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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Astrophysics: Scientists observe High-speed Star Formation

    February 21, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    New observations have brought to light that stars can form through the dynamic interaction of gas within interstellar gas clouds. This process unfolds faster than previously assumed, research within the FEEDBACK programme on board the flying observatory SOFIA revealed.

    Even though SOFIA is no longer in operation, the data collected so far are essential for basic astronomical research because there is no longer an instrument that extensively maps the sky in this wavelength range (typically 60 to 200 micrometres). The now active James Webb Space Telescope observes in the infrared at shorter wavelengths and focuses on spatially small areas...

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    New Aurorae detected on Jupiter’s Four Largest Moons

    February 18, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist’s depiction of oxygen aurora on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, as observed from Maunakea on Hawaiʻi Island using the twin Keck Observatory telescopes. Credit: Julie Inglis

    Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi have discovered that aurorae at visible wavelengths appear on all 4 major moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

    Using Keck Observatory’s High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) as well as high-resolution spectrographs at the Large Binocular Telescope and Apache Point Observatory, a team led by Caltech and Boston University observed the moons in Jupiter’s shadow so that their faint aurorae, which are caused by the gas giant’s strong magnetic field, could be spotted without competition fr...

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    Four Classes of Planetary Systems

    February 16, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist impression of the four classes of planetary system architecture. A new architecture framework allows researchers to study an entire planetary system at the systems level. If the small planets within a system are close to the star and massive planets further away, such systems have ‘Ordered’ architecture. Conversely, if the mass of the planets in a system tends to decrease with distance to the star these systems are ‘Anti-Ordered’. If all planets in a system have similar masses, then the architecture of this system is ‘Similar’. ‘Mixed’ planetary systems are those in which the planetary masses show large variations. Research suggests that planetary systems which have the same architecture class have common formation pathways...
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    Scientists find First Evidence that Black Holes are the Source of Dark Energy

    February 16, 2023, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    NGC524.jpg
    ​NGC 524 is a galaxy in the constellation Pisces, and is one of the galaxies observed in this study. It is at a distance of about 90 million light years away from Earth. Credit: ESA/Hubble​

    Observations of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies point to a likely source of dark energy—the ‘missing’ 70% of the universe.

    The measurements from ancient and dormant galaxies show black holes growing more than expected, aligning with a phenomenon predicted in Einstein’s theory of gravity. The result potentially means nothing new has to be added to our picture of the universe to account for dark energy: black holes combined with Einstein’s gravity are the source.

    The conclusion was reached by a team of 17 researchers in nine countries, led by the University of Hawai’i a...

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