Daily Archives: May 19, 2020

An international team of astronomers has discovered a close-in super-Earth exoplanet in the HD 164922 planetary system.

An artists impression of the super-Earth exoplanet HD 164922d. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

HD 164922 is a bright G9-type star located approximately 72 light-years away in the constellation of Hercules.

Also known as Gliese 9613 or LHS 3353, the star is slightly smaller and less massive than the Sun and is 9.6 billion years old.

HD 164922 is known to host two massive planets: the temperate sub-Neptune HD 164922c and the Saturn-mass planet HD 164922b in a wide orbit.

The sub-Neptune is 12.9 times more massive than Earth, and orbits the parent star once every 75.8 days at a distance of 0.35 AU (astronomical units).

The Saturn-like planet has a mass 0.3 times that of Jupiter and an orbital period of 1,201 days at a distance of 2.2 AU.

In a new study, Dr. Serena Benatti from the INAF Astronomical Observatory of Palermo and colleagues searched for additional low-mass planets in the inner region of the HD 164922 system.

The astronomers analyzed 314 spectra of the host star collected by HARPS-N (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern hemisphere), a spectrograph on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.

We monitored this target in the framework of the Global Architecture of Planetary Systems (GAPS) project focused on finding close-in low-mass companions in systems with outer giant planets, they said.

The team detected an additional inner super-Earth with a minimum mass of 4 times that of the Earth.

Named HD 164922d, the planet orbits the star once every 12.5 days at a distance of 0.1 AU.

This target will not be observed with NASAs Transiting Exoplanets Survey Satellite (TESS), at least in Cycle 2, to verify if it transits, the researchers said.

Dedicated observations with ESAs CHarachterizing ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) could be proposed, but they can be severely affected by the uncertainty on the transit time.

The teams paper will be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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S. Benatti et al. 2020. The GAPS Programme at TNG XXIII. HD 164922 d: a close-in super-Earth discovered with HARPS-N in a system with a long-period Saturn mass companion. A&A, in press; arXiv: 2005.03368

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Hot Super-Earth Discovered Orbiting Ancient Star | Astronomy - Sci-News.com

By Fred Watson, Astronomer-at-Large, The Australian Astronomical Observatory

In an international emergency like the present one, you might expect the science of the stars to be the last thing on peoples minds. The problems facing both individuals and governments are infinitely more pressing than events in the depths of space. People are suffering unprecedented hardships.

Yet throughout history, astronomy has shown extraordinary resilience in times of crisis and has kept public support. That resilience will be needed as a major international project, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), is on the brink of construction.

The SKA will be the worlds largest radio telescope, and Australia will play a leading role in building and operating it. How can this benefit a nation focused on containing a global pandemic?

History shows the science of the stars is no stranger to crisis. Indeed, modern astronomy was born in a time of deep conflict, when the northern provinces of the Netherlands were engaged in difficult negotiations with Spain after 40 years of war.

In 1608, the fledgling telescope came out of obscurity in the hands of Dutch spectacle-makers, and its possibilities for astronomy were recognised. When news of this optical novelty reached Galileo Galilei in Padua the following May, he set about improving it and the rest is history.

By the turn of the twentieth century, astronomical infrastructure had become big business, but two World Wars caused major disruptions. New telescope proposals were put on hold as manufacturers turned their hands to gunsights, rangefinders, binoculars and other optical munitions.

During the Second World War, one British company actually buried the 1.5-tonne mirror for a new South African telescope in a field to avoid possible bomb damage. While delivery of the mirror was delayed until 1948, the telescope was a success, and is still at work today.

Similarly, in the United States, the 200-inch (5.1-metre) mirror for what was to be the worlds largest telescope at the time, at Mount Palomar, California, was cast in December 1934, but the instruments completion was delayed until 1949. Although it is no longer the largest in the world, the Palomar telescope remains among the most effective.

While hardly comparable to a world war, the present crisis constitutes an emergency of grave proportions, and it is important to put a project like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) into perspective.

When completed, the telescope will provide radio astronomers with the largest and most advanced facility available to them. With an expected working lifetime of more than 50 years, it will explore the whole 13.8-billion year history of the Universe, yielding many exciting discoveries.

And spin-offs from the technologies under development have huge commercial potential, with tangible benefits for economic recovery.

One of the reasons governments fund research into the study of the Universe is that astronomy pushes technology to its limits whether it be low-noise radio receivers, complex data management systems or sophisticated computer algorithms. Wifi, for example, had its origins in Australian radio astronomy a quarter of a century ago.

More immediately, the construction of the SKA offers significant opportunities for local companies. The low-frequency component of the telescope will be built at the Murchison Radioastronomy Observatory in Western Australias remote Wajarri Yamatji country, one of the most radio-quiet places on Earth.

The project has so far spent $330 million in funding from the Australian and WA governments establishing the observatory and building pathfinder instruments.

And on the wider horizon, big science facilities like the SKA require strong international partnerships, with collaboration among the projects 14 member states representing a further positive outcome. Along with South Africa, where the mid-frequency component of the telescope will be located, Australia can expect its scientific standing to be further enhanced as one of the SKA host nations.

Although technological spin-offs are an important outcome of astronomical research, it is pure curiosity that is the ultimate driver. We are an inquisitive species, and the quest to know is what motivates researchers.

But it also inspires the rest of us with the staggering beauty of the universe and the appeal of scientific understanding. For youngsters in particular, that can prepare them for the jobs of the future, shaping an agile knowledge economy for our nation.

If the lessons of history are anything to go by, the SKA will be unlocking the secrets of the universe long after COVID-19 has subsided into memory. And that will be something of which we can all be proud.

Fred Watson, Astronomer-at-Large, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Australian Astronomical Observatory

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Royal Institution of Australia has an education resource based on this article. You can access it here.

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Why astronomy matters in times of crisis | Cosmos - Cosmos

Saturday, May 16The Moon passes 4 south of Neptune at 11 A.M. EDT. Two hours before sunrise, the pair are 6.5 apart and low on the eastern horizon shortly after rising. Follow them upward as the sky lightens with dawn. The Moon is just 33 percent lit and waning, while Neptune glows at magnitude 6, its disk appearing just 2" across. The nearest bright star is magnitude 4.2 Phi () Aquarii, a red-hued star that offers a glimpse of our Suns future. Currently in the red giant phase of its life, Phi is more than 260 times as luminous as the Sun and almost 39 times as wide. The star will eventually run out of nuclear fuel and its core will turn into a tiny white dwarf, lighting up what once was the stars own atmosphere as a beautiful planetary nebula.

Sunday, May 17Mercury passes 7 north of Aldebaran at 5 A.M. EDT. Because the pair trails the Sun in the sky, they wont be visible until sunset. About 20 minutes after sunset, the sky will still be bright. At that time, Mercury will hover just 9 high, with Aldebaran a mere 3 above the horizon. The two are now nearly 8 apart. Venus is roughly 9 northeast of Mercury, both brighter and higher in the sky, making it easier to spot. The two planets are drawing closer and will pass within 0.9 of each other in just a few days.

Monday, May 18The Moon reaches apogee at 3:45 A.M. EDT, when it will be 252,018 miles (405,584 km) from Earth. Rising just after 4 A.M. local time, our satellite is a smidge less than 17 percent lit and waning fast. Look for a mere sliver of a crescent in the southeast before sunrise, hanging against the brightening backdrop.

Above it in the sky is the Square of Pegasus, outlined by Alpheratz, Scheat, Markab, and Algenib. A little less than 20.5 west of Markab is the supergiant star Enif (Epsilon [] Pegasi), which represents the nose or muzzle of the flying horses figure. Coming in at roughly 150 times the diameter of our Sun, if placed in the center of our solar system, Enif would reach halfway to Venus. To the south of Enif are Alpha () and Beta () Aquarii, which are roughly as bright as Enif. The three also sit at roughly the same distance from Earth. Astronomers think the trio may have been born in the same group of stars, slowly drifting apart over the past 15 million years.

Tuesday, May 19Jupiter and Saturn rise in the southeast not long after local midnight, climbing higher in the sky as the morning hours tick by. The gas giants stand about 4.7 apart, glowing at magnitudes 2.5 and 0.5, respectively.

Once youve found the planets, draw an imaginary line between them. Halfway along that line, glance just over 1 due south to find M75 (NGC 6864), a tightly packed globular cluster considered to have the densest core of all Messiers globulars. This cluster is so dense, in fact, that it still appears starlike in binoculars, and apertures of 10 inches or larger are required to truly begin resolving the clusters stars. The 13-billion-year-old sphere of stars contains about 400,000 members and sits roughly 67,500 light-years from Earth.

See more here:

The Sky This Week from May 15 to 22 - Astronomy Magazine

Section 4

Our final section encompasses parts of Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, and Virgo.

For a whale of a view, slide about 3.5 east-northeast of NGC 4414 to NGC 4631. Popularly known as the Whale Galaxy, this 9th-magnitude tapered monolith (oriented roughly east to west) is replete with dark vapors in a delicate embrace. Star clumps pepper the 15'-long disk like snowballs on the side of a house. For a triple treat, check out NGC 4627, a magnitude 12.5 dwarf elliptical galaxy 3' to the north, and its equally slender partner, the Hockey Stick (NGC 4656/7), a magnitude 10.5 edge-on barred spiral 30' to the southeast.

Next is a different sort of pinwheel. NGC 4725 is a peculiar one-armed spiral a transition system between a normal spiral and a barred spiral that forms one of the most complete rings of any galaxy known. To find this magnitude 9.5 gem, look 2 south and slightly west of 31 Com, which lies near the North Galactic Pole. Through a 4-inch scope, the galaxys inner region displays a bar that connects a bright, broken inner ring surrounded by a fainter lens of light.

To find our next treat, travel westward to a point 2 due east of 17 Com. There, youll find the Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565). This magnitude 9.5 wafer of light has two 8'-long threads of light extending from the galaxys slightly swollen belly like silk from a spiders abdomen. A 4-inch telescope at high power will resolve NGC 4565s classic dark lane, which cleanly divides the galaxys bright hub into two distinct ovals.

The last object is the Lost Galaxy (NGC 4535). While relatively bright (magnitude 10.5), this barred spiral is of low surface brightness, so its a challenge to small-scope observers. The 7'-long glow lies 2 northwest of 31 Vir and, in a 4-inch scope, shines as a circular patch of ill-defined light. Views through 12-inch and larger scopes bring out the spirals main, S-shaped arms within what I describe as extragalactic ectoplasm.

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Observe edge-on and face-on galaxies | Astronomy.com - Astronomy Magazine

Hawaii Islands 12 observatories have been cleared to resume operations by state officials. With travel largely on hold, many observations will now be made from home.

Both state and county authorities in Hawaii have begun relaxing lockdown restrictions that closed many businesses statewide in March. One of the first industries granted permission to reopen by Governor David Ige was astronomy.

The pandemic was the second time in less than a year that Mauna Keas telescopes had to shut down. The first closure was during the anti-TMT protest in the summer of 2019.

Bringing the multi-million dollar telescopes back online is a lot more complicated than turning the lights on. Ivan Look, operations manager at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, told HPR that the major component of regular maintenance is replenishing the coolant that keeps astronomical instruments chilled.

Theyre so sensitive that they need to be super cold in order to provide the clear images that we need, Look said.

Super-cold is not an exaggeration. Some observational tools are kept at temperatures as low as minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Maintaining that frigid temperature requires the use of specialized coolant that needs to be regularly replenished, sometimes daily.

If technicians cant reliably access the summit, a telescope may be placed into a safe mode to protect the instruments from damage if they warm up. Look says re-cooling them can take a long time, as in the case of one lunar observation device.

"If that instrument was to warm up, it takes 21 days for us to get all the way back down to cold, he noted.

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope has a system that allows some maintenance to be done remotely, minimizing the need to send technicians to the Mauna Kea summit. Look says that capability was a major factor in allowing him to get the telescope operational within 24 hours of the governors announcement, although other telescopes take longer to reboot.

There have also been costs to science. Astronomers have not been on-sky, as they say, in almost two months, according to John OMeara, the chief scientist at the W.M Keck Observatory in Hilo.

We executed zero observing since the governors lockdown, he noted.

Half of the major telescopes worldwide have been shut down, according to OMeara. Some of those projects can be rescheduled, like seasonal observations of the center of the Milky Way or hunting for planets outside our solar system.

Other celestial observations may never be made up. So-called transient events happen with little to no warning and are often impossible to predict.

A supernova goes off, and you never knowwhen its going to happen. But when it happens, you want to catch it. That type of science could have been executed, but I cant point at a specific thing, OMeara said.

He added those types of decisions are often made in real time, when an event occurs. A recent example is the sudden appearance of Omuamua, a mysterious, cigar-shaped object from interstellar space that briefly visited our solar system in 2017.

With worldwide travel largely on hold, OMeara says Keck has beefed up its remote-observing capability. Half of observations made by the Keck telescopes were already being conducted by astronomers operating from remote sites. But some of those sites are also closed as a result of the pandemic. So like many of us, astronomers are now learning how to work from home.

In some cases astronomers are observing on their laptops or computers at home. We colloquially call this pajama-mode observing, OMeara jokes.

Despite the shutdown restrictions, local observatories have been keeping busy during the lockdown. Scientists analyzed previously collected data, while summit technicians have been training on new skills and working on other projects as allowed.

One machinist with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope designed and fabricated almost 300 no-touch door openers, which were disturbed to hospital workers in Hilo.

But for now, Hawaiis observatories are back on sky, hunting for the secrets of the universe. Sometimes in pajamas.

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Hunting The Secrets Of The Universe In Pajamas, Astronomers Go Back To Work - Hawaiipublicradio