapezium is sculpting the gas clouds into curious wavy shapes. A distant edge-on spiral galaxy is also seen shining right through the nebula. At the lower-left a region south of the center is shown. Each extract covers a region of sky about nine arcminutes across. Learn more about ESO's VISTA: https://lnkd.in/g4jzRgNz Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/J. Emerson/VISTA Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit Release Date: Feb. 10, 2010 European Southern Observatory European Astronomical Society NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian American Astronomical Society (AAS) Royal Astronomical Society National Science Teaching Association U.S. Department of Education #NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarFormation #Nebula #OrionNebula #Messier42 #M42 #NGC1976 #TrapeziumCluster #Orion #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VISTATelescope #InfraredAstronomy #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #Infographic #STEM #Education

Lenticular Galaxy NGC 5084 (with 'sideways' black hole) | Schulman Telescope FriendsofNASA.org | High-res image: https://lnkd.in/gu5UaFkM NGC 5084 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Virgo. It is located at a distance of about 80 million light years from Earth. Given its apparent dimensions, this means that NGC 5084 is at least 200,000 light years across. It is one of the largest and most massive galaxies in the Virgo Supercluster. NASA researchers have discovered a perplexing case of a black hole that appears to be “tipped over,” rotating in an unexpected direction relative to the galaxy surrounding it. The galaxy NGC 5084 has been known for years, but the sideways secret of its central black hole lay hidden in old data archives. The discovery was made possible by new image analysis techniques developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley to take a fresh look at archival data from the agency’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Using the new methods, astronomers at Ames unexpectedly found four long plumes of plasma—hot, charged gas—emanating from NGC 5084. One pair of plumes extends above and below the plane of the galaxy. A surprising second pair, forming an “X” shape with the first, lies in the galaxy plane itself. Hot gas plumes are not often spotted in galaxies, and typically only one or two are present. Credit Line & Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona Image Date: May 1, 2015 University of Arizona NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian American Astronomical Society (AAS) ESA Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes #NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #NASAChandra #Galaxies #BlackHole #Galaxy #NGC5084 #LenticularGalaxy #VirgoSupercluster #Virgo #Constellation #Universe #SchulmanTelescope #MountLemmon #MLO #Astrophotography #AdamBlock #UA #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day - Solar Analemma 2024 Recorded during 2024, this year-spanning series of images reveals a pattern in the seasonal drift of the Sun's daily motion through planet Earth's sky. Known to some as an analemma, the figure-eight curve was captured in exposures taken only at 1pm local time on clear days from Kayseri, Turkiye. Of course the Sun's position on the 2024 solstice dates was at the top and bottom of the curve. They correspond to the astronomical beginning of summer and winter in the north. The points along the curve half-way between the solstices, but not the figure-eight curve crossing point, mark the 2024 equinoxes and the start of spring and fall. Regional peaks and dormant volcano Mount Erciyes lie along the southern horizon in the 2024 timelapse skyscape.

Explore the discovery of a potential ninth planet in our solar system, distinct from Pluto, and the implications for astronomy and planetary science. https://lnkd.in/di6BPCkA #inwider #dubai #NinthPlanet #SolarSystem #AstronomyNews #PlanetaryDiscovery #OuterSolarSystem

?? Astronomers Uncover a Fast-Feeding Black Hole in the Early Universe with NASA's Telescopes In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have identified a rapidly feeding supermassive black hole, known as LID-568, in a dwarf galaxy just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. This discovery, made possible by data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, provides pivotal insights into the early growth of these cosmic giants. ?? Why It Matters: The rapid mass accretion observed—at a staggering rate 40 times its theoretical Eddington limit—reveals how early black holes could have evolved into the supermassive entities we see at the center of most galaxies today. This "feasting" period, although short-lived, supports the idea that substantial black hole growth can happen in rapid episodes, shedding light on both the "light seed" (stellar death) and "heavy seed" (gas cloud collapse) formation theories. ?? Key Takeaway: LID-568’s discovery, hidden within Chandra’s COSMOS legacy survey and detected through Webb's unmatched infrared capabilities, redefines our understanding of black hole evolution and provides observational evidence for theories that previously lacked concrete support. ?? In the Words of Astronomer Hyewon Suh: “A significant portion of mass growth can occur during a single episode of rapid feeding, regardless of whether the black hole originated from a light or heavy seed.” ?? Learn more: This research has been detailed in Nature Astronomy, further underscoring the collaborative strength of modern telescopes in unraveling the universe’s most enigmatic mysteries. ?? A Nod to Innovation: As NASA's premier observatories continue to push the boundaries, discoveries like this reaffirm why space exploration and technology are vital to deepening our cosmic understanding. #NASA #SpaceExploration #JamesWebb #ChandraObservatory #Astronomy #SpaceScience #Universe #Cosmos #NASAResearch #Innovation #SpaceTechnology #Mars #MoonMission #Astronauts #HubbleTelescope #JWST #DeepSpace #RocketScience #SpaceMissions #Astrophysics

#Astronomy | ??????????-?????????? ?????????????????? ?????????? ???????????? ?????? ?????????? ???????? | An international team of astronomers, including members from the Technology & Innovation Platform of NCCR PlanetS, University of Geneva, and University of Bern, has unveiled an extraordinary find: an Earth-sized exoplanet (SPECULOOS-3 b) orbiting an ultra-cool Red Dwarf star. This is only the second time such a discovery has been made. Red dwarfs, which account for 70% of the stars in our galaxy, offer unique opportunities for studying planetary systems and the potential for life beyond Earth. The discovery emphasizes the importance of such stars in the search for life. SPECULOOS-3 b, located about 55 light years away, is nearly identical in size to Earth but drastically different in environment. It orbits its star in just 17 hours, likely experiencing perpetual daylight on one side and constant darkness on the other due to tidal locking. Despite these harsh conditions, this planet remains a prime candidate for atmospheric studies, particularly with the James Webb Space Telescope. As noted by Emeline Bolmont, assistant professor at UNIGE and co-author of the study, if SPECULOOS-3 b retains an atmosphere, this finding could have significant implications for the habitability of other planets in red dwarf systems, such as those in the TRAPPIST-1 system. ?? Learn more >> https://lnkd.in/evKvSp_c ?? Original publication >> https://lnkd.in/e5Aza2My ???? Follow #ScienceSwitzerland for the latest news and emerging trends on Swiss science, technology, education, and innovation >> www.swissinnovation.org Follow us >> Science-Switzerland #Science | #Education | #Research | #Innovation

Next #SETILive: Gliese 12 b: A Promising Earth-to-Venus-Sized Exoplanet TODAY, Thursday, Jun 27, 2024 12:00 PM PDT / 3:00 PM EDT Newly Found World Could Be Planetary Formation Breakthrough When scientists found the first exoplanets over 30 years ago, the discovery defied all expectations. In the following decades, with the advent of NASA's Kepler and TESS missions and numerous ground-based observatories, the exoplanet count has risen to nearly 6,000 confirmed worlds and some 7,200 candidates. Press releases on newly confirmed planets tend to be about exciting or strange places, and this week's SETI Live is no exception. Discovered in TESS data, Gliese 12 b is a recently confirmed exoplanet the size of Earth or Venus, orbiting a red dwarf star every thirteen days and "only" about 40 light-years away from our solar system. This close-in, rocky world could potentially be studied using the JWST for more precise information on its size and atmospheric composition (if there is an atmosphere). Two separate teams of researchers confirmed the planet, and today, senior planetary astronomer Franck Marchis is joined by the two lead authors from one of those teams - Shishir Dholakia, a doctoral student at the Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, and Larissa Palethorpe, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh. Join Franck, Shishir, and Larissa in what promises to be an interesting conversation about Gliese 12 b's discovery, confirmation, and potential for understanding planetary formation and evolution. WATCH LIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://buff.ly/3L7F4E4