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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Nearby Pulsar’s Gamma-Ray ‘Halo’ linked to Antimatter Puzzle

    December 21, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    a photon "squiggle" collides with an electron "dot"; there's a flash and the photon (now a higher-energy gamma ray) shoots away
    Particles traveling near light speed can interact with starlight and boost it to gamma-ray energies. This animation shows the process, known as inverse Compton scattering. When light ranging from microwave to ultraviolet wavelengths collides with a fast-moving particle, the interaction boosts it to gamma rays, the most energetic form of light.
    Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

    NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered a faint but sprawling glow of high-energy light around a nearby pulsar. If visible to the human eye, this gamma-ray “halo” would appear about 40 times bigger in the sky than a full Moon. This structure may provide the solution to a long-standing mystery about the amount of antimatter in our neighborhood.

    “Our analysis suggests that this same puls...

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    Finding a Killer Electron Hot Spot in Earth’s Van Allen Radiation Belts

    December 17, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Image: Multi-point satellite observations by JAXA/Arase and NASA/Van Allen Probes
          Electrons detected at Van Allen Probes position (left) drift to the Arase position (right)
          Credit:  ERG Science Team

    JAXA and NASA satellite observations show where killer electrons are generated in the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. The finding, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, could help scientists more accurately forecast when these killer (relativistic) electrons will form.

    Professor Yoshizumi Miyoshi of the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research at Nagoya University and colleagues compared data from two satellites situated on opposite sides of the Earth: the Arase satellite, developed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)...

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    Newfound Martian Aurora actually the Most Common; sheds light on Mars’ Changing Climate

    December 16, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Solar wind protons undergo a series of charge exchanges to slip past the bow shock, causing a proton aurora. Credits: NASA/MAVEN/Goddard Space Flight Center/Dan Gallagher

    A type of Martian aurora first identified by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft in 2016 is actually the most common form of aurora occurring on the Red Planet, according to new results from the mission. The aurora is known as a proton aurora and can help scientists track water loss from Mars’ atmosphere.

    At Earth, aurora are commonly seen as colorful displays of light in the night sky near the polar regions, where they are also known as the northern and southern lights...

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    First identified Comet to visit our Solar System from another star

    December 14, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Comet 2I/Borisov is only the second interstellar object known to have passed through the solar system. These two images, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, capture the comet appearing near a background galaxy (left) and soon after its closest approach to the Sun (right). | Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)
    Comet 2I/Borisov is only the second interstellar object known to have passed through the solar system. These two images, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, capture the comet appearing near a background galaxy (left) and soon after its closest approach to the Sun (right).
    Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)

    Interstellar comet 2I – Borisov swings past sun. When astronomers see something in the universe that at first glance seems like one-of-a-kind, it’s bound to stir up a lot of excitement and attention. Enter comet 2I/Borisov. This mysterious visitor from the depths of space is the first identified comet to arrive here from another star. We don’t know from where or when the comet started heading toward our Sun, but it won’t hang around for long...

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