Daily Archives: February 29, 2020

A galaxy cluster can be likened to a great city of galaxies, a galactic conurbation where each galaxy represents an individual, twinkling structure. Just as an archaeologist might seek evidence of the oldest cities on Earth, astronomers have long sought to discover the oldest galaxy clusters in the universe - each the cosmic equivalent of an ancient civilization like Jericho or Ur.

I have been fortunate to lead a team of astronomers in discovering just such an example of an old galaxy cluster. How old? The light from the galaxy cluster, named XLSSC 122 has taken 10.4 billion years to travel across the universe to us.

A youthful universeAstronomers believe that the universe itself is 13.7 billion years old, so a little maths tells us that we are observing XLSSC 122 when the universe was a mere 3.3 billion years old. Imagine our surprise then, when each new view of this galaxy cluster revealed a physical structure seemingly every bit as mature and developed as galaxy clusters in our present-day universe - a situation rather like looking at a photo from your youth in which you appear much older than you were.

XLSSC 122 is a remarkably precocious presence in a youthful universe, a clue perhaps that the universe - at least the densest parts of it - can form stars, accumulate into galaxies and eventually be drawn into galaxy clusters with surprising rapidity. Given that computer simulations of the assembly of galaxy clusters indicate more gradual growth, the discovery of XLSSC 122 suggests that our current ideas of how structure forms in the universe may be incomplete.

Discovering galaxy clustersWhen I first saw it, XLSSC 122 appeared as an unassuming collection of photons on an X-ray image of the sky taken by the European Space Agency's X-ray Multi-Mirror space observatory. Though viewed at great distance, we knew we were potentially observing a hot halo of gas - at 10 million Kelvin - confined within the gravitational field of a massive cluster of galaxies.

However, visible light images taken with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope revealed no galaxies associated with the X-ray source. This was an interesting clue that we may have discovered a distant galaxy cluster where the expansion of the universe had shifted the visible light emitted by the cluster galaxies into the infrared.

From this realization, we proceeded to obtain an image of our candidate cluster using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. This image, taken with an infrared camera, revealed the telltale presence of faint red objects - distant galaxies; but exactly how distant remained a mystery.

Hubble Space Telescope brings ultimate clarityHaving compiled a strong case that XLSSC 122 was a distant galaxy cluster, perhaps the most distant, we were awarded observing time with the Hubble Space Telescope. Given that only one out of every 10 Hubble proposals is successful, this represented an achievement in itself.

Although the Hubble telescope is nearly 30 years old, it remains a pre-eminent astronomical facility. Our images of XLSSC 122 appeared sharp and clear compared to the fuzzy images obtained from ground-based observatories. Although I have been a professional astronomer for 20 years, seeing the Hubble images of our cluster represented a near-unique discovery moment. It was immediately clear from the galaxy colours and spectra that XLSSC 122 was supremely distant: it lay at a redshift of two, meaning that the light from XLSSC 122 had taken 10.4 billion years to reach Earth.

Simulating galaxiesHow does a cluster such as XLSSC 122 fit into our wider picture of how the universe is structured? Computer simulations allow astronomers to recreate the uneven distribution of matter in the early universe and then to follow the force of gravity as it draws the more dense regions into massive clusters while less dense regions become ever more sparse.

One can identify clusters in these simulations that have the same properties as XLSSC 122. As a simulation is similar to a movie of the universe, we can fast forward to the present. When we did this for XLSSC 122 we realized that it would become one of the most massive clusters in the universe - comparable to the great cluster in Coma, our closest collection of galaxies. The same simulations indicate that XLSSC 122 might only have existed as a cluster of galaxies for perhaps a billion years before the moment we observed it.

Herein lies the mystery. Our study of the starlight from the galaxies that make up XLSSC 122 tells us they are more than one billion years old, perhaps as much as three billion years old. Moreover, they all appeared to start forming stars at almost the same time. But as all of this happened long before these galaxies ever clumped together to form XLSSC 122, we are left with the question as to what caused them to start forming stars in such a synchronized manner in the early universe?

Fortunately, we have a pretty good idea of where to look next. NASA plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope in March 2021, and we are already planning ahead to target XLSSC 122. The Webb telescope will collect approximately six times more light than Hubble and will analyze that light with a number of sensitive instruments. Our aim is to use high-resolution infrared spectroscopy to greatly improve our knowledge of the stellar ages of the galaxies that make up XLSSC 122 and pin down the early life story of this remarkable cluster of galaxies.

Research paper

Related LinksUniversity of VictoriaStellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

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New clues in the search for the oldest galaxies in the universe - Space Daily

To the untrained eye, zebras in Kenya probably all look alike. But each animals black and white markings are like a fingerprint, distinct and invaluable for scientists who need to track the animals and information about them, including their births, deaths, health and migration patterns.

Traditionally, getting this kind of information has been an invasive and labor-intensive process. But breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) and crowdsourcing of photos of individual animals are beginning to change the conservation game.

Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit Wild Me has developed AI to pick out identifying markers the stripes on a zebra, the spots on a giraffe, the contours of a flukewhales fin and catalog animals much faster than a human can. Photo surveys are increasingly used as the backbone for population estimates, and Wild Mes Wildbooks, which catalog various species, are giving conservation groups, governments and citizen scientists a faster way to monitor animals around the world.

We can use this information to track diseases and poaching threats, look at manifestations of diseases, said Michael Brown, a conservation science fellow at the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, who has been working with Wild Me for the past few years. It lets us piece together an understanding of how these threats to giraffes are spatially situated (and) how the giraffes are utilizing different landscapes over time.

Founder Jason Holmberg launched the first iteration of Wild Me in 2003 after swimming with whale sharks off the coast of Djibouti. He wanted to find a different way to track the animals other than invasive tagging, so he teamed up with a biologist and a NASA astronomer, adapting the algorithm for the Hubble telescope to match the sharks spot patterns.

For years, Holmbergs endeavors were a side project he didnt leave his full-time job in tech until recently. Wild Mes work gradually expanded, then it really kicked into gear with a 2018 grant from Microsofts AI for Earth. Today, Wild Me has a team of six full-time staffers, with plans to add more soon.

Wild Mes process of creating and training algorithms takes serious time. Thousands of photos of the species must be manually annotated so that the algorithm learns what a given animal is, what the distinguishing characteristics are and whats just background noise.

The model relies largely on photographs taken by scientists or everyday people who upload their photos to the corresponding Wildbook. It uses AI to find things in the picture and then hand it to algorithms or machine learning to suggest IDs which whale, which giraffe, etc., Holmberg said.

Christin Khan runs aerial surveys of North Atlantic right whales for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and had sought an AI-based solution for years. She said she watched Facebook implement facial recognition and wanted to use similar technology to help identify whales within the endangered species (there are only about 400 North Atlantic right whales left).

We needed a really simple, user-friendly web-based interface where a biologist who knows nothing about AI could upload a photograph and get a result back, she said. Eventually we realized the developers at Wild Me had already done a lot of what we needed, and it wouldnt require us to reinvent the wheel.

The Wildbook for whales, called Flukebook, encourages collaboration, which is particularly useful for whales that travel long distances because it can be difficult for one research group to effectively monitor one area.

The more people on the water, the more photos, the more its decentralized, (the better), said Shane Gero, who founded and runs the Dominica Sperm Whale Project. By doing the matching themselves, by contributing their own data, not only do they get to know the animals, but it creates a locally motivated community of people that can react when conservation actions come up.

Before the introduction of AI, Gero said it would take about a month to process a months worth of photos.

(Now), we have our numbers of individuals sighted and population estimates faster, so we can report (almost) in real time, he said.

That means his group is able to provide the government of Dominica with more up-to-date information and offer better advice on how to shape conservation efforts.

One of Wild Mes more recent innovations is an AI-driven feature that datamines YouTube videos of whale sharks and sea turtles, using user-generated videos (often taken by tourists) to get a better sense of the populations. This has been a great way to increase the amount of photos coming in and provide researchers with more data. But it also creates even more work for people on the ground, who have to manually check the AIs suggestions and accept the results.

Were flooding the whale shark community with more data than it can handle, said Holmberg.

So Wild Me is now building the capacity to automate the identification process and scaling the tech that combs social media for relevant videos.

The nonprofit recently received a two-year grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop the new algorithm that will make the animal IDs on its own.

Its focusing the initial work on zebras because it already has an incredibly rich dataset. Every two years since 2016, the Great Grvys Rally in Kenya has used hundreds of citizen scientists spread out over thousands of kilometers to photograph Grvys zebras over two days. Wild Mes AI analyzes the zebra markings on all the photos to come up with a total population, which the Kenyan government treats as the official census for Grvys zebras.

This type of work is a huge upgrade from the traditional capture-mark-recapture process, which is both invasive and time consuming, with studies done every five to 10 years.

You can only make very coarse-grained conservation decisions, Holmberg said. The point of going to a fully automated system is to shorten that cycle so we can take all of the data over the past week or two weeks and have a continuous prediction of population size. Its fine-grained, which helps researchers understand and lobby for better conservation activities.

For Khan, meanwhile, the existing technology is still in its early days. The algorithm for North Atlantic right whales became operational in November 2019, and she said theyre still working out the kinks and figuring out how best to use it. But, she said, she sees the incredible potential that it holds.

My dream is that we get to the point where the worlds oceans will be trolled by satellite photos and we can understand the worlds whale population, she said. Combining AI with satellite imagery and drones we have the potential to exponentially understand the worlds oceans thats just not possible with manned aircraft.

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How a Portland nonprofit is using artificial intelligence to help save whales, giraffes, zebras - Seattle Times

All weekLast chance to visit Kew's Orchids Festival

SHAPE THE WORLD: All this week, LSE hosts Shape The World, a festival of free events looking at how the social sciences can make the world a better place. Highlights throughout the week include Tottenham MP David Lammy on exploring his own heritage, a preview of the American presidential race, and a look at how factors such as economic growth are shaping London. LSE (Holborn), free, book ahead, 2-7 March

WOMEN'S DAY WALKS: Ahead of International Women's Day on Sunday, Katie Wignall from Look Up London runs a series of guided walks celebrating the history of London's women. Topics include Ladies of Marylebone, and Female Rebels at the Tate Modern. Everyone's welcome on the walks, regardless of gender. Various locations, 15, book ahead, 3-8 March

MADE IN ITALY: Cinema Made In Italy is an annual film festival celebrating Italian films, and this year, focus is firmly on female directors. Highlights include If Only, about three siblings sent to live with their unconventional, broke Italian father, and Stolen Days, about a father and son road trip back to Southern Italy. Cine Lumiere (South Kensington), various prices, book ahead, 4-9 March

TROY: It's the final week of the British Museum's blockbuster exhibition, Troy: Myth and Reality. It's a huge and fascinating show about the famous city, and worth setting aside a couple of hours to explore thoroughly.British Museum, 20, book ahead, until 8 March

JEWISH BOOK WEEK: The 68th Jewish Book Week has an impressive programme, covering everything from cookery to fashion to spies to politics to trees. Former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen, celebrated novelist Elif Shafak and historian Helen Fry are among the many participants across the 80+ events celebrating Jewish themes and writers. Kings Place (King's Cross), various prices, book ahead, until 8 March

ORCHIDS: It's your last chance to visit Kew's beautiful Orchids Festival and it's a great excuse to warm up in the tropical glasshouse. Wander through rainbow floral arches, ogle the volcano centrepiece floating on a pond, and look out for model orang utans, rhinos, and other wildlife from this year's chosen country, Indonesia. Kew Gardens, included in admission, book a time slot, until 8 March

UNREAL CITY: Explore a virtual metropolis using the latest tech on the market with Unreal City. This pioneering collaboration between dreamthinkspeak and Access All Areas blends live performance and VR to explore what happens to human connection in an increasingly digital world. Battersea Arts Centre (Battersea), 10-15, book ahead, until 28 March (sponsor)

BEYOND BORDERS: This one is right up the street of cartography fans. Hear author Travis Elborough, cartographer Mary Spence and writer Zoran Nikolic discussing and exploring maps showing some of the most unusual and peculiar corners of the globe. British Library, 13/6.50, book ahead, 7pm-8.30pm

HOUNSLOW AS ONE: Two primary school choirs, a huge brass band, a street band, a guitar orchestra and an Indian dance group all take to the stage to celebrate Hounslow's musical talent. Familiar tunes, and a newly commissioned piece are played by some of the 10,000 Hounslow Music Service pupils. Southbank Centre, 8-25, book ahead, 7pm

PRIMADONNA PRIZE: Attend the first ever Primadonna Prize ceremony, hosted by Sandi Toksvig and celebrating brilliant writing. Enjoy an evening of poetry and performances before the judges including author Joanne Harris and Irish novelist Neil Hegarty reveal the winner. Conway Hall (Holborn), 15/10, book ahead, 7.45pm

JURASSIC PARK: Could the premise behind Jurassic Park really happen? Hear from Dr Susie Maidment, curator of non-avian archosaurs at The Natural History Museum, about the science behind the film, and her research on the geological preservation of soft tissues. It's a Babble Talks event, which means it's aimed at parents and carers with babies under a year old. George IV (Chiswick), 10, book ahead, 11am-12pm

WOMEN AT WAR: Author Maaza Mengiste hosts a night of readings and conversation about the women soldiers written out of African and European history. Her new book, The Shadow King, explores what it means to be a woman at war, based in Ethiopia in 1935 with the impending invasion of the Italian army. British Library, 11/5.50, book ahead, 7.15pm-8.30pm

LOST BROTHERS: Folk duo The Lost Brothers perform a live show based on music from their five studio albums, and a sixth due to be released soon. Expect to hear some impressive vocal harmonies from the Irish pair. Southbank Centre, 15, book ahead, 7.45pm

TWILIGHT TOURS: There's a rare chance to visit the Royal Hospital Chelsea by twilight on a guided tour, led by one of the Chelsea Pensioners themselves. Visit the State Apartments and the Chapel, hearing the stories of former residents, and finish up with a drink at the Chelsea Pensioners Club. Royal Hospital Chelsea, 28, book ahead, 6pm/7pm

OUTER SPACE: NASA scientist and astronaut Kathryn Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space. Hear her telling stories about her career, including her experiences of living in space, taking off in a space shuttle, and making repairs to complex scientific instruments. Conway Hall (Holborn), 30-42.50, book ahead, 6.45pm-8pm

MISBEHAVIOUR: Catch a preview screening of new film Misbehaviour, about a team of women who plan to disrupt the 1970 Miss World competition in London. The screening launches British Librarys new Unfinished Business: The Fight for Womens Rights events season, and is followed by Q+A with its director Philippa Lowthorpe and Sally Alexander, who was central to the real-life story the film depicts. Regent Street Cinema, 15, book ahead, 7.30pm-10.30pm

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL: Organisers of The Found Footage Festival have sorted through America's thrift stores and charity shops to dig out old VHS tapes. Watch the resulting footage, including the 1987 Miss Junior America Wisconsin pageant, and a fitness video called Jugglercise. Soho Theatre, from 12.50, book ahead, 5-7 March

SILENT DISCO: Celebrate Women's Day at a silent disco workshop. Release your inner diva by learning moves from the likes of Madonna, Beyonce and the Spice Girls, before you're free to pick your own channel and dance to music from either the 70s and 80s or 90s and noughties. Antidote London (Belsize Park), 7, book ahead, 7.15pm-9pm

BLOODY BRILLIANT WOMEN: Author and Channel 4 presenter Cathy Newman hosts a talk, document display and book signing about the women of the 20th century who are often overlooked. Hear bits of British history you didn't learn in school, including a spy princess and an aeronautical engineer. The National Archives (Kew), 20/16, book ahead, 7.30pm-9pm

WOMEN OF THE WORLD: Southbank Centre's annual Women of the World Festival begins today, with three days of events looking at the state of gender equality across the globe today. Highlights include appearances by feminist activist and journalist Caroline Criado Perez, and anti-racism educator Layla Saad. Southbank Centre, various prices, book ahead, 6-8 March

AMERICAN CULTURE: Based on current NT production The Visit, Professor of American Studies Martin Halliwell offers an introduction to American culture in the 1950s. He uses examples of 1950s theatre, literature, film and the visual arts to demonstrate the politics of the decade. National Theatre, 9/6, book ahead, 5.30pm

HUBBLE: If you missed astronaut Kathryn Sullivan on Wednesday, there's another chance to hear from her tonight. This time she focuses on the launch of the Hubble Telescope, recounting her experiences in launching and maintaining the powerful telescope which has greatly furthered our understanding of the universe. Royal Institution (Mayfair), 16/10/7, book ahead, 7pm-8.30pm

SCIENCE WEEKEND: Cutty Sark celebrates British Science Week with family-friendly events taking place on board all weekend. Learn how cargo was loaded onto the ship and have a go at building your own winch, or find out how gold leaf is applied to the gilded decorative elements. Cutty Sark (Greenwich), included in admission, book ahead, 7-8 March

PROTEST AND POWER: The Royal Parks celebrate Women's History Month with a guided walk through Hyde Park. Hear stories of women in the park throughout history, from pickpockets to queens, all of whom shaped the park into what it is today. Hyde Park, 10, book ahead, 10.30am-12pm

CLIMBING FESTIVAL: Celebrate all aspects of the climbing scene at London Climbing Festival. Meet fellow climbers, hear talks about the sport, watch demos, and stock up on all the gear you need at the stalls. HarroWall Climbing Centre (Harrow), 75, book ahead, 12pm-8.30pm

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: 2020 marks 200 years since the birth of The Lady With The Lamp, and The Florence Nightingale Museum is celebrating with a special programme of events. Exhibition Nightingale in 200 Objects, People and Places opens today, showcasing little-known aspects of her life, as well as objects including the famous lamp which gave her the nickname Florence Nightingale Museum, included in admission, book ahead, from 8 March

PAINT STREET ART: Wind down your weekend by attempting to create your own version of the above painting, Coming of Spring. No experience is necessary, and all materials and guidance are included and it takes place in a bar, so plenty of drinks are available to get your creative juices flowing. Horniman at Hays (London Bridge), 32.99, book ahead, 5.30pm-7.30pm

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Things To Do In London This Week: 2-8 March 2020 - Londonist

When did it become acceptable for companies to expect us to pay good money for devices with fundamental flaws?

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is now the companys third high-end smartphone in four years to arrive with significant issues either prior to launch or immediately following. In the case of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, its the phones much vaunted quadruple rear cameras. While those lenses produce some impressive shots, there are some equally maddening flaws with the S20 Ultras cameras most notably issues with autofocusing when capturing both video and still images.

While the S20s focusing issue is the worst since the Hubble telescope, at least this time it doesnt appear to be a hardware problem, and Samsung is promising a fix. However, its unclear if that update will arrive before the new Galaxy S20 models arrive in stores March 6.

Samsungs other oopsies in recent years have included the Galaxy Fold and its easy-to-damage folding screen and the Galaxy Note 7 and its explosive battery. (The latter problem appeared once the Note 7 was in shoppers hands and proved so significant that Samsung had to recall that phablet and ultimately scrap the entire release.)

While Samsung has had its share of pricey products that shipped before they were ready, it isnt the only company to make this mistake. Apple was able to make super-slim MacBooks when it debuted its butterfly keyboard in 2015. Its just too bad that the keyboards could be undone by Cheeto dust. It was even worse that it took the company four years to come up with a viable solution in the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Even now, the new keyboard isnt yet on all the companys laptops.

Whats worse is that all of these products cost well north of $1,000. If Im spending $150 on the Moto G7 Power, I can tolerate it if its less than perfect. (Not for nothing, but the G7 Power has the best phone battery life, outperforming even the S20 Ultra on our test.) But if Im spending nearly ten times as muchor moreon a smartphone, such flaws are not as easily overlooked. Even more so when that smartphone is the flagship for your company.

I get and like that Samsung is being very ambitious with both the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Fold, but when you have something thats bound to garner all sorts of scrutiny, I find it surprising that these smartphones werent subjected to every test imaginable. Samsung had to know that reviewers were going to test the hell out of the S20 Ultras camera; are you telling me no one in the company bothered to check how fast this thing focuses?

Perhaps its that these companies test their products in sanitized, Star Trek-type environments. Unfortunately, most people treat their workspace more like Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park.

Heres a modest proposal: If youre going to make a smartphone, laptop, or any other device with some awesome new featurebe it a camera, a folding screen, or a keyboard and charge consumers thousands of dollars, better make sure it works first.

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The Galaxy S20 Ultra had one job and Samsung screwed it up - Tom's Guide

IN a week of startling developments in space observation and exploration, two major events stand out.

The first is the discovery of a mini-moon which is orbiting the Earth and has been since 2017, only that nobody spotted it until a fortnight ago. Minimoon is an appropriate name as the object is about the size of a car.

The second announcement was about the biggest explosion ever found by mankind, and since no one has ever seen the Big Bang, it can be safely said that this latest explosion is the biggest ever detected.

READ MORE:Turkey's lost kingdom discovered in new archaeological find

WHAT IS THE MINI MOON?

DISCOVERED on February 15 and confirmed as a mini-moon earlier this week, astronomers know very little about the object it may even be an artificial object, such as a dead satellite, but its most likely a small asteroid just 2m wide.

Found at three-quarters of the distance to the Moon, its going to miss Earth by a huge distance and will probably only be with us until April, but technically speaking it is a moon orbiting around the Earth.

Minimoon is just the second asteroid known to have been captured by Earth.

The first was given the uncharming name of 2006 RH120, and orbited around our planet between September 2006 and June 2007 before going off into the dark yonder.

READ MORE:Christina Koch sets female space record after landing

This latest object has also been given a bland name 2020 CD3. It was discovered by Kacper Wierzchos, a senior research specialist for the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona.

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatorys Minor Planet Center announced the find earlier this week.

The Center stated: Orbit integrations indicate that this object is temporarily bound to the Earth. No link to a known artificial object has been found. Further observations and dynamical studies are strongly encouraged.

AND THE BIGGEST BANG?

DONT worry it wont affect us as it happened hundreds of millions of light-years away.

The explosion was detected by a new range of radio telescopes. Astronomers and astrophysicists concluded that the blast came from a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy.

According to the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, this explosion released five times more energy than the previous record holder.

Professor Melanie Johnston-Hollitt of Curtin University in Perth, Australia, said the event was extraordinarily energetic.

Weve seen outbursts in the centres of galaxies before but this one is really, really massive, said the professor. And we dont know why its so big.

But it happened very slowly like an explosion in slow motion that took place over hundreds of millions of years.

The explosion occurred in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster, about 390 million light-years from Earth.

It was so powerful it punched a cavity in the cluster plasma the super-hot gas surrounding the black hole.

People were sceptical because the size of outburst, she said. But it really is that. The Universe is a weird place.

The scientists themselves may not be wired but they have a sense of humour. Their website address features the word "kaboom".

WHY ARE WE LEARNING MORE ABOUT SPACE?

ITS an exciting time for space exploration with discoveries occurring on an almost weekly basis.

Particularly exciting is the potential for radio telescopes, especially in large arrays such as the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Australia of which professor Johnston-Hollitt is the director.

Its a low-frequency radio telescope and is the first of four Square Kilometre Array (SKA) which The National recently profiled installations to be completed.

Johnston-Hollitt feels theres a lot more to come: Its a bit like archaeology.

Weve been given the tools to dig deeper with low-frequency radio telescopes so we should be able to find more outbursts like this now.

We made this discovery with Phase 1 of the MWA, when the telescope had 2048 antennas pointed towards the sky.

Were soon going to be gathering observations with 4096 antennas, which should be 10 times more sensitive.

I think thats pretty exciting.

Other than radio telescopes, the next big development will be the James Webb Space Telescope, the replacement for the Hubble Telescope which revolutionised our view of the universe.

Webb will be launched next year and is an international programme led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Its first job will be to look at the so-called ice giants of the Solar System, the planets Neptune and Uranus which lie beyond the orbits of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn.

Leigh Fletcher, associate professor of planetary science at the University of Leicester, will lead the study of the two planets.

He said: The key thing that Webb can do that is very, very difficult to accomplish from any other facility is map their atmospheric temperature and chemical structure.

We think that the weather and climate of the ice giants are going to have a fundamentally different character compared to the gas giants. Thats partly because

theyre so far away from the Sun, theyre smaller in size and rotate slower on their axes, but also because the blend of gases and the amount of atmospheric mixing is very different compared with Jupiter and Saturn.

With Webb due to stay in service for 10 years or more, many more space discoveries will be made.

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Mini-moon and the biggest bang in space are two of the latest astronomy finds - The National