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If you’re a pop music fan, you’ve probably heard Karla Bonoff‘s songs—but may not know that she wrote them, for the most famous ones were popularized by others. Her two best, in my view, were covered by Linda Ronstadt (“Someone to Lay Down Beside Me“) and Lynn Anderson (“Isn’t it Always Love“). Yet Bonoff recorded both of these songs herself, and her versions—save for Ronstadt’s, which is a classic—are at least as good as the covers.

Bonoff does tour, but it’s hard to find good live videos of her performances.  I’ll show a couple. She’s now 73 but apparently is still drawing appreciative fans to her concert.

Here’s her best song performed live, and clearly done some time ago. The quality of the recording is poor, but gives an idea of her talent.

“Isn’t it Always Love”, played not that long ago:

“The Water is Wide” wasn’t written by Bonoff, but rather is derived from British folk songs that go back to the seventeenth century, and its beauty makes it one of my very favorite folk songs. Bonoff sings it frequently, and her versions, I think, are the best ones. Here’s a recent live performance with Nina Gerber playing accompaniment on the electric guitar (see Gerber’s great solo at 2:01, which sounds in places like a violin).

How can we explore Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, to include its surface and subsurface ocean, with the goal of potentially discovering life as we know it? This is what a recent study presented at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024 Fall Meeting hopes to address as a team of students and researchers proposed the Thermal Investigation of Geothermal Regions of Enceladus (TIGRE) mission concept, which is designed to conduct in-depth exploration of Enceladus with an orbiter, lander, and drill, while laying the groundwork for future missions to icy moons throughout the solar system.

Here, Universe Today discusses this incredible mission concept with Prabhleen Kour, who is a senior at River Valley High School in Yuba City, CA, and lead author of the study, regarding the motivation behind TIGRE, how TIGRE can improve upon findings from NASA’s now-retired Cassini mission, potential landing sites on Enceladus, how TIGRE can improve missions to other icy moons, the next steps in making TIGRE a reality, and whether she thinks Enceladus has life. Therefore, what was the motivation behind TIGRE?

“TIGRE mission was born during our time with the NASA STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) program in collaboration with UT Austin’s Center for Space Research,” Kour tells Universe Today. “As part of our internship, our team was tasked to design a space mission within our solar system based on a few assigned parameters. The designed mission had to be aligned to current work being performed by NASA but separate from active missions such as the Europa Clipper. Similarly, the main subject of our mission, Enceladus, and our goals with it, had to be chosen in accordance with the Decadal Survey which dictates what missions and priorities space agencies have. In our case, we were driven to explore a celestial body that might hold the signs of life.”

The TIGRE mission concept comes more than seven years after NASA’s Cassini-Huygen mission ended by performing an intentional dive into Saturn, resulting in Cassini breaking apart in Saturn’s atmosphere. During its storied mission, Cassini spent more than 13 years conducting the most in-depth exploration of Saturn and its many moons, including Titan, Mimas, Atlas, Daphnis, Pandora, Iapetus, Rhea, Dione, Pan, Hyperion, and Enceladus.

Of these moons, Titan and Enceladus are the only two that exhibit potential conditions for life, as Titan is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere and contains lakes of liquid methane and ethane, while Enceladus boasts a large subsurface ocean that discharge geysers of liquid water from its large crevices in its south pole, dubbed Tiger Stripes. It is the geysers of Enceladus that Cassini not only discovered but flew through twice during its mission, identifying water, carbon dioxide, and a myriad of hydrocarbons and organic materials, the last of which exhibited density 20 times greater than predicted. Therefore, how does TIGRE improve upon findings from the Cassini mission?

Image of Enceladus’ south pole geysers obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in June 2009. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

“Though Cassini’s flyby was incredible and provided us with great information, TIGRE aims to get an incredibly close look at Enceladus’ secrets,” Kour tells Universe Today. “Since TIGRE is designed to go on the surface of Enceladus, it will get more of the ‘inside scoop’ than Cassini. Cassini has already helped us by identifying the organic molecules contained within the ocean, now we want to explore other factors that might make life possible on Enceladus. We are planning to locate any potential regions of interest and stability of habitable zones, analyze samples for organic/inorganic indicators of prebiotic lifeforms, and utilize our findings for future missions. The TIGRE mission contains a drill design, which will reach the subsurface ocean and collect water samples for elements such as CHONPS.”

Enceladus’ Tiger Stripes consist of four main features officially named Damascus Sulcus, Baghdad Sulcus, Cairo Sulcus, and Alexandria Sulcus, with a smaller feature branching off Alexandria called Camphor Sulcus (sulcus being plural for sulci and is an astrogeology term meaning parallel ridges), and are responsible for the geysers that discharge Enceladus’ interior ocean into space. The thickness of the ice in this region is estimated to be approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). Since one of the primary goals of the TIGRE mission is to obtain drill samples of the ocean and identify potential signs of life, the team targeted the Tiger Stripes as potential landing sites for a craft to land and obtain samples of the ocean.

To accomplish this, the team outlined specific landing site criteria to maximize mission success, including landing on relatively flat terrain near a geyser, but not directly on a geyser, to avoid being damaged by uneven terrain or disrupted during geyser activity. Additionally, they determined a low-elevation region would be substantial to minimize the amount of ice the drill would have to penetrate to obtain samples. In the end, the team chose a primary landing site located near the Baghdad stripe that met their landing criteria, located approximately 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) from a geyser and a surface elevation of approximately 450 meters (1,476 feet), along with potential backup landing sites.

Enceladus’ Tiger Stripes. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

“Our decision to land near the Baghdad stripe was due to the following: Flat terrain to prevent lander damage, proximity to a geyser, and low elevation to minimize drilling distance,” Kour tells Universe Today. “Any other location that met these requirements were deemed as backups. We analyzed multiple different locations throughout the four stripes, and there were a few that met the requirements on the Cairo stripe. More specifically, one location of interest was between a large geyser and a smaller geyser on the Cario stripe. However, because the location on the Baghdad stripe was close to multiple other smaller geysers, we chose the Baghdad location.”

As noted, Enceladus isn’t the only moon of Saturn that is deemed to potentially have life, as its largest moon, Titan, has a dense and hazy atmosphere caused by specific chemical reactions that scientists have hypothesized existed on early Earth. Additionally, its lakes of liquid methane and ethane have also become prime targets for astrobiologists. Outside of the Saturn system, other icy moons exist throughout the solar system that potentially once had life or could have life today, including Jupiter’s moons, Europa and Ganymede, with both presenting evidence of subsurface oceans circulating beneath their icy crusts.

Venturing closer to the Sun and inside the main asteroid belt orbits the dwarf planet Ceres, which NASA’s Dawn spacecraft identified frozen salts caused by a process known as cryovolcanism. Current models debate the interior structure of Ceres, but it is hypothesized that it once had liquid water long ago. Finally, venturing to the outer portions of the solar system orbits Neptune’s moon, Triton, which NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft identified active geysers on its surface comprised of cryolava lakes. Since one of the primary mission objectives of TIGRE is to improve future missions to icy moons, how will it accomplish this?

“The mission will help advance remote sensing, orbiting, landing, and thermal drilling technologies, setting a precedent for future exploration,” Kour tells Universe Today. “TIGRE consists of three main components: the orbiter, lander, and drill. This design is not limited to Enceladus’ surface alone. Instead, this design can be applicable to many other icy surfaces, including those on Earth like Antarctica and other icy moons. Data from the lander’s sampling devices, thermal drill, and the orbiter’s remote sensing will provide comprehensive insights into the composition and formation of Enceladus’s subsurface ocean. These findings could also inform our understanding of other icy moons, broadening our knowledge of potentially habitable environments in the outer Solar System.”

As Universe Today recently discussed with the VATMOS-SR mission concept, it can take anywhere from years to decades for a space mission to go from a concept to reality, involving a myriad of steps and phases, including design, funding rounds, testing, re-designs, re-testing, until it’s finally built and launched. This is followed by several years of traveling to the destination, arriving, and finally collecting science.

For example, the Cassini-Huygens mission was first proposed in 1982 and wasn’t launched until 1997, during which time it endured several years of studies and swapped between a solo NASA mission or a joint NASA-European Space Agency mission, the latter of which was settled upon. After launching in 1997, Cassini finally arrived at Saturn in July 2004, landing the Huygens probe on Titan in January 2005, and spent until 2017 obtaining treasure troves of images and data about Saturn and its many moons, even discovering a few moons along the way and diving through Enceladus’ plumes. Given the journey that Cassini endured, what are the next steps in making TIGRE a reality?

“One of the first steps in making TIGRE a reality is waiting for the completion of the Europa Clipper mission,” Kour tells Universe Today. “In waiting for the mission’s completion, we will be able to see what worked and failed to gather useful samples and what failed to navigate space’s harsh environment. In the meantime, we can advocate for the significance of finding life to enlarge NASA’s budget for active missions. This itself would be a step towards launching the TIGRE mission by opening the resources for improving and testing our mission’s main components (the orbiter, lander, and drill) against the extreme cold, ocean waters, and radiation.”

As noted, Enceladus is a prime target for astrobiologists in the search for life beyond Earth due to its vast subsurface ocean circulating beneath its icy shell. As demonstrated here on Earth, liquid water leads to life as we know it, so Enceladus having a liquid water ocean, even a subsurface ocean, is a strong indicator that it could potentially also have life as we know it, too.

The hydrocarbons discovered by Cassini when the spacecraft flew through Enceladus’ plumes included carbon-bearing molecules like formaldehyde, acetylene, propane, and methane, which is evidence for hydrothermal activity occurring on the ocean floor of Enceladus, much like hydrothermal activity exists on the ocean floors of Earth, specifically regarding the water-rock interactions that occur here, as well. Therefore, in Kour’s opinion, does Enceladus have life and what kinds of life does she foresee finding within their potential TIGRE samples?

“It is not a stretch of reason to state Enceladus could harbor life,” Kour tells Universe Today. “As previously mentioned, Enceladus has the components for life through key elements and has the energy activity to make the possibility of life more plausible. Within the depths of its oceans, Enceladus may very well have life. However, we do not want to explicitly state that there is something there, as there are so many factors at play – thin atmosphere, other chemicals that were potentially not detected by Cassini, and environmental conditions. If there is life and it is similar to the one on Earth, we could expect it to be one of close relations to Archaea. The representatives of this domain are quite primitive and unicellular, which aligns with our hypothesis of Enceladus being able to harbor a simple life form. However, it can also survive harsh conditions – such as extreme cold temperatures on the moon and radiation.”

How will TIGRE help scientists better understand Enceladus and potentially other icy moons throughout the solar system in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

The post Sampling Enceladus’ Subsurface Ocean with TIGRE Mission Concept appeared first on Universe Today.

Did you find the squirrel in Berlin? Yes, it was a hard one, and I couldn’t find it until it was pointed out to me.  First, the original:

And then the reveal; I’ve circled the elusive rodent:

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First, it’s a cat holiday in Japan!  From Facebook:

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The Kiffness is back, riffing on a cat’s meows. This time it’s “Kitty Caught a Mouse”, with tumpet and keyboard accompaniment. (Not the gratuitous appearance of a d*g.)

 

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In this short video from Instagram, a cat not only makes biscuits, but also delivers them! (Props to whoever finds the original song in Spanish that accompanies this video.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cats Doing Things (@catsdoingthings)

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This event was covered by several British papers, including the times (click below, or find it archived here) as well as the BBC.  Yes, a cat got on a train and left home, but it all ended well.

From The Times:

Tilly had already shown her adventurous streak with solo trips to the local pub and the vet. This time, however, the two-year-old cat from Surrey decided to really go the extra mile.

Hopping aboard a train at Weybridge, Tilly proceeded to hitch an 18-mile ride into London, arriving at Waterloo station.

Michael Hardy and Emma Hill, her owners, said their affable cat had a reputation for straying, having caught buses before as well as climbing behind the bar of his local pub.

But even he admitted he was shocked when he received a call from a station officer informing him that his cat had found her way into central London.

“Luckily, I was working in London that day, but I had to drive across the city to go and collect her,” he said.

“The station staff couldn’t believe it. They said, ‘we have your cat, what the hell is she doing here?’, kind of thing. But she is always at the local station [in Weybridge]. People come from everywhere now to try to find her. The locals all know her.”

Hardy said he wouldn’t be surprised if his intrepid pet had even grander ambitions.

“Waterloo is the furthest she has ever made it. If she manages to get on the other line she could end up in Brighton,” he said.

“Summer is coming up, isn’t it? She might want to go to the beach. But she always comes back at some point.”

Hardy and Hill realised their cat was missing in November, but were in disbelief when they saw their Apple AirTag — which they bought specially to keep an eye on her — revealed that Tilly was on the train to London.

“We didn’t know where she was. We looked on the Apple tag and realised she had gone to Waterloo,” he said.

“The only way she can get there is on the train. You look at the tag and you see it going from one stop to another.”

Tilly’s journey from a Times graphic:

And her obligatory FB page:

Tilly’s reputation for adventure has won her fans from around the world. She has her own Facebook page called “Tilly the adventure cat”, which has more than 4,700 followers.

And a news video recounting Tilly’s Big Adventure:

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Lagniappe: A cat inhabiting what I think is the statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio. Click on it to see the Facebook video.

 

h/t: Amy, Divy, Mark, Chris

I think this is the hardest “spot the. . . ” picture that I’ve seen. It comes from Natalie in Berlin, who came across an Eichhörnchen (“squirrel” in German) while perambulating with her children.  You’ll have to enlarge it (click on the photo) and even then you might have trouble.

If you find it, do not give clues in the comments; let others have the fun. But you can say “I found it” or “I didn’t find it.”

The reveal will be at noon Chicago time.

Have you ever wondered how astronomers manage to map out the Milky Way when it’s so incredibly vast? One of the most powerful tools is something called 21cm radiation.

Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, plays a key role here. When the electrons in hydrogen atoms flip their spin direction, a specific type of electromagnetic radiation is emitted at a wavelength of 21 centimeters.

The Milky Way galaxy is packed with hydrogen atoms, and these atoms are constantly emitting 21cm radiation. The best part is that this radiation can travel long distances through the interstellar dust that often obscures our view of the galaxy in visible light. This makes 21cm radiation an incredibly useful tool for mapping the structure of the Milky Way.

This radiation reveals everything from star-forming gas clouds to the shapes of the galaxy’s spiral arms. Whereas visible light just gets caught up in all the interstellar dust at it tries to traverse the tens of thousands of light-years across the galaxy, 21cm radiation just sails right though.

But mapping the galaxy’s structure is just one part of the story. Astronomers can also learn about the Milky Way’s rotation by studying the redshift and blueshift of the 21cm radiation. When an object in space moves away from us, the wavelength of the light or radiation it emits gets stretched out, making it appear redder (redshift). Conversely, when an object moves toward us, the wavelength gets compressed, making it appear bluer (blueshift).

By analyzing the redshift and blueshift of the 21cm radiation from different parts of the galaxy, astronomers can determine how fast various regions of the Milky Way are rotating. This information helps them build a more comprehensive picture of our galaxy’s dynamics and motion.

The utility of 21cm radiation isn’t limited to the Milky Way alone. Astronomers can use these same techniques to study distant galaxies as well. By examining the neutral hydrogen gas clouds in far-off galaxies, they can estimate the masses of these galaxies. This is because the amount of 21cm radiation emitted is related to the number of hydrogen atoms present, which in turn gives clues about the galaxy’s overall mass.

21cm radiation is a powerful tool in the field of astronomy that allows astronomers to map the structure of our Milky Way galaxy, understand its rotation, and even estimate the masses of distant galaxies. This technique opens a window into the vast and complex universe, helping us unravel the mysteries of the cosmos with every new observation.

So next time you gaze up at the night sky, remember that there’s a whole lot more going on than meets the eye. Thanks to 21cm radiation, we’re able to peel back the layers of the Milky Way and explore the wonders of the universe in ways that were once unimaginable.

The post How Astronomers Make Deep Maps of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today.

NASA astronomers have been continuing to monitor the trajectory of asteroid 2024 YR4. The initial calculations suggested a 1.3% probability of an Earth impact event, which temporarily increased to 3.1% as more data came in. However, and with a sigh of relief, recent analysis brings encouraging news: the Earth impact probability has decreased significantly to 0.28%, though calculations now show a 1% chance of lunar impact. Observations will continue with the James Webb Space Telescope so stay tuned. 

Asteroids are rocky, airless worlds that are remnants left over from the formation of our Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago. They range in size from tiny pebbles to massive bodies hundreds of kilometres across. Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter although some follow paths that bring them closer to Earth.  Occasionally, they can pose a threat to Earth, which is why astronomers and space agencies closely monitor their orbits and develop potential deflection techniques.

Asteroid Ryugu as seen by Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft, which returned a sample of the ancient asteroid to Earth in 2020. Image Courtesy ISAS/JAXA

Asteroid 2024 YR4 is one such asteroid that has had gripped the nations media over recent weeks. It’s a near-Earth object that was discovered on 27 December 2024, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile. Initially, it had an estimated 1.3% chance of impact with Earth in 2032, making it one of the highest-risk asteroids ever recorded. However, further observations raised that risk!

Atlas 2 on Mauna Loa

Astronomers use systems like ATLAS to identify near-Earth objects (NEOs) that could pose a potential threat to our planet. It was developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA and consists of a network of telescopes positioned around the world to provide continuous sky surveys. Its primary goal is to detect asteroids before a potential impact, allowing for timely warnings and mitigation efforts. Since its installation, ATLAS has successfully discovered thousands of asteroids, including hazardous ones just like 2024 YR4. 

Understanding the level of threat from asteroids like 2024 YR4 requires time, time and observations. Imagine a game of tennis and the ball is hit, sending it flying over the net. A photographer sat in the crowd grabs a snapshot of the ball as it flies over the net. The picture is a clear, sharp capture of a point in time however analysis of the image can only reveal the exact location of the ball and not its trajectory. It’s the same with asteroids, once they are discovered, a single observation will reveal where it is but a series of observations are required to understand where it’s going. Ok so this is a simplistic view but it shows how important continued observations are to asteroids like 2024 YR4.

Further observations of asteroid 2024 YR4, conducted during the night of 19-20 February have revealed encouraging results. NASA’s planetary defence team have reported that the probability of an Earth impact has decreased to 0.28%. Monitoring will of course continue to refine trajectory predictions, but current calculations indicate a slight increase in the possibility of lunar impact, now estimated at 1%. These percentages are of course tiny and pose no cause for alarm but 2024 YR4 will continue to be observed over the coming months, just to be sure.

Source : Additional Observations Continue to Reduce Chance of Asteroid Impact in 2032

The post NASA Downgrades the Risk of 2024 YR4 to Below 1% appeared first on Universe Today.

A hybrid microscope allows scientists to simultaneously image the full 3D orientation and position of an ensemble of molecules, such as labeled proteins inside cells. The microscope combines polarized fluorescence technology, a valuable tool for measuring the orientation of molecules, with a dual-view light sheet microscope (diSPIM), which excels at imaging along the depth (axial) axis of a sample.

Agricultural fertilizers are critical for feeding the world's population, restoring soil fertility and sustaining crops. Excessive and inefficient use of those resources can present an environmental threat, contaminating waterways and generating greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Now, researchers have addressed those challenges with glass fertilizer beads. The beads control nutrient release, and the researchers say they're environmentally compatible.

Researchers are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology.

Researchers are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology.

Some exoplanets have characteristics totally alien to our Solar System. Hot Jupiters are one such type. They can have orbital periods of less than 10 days and surface temperatures that can climb to well over 4,000 K (3,730 °C or 6,740 °F). Unlike any planets in our system, they’re usually tidally locked.

Astronomers probed the atmosphere of one hot Jupiter and found some strange winds blowing.

The planet is WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos. It is about 860 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Puppis. It has about 1.16 Jupiter masses and a radius about 1.75 times that of Jupiter. It’s extremely close to its main sequence star and completes an orbit every 1.27 days. Tylos is tidally locked to its star, and its dayside temperature is 3,000 Kelvin (2,730 °C or 4,940 °F), qualifying it as an ultra-hot Jupiter.

“It feels like something out of science fiction.”

Julia Seidel, European Southern Observatory

Since its discovery in 2015, Tylos’ atmosphere has been studied many times. Researchers found water in its stratosphere and hints of titanium oxide and vanadium oxide. They’ve also detected iron and chromium, though some subsequent studies failed to replicate some of these findings.

In new research, scientists examined Tylos’ atmosphere in greater detail with the four telescopes that make up the VLT. With help from the VLT’s ESPRESSO instrument, the researchers found powerful winds blowing through the exoplanet’s atmosphere and confirmed the presence of iron and titanium. The results are in two new papers.

“Even the strongest hurricanes in the Solar System seem calm in comparison.”

Julia Seidel, European Southern Observatory

The first paper, “Vertical structure of an exoplanet’s atmospheric jet stream,” was published in Nature. The lead author is Julia Seidel, a researcher at the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

The second is “Titanium chemistry of WASP-121 b with ESPRESSO in 4-UT mode,” which was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The lead author is Bibiana Prinoth, a PhD student at Lund University, Sweden, who is also with the European Southern Observatory.

Some of the researchers involved are co-authors of both papers.

“Ultra-hot Jupiters, an extreme class of planets not found in our solar system, provide a unique window into atmospheric processes,” the authors of the Nature paper write. “The extreme temperature contrasts between their day- and night-sides pose a fundamental climate puzzle: how is energy distributed?”

An artist’s impression of Tylos, also known as WASP-121 b. Image Courtesy: NASA, ESA, Q. Changeat et al., M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

“This planet’s atmosphere behaves in ways that challenge our understanding of how weather works — not just on Earth, but on all planets. It feels like something out of science fiction,” said Julia Seidel, the lead author of the study published in Nature.

With the power of the VLT and ESPRESSO, the researchers were able to study Tylos’ atmosphere in detail. No other exoplanet atmosphere has ever been studied in such detail and to such depth. The researchers created a 3D map of the atmosphere, revealing distinct layers and winds.

Tylos’ atmosphere is divided into three layers, with iron winds at the bottom, followed by a very fast jet stream of sodium, and finally, an upper layer of hydrogen winds. This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

“What we found was surprising: a jet stream rotates material around the planet’s equator, while a separate flow at lower levels of the atmosphere moves gas from the hot side to the cooler side. This kind of climate has never been seen before on any planet,” said Seidel. The observed jet stream spans half of the planet, gaining speed and violently churning the atmosphere high up in the sky as it crosses the hot side of Tylos. “Even the strongest hurricanes in the Solar System seem calm in comparison,” she adds.

“It’s truly mind-blowing that we’re able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance.”

Bibiana Prinoth, Lund University and the European Southern Observatory

The VLT has an interesting design and is billed by the European Southern Observatory as “the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory.” It has four main units with 8.2-meter primary mirrors and four smaller, movable auxiliary ‘scopes with 1.8-meter primary mirrors. When working together with the ESPRESSO instrument, the VLT operates as a single, powerful telescope. This combined power meant that the VLT gathered ample data during a single transit of Tylos in front of its star.

“The VLT enabled us to probe three different layers of the exoplanet’s atmosphere in one fell swoop,” said study co-author Leonardo A. dos Santos, an assistant astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The researchers traced the movement of the winds by tracking the movements of different elements: iron, sodium, and hydrogen correspond to the deep, mid, and shallow layers of the atmosphere. “It’s the kind of observation that is very challenging to do with space telescopes, highlighting the importance of ground-based observations of exoplanets,” he adds.

This diagram shows the structure and motion of the atmosphere of the exoplanet Tylos (WASP-121b). The exoplanet is shown from above in this figure, looking at one of its poles. The planet rotates counter-clockwise in such a way that it always shows the same side to its parent star. One side is perpetual day, and the other is perpetual night. The transition between night and day is the “morning side,” while the “evening side” represents the transition between day and night; its morning side is to the right, and its evening side is to the left. Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

The observations revealed an exoplanet atmosphere with unusual complexity.

When Tylos crosses in front of its host star, known as a transit, atoms in the planet’s atmosphere absorb specific wavelengths of starlight, which was measured with the VLT’s ESPRESSO instrument. With that data, astronomers reconstructed the composition and velocity of different layers in the atmosphere. An iron wind blows in the deepest layer, away from the point of the planet where the star is directly overhead. Above the iron layer is a very fast jet of sodium that moves faster than the planet rotates. The sodium jet accelerates as it moves from the planet’s morning side to its evening side. The upper layer is made of hydrogen, where the wind blows outwards. The hydrogen layer overlaps with the sodium jet below it.

The authors explain that this unusual planet is more than just an oddity. Its unusual characteristics make it a great testbed for Global Circulation Models. “By resolving the vertical structure of atmospheric dynamics, we move beyond integrated global snapshots of the atmosphere, enabling more accurate identification of flow patterns and allowing for a more nuanced comparison to models,” the authors explain.

The study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics is also based on data from the VLT and ESPRESSO. It uncovered more details of Tylos’ atmosphere, including its chemistry. “The transmission spectrum of WASP-121 b has been extensively studied using the cross-correlation technique, resulting in detections and confirmations for various atoms and ions, including H I, Mg I, Ca I, V I, Cr I, Fe I, Ni I, Fe II, Ca II, and K I, Ba II,” the authors write. “We confirm all these detections and additionally report detections for Ti I, Mn I, Co I Sr I, and Sr II.”

“This experience makes me feel like we’re on the verge of uncovering incredible things we can only dream about now.”

Bibiana Prinoth, Lund University and the European Southern Observatory

The researchers found titanium just below the jet stream. This finding is interesting because previous research detected titanium and subsequent research refuted that. “We attribute the capability of detecting Ti I to the superior photon-collecting power enabled by using ESPRESSO in 4-UT mode compared to a single 1-UT transit and to improvements in the application of the cross-correlation technique,” the authors explain.

The cross-correlation technique is a powerful method for studying exoplanet atmospheres. Light from the atmosphere is much fainter than light from the star and can be obscured by the much stronger starlight. The cross-correlation technique helps overcome this by comparing the observed spectrum with the known “template” spectrum of specific molecules and atoms expected to be present in the atmosphere.

This figure shows the two-dimensional cross-correlation function of H I, Li I, Na I, Mg I, K I, Ca I, Ti I, V I, Cr I, Mn I, Fe I, Fe II, Co I, Ni I, Ba II, Sr I and Sr II. The last panel shows the cross-correlation function for the entire atmospheric model. Image Credit: Prinoth et al. 2025.

“It’s truly mind-blowing that we’re able to study details like the chemical makeup and weather patterns of a planet at such a vast distance,” said Bibiana Prinoth, lead author of the Astronomy and Astrophysics paper.

“The 4-UT mode of ESPRESSO, with its effective photon collecting area equivalent to that of a 16-meter class telescope, serves as a valuable test-bed for pushing the limits of S/N on relatively faint targets,” the authors write in their conclusion.

The study of exoplanet atmosphere with ground-based telescopes will soon get a big boost. In 2028, the long-awaited Extremely Large Telescope should begin operations. It will have a 39.3-metre-diameter primary mirror, giving it 250 times more light-gathering area than the Hubble. It will also feature powerful instruments to probe exoplanet atmospheres.

“The present analysis also allows us to anticipate the observational capabilities of the soon-to-be-commissioned ELT, particularly with regard to time-resolved studies of exoplanet atmospheres,” the authors write.

Who knows what further strangeness is waiting to be discovered in exoplanet atmospheres?

“The ELT will be a game-changer for studying exoplanet atmospheres,” said Prinoth. “This experience makes me feel like we’re on the verge of uncovering incredible things we can only dream about now.”

• Press Release: First 3D observations of an exoplanet’s atmosphere
• Research: Vertical structure of an exoplanet’s atmospheric jet stream
• Research: Titanium chemistry of WASP-121 b with ESPRESSO in 4-UT mode

The post Strange Winds Blow Through this Exoplanet’s Atmosphere appeared first on Universe Today.

Hair conditioner made using lignin, a polymer found in wood and bark, works just as well as a commercial product - as long as you don't mind the smell

Rock dust, compost and biochar can all help capture carbon dioxide and boost crop yields when spread on soil – but researchers are discovering they may be even more effective when used in combination

The US withdrawal from the World Health Organization formally takes one year, but the country has already stopped sharing influenza surveillance with the international body, which could impact the efficacy of the next flu vaccine

Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly large language models like GPT-4, has shown impressive performance on reasoning tasks. But does AI truly understand abstract concepts, or is it just mimicking patterns? A new study reveals that while GPT models perform well on some analogy tasks, they fall short when the problems are altered, highlighting key weaknesses in AI's reasoning capabilities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly large language models like GPT-4, has shown impressive performance on reasoning tasks. But does AI truly understand abstract concepts, or is it just mimicking patterns? A new study reveals that while GPT models perform well on some analogy tasks, they fall short when the problems are altered, highlighting key weaknesses in AI's reasoning capabilities.

Scientists have now mapped the forces acting inside a proton, showing in unprecedented detail how quarks -- the tiny particles within -- respond when hit by high-energy photons. The international team includes experts who are exploring the structure of sub-atomic matter to try to provide further insight into the forces that underpin the natural world.

Rubidium could be the next key player in oxide-ion conductors. Researchers have discovered a rare rubidium (Rb)-containing oxide-ion conductor with exceptionally high conductivity. Identified through computational screening and experiments, its superior performance stems from low activation energy and structural features like large free volume and tetrahedral motion. Its stability under various conditions offers a promising direction for solid oxide fuel cells and clean energy technologies.