sulfur tagged posts

An international team including Southwest Research Institute, Leiden University and NASA used observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to achieve the darkest ever view of a dense interstellar cloud...

They say variety is the spice of life, and now new discoveries from Johns Hopkins researchers suggest that a certain elemental ‘variety’ – sulfur – is indeed a ‘spice’ that can perhaps point to signs of life.

These findings from the researchers’ lab simulations reveal that sulfur can significantly impact observations of far-flung planets beyond the solar system; the results have implications for the use of sulfur as a sign for extraterrestrial life, as well as affect how researchers should interpret data about planetary atmospheres.

A report of the findings was published today in Nature Astronomy...

Images of Ceres made using combined Dawn and 2005 HST ultraviolet-visible wavelength images. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/Philip Stooke/Ian Regan

Hubble observations of the dwarf planet Ceres have discovered the first evidence of sulfur, sulfur dioxide and graphitized carbon found on an asteroid. The sulfur species are likely associated with regions of recent activity, reports Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Amanda Hendrix. The discoveries were made by comparing Ceres’ UV-visible spectra to laboratory measurements. The new HST observations are complementary to observations being made by instrument on the Dawn spacecraft in orbit at Ceres, covering additional wavelengths.

The presence of graphitized carbon is consistent with weathering of carbonaceous material on t...

This composite image shows the size and location of the Smith Cloud on the sky. The cloud appears in false-color, radio wavelengths as observed by the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The visible-light image of the background star field shows the cloud’s location in the direction of the summer constellation Aquila. The cloud is 15 degrees across in angular size — the width of an outstretched hand at arm’s length. The apparent size of the full moon is added for comparison. Credit: B. Saxton and F. Lockman (NRAO/AUI/NSF), and A. Mellinger

New Hubble telescope observations suggest a high-velocity H gas cloud was launched from the outer regions of our own galaxy around 70 million years ago...