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Space News
Nasa
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Image Credit: Nasa
NASA Awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2025
- NASA's Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) for 2025 has selected 24 new fellows out of over 650 applicants to support early-career astrophysicists at U.S. institutions.
- The fellows are named to three sub-categories based on broad scientific questions: How does the universe work? (Einstein Fellows), How did we get here? (Hubble Fellows), and Are we alone? (Sagan Fellows).
- The program aims to foster excellence and leadership in astrophysics, with fellows conducting innovative research to answer fundamental questions about the universe.
- The 2025 class consists of remarkable researchers who will contribute to NASA's astrophysics research and inspire future generations.
- Each fellow receives up to three years of support at a U.S. institution to pursue their proposed research topics related to galaxies, black holes, cosmic evolution, and more.
- The fellows are from various prestigious institutions and are working on diverse projects, such as exploring the origins of fast radio bursts and tracing baryons in the cosmic web.
- The NHFP includes Einstein, Hubble, and Sagan Fellows, each focused on different aspects of astrophysics to advance our understanding of the cosmos.
- The annual NHFP Symposium provides fellows with opportunities to present their research, connect with peers, and engage in discussions on career paths and mentorship.
- Administered by the Space Telescope Science Institute in collaboration with other institutions, the NHFP continues to support cutting-edge research in astrophysics.
- For more information on the 2025 NHFP Fellows and their research topics, visit the link provided at the end of the article.
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Popsci
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Image Credit: Popsci
April skygazing: A pink micromoon, the Lyrid meteor shower, and more
- Jupiter and the Moon will be visible near Taurus from April 1 and 2.
- Messier 94, a distant galaxy, will be visible with a telescope on April 4.
- April 12 will bring a full Pink Micromoon.
- The Lyrid Meteor Shower is predicted to peak on April 21 through 22.
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Knowridge
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Image Credit: Knowridge
Farewell to Gaia: The spacecraft that mapped our galaxy
- The European Space Agency (ESA) has bid farewell to the Gaia spacecraft after over ten years in space.
- Gaia was launched in 2013 with the aim of mapping the Milky Way galaxy and has measured the positions, movements, and properties of nearly two billion stars and space objects.
- Although Gaia has been powered down, the data it collected will continue to provide insights into the universe for many years.
- Gaia's systems were carefully shut down and the spacecraft was moved into a safe orbit around the Sun, where it will stay for at least 100 years.
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Earthsky
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Image Credit: Earthsky
Massive collision created Mercury, new theory suggests
- A new study suggests that planet Mercury was formed from a massive grazing collision between two similarly-sized bodies billions of years ago in the early solar system.
- Scientists have been trying to understand how Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet in our solar system, originated for a long time.
- Research from Brazil, Germany, and France proposes that a giant collision produced Mercury, shedding light on its formation.
- Mercury's unique geology and history have puzzled researchers, with evidence now suggesting a significant collision event as its origin.
- Universe Today's Mark Thompson wrote about the findings, highlighting the importance of this new theory.
- Mercury's internal structure, including a thin silicate mantle and a large iron core, poses a mystery that this new theory attempts to solve.
- The early solar system experienced frequent rocky collisions, with simulations revealing the plausibility of Mercury's formation through a grazing 'hit-and-run' collision.
- Study led by Patrick Franco in Brazil simulated collisions to determine how a planet similar to Mercury could form from a massive impact event.
- The study explored various collision scenarios matching Mercury's mass and iron content, providing strong evidence for the collision theory of Mercury's formation.
- The research sheds new light on the formation of Mercury and the role of collisions in shaping the planets in our solar system.
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Earthsky
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Image Credit: Earthsky
This amazing hummingbird chick looks like a caterpillar
- Scientists discovered that newborn chicks of white-necked jacobin hummingbirds resemble caterpillars.
- The plumage of the chicks, with long, thin, yellowish feathers on their backs, resembles caterpillar hair.
- This mimicry serves as a defense mechanism and helps protect the chicks from potential predators.
- The white-necked jacobin hummingbirds build their nests in exposed areas, making them easy prey.
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Medium
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The oldest light of the universe- THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND
- The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is the oldest light in the universe.
- The CMB is a collection of many wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.
- After 380,000 years since the Big Bang, the universe cooled and became transparent, forming hydrogen atoms and giving rise to the CMB.
- In 1965, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson accidentally discovered the CMB, which earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics.
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Guardian
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Image Credit: Guardian
Dazzling planet, moon and stars tableau to usher in April
- April starts with a dazzling tableau of planet, moon, and stars.
- On April 1, a glorious view of the sky can be observed looking west-south-west from London at 2030 BST.
- The chart displays familiar constellations like Orion and Taurus, as well as the bright Jupiter between the horns of Taurus.
- The highlight of the display will be the young and illuminated waxing crescent moon passing the Pleiades star cluster.
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Medium
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Image Credit: Medium
Discover How This AI Bot Can Boost Your Income
- The Revolutionary 100% Done-for-You AI Bot System is an AI tool that helps enhance income and reach financial goals.
- Users have reported earning an extra $500 every week by leveraging the automated features of the AI bot.
- The tool is designed to minimize errors, maximize efficiency, and provide instant activation capability.
- By automating tasks, users can generate passive income and achieve financial freedom.
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Knowridge
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Image Credit: Knowridge
A sail to the stars: New ultra-thin lightsail could power future space travel
- Scientists have developed an ultra-thin, super-reflective material called a lightsail for future space travel.
- The lightsail could enable spacecraft to travel at incredible speeds by riding on beams of laser light.
- The new lightsail is 200 nanometers thick and is made of lightweight and strong silicon nitride.
- The development offers the potential to significantly reduce the travel time to reach nearby stars.
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Digitaltrends
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Image Credit: Digitaltrends
Watch this new European rocket lift off … then crash
- The inaugural launch of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket ended in failure when the vehicle lost control and exploded during liftoff at Andøya Spaceport in Norway.
- Isar Aerospace stated that despite the unsuccessful launch, it had achieved its goals by gathering flight data and experience to apply on future missions.
- The Germany-based company designed and manufactured the rocket in-house, with plans to serve customers globally and address Europe's security architecture needs.
- The Spectrum rocket is intended for small-to-medium payload launches, potentially becoming a competitor to Rocket Lab in the small-satellite launch sector.
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Brighter Side of News
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Image Credit: Brighter Side of News
NASA’s Webb Telescope Reveals ‘Cosmic Tornado’ in Action
- The James Webb Space Telescope captured a stunning snapshot showing a newborn star, a blast of glowing gas, and a distant spiral galaxy in one frame.
- This unique cosmic overlap in the Chamaeleon I Cloud complex helps scientists understand the process of star formation.
- The young object HH 49/50, illuminated by a protostar, creates a visual alignment with a spiral galaxy, enriching both art and science.
- HH 49/50 exhibits jets of charged particles that collide with dust and gas, forming shock waves that emit light, creating a Herbig-Haro object.
- The star likely responsible for HH 49/50's outburst is a young protostar called Cederblad 110 IRS4, part of Class I protostars.
- Webb's observations revealed glowing hydrogen, carbon monoxide molecules, and dust grains heated by the jet, earning HH 49/50 the nickname 'Cosmic Tornado'.
- The image showcases arcs of glowing gas pointing back to the protostar, providing insights into the jet's movement and interaction with its surroundings.
- A distant spiral galaxy visible near HH 49/50, though unrelated, adds to the image's beauty and complexity, revealing features like bubbles and potential barred structure.
- The overlap of HH 49/50 and the spiral galaxy offers a unique opportunity to study star birth and galaxy formation simultaneously, showcasing cosmic chance.
- The alignment captured by Webb's sharper imaging complements previous observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope, unravelling the mystery behind HH 49/50.
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Livescience
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Image Credit: Livescience
James Webb telescope could find signs of life on alien 'hycean' ocean worlds
- Hycean worlds, potential exoplanets with deep oceans surrounded by hydrogen, may offer the best chance for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to detect biosignatures, particularly methyl halides produced by bacteria and ocean algae on Earth.
- Named after their hydrogen-ocean composition, hycean planets remain theoretical, with the planet K2-18b being a prime candidate. JWST detected carbon dioxide and methane in K2-18b's atmosphere as predicted by the hycean planet concept.
- Research suggests methyl halides, generated by ocean microbes, could be more easily detectable as a biosignature on hycean worlds compared to oxygen on Earth-like planets, offering a unique opportunity for detection with existing technology.
- The strong absorption features of methyl halides in infrared light make them observable by JWST, potentially requiring less telescope time and cost compared to gases like oxygen or methane.
- However, the existence and habitability of hycean worlds are still uncertain, as directly observing oceans under hydrogen envelopes and determining if they can support life present challenges.
- If life exists on a hycean world, it would likely be anaerobic, adapted to an environment where hydrogen, not oxygen, is the essential gas for metabolism.
- The study raises the possibility that hycean worlds orbiting red dwarf stars, which constitute a significant portion of stars in the Milky Way, could host more habitable environments than Earth-like worlds in cosmic terms.
- Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, this research contributes to the ongoing exploration of exoplanets and potential habitats for life beyond our solar system.
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Brighter Side of News
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Image Credit: Brighter Side of News
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Unearths Largest Organic Compounds Ever Found on Mars
- NASA's Curiosity rover has discovered the largest organic molecules ever detected on Mars, pointing to complex chemistry that may have edged closer to the building blocks of life than previously thought.
- The discovery was made in a rock sample from the Martian mudstone known as 'Cumberland,' once submerged under water for millions of years, allowing organic molecules to concentrate and preserve.
- The sample contained traces of long-chain organic molecules like decane, undecane, and dodecane, potentially fragments of fatty acids crucial for cell membranes on Earth.
- While these molecules do not confirm past life on Mars, they suggest advanced prebiotic chemistry occurred on the planet, with potential origins from both biological and chemical processes.
- NASA's Curiosity rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) lab detected these molecules by heating rock samples, revealing the presence of complex organic compounds that survived over billions of years.
- The discovery raises questions about the origin of these molecules, whether through meteorite delivery, geological processes, or potential biological sources.
- Future missions like NASA's Perseverance rover aim to collect Martian samples for more in-depth analysis on Earth, with hopes of uncovering deeper truths about the planet's geological and potentially biological history.
- The discovery of these organic compounds in the Martian mudstone provides insights into the planet's past environment, characterized by water, clay, energy, and time—indicating conditions that could have supported life.
- Despite uncertainties about the origin of these molecules, each new discovery on Mars adds layers to the mystery of the planet's potential for past habitability and the search for extraterrestrial life.
- The survival of large organic molecules on Mars over billions of years suggests protective mechanisms from clay minerals, sulfur, and nitrates present in the samples, indicating a potential for chemical preservation.
- The ongoing exploration of Mars through missions like Curiosity and future sample return missions aims to unravel the mysteries of the planet's history and the possibility of past life or complex chemistry that could shed light on the planet's habitability.
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Knowridge
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Image Credit: Knowridge
Scientists use space “archaeology” to uncover secrets of a long-dead star
- Scientists have used supernova archaeology to study the remains of a star that exploded long ago in deep space.
- By analyzing data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, they uncovered clues about the history of the star system GRO J1655-40.
- The system originally had two large stars, with one of them exploding in a supernova and forming a black hole, while the other survived and became a companion star.
- Using X-ray observations, researchers were able to determine the mass and composition of the original star, demonstrating the potential of this technique for studying past stellar events.
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