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Category: space

Massive impact could be the cause of our lopsided moon

Our nearest neighbor, the moon, is still something of a mystery to us. For decades, scientists have wondered why it appears so lopsided, with dark volcanic plains on the near side (the side we see) and rugged, cratered mountains and a thicker crust on the far side. Now we might be closer to knowing why.

Analysis of lunar soil and rock brought back from the far side by China’s Chang’e-6 mission suggests that a massive impact long ago changed the moon’s interior.

The samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken basin, a massive impact crater covering nearly one-quarter of the moon’s surface. Because it is so deep, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences wanted to see whether the impact had reached the moon’s mantle and changed its chemistry.

Strange New Side of Viral Evolution Revealed on the International Space Station

Viruses that infect bacteria can still do their job in microgravity, but space changes the rules of the fight.

In a new experiment conducted aboard the International Space Station, scientists found that viruses which infect bacteria can still successfully infect E. coli under near-weightless microgravity conditions. While infection still occurred, the interaction between viruses and bacteria unfolded differently than it does on Earth. The research, led by Phil Huss of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A., was published today (January 13th) in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

A microscopic arms race in an unusual environment.

Negative Energy ‘Ghosts’ Flashing in Space Could Reveal New Physics

A ‘boom’ of light that appears when a particle exceeds the speed of light set by a medium could, in other contexts, signal a kind of quantum instability that could trigger what’s known as vacuum decay.

If ever spotted in the emptiness of space, according to theoretical physicist Eugeny Babichev of the University of Paris-Saclay, the eerie blue glow of Cherenkov radiation could be interpreted as a manifestation of negative-energy ghost perturbations.

Why does it matter? Because our current theory of gravity is incomplete, and such a signal would offer rare insight into how spacetime behaves in regimes where existing theories break down, and potentially narrow the search for better models.

Texas takes charge of world’s most powerful telescope

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The group building what could become the world’s most powerful optical telescope, the Giant Magellan, has a new leader. The GMTO Corporation announced Tuesday that The University of Texas at Austin’s Daniel T. Jaffe will serve as its new president.

Jaffe joins fellow UT professor Taft Armandroff, who was elected in November to chair the GMTO board of directors.

“I’m very excited about the chance to lead this project. I’m very enthusiastic about its prospects. I think it’s going to be a major breakthrough for astronomical science in the coming decades,” Jaffe said.

Europa’s ocean may lack energy needed to support life

“If we could explore that ocean with a remote-control submarine, we predict we wouldn’t see any new fractures, active volcanoes or plumes of hot water on the seafloor,” said Dr. Paul Byrne.

Does Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, contain the conditions for life as we know it? This is what a recent study published in Nature Communications hopes to address as a team of scientists from the United States and Canada investigated the likelihood of Europa’s subsurface ocean having the right conditions for life to exist. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the necessary conditions for where life could exist, along with developing the methods for understanding them.

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer models to simulate potential tectonic activity on the seafloor of Europa’s subsurface ocean. The reason for studying tectonic activity on Europa is because this geological process is a key driver of life both existing and thriving on Earth. This is because plate tectonics are responsible for recycling nutrients to and from the Earth’s interior as it recycles materials like rocks and dust. This also enables the flow of water from the Earth’s interior to the seafloor. The researchers examined a myriad of mechanisms, including tidal forces, mantle convection, global contraction, and water-rock interactions (serpentinization).

In the end, the researchers found that Europa potentially does not exhibit these mechanisms to enable plate tectonics to be produced on Europa. They conclude that the liquid water making its way to the seafloor only occurs in the first few hundred feet, whereas plate tectonics occur over hundreds of miles. Finally, they conclude that is Europa does have life, they plate tectonics isn’t responsible for it.

Mars’ Gravity Helps Shape Earth’s Ice Age Cycles

“I knew Mars had some effect on Earth, but I assumed it was tiny,” said Dr. Stephen Kane.

How does Mars influence Earth’s climate cycles? This is what a recent study published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific hopes to address as a trio of researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia investigated how the gravitational interactions between Earth and Mars help alter the former’s climate evolution. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand how external processes influence planetary habitability and what this could mean for finding life beyond Earth.

For the study, the researchers used a series of computer models to simulate Earth Milankovitch cycles, which are changes in Earth’s eccentricity (orbit shape), obliquity (axial tilt), and precession (axial wobble) over hundreds of thousands of years. Specifically, the researchers aspired to ascertain how gravitational interactions with Mars could influence these cycles, including climate evolution like ice ages.

In the end, the researchers found that Mars not only influences Earth’s orbital patterns and behavior, but that the solar system’s architecture influences each other’s orbital patterns, and this could have implications for searching for Earth-like exoplanets. This comes despite Mars being approximately half the size of Earth.

New massive hot subdwarf binary discovered

Astronomers report the discovery of a new binary system, designated LAMOST J065816.72+094343.1. The newfound binary consists of a massive and hot subdwarf and an unseen companion. The finding was detailed in the January issue of the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal.

LAMOST J065816.72+094343.1, or J0658 for short, was first identified in 2018 by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and classified as a hot subdwarf star of an sdOB type. Initial observations of J0658 have found that it is a helium-poor star with an effective temperature of about 35,800 K and a projected rotational velocity of 37 km/s.

Given that very little is known about J0658, a team of astronomers led by Fabian Mattig of the University of Potsdam in Germany decided to analyze the archival LAMOST data and to conduct follow-up observations of this star with the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), hoping to unveil its true nature.

NASA Rover Detects Electric Sparks in Mars Dust Devils, Storms

Perseverance confirmed a long-suspected phenomenon in which electrical discharges and their associated shock waves can be born within Red Planet mini-twisters.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has recorded the sounds of electrical discharges —sparks — and mini-sonic booms in dust devils on Mars. Long theorized, the phenomenon has now been confirmed through audio and electromagnetic recordings captured by the rover’s SuperCam microphone. The discovery, published Nov. 26 in the journal Nature, has implications for Martian atmospheric chemistry, climate, and habitability, and could help inform the design of future robotic and human missions to Mars.

A frequent occurrence on the Red Planet, dust devils form from rising and rotating columns of warm air. Air near the planet’s surface becomes heated by contact with the warmer ground and rises through the denser, cooler air above. As other air moves along the surface to take the place of the rising warmer air, it begins to rotate. When the incoming air rises into the column, it picks up speed like spinning ice skaters bringing their arms closer to their body. The air rushing in also picks up dust, and a dust devil is born.

Mars was once a ‘blue planet’: Ancient river deltas point to vast ocean

Using images from cameras on Mars orbiters, an international research team has discovered structures on Mars that are very similar to classic river deltas on Earth. These are traces of rivers that have deposited their sediments into an ocean. This shows that Mars was a “blue planet” around 3 billion years ago.

The existence of water on Mars is a central topic in planetary research. Previous studies have already provided evidence of oceans and rivers on Mars, indicating a once humid and possibly habitable environment. Evidence of former water and a possible ocean have also been discovered for the Valles Marineris—the largest canyon system on Mars, which stretches along its equator. These come, among other things, from discoveries of minerals that have been altered by water.

A research team from the University of Bern, in collaboration with the INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, has now gained new insights into the geological past of Valles Marineris: Using high-resolution images from various Mars cameras, the researchers have found geomorphologic structures near the canyon system that resemble river deltas on Earth. These structures represent the mouth of a river into an ocean. The new study thus provides clear evidence of a coastline and consequently of an earlier ocean on Mars.

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