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MSL Curiosity is primarily a rockhound. It’s at Gale Crater, examining the rocks there and on Mt. Sharp, which sits in the middle of the crater and rises 5.5 km above the crater floor. But Curiosity is also a skywatcher, and its primary camera, Mastcam, was built with Martian clouds in mind.

When the sun set on Mars’ Gale Crater on January 17th, MSL Curiosity spent 16 minutes capturing images of the sky with Mastcam, the rover’s primary camera system. The images are part of an effort to understand noctilucent clouds, which are made of CO2 ice and only form over certain regions.

In the animation below, the 16 minutes of images have been sped up by about 480 times. “The white plumes falling out of the clouds are carbon dioxide ice that would evaporate closer to the Martian surface,” NASA says in a press release. “Appearing briefly at the bottom of the images are water-ice clouds travelling in the opposite direction roughly 31 miles (50 kilometres) above the rover.”

via GIPHY

Earth has noctilucent clouds, too. They form in the upper atmosphere and are only visible during twilight when the atmosphere’s lower layers are in the shade and the upper atmosphere is sunlit. They form from water ice crystals between 76 to 85 km altitude and are the highest clouds in the atmosphere.

Mars’ noctilucent clouds are similar, but the main difference is that they contain carbon dioxide ice. They form at an altitude of around 60 to 80 km and are also classified as mesospheric clouds. On Mars, they occur in the Fall over the southern hemisphere. Only Mars’ high-altitude clouds containing carbon dioxide ice display iridescent colours.

This is the fourth year in succession that Curiosity has seen these noctilucent clouds. Its Mastcam instrument has different filters that let it see different wavelengths of light, and some of those filters are used to study the composition and particle size in clouds. It also has stereo vision, which helps scientists determine cloud height, shape, and the speed at which they’re moving. It can also observe the Sun through filters and determine how much sunlight the atmosphere is blocking. That tells scientists how much dust and ice is in the atmosphere and how it changes over time.

A November 2024 paper titled “Iridescence Reveals the Formation and Growth of Ice Aerosols in Martian Noctilucent Clouds” summarized Curiosity’s images and findings. The lead author is Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

“I’ll always remember the first time I saw those iridescent clouds and was sure at first it was some color artifact,” he said in a press release. “Now it’s become so predictable that we can plan our shots in advance; the clouds show up at exactly the same time of year.”

These clouds form only in early Martian fall and only in the southern hemisphere. Their iridescence is from uniform particle size, which indicates that the clouds had a brief evolution in a uniform environment. When clouds are both noctilucent and iridescent, they’re called nacreous clouds. It’s interesting to note that these colours would be easily seen by an astronaut on the Martian surface.

This figure from the paper shows iridescent clouds in cylindrical projections. Each image was taken on a separate day. (d) is twice the resolution of the others. (e) shows a corona in the clouds caused by low variance in CO2 ice particle size. Image Credit: Lemmon et al. 2024.

One of the mysteries behind these clouds concerns their location. They’re only seen in Mars’ southern hemisphere, and the Perseverance rover, which is in the Jezero Crater in the northern hemisphere, has never seen them. It seems pretty clear that they only form in certain locations, but the reasons why are unknown.

Lemmon says that gravity waves, which are atmospheric phenomena separate from astrophysical gravitational waves, could be responsible. They cool the atmosphere and could give rise to clouds of frozen CO2. “Carbon dioxide was not expected to be condensing into ice here, so something is cooling it to the point that it could happen. But Martian gravity waves are not fully understood, and we’re not entirely sure what is causing twilight clouds to form in one place but not another,” Lemmon said.

Scientists need more data to better understand these clouds. Curiosity wasn’t the only one to see them; the InSight lander did, too. But they could only see for a few hundred kilometres around their landing sites and their data is incomplete. “Orbiters capable of sunset and twilight times could constrain the cloud altitude,” Lemmon and his co-authors write in their paper.

There are unanswered questions about these clouds. Scientists would like to understand how quickly particles in these clouds evolve. They’d also like to know what the nature of the corona-forming layer is. A larger data sample could help answer these questions, as could more time-lapse imagery.

• Press Release: A Rainbow-colored “Feather” in the Martian Sky
• Press Release: NASA’s Curiosity Rover Captures Colorful Clouds Drifting Over Mars
• Published Research: Iridescence Reveals the Formation and Growth of Ice Aerosols in Martian Noctilucent Clouds

The post Curiosity’s Other Important Job: Studying Martian Clouds appeared first on Universe Today.

Venus is very variable. Its surface constantly changes from volcanic activity, and the difference between its lower and upper atmosphere is night and day, with a dramatic change in sulfuric acid concentration. So, designing a system that works for all parts of Venus is particularly challenging. NASA thinks they might be on to a new idea of how to do so and has funded Ben Hockman, a roboticist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to work on a tethered atmospheric sensor attached to a balloon as part of the NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts Phase I program.

The project, known as the Tethered Observatory for Balloon-based Imaging and Atmospheric Sampling (TOBIAS—assumedly not after the Arrested Development character), is based on a simple principle. On Venus, a very distinct cloud layer, between 47 and 52 km in altitude, separates the relatively stable upper atmosphere similar to Earth’s, with a hellish surface that no probes have yet lasted longer than a few minutes on. 

TOBIAS would float a helium-filled balloon in the upper atmosphere, where conditions are Earth-like. Then it would release a “towbody” – a stand-alone sensing platform connected to the balloon by a tether. That tether is intended to be several kilometers long, allowing the towbody to pass through the hazardous cloud layer and, hopefully, take accurate, high-resolution images of Venus’ surface.

Fraser interviews Ben Hockman, the PI for the TOBIAS project.

Several design decisions will be the focus of the Phase I NIAC grant. According to Dr. Hockman’s interview with Fraser, one of the most important aspects will be the tether design. The most significant force on the tether wouldn’t be from the towbody itself but from the wind shear. The wind conditions are different enough from where the balloon is located (50-60km altitude) to where the towbody is intended to reside (45km altitude) that the forces on the tether would be strong enough to rip it apart if it’s not designed correctly.

Also, the tether’s material is essential. Standard copper wire could potentially power the towbody, but it would be too heavy to survive the mission’s expected wind shear conditions. Optical fiber could prove a viable alternative, but there are some concerns about the amount of power that could be transmitted that way. According to Dr. Hockman, “People have put power over fiber before.”

Much of that power would go to a cooling system that would make the temperature in that part of the Venusian atmosphere manageable. Dr. Hockman suggests alternative power sources, like solar panels (which would be affected by the same cloud layer that obscures the surface) to wind turbines, which would do well because of the high energy available from the wind but might lead to stability issues with the towbody.

Fraser explains why Venus is a critical step in our space exploration program.

Ultimately, if they can get the cable, power, and communication systems on the towbody to work, it could provide atmospheric sensing, and more importantly, direct imaging of the surface of Venus, in a variety of wavelengths. Near-infrared images, which TOBIAS could supply, could help answer outstanding questions about the history of Venusian volcanism.

Dr. Hockman even speculates about the potential for a tethered impactor to land on the surface, grab a sample, and reel itself back up to the balloon. That concept was the subject of a previous year’s NIAC grant, though it’s unclear whether further progress has been made.

TOBIAS would benefit from additional information about the Venusian atmosphere from DaVinci and Veritas, which will also contain instruments to peer through to the surface, just not in the wavelengths that the towbody would enable. Data from those missions could inform the design of TOBIAS’s balloon and tether system, hopefully making it more likely to survive Venus’ extreme conditions.

Venus presents a ton of engineering challenges, as Fraser discusses here.

The project still has a long way to go before it has to survive anything, though. NIAC grants, especially Phase I, are meant to encourage very early design studies, many of which are unlikely to receive further funding. But, if Dr. Hockman proves the idea more and receives a Phase II grant sometime in the next few years, a balloon tugging along some sensors might one day reach Venusian skies.

Learn More:
NASA / Ben Hockman – TOBIAS: Tethered Observatory for Balloon-based Imaging and Atmospheric Sampling
UT – A Balloon Mission That Could Explore Venus Indefinitely
UT – The Best Way to Learn About Venus Could Be With a Fleet of Balloons
UT – Is There Seismic Activity on Venus? Here’s How We Could Find Out

Lead Image:
Artist’s concept of TOBIAS
Credit – Ben Hockman / NASA

The post A Balloon With a Tether Could Explore Venus’ Surface appeared first on Universe Today.

Hydrogel protection could be crucial for safe human space exploration.

Space radiation: the threat is real. Credit: ESA

It’s a key problem that will need to be addressed, if humans are to attempt deep-space, long duration missions. Not only is radiation exposure a dangerous health risk to humans, but it also poses a hazard to equipment and operating systems. Now, a team at Ghent University in Belgium are testing a possible solution: 3D printed hydrogels, which could provide deformable layers of water-filled protection.

Water acts as a great radiation shield. Relatively dense, the hydrogen-laden H2O molecule can slow down radiation particles as they zip past. Plus, water is something that astronauts will have to bring lots of on deep space missions. We have our own built-in water shielding on Earth with the atmosphere above, with the added benefit of the Earth’s magnetic field beyond.

Exposure sources are mainly two types: space weather (from the Sun) and cosmic (from outside the solar system) from ancient and exotic sources, such as supernovae explosions. The 11-year solar cycle intensifies solar activity, while we see and uptick in cosmic radiation when our Sun is at a lull.

Radiation and its risk to spaceflight. Credit: ESA Radiation Exposure on the ISS

From the earliest days of the Space Age, astronauts have reported seeing occasional flashes in their eyes… even when closed. We now know this is due to high energy particles zipping through and interacting with the aqueous and vitreous humors (fluids) in the eye, and (somewhat disturbing to think about) the brain. Astronauts in low Earth orbit aboard the ISS have sheltered from solar storms in the past, taking advantage of the core modules which are at least surrounded by the bulk of the station.

But as far as providing personal protection, water poses a challenge. Bulky suits can limit movement and spring a leak: a bad thing to have happen in space. Super-absorbent polymers (SAPs) designed by the Chemistry and Biomaterials Group (PBM) at Ghent University could function as an alternative, and are more effective versus circulating water.

Enter Hydrogel

SAP can absorb a hundred times its weight in liquid. This makes it an ideal lightweight and portable material to work with. Think of the ‘monster toys’ that expand in size, just add water. Unlike traditional circulation systems, the water in hydrogel is not free-flowing, making it resistant to leakage during a puncture.

Timelapse of an expanding hydrogel, absorbing water. Credit: ESA

“The beauty of this project is that we are working with a well-known technology,” says Lenny Van Daele (Ghent University) in a recent press release. “Hydrogels are found in many things we use every day.”

Hydrogels are common in consumer products, including soft contact lenses, bio-materials, and medical bandage gels.

“The super-absorbent polymer that we are using can be processed using multiple techniques, which is a rare and advantageous quality amongst polymers,” says Manon Minsart (Ghent University) in the same ESA press release. “Our method of choice is 3D printing, which allows us to create a hydrogel in almost any shape we want.”

3D printed hydrogel models of a space shuttle and an astronaut. Credit: ESA/University of Ghent. Radiation Exposure En Route to Mars

The problem posed by space radiation on long duration missions cannot be overstated. It’s something that will have to be solved, if humans are to make the long round trip journey to Mars.

Curiosity’s RAD experiment carried on its journey to the Red Planet in 2012 demonstrated the magnitude of the dilemma. Astronauts on a Mars mission would receive 60 rem/0.6 Sieverts… about a career’s-worth of acceptable radiation exposure, in one mission.

The RAD detector mounted aboard Curiosity. NASA/JPL-Caltech

The problem is far from solved, but hydrogels may provide a solution in the years to come. It will be exciting to see hydrogels used as a common feature on future deep space missions, to keep astronauts and equipment safe.

The post Hydrogels Could Be Ideal Radiation Protection For Astronauts appeared first on Universe Today.

When massive stars reach the end of their life cycle, they undergo gravitational collapse and shed their outer layers in a massive explosion (a supernova). Whereas particularly massive stars will leave a black hole in their wake, others leave behind a stellar remnant known as a neutron star (or white dwarf). These objects concentrate a mass greater than the entire Solar System into a volume measuring (on average) just 20 km (~12.5 mi) in diameter. Meanwhile, the extreme conditions inside neutron stars are still a mystery to astronomers.

In 2017, the first collision between two neutron stars was detected from the gravitational waves (GWs) it produced. Since then, astronomers have theorized how GWs could be used to probe the interiors of neutron stars and learn more about the extreme physics taking place. According to new research by a team from Goethe University Frankfurt and other institutions, the GWs produced by binary neutron star (BNS) mergers mere milliseconds after they merge could be the best means of probing the interiors of these mysterious objects.

The research was conducted by a group led by Luciano Rezzolla, a professor from the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP) at Goethe University and a Senior Fellow with the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS). The research team also includes members of the ExtreMe Matter Institute (EMMI-GSI), Darmstadt Technical University (TU Darmstadt), and the University of Stavanger in Norway. The paper detailing their findings appeared on February 3rd in Nature Communications.

Light bursts from the collision of two neutron stars. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab

Originally predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (GR), gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime caused by the merger of massive objects (like white dwarfs and black holes). While the most intense GWs are produced from mergers, BNS emit GWs for millions of years as they spiral inward toward each other. The post-merger remnant (a massive, rapidly rotating object) also emits GWs in a strong but narrow frequency range. This last signal, the team argues, could hold crucial information about how nuclear matter behaves at extreme densities and pressures (aka. “equation of state“).

As the team explained in their paper, the amplitude of post-merger GWs behaves like a tuning fork after it is struck. This means that the GW signal goes through a phase (which they have named the “long ringdown”) where it increasingly trends toward a single frequency. Using advanced simulations of merging neutron stars, the team identified a strong connection between these unique characteristics and the properties of the densest regions in the core of neutron stars. As Dr. Rezzolla explained in a University of Goethe press release:

“Thanks to advances in statistical modeling and high-precision simulations on Germany’s most powerful supercomputers, we have discovered a new phase of the long ringdown in neutron star mergers. It has the potential to provide new and stringent constraints on the state of matter in neutron stars. This finding paves the way for a better understanding of dense neutron star matter, especially as new events are observed in the future.”

By analyzing the long ringdown phase, they argue, astronomers can significantly reduce uncertainties in the equation of state for neutron stars. “By cleverly selecting a few equations of state, we were able to effectively simulate the results of a full statistical ensemble of matter models with considerably less effort,” said co-author Dr. Tyler Gorda. “Not only does this result in less computer time and energy consumption, but it also gives us confidence that our results are robust and will be applicable to whatever equation of state actually occurs in nature.“

An artist’s concept of how LISA will work to detect gravitational waves from orbit in space. Credit: ESA

In this sense, post-merger neutron stars could be used as “tuning forks” for investigating some of the deepest cosmic mysteries. Said Dr. Christian Ecker, an ITP postdoctoral student, and the study’s lead author:

“Just like tuning forks of different material will have different pure tones, remnants described by different equations of state will ring down at different frequencies. The detection of this signal thus has the potential to reveal what neutron stars are made of. I am particularly proud of this work as it constitutes exemplary evidence of the excellence of Frankfurt- and Darmstadt-based scientists in the study of neutron stars.”

This research, added Dr. Ecker, compliments the work of the Exploring the Universe from Microscopic to Macroscopic Scales (ELEMENTS) research cluster. Located at the Giersch Science Center (GSC), this cluster combines the resources of Goethe University, TU Darmstadt, Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU-Gießen), and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (GSI-FAIR). Their aim is to combine the study of elementary particles and large astrophysical objects with the ultimate goal of finding the origins of heavy metals (i.e. platinum, gold, etc.) in the Universe.

While existing GW observatories have not detected post-merger signals, scientists are optimistic that next-generation instruments will. This includes the Einstein Telescope (ET), a proposed underground observatory expected to become operational in the next decade, and the ESA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), the first GW observatory ever proposed for space, currently scheduled for deployment by 2035. With the completion of these and other third-generation GW observatories, the long ringdown could serve as a powerful means for probing the laws of physics under the most extreme conditions.

Further Reading: Goethe University

The post To Probe the Interior of Neutron Stars, We Must Study the Gravitational Waves from their Collisions appeared first on Universe Today.

Planets are born in swirling disks of gas and dust around young stars. Astronomers are keenly interested in the planet formation process, and understanding that process is one of the JWST’s main science goals. PDS 70 is a nearby star with two nascent planets forming in its disk, two of the very few exoplanets that astronomers have directly imaged.

Researchers developed a new, innovative approach to observing PDS 70 with the JWST and uncovered more details about the system, including the possible presence of a third planet.

PDS 70 is an orange dwarf star about 370 light-years away and hosts two young, growing planets: PDS 70b and PDS 70c. The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) imaged both of the planets directly, and PDS 70b has the distinction of being the very first protoplanet every imaged directly. The VLT accomplished the feat in 2018 with its groundbreaking SPHERE instrument.

The SPHERE observations, along with other observations, allowed astronomers to get a much more detailed look at the planets’ atmospheres, masses, and temperatures.

Now, the JWST has taken another look at the pair of young planets. The results are in a new paper in The Astronomical Journal. It’s titled “The James Webb Interferometer: Space-based Interferometric Detections of PDS 70 b and c at 4.8 ?m,” and the lead author is Dori Blakely. Blakely is a grad student in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Victoria, BC, Canada.

The JWST’s Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) has a feature called Aperture Masking Interferometry (AMI), which allows it to function as an interferometer. It uses a special mask with tiny holes over the telescope’s primary mirror. The interferogram it creates has a much higher resolution because the effective size of the telescope becomes much larger.

“In this work, we present James Webb Interferometer observations of PDS 70 with the NIRISS F480M filter, the first space-based interferometric observations of this system,” the authors write. They found evidence of material surrounding PDS 70 b and c, which strengthens the idea that the planets are still forming.

“This is like seeing a family photo of our solar system when it was just a toddler. It’s incredible to think about how much we can learn from one system,” lead author Blakely said in a press release.

This is a colour-enhanced image of millimetre-wave radio signals from the ALMA observatory from previous research. It shows the PDS 70 star and both exoplanets. Image Credit: A. Isella, ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

Previous observations of the PDS 70 planets were made at shorter wavelengths, which were best explained by models for low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. But the JWST observed them at longer wavelengths, the longest they’d ever been observed with. These observations detected more light than previous observations, and the low-mass/brown dwarf models couldn’t account for the light.

The JWST observations hint at the presence of warm material around both planets, which is interpreted as material accreting from a circumplanetary disk. “Our photometry of both PDS 70 b and c provides tentative evidence of mid-IR circumplanetary disk emission through fitting spectral energy distribution models to these new measurements and those found in the literature,” the authors write.

This image from the study shows PDS 70 and its two planets with circumplanetary disks. The disks indicate that the planets are still growing by accumulating material, likely gas, from their disks. The larger orange feature is part of the larger disk surrounding the star and the planets. Image Credit: Blakely et al. 2025.

The results indicate that PDS 70 and its planets are vying for the same material needed to grow larger. The star is a T-Tauri star that’s only about 5.4 million years old. It won’t reach the Main Sequence for tens of millions more years and is still actively accreting material.

“These observations give us an incredible opportunity to witness planet formation as it happens,” said co-author Doug Johnstone from the Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre. “Seeing planets in the act of accreting material helps us answer long-standing questions about how planetary systems form and evolve. It’s like watching a solar system being built before our very eyes.”

The new research also presents additional evidence supporting a third planet around the stars, putatively named PDS 70d.

A 2024 paper presented hints of a third planet. However, there was much uncertainty. The authors of that paper wrote that they may have found another exoplanet, but it could also be a dust clump or an inner spiral of material. “Follow-up studies of d are therefore especially exciting,” the authors wrote.

While this new research isn’t solely a follow-up study on the potential exoplanet, it has constrained some of the object’s properties, whatever it may be.

This image from the research shows PDS 70 and the two planets. On the right side of the image is part of the larger circumstellar disk. This image shows increased emissions as a bright triangle. Current observations can’t discern whether this is a disk feature, a spiral or clumpy structure of gas, a stream of gas between PDS 70 b and c, or an additional planet, as suggested by previous research. Image Credit: Blakely et al. 2024.

If there is a third planet, it is significantly different from the other two. “… if the previously observed emission at shorter wavelengths is due to a planet, this putative planet has a different atmospheric composition than PDS 70 b or c,” the authors explain.

“Follow-up observations will be needed to determine the nature of this emission.”

The post The JWST Gives Us Our Best Image of Planets Forming Around a Star appeared first on Universe Today.

Sometimes, things across the vast Universe line up just right for us. The Einstein Ring above, like all Einstein Rings, has three parts. In the foreground is a distant massive object like a galaxy or galaxy cluster. In the background, at an even greater distance away, is a star or another galaxy.

We’re the observers, the third part, and all three must be perfectly aligned for an Einstein Ring to appear.

An Einstein Ring (ER) works by gravitational lensing. The massive foreground object has such powerful gravity that it bends space-time, which means the light from the distant object follows a curved path. The light is magnified and shaped into a circle.

Einstein Rings are intriguing visual oddities, but they’re also powerful, naturally occurring scientific tools.

“All strong lenses are special, because they’re so rare, and they’re incredibly useful scientifically.”

Conor O’Riordan, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Germany A close-up view of the centre of the NGC 6505 galaxy, with the bright Einstein ring around its nucleus, captured by ESA’s Euclid space telescope. Image Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi, T. Li. LICENCE CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence

In this ER, the massive foreground object is the galaxy NGC 6505, which is warping spacetime around it. The galaxy is not unique—it just happens to be massive and about 600 million light-years away.

The background galaxy is also not particularly special. It’s 4.42 billion light years away, has never been seen before, and doesn’t even have a name. We’re only seeing it because of the alignment between both galaxies and us.

The ESA launched Euclid in July 2023, and its job is to measure the redshift of galaxies. In doing so, it can measure the expansion of the Universe so we can hopefully make progress in understanding dark energy and dark matter.

After launch, Euclid went through a testing phase and sent images back to us. For testing reasons, they were deliberately out of focus. Bruno Altieri, a scientist on the Euclid team, thought he saw something unusual in one of the images.

“I look at the data from Euclid as it comes in,” Bruno explained in a press release. “Even from that first observation, I could see it, but after Euclid made more observations of the area, we could see a perfect Einstein ring. For me, with a lifelong interest in gravitational lensing, that was amazing.”

Astronomers have observed NGC 6505, the foreground galaxy, many times, but they’ve never seen the ring before. After Altieri spotted the ring, Euclid’s high-resolution instruments captured follow-up images of it with the ring in focus. The instruments are VIS, the Visible light camera, and NISP, the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer.

“This demonstrates how powerful Euclid is, finding new things even in places we thought we knew well.”

Valeria Pettorino, ESA Euclid Project Scientist.

“I find it very intriguing that this ring was observed within a well-known galaxy, which was first discovered in 1884,” says Valeria Pettorino, ESA Euclid Project Scientist. “The galaxy has been known to astronomers for a very long time. And yet, this ring was never observed before. This demonstrates how powerful Euclid is, finding new things even in places we thought we knew well. This discovery is very encouraging for the future of the Euclid mission and demonstrates its fantastic capabilities.”

Research based on Euclid’s findings was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. It’s titled “Euclid: A complete Einstein ring in NGC 6505.” The lead author is Conor O’Riordan of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany.

“An Einstein ring is an example of strong gravitational lensing,” explained O’Riordan. “All strong lenses are special, because they’re so rare, and they’re incredibly useful scientifically. This one is particularly special, because it’s so close to Earth and the alignment makes it very beautiful.”

“The combination of the low redshift of the lens galaxy, the brightness of the source galaxy, and the completeness of the ring make this an exceptionally rare strong lens, unidentified until its observation by Euclid,” the authors write in their paper. The researchers used Euclid’s instruments and the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) to observe the ring. “The Euclid imaging, in particular, presents one of the highest signal-to-noise ratio optical/near-infrared observations of a strong gravitational lens to date.”

Strong lenses like this one allow astronomers to study the background galaxy, which would otherwise be impossible. These lenses also hold information about the expansion of the Universe, dark energy, and dark matter. “Strong lenses can be used as ‘cosmic telescopes’ to achieve higher spatial resolution when studying the lensed sources, and to test general relativity,” the authors explain in their research.

The authors also point out that studying the lens itself is also beneficial. “The most prevalent application of galaxy-scale strong lensing is in studying the lens itself, which is most often an early-type galaxy (ETG),” they write. All elliptical galaxies are considered early-type galaxies.

This image shows Euclid imaging data used in this work and in which Altieri’s lens was discovered. The main panel shows a composite false-colour image produced by combining the VIS and NISP data. The inset shows only the higher-resolution VIS data in the central 8? of the image, indicated by the square in the main panel. Image Credit: O’Riordan et al. 2025.

“Low redshift lenses are intrinsically rare because there is very little volume at low redshift,” the researchers explain in their paper. “That we observed one in the early days of Euclid is unremarkable, but for it to be an obvious strong lens is quite exceptional.”

Euclid’s mission is scheduled to last six years. The researchers say that while the spacecraft will find more Einstein rings during its mission, as many as 100,000, it will likely never find another one like this. “The exceptional nature of Altieri’s lens means it is unlikely that Euclid will find another lens below z?=?0.05 with a ring as bright as that observed here,” they explain.

The lens’ low redshift makes it exceptionally valuable scientifically. Only five others have similar low redshifts. “Strong lenses at low redshift have Einstein radii that are comparatively small in physical terms and allow for a detailed study of the composition and structure of the central region of the galaxy,” the authors write.

The researchers were able to determine the lens galaxy’s peculiar velocity, an important step in understanding Universal expansion, dark matter, and dark energy. They were also able to model its light profile in detail.

The paper is open access and interested readers can find more info there.

Press Release: Euclid discovers a stunning Einstein ring

Published Research: Euclid: A complete Einstein ring in NGC 6505

The post The Euclid Space Telescope Captures a Rare, Stunning Einstein Ring appeared first on Universe Today.

Our Sun is a giant plasma windbag spewing a constant stream of charged particles called the solar wind. This stream leaves the Sun at speeds around 400 to 800 kilometers per second and extends to the outer edge of the Solar System to about 125 astronomical units. Astronomers have long wondered about what feeds this powerful outflow.

Recently the ESA Solar Orbiter spacecraft observed tiny plasma jets a few hundred kilometers wide, occurring across the Sun. Each one flashes for a brief instant above the solar surface. Just as a tiny stream expands to create a raging river here on Earth, these minuscule jets combine to provide “background” power that blossoms into the fast and slow parts of the solar wind.

Probing the Solar Wind

A research team led by Lakshmi Pradeep Chitta at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany used the probe’s onboard ‘cameras’ to spot more tiny jets within coronal holes close to the Sun’s equator. “We could only detect these tiny jets because of the unprecedented high-resolution, high-cadence images produced by EUI,” said Chitta at the time of their discovery in 2023. They used the extreme ultraviolet channel of EUI’s high-resolution imager, which observes million-degree solar plasma at a wavelength of 17.4 nanometers. At the time, scientists suspected these flares were at the heart of solar wind generation but didn’t understand how widespread they were.

The team continued to use the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI), Solar Wind Plasma Analyser (SWA) and Magnetometer (MAG) to study the jets over the past year and a half. By combining these high-resolution images with direct measurements of the stream of particles and the Sun’s magnetic field around the Solar Orbiter, the researchers spotted more tiny flares within coronal holes close to the solar equator. Based on those observations, they directly connected the solar wind measured at the spacecraft back to those same jets.

Picoflares that power the solar wind occur across the solar surface. Courtesy ESA. The Solar Wind and its Effects

For many years, the solar wind has remained something of a challenge to understand. We can certainly see its effects in the form of variable space weather. During years of solar maximum, the Sun is more active. That powers more outbursts in the form of X-class flares and coronal mass ejections that extend out for millions of kilometers. When the Sun quiets down, so does the activity, although it never completely stops.

On Earth, we see the effects of the solar wind in increased auroral displays, and—if coronal mass ejections are severe—in disruption of communication and power generation technologies. Out in space, the solar wind also affects other solar system bodies. For example, it shapes and disrupts comet plasma tails as they near their closest approach to the Sun. But, what powers it? And, how do scientists explain its variations?

The solar wind comes in two flavors: slow and dense at the solar equatorial regions and fast and not-so-dense at the higher latitudes and the poles. The Ulysses spacecraft, which was in a near-polar orbit for nearly 18 years starting in 1990, mapped these regions of the solar wind closest to the Sun and found that the fast wind is relatively steady, while the slow solar wind is more variable in speed.

The fast solar wind comes from the direction of dark patches in the Sun’s atmosphere called coronal holes. These are places where the solar magnetic field stretches out from the Sun through the solar system. Charged particles can flow along these “open” magnetic field lines, heading away from the Sun as the solar wind. It turns out that the slow solar wind also comes from equatorial coronal holes where nanoflares are also at work.

More about the Jets

So, what causes these tiny jets? Such nanoflare outbursts are called “picoflare jets”. They’re powered by a process called “magnetic reconnection.” This happens when magnetic field lines in a region of the Sun’s atmosphere get tangled and twisted together. Eventually, they break, similar to what happens when you twist a rubber band too much. That “break” releases heat and energy into the corona. New field lines reconnect to continue the process. This is the same mechanism that powers larger solar flares.

Interestingly, we see similar magnetic reconnection in comet plasma tails. Magnetic field lines are entrained in the solar wind. They “drape” around a comet and its plasma tail. Those field lines have a specific polarity. As the comet passes through different “regimes” of the solar wind, it experiences different polarities. When that happens, the old-polarity plasma tail “breaks off” in a disconnection event and that releases energy. The new field lines build a new plasma tail in a case of magnetic reconnection.

Comets are small-scale examples of this effect, while the Sun is a perfect example of the large-scale influence of magnetic reconnection. When you have countless numbers of these nanoflares releasing energy into the corona, it’s enough to power the entire solar wind. Spacecraft such as the Solar Orbiter and the Parker Solar Probe have front-row seats to the action and will provide long-term measurements of the Sun’s tremendous power-generation action.

For More Information

Scientists Spot Tiny Sun Jets Driving Fast and Slow Solar Wind
Coronal Hole Picflare Jets are Progenitors of Both Fast and Alfvénic Slow Solar Wind
Solar Wind

The post Tiny Solar Jets Drive the Sun’s Fast and Slow Solar Wind appeared first on Universe Today.

Humanity will eventually need somewhere to live on the Moon. While aesthetics might not be the primary consideration when deciding what kind of habitat to build, it sure doesn’t hurt. The more pleasing the look of the habitat, the better, but ultimately, the functionality will determine whether or not it will be built. Dr. Martin Bermudez thinks he found a sweet synergy that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing with his design for a spherical lunar habitat made out of blown glass. NASA apparently agrees there’s potential there, as he recently received a NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I grant to flesh out the concept further.

Bermudez’s vision’s artistic design looks like something out of an Arthur C. Clarke novel: a glass sphere rising off the lunar surface that could potentially contain living and work areas for dozens of people. His firm, Skyeports, is founded on creating these blown glass structures in space.

The design has some challenges, as Dr. Bermudez discusses in an interview with Fraser. First is how to build this thing. It’s far too large to ship in any conventional lunar lander. However, there’s also no air on the Moon to use as the blown gas to create the spherical shape. Dr. Bermudez plans to utilize argon, which would initially be shipped up from Earth to fill the sphere. Argon has several advantages in that it’s a noble gas and not very reactive, so it’s unlikely to explode in the furnace while the glass is blown.

Video animation showing the blown glass concept.
Credit – Skyeports YouTube Channel

Surprisingly, the lack of outside air pressure actually makes it easier to form a sphere than it would be on Earth since less pressure would be necessary to expand the sphere outwards. There are some nuances in the glass as well, with it being more like a glass lattice with embedded titanium or aluminum to make it stronger. Specific kinds of glass, such as borosilicate glass, could potentially add to the strength of the glass itself.

Most of the materials required to create such a structure could already be found on the lunar surface. Lunar regolith is full of the raw building materials required to make the structure work. Some of it has already been blasted into glass-like structures called agglutinates when micrometeoroids hit the lunar surface.

Those micrometeoroid impacts pose another risk to the glass sphere. Dr. Bermudez suggests having multiple layers of glass protecting the habitat, each with a layer of argon between them, like modern-day double-glazed windows. He suggests that spinning the outer layer might also provide some advantage, as will the spherical shape itself, as the impact force will dissipate better into the structure than it would on a flat surface.

3D printing is one of the fabrication technologies the blown glass sphere will have to compete with, as Fraser discusses.

Dr. Bermudez’s dreams don’t stop at the Moon, though. He suggests such a glass-blown structure could be useful on Mars or asteroids, where the microgravity would make it even easier to create these structures. On Mars, such a habitat might be limited to the top of Olympus Mons, where the atmosphere is thinner, and there isn’t as much wind and dust that could erode away the outer layers.

Many use cases exist for a structure like this, though many technical challenges remain. NIAC is the place for novel ideas that could potentially impact space exploration, and this one certainly fits that bill. As Dr. Bermudez works through de-risking his design, we get closer than ever to a future of aesthetically pleasing habitats on the Moon and everywhere else in the solar system.

Learn More:
NASA / Martin Bermudez – Lunar Glass Structure (LUNGS): Enabling Construction of Monolithic Habitats in Low-Gravity
UT – Glass Fibers in Lunar Regolith Could Help Build Structures on the Moon
UT – Recreating the Extreme Forces of an Asteroid Impact in the Lab
UT – Conceptual Design for a Lunar Habitat

Lead Image:
Artist’s concept of a lunar sphere on the lunar surface.
Credit – NASA / Martin Bermudez

The post A Blown-Glass Structure Could House Astronauts on the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.

How can a geologic map of a lunar impact crater created billions of years ago help future human and robotic missions to the lunar surface? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as an international team of researchers produced arguably the most in-depth, comprehensive, and highest resolution geologic maps of Orientale basin, which is one of the largest and oldest geologic structures on the Moon. This study has the potential to help scientists, engineers, and mission planners develop sample return missions that could place absolute ages on the Moon’s geology, resulting in better understanding the formation and evolution of our Moon and the Earth.

For the study, the researchers created a 1:200,000-scale geologic map of the Moon’s Orientale basin while focusing on identifying what are known as impact melt deposits, which are molten rocks created from a high-speed impact and intense heat that cooled and is now frozen in time, thus preserving its geologic record of when it was formed billions of years ago. The 1:200,000-scale means the map is 200,000 times smaller than in real life. Additionally, one pixel on the geologic map is equal to 100 meters, or approximately the size of an American gridiron football field, which improves upon previous Orientale basin geologic maps that were created at 1:5,000,000-scale.

“We chose to map Oriental basin because it’s simultaneously old and young,” said Dr. Kirby Runyon, who is a Research Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and lead author of the study. “We think it’s about 3.8 billion years old, which is young enough to still have its impact melt freshly exposed at the surface, yet old enough to have accumulated large impact craters on top of it as well, complicating the picture. We chose to map Orientale to test melt-identification strategies for older, more degraded impact basins whose ages we’d like to know.”

The goal of the study is to not only create an improved geologic map of Orientale basin, but to provide a foundation for future missions to potentially obtain surface samples of the impact melt and return them to Earth for analysis. Such analyses would reveal absolute ages of the impact melt through radiometric dating since these samples have been frozen in time for potentially billions of years. These results could help scientists unravel the Earth’s impact history, as both the Earth and Moon were potentially formed around the same period.

Along with the targeted impact melt, the team successfully identified and mapped a myriad of geologic features within Orientale basin as part of the new geologic map, including smaller craters within Orientale, fractures, fault lines, calderas, crater ejecta, and mare (volcanic basalt deposits), while also constructing a top-to-bottom map of Orientale basin, also called a stratigraphic map, that shows the most recent layers on top with the oldest layers on the bottom.

Image of the most recent Orientale basin geologic map at 1:200,000-scale, which improves upon past geologic maps of the region that were 1:5,000,000-scale. The project focused on impact melt (depicted in red), which was created from the extreme heat of the high-speed impact and has been preserved for potentially billions of years. The stars represent potential landing sites for future sample return missions that scientists can analyze back on Earth to determine the absolute age of Oriental basin. (Credit: Runyon et al.)

Unlike Earth, whose surface processes like plate tectonics and multitude of weather processes have erased impacts from billions of years ago, the preserved lunar geologic record could provide incredible insight into not only Earth’s impact history, but both how and when life first emerged on our planet. This is due to Orientale basin’s crater size and age, as such a large impact on Earth billions of years ago could have postponed or reset how and when life first emerged on the Earth.

“Giant impacts – like the one that formed Orientale – can vaporize an ocean and kill any life that had already started,” said Dr. Runyon. “Some recent modeling has shown that we probably never totally sterilized Earth during these big impacts, but we don’t know for sure. At some point our oceans could have been vaporized from impacts, then recondensed and rained out repeatedly. If that happened a number of times, it’s only after the last time that life could have gotten a foothold.”

While Orientale basin is one of the most striking features on the lunar surface, more than approximately 75 percent of it is not visible from Earth due to its location at the lunar nearside and farside boundary on the western limb of the Moon as observed from the Earth. Therefore, studying the Orientale basin is only possible with spacecraft. Despite this, Orientale basin was first suggested to be an impact crater during the 1960s when scientists at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory used groundbreaking techniques to “image” the sides of the Moon not visible to Earth using telescopic images taken from the Earth.

While NASA is focused on returning astronauts to the lunar surface with its Artemis program with the goal of establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon, returning scientific samples from Orientale basin could provide enormous scientific benefits for helping us better understand both the age of the Moon but also how and when life emerged on Earth billions of years ago.

How will the Orientale basin geologic map help us better understand the Moon’s and Earth’s history 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 A Lunar Map for the Best Places to Get Samples appeared first on Universe Today.

We have the transit method to thank for the large majority of the exoplanets we’ve discovered. When an exoplanet transits its star, the dip in starlight tells astronomers that a planet is present. Analyzing the light can tell them about the planet’s size and atmospheric properties. However, a star’s surface isn’t always uniformly heated. There can be hotter, brighter spots and colder, dimmer spots that change over time.

New research says these temperamental stars are distorting our understanding of exoplanets.

The number of confirmed exoplanets is approaching 6,000. Astronomers want to understand these planets better in all their bewildering variety. The only way to do that is to examine light and how it changes in exquisite detail. When an exoplanet transits in front of its host star, astronomers can ‘read’ the starlight as it passes through the planet’s atmosphere.

However, new research shows that the stars that host all these planets can pollute the light signal from their orbiting planets, giving us a distorted view of their sizes, temperatures, and atmospheres.

The research is “A Population Analysis of 20 Exoplanets Observed from Optical to Near-infrared Wavelengths with the Hubble Space Telescope: Evidence for Widespread Stellar Contamination,” and it’s published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. The lead author is Arianna Saba from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London.

A star’s surface is defined in large part by its temperature, which is influenced by the star’s powerful magnetic fields. Magnetic fields can inhibit the heat flow from a star’s interior to its surface, creating a cooler, dimmer region. Conversely, it can channel more heat into other areas, creating brighter regions.

This extraordinarily detailed image of the Sun’s surface comes from the Solar Orbiter during a recent close encounter. Swirling magnetic fields help create cooler and hotter regions on the surface. Image Credit: ESA – European Space Agency

“Some stars might be described as ‘patchy’ – they have a greater proportion of colder regions, which are darker, and hotter regions, which are brighter, on their surface. This is due to stronger magnetic activity,” said study co-author Alexandra Thompson.

“Hotter, brighter regions (faculae) emit more light, and so, for instance, if a planet passes in front of the hottest part of the star, this might lead researchers to over-estimate how large the planet is, as it will seem to block out more of the star’s light, or they might infer the planet is hotter than it is or has a denser atmosphere,” Thompson explained. “The reverse is true if the planet passes in front of a cold starspot, making the planet appear ‘smaller.’

These temperamental stars can also produce false positives.

“On the other hand, the reduction in emitted light from a starspot could even mimic the effect of a planet passing in front of a star, leading you to think there might be a planet when there is none. This is why follow up observations are so important to confirm exoplanet detections,” said Thompson.

This image shows our Sun during a period of high activity, with multiple hot spots and cool spots. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The question is, how much of our understanding of these exoplanets is polluted by these patchy stars? Is stellar contamination creating a bias in our understanding of the exoplanet population?

To find out, Saba and her co-researchers examined the archival data from 20 exoplanet atmospheres previously observed with the Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instruments. These workhorse instruments “see” in UV, infrared, and visible light. They wanted to know if observations taken with the same instruments at different times produced different results and if any differences were confined to observations in specific wavelengths.

“To obtain spectral information from the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared, we reanalyzed 16 WFC3 and over 50 STIS archival data sets with our dedicated HST pipeline,” the authors write in their paper. “Across our target sample, we observe significant divergence among multiple observations conducted with the same STIS grating at various epochs, while we do not detect variations in the WFC3 data sets.”

This suggested that stellar contamination is an issue, but the researchers dug deeper to understand how. Using Bayesian tools and other analytic models, they found that stellar activity had contaminated about half of the exoplanet atmospheres in their sample to varying degrees. Six of the exoplanets had pronounced contamination, and six others had lesser degrees of contamination.

“These results were a surprise – we found more stellar contamination of our data than we were expecting,” said lead author Saba. “This is important for us to know. By refining our understanding of how stars’ variability might affect our interpretations of exoplanets, we can improve our models and make smarter use of the much bigger datasets to come from missions including James Webb, Ariel and Twinkle.” Twinkle is a low-cost mission that will study exoplanet atmospheres from Low-Earth Orbit.

This figure from the paper illustrates some of the divergent results from observing exoplanets in different epochs. There was significantly more divergence among STIS observations than among WFC observations. STIS G430 and G750L are different gratings, and G102 and G141 are different WFC grisms. Image Credit: Saba et al. 2025.

Stellar contamination of exoplanet observations is no small matter. It can skew results in very pronounced ways. “Accounting for stellar activity can significantly alter planetary atmospheric parameters like molecular abundances (up to 6 orders of magnitude) and temperature (up to 145%), contrasting with the results of analyses that neglect activity,” the authors write in their paper.

According to the researchers, there are two ways to determine if stellar variability is affecting exoplanet data.

“One is to look at the overall shape of the spectrum – that is, the pattern of light at different wavelengths that has passed through the planet from the star – to see if this can be explained by the planet alone or if stellar activity is needed,” said Saba. “The other is to have two observations of the same planet in the optical region of the spectrum that are taken at different times. If these observations are very different, the likely explanation is variable stellar activity.”

One of the key findings concerns optical and UV observations. Since stellar activity is much more visible in optical and UV, exoplanet observations based on these wavelengths are more likely to reveal the contamination. Conversely, IR observations may overlook the contamination.

“Our results emphasize the importance of considering the effects of stellar contamination in exoplanet transit studies; this issue is particularly true for data sets obtained with facilities that do not cover the optical and/or UV spectral range where the activity is expected to be more impactful but also more easily detectable,” the paper states.

“The risk of misinterpretation is manageable with the right wavelength coverage,” said Thompson. “Shorter wavelength, optical observations such as those used in this study are particularly helpful, as this is where stellar contamination effects are most apparent.”

This issue clearly needs more investigating, and the researchers say they’ve identified stars that need more follow-up. They also explain that previous exoplanet atmosphere studies should be revisited, especially ones that lacked broad optical or UV coverage. By the same token, future exoplanet atmospheric studies should be multi-wavelength.

According to the authors, the active stars identified in this research should also be studied more thoroughly. This will increase astronomers’ understanding of how they influence observations of exoplanet atmospheres. Better models and analytic tools are also needed.

We’re still in the very early days of examining exoplanet atmospheres, so these results aren’t exactly surprising. The JWST is probing some exoplanet atmospheres, and future missions like the ESA’s ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large survey) will do the same. ARIEL will perform the first large-scale survey of the chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres, highlighting the significance of these results.

“Our findings demonstrate the significant role that stellar contamination may have in all exoplanet spectra observations,” the authors write in their conclusion. “Therefore, comprehending, modeling, and correcting for the impact of stellar activity is important for a complete characterization of exoplanet atmospheres.”

The post Temperamental Stars are Messing With Our Exoplanet Efforts appeared first on Universe Today.

During the 1970s, while probing distant galaxies to determine their mass, size, and other characteristics, astronomers noticed something interesting. When examining the rate at which these galaxies rotated (their rotational curves), they found that the outer parts were rotating faster than expected. In short, their behavior suggested that they were far more massive than they appeared to be. This led to the theory that in addition to stars, gas, and dust, galaxies were surrounded by a “halo” of mysterious, invisible mass – what came to be known as Dark Matter (DM).

It was famed astronomer Vera C. Rubin, for whom the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (formerly the LSST) is named, who first proposed that DM played an important role in galactic evolution. Astronomers have since theorized that DM haloes must have existed shortly after the Big Bang and were integral to the formation of the first galaxies. In a recent study, an international team examined the core regions of two galaxies that existed 13 billion years ago. Their observations confirmed that DM dominated the haloes of these quasars, offering fresh insight into the evolution of galaxies in the very early Universe.

The research team was led by Qinyue Fei, a graduate student and visiting researcher from Peking University, and his colleagues from the University of Tokyo’s Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU). They were joined by researchers from Peking University’s Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (KIAA-PKU), the Center for Astrophysical Sciences at John Hopkin’s University, the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge (KICC), multiple observatories and universities. Their study was published on February 5th in The Astrophysical Journal.

Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the team was able to visualize the emission line of ionized carbon (C II) in two galaxies located 13 billion light years away. Like the “hydrogen line” (H I), this refers to the spectral line created by the transition of elemental carbon into ionized carbon. This way, they were able to study the gas dynamics within the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs, or quasars) of these very early galaxies. The active nature of these galaxies indicates that they have supermassive black holes (SMBH) at their centers.

They then employed numerous models to determine the velocity of the gases (nonparametric) the mass distribution (parametric) of the galaxies. This was assisted by DysmalPy and 3DBarolo, two software tools specifically designed to measure the rotation curves of galaxies. According to their results, which captured the rotation curves from the inner regions to the outskirts, DM accounted for about 60% of these early galaxies. “Vera Rubin provided the first evidence for dark matter using the rotation curves of nearby local galaxies. We’re using the same technique but now in the early Universe,” said Kavli IPMU Professor (and study co-author) John D. Silverman.

Interestingly, previous studies of galaxies in the early Universe revealed a low mass fraction of DM in their outskirts. However, the data obtained by Fei and his colleagues showed a flat rotational curve, similar to massive disk galaxies observed in the local Universe. The team’s findings shed light on the intricate relationship between DM matter and SMBHs and offer crucial hints as to how galaxies evolved from the early Universe to what we observe today.

Further Reading: IPMU, The Astrophysical Journal

The post A New Study Reveals How Dark Matter Dominated the Early Universe appeared first on Universe Today.

Locomotion makes things move, and certain forms of locomotion make them move better than others. Those more effective types of locomotion change depending on the environment, which is even more true for space exploration. Methods that might work well on Earth or even other planets, such as helicopters, might be utterly useless on others. But, specialized forms of locomotion abound, and the NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts (NIAC) phase I grants for this year include a closer look at one such specialized form – jumping.

The Legged Exploration Across the Plume (LEAP) program would utilize a specially designed jumping robot to explore the lower parts of the massive plumes emitted from Enceladus. The concept is based on the Salto jumping robot, initially developed by a team at UC Berkeley. Justin Yim, now a professor at the University of Illinois and the NIAC Phase I grantee, worked on it as part of his PhD thesis.

In an interview with Fraser, Dr. Yim details what makes Salto unique. For its size, which measures only about 50 centimeters, and weight, which is planned for less than .5 kg, Dr. Yim believes the robot could jump upwards of 100m horizontally on the surface of Enceladus.

Operations of the LEAP robot – launching off from and returning to the Orbilander.
Credit – Justin Yim / NASA

That is a significant advantage over other forms of locomotion on the icy moon. Enceladus has no atmosphere, so flying would have to be powered by a rocket, which will use up fuel, rather than by rotors, like Ingenuity was able to do on Mars. However, the surface is also icy and uneven, making having a rover trundle impractical.

Jumping, however, offers the best of both worlds. It requires relatively little power and, as such, could be done multiple times without depleting a robot’s battery. But it is also terrain agnostic, soaring above the most challenging parts. It would also allow the robot to jump directly through the lower part of the plumes that Enceladus ejects into the Saturnian system, the remnants of which form one of Saturn’s spectacular rings.

No other form of locomotion would be able to get that close to the source of the plumes, and since those plumes are some of the most interesting parts of Enceladus, studying them up close is appealing for many reasons. One mission in particular, the Enceladus Orbilander, which was a proposed flagship mission that the 2023 Decadal Survey supported, would be able to capture the upper parts of a geyser as it flew through one on its orbital path but would be unable to collect any data on its lower parts. At least as initially envisioned, its lander wouldn’t be capable of moving through a geyser.

CNET video describing Salto, the inspiration for LEAP.
Credit – CNET YouTube Channel

LEAP could potentially hitch a ride with the system, though. Utilizing the lander as a launch platform would save significant design effort of the robot itself. It could even use the Orbilander as a recharging station, allowing it to explore even further afield. 

There are some challenges, though – the original design of Salto only had one reaction wheel, which allowed its engineers to control the robot pitch, allowing it to perform the feet of aligning for multiple jumps off walls, kind of like characters do in video games. However, to truly control itself, LEAP would need two other reaction wheels to control yaw and rolls, giving engineers direct control over all three axes of the robot’s orientation. Dr. Yim added that, as part of the Phase I study, the researchers planned to assess using those reaction wheels to control motion in these three dimensions to assist in righting the robot if it falls over. Inevitably, given Enceladus’s rough and icy slick surface, it will undeniably eventually fall over.

As Dr. Yim discusses with Fraser, there is always a trade-off between size, weight, and capability for robots. Even larger versions of LEAP wouldn’t necessarily be able to travel as far or as efficiently as a smaller one does – though they might be able to carry more payload. One of the limitations of a small jumping robot is the mass limits placed on its ability to jump. Therefore, Dr. Yim expects simple instrumentation, like a flow meter and a camera, to be the extent of what LEAP will be able to carry into the plume, rather than fancier instrumentation like a mass spectrometer that might provide more insight but would be too bulky for jumping.

Dr Yim discusses some of the technical background of Salto.
Credit – BiomimeticMillisys YouTube Channel

Like all NIAC Phase I projects, this one is still very early in development. The outcome of this round is expected to be a case study that shows the parameters that must be considered in any future design or prototyping. Whether or not it ends up on Enceladus, the jumping concept behind LEAP appears to be an important locomotion style for many future robots, so expect to see more jumping around near you sometime soon.

Learn More:
NASA / Justin Yim – LEAP – Legged Exploration Across the Plume
UT – A Hopping Robot Could Explore Europa Using Locally Harvested Water
UT – A Robot Hopper to Explore the Moon’s Dangerous Terrain
UT – Miniaturized Jumping Robots Could Study An Asteroid’s Gravity

Lead Image:
Artist’s depiction of the LEAP robot jumping over a geyser on Enceladus.
Credit – NASA / Justin Yim

The post A Jumping Robot Could Leap Over Enceladus’ Geysers appeared first on Universe Today.

The JWST was never intended to find asteroids. It was built to probe some of our deepest, most demanding questions about the cosmos: how the first stars formed, how galaxies have evolved, how planets like ours take shape, and even how life originated. However, it’s first and foremost a powerful infrared telescope and its unrivalled infrared prowess is helping it contribute to another important goal: defending Earth from dangerous asteroids.

Humanity doesn’t want to share the dinosaurs’ fate. About 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub impact wiped them out. An asteroid 10 to 15 km (6 to 9 mi) wide struck Earth near the Yucatan Peninsula, ending the dinosaurs’ 165-million-year reign. Only avian dinosaurs survived.

With that haunting backdrop, there’s a growing effort to identify dangerous space rocks that could strike Earth. In 2005, the US Congress directed NASA to “establish a Near-Earth Object Survey Program to detect, track, catalogue, and characterize certain near-Earth asteroids and comets.” That effort has paid dividends, especially when it comes to large asteroids that pose an existential threat.

Finding the largest main-belt asteroids hasn’t been difficult. They practically announce their presence to our powerful telescopes. Large asteroids around 100 kilometres in diameter or greater are potentially devastating, but they tend to follow stable orbits in the main belt.

However, decameter-size impactors are more elusive. These are asteroids tens of meters in diameter, and their smaller masses mean they can more easily become part of the Near-Earth Object (NEO) population due to interactions in the main belt. While these aren’t civilization-ending size rocks, they can reach Earth more frequently and cause megaton-size explosions. They’re behind the Tunguska Event in 1908 and the Chelyabinsk explosion in 2013.

The JWST is helping scientists understand this population of space rocks, and new research illustrates how. It’s titled “JWST sighting of decametre main-belt asteroids and view on meteorite sources.” It’s published in Nature, and the co-lead authors are Julien de Wit and Artem Burdanov, both from the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT.

“Asteroid discoveries are essential for planetary-defence efforts aiming to prevent impacts with Earth, including the more frequent megaton explosions from decametre impactors,” the authors write. “Although large asteroids (~100 kilometres) have remained in the main belt since their formation, small asteroids are commonly transported to the near-Earth object (NEO) population.” NEOs are objects whose closest approach to the Sun is less than 1.3 AU. This boundary includes objects that can come close enough to cross Earth’s orbit or can be potentially influenced by Earth’s gravity.

This diagram shows the orbits of 2,200 potentially hazardous objects as calculated by JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). Highlighted is the orbit of the double asteroid Didymos, the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission, launched in 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Most asteroids are detected with ground-based optical telescopes that sense the sunlight they reflect, which is their albedo. Relying on asteroids’ albedo measurements, though, is fraught with errors. For example, small objects with a high albedo can appear larger than large objects with a small albedo.

Asteroids also give off thermal emissions or infrared energy, and that’s where the JWST comes in. “With an exquisite sensitivity in that wavelength range and a large aperture, JWST is ideal for detecting the thermal emission of asteroids and revealing the smallest main-belt asteroids (MBAs),” the authors write in their paper.

According to the researchers, the JWST’s infrared measurements can constrain an object’s size to within 10% to 20%, while albedo measurements alone can be off by a factor of 3-4x. That’s a huge discrepancy that could lead to a risky misunderstanding of the main asteroid belt’s population.

Burdanov, de Wit, and their co-researchers developed a new way to detect decametre-size impactors with the JWST by using GPUs, Graphics Processing Units, and what the researchers call “synthetic tracking techniques.” These were initially developed to hunt for exoplanets, but the method is bearing fruit in the effort to catalogue asteroids. The researchers’ synthetic tracking method is designed to detect asteroids in data gathered from exoplanet observations. The JWST observed the TRAPPIST-1 star for more than 90 hours in 2022-23, and these results are based on that data.

“After applying our GPU-based framework for detecting asteroids in targeted exoplanet surveys, we were able to detect 8 known and 139 unknown asteroids,” the authors write. “The 139 new detections could not be attributed to any known asteroids.”

They range from the size of a bus to several stadiums wide. They’re the smallest objects ever detected in the main asteroid belt.

This figure from the new research shows the diameter, flux, and distance from the Sun for the new asteroids. “The dash-dot, solid, and dotted lines represent the size-flux relationships for objects at 2.00, 2.50, and 3.25 au, respectively,” the authors explain. Image Credit: Burdanov et al. 2025.

“We have been able to detect near-Earth objects down to 10 meters in size when they are really close to Earth,” said author Artem Burdanov in a press release. “We now have a way of spotting these small asteroids when they are much farther away, so we can do more precise orbital tracking, which is key for planetary defence.”

“For most astronomers, asteroids are sort of seen as the vermin of the sky, in the sense that they just cross your field of view and affect your data,” study co-author Julien de Wit said.

via GIPHY

de Wit explained the background of this research to Universe Today. Their interest in using the JWST in this way preceded the telescope’s launch.

De Wit and his co-researchers helped discover the TRAPPIST-1 system in 2016. In exoplanet science, objects like asteroids are considered noise that interferes with attempts to detect exoplanets. These asteroids are basically tossed aside in those efforts. In more recent years, astronomers pointed the JWST at the TRAPPIST-1 system and used its infrared capabilities to measure the temperature of the innermost planet and observe stellar flares. Those observations created what de Wit calls “bonus science.”

“Our main line of work relates to detecting and studying exoplanets like the TRAPPIST-1’s seven terrestrial gems,” de Wit explained. “But over the years, we’ve also been wanting to do more with all the astronomical data gathered by exoplanet surveys, and we started mining these fields of view for “bonus science.” One of them relates to detecting objects crossing the field of view, like asteroids. We perfected our methodology ahead of JWST, knowing that synthetic tracking combined with JWST’s unparalleled capabilities in the infrared (part of the wavelength range where these asteroids are the brightest) would change the game.”

These results are just a beginning. Every time the JWST is trained on something, it creates data. All of that data can be combed through to detect more asteroids and to try to understand what family they belong to. Decameter-size asteroids are likely the result of collisional cascades, and researchers would like to understand some of those relationships.

“There is a LOT more archival data to be used as done here. We are now gearing up to mine all of it,” de Wit explained, though it depends on funding. “This would allow us to study the 3D structure of the main belt and relate different sub-populations of these decameter asteroids to specific families of asteroids (and meteorites)!”

We’re expecting thousands of these asteroids in the existing MIR data!” said de Wit.

The discovery of the potentially dangerous asteroid 2024YR4 has focused peoples’ attention on the asteroid threat. It’s a NEO with a small chance of impacting Earth in 2032, though scientists caution against any panic. It’ll pass close to Earth again in 2028 and will be subjected to more precise observations and a reassessment of its risk.

Observing time with the JWST is a hot commodity. We asked the researchers if they’ll have an opportunity to use the space telescope to purposefully detect more asteroids.

“We did put forth a “catch me if you can” proposal with the intent of demonstrating JWST’s capabilities to detect decameter MBAs and then follow up on them to constrain their orbits as a “performance test” for planetary defence efforts,” de Wit said. He explained that “possible impactors often have their aphelion up in the main belt and constraining their orbit well can use observations all the way out there.” Their proposal is waiting for approval.

The 139 new asteroids detected in the main belt are bonus science. The team’s observation method had limitations and wasn’t dedicated to finding the smallest asteroid. However, there’s a lot more JWST data waiting to be mined, and with a more dedicated effort, de Wit and his co-researchers could detect many more.

“An observational setup that would allow for JWST to “drift” along the expected motion of smaller asteroids in the main belt while performing longer exposures would allow for asteroids below 10 meters to be detected,” de Wit told Universe Today.

“With an observational set up dedicated to detecting the smallest main-belt asteroids, we could go much smaller,” de Wit concluded.

Press Release: MIT astronomers find the smallest asteroids ever detected in the main belt

Research: JWST sighting of decametre main-belt asteroids and view on meteorite sources

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The appearance of the Interstellar Objects (ISOs) Oumuamua and Comet Borisov in 2017 and 2019, respectively, created a surge of interest. What were they? Where did they come from? Unfortunately, they didn’t stick around and wouldn’t cooperate with our efforts to study them in detail. Regardless, they showed us something: Milky Way objects are moving around the galaxy.

We don’t know where either ISO came from, but there must be more—far more. How many other objects from our stellar neighbours could be visiting our Solar System?

The Alpha Centauri (AC) star system is our nearest stellar neighbour and consists of three stars: Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, which are in a binary relationship, and Proxima Centauri, a dim red dwarf. The entire AC system is moving toward us, and it presents an excellent opportunity to study how material might move between Solar Systems.

New research to be published in the Planetary Science Journal examines how much material from AC could reach our Solar System and how much might already be here. It’s titled “A Case Study of Interstellar Material Delivery: Alpha Centauri.” The authors are Cole Greg and Paul Wiegert from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

“Interstellar material has been discovered in our Solar System, yet its origins and details of its transport are unknown,” the authors write. “Here we present Alpha Centauri as a case study of the delivery of interstellar material to our Solar System.” AC likely hosts planets and is moving toward us at a speed of 22 km s?1, or about 79,000 km per hour. In about 28,000 years it will reach its closest point and be about 200,000 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun. According to Greg and Wiegert, material ejected from AC can and will reach us, and some is already here.

AC is considered a mature star system about five billion years old that hosts planets. Mature systems are expected to eject less material, but since AC has three stars and multiple planets, it likely ejects a considerable amount of material. “Though mature star systems likely eject less material than those in their
planet-forming years, the presence of multiple stars and planets increases the likelihood of gravitational scattering of members from any remnant planetesimal reservoirs, much as asteroids or comets are currently being ejected from our Solar System,” the authors write.

We know that macro objects like Borisov and Oumuamua have reached our Solar System, and we also know that interstellar dust has reached our system. The Cassini probe detected some, and researchers reported on it in 2003. Existing models for material ejection from star systems are partly based on what we know about our Solar System and how it ejects material, and Greg and Wiegert based their work on those models.

Artist’s impression of `Oumuamua. While large ISOs like this grab our attention, dust particles from other star systems are also interstellar objects. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

The research shows that there are potentially large quantities of material from AC. The authors write that “the current number of Alpha Centauri particles larger than 100 m in diameter within our Oort Cloud to be 106,” or 1 million. However, these objects are extremely difficult to detect. Most of them are likely in the Oort Cloud, a long distance from the Sun. The pair of researchers explain that “the observable fraction of such objects remains low” and that there is only a one-in-a-million chance that one is within 10 AU of the Sun.

This animation brings some of the research results to life. “Alpha Centauri’s orbit about the Galactic Centre viewed on the xy and yz planes (top row), as well as the orbits of the ejecta from Alpha Centauri viewed in a comoving frame (bottom row). Our Sun (Sol) is marked by a black hexagon, and its orbital path is indicated by a grey solid line (top row only). Alpha Centauri’s location and path are shown by a yellow star and a solid blue line (top row only). In the bottom row, the comoving frame follows Alpha Centauri around its orbit while maintaining its orientation with the y-axis pointing towards the Galactic Centre (blue arrow) and Alpha Centauri’s velocity pointing in the -x direction (black arrow). This still frame is taken at t?3,000 yr (that is, +3,000 years from the current epoch) after ~100 Myr of integration. The colours of the ejecta represent the 3rd dimension of position, except that any particle that will at any point come within 100,000 au of Sol is plotted in red. This shows the time evolution from t? -100 Myr to t? 10 Myr,” the authors write.

The researchers ran simulations to determine how much material can reach us from AC. The simulations ran for 110 million years from t= -100 myr to t= 10 myr. During that span, AC ejected 1,090,000 particles. They were ejected in random directions at different speeds, and only a tiny amount came anywhere near the Sun. “Only a small fraction of the AC ejecta come within the CA (close approach) distance of the Sun. In total, 350 particles had a CA with the Solar System, ~0.03% of the total ejecta,” the authors explain.

This figure from the study focuses on the 360 particles that make close approaches. “The heliocentric equatorial radiant for the 350 close approaches at the time of their closest Solar approach (“Arrival Time”), with the current heliocentric equatorial coordinates of Alpha Cen plotted as a black star and the “effective radiant” corresponding to Alpha Cen’s apparent velocity is plotted as a red star. The purple-shaded region is the combined projection of the effective cross-section of the Solar System (solid angle size as seen from Alpha Cen) from the start of the simulation up to the current time.”

The research shows that there are plausible pathways for particles from AC to reach our Solar System. How large can they be?

According to the authors, small particles that would appear as meteors in Earth’s atmosphere are not likely to reach us. They’re subjected to too many forces on their way, including magnetic fields, drag from the interstellar medium, and destruction through sputtering or collisions. “Small particles travelling through the interstellar medium (ISM) are subject to a number of effects not modelled here,” they explain.

They computed the minimum size of particles that could make the journey. “We extracted the relevant parameters for each of the 350 CAs from our simulation and computed the minimum size needed for a grain travelling along that trajectory to survive all three effects,” the authors write. They found that a particle with a median of 3.30 micrometres can survive the journey.

“At this size and speed, the particle can travel 125 pc in the ISM before grain destruction becomes relevant, 4200 pc for ISM drag, and only 1.5 pc for magnetic forces, and thus our typical particles are effectively magnetically limited,” the researchers explain. “In fact, all of our particles are limited by magnetic forces.” The authors also point out that these tiny grain sizes are undetectable by meteor radar instruments like the Zephyr Meteor Radar Network.

These results are hampered by our poor understanding of our Solar System’s material ejection rate, on which the research is partly based. “Unfortunately, the rate of ejection of material from Alpha Cen is poorly constrained,” write Greg and Wiegert.

However, with that in mind, the research shows that some material can reach us and is already here. Most of it travelled for less than 10 Myr to reach us, but it has to be larger than about 10 microns to survive the journey. It also estimates that about 10 particles from Alpha Centauri become detectable meteors in Earth’s atmosphere currently, with that number increasing by a factor of ten in the next 28,000 years.

This research presents a concrete example of how our Solar System is anything but isolated. If material from star systems can move freely to and from one another, it opens up another window into the planet formation process. If AC does host exoplanets, some of the material reaching us could be from the same reservoir of material that those planets formed from. It could be possible to learn something about those planets directly without having to overcome the vast distance between us and Alpha Centauri.

“A thorough understanding of the mechanisms by which material could be transferred from Alpha Centauri to the Solar System not only deepens our knowledge of interstellar transport but also opens new pathways for exploring the interconnectedness of stellar systems and the potential for material exchange across the Galaxy,” the authors conclude.

Research: A Case Study of Interstellar Material Delivery: Alpha Centauri

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In a groundbreaking discovery, a NASA CubeSat has detected new radiation belts around Earth following a powerful solar storm in May 2024. This discovery reshapes our understanding of how solar activity interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, creating new zones of trapped particles. CubeSat, which was designed to study space weather, has captured data that could have major benefits for satellite operations, astronaut safety, and future space missions. As solar activity intensifies in the coming years, this discovery highlights the need for continued monitoring of the interactions between the Earth and Sun.

The radiation belts around Earth, known as the Van Allen Belts, are doughnut-shaped regions of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. The belts that were discovered in 1958 by the Explorer 1 mission consist mostly of high-energy electrons and protons originating from the Sun. The inner belt, located about 600 to 6,000 kilometres above Earth, contains highly energetic protons, while the outer belt, extending from 13,500 to 60,000 kilometres is mostly made up of electrons. These radiation zones pose risks to satellites, astronauts, and space missions, requiring shielding and careful navigation. 

The Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. Image: NASA

Something largely unexpected happened back in May 2024 when a large solar storm hit Earth. In the days that followed, high energy particles from the Sun bathed the Earth sparking auroral displays and disrupting GPS communications. A NASA satellite has since discovered this storm created two new but temporary radiation belts that circle the Earth. The two belts sit between the other two existing belts and form concentric rings above the equator. 

Ohio’s Aurora 05-10-2024, captured in front of John Chumack’s observatory domes at JBSPO in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Credit: John Chumack, used by permission. Canon 6DDSLR 16mm F2.8 lens, ISO 1250, 10 second Exp.

The discovery was made by the Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Experiment Satellite (bit of a mouthful so it’s shortened to CIRBE) on 6 February this year. The announcement was made in the Journal of Geophysical Research : Space and Physics. The CubeSat had been in space for about a year before it experienced what NASA reported as an anomaly and the satellite went quiet on 15 April. The satellite was out of action during the storm in May last year but it unexpectedly leapt back to life on 15 June. It then resumed taking measurements and it was this that led to the discovery of the new belts. Understanding them is of crucial importance since satellites heading into geostationary orbits have to travel through the radiation belts. 

The CIRBE CubeSat in the laboratory before launch. CIRBE was designed and built by LASP at the University of Colorado Boulder. Xinlin Li/LASP/CU Boulder

It’s not unusual for temporary belts to be identified following large solar storms but these new belts seem to last much longer. Previously the temporary belts were sustained for around four weeks but the new belts seem to have lasted for more than three months.  They are composed mostly of electrons like the outer belt but with the new innermost belt hosting a substantial quantity of protons too. 

Quite how long the new belts will last will depend on solar storms that follow and how strong they are. Larger storms tend to have more energy and are more likely to destroy the particles in the belts, knocking them out of their orbit. A solar storm in June reduced the size of one of the new belts and another storm in August of last year almost completely destroyed it. 

Source : NASA CubeSat Finds New Radiation Belts After May 2024 Solar Storm

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As the search for extraterrestrial life continues, scientists have identified the hidden oceans beneath icy moons as target locations for discovery. However, new research from the University of Reading suggests these alien seas may be better at masking their secrets than previously believed. Thick ice layers and complex chemical processes could make detecting signs of life from spacecraft far more challenging. The discovery presents significant obstacles for future missions to moons like Europa and Enceladus, where subsurface oceans might host the clues needed to finally confirm life beyond Earth.

Europa, one of Jupiter’s largest moons, has a subsurface ocean beneath an icy crust. Research to date suggests that this hidden ocean, kept liquid by tidal heating from the gravity of Jupiter, could contain the necessary ingredients for life, including water, energy, and essential chemicals. Surface features such as cracks and ridges suggest that water from the ocean occasionally seeps through the ice, possibly carrying organic material to the surface. NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission aims to investigate the moon’s habitability by analyzing its surface and subsurface environment. If life exists beyond Earth, Europa’s ocean may be one of the best places to find it.

Europa captured by Juno

Another location where life could be found in our Solar System is Saturn’s moon Enceladus. It’s perhaps one of the most fascinating of all Saturn’s moons with, just like Europa, it’s thought to have a global ocean beneath an icy crust. Water vapour escapes as jets through cracks in the crust near the south pole. A new study that has been published in Communications Earth & Environment shows how the ocean of Enceladus is separated into distinct layers. These layers impeded the movement of material from the ocean floor, where life is thought to exist, to the surface. 

True-color image of Enceladus’ plumes emanating from its south pole. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / Kevin M. Gill)

Spacecraft visiting worlds like Enceladus hunt for traces of chemicals like microbes and organic compounds are searched for among the water spraying out of the surface. However these ocean layers may well break down as they ascend through the ocean. By the time they reach the surface the biological signatures that would have been familiar are unrecognisable. It’s just possible that this process could hide signs of life that exist deep on the floor of the alien oceans. 

Flynn Ames, the lead author of the paper from the University of Reading explains that the oceans behave like oil and water in a jar with the distinct layers resisting vertical mixing. 

“These natural barriers could trap particles and chemical traces of life in the depths below for hundreds to hundreds of thousands of years. Previously, it was thought that these things could make their way efficiently to the ocean top within several months.”

A black smoker hydrothermal vent discovered in the Atlantic Ocean in 1979. It’s fueled from deep beneath the surface by magma that superheats the water. The plume carries minerals and other materials out to the sea. Courtesy USGS.

It seems then that simply sampling the escaping surface waters may not be sufficient to detect signs of life. Computer models have been established that are similar to those used to study our own oceans. The results revealing implications for our search for aliens in our Solar System. We may yet have to do more than simply analyse water spraying through surface cracks and fissures. Missions have been discussed that could launch tiny submarines to explore the oceans beneath the ice. It may be the only way we can find out once and for all if life does exist in the deep waters beneath the icy crusts.

Source : Alien ocean could hide signs of life from spacecraft

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As part of their ongoing mission to push the boundaries of space exploration, NASA’s cutting-edge robotic hand is bringing us one step closer to a future where machines can grab objects just like humans. The machine which has been designed for dexterity and precision, isn’t just about gripping objects—it’s about revolutionising how astronauts and robots work together in space. With applications ranging from spacecraft maintenance to cleaning up space junk, this high-tech hand is paving the way for a new era of spacecraft operations.

Satellites have revolutionised modern life, bringing us global communication and navigation to weather forecasting and scientific discovery. However, as space becomes increasingly crowded, a growing threat grows above us—space debris. Thousands of decommissioned or unused satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments from past collisions now orbit Earth at high speeds, posing serious risks to spacecraft and future missions. As space agencies and private companies launch more satellites than ever before, finding solutions to manage and mitigate space debris has become a critical challenge for the future of space exploration.

An artist’s conception of ERS-2 in orbit. ESA

Space debris is a particular problem that NASA’s new Astrobee system is ideally placed to address. With over 36,000 pieces of debris larger than 10cm and over 100 million smaller than 1cm, all orbiting Earth at speeds in excess of up to 28,000 km per hour it’s a problem we must start to deal with. 

Orange balls of light fly across the sky as debris from a SpaceX rocket launched in Texas is spotted over Turks and Caicos Islands on Jan. 16, in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Credit: Marcus Haworth/Reuters

Astrobee is a free-flying robotic system that has been initially designed to help astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS.) The system is composed of three cube shaped robots that have been named Bumble, Honey and Queen! The system could navigate around the ISS without human intervention using their sensors to see. The system also comprises of an arm that allows it to grab onto handrails on board to stabilise itself and conserve energy. 

The International Space Station (ISS) in orbit. Credit: NASA

The system, that was designed at the NASA’s Ames Research Centre has been on board the ISS since 2019 but it could go much further. It’s certainly been of great help around the ISS but deployed into orbit with a suitable propulsion system and power source, the sensor guided robotic arm could grab onto and manipulate pieces of debris. It could ultimately be used to collect debris like a space based road cleaner. 

Astrobee isn’t the only approach being taken to cleaning up the debris in space. The European Space Agency have also been experimenting with robotic arms and nets in their  ClearSpace-1 programme which aims to capture debris using robotic arms or nets and deorbit it safely. There is also talk of using harpoons to capture debris too but, and whilst I love the idea of harpoons around to grab debris it feels like it could be a dangerous option. 

Lasers are another option that has been considered as has ground based tethers, the use of solar sails and other de-orbit technology. Whichever technique works, it’s great to see space agencies around the World taking space debris and its clean up seriously. Hopefully if Astrobee can prove itself it too can join the ranks of growing janitors to our Solar System. 

Source : Robot Gets a Grip

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At the end of 2024, astronomers detected an asteroid in the night sky. It was given the designation Y, since it was discovered in the last half of December, and R4 since it was the 117th rock to be found in the last couple of weeks of December, and since it was discovered in 2024, it was assigned the name 2024 YR4. Naturally, once a rock is found, astronomers start keeping track of it, measuring its position to get a handle on its orbit. In this case, the estimated orbit put it at a 1% chance of striking Earth. As more measurements were taken, those odds have more than doubled. As of this writing, it now has a 2.3% chance of striking Earth on December 22, 2032. While you might think this resembles the plot of Don’t Look Up, none of this is too unusual.

You can see this in the image above, which indicates potential trajectory points. The 2.3% odds aren’t simply the chances of a die roll. What it means is that when astronomers run 1,000 orbital simulations based on the data we have, 23 of them impact Earth. The most probable trajectory currently estimates that it will have a close approach of 240,000 km from Earth, which is within the orbit of the Moon but not dangerously close. So while the odds have doubled, astronomers aren’t too worried. When 2024 YR4 had a risk of less than 1%, NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) ranked it a 3 on the Torino scale, meaning we should keep an eye on it. At a 2.3% risk, it is still a 3.

When it comes to tracking asteroids like this, the one thing we are certain of is that early estimates are uncertain. Unlike the orbits of planets, the orbits of asteroids can be remarkably fuzzy. Gravitational tugs from nearby objects can shift them around. In the case of 024 YR4, one big source of uncertainty is Earth itself. In 2028, it will pass within 8 million kilometers of Earth. This is actually when astronomers will be able to make much more precise measurements of its orbit. We will then see whether we need to start making plans. Even if astronomers find out the odds of impact are almost 100%, we still wouldn’t need to panic, for a few reasons.

Comparison of the dimensions of 2024 YR4 and other bodies. Credit: Wikipedia user Sinucep

The first is that we know it’s there. The real risk of asteroids isn’t from the ones slowly approaching Earth from the outer solar system. The bigger risks are ones such as Chelyabinsk which came from the direction of the Sun and caught us by surprise. We still have years to deal with 2024 YR4, and its orbit is such that we would have a good chance of deflecting it. And even if the absolute worst-case scenario were to occur, 2024 YR4 isn’t large enough to cause an extinction event. The absolute nightmare scenario is that it would strike Earth in a heavily populated area. We’d have to evacuate people from the risk zone, but we would have a few years to do that. An impact would be bad, but we could minimize the risk significantly.

Even with all that said, it’s important to keep in mind that early trajectory calculations can vary significantly. The odds may rise significantly again before dropping, but the most likely outcome is that the odds will eventually drop to zero.

If you want to keep tabs on 2024 YR4, check out NASA’s Planetary Defense Page.

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On October 14th, 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission launched atop a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will spend the next few years traveling 2.9 billion km (1.8 billion mi) to reach Jupiter’s moon Europa, arriving in April 2030. Once it arrives in the system, the probe will establish orbit and conduct 49 close flybys of this “Ocean World” and search for chemical elements that could indicate the presence of life (biosignatures) in the moon’s interior. By July 2031, it will be joined by the ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE), which will conduct a similar search around Callisto and Ganymede.

As is customary, the mission team has been checking and calibrating the Clipper’s instruments since launch to ensure everything is in working order. The latest test involved the probe’s stellar reference units (or star trackers), which captured and transmitted the Europa Clipper’s first images of space. These two imaging cameras look for stars, which mission controllers use to help orient the spacecraft. This is critical when pointing the probe’s telecommunications antennas toward Earth so it can send and receive critical mission data.

The picture (shown below) is composed of three shots that show stars 150 to 300 light-years away. The starfield includes the four brightest stars of the constellation Corvus (Gienah, Algorab, Kraz, and Alchiba), the Latin word for crow—a bird in Greek mythology associated with Apollo. The starfield represents about 0.1% of the sky around the spacecraft, but this is enough for other spacecraft to determine its orientation. A 3D model of NASA’s Europa Clipper can be viewed in the agency’s interactive Eyes on the Solar System.

Contrary to what you might expect, orientation is a separate process from navigation and is critical to telecommunications and science operations. Whereas navigation is all about making sure the mission is headed in the right direction (by first determining where it is in space), orientation involves using star trackers to determine where the science instruments are pointed. This includes the Europa Imaging System (EIS), which will help scientists map the moon’s surface and its many mysterious features – the fractures, ridges, and valleys caused by resurfacing events.

The checkout phase has been happening ever since Europa Clipper launched in October, and these photos show that the latest instrument check was successful. Joanie Noonan of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the mission’s guidance, navigation, and control operations. “The star trackers are engineering hardware and are always taking images, which are processed on board,” she said in a NASA press release. “We usually don’t downlink photos from the trackers, but we did in this case because it’s a really good way to make sure the hardware — including the cameras and their lenses — made it safely through launch.”

When the Europa Clipper reaches its destination, it will conduct 49 flybys of the moon and gather information using its nine science instruments. In addition to the EIS, the probe will rely on the Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS) to detect warmer regions that could be liquid water near the surface or plume activity. It will also carry two spectrometers – which measure light in the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) wavelengths – to determine the composition of Europa’s surface and atmospheric gases and measure the distribution of ices, salts, organics, and the warmest hotspots on Europa.

Other instruments include magnetometers that will measure Europa’s induced magnetic field, confirm the existence of its internal ocean, and determine its depth. There are also gravity and radar instruments that will measure the moon’s gravitational field and probe beneath the icy surface, a dust spectrometer and neutral gas mass spectrometer to identify the materials Europa ejects or vents into space, and a spectrometer to study the chemistry of the moon’s atmosphere and plumes and its subsurface ocean.

Could shallow lakes be locked away in Europa’s crust? Europa Clipper will find out. Credit: NASA

This advanced suite of instruments will help the Europa Clipper mission accomplish its three main science objectives: to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. In so doing, it will confirm (or deny) that Europa and its internal ocean have the necessary ingredients and conditions to support life. The mission’s detailed exploration will inform scientists about the conditions of other “Ocean Worlds” in the Solar System (and beyond) and their potential for habitability.

If the mission is successful and the Europa Clipper potential biosignatures, NASA may follow up with the proposed Europa Lander. This mission, if realized, will set down on Europa’s icy surface and study its composition and plume activity directly, the results of which could definitively prove the existence of extraterrestrial life. The Europa Clipper is currently 85 million km (53 million mi) from Earth and is traveling at a speed of 27 km per second (17 mps). The craft is rapidly approaching Mars, and on March 1st, engineers will steer the probe to take advantage of a gravity assist with the Red Planet.

Further Reading: NASA

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Our Moon continues to surprise us with amazing features. Scientists recently shared new information about two canyons that branch out from a major lunar impact. The site is the Schrödinger basin near the Moon’s South Pole. It formed when an asteroid or possibly even a leftover planetesimal slammed into the surface. It took only minutes to dig out that huge crater and split the landscape to make two huge rifts that extend from the site.

According to David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, TX, the impact is of very ancient origin. “Nearly four billion years ago,” he said, “an asteroid or comet flew over the lunar south pole, brushed by the mountain summits of Malapert and Mouton, and hit the lunar surface. The impact ejected high-energy streams of rock that carved two canyons that rival the size of Earth’s Grand Canyon. While the Grand Canyon took millions of years to form, the two grand canyons on the Moon were carved in less than 10 minutes.”

Those two canyons—named Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck—are significant clues to that turbulent time in the Moon’s past. And, they’re impressive. Vallis Schrödinger is just under 300 kilometers long, 20 km wide, and 2.7 kilometers deep. Vallis Planck has two units. One is a deep canyon within the ejecta blanket of debris thrown out by the impact. The rest comprises a row of craters made as falling rocks were thrown out from the impact. They fell back to the Moon to create so-called “secondary craters.” The canyon part is about 280 kilometers deep, 27 km wide, and 3.5 km deep. The depth of both of these canyons surpasses the deep gorges of Earth’s Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Anatomy of an Impact and its Aftermath

The impactor probably slammed into the surface at nearly 55,000 kilometers per hour. The crash is what produced the enormous 320-kilometer-diameter Schrödinger impact basin. In the aftermath, the rocky debris scoured the deep canyons.

Schrödinger formed in the outer margin of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin. At a diameter of about 2,400 km, it’s the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon. The basin’s rim is about 300 km from the South Pole and within 125 km of the proposed exploration site for the Artemis mission.

The Schrödinger crater has a ~150-km diameter peak ring and the whole area is surrounded by a blanket of impact ejecta that splashed out in an irregular pattern up to 500 km away. The outermost crater ring resembles a circular mountain range and rises 1 to 2.5 km above the basin floor. It was produced by the collapse of a central uplift after the impact. After the impact, basaltic lava flows flooded the area. A large pyroclastic vent erupted more material onto the basin floor. That volcanic activity ended around 3.7 billion years ago.

Impact Anomalies

A careful analysis of the impact basin the canyons, and the ejecta surrounding the site by Kring and a team of scientists at the Lunar Planetary Laboratory, gives an idea of impact details. In a paper released about the site, the scientists discuss its features, plus some unusual finds. For example, the canyon rays don’t converge at the basin’s center as you might expect from typical impacts. They seem to come together in a different spot. That implies a point explosion impact.

Schrödinger peak-ring impact basin and two radiating canyons carved by impact ejecta. NASA\SVS\Ernest T. Wright. b Azimuthal Equidistant Projection of the Moon LRO LROC WAC Global Morphology Mosaic 100 centered on the Schrödinger basin, with the continuous ejecta blanket outlined and radial secondary crater rays (red). Vallis Schrödinger and Vallis Planck intersect near the southern rim of the basin (white point). The size of the point indicates the uncertainty. The projected bearing of the primary impactor (yellow) runs through the point of intersection and the basin center. A third unnamed feature extends in an uprange direction.

The location of the converging rays suggests that the incoming asteroid’s trajectory was about 33.5 west of north. The evidence also points to a distributed impact. That could mean the impactor came in at a low angle. Or, it’s also possible that secondary ejecta from the impact also came in at low angles. There are many secondary craters in the area which help explain the possibilities. Continued analysis will help explain the huge amounts of energy released in the event. Gareth Collins, one of Kring’s team members, said, “The Schrödinger crater is similar in many regards to the dino-killing Chicxulub crater on Earth. By showing how Schrödinger’s km-deep canyons formed, this work has helped to illuminate how energetic the ejecta from these impacts can be.”

Future Exploration

Of course, these rays and the impact basin will end up as great exploration points for NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. Right now, the evidence from the ejecta blanket points to the fact that there’s an uneven distribution, particularly in the area where the first missions are planned. That will allow astronauts and robotic probes to reach underlying samples of the Moon’s primordial crust without having to dig through rocks of a younger age.

Since the basin is the second-youngest basin on the Moon, the impact melted rocks will be a great way to test the actual age of the impact. The general understanding is that some 3.8 billion years ago, the Moon (and Earth) experienced a great many of these collisions. This epoch was the Late Heavy Bombardment, thought to have lasted up to 200 million years. The continual impacts during this time scarred the surfaces of the rocky planets and the Moon, as well as asteroids. Lunar rocks created as a result of lava flows at that time will open a window into their ages and mineralogy, especially compared to other, older rock formations. They should also improve our understanding of that period of solar system history. In particular, it can help scientists characterize the impacts on Earth that affected not just the surface, but its life forms.

For More Information

Grand Canyons on the Moon (journal article)
Grand Canyons on the Moon

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