Tag: Webb Space Telescope

Astronomers detect chemicals on exoplanet that on Earth come from life

9:11 am

The uncertainty of science: Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have detected two different molecules that on Earth are only linked with biology in the atmosphere of an exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star within its habitable zone.

Earlier observations of K2-18b — which is 8.6 times as massive and 2.6 times as large as Earth, and lies 124 light years away in the constellation of Leo — identified methane and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere. This was the first time that carbon-based molecules were discovered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the habitable zone. Those results were consistent with predictions for a ‘Hycean’ planet: a habitable ocean-covered world underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.

However, another, weaker signal hinted at the possibility of something else happening on K2-18b. “We didn’t know for sure whether the signal we saw last time was due to DMS, but just the hint of it was exciting enough for us to have another look with JWST using a different instrument,” said Professor Nikku Madhusudhan from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy, who led the research.

…The earlier, tentative, inference of DMS was made using JWST’s NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) and NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instruments, which together cover the near-infrared (0.8-5 micron) range of wavelengths. The new, independent observation [of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS] used JWST’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) in the mid-infrared (6-12 micron) range.

This data is not yet proof of biology. For example, the concentrations of these molecules in K2-18b’s atmosphere is thousands of times greater than on Earth. It is just as likely that numerous as yet unknown non-biological chemical processes in this alien environment have produced these chemicals. The scientists however are encouraged because the theories about ocean life on this kind of habitable ocean-covered superearth had predicted this high concentration of these chemicals.

At the same time, they readily admit there are many uncertainties in their data. They have asked for another 16 to 24 hours of observation time on Webb — a very large chunk rarely given out to one research group — to reduce these uncertainties.

You can read the peer-reviewed paper here [pdf].

4 comments

Astronomers discover a well-developed spiral galaxy too soon after the Big Bang

12:29 pm

The early spiral galaxy
Click for original image.

Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered the earliest known well-developed spiral galaxy, dubbed Zhúlóng (meaning torch dragon in Chinese), that exists only about one billion years after the Big Bang and much too soon for such a spiral galaxy to have formed.

The false-color infrared Webb image to the right, cropped to post here, shows clearly the galaxy’s spiral structure.

Zhúlóng has a surprisingly mature structure that is unique among distant galaxies, which are typically clumpy and irregular. It resembles galaxies found in the nearby Universe and has a mass and size similar to those of the Milky Way. Its structure shows a compact bulge in the center with old stars, surrounded by a large disk of younger stars that concentrate in spiral arms.

This is a surprising discovery on several fronts. First, it shows that mature galaxies that resemble those in our neighborhood can develop much earlier in the Universe than was previously thought possible. Second, it has long been theorized that spiral arms in galaxies take many billions of years to form, but this galaxy demonstrates that spiral arms can also develop on shorter timescales. There is no other galaxy like Zhúlóng that astronomers know of during this early era of the Universe.

You can read the peer-review research paper here. The scientists posit a number of theories to explain this spiral galaxy, none of which have much merit at this time because so little data exists from that time period. That only one such spiral galaxy is presently known does not mean such galaxies were rare at that time. It merely means our census of galaxy populations in the early universe remains woefully incomplete.

3 comments

The structure of a ringed planetary nebula revealed in the infrared

9:18 am

A planetary nebula as seen by Webb
Click for original image.

Cool image time! Using the mid-infrared camera on the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have been able to image in false colors the ringed structure surrounding a dying star about 1,500 light years away.

The nebula’s two rings are unevenly illuminated in Webb’s observations, appearing more diffuse at bottom left and top right. They also look fuzzy, or textured. “We think the rings are primarily made up of very small dust grains,” Ressler said. “When those grains are hit by ultraviolet light from the white dwarf star, they heat up ever so slightly, which we think makes them just warm enough to be detected by Webb in mid-infrared light.”

In addition to dust, the telescope also revealed oxygen in its clumpy pink center, particularly at the edges of the bubbles or holes.

NGC 1514 is also notable for what is absent. Carbon and more complex versions of it, smoke-like material known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are common in planetary nebulae (expanding shells of glowing gas expelled by stars late in their lives). Neither were detected in NGC 1514. More complex molecules might not have had time to form due to the orbit of the two central stars, which mixed up the ejected material.

Though this false-color image of a planetary nebular is hardly ground-breaking (Hubble has been producing such pictures for decades), Webb’s better infrared data, in higher resolution, will help astronomers untangle the nebula’s complex geography. It remains however a question whether the improved capabilities of Webb were worth its $10 billion-plus cost. For that money NASA could have built and launched many different astronomical missions in the past two decades, many of which would have been able to match this data for far less.

4 comments

Webb infrared data increases odds asteroid 2024 YR4 will impact Moon in 2032

9:40 am

Asteroid 2024 YR4 as seen by Webb in the mid-infrared
Asteroid 2024 YR4 as seen by Webb in the
mid-infrared. Click for original image.

Using new infrared images and data from the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have further refined the orbit and size of the potentially dangerous asteroid 2024 YR4.

The image of 2024 YR4 to the right was taken by Webb’s mid-infrared camera, and provides information on its thermal surface characteristics.

First, the Webb data narrowed the uncertainty about the asteroid’s size, suggesting it is about 200 feet in diameter. You can read the paper outlining this result here. The data also suggested nature of the asteroid’s surface, which is important in determining its future path. The pressure from sunlight can change the orbits of small asteroids, but figuring out how much is extremely difficult without knowing the rotation of the asteroid and the reflective qualities of its entire surface.

Second, based on this new data, other astronomers are increasingly certain 2024 YR4 will not hit the Earth in 2032, but the odds of it impacting the Moon have now increased to 4%.

Leave a comment

Webb finds more elements not possible so soon after the Big Bang

11:19 am

A galaxy that shouldn't be there
Click for original image.

The uncertainty of science: Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have now detected emissions of hydrogen from a galaxy that exists only 330 million years after the Big Bang that simply shouldn’t be possible, based on present cosmological theory.

The false-color infrared image of that galaxy is to the right, cropped to post here. At that distance, 13.5 billion light years away, all Webb can really see is this blurry spot. From the press release:

In the resulting spectrum, the redshift was confirmed to be 13.0. This equates to a galaxy seen just 330 million years after the big bang, a small fraction of the universe’s present age of 13.8 billion years old. But an unexpected feature stood out as well: one specific, distinctly bright wavelength of light, known as Lyman-alpha emission, radiated by hydrogen atoms. This emission was far stronger than astronomers thought possible at this early stage in the universe’s development.

“The early universe was bathed in a thick fog of neutral hydrogen,” explained Roberto Maiolino, a team member from the University of Cambridge and University College London. “Most of this haze was lifted in a process called reionization, which was completed about one billion years after the big bang. GS-z13-1 is seen when the universe was only 330 million years old, yet it shows a surprisingly clear, telltale signature of Lyman-alpha emission that can only be seen once the surrounding fog has fully lifted. This result was totally unexpected by theories of early galaxy formation and has caught astronomers by surprise.”

In more blunt terms, the theory that the haze would clear only one billion years after the Big Bang appears very wrong. This result is also similar to the story earlier this week about the detection of oxygen in a similarly early galaxy, oxygen that could not possibly be there only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Not enough time had passed for the number of star generations needed to produce it.

You can read the peer-reviewed paper here. While the Big Bang theory is hardly dead, the data from Webb continues to suggest it either needs a major rethinking, or there is something fundamentally wrong with it.

13 comments

Webb images in the infrared the aurora of Neptune

9:30 am

The aurora of Neptune
Click for original image.

Astronomers using the Webb Space Telescope have captured the first infrared images of the aurora of Neptune, confirming that the gas giant produces this phenomenon.

The picture to the right combines infrared data from Webb and optical imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope. The white splotches near the bottom of the globe are clouds seen by Hubble. The additional white areas in the center and near the top are clouds detected by Webb, while the greenish regions to the right are aurora activity detected by Webb.

The auroral activity seen on Neptune is also noticeably different from what we are accustomed to seeing here on Earth, or even Jupiter or Saturn. Instead of being confined to the planet’s northern and southern poles, Neptune’s auroras are located at the planet’s geographic mid-latitudes — think where South America is located on Earth.

This is due to the strange nature of Neptune’s magnetic field, originally discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989, which is tilted by 47 degrees from the planet’s rotation axis. Since auroral activity is based where the magnetic fields converge into the planet’s atmosphere, Neptune’s auroras are far from its rotational poles.

The data also found that the temperature of Neptune’s upper atmosphere has cooled significantly since it was first measured by Voyager 2 in 1989, dropping by several hundred degrees.

12 comments

New Webb infrared image reveals galaxy hidden behind outflow from baby star

10:22 am

Webb infrared image of baby star outflow
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The false-color infrared image to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken by the Webb Space Telescope of the outflow from a baby star, dubbed Herbig-Haro 49/50, located about 625 light years away.

The picture was taken to get a better understanding of the flow itself. Earlier infrared images at much lower resolution by the Spitzer Space Telescope had left many features in this outflow unclear. For example, at the head of the outflow the Spitzer infrared image was unable to clearly identify the background spiral galaxy located there. In those earlier images it could have instead been a part of the outflow itself.

The galaxy that appears by happenstance at the tip of HH 49/50 is a much more distant, face-on spiral galaxy. It has a prominent central bulge represented in blue that shows the location of older stars. The bulge also shows hints of “side lobes” suggesting that this could be a barred-spiral galaxy. Reddish clumps within the spiral arms show the locations of warm dust and groups of forming stars. The galaxy even displays evacuated bubbles in these dusty regions

The actual source from which this flow comes remains unconfirmed, though astronomers think the source is one particular protostar about 1.5 light years away.

3 comments

Webb captures infrared images of five exoplanets orbiting two different stars

10:17 am

Four gas giants in infrared
Click for original image.

Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have taken two different direct false-color infrared images of exoplanets orbiting the stars HR 8799 (130 light years away) and 51 Eridani (97 light years away.

The image of the four gas giants orbiting HR 8799 is to the right, cropped, reduced, and slightly enhanced to post here. From the caption:

The closest planet to the star, HR 8799 e, orbits 1.5 billion miles from its star, which in our solar system would be located between the orbit of Saturn and Neptune. The furthest, HR 8799 b, orbits around 6.3 billion miles from the star, more than twice Neptune’s orbital distance. Colors are applied to filters from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), revealing their intrinsic differences. A star symbol marks the location of the host star HR 8799, whose light has been blocked by the coronagraph. In this image, the color blue is assigned to 4.1 micron light, green to 4.3 micron light, and red to the 4.6 micron light.

The Webb false color infrared picture taken of one of the exoplanets orbiting the star 51 Eridani is also at the link, showing “a cool, young exoplanet that orbits 890 million miles from its star, similar to Saturn’s orbit in our solar system.”

The data from the HR 8799 image suggests these gas giants have a lot of carbon dioxide gas, and thus might be growing by pulling in material from the star’s accretion disk.

Leave a comment

Webb captures infrared view of a baby binary star system and its bi-polar jets

9:41 am

A baby binary in formation
Click for original image.

Cool image time! The infrared false-color picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was released today by the science team of the Webb Space Telescope. It shows the bi-polar jets spewing out from a newly formed binary of two very young stars as their interact during their formation process.

The two protostars responsible for this scene are at the center of the hourglass shape, in an opaque horizontal disk of cold gas and dust that fits within a single pixel. Much farther out, above and below the flattened disk where dust is thinner, the bright light from the stars shines through the gas and dust, forming large semi-transparent orange cones.

It’s equally important to notice where the stars’ light is blocked — look for the exceptionally dark, wide V-shapes offset by 90 degrees from the orange cones. These areas may look like there is no material, but it’s actually where the surrounding dust is the densest, and little starlight penetrates it. If you look carefully at these areas, Webb’s sensitive NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) has picked up distant stars as muted orange pinpoints behind this dust. Where the view is free of obscuring dust, stars shine brightly in white and blue.

To put it more simply, the accretion disk for the binary system lies at right angles to the much larger jets. The rotation of that disk as well as the stars causes those jets to flow up and down from the poles, with the existence of two stars producing the complex patterns in those jets.

As this image was focused mostly on studying the upper jet, it does not show the entire lower jet, which extends beyond the lower border.

Leave a comment

New data from Webb shows the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole flares multiple times per day

9:47 am

The magnetic field lines surrounding Sagittarius A*
The magnetic field lines surrounding Sagittarius A*,
published in March 2024. Click for original image.

Though past research had shown that the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, dubbed Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-star) is generally quiet and inactive, new data from the Webb Space Telescope gathered over a year’s time now shows that it flares multiple times per day.

Throughout the year, the team saw how the black hole’s accretion disk emitted 5 to 6 large flares per day, of varying lengths and brightnesses, plus smaller flares in between. “[Sagittarius A*] is always bubbling with activity and never seems to reach a steady state,” Yusef-Zadeh says. “We observed the black hole multiple times throughout 2023 and 2024, and we noticed changes in every observation. We saw something different each time, which is really remarkable. Nothing ever stayed the same.”

In their paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the team outlines two possible ideas for the processes driving these flares. The faint flickers may be caused by turbulent fluctuations in the accretion disk, which could compress plasma and trigger a burst of radiation. “It’s similar to how the sun’s magnetic field gathers together, compresses and then erupts a solar flare,” Yusef-Zadeh says. “Of course, the processes are more dramatic because the environment around a black hole is much more energetic and much more extreme.”

The larger and brighter flares, on the other hand, may be caused by two fast-moving magnetic fields colliding and releasing accelerated particles. These magnetic reconnection events also have a solar parallel.

You can read their paper here [pdf]. Though this research shows unexpected activity, that activity is still relatively mild compared to other central supermassive black holes in many other galaxies. Why this difference exists remains an unanswered question.

4 comments

Reanalysis of Webb data discovers more than a hundred very small main-belt asteroids

11:42 am

Portrait of all 138 new asteroids
Click for original image.

Using data from the Webb Space Telescope in an unexpected way, astronomers have discovered 138 asteroids in the main asteroid belt, most of which are the smallest so far detected.

The picture to the right shows all 138 asteroids. The researchers had originally used Webb to study the atmospheres of the exoplanets that orbit the star TRAPPIST-1. They then thought, why not see if their data also showed the existence of asteroids in our own solar system. By blinking between multiple images they might spot the movement of solar system objects moving across the field of view. From the press release:

The team applied this approach to more than 10 000 [Webb] images of the TRAPPIST-1 field, which were originally obtained to search for signs of atmospheres around the system’s inner planets. By chance TRAPPIST-1 is located right on the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system where all planets and most asteroids lie and orbit around the Sun. After processing the images, the researchers were able to spot eight known asteroids in the main belt. They then looked further and discovered 138 new asteroids, all within tens of meters in diameter — the smallest main belt asteroids detected to date. They suspect a few asteroids are on their way to becoming near-Earth objects, while one is likely a Trojan — an asteroid that trails Jupiter.

The data is insufficient for most of these objects to chart their orbits precisely. Based on this one single study, however, it suggests that pointing Webb along the ecliptic in almost any direction will detect more such objects. Do this enough and astronomers might actually be able to get a rough census of the asteroid belt’s population.

One comment

Hubble vs Webb, or why the universe’s secrets can only be uncovered by looking at things in many wavelengths

11:15 am

Hubble view of Sombrero galaxy
Click for original image.

Time for two cool images of the same galaxy! The picture above shows the Sombrero Galaxy as taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003. The picture below is that same galaxy as seen by the Webb Space Telescope in the mid-infrared using false colors. From the press release:

In Webb’s mid-infrared view of the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104), the signature, glowing core seen in visible-light images does not shine, and instead a smooth inner disk is revealed. The sharp resolution of Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) also brings into focus details of the galaxy’s outer ring, providing insights into how the dust, an essential building block for astronomical objects in the universe, is distributed. The galaxy’s outer ring, which appeared smooth like a blanket in imaging from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, shows intricate clumps in the infrared for the first time.

Researchers say the clumpy nature of the dust, where MIRI detects carbon-containing molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, can indicate the presence of young star-forming regions. However, unlike some galaxies studied with Webb … the Sombrero galaxy is not a particular hotbed of star formation. The rings of the Sombrero galaxy produce less than one solar mass of stars per year, in comparison to the Milky Way’s roughly two solar masses a year. Even the supermassive black hole, also known as an active galactic nucleus, at the center of the Sombrero galaxy is rather docile, even at a hefty 9-billion-solar masses. It’s classified as a low luminosity active galactic nucleus, slowly snacking on infalling material from the galaxy, while sending off a bright, relatively small, jet.

In infrared the galaxy’s middle bulge of stars practically vanishes, exposing the weak star-forming regions along galaxy’s disk.

Both images illustrate the challenge the universe presents us in understanding it. Basic facts are often and in fact almost always not evident to the naked eye. We always need to look deeper, in ways that at first do not seem obvious. This is why it is always dangerous to theorize with certainty any explanation too soon, as later data will always change that explanation. You can come up with an hypothesis, but you should always add the caveat that you really don’t know.

By the way, this concept applies not just to science. Having absolute certainty in anything will almost always cause you to look like a fool later. Better to always question yourself, because that will make it easier for you to find a better answer, sooner.

We need only look at the idiotic “mainstream press” during the months leading up to the November election to have an example of someone with certainty who is now exposed as an obvious fool.

The Sombrero Galaxy as seen by Webb
Click for original image.

4 comments

Scientists use Hubble and Webb to confirm there are as yet no planets forming in Vega’s accretion disk

11:16 am

Hubble and Webb images of Vega's accretion disk
Click for original image.

Using both the Hubble and Webb space telescopes, scientists have now confirmed, to their surprise, that the accretioni disk that surrounds the nearby star Vega is very smooth with almost no gaps, and thus apparently has not new exoplanets forming within it.

The two pictures to the right, cropped and reduced to post here, come from two different papers. The Hubble paper is here [pdf] while the Webb paper is here [pdf]. From the press release:

Webb sees the infrared glow from a disk of particles the size of sand swirling around the sizzling blue-white star that is 40 times brighter than our Sun. Hubble captures an outer halo of this disk, with particles no bigger than the consistency of smoke that are reflecting starlight.

The distribution of dust in the Vega debris disk is layered because the pressure of starlight pushes out the smaller grains faster than larger grains. “Different types of physics will locate different-sized particles at different locations,” said Schuyler Wolff of the University of Arizona team, lead author of the paper presenting the Hubble findings. “The fact that we’re seeing dust particle sizes sorted out can help us understand the underlying dynamics in circumstellar disks.”

The Vega disk does have a subtle gap, around 60 AU (astronomical units) from the star (twice the distance of Neptune from the Sun), but otherwise is very smooth all the way in until it is lost in the glare of the star. This shows that there are no planets down at least to Neptune-mass circulating in large orbits, as in our solar system, say the researchers.

At the moment astronomers consider the very smooth accretion disk surrounding Vega to be rare and exception to the rule, with most debris disks having gaps that suggest the presence of newly formed exoplanets within them. That Vega breaks the rule however suggests the rule might not be right in the first place.

One comment

Post-collision images of two galaxies

10:56 am

Post-collision imagery by Hubble and Webb
Click for original image.

Using both the Hubble and Webb space telescopes, astronomers have now produced multi-wavelength images of the galaxies NGC 2207and IC 2163, as shown to the right.

Millions of years ago the smaller galaxy, IC 2163, grazed against the larger, NGC 2207, resulting today in increased star formation in both galaxies, indicated by blue in the Hubble photo. From the caption of the combined images:

Combined, they are estimated to form the equivalent of two dozen new stars that are the size of the Sun annually. Our Milky Way galaxy forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-like stars per year. Both galaxies have hosted seven known supernovae, each of which may have cleared space in their arms, rearranging gas and dust that later cooled, and allowed many new stars to form.

The two images to the left leaves the Hubble and Webb separate, making it easier to see the different features the different wavelengths reveal. From this caption:

In Hubble’s image, the star-filled spiral arms glow brightly in blue, and the galaxies’ cores in orange. Both galaxies are covered in dark brown dust lanes, which obscure the view of IC 2163’s core at left. In Webb’s image, cold dust takes centre stage, casting the galaxies’ arms in white. Areas where stars are still deeply embedded in the dust appear pink. Other pink dots may be objects that lie well behind these galaxies, including active supermassive black holes known as quasars.

The largest and brightest pink area in the Webb image, on the bottom right and a blue patch in the Hubble image, is where a strong cluster of star formation is presently occurring.

6 comments

Scientists detect jets of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from asteroid

9:45 am

Jets from asteroid
Click for original graphic.

Using the spectroscopy from the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have now detected jets of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide spewing from the very active asteroid 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-1 (29P).

Based on the data gathered by Webb, the team created a 3D model of the jets to understand their orientation and origin. They found through their modeling efforts that the jets were emitted from different regions on the centaur’s nucleus, even though the nucleus itself cannot be resolved by Webb. The jets’ angles suggest the possibility that the nucleus may be an aggregate of distinct objects with different compositions; however, other scenarios can’t yet be excluded.

The graphic to the right illustrates the modeling of these jets. That the center of this two-lobed asteroid could have been created from distinct objects suggests a very complex formation process, since those objects would have had to have formed themselves in different locations in the solar system and then somehow come together.

2 comments

Carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide found on the surface of Pluto’s moon Charon

9:03 am

Using spectroscopic data from the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected both carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Pluto’s moon Charon, adding these chemicals to the previously detected water ice and ammonia-bearing chemicals that give the planet its gray and red colors.

The team compared the spectroscopic observations with laboratory measurements and detailed spectral models of the surface, concluding that carbon dioxide is present primarily as a surface veneer on a water ice-rich subsurface. “Our preferred interpretation is that the upper layer of carbon dioxide originates from the interior and has been exposed to the surface through cratering events. Carbon dioxide is known to be present in regions of the protoplanetary disk from which the Pluto system formed,” Protopapa said.

The presence of hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Charon clearly indicates that the water ice-rich surface is altered by solar ultraviolet light and energetic particles from the solar wind and galactic cosmic rays. Hydrogen peroxide forms from oxygen and hydrogen atoms originating from the breakup of water ice due to incoming ions, electrons or photons.

The theory proposing the dry ice comes from the interior is interesting, but there simply is not enough data to take it very seriously at this point.

One comment

Webb takes an infrared look at a galaxy looked at by Hubble

12:21 pm

Comparing Hubble with Webb
For original images go here and here.

Cool image time! The bottom picture on the right, cropped to post here, is a just released false color infrared image of the galaxy Arp 107, taken by the Webb Space Telescope. The picture at the top is a previously released optical image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and featured as a cool image back in September 2023. The Hubble image was taken as part of a survey project to photograph the entire Arp catalog of 338 “peculiar galaxies,” put together by astronomer Halton Arp in 1966. In this case Arp 107 is peculiar because it is actually two galaxies in the process of merging. It is also peculiar because the galaxy on the left has an active galactic nuclei (AGN), where a supermassive black hole is sucking up material and thus emitting a lot of energy.

The Webb infrared image was taken to supplement that optical image. The blue spiral arms indicate dust and star-forming regions. The bright orange object in the center of the galaxy is that AGN, clearly defined by Webb’s infrared camera.

When I posted the Hubble image in 2023, I noted that “if you ignore the blue whorls of the left galaxy, the two bright cores of these merging galaxies are about the same size.” In the Webb image the two cores still appear about the same size, but in the infrared they produce emissions in decidedly different wavelengths, as shown by the different false colors of orange and blue. The core of the galaxy on the right is dust filled and forming stars, while the core of the left galaxy appears to have less dust with all of its emissions resulting from the energy produced by the material being pulled into the supermassive black hole.

The universe is very active and changing, but to understand that process we humans have to look at everything across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, not just in the optical wavelengths our eyes see.

2 comments

What the Milky Way would look like if it was presently a star forming powerhouse

9:15 am

A galaxy as seen by Hubble and Webb
For the original images go here and here.

Cool image time! The two pictures to the right, taken respectively by the Hubble and Webb space telescopes of the same galaxy, shows us many different features of a barred galaxy, located about 35 million light years away. From the caption for the Hubble image:

This picture is composed of a whopping ten different images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, each filtered to collect light from a specific wavelength or range of wavelengths. It spans Hubble’s sensitivity to light, from ultraviolet around 275 nanometres through blue, green and red to near-infrared at 1600 nanometres. This allows information about many different astrophysical processes in the galaxy to be recorded: a notable example is the red 656-nanometre filter used here. Hydrogen atoms which get ionised can emit light at this particular wavelength, called H-alpha emission. New stars forming in a molecular cloud, made mostly of hydrogen gas, emit copious amounts of ultraviolet light which is absorbed by the cloud, but which ionises it and causes it to glow with this H-alpha light.

Therefore, filtering to detect only this light provides a reliable means to detect areas of star formation (called H II regions), shown in this image by the bright red and pink colours of the blossoming patches filling NGC 1559’s spiral arms.

The Z-shaped blue indicates the stars and its most distinct spiral arms. Astronomers presently believe that the Milky Way is also a barred spiral like this, though its star-forming regions are thought to be far less extensive and distinct.

The Webb infrared image matches the Hubble data, with the false color blue indicating the near-infrared and the false color red the mid-infrared. As with the Hubble picture, the red indicates the galaxy’s extensive star forming regions.

Leave a comment

Webb finds six exoplanets, all flying in interstellar space without a star

11:11 am

Astronomers using the Webb Space Telescope have discovered six different planets ranging in mass 5 to 10 times that of Jupiter, all unattached to any star or solar system.

The most intriguing of the starless objects is also the lightest, having an estimated mass of five Jupiters (about 1,600 Earths). The presence of a dusty disk means the object almost certainly formed like a star, as space dust generally spins around a central object in the early stages of star formation, said Langeveld, a postdoctoral researcher in Jayawardhana’s group.

All of these starless planets likely formed like this one, coalescing like a star does but unlike a star never having enough mass to ignite.

The astronomers are next going to attempt to detect the atmosphere’s of these rogue exoplanets, though it is not clear exactly how they will do this unless one of the exoplanets just happened to transit across a more distant star, something that simply does not happen very often.

One comment

New data continues to refine the margin of error for the Hubble constant

9:45 am

The uncertainty of science: New data using the Webb Space Telescope’s spectroscopic capabilities has provided a more refined measure of the expansion rate of the universe, dubbed the Hubble constant.

According to previous research, that rate could be anywhere from 67.4 to 73.2 kilometers per second per megaparsecs, depending on whether you rely on data from the Planck orbiter or that of the Hubble Space Telescope. Though this difference appears reasonable considering the uncertainties and assumptions that go into research that determines both numbers, astronomers have been unhappy with the difference. The numbers should match and they don’t.

Now new data from Webb suggests this difference really is nothing more than the margin of error caused by the many uncertainties and assumptions involved. That new Webb data measured the Hubble constant using three different methods, all similar to that used by Hubble, and came up with 67.85, 67.96, and 72.04, all in the middle of the previous two numbers from Hubble and Planck.

In other words, all the data is beginning to fall within this margin of error.

Astronomers are without doubt still going to argue about this, but it does appear that the research is beginning to coalesce around an approximate number. More important, in terms of cosmology these results confirm the theory that the expansion of the universe is accelerating (dubbed “dark energy” simply because it needs a name), since they confirm the method used to measure that expansion rate in the very distant universe.

Keep your minds open however. There remain many questions and uncertainties with all these conclusions. Nothing is settled, nor will it be likely for decades if not centuries.

3 comments

Webb data suggests the possibility of ice and hydrated minerals on surface of Psyche

9:33 am

Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have detected evidence of hydrated minerals and even possibly a very tiny amount of water ice on the surface of the metal asteroid Psyche.

The Webb data point to hydroxyl and perhaps water on Psyche’s surface. The hydrated minerals could result from external sources, including impactors. If the hydration is native or endogenous, then Psyche may have a different evolutionary history than current models suggest. “Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the solar nebula,” said SwRI’s Dr. Anicia Arredondo, another co-author. “Hydration that is endogenous could suggest that Psyche is not the remnant core of a protoplanet. Instead, it could suggest that Psyche originated beyond the ‘snow line,’ the minimum distance from the Sun where protoplanetary disc temperatures are low enough for volatile compounds to condense into solids, before migrating to the outer main belt.”

However, the paper found the variability in the strength of the hydration features across the observations implies a heterogeneous distribution of hydrated minerals. This variability suggests a complex surface history that could be explained by impacts from carbonaceous chondrite asteroids thought to be very hydrated.

You can read the research paper here [pdf]. The actual amount of water possible is at most 39 parts per million and is also an order of magnitude lower than that found on the Moon, which strongly suggests that it comes from outside sources, such as impacts from other asteroids, not from the inherent geological history of Psyche itself.

The uncertainties of this research, which are large, which should be resolved when the probe Psyche, launched last year, reaches the asteroid Psyche in August 2029.

3 comments

Webb: Carbon monoxide detected on surface of Uranus’s moon Ariel suggests an underground ocean

12:04 pm

The best image of Ariel, as seen by Voyager-2, January 24, 1986
Voyager-2’s best image of Ariel during the
January 24, 1986 fly-by. Click for original.

By doing infrared spectroscopy using the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected carbon monoxide (CO) and confirmed extensive carbon dioxide (CO2) deposits on the surface of Uranus’s moon Ariel, with the carbon monoxide suggesting the moon has an underground ocean.

Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to collect chemical spectra of the moon and then comparing them with spectra of simulated chemical mixtures in the lab, a research team led by Richard Cartwright from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, found that Ariel has some of the most carbon dioxide-rich deposits in the solar system, adding up to an estimated 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) or more thickness on the moon’s trailing hemisphere. Among those deposits was another puzzling finding: the first clear signals of carbon monoxide.

“It just shouldn’t be there. You’ve got to get down to 30 kelvins [minus 405 degrees Fahrenheit] before carbon monoxide’s stable,” Cartwright said. Ariel’s surface temperature, meanwhile, averages around 65 F warmer. “The carbon monoxide would have to be actively replenished, no question.”

You can read the peer-reviewed paper here [pdf]. Though there are a number of ways in which the carbon monoxide can be replenished, the scientists think it is coming from an underground ocean. From the paper’s abstract:

The evidence for thick CO 2 ice deposits and the possible presence of carbonates on both hemispheres suggests that some carbon oxides could be sourced from Ariel’s interior, with their surface distributions modified by charged particle bombardment, sublimation, and seasonal migration of CO and CO 2 from high to low latitudes.

This theory however has not been confirmed, and the scientists admit it will take a probe making close observations of Ariel to find out for sure.

Hat tip to stringer Jay for this story.

Leave a comment

Webb takes infrared image of exoplanet

10:02 am

A Jupiter-sized exoplanet imaged by Webb
Click for original image.

Cool image time! Using the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have taken an infrared false color image of a multi-Jupiter-sized exoplanet located only twelve light years away and orbiting the K-type star Epsilon Indi A.

That picture, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, is to the right. The light of the star, indicated by the star symbol, has been blocked by Webb’s coronagraph, the size of which is shown by the dashed circle. The exoplanet is the orange blob to the left.

[This exoplanet] is one of the coldest exoplanets to be directly detected, with an estimated temperature of 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) — colder than any other imaged planet beyond our solar system, and colder than all but one free-floating brown dwarf. The planet is only around 180 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) warmer than gas giants in our solar system. This provides a rare opportunity for astronomers to study the atmospheric composition of true solar system analogs.

The data also revealed that the exoplanet is twice as massive as expected and has a slightly different orbit than expected based on previous less precise data.

Leave a comment

Webb infrared spectroscopy detects differences between morning and evening on tidally-locked exoplanet

9:36 am

Webb spectroscopic data
Click for original image.

Astronomers using Webb Space Telescope’s infrared spectroscopy have now detected distinct differences in the morning and evening atmosphere of a tidally-locked gas giant exoplanet.

The graph, cropped, reduced, sharpened, annotated to post here, shows the differences. From the caption:

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have finally confirmed what models have previously predicted: An exoplanet has differences between its eternal morning and eternal evening atmosphere. WASP-39 b, a giant planet with a diameter 1.3 times greater than Jupiter, but similar mass to Saturn that orbits a star about 700 light-years away from Earth, is tidally locked to its parent star. This means it has a constant dayside and a constant nightside—one side of the planet is always exposed to its star, while the other is always shrouded in darkness.

Using Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), astronomers confirmed a temperature difference between the eternal morning and eternal evening on WASP-39 b, with the evening appearing hotter by roughly 300 Fahrenheit degrees (about 200 Celsius degrees). They also found evidence for different cloud cover, with the forever morning portion of the planet being likely cloudier than the evening.

The actual temperatures of each terminator are quite hot, approximately 1,150 and 1450 degrees Fahrenheit respectively. Computer modeling suggests “the prevailing winds are likely moving from the night side across the morning terminator, around the dayside, across the evening terminator and then around the nightside,” with wind speeds thousands of miles per hour.

One comment

A penguin and egg, as seen by Webb and Hubble

11:32 am

A penquin and egg compared
Click for original images.

Cool image time! The two pictures to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, were taken by both the Webb and Hubble space telescopes of the same unusual galactic object, officially called Arp 142 but nicknamed by astronomers the Penquin and the Egg.

Both of these objects are galaxies. The Penquin’s strange shape is caused by the presence of the Egg, which is an elliptical galaxy that is twisting and distorting the Penquin’s original spiral galaxy whirlpool as it flies past. From the caption:

Like all spiral galaxies, the Penguin is still very rich in gas and dust. The galaxies’ “dance” gravitationally pulled on the Penguin’s thinner areas of gas and dust, causing them to crash in waves and form stars. Look for those areas in two places: what looks like a fish in its “beak” and the “feathers” in its “tail.”

Surrounding these newer stars is smoke-like material that includes carbon-containing molecules, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which Webb is exceptional at detecting. Dust, seen as fainter, deeper orange arcs also swoops from its beak to tail feathers.

In contrast, the Egg’s compact shape remains largely unchanged. As an elliptical galaxy, it is filled with aging stars, and has a lot less gas and dust that can be pulled away to form new stars. If both were spiral galaxies, each would end the first “twist” with new star formation and twirling curls, known as tidal tails.

Another reason for the Egg’s undisturbed appearance: These galaxies have approximately the same mass or heft, which is why the smaller-looking elliptical wasn’t consumed or distorted by the Penguin.

The differences between the two pictures also reveal many aspects of the Penguin. The Hubble optical image at the top captures the lanes of dust in the foreground, while the Webb infrared image at the bottom looks right through this dust to better trace the now-distorted spiral arms where star formation is presently taking place.

Astronomers estimate that these two galaxies are about 100,000 light years apart, comparable to the width of the Milky Way. In comparison, the Andromeda galaxy is around 2.5 million light years away, and will not begin interacting with our galaxy in this manner for an estimated four billion years. The Egg and Penguin however began their warped dance about 50 million years ago.

4 comments

Webb: An exoplanet in the habitable zone with a possible nitrogen/CO2 atmosphere and water ocean

8:51 am

Using the Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have obtained new transiting spectroscopy of a “mini-Neptune-sized” exoplanet that circles in the habitable zone a red dwarf star about 48 light years away and have concluded that it appears to have a nitrogen/carbon dioxide atmosphere and even a water ocean.

While it is still only a tentative result, the presence of a nitrogen-rich atmosphere on LHS 1140 b would suggest the planet has retained a substantial atmosphere, creating conditions that might support liquid water. This discovery favors the water-world/snowball scenario as the most plausible.

Current models indicate that if LHS 1140 b has an Earth-like atmosphere, it would be a snowball planet with a vast “bull’s-eye” ocean measuring about 4,000 kilometers in diameter, equivalent to half the surface area of the Atlantic Ocean. The surface temperature at the centre of this alien ocean could even be a comfortable 20 degrees Celsius [68 degrees Fahrenheit]. [emphasis mine]

You can read the preprint of the paper here [pdf].

The highlighted phrase must be noted. These results contain a lot of uncertainties and assumptions. However, the data is tantalizing, to say the least, and justify more observations using Webb. The scientists argue in their paper that because there are only about eight transits of the exoplanet per year — requiring several years of observations to pin down this data more precisely — and because Webb has a limited life expectancy as an infrared observatory, this star should get observational priority.

2 comments

Webb: Hot Jupiter exoplanet has atmosphere with the smell of rotten eggs

9:20 am

Using spectroscopy from the infrared Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have measured some of the molecules in exoplanet HD 189733 b, one of the first hot Jupiter exoplanets ever discovered, and found it has an atmosphere rich in hydrogen sulfide, which emits a smell like rotten eggs.

In addition to detecting hydrogen sulfide, the team analyzed the planet’s oxygen and carbon content, pinpointing water, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide as major components of the planetary atmosphere. Measuring these heavy elements allows astronomers to compare the composition of exoplanets to that of gas giants in our solar system like Jupiter and Uranus.

The exoplanet, about 64 light years away, has an orbit lasting only about two Earth days, with atmospheric temperatures has hot as 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit.

One comment

Webb takes false-color infrared image of bi-polar protostar nebula

10:02 am

Hourglass nebula as seen in infrared by Webb
Click for original image.

Scientists using the Webb Space Telescope have now produced a new false-color infrared image of the bi-polar hour-glass-shaped protostar nebula dubbed L1527.

That image is to the left, created from data from Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here. While it is not quite a pretty as a prevous Webb infrared image taken in 2022 by its NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), it provides new information about the make-up of materials within this nebula. From the caption:

The areas colored here in blue, which encompass most of the hourglass, show mostly carbonaceous molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The protostar itself and the dense blanket of dust and a mixture of gases that surround it are represented in red. (The sparkler-like red extensions are an artifact of the telescopes’s optics). In between, MIRI reveals a white region directly above and below the protostar, which doesn’t show as strongly in the NIRCam view. This region is a mixture of hydrocarbons, ionized neon, and thick dust, which shows that the protostar propels this matter quite far away from it as it messily consumes material from its disk.

Previous to Webb, this object had mostly been studied in 2012 using radio and submillimeter wavelengths (see the papers here and here), but those papers determined this is possibly the youngest known protostar, less than 100,000 years old.

Leave a comment

Scientists surprised by new Webb data of the upper layers of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

9:33 am

Jupiter's Great Red Spot, as seen in infrared
Click for original image.

The uncertainty of science: Using the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have obtained infrared data of the upper layers of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, revealing that it is far more complicated that predicted by researchers.

The upper atmosphere of Jupiter is the interface between the planet’s magnetic field and the underlying atmosphere. Here, the bright and vibrant displays of northern and southern lights can be seen, which are fuelled by the volcanic material ejected from Jupiter’s moon Io. However, closer to the equator, the structure of the planet’s upper atmosphere is influenced by incoming sunlight. Because Jupiter receives only 4% of the sunlight that is received on Earth, astronomers predicted this region to be homogeneous in nature.

The Great Red Spot of Jupiter was observed by Webb’s Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec) in July 2022, using the instrument’s Integral Field Unit capabilities. The team’s Early Release Science observations sought to investigate if this region was in fact dull, and the region above the iconic Great Red Spot was targeted for Webb’s observations. The team was surprised to discover that the upper atmosphere hosts a variety of intricate structures, including dark arcs and bright spots, across the entire field of view.

You can read the published research paper here. The image to the right is figure 4 from that paper, with each panel showing different infrared wavelengths indicated by the different colors, and thus the complex structures and physical properties.

One comment

Webb produces false color infrared image of the Crab Nebula

9:30 am

The Crab Nebula as in infrared by Webb
Click for original image.

The false-color infrared picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was taken by the Webb Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, located 6,500 light years away and created when a star went supernova in 1054 AD, in order to better understand its make-up and origins. From the caption:

The supernova remnant is comprised of several different components, including doubly ionized sulfur (represented in green), warm dust (magenta), and synchrotron emission (blue). Yellow-white mottled filaments within the Crab’s interior represent areas where dust and doubly ionized sulfur coincide.

The spectroscopic data from this infrared observation has in fact increased the puzzle of the Crab’s origin. Previously the data suggested the supernova that caused it was one type of supernova. This data now suggests it could have been a different type, without precluding the possibility of the first.

“Now the Webb data widen the possible interpretations,” said Tea Temim, lead author of the study at Princeton University in New Jersey. “The composition of the gas no longer requires an electron-capture explosion, but could also be explained by a weak iron core-collapse supernova.”

You can read the published science paper here [pdf].

Leave a comment
1 2 3