Category Astronomy/Space

New insight into the Origin of Water on the Earth

Organic matter in nebula could be the source of terrestrial water. Photo: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Scientists have found the interstellar organic matter could produce an abundant supply of water by heating, suggesting that organic matter could be the source of terrestrial water.

There remains a number of mysteries on our planet including the elusive origin of water on the earth. Active studies suggested that terrestrial water had been delivered by icy comets or meteorites containing hydrous silicates that came from outside the “snow line” – the boundary beyond which ice can condense due the low temperatures...

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How Galaxies Die: New insights into the Quenching of Star Formation

galaxies-graph-500.jpg
A new theory explains how black holes grow as a function of galaxy mass and eventually quench star formation in their host galaxies. The images on this graph, taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, are of nearby galaxies at the present era chosen to represent galaxy evolution. The graph shows how the evolution of small, dense galaxies differs from that of larger, more diffuse galaxies. The denser galaxies have larger black holes for their mass and therefore quench sooner, at a lower mass, whereas the more diffuse galaxies have smaller black holes for their mass and must grow more before quenching occurs. See larger image. (Credit: Sandra Faber/Sofia Quiros/SDSS)

Astronomers studying galaxy evolution have long struggled to understand what causes star formation to shut down in massive ga...

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Solar Orbiter’s First images reveal ‘campfires’ on the Sun

Solar Orbiter spots | Credit: Solar Orbiter/EUI Team (ESA and NASA); CSL, IAS, MPS, PMOD/WRC, ROB, UCL/MSSL
Solar Orbiter spots ‘campfires’ on the Sun. Locations of campfires are annotated with white arrows.
Credit: Solar Orbiter/EUI Team (ESA and NASA); CSL, IAS, MPS, PMOD/WRC, ROB, UCL/MSSL

ESA/NASA mission returns first data, snaps closest pictures of the Sun. The first images from Solar Orbiter, a new Sun-observing mission by ESA and NASA, have revealed omnipresent miniature solar flares, dubbed ‘campfires’, near the surface of our closest star.

According to the scientists behind the mission, seeing phenomena that were not observable in detail before hints at the enormous potential of Solar Orbiter, which has only just finished its early phase of technical verification known as commissioning.

“These are only the first images and we can already see interesting new phenomena,” says Da...

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Breakthrough in Deciphering Birth of Supermassive Black Holes

Black hole image
A research team led by Cardiff University scientists say they are closer to understanding how a supermassive black hole (SMBH) is born thanks to a new technique that has enabled them to zoom in on one of these enigmatic cosmic objects in unprecedented detail.

Astronomers zoom in on black hole with one of the lowest masses ever observed in nearby. A research team led by Cardiff University scientists say they are closer to understanding how a supermassive black hole (SMBH) is born thanks to a new technique that has enabled them to zoom in on one of these enigmatic cosmic objects in unprecedented detail.

Scientists are unsure as to whether SMBHs were formed in the extreme conditions shortly after the big bang, in a process dubbed a ‘direct collapse’, or were grown much later from ‘seed...

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