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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Tumultuous Migration on the Edge of the Hot Neptune Desert

    January 20, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Did hot Neptunes ever exist? While astronomers observe gas giants and small rocky planets close to their stars, the SPICE DUNE project is investigating the ‘‘desert’’ of Neptune-sized planets. © Elsa Bersier – CFPArts / ESBDi Genève

    All kinds of exoplanets orbit very close to their star. Some look like the Earth, others like Jupiter. Very few, however, are similar to Neptune. Why this anomaly in the distribution of exoplanets? Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS have observed a sample of planets located at the edge of this Hot Neptune Desert to understand its creation...

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    The Mechanism of Cosmic Magnetic Fields explored in the Laboratory

    January 19, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Contours of magnetic fields that emerge a result of self-organization of microscopic currents resulting from the Weibel instability in a carbon dioxide laser-produced plasma probed by an ultrashort relativistic electron beam.
    Contours of magnetic fields that emerge a result of self-organization of microscopic currents resulting from the Weibel instability in a carbon dioxide laser-produced plasma probed by an ultrashort relativistic electron beam.
    Image courtesy of Chaojie Zhang, University of California Los Angeles

    A novel experiment sheds new light on a possible mechanism that may seed magnetic fields for the galactic dynamo. Recent research shows that magnetic fields can spontaneously emerge in a plasma if the plasma has a temperature anisotropy. This mechanism is known as the Weibel instability. This new research is the first to unambiguously observe the Weibel instability in the laboratory...

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    New Small Laser Device can help Detect Signs of Life on other Planets

    January 18, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Photo of the Orbitrap mass analyzer from the prototype instrument. Photo courtesy of Lori Willhite and Ricardo Arevalo.

    Mini-analyzer may revolutionize how astrobiology discoveries are made on faraway moons and planets. As space missions delve deeper into the outer solar system, the need for more compact, resource-conserving and accurate analytical tools has become increasingly critical — especially as the hunt for extraterrestrial life and habitable planets or moons continues.

    A University of Maryland-led team developed a new instrument specifically tailored to the needs of NASA space missions...

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    How did the Butterfly Nebula get its Wings? It’s complicated

    January 18, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    A color rendition of NGC 6302, the Butterfly Nebula, created from black-and-white exposures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2019 and 2020. In the violet-colored regions, strong stellar winds are actively reshaping the nebular wings over the past 900 years. The other features range in age from 1200 to 2300 years.Bruce Balick/University of Washington/Joel Kastner/Paula Baez Moraga/Rochester Institute of Technology/Space Telescope Science Institute

    Something is amiss in the Butterfly Nebula. When astronomers compared two exposures of this planetary nebula that had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 and 2020, they saw dramatic changes in the material within its ‘wings...

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