Category Archives: Astronomy

Early Evolution of Planetary Disk Structures Seen for the First Time – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Posted: January 10, 2024 at 6:54 am

An international team of astronomers have found ring and spiral structures in very young planetary disks, demonstrating that planet formation may begin much earlier than once thought. The results were presented today at the 243rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Using data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatorys (NRAO) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) the team captured images of Class 0 and Class I planetary disks, which are much younger than the Class II disks observed by earlier disk surveys. Class II disks are known to have gaps and ring structures, indicating that planetary formation is well underway. ALMAs early observations of young protoplanetary disks have revealed many beautiful rings and gaps, possible formation sites of planets, said Cheng-Han Hsieh, PhD Candidate at Yale University, I wondered when these rings and gaps started to appear in the disks

This new study shows that structure begins to form when the disks are about 300,000 years old, which is incredibly fast. Young disks can have multiple rings, and spiral structures, or evolve into a ring with a central cavity. These observations challenge our understanding of how planets form, particularly large Jupiter-like planets. It is difficult to form giant planets within a million years from the core accretion model, said Cheng-Han Hsieh. Future studies will pinpoint the exact time when the disk substructure appears and how that connects to early planet formation.

Watch the press conference here.

About ALMA & NRAO

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

NRAO is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

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Jill Malusky, NRAO & GBO News & Public Information Manager

jmalusky@nrao.edu

304-460-5608

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XRISM’s Revolutionary Insights into X-Ray Astronomy – AZoQuantum

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A first glimpse of the unparalleled data that will be gathered when science operations of the Japan-led XRISM (X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory start later this year has been made public.

Scientists can now get a thorough look at the chemical composition of a nearby galaxy by examining a spectrum of stellar wreckage and a picture of hundreds of galaxies taken by the satellite's science team.

XRISM will provide the international science community with a new glimpse of the hidden X-Ray sky, and we will not only see X-Ray images of these sources but also study their compositions, motions, and physical states.

Richard Kelley, The US Principal Investigator for XRISM, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA

Pronounced "crism," XRISM is spearheaded by NASA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), with support from ESA (European Space Agency). It debuted on September 6th, 2023.

It will investigate the hottest spots, biggest structures, and objects with the highest gravity in the cosmos. It is intended to detect X-Rays with energies up to 12,000 electron volts. In contrast, visible light has between two and three electron volts of energy.

Resolve and Xtend, the two instruments of the mission, are each at the center of an X-Ray Mirror Assembly that was created and constructed at Goddard.

NASA and JAXA created the microcalorimeter spectrometer known as Resolve. It is housed inside a refrigerator-sized container filled with liquid helium and runs at a temperature just slightly above absolute zero.

Resolve's 6-by-6-pixel detector warms up in proportion to incoming X-Rays. The device measures the energy of each individual X-Ray, providing previously unobtainable source information.

The mission team utilized Resolve to investigate N132D, a supernova remnant and among the most luminous X-Ray sources within the Large Magellanic Cloud. This dwarf galaxy resides approximately 160,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado. The expanding remnants are thought to be roughly 3,000 years old, formed by the collapse and explosion of a star approximately 15 times the mass of the Sun when it depleted its fuel.

There are peaks in the Resolve spectrum that correspond to silicon, sulfur, calcium, argon, and iron. This is the object's most comprehensive X-Ray spectrum ever acquired, showcasing the amazing science the mission will perform once normal operations start later in 2024.

These elements were forged in the original star and then blasted away when it exploded as a supernova. Resolve will allow us to see the shapes of these lines in a way never possible before, letting us determine not only the abundances of the various elements present but also their temperatures, densities, and directions of motion at unprecedented levels of precision. From there, we can piece together information about the original star and the explosion.

Brian Williams, XRISM Project Scientist, NASA, Goddard

JAXA developed Xtend, the second instrument aboard XRISM, which is an X-Ray imager. Because of its wide field of view, XRISM can see a region that is almost 60% bigger than the full moon's average apparent size.

An X-Ray image of Abell 2319, a dense galaxy cluster located in the northern constellation Cygnus and approximately 770 million light-years away, was taken by Xtend. It is presently going through a significant merger event and is the seventh brightest X-Ray cluster in the sky.

The cluster, which demonstrates Xtend's broad field of vision, is 3 million light-years across.

Even before the end of the commissioning process, Resolve is already exceeding our expectations. Our goal was to achieve a spectral resolution of 7 electron volts with the instrument, but now that its in orbit, were achieving 5. What that means is well get even more detailed chemical maps with each spectrum XRISM captures.

Lillian Reichenthal, XRISM Project Manager, NASA, Goddard.

Despite a problem with its detector's aperture door, Resolve is operating at peak efficiency and has already initiated fascinating scientific research. Despite multiple tries, the door that was intended to shield the detector prior to launch has not opened as intended.

Rather than stopping the mission at 300 electron volts as planned, the door stops lower-energy X-Rays. The XRISM team is looking into several strategies for unlocking the door and will keep examining the phenomenon. There is no impact on the Xtend device.

Source: https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/

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Vatican’s chief astronomer talks about stars, beauty, truth – Aleteia

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Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ, is the director of the Vatican Observatory (the "Specola"). In an interview he discusses his work and what makes this institution unique.

A universe full of stars is big enough to hold intangible things like Truth and Beauty, says the director of the Vatican Observatory (Specola), American Jesuit Guy Consolmagno, in an interview with I.MEDIA. For Brother Consolmagno, who shares his fondest memories and the unique characteristics of the small Catholic states Observatory, contemplating the stars naturally leads to an imminent realization of God.

People generally think of an astronomers job studying the countless stars as mysterious and fascinating. What does your work as the Vaticans chief astronomer consist of?

Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ: In fact, my day-to-day life can seem rather mundane and tedious. I spend very few working hours looking at the stars; mostly I look at computer screens. Indeed, half of us working at the Specola are theorists, puzzling out how to understand the things the observers bring us using detailed computer programs.

Even those of us who get to use the telescope are only on the mountain a few weeks every year (not looking through the telescope, but looking at computer generated images from the telescope cameras). The rest of our time is spent reducing the data, which is to say removing flaws and artifacts and extracting from the images the exact measurement of how big or how bright the objects are that we observe.

What we all have in common, however theorists and observers is that we then need to write up our results into papers that can be presented at meetings and published in journals. And we need to follow the work that our colleagues are doing. The real work, and the real joy in our work, comes from sharing what we find with the rest of the scientific community. In addition, some of us who have the talent to do so are also deeply involved in communicating those results to students or the general public in the form of talks and books.

On Being CC

Is there a life lesson youve learned from studying the universe?

Br. Consolmagno: Most of us myself included tend to live in a world that is very small and flat, where I am at the center and the other important places around me are the refrigerator and my bed! But studying the universe including just going outside at night and looking up at the stars, with the same wonder that we had as children reminds us that the real universe is so much bigger than that. A universe full of stars is big enough to hold intangible things like Truth and Beauty. Looking out, and out, and out, eventually leads you to wonder why it all exists; in the words of Leibnitz, Why is there something instead of nothing? From such contemplation one is naturally led to an imminent realization of God.

What is your most cherished memory so far from your career as an astronomer?

Br. Consolmagno: There are so many moments searching for meteorites in Antarctica, seeing my first student work cited in the popular astronomy magazine Sky and Telescope, the first time I saw the Eta Carina nebula from New Zealand But perhaps one particular moment was when I had the sudden realization that one of my pet theories, an idea that I wrote up in a paper back in 1978 that has been cited in the scientific literature for decades, was actually (probably) wrong! It made me feel like St. Paul on the road to Damascus.

The writer Isaac Asimov, himself a scientist, once observed that the most exciting thing to hear in a lab is not hurrah, I have found it! but rather, hmm thats odd Realizing that the universe is stranger than we thought, not just in general but in this particular way, this particular instance, which I can explore more deeply with this observation or that calculation, is opening a door to a whole new world of possibilities. Nothing can be more exciting than that!

Youre a special kind of astronomer, being a Jesuit too. Do your faith and your astronomy have an impact on each other?

Br. Consolmagno: Being a Jesuit has certainly changed the way I do my science. It reminds me that the goal of my work is not simply to earn money or fame, or to show up my rivals in the field. Rather, I do it for the joy that astronomy brings me, a joy that I recognize as evidence of the presence of God.

Likewise, my astronomy has enriched my faith; rather than being the case that science gives me faith actually, I had faith before I was a scientist but rather, science and contemplating the universe gives me an understanding of why I need faith. Only faith can make sense and give meaning to the joy and beauty I encounter when I gain some understanding of the universe and how it works.

What is the place of the Vatican Observatory on the international stage?

Br. Consolmagno: The members of the Vatican Observatory play a very large role in the international world of astronomy. Of course, we are good astronomers who have studied at the same schools and attend the same international meetings as our colleagues. In our annual reports you can find hundreds of research papers that our members publish in scientific journals every year; in virtually all of them, we are collaborating with lay scientists in institutions from around the world.

But by being at the Vatican we are not competing with our colleagues for the same limited government funding, and we are encouraged by the Vatican to help out in the organizing and administration of organizations and meetings that other scientists often do not have the time to do.

The Vatican is a member of the International Astronomical Union and our astronomers have been elected to a number of positions including presidents, vice presidents, and secretaries of various divisions and commissions. To give but two examples, Fr. Chris Corbally was on the committee that wrote the definition of a planet that granted Pluto its new status, and I serve on the working group that names features like craters and valleys on the surfaces of planets. In addition to the IAU, I was also elected to a term as president of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in 2006, and as president of the Meteoritical Society (term starting in 2025).

We are also often called upon to serve on panels or as referees to judge proposals from our fellow scientists applying for research funding from NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency), and other national space funding agencies.

One unique way that we have made an impact in international astronomy is with our biennial summer schools. Since 1986 we have sponsored four-week gatherings of 25 students from around the world in an intensive study of some aspect of modern astrophysics with some of the best astronomers in the world (Including Nobel laureates). Students from past schools now are playing important roles in contemporary astronomy.

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Explore the cosmos in EAC Payson Campus astronomy workshops – Payson Roundup

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Neptune is more of a greenish blue than is commonly depicted – NPR

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When Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, it sent back images that were processed to better reveal features like bands and a dark spot. But a new study says it's actually a greener planet. NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

When Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, it sent back images that were processed to better reveal features like bands and a dark spot. But a new study says it's actually a greener planet.

In 1989, Voyager 2 became the first and only spacecraft to ever fly by Neptune, and images from that mission famously show a planet that's a deep azure color.

But in reality, Neptune is far more of a light greenish blue. It's actually pretty similar in color to its fellow ice giant Uranus, also visited by Voyager 2.

"We find that the planets are different colors, but the difference in color was nothing like what you see when you Google for images of Uranus and Neptune," says Patrick Irwin, a planetary physicist at the University of Oxford.

Irwin led a team that did a new analysis that's just been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The images taken by Voyager 2 when it passed Neptune in 1989 were originally processed to better reveal its distinctive features, but as a result they made the planet look too blue. P. Irwin hide caption

The images taken by Voyager 2 when it passed Neptune in 1989 were originally processed to better reveal its distinctive features, but as a result they made the planet look too blue.

The researchers rebalanced composite color images taken by the Voyager 2 camera, using data from instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope as well as the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope.

The resulting images more accurately reflect the true colors of these planets, says Irwin, as they'd be seen by the naked eye.

As a result, some of the key features of Neptune, such as cloud bands and a dark spot, become "indistinct and difficult to see," he says, noting that the Voyager team deliberately processed its images in a way that would highlight the unusual features of this planet.

"This is a very common thing to do. You're effectively trying to tell a story and to point out to your audience what the interesting features of those images might be," says Leigh Fletcher, an astronomer with the University of Leicester. "But even amateur astronomers looking through their own backyard telescopes up at Uranus and Neptune knew that the contrast in colors between those two worlds was rather more subtle than maybe the original NASA's images first let on."

Although Voyager scientists were open about how they processed their images, says Irwin, the subtleties of those decisions have gotten lost over the decades as the images of Neptune and Uranus have been endlessly reproduced.

"People now just think, 'Well, that's how they look,'" Irwin says, adding that when people see his team's new vision of Neptune, they're "quite surprised."

In addition to rebalancing Neptune's colors, the research team also investigated the unusual color changes seen on Uranus during its 84-year orbit of the sun.

Using observations taken from 1950 to 2016 by the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, they found that Uranus appears a little greener at its solstices, when one of the planet's poles is pointed toward the sun.

But when the sun is over the equator, Uranus looks a bit bluer.

The researchers attribute this color change to the fact that the poles have less methane than the equator, plus they have an increased amount of icy haze.

"We now have a model capable of explaining why those subtle colors are changing," says Fletcher, who notes that it took decades of data and calculations that can replicate how light interacts with various gases and aerosols.

In a description of the new research released by the Royal Astronomical Society, Heidi Hammel, of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), is quoted as saying that astronomers have been bedeviled for decades by the misperceptions of Neptune's color, as well as the color changes of Uranus.

"This comprehensive study," Hammel said, "should finally put both issues to rest."

Some astronomers have long lobbied for a new mission out to one of the ice giant planets, and an influential priority-setting panel for astronomy recently put a robotic mission to orbit Uranus at the top of its wish list.

"We're talking about launch dates in the 2030s and not arriving until 10 years later," says Irwin. "So it's to be beyond my professional career, but hopefully not my life."

Fletcher says no one really knows what the insides of these ice giants are like, and there's certain regions of these planets and their moons that no human or robotic eyes have ever seen.

"Going out to these destinations will be revealing environments, revealing landscapes, revealing atmospheres that nobody's ever seen before," he says, adding that it's one of the few places left in the solar system with the potential to make such discoveries.

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The best expensive telescopes for those ready to splurge – Astronomy Magazine

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These are our picks for the best splurge-worthy telescopes.

Observing the night sky with a telescope. Credit: Kim Grossman/NPS Photo

Attention stargazers and astrophotography aficionados: If youre ready to take a truly giant leap into the cosmos with an expensive telescope, this guide is for you. Were talking top-tier, splurge-worthy telescopes that promise to elevate your starry experiences to new heights.

However, you should know that choosing the right expensive telescope is not just about spending a ton of money; its about finding the right balance of quality, precision, and ease of use thats right for you. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you buy a product through the links on this page, we may earn a commission.

What to consider when buying an expensive telescope

Our telescope review process: At Astronomy magazine, we take our reviews seriously. Our team of experts has hands-on experience with a wide range of telescopes, and we stay up-to-date with the latest technological advancements. For this list, weve considered user reviews, technical specifications, and our own experiences viewing celestial objects with many different telescopes.

Top expensive telescopes for serious astronomers

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Price: $22,500

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Price: $35,640

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The best expensive telescope mount

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The Meade 16-inch LX200 ACF Computerized Telescope is one of the best overall high-end telescopes because it strikes a great balance between price and performance. This is due to its Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) optics, akin to those used in the Hubble Space Telescope, which offer exceptional clarity and detail. The integration of GPS and high-tech features like the Zero Image-Shift Microfocuser also put the scope at the forefront of technological advancement. And LX200s 16-inch aperture enables profound exploration of deep-space objects, delivering an unmatched astronomical experience.

How to care for an expensive telescope

All telescopes can benefit from proper care and maintenance. But, maintaining a high-end telescope requires additional diligence and attention so you can ensure its longevity and get the most bang for your buck.

Remember, if youre making a significant financial investment in an expensive telescope, you should likewise invest the time and money you need to ensure it continues to operate at its peak performance for years to come.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why are high-end telescopes so expensive? High-end telescopes command a higher price due to their advanced optics, larger apertures, sophisticated mounting systems, and additional features like computerized tracking and high-quality construction materials. These elements significantly enhance the overall viewing experience, allowing for more detailed and clearer observations of celestial objects. However, they also significantly increase the cost.

Are high-end telescopes suitable for beginners?They can be overwhelming for beginners due to their complexity and the detailed knowledge required to effectively operate them. Beginners may benefit more from starting with a less complex model and gradually progressing to more advanced telescopes.

For those looking to explore more affordable telescopes, please see our guides to the best telescopes under $1,000 and the best telescopes under $500.

How do high-end telescopes compare with professional telescopes? High-end telescopes for amateurs are incredibly advanced and offer excellent capabilities. But professional telescopes, like those used in observatories, have larger apertures, more sophisticated technology, and are often housed in locations with near-ideal viewing conditions. These professional instruments are designed for in-depth scientific research and can capture far more detailed astronomical data than those available to consumers.

Investing in a high-end telescope can profoundly transform your journey as an amateur astronomer. These telescopes not only bring the wonders of the universe closer, but also offer increased clarity and detail when viewing celestial objects. Expensive telescopes bridge the gap between amateur enthusiasm and professional-grade astronomical exploration, allowing users to experience the night sky in ways they never thought possible.

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First Yale Gravitational Wave Symposium sparks research innovation | Department of Physics – Yale University

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In the last few years there has been growing interest in low-frequency gravitational waves. OnJune 29, 2023, after 15 years of searching, theNorth American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav)collaboration and its international partners announced evidence for the detection of a gravitational wave backgroundthe first time any gravitational wave background has been found with any detector.Before this point, only high-frequency gravitational waves had been detected.

Chiara Mingarelli, assistant professor in physics, said, What we found is evidence of hundreds of thousands of simultaneously merging pairs of supermassive black holes, with gravitational wavelengths of light-years There has been much excitement in the broader astrophysics community surrounding it.

While there have been several special sessions dedicated to NANOGrav results at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and American Physical Society (APS) meetings, there had not been a dedicated workshop or symposium where members of the community could ask questions about the results and future prospects.

To address this need, the first Yale Gravitational Wave Symposium was held fromNovember 20-21, 2023 at Yale Universitys Kline Tower in New Haven.This symposium provided the gravitational wave research commmunity the opportunity toengage with keyNANOGravmembers and to delve into the latest advancements in the field by fosteringin-depth discussions regarding NANOGravs recent suite of papers, exchanging insights, and discussing the course for future directions for research in the field.

Mingarelli, who led the symposium organizing committee, said, My biggest hope for the symposium was to bring together experts in NANOGrav together with the broader community in physics and astronomy to discuss the current results, and to imagine future ways to collaborate. The field of multimessenger astrophysics the measurement of e.g., light and gravity from the same physical system is still very young. The detection of low-frequency gravitational waves is inherently multimessenger, combining expertise in radio astronomy, extra-galactic astronomy, data analysis, and fundamental physics. I believe it is important to have as much communication between astronomers, astrophysicists, and experts in data analysis to move the field forward, and to pursue new avenues of research together.

The symposium brought together a mix of experts from complementary cutting-edge experiments such as the Event Horizon Telescope, LIGO, Vera Rubin LSST; experts in industry from Wolfram and the Flatiron Institute; and colleagues from top universities and research centers across the United States and Europe working in cosmology, astrophysics, data analysis, and other fields of gravitational waves.

Meg Urry, the Israel Munson Professor of Physics and one of the members of the scientific organizing committee, commented, The force behind the meeting was Chiara Mingarelli, but I will say that it involved a wonderful mix of gravitational wave signal-processing experts and astrophysics-oriented people. The gap was just wide enough that both groups learned a lot, and just narrow enough that we could understand one another.

In addition to Mingarelli and Urry, other members of the scientific organizing committee included Priyamvada Natarajan,Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics; Scott Ransom, staff astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO); and Tristan Smith, associate professor of physics at Swarthmore.

The meeting format was designed to foster discussions. There were 4 sessions over 2 days. The first day of the symposium focused on the gravitational wave background and pulsar noise, while the second day focused on both astrophysical interpretations of the background and new physics.Each session had a short plenary talk, followed by 3 deep dive talks; and the rest of the time was devoted to discussion.

Mingarelli explained that this format gave the community the opportunity to ask clarifying questions about the NANOGrav experiment, and foster conversations and debates about open questions in fundamental physics.

Urry added that the meeting space on the 14th floor was fabulous, as it allowed everyone to stay together from talks to meals and back again, thus helping build the community feeling and encouraging many more conversations than would have been possible had we all gone out to forage for meals.

As a result of the symposium, Mingarelli said, I personally came up with 5 new paper ideas with colleagues during the meeting it was very productive!

See below links for further information on the NANOGrav Collaboration and for photos, taken by Geriana Van Atta during the event.

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Dinosaurs and a touch of astronomy | Education | paysonroundup.com – Payson Roundup

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Dinosaurs and a touch of astronomy | Education | paysonroundup.com - Payson Roundup

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Astronomical Illusions: New Images Reveal What Neptune and Uranus Really Look Like – SciTechDaily

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A study reveals Neptune and Uranus are both greenish-blue, not the deep azure and pale cyan previously believed. Modern telescope data was used to correct these historical color misrepresentations. Credit: Patrick Irwin, edited

Recent research led by Professor Patrick Irwin shows that Neptune and Uranus are both a similar shade of greenish-blue, challenging previous perceptions of their colors. The study used modern telescopic data to correct historical color inaccuracies and explained the minor color changes in Uranus over its orbit.

Neptune is fondly known for being a rich blue and Uranus green but a new study has revealed that the two ice giants are actually far closer in color than typically thought.

The correct shades of the planets have been confirmed with the help of research led by Professor Patrick Irwin from the University of Oxford, which has been published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

He and his team found that both worlds are in fact a similar shade of greenish blue, despite the commonly-held belief that Neptune is a deep azure and Uranus has a pale cyan appearance.

Voyager 2/ISS images of Uranus and Neptune released shortly after the Voyager 2 flybys in 1986 and 1989, respectively, compared with a reprocessing of the individual filter images in this study to determine the best estimate of the true colors of these planets. Credit: Patrick Irwin

Astronomers have long known that most modern images of the two planets do not accurately reflect their true colors.

The misconception arose because images captured of both planets during the 20th century including by NASAs Voyager 2 mission, the only spacecraft to fly past these worlds recorded images in separate colors.

The single-color images were later recombined to create composite color images, which were not always accurately balanced to achieve a true color image, and particularly in the case of Neptune were often made too blue.

Uranus as seen by HST/WFC3 from 2015-2022. During this sequence, the north pole, which has a paler green color, swings down towards the Sun and Earth. In these images, the equator and latitude lines at 35N and 35S are marked. Credit: Patrick Irwin

In addition, the early Neptune images from Voyager 2 were strongly contrast-enhanced to better reveal the clouds, bands, and winds that shape our modern perspective of Neptune.

Professor Irwin said: Although the familiar Voyager 2 images of Uranus were published in a form closer to true color, those of Neptune were, in fact, stretched and enhanced, and therefore made artificially too blue.

Even though the artificially saturated color was known at the time amongst planetary scientists and the images were released with captions explaining it that distinction had become lost over time.

Applying our model to the original data, we have been able to reconstitute the most accurate representation yet of the color of both Neptune and Uranus.

In the new study, the researchers used data from Hubble Space Telescopes Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope. In both instruments, each pixel is a continuous spectrum of colors.

This means that STIS and MUSE observations can be unambiguously processed to determine the true apparent color of Uranus and Neptune.

The researchers used these data to re-balance the composite color images recorded by the Voyager 2 camera, and also by the Hubble Space Telescopes Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

This revealed that Uranus and Neptune are actually a rather similar shade of greenish blue. The main difference is that Neptune has a slight hint of additional blue, which the model reveals to be due to a thinner haze layer on that planet.

Animation of seasonal changes in color on Uranus during two Uranus years (one Uranus year is 84.02 Earth years), running from 1900 to 2068 and starting just before the southern summer solstice, when Uranuss south pole points almost directly towards the Sun. The left-hand disc shows the appearance of Uranus to the naked eye, while the right-hand disc has been color-stretched and enhanced to make atmospheric features clearer. In this animation, Uranuss spin has been slowed down by over 3000 times so that the planetary rotation can be seen, with discrete storm clouds seen passing across the planets disc. As the planet moves towards its solstices a pale polar hood of increasing cloud opacity and reduced methane abundance can be seen filling more of the planets disc leading to seasonal changes in the overall color of the planet. The changing size of Uranuss disc is due to Uranuss distance from the Sun changing during its orbit. Credit: Patrick Irwin, University of Oxford

The study also provides an answer to the long-standing mystery of why Uranuss color changes slightly during its 84-year orbit of the Sun.

The authors came to their conclusion after first comparing images of the ice giant to measurements of its brightness, which were recorded by the Lowell Observatory in Arizona from 1950 2016 at blue and green wavelengths.

These measurements showed that Uranus appears a little greener at its solstices (i.e. summer and winter), when one of the planets poles is pointed towards our star. But during its equinoxes when the Sun is over the equator it has a somewhat bluer tinge.

Part of the reason for this was known to be because Uranus has a highly unusual spin.

It effectively spins almost on its side during its orbit, meaning that during the planets solstices either its north or south pole points almost directly towards the Sun and Earth.

This is important, the authors said, because any changes to the reflectivity of the polar regions would therefore have a big impact on Uranuss overall brightness when viewed from our planet.

What astronomers were less clear about is how or why this reflectivity differs.

This led the researchers to develop a model that compared the spectra of Uranuss polar regions to its equatorial regions.

It found that the polar regions are more reflective at green and red wavelengths than at blue wavelengths, partly because methane, which is red absorbing, is about half as abundant near the poles than the equator.

However, this wasnt enough to fully explain the color change so the researchers added a new variable to the model in the form of a hood of gradually thickening icy haze which has previously been observed over the summer, sunlit pole as the planet moves from equinox to solstice.

Astronomers think this is likely to be made up of methane ice particles.

When simulated in the model, the ice particles further increased the reflection at green and red wavelengths at the poles, offering an explanation as to why Uranus is greener at the solstice.

Professor Irwin said: This is the first study to match a quantitative model to imaging data to explain why the color of Uranus changes during its orbit.

In this way, we have demonstrated that Uranus is greener at the solstice due to the polar regions having reduced methane abundance but also an increased thickness of brightly scattering methane ice particles.

Dr. Heidi Hammel, of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), who has spent decades studying Neptune and Uranus but was not involved in the study, said: The misperception of Neptunes color, as well as the unusual color changes of Uranus, have bedeviled us for decades. This comprehensive study should finally put both issues to rest.

The ice giants Uranus and Neptune remain a tantalizing destination for future robotic explorers, building on the legacy of Voyager in the 1980s.

Professor Leigh Fletcher, a planetary scientist from the University of Leicester and co-author of the new study, said: A mission to explore the Uranian system from its bizarre seasonal atmosphere, to its diverse collection of rings and moons is a high priority for the space agencies in the decades to come.

However, even a long-lived planetary explorer, in orbit around Uranus, would only capture a short snapshot of a Uranian year.

Earth-based studies like this, showing how Uranus appearance and color has changed over the decades in response to the weirdest seasons in the Solar System, will be vital in placing the discoveries of this future mission into their broader context, Professor Fletcher added.

Reference: Modelling the seasonal cycle of Uranuss colour and magnitude, and comparison with Neptune by Patrick G J Irwin, Jack Dobinson, Arjuna James, Nicholas A Teanby, Amy A Simon, Leigh N Fletcher, Michael T Roman, Glenn S Orton, Michael H Wong, Daniel Toledo, Santiago Prez-Hoyos and Julie Beck, 12 September 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stad3761

See more here:

Astronomical Illusions: New Images Reveal What Neptune and Uranus Really Look Like - SciTechDaily

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Book Review: Things That Go Bump in the Universe, by C. Rene James – The New York Times

Posted: December 16, 2023 at 2:03 pm

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE UNIVERSE: How Astronomers Decode Cosmic Chaos, by C. Rene James

There is one particular pulsar, a type of quick-spinning dead star, that holds the current record for the fastest rotation of any celestial body in the known universe 716 times per second. By contrast, the blade of a Vitamix can turn around 333 times every second, but a blender is small enough to sit on a countertop, and a pulsar is a city-size ball of neutrons that floats in space and contains the mass of half a million Earths.

One can read numbers like this and think, Oh, thats interesting, writes the astronomer C. Rene James in her new book, Things That Go Bump in the Universe. One can also feel that grasping the reality is impossible. But, she says, You should still try.

Pulsars may seem unfathomable, but they are worth studying both for their own sake they are among the weirdest things in the cosmos and for the insight they can offer. They can help us measure the distance between suns and advance our knowledge of nuclear physics. A pulsar like the record-setting PSR J1748-2446ad, which James usefully renames Zippy, is a key tool in the relatively new field of transient astronomy: the study of fast, short-lived, violent phenomena in what we otherwise perceive as a mostly empty and unblinking universe.

The James Webb Space Telescope and its siblings have revealed fascinating portraits of a cosmos spangled with stars, clouds of dust, filaments of gas and the whirling arms of galaxies. Things That Go Bump in the Universe introduces several of the most unusual cosmic characters in these realms, including the extremely abundant and ghostly particles known as neutrinos, which seemingly interact with nothing after they are born, whether they arise in horrifically violent stellar death throes or in the natural decay of the potassium in bananas. We also meet black widow pulsars (over eons they consume their binary-star companions) and see black holes merge. One such collision 1.2 billion years ago made space-time around the Earth shudder in 2015.

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Book Review: Things That Go Bump in the Universe, by C. Rene James - The New York Times

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