Category Astronomy/Space

Einstein’s Cross. Credit: Image courtesy of Asociación RUVID

The Spanish interuniversity group has obtained precise measurements for the innermost region of a disc of matter in orbital motion around a supermassive black hole tucked inside the quasar known as Einstein’s Cross (Q2237-0305). It constitutes the most precise set of measurements achieved to date for such a small and distant object, and was made possible thanks to years of monitoring as part of the OGLE and GLITP gravitational microlensing projects, which have had their lenses trained on this quasar for 12 and 9 years, respectively.

Typically, astronomers can only detect bright objects that emit a lot of light or large objects that block background light...

On the left is and aurora oval before the auroral breakup occurs On the right is a supercomputer simulation reveals how auroral breakups develop Hot charged particles, or plasmas, gather in near-Earth space – just above the upper atmosphere of the polar region – when magnetic field lines reconnect in space. This makes the plasma rotate, creating a sudden electrical current above the polar regions. Furthermore, an electric current overflows near the bright aurora in the upper atmosphere, making the plasma rotate and discharge the extra electricity. This gives rise to the ‘surge’, the very bright sparks of light that characterize substorms. Credit: Kyoto University

A supercomputer model revealed the rotation of plasma creates electrical currents in the near-Earth space, ultimately triggering...

The Great Barred Spiral Galaxy in the constellation Fornax is, at 200,000 light-years across, one of the largest galaxies known to astronomers. Credit: ESO, IDA, Danish 1.5 m, R. Gendler, J-E. Ovaldsen, C. Thöne, and C. Feron

FORTIS will give clues to how galaxies grow with birth and growth cessation of new stars. Rocketeers led by Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Stephan R. McCandliss fired a 58-ft unmanned rocket from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico more than 170 miles up for a brief but clear look at the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy. Using an onboard spectrographic telescope McCandliss team recorded UV observations of H2, the main fuel of star formation, that surrounds the galaxy.

The parabolic flight lasted about 15 min from liftoff to the time the rocket parachuted back to Eart...

The four identical spacecraft of NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, mission (one of which is illustrated here) fly through the boundaries of Earth’s magnetic field to study an explosive process of magnetic reconnection. Thought to be the driver behind everything from solar flares to aurora, magnetic reconnection creates a sudden reconfiguration of magnetic fields, releasing huge amounts of energy in the process. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Just under four months into the science phase of the mission, NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, is delivering promising early results on magnetic reconnection—a magnetic explosion that’s related to everything from the northern lights to solar flares...