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Tag: Space and Astronomy

  • Try This Quiz on Books That Were Made Into Great Space Movies

    Try This Quiz on Books That Were Made Into Great Space Movies

    Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about books that have gone on to find new life as movies, television shows, theatrical productions, video games and more. This week’s challenge is focused on fiction and nonfiction works about space exploration that were adapted into popular films.

    Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and their movie versions.

    J. D. Biersdorfer

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  • Watch moment UFO flies over moon as astronomer admits he ‘cannot explain it’

    Watch moment UFO flies over moon as astronomer admits he ‘cannot explain it’

    THIS is the incredible moment a UFO was captured shooting across the moon’s surface – baffling an astronomer.

    Dr. Sebastian Voltmer was recording the night sky through a telescope when an object blasted through the image.

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    An astrologer captured a UFO on filmCredit: Dr Sebastian Votim
    Although he isn't a UFO fanatic he couldn't explain the sighting

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    Although he isn’t a UFO fanatic he couldn’t explain the sightingCredit: Dr Sebastian Votim

    Despite carrying out checks and not being a UFO fanatic he still cannot explain the footage.

    Voltmer said: “While I was filming the moon, I suddenly saw a fast, bright something darting through the image.”

    At first he thought it must have been a satellite or space station it was at a different point in Earth’s orbit at the time and satellites don’t normally shoot past the moon at such high speeds.

    It is believed to have not been a meteor due to its distinctive tail being missing and its slower speed.

    And the International Meteor Organisation did not have any records of one of the shooting stars at the time Voltmer was filming, reports grewi.de.

    Voltmer also rules out flies or dust near the lens and thinks that the object must have been more than 500 meters away based on the plane of focus.

    He told BILD: “I actually assume that it was at an altitude of 100 to 200 kilometers, i.e. in the transition to the so-called Low Earth Orbit.”

    The exact shape of the object cannot be seen from the still image as it has been blurred by the speed it was travelling at.

    Another possible explanation would be space debris or a military object but the astrologer said he would have expected more reports.

    Planetary scientist lliot Sefton-Nash told BILD: “The object looks like a series of low-Earth orbit satellites with orbits close together.”

    Sefton-Nash thinks they could be Starlink satellites. “As far as we know, Starlink orbits are often phased, so groups of them pass in quick succession.”

    Shock video shows disc-shaped UFO floating over Ukraine warzone as ‘huge’ object spotted by drone

    The real threat of UFOs and aliens

    FOR decades, UFOs and aliens were considered to be make belief things created by people in tinfoil hats but they are now considered a threat to national security.

    Long gone are those who claim conspiracy theories are all false as many are now discussed at the highest levels of government with US officials even admitting their existence.

    As more and more credible witnesses continue to come forward to tell their extraordinary stories publicly.

    The 2010s saw decades of stigmas around extra terrestrial life start to break down as politicians made UFO sightings a matter of national security.

    Across the world, governments have also unveiled some spooky truths with some even showcasing “dead alien corpses” on display for congress.

    Researchers recently verified the legitimacy of a set of three-fingered mummies as potential evidence of “non-human” life forms.

    A line-up of doctors confirmed at Mexico‘s Congress on Tuesday that the bodies, purportedly not of this Earth, were in fact real, once-living organisms.

    The Pentagon also released a blockbuster 1,574 pages of real-life X-Files in 2022, related to its secretive UFO programme.

    The haul includes reports into research on the biological effects of UFO sightings on humans, sets out categorisations for paranormal experiences, and studies into sci-fi-style tech.

    Top UFO chief Sean Kirkpatrick told the world last year that he is set to step down from his job following his stern warning of concerning activity “in our backyard.”

    The Pentagon‘s UFO analysis office launched a UFO reporting service to the public after admitting to uncovering “some things” and calling the high number of suspicious activity either a foreign power or aliens.

    Navy jet footage has revealed the intriguing images of a government-confirmed UFO baffling the internet.

    The United States Government launched the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022 to investigate reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

    Olivia Allhusen

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  • James Lovell Fast Facts | CNN

    James Lovell Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of astronaut James Lovell.

    Birth date: March 25, 1928

    Birth place: Cleveland, Ohio

    Birth name: James Arthur Lovell Jr.

    Father: James Lovell Sr.

    Mother: Blanche Lovell

    Marriage: Marilyn (Gerlach) Lovell (1952-present)

    Children: Jeffrey, Susan, James III and Barbara

    Education: Attended University of Wisconsin, 1946-1948; US Naval Academy, B.S., 1952

    Military: US Navy, 1952-1973, Captain (Ret.)

    The first astronaut to make four space flights, including Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.

    He is the astronaut known for the phrase, “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” during the Apollo 13 mission.

    Has more than 715 hours of spaceflight.

    On Christmas Eve, the Apollo 8 astronauts described the moon and then read from the book of Genesis during a live television broadcast from space.

    1958-1962 – Works as a test pilot at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland.

    September 1962 – Is selected by NASA to be an astronaut.

    December 4-18, 1965 – Serves as the pilot on Gemini 7 under Commander Frank Borman. They are joined in space by Gemini 6; it is the first manned spacecraft rendezvous.

    November 11-15, 1966 – Serves as the commander of Gemini 12, with pilot Buzz Aldrin.

    December 21-27, 1968 – Along with crewmen Borman and William Anders, Lovell serves as command module pilot of Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon.

    April 11-17, 1970 – Serves as commander of Apollo 13 with crew John Swigert and Fred Haise. An explosion two days into the flight causes the mission to be aborted, and the remaining time is spent working towards returning to Earth safely.

    April 18, 1970 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

    1971-1973 – Serves as deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

    March 1, 1973 – Retires from the Navy and NASA. Begins working at the Bay-Houston Towing Company.

    January 1977 – Is appointed president of Fisk Telephone Systems, Inc.

    1981 – Is named an executive vice president of Centel Corporation, which acquired Fisk Telephone Systems in 1980.

    1991 – Retires from Centel Corporation.

    March 19, 1993 – Lovell Is inducted into the US Astronauts Hall of Fame.

    1994 – Lovell’s book, co-written with Jeffrey Kluger, “Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13,” is published.

    1995 – The movie “Apollo 13” premieres. Lovell’s character is played by Tom Hanks.

    July 26, 1995 – Is awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton.

    1998 – Is enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

    1999 – Opens the restaurant Lovells of Lake Forest in Lake Forest, Illinois.

    October 2010 – The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center is established in Chicago.

    November 2011 – An Apollo 13 checklist that Lovell used for calculations sells at auction for $388,375. After the sale, NASA questions whether Lovell had the right to sell the checklist.

    January 2012 – NASA Chief Charles Bolden meets with Lovell and other astronauts to discuss to work out the issue of artifact ownership. No agreement is reached.

    September 2012 – President Barack Obama signs a bill into law giving NASA’s Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts full ownership rights to the artifacts they collected from their missions.

    September 8, 2018 – Is honored with the Adler Planetarium’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

    July 20, 2019 – Sotheby’s offers a “Space Exploration” auction which includes many personal items from Lovell and the other astronauts involved in the Apollo moon missions. Days later, three original NASA moon landing videos sell for $1.82 million at the auction.

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  • Inside graveyard of rusting Soviet space rocket sat abandoned in warehouse

    Inside graveyard of rusting Soviet space rocket sat abandoned in warehouse


    A SOVIET space rocket has been left to rot near a desert in an abandoned ship graveyard.

    The rusting 2,650-ton Energia M rocket was once envisioned as the USSR’s lethal weapon that could take down Nasa’s space program.

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    Picture of the Energia M rotting away inside Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facilityCredit: mediadrumimages.com/@gregabandon
    A top view shows the nose cone of the rocket covered in bird poop.

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    A top view shows the nose cone of the rocket covered in bird poop.Credit: mediadrumimages.com/@gregabandon
    Rusty chains dangling around the rocket give away how long the rocket has been abandoned for

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    Rusty chains dangling around the rocket give away how long the rocket has been abandoned forCredit: youtube/@Ninurta
    A picture of the rocket showing its decaying boosters

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    A picture of the rocket showing its decaying boostersCredit: youtube/@Ninurta
    The sad remains of the warehouse where the rocket sits abandoned

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    The sad remains of the warehouse where the rocket sits abandonedCredit: Exclusivepix Media

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    The sad remains of what was once thought to be the future of Russian space exploration was abandoned to the elements decades ago.

    Tucked deep into the Kazakh desert, in Russia‘s Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility, the rocket has only been blasted by the faeces of several birds.

    Several structures surrounding the rocket have been reduced to rubble, depicting the sorry state of the once-blooming launch pad.

    Massive exposed pipes and metal chains in the cavern can be seen dangling inside the creepy warehouse.

    Although the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility remains active, large parts of the grounds are now little more than a graveyard for the relics of the Soviet Union’s space program.

    The USSR initially launched the project in what can only be described as a battle of egos with America, and their space program.

    In the ’70s the Soviets began to develop the rocket Energia in a bid to rival Nasa‘s Saturn V launch vehicle – which was responsible for the Apollo mission to the moon.

    The rocket was designed to serve as a “heavy-lift expendable launch system” and booster for the Soviet Buran space shuttle – the Soviet version of Nasa aircraft.

    Inside haunting underwater graveyard buried underneath tropical paradise with human skulls and abandoned belongings

    In 1993, a prototype of the rocket called “Energia M” was placed inside the hanger of the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch facility.

    As a mockup, the rocket was not meant to be fuelled or launched into space – but experts said they were close to being able to do so.

    I must say that the scale of this bloody rocket is enormous. I could not comprehend the rocket that cost millions was rusting away just like that

    Greg Abandoned

    But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russia’s crumbling economy in the ’90s, Boris Yeltsin was forced to cancel the space program entirely.

    And for more than 30 years, the rocket has been left untouched inside the abandoned hanger of the Russian space pad.

    Now, the machine and its cavern have become an adventure spot for photographers and urban explorers.

    In 2022, photographer Greg Abandoned spotted the warehouse inside the launch facility while adventuring through the wilderness.

    The explorer was left awestruck seeing the mammoth size of the rocket – and the sorry state of the hanger.

    He said: “I must say that the scale of this bloody rocket is enormous.

    “Standing there at the bottom and looking up at this monster was a remarkable experience.

    “I could not comprehend the rocket that cost millions was rusting away just like that.”

    Greg also discovered two Soviet space shuttles in an adjacent hanger.

    One of them was called Ptichka which was meant to go to space at some point in the future but never left Earth.

    The other one was a test vehicle that was never meant to fly.

    To date both the spacecraft, along with the rocket, remain marooned in the hangar, providing a stark symbol of the decline of the Soviet Space program.

    Other Soviet space shuttles, like Ptichka, have also been relegated to collecting dust

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    Other Soviet space shuttles, like Ptichka, have also been relegated to collecting dustCredit: mediadrumimages.com/@gregabandon
    The eerie hanger where the shuttle was left abandoned

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    The eerie hanger where the shuttle was left abandonedCredit: Exclusivepix Media
    They may have survived the Cold War, but they've been destroyed by time

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    They may have survived the Cold War, but they’ve been destroyed by timeCredit: mediadrumimages
    Now, the abandoned spacecraft hangar has become a playground for adventurers

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    Now, the abandoned spacecraft hangar has become a playground for adventurersCredit: Exclusivepix Media





    Sayan Bose

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  • Research sheds new light on Moon rock formation, solving major puzzle in lunar geology

    Research sheds new light on Moon rock formation, solving major puzzle in lunar geology

    Newswise — The study, published today in Nature Geoscience, reveals a key step in the genesis of these distinctive magmas.  A combination of high temperature laboratory experiments using molten rocks, together with sophisticated isotopic analyses of lunar samples, identify a critical reaction that controls their composition.

    This reaction took place in the deep lunar interior some three and a half billion years ago, involving exchange of the element iron (Fe) in the magma with the element magnesium (Mg) in the surrounding rocks, modifying the chemical and physical properties of the melt.  

    Co-lead author Tim Elliott, Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: “The origin of volcanic lunar rocks is a fascinating tale involving an ‘avalanche’ of an unstable, planetary-scale crystal pile created by the cooling of a primordial magma ocean. 

    “Central to constraining this epic history is the presence of a magma type unique to the Moon, but explaining how such magmas could even have got to the surface, to be sampled by Space missions, has been a troublesome problem. It is great to have resolved this dilemma.”

    Surprisingly high concentrations of the element titanium (Ti) in parts of the lunar surface have been known since the NASA Apollo missions, back in the 1960s and 1970s, which successfully returned solidified, ancient lava samples from the Moon’s crust. More recent mapping by orbiting satellite shows these magmas, known as ‘high-Ti basalts’, to be widespread on the Moon.

    “Until now models have been unable to recreate magma compositions that match essential chemical and physical characteristics of the high-Ti basalts. It has proven particularly hard to explain their low density, which allowed them to be erupted some three and a half billion years ago,” added co-lead author Dr Martijn Klaver, Research Fellow at the University of Münster Institute of Mineralogy.

    The international team of scientists, led by the Universities of Bristol in the UK and Münster in Germany managed to mimic the high-Ti basalts in the process in the lab using high-temperature experiments.  Measurements of the high-Ti basalts also revealed a distinctive isotopic composition that provides a fingerprint of the reactions reproduced by the experiments.

    Both results clearly demonstrate how the melt-solid reaction is integral in understanding the formation of these unique magmas. 

    Paper

    ‘Titanium-rich basaltic melts on the Moon modulated by reactive flow processes’ by Martijn Klaver et al in Nature Geoscience

    University of Bristol

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  • Advisory panel issues field-defining recommendations for investments in particle physics research

    Advisory panel issues field-defining recommendations for investments in particle physics research

    Newswise — Yesterday marked the release of a highly anticipated report from the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5), unveiling an exciting new roadmap for unlocking the secrets of the cosmos through particle physics.

    The report was released by the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel to the High Energy Physics program of the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation’s Division of Physics. It outlines particle physicists’ recommendations for research priorities in a field whose projects — such as building new accelerator facilities — can take years or decades, contributions from thousands of scientists and billions of dollars

    The 2023 P5 report represents the major activity in the field of particle physics that delivers recommendations to U.S. funding agencies. This year’s report builds on the output of the 2021 Snowmass planning exercise — a process organized by the American Physical Society’s (APS) Division of Particles and Fields that convened particle physicists and cosmologists from around the world to outline research priorities. This membership division constitutes the only independent body in the U.S. that represents particle physics as a whole.

    “With our state-of-the-art facilities and community of dedicated scientists, Argonne’s contributions are shaping the global trajectory of high-energy physics.” — Rik Yoshida, Argonne High Energy Physics Division Director

    “With our state-of-the-art facilities and community of dedicated scientists, Argonne’s contributions are shaping the global trajectory of high-energy physics.” — Rik Yoshida, Argonne High Energy Physics Division Director

    “The P5 report will lay the foundation for a very bright future in the field,” said R. Sekhar Chivukula, 2023 chair of the APS Division of Particles and Fields and a distinguished professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. ​“There are extraordinarily important scientific questions remaining in particle physics, which the U.S. particle physics community has both the capability and opportunity to help address, within our own facilities and as a member of the global high energy physics community.”

    The report includes a range of budget-conscious recommendations for federal investments in research programs, the U.S. technical workforce and the technology and infrastructure needed to realize the next generation of transformative discoveries related to fundamental physics and the origin of the universe. For example, the report recommends continued support for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), based out of DOE’s Fermilab in Illinois, for CMB-S4, a network of ground-based telescopes designed to observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and for the planned expansion of the South Pole’s neutrino observatory, an international collaboration known as IceCube-Gen2, in a facility operated by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

    Researchers at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory stand at the forefront of high energy physics and are poised to contribute significantly to the advancement of the field over the next decade. They are exploring the fundamental nature of the universe and pioneering innovative technologies with far-reaching implications. In particular, Argonne’s High Energy Physics (HEP) division leverages the laboratory’s suite of multidisciplinary facilities and equipment — including world-class scientific computing capabilities — to further scientific discovery and advance accelerator technology. For example, Argonne’s contributions to key high energy physics collaborations include the design and fabrication of components for DUNE, the development of cutting-edge detectors for CMB-S4 and more.

    “With our state-of-the-art facilities and community of dedicated scientists, Argonne’s contributions are helping to shape the global trajectory of high-energy physics,” said Rik Yoshida, director of Argonne’s HEP division. ​“This report reflects the collective wisdom of the high energy physics community, and we look forward to leveraging our expertise and capabilities here at Argonne to help uncover the mysteries of the universe, drive innovation, inspire future generations of scientists and bolster our nation’s vital role in the future of particle physics.”

    “In the P5 exercise, it’s really important that we take this broad look at where the field of particle physics is headed, to deliver a report that amounts to a strategic plan for the U.S. community with a 10-year budgetary timeline and a 20-year context. The panel thought about where the next big discoveries might lie and how we could maximize impact within budget, to support future discoveries and the next generation of researchers and technical workers who will be needed to achieve them,” said Karsten Heeger, P5 panel deputy chair and Eugene Higgins Professor and chair of physics at Yale University.

    New knowledge, and new technologies, set the stage for the most recent Snowmass and P5 convenings. ​“The Higgs boson had just been discovered before the previous P5 process, and now our continued study of the particle has greatly informed what we think may lie beyond the standard model of particle physics,” said Hitoshi Murayama, P5 panel chair and the MacAdams Professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. ​“Our thinking about what dark matter might be has also changed, forcing the community to look elsewhere — to the cosmos. And in 2015, the discovery of gravitational waves was reported. Accelerator technology is changing too, which has shifted the discussion to the technology R&D needed to build the next-generation particle collider.”

    The U.S. participates in several major international scientific collaborations in high energy physics and cosmology, including the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN), which operates the Large Hadron Collider, where the Higgs boson was discovered in 2012. The P5 report recommends that the U.S. support a significant in-kind contribution to a new international facility, the ​“Higgs factory,” to further our understanding of the Higgs boson.

    It also recommends that the U.S. study the possibility of hosting the next most-advanced particle collider facility to reinforce the country’s leading role in international high energy physics for decades to come.

    Activities of the P5 are supported in part by the APS’s Division of Particles and Fields.

    The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.

    Argonne National Laboratory

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  • 2023 In Review Fast Facts | CNN

    2023 In Review Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look back at the events of 2023.

    January 3 – Republican Kevin McCarthy fails to secure enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House in three rounds of voting. On January 7, McCarthy is elected House speaker after multiple days of negotiations and 15 rounds of voting. That same day, the newly elected 118th Congress is officially sworn in.

    January 7 – Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, is pulled over for reckless driving. He is hospitalized following the arrest and dies three days later from injuries sustained during the traffic stop. Five officers from the Memphis Police Department are fired. On January 26, a grand jury indicts the five officers. They are each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. On September 12, the five officers are indicted by a federal grand jury on several charges including deprivation of rights.

    January 9 – The White House counsel’s office confirms that several classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were discovered last fall in an office at the Penn Biden Center. On January 12, the White House counsel’s office confirms a small number of additional classified documents were located in President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home.

    January 13 – The Trump Organization is fined $1.6 million – the maximum possible penalty – by a New York judge for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme.

    January 21 – Eleven people are killed in a mass shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, as the city’s Asian American community was celebrating Lunar New Year. The 72-year-old gunman is found dead the following day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

    January 24 – CNN reports that a lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI.

    January 25 – Facebook-parent company Meta announces it will restore former President Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks, just over two years after suspending him in the wake of the January 6 Capitol attack.

    February 1 – Tom Brady announces his retirement after 23 seasons in the NFL.

    February 2 – Defense officials announce the United States is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States. On February 4, a US military fighter jet shoots down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. On June 29, the Pentagon reveals the balloon did not collect intelligence while flying over the country.

    February 3 – A Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derails in East Palestine, Ohio. An evacuation order is issued for the area within a mile radius of the train crash. The order is lifted on February 8. After returning to their homes, some residents report they have developed a rash and nausea.

    February 7 – Lebron James breaks the NBA’s all-time scoring record, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    February 15 – Payton Gendron, 19, who killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo last May, is sentenced to life in prison.

    February 18 – In a statement, the Carter Center says that former President Jimmy Carter will begin receiving hospice care at his home in Georgia.

    February 20 – President Biden makes a surprise trip to Kyiv for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago.

    February 23 – Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly is sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Chicago federal courtroom on charges of child pornography and enticement of a minor. Kelly is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court. Nineteen years of the 20-year prison sentence will be served at the same time as his other sentence. One year will be served after that sentence is complete.

    February 23 – Harvey Weinstein, who is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York, is sentenced in Los Angeles to an additional 16 years in prison for charges of rape and sexual assault.

    March 2 – SpaceX and NASA launch a fresh crew of astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station, kicking off a roughly six-month stay in space. The mission — which is carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates — took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

    March 2 – The jury in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh finds him guilty of murdering his wife and son. Murdaugh, the 54-year-old scion of a prominent and powerful family of local lawyers and solicitors, is also found guilty of two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the killings of Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh on June 7, 2021.

    March 3 – Four US citizens from South Carolina are kidnapped by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico, in a case of mistaken identity. On March 7, two of the four Americans, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, are found dead and the other two, Latavia McGee and Eric Williams, are found alive. The cartel believed responsible for the armed kidnapping issues an apology letter and hands over five men to local authorities.

    March 10 – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announces that Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by California regulators. This is the second largest bank failure in US history, only to Washington Mutual’s collapse in 2008. SVB Financial Group, the former parent company of SVB, files for bankruptcy on March 17.

    March 27 – A 28-year-old Nashville resident shoots and kills three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville. The shooter is fatally shot by responding officers.

    March 29 – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. On April 7, he is formally charged with espionage.

    March 30 – A grand jury in New York votes to indict Trump, the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges. On April 4, Trump surrenders and is placed under arrest before pleading not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege that Trump sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election through a hush money scheme with payments made to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump. He has denied the affairs.

    April 6 – Two Democratic members of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson, are expelled while a third member, Rep. Gloria Johnson, is spared in an ousting by Republican lawmakers that was decried by the trio as oppressive, vindictive and racially motivated. This comes after Jones, Pearson and Johnson staged a demonstration on the House floor calling for gun reform following the shooting at the Covenant School. On April 10, Rep. Jones is sworn back in following a unanimous vote by the Nashville Metropolitan Council to reappoint him as an interim representative. On April 12, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners vote to confirm the reappointment of Rep. Pearson.

    April 6-13 – ProPublica reports that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by and stays at properties owned by Harlan Crow, a GOP megadonor. The hospitality was not disclosed on Thomas’ public financial filings with the Supreme Court. The following week ProPublica reports Thomas failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal he made with Crow. On financial disclosure forms released on August 31, Thomas discloses the luxury trips and “inadvertently omitted” information including the real estate deal.

    April 7 – A federal judge in Texas issues a ruling on medication abortion drug mifepristone, saying he will suspend the US Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval of it but paused his ruling for seven days so the federal government can appeal. But in a dramatic turn of events, a federal judge in Washington state says in a new ruling shortly after that the FDA must keep medication abortion drugs available in more than a dozen Democratic-led states.

    April 13 – 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard is arrested by the FBI in connection with the leaking of classified documents that have been posted online.

    April 18 – Fox News reaches a last-second settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, paying more than $787 million to end a two-year legal battle that publicly shredded the network’s credibility. Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company.

    April 25 – President Biden formally announces his bid for reelection.

    May 2 – More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) go on strike for the first time since 2007. On September 26, the WGA announces its leaders have unanimously voted to authorize its members to return to work following the tentative agreement reached on September 24 between union negotiators and Hollywood’s studios and streaming services, effectively ending the months-long strike.

    May 9 – A Manhattan federal jury finds Trump sexually abused former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and awards her $5 million for battery and defamation.

    June 8 – Trump is indicted on a total of 37 counts in the special counsel’s classified documents probe. In a superseding indictment filed on July 27, Trump is charged with one additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts, bringing the total to 40 counts.

    June 16 – Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, is convicted by a federal jury on all 63 charges against him. He is sentenced to death on August 2.

    June 18 – A civilian submersible disappears with five people aboard while voyaging to the wreckage of the Titanic. On June 22, following a massive search for the submersible, US authorities announce the vessel suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing all five people aboard.

    June 20 – ProPublica reports that Justice Samuel Alito did not disclose a luxury 2008 trip he took in which a hedge fund billionaire flew him on a private jet, even though the businessman would later repeatedly ask the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf. In a highly unusual move, Alito preemptively disputed the nature of the report before it was published, authoring an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he acknowledged knowing billionaire Paul Singer but downplaying their relationship.

    June 29 – The Supreme Court says colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis for granting admission, a landmark decision overturning long-standing precedent.

    July 13 – The FDA approves Opill to be available over-the-counter, the first nonprescription birth control pill in the United States.

    July 14 – SAG-AFTRA, a union representing about 160,000 Hollywood actors, goes on strike after talks with major studios and streaming services fail. It is the first time its members have stopped work on movie and television productions since 1980. On November 8, SAG-AFTRA and the studios reach a tentative agreement, officially ending the strike.

    July 14 – Rex Heuermann, a New York architect, is charged with six counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three of the four women known as the “Gilgo Four.”

    August 1 – Trump is indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, in the 2020 election probe. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.

    August 8 – Over 100 people are killed and hundreds of others unaccounted for after wildfires engulf parts of Maui. Nearly 3,000 homes and businesses are destroyed or damaged.

    August 14 – Trump and 18 others are indicted by an Atlanta-based grand jury on state charges stemming from their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. Trump now faces a total of 91 charges in four criminal cases, in four different jurisdictions — two federal and two state cases. On August 24, Trump surrenders at the Fulton County jail where he is processed and released on bond.

    August 23 – Eight Republican presidential candidates face off in the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign in Milwaukee.

    September 12 – House Speaker McCarthy announces he is calling on his committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden, even as they have yet to prove allegations he directly profited off his son’s foreign business deals.

    September 14 – Hunter Biden is indicted by special counsel David Weiss in connection with a gun he purchased in 2018, the first time in US history the Justice Department has charged the child of a sitting president. The three charges include making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person.

    September 22 – New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is charged with corruption-related offenses for the second time in 10 years. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for the senator’s influence, according to the newly unsealed federal indictment.

    September 28 – Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female US senator in history, dies at the age of 90. On October 1, California Governor Gavin Newsom announces he will appoint Emily’s List president Laphonza Butler to replace her. Butler will become the first out Black lesbian to join Congress. She will also be the sole Black female senator serving in Congress and only the third in US history.

    September 29 – Las Vegas police confirm Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” was arrested for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

    October 3 – McCarthy is removed as House speaker following a 216-210 vote, with eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy from the post.

    October 25 – After three weeks without a speaker, the House votes to elect Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

    October 25 – Robert Card, a US Army reservist, kills 18 people and injures 13 others in a shooting rampage in Lewiston, Maine. On October 27, after a two-day manhunt, he is found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.

    November 13 – The Supreme Court announces a code of conduct in an attempt to bolster the public’s confidence in the court after months of news stories alleging that some of the justices have been skirting ethics regulations.

    November 19 – Former first lady Rosalynn Carter passes away at the age of 96.

    January 8 – Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro storm the country’s congressional building, Supreme Court and presidential palace. The breaches come about a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in a runoff election on October 30.

    January 15 – At least 68 people are killed when an aircraft goes down near the city of Pokhara in central Nepal. This is the country’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years.

    January 19 – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announces she will not seek reelection in October.

    January 24 – President Volodymyr Zelensky fires a slew of senior Ukrainian officials amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies.

    February 6 – More than 15,000 people are killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria.

    February 28 – At least 57 people are killed after two trains collide in Greece.

    March 1 – Bola Ahmed Tinubu is declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.

    March 10 – Xi Jinping is reappointed as president for another five years by China’s legislature in a ceremonial vote in Beijing, a highly choreographed exercise in political theater meant to demonstrate legitimacy and unity of the ruling elite.

    March 16 – The French government forces through controversial plans to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64.

    April 4 – Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.

    April 15 – Following months of tensions in Sudan between a paramilitary group and the country’s army, violence erupts.

    May 3 – A 13-year-old boy opens fire on his classmates at a school in Belgrade, Serbia, killing at least eight children along with a security guard. On May 4, a second mass shooting takes place when an attacker opens fire in the village of Dubona, about 37 miles southeast of Belgrade, killing eight people.

    May 5 – The World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency.

    May 6 – King Charles’ coronation takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.

    August 4 – Alexey Navalny is sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, Russian media reports. Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum-security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up.

    September 8 – Over 2,000 people are dead and thousands are injured after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hits Morocco.

    October 8 – Israel formally declares war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas after it carried out an unprecedented attack by air, sea and land on October 7.

    November 8 – The Vatican publishes new guidelines opening the door to Catholic baptism for transgender people and babies of same-sex couples.

    November 24 – The first group of hostages is released after Israel and Hamas agree to a temporary truce. Dozens more hostages are released in the following days. On December 1, the seven-day truce ends after negotiations reach an impasse and Israel accuses Hamas of violating the agreement by firing at Israel.

    Awards and Winners

    January 9 – The College Football Playoff National Championship game takes place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Georgia Bulldogs defeat Texas Christian University’s Horned Frogs 65-7 for their second national title in a row.

    January 10 – The 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards are presented live on NBC.

    January 16-29 – The 111th Australian Open takes place. Novak Djokovic defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to win a 10th Australian Open title and a record-equaling 22nd grand slam. Belarusian-born Aryna Sabalenka defeats Elena Rybakina in three sets, becoming the first player competing under a neutral flag to secure a grand slam.

    February 5 – The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena.

    February 12 – Super Bowl LVII takes place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. This is the first Super Bowl to feature two Black starting quarterbacks.

    February 19 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins the 65th Annual Daytona 500 in double overtime. It is the longest Daytona 500 ever with a record of 212 laps raced.

    March 12 – The 95th Annual Academy Awards takes place, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the third time.

    March 14 – Ryan Redington wins his first Iditarod.

    April 2 – The Louisiana State University Tigers defeat the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 in Dallas, to win the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship.

    April 3 – The University of Connecticut Huskies win its fifth men’s basketball national title with a 76-59 victory over the San Diego State University Aztecs in Houston.

    April 6-9 – The 87th Masters tournament takes place. Jon Rahm wins, claiming his first green jacket and second career major at Augusta National.

    April 17 – The 127th Boston Marathon takes place. The winners are Evans Chebet of Kenya in the men’s division and Hellen Obiri of Kenya in the women’s division.

    May 6 – Mage, a 3-year-old chestnut colt, wins the 149th Kentucky Derby.

    May 8-9 – The 147th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. Buddy Holly, a petit basset griffon Vendéen, wins Best in Show.

    May 20 – National Treasure wins the 148th running of the Preakness Stakes.

    May 21 – Brooks Koepka wins the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill County Club in Rochester, New York. This is his third PGA Championship and fifth major title of his career.

    May 22-June 11 – The French Open takes place at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris. Novak Djokovic wins a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title, defeating Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5 in the men’s final. Iga Świątek wins her third French Open in four years with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory against the unseeded Karolína Muchová in the women’s final.

    May 28 – Josef Newgarden wins the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500.

    June 10 – Arcangelo wins the 155th running of the Belmont Stakes.

    June 11 – The 76th Tony Awards takes place.

    June 12 – The Denver Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5, to win the series 4-1 and claim their first NBA title in franchise history.

    June 13 – The Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Florida Panthers in Game 5 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

    June 18 – American golfer Wyndham Clark wins the 123rd US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.

    July 1-23 – The 110th Tour de France takes place. Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins his second consecutive Tour de France title.

    July 3-16 – Wimbledon takes place in London. Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in the men’s final, to win his first Wimbledon title. Markéta Vondroušová defeats Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 in the women’s final, to win her first Wimbledon title and become the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the tournament.

    July 16-23 – Brian Harman wins the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, Wirral, England, for his first major title.

    July 20-August 20 – The Women’s World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand. Spain defeats England 1-0 to win its first Women’s World Cup.

    August 28-September 10 – The US Open Tennis Tournament takes place. Coco Gauff defeats Aryna Sabalenka, and Novak Djokovic defeats Daniil Medvedev.

    October 2-9 – The Nobel Prizes are announced. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

    November 1 – The Texas Rangers win the World Series for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5.

    November 5 – The New York City Marathon takes place. Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola sets a course record and wins the men’s race. Kenya’s Hellen Obiri wins the women’s race.

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  • Telescope Array detects second highest-energy cosmic ray ever

    Telescope Array detects second highest-energy cosmic ray ever

    Newswise — In 1991, the University of Utah Fly’s Eye experiment detected the highest-energy cosmic ray ever observed. Later dubbed the Oh-My-God particle, the cosmic ray’s energy shocked astrophysicists. Nothing in our galaxy had the power to produce it, and the particle had more energy than was theoretically possible for cosmic rays traveling to Earth from other galaxies. Simply put, the particle should not exist.

    The Telescope Array has since observed more than 30 ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, though none approaching the Oh-My-God-level energy. No observations have yet revealed their origin or how they are able to travel to the Earth.

    On May 27, 2021, the Telescope Array experiment detected the second-highest extreme-energy cosmic ray. At 2.4 x 1020eV, the energy of this single subatomic particle is equivalent to dropping a brick on your toe from waist height. Led by the University of Utah (the U) and the University of Tokyo, the Telescope Array consists of 507 surface detector stations arranged in a square grid that covers 700 km2 (~270 miles2) outside of Delta, Utah in the state’s West Desert. The event triggered 23 detectors at the north-west region of the Telescope Array, splashing across 48 km2 (18.5 mi2). Its arrival direction appeared to be from the Local Void, an empty area of space bordering the Milky Way galaxy.

    “The particles are so high energy, they shouldn’t be affected by galactic and extra-galactic magnetic fields. You should be able to point to where they come from in the sky,” said John Matthews, Telescope Array co-spokesperson at the U and co-author of the study. “But in the case of the Oh-My-God particle and this new particle, you trace its trajectory to its source and there’s nothing high energy enough to have produced it. That’s the mystery of this—what the heck is going on?” 

    In their observation that published on Nov. 24, 2023, in the journal Science, an international collaboration of researchers describe the ultra-high-energy cosmic ray, evaluate its characteristics, and conclude that the rare phenomena might follow particle physics unknown to science. The researchers named it the Amaterasu particle after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology. The Oh-My-God and the Amaterasu particles were detected using different observation techniques, confirming that while rare, these ultra-high energy events are real.

    “These events seem like they’re coming from completely different places in the sky. It’s not like there’s one mysterious source,” said John Belz, professor at the U and co-author of the study. “It could be defects in the structure of spacetime, colliding cosmic strings. I mean, I’m just spit-balling crazy ideas that people are coming up with because there’s not a conventional explanation.”

    Natural particle accelerators

    Cosmic rays are echoes of violent celestial events that have stripped matter to its subatomic structures and hurled it through universe at nearly the speed of light. Essentially cosmic rays are charged particles with a wide range of energies consisting of positive protons, negative electrons, or entire atomic nuclei that travel through space and rain down onto Earth nearly constantly.

    Cosmic rays hit Earth’s upper atmosphere and blasts apart the nucleus of oxygen and nitrogen gas, generating many secondary particles. These travel a short distance in the atmosphere and repeat the process, building a shower of billions of secondary particles that scatter to the surface. The footprint of this secondary shower is massive and requires that detectors cover an area as large as the Telescope Array. The surface detectors utilize a suite of instrumentation that gives researchers information about each cosmic ray; the timing of the signal shows its trajectory and the amount of charged particles hitting each detector reveals the primary particle’s energy.

    Because particles have a charge, their flight path resembles a ball in a pinball machine as they zigzag against the electromagnetic fields through the cosmic microwave background. It’s nearly impossible to trace the trajectory of most cosmic rays, which lie on the low- to middle-end of the energy spectrum. Even high-energy cosmic rays are distorted by the microwave background. Particles with Oh-My-God and Amaterasu energy blast through intergalactic space relatively unbent. Only the most powerful of celestial events can produce them.   

    “Things that people think of as energetic, like supernova, are nowhere near energetic enough for this. You need huge amounts of energy, really high magnetic fields to confine the particle while it gets accelerated,” said Matthews.

    Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays must exceed 5 x 1019 eV. This means that a single subatomic particle carries the same kinetic energy as a major league pitcher’s fast ball and has tens of millions of times more energy than any human-made particle accelerator can achieve. Astrophysicists calculated this theoretical limit, known as the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff, as the maximum energy a proton can hold traveling over long distances before the effect of interactions of the microwave background radiation take their energy. Known source candidates, such as active galactic nuclei or black holes with accretion disks emitting particle jets, tend to be more than 160 million light years away from Earth. The new particle’s 2.4 x 1020 eV and the Oh-My-God particle’s 3.2 x 1020 eV easily surpass the cutoff.

    Researchers also analyze cosmic ray composition for clues of its origins. A heavier particle, like iron nuclei, are heavier, have more charge and are more susceptible to bending in a magnetic field than a lighter particle made of protons from a hydrogen atom. The new particle is likely a proton. Particle physics dictates that a cosmic ray with energy beyond the GZK cutoff is too powerful for the microwave background to distort its path, but back tracing its trajectory points towards empty space.

    “Maybe magnetic fields are stronger than we thought, but that disagrees with other observations that show they’re not strong enough to produce significant curvature at these ten-to-the-twentieth electron volt energies,” said Belz. “It’s a real mystery.” 

    Expanding the footprint 

    The Telescope Array is uniquely positioned to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. It sits at about 1,200 m (4,000 ft), the elevation sweet-spot that allows secondary particles maximum development, but before they start to decay. Its location in Utah’s West Desert provides ideal atmospheric conditions in two ways: the dry air is crucial because humidity will absorb the ultraviolet light necessary for detection; and the region’s dark skies are essential, as light pollution will create too much noise and obscure the cosmic rays.

    Astrophysicists are still baffled by the mysterious phenomena. The Telescope Array is in the middle of an expansion that that they hope will help crack the case. Once completed, 500 new scintillator detectors will expand the Telescope Array will sample cosmic ray-induced particle showers across 2,900 km2  (1,100 mi2 ), an area nearly the size of Rhode Island. The larger footprint will hopefully capture more events that will shed light on what’s going on.

    University of Utah

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  • When baby stars fledge

    When baby stars fledge

    Newswise — A team of astrophysicists led by Núria Miret-Roig from the University of Vienna found that two methods for determining the age of stars measure different things: Isochronous measurement thereby determines the birth date of stars, while dynamical tracking provides information on when stars “leave their nest”, about 5.5 million years later in the star clusters studied. The study, which makes it possible to determine the earliest stages of a star’s life, is currently published in the scientific journal “Nature Astronomy”.

    The age of stars is a fundamental parameter in astrophysics, but it is still relatively difficult to measure. The best approximations to date have been for so-called star clusters, i.e. groups of stars of the same age with a common origin. The age of six relatively close and young star clusters has now been analysed as part of a study at the Institute of Astrophysics at the University of Vienna. It was found that two of the most reliable methods for determining the age of stars – isochronous measurement and dynamic tracing – were systematically and consistently different: The stars were each around 5.5 million years younger according to the dynamic tracing method than with the isochronous measurement.

    When the clock starts ticking

    “This indicates that the two measurement methods measure different things,” explains astrophysicist Núria Miret-Roig from the University of Vienna, first author of the study. According to the new study, the isochronous “clock” starts ticking from the time of star formation, but the “clock” of dynamic backtracking only starts ticking when a star cluster begins to expand after leaving its parent cloud. “This finding has significant implications for our understanding of star formation and stellar evolution, including planet formation and the formation of galaxies, and opens up a new perspective on the chronology of star formation. For example, the length of the so-called “embedded phase”, during which baby stars remain within the parental gas cloud, can be estimated,” explains João Alves, co-author and professor at the University of Vienna.

    Measuring how long baby stars stay in the nest

    “This age difference between the two methods represents a new and much-needed tool to quantify the earliest stages in a star’s life,” says Alves. “Specifically, we can use it to measure how long the baby stars take before they leave their nest.” The measurements were made possible by the high-resolution data from the Gaia special mission in conjunction with ground-based radial velocities (e.g. from the APOGEE catalogue). “This combination allows us to trace the positions of stars back to their birthplace with the accuracy of 3D velocities,” explains Miret-Roig. New and upcoming spectroscopic surveys such as WEAVE, 4MOST and SDSS-V will make this investigation possible for the entire solar neighbourhood.

    Puzzling difference

    “Astronomers have been using isochronous ages for as long as we have known how stars work, but these ages depend on the particular stellar model we use,” says Miret-Roig. “The high-quality data from the Gaia satellite has now allowed us to measure ages dynamically, independently of the stellar models, and we were excited to synchronise the two clocks.” During the calculations, however, a consistent and puzzling difference between the two age determination methods emerged. “And eventually we reached a point where we could no longer blame the discrepancy on observational errors – that’s when we realised that the two clocks were most likely measuring two different things,” says the astrophysicist.

    For the study, the research team analysed six nearby and young star clusters (up to 490 light years away and 50 million years old). The time scale of the embedded phase was found to be around 5.5 million years (plus/minus 1.1 million years) and could depend on the mass of the star cluster and the amount of stellar feedback.

    Applying this new technique to other young and nearby star clusters promises new insights into the star formation process and the drifting apart of stars, Miret-Roig hopes: “Our work paves the way for future research into star formation and provides a clearer picture of how stars and star clusters evolve. This is an important step in our endeavour to understand the formation of the Milky Way and other galaxies.”

    This publication has been co-funded by the European Union (ERC, ISM-FLOW, 101055318, PI: J. Alves). However, the views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

    University of Vienna

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  • Fred Haise Fast Facts | CNN

    Fred Haise Fast Facts | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of astronaut Fred Haise.

    Birth date: November 14, 1933

    Birth place: Biloxi, Mississippi

    Birth name: Fred Wallace Haise Jr.

    Father: Fred Haise Sr.

    Mother: Lucille (Blacksher) Haise

    Marriages: Frances Patt (Price) Haise (1979-February 7, 2022, her death); Mary Griffin Grant (June 4, 1954-1978, divorced)

    Children: with Mary Grant: Thomas Jesse, 1970; Stephen William, 1961; Frederick Thomas, 1958; Mary Margaret, 1956

    Education: University of Oklahoma, B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, 1959

    Military service: US Navy, 1952-1954 naval aviation cadet; US Marine Corps, 1954-1956; Oklahoma Air National Guard, 1957-1963; US Air Force, 1961-1962, Captain

    Served in the backup crew for Apollo 11 with Jim Lovell and William Anders.

    Test pilot of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

    Highly involved in the fundraising and building of the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi.

    1952 – Joins the US Navy as a naval aviation cadet at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.

    1954-1956 – Is assigned to the US Marine Corp as a fighter pilot.

    1957 – Joins the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

    1961-1962 – Is called for active duty by the US Air Force.

    1956-1966 – Research test pilot.

    April 1966 – Haise is part of the fifth group of men chosen by NASA to become astronauts.

    April 11-17, 1970 – Serves as the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 13 with Commander Jim Lovell and Command Module Pilot John L. Swigert Jr. The mission lasts five days, 22 hours, 54 minutes, and 41 seconds. An oxygen tank explosion two and half days into the flight causes the mission to be aborted and the remaining time is spent working towards the crew’s safe return.

    April 17, 1970 – The crew returns to earth safely, splashing down in the South Pacific Ocean.

    April 18, 1970 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Nixon.

    August 23, 1973 – Crashes a World War II training plane and suffers second degree burns over 65% of his body.

    August 12, 1977 – Pilots the first test flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

    June 29, 1979 – Retires from NASA.

    1979-1996 – Works for Grumman Aerospace Corporation.

    October 4, 1997 – Is inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.

    April 17, 2021 – A bronze statue of the three Apollo 13 astronauts is formally unveiled in Houston, capturing the moment that Haise, Lovell and Swigert stepped safely onto the USS Iwo Jima. The statue is part of a larger exhibit at Space Center Houston titled, “Apollo 13: Failure is not an option.”

    February 13, 2022 – A statue of Haise is unveiled in his hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi.

    April 5, 2022 – His memoir, “Never Panic Early: An Apollo 13 Astronaut’s Journey,” written with Bill Moore, is published.

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  • Dr. Jennifer Lotz Appointed Space Telescope Science Institute Director

    Dr. Jennifer Lotz Appointed Space Telescope Science Institute Director

    Newswise — The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jennifer Lotz as the Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Dr. Lotz will begin her five-year appointment as STScI Director starting February 12, 2024. Previously, Dr. Lotz was the Director of the International Gemini Observatory, which is operated by NSF’s NOIRLab and managed by AURA.

    “Dr. Lotz is a science driven, accomplished leader,” said Dr. Matt Mountain, President of AURA, which manages STScI on behalf of NASA. “Jen’s passion for the Institute’s mission, to enable the science community in its exploration of the ground-breaking science coming from both JWST and Hubble, and her compelling vision, will ensure an exciting future as she leads STScI into a new era of space science.”

    Dr. Lotz was chosen from a pool of highly qualified candidates by a selection committee of respected leaders in the field of astronomy. Her proven leadership skills as Director of Gemini Observatory, her research experience, and her knowledge of the challenges the field of astronomy faces were some of the qualifications that led to her selection as STScI’s next Director.  The Chair of AURA’s Board of Directors, Dr. Maura Hagan, added, “The AURA Board of Directors is thrilled with the selection of Jennifer Lotz as the next STScI Director. She represents a new generation of scientific leadership.”

    Dr. Lotz will succeed Dr. Nancy Levenson, who served as STScI Interim Director since August 2022. “I welcome Jen’s new perspectives and look forward to working with her to advance STScI,” said Dr. Levenson, who will return to her former position as STScI Deputy Director. AURA extends thanks to Dr. Levenson for her service as Interim Director.

    Dr. Lotz received her Ph.D. in astrophysics from Johns Hopkins University in 2003 and specializes in galaxy evolution and morphology, the high-redshift universe, and gravitational lensing. Before her appointment as Gemini Director, she was a tenured associate astronomer at STScI with a joint appointment as a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University. She was also a Leo Goldberg Fellow at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Santa Cruz.

    “I am honored to be rejoining STScI as its next Director. The Institute’s work on Hubble and JWST has been an inspiration for the world,” commented Jen Lotz. “I am also excited to partner with NASA to drive forward a new era of scientific discovery with the new generation of space telescopes — JWST, Roman, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory.”

    Lotz is a leading expert in the field of galaxy mergers, and makes use of both ground-based and space-based telescopes to track the growth of galaxies over cosmic time. She led the Hubble Frontier Fields program, one of the largest programs undertaken with Hubble to detect the faintest, most distant galaxies seen at that time. She continues her study of galaxies at the edge of the universe as part of the JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science team.

    The Space Telescope Science Institute is expanding the frontiers of space astronomy by hosting the science operations center of the Hubble Space Telescope, the science and mission operations centers for the James Webb Space Telescope, and the science operations center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. STScI also houses the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) which is a NASA-funded project to support and provide to the astronomical community a variety of astronomical data archives, and is the data repository for the Hubble, Webb, Roman, Kepler, K2, TESS missions and more. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.

    The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), founded in 1957, is a consortium of 49 US institutions and 3 international affiliates. Although it began as a small organization with just eight founding members, AURA is now a thriving scientific institution with 52 members and over 1,700 employees. AURA’s role is to establish, nurture, and promote public observatories and facilities that advance innovative astronomical research. In addition, AURA is deeply committed to public and educational outreach, and to diversity throughout the astronomical and scientific workforce.

    Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

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  • The Crab Nebula Seen in New Light by NASA’s Webb

    The Crab Nebula Seen in New Light by NASA’s Webb

    Newswise — NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has gazed at the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Since the recording of this energetic event in 1054 CE by 11th-century astronomers, the Crab Nebula has continued to draw attention and additional study as scientists seek to understand the conditions, behavior, and after-effects of supernovae through thorough study of the Crab, a relatively nearby example.

    Using Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), a team led by Tea Temim at Princeton University is searching for answers about the Crab Nebula’s origins.

    “Webb’s sensitivity and spatial resolution allows us to accurately determine the composition of the ejected material, particularly the content of iron and nickel, which may reveal what type of explosion produced the Crab Nebula,” explained Temim.

    At first glance, the general shape of the supernova remnant is similar to the optical wavelength image released in 2005 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope: In Webb’s infrared observation, a crisp, cage-like structure of fluffy gaseous filaments are shown in red-orange. However, in the central regions, emission from dust grains (yellow-white and green) is mapped out by Webb for the first time.

    Additional aspects of the inner workings of the Crab Nebula become more prominent and are seen in greater detail in the infrared light captured by Webb. In particular, Webb highlights what is known as synchrotron radiation: emission produced from charged particles, like electrons, moving around magnetic field lines at relativistic speeds. The radiation appears here as milky smoke-like material throughout the majority of the Crab Nebula’s interior.

    This feature is a product of the nebula’s pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star. The pulsar’s strong magnetic field accelerates particles to extremely high speeds and causes them to emit radiation as they wind around magnetic field lines. Though emitted across the electromagnetic spectrum, the synchrotron radiation is seen in unprecedented detail with Webb’s NIRCam instrument.

    To locate the Crab Nebula’s pulsar heart, trace the wisps that follow a circular ripple-like pattern in the middle to the bright white dot in the center. Farther out from the core, follow the thin white ribbons of the radiation. The curvy wisps are closely grouped together, outlining the structure of the pulsar’s magnetic field, which sculpts and shapes the nebula.

    At center left and right, the white material curves sharply inward from the filamentary dust cage’s edges and goes toward the neutron star’s location, as if the waist of the nebula is pinched. This abrupt slimming may be caused by the confinement of the supernova wind’s expansion by a belt of dense gas.

    The wind produced by the pulsar heart continues to push the shell of gas and dust outward at a rapid pace. Among the remnant’s interior, yellow-white and green mottled filaments form large-scale loop-like structures, which represent areas where dust grains reside.

    The search for answers about the Crab Nebula’s past continues as astronomers further analyze the Webb data and consult previous observations of the remnant taken by other telescopes. Scientists will have newer Hubble data to review within the next year or so from the telescope’s reimaging of the supernova remnant. This will mark Hubble’s first look at emission lines from the Crab Nebula in over 20 years, and will enable astronomers to more accurately compare Webb and Hubble’s findings.

    For more information, including a video image tour, and to download full-resolution images, visit https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-137.

    The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

    Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

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  • Debra Callahan Receives 2023 Ronald C. Davidson Award for Plasma Physics

    Debra Callahan Receives 2023 Ronald C. Davidson Award for Plasma Physics

    Newswise — MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 25, 2023 — Physics of Plasmas has bestowed the 2023 Ronald C. Davidson Award for Plasma Physics to Debra Callahan for her paper “Exploring the limits of case-to-capsule ratio, pulse length, and picket energy for symmetric hohlraum drive on the National Ignition Facility Laser.”

    The annual award of $5,000 is presented in collaboration with the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics to recognize outstanding plasma physics research by a Physics of Plasmas author.

    “This paper presented an empirical model and tool for the key design parameters needed to optimize NIF implosion symmetry. The model, now known as the ‘Debbie P2-model,’ became a key part of the ‘HYBRID’ strategy leading to a burning plasma and ignition at the National Ignition Facility,” said Michael Mauel, editor-in-chief of Physics of Plasmas. “I am absolutely delighted to see Debbie Callahan presented with the Ronald C. Davidson Award for her insightful paper and also for her inspiring leadership in the field.”

    An immensely powerful process that occurs in the cores of stars, fusion involves two nuclei merging to form a single, heavier nucleus. The sheer amount of energy released during fusion has long made it the subject of experiments seeking to replicate, control, and capture the process in a laboratory setting. It’s a quest to which Callahan has dedicated her entire career.

    “I spent 35 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, starting as a graduate student there and getting my Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 1993,” said Callahan. “I participated in experiments with their National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser since its inception in 2009. In September 2021, we achieved our goal of igniting a fusion target in the laboratory, and in December 2022 we achieved net gain.”

    In the parlance of nuclear fusion, net gain means the experiment produced more energy than it took to initiate. It was a historic step, hailed as a monumental achievement in the quest for sustainable energy alternatives. But getting there was enormously complicated.

    To replicate a furnace that powers the stars, scientists use powerful lasers to greatly compress a small sphere of fuel, which in turn generates the extraordinarily high temperatures and densities necessary for fusion to occur. That tiny sphere of fuel, only a little more than 1 mm in diameter, is key to the entire process. That’s where Callahan comes in.

    “The fuel has to be compressed in a very symmetrical way — so it stays a sphere,” said Callahan. “One of the challenges at NIF was designing the target in such a way that this symmetry was possible. Our paper describes a simple model that was able to predict the symmetry, given input conditions, and the work became part of the target design strategy that ended up getting us to ignition and net gain.”

    Callahan’s love of physics goes all the way back to her high school days, when she discovered her twin fascinations with science and math could be funneled into a third field that combined the two. Initially, she intended to be a physics teacher — but in college, she learned more about physics research and was encouraged by her professors to go to graduate school for physics.

    Callahan said she was honored to have received the Ronald C. Davidson Award.

    “This paper has the work that I’m most proud of (at least, so far!),” she said. “Ron Davidson was such a giant in our field. I think he’d be very excited to see the results we have achieved on NIF.”

    As for what’s next, last year Callahan left LLNL after 35 years to move to a nuclear fusion startup company, Focused Energy. The company’s goal is to take us from the ‘A’ of achieving net gain at the NIF to the ‘B’ of developing a fusion power plant that provides clean energy. She is currently working on a related but different fusion approach she described as well suited to inertial fusion energy power plants.

    “This is the next grand challenge for fusion,” she said.

    This year’s award selection committee, consisting of Physics of Plasmas Editorial Advisory Board Members William Daughton (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Vinícius Duarte (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory), Eric Esarey (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), and Omar Hurricane (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) — as well as, representing the APS-DPP, Ian Hutchinson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and last year’s winner) — reviewed the top-cited and top-viewed papers and nominated several authors from across the topical focus areas of Physics of Plasmas. The final selection was made by vote of the full Editorial Advisory Board.

    The 2023 Ronald C. Davidson Award for Plasma Physics will be presented to Callahan during the 65th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics.

    ###

    ABOUT THE RONALD C. DAVIDSON AWARD FOR PLASMA PHYSICS

    The award is provided by AIP Publishing in honor of Ronald Davidson’s exceptional contributions as Editor-in-Chief of Physics of Plasmas for 25 years. The annual award of $5,000 is presented in collaboration with the American Physical Society’s Division of Plasma Physics and recognizes outstanding plasma physics research by a Physics of Plasmas author.

    ABOUT AIP PUBLISHING

    AIP Publishing’s mission is to advance, promote, and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity by breaking barriers to open, equitable research communication and empowering researchers to accelerate global progress. AIP Publishing is a wholly owned not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and supports the charitable, scientific, and educational purposes of AIP through scholarly publishing activities on its behalf and on behalf of our publishing partners.

    ###

    American Institute of Physics (AIP)

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  • NASA’s Webb Discovers New Feature in Jupiter’s Atmosphere

    NASA’s Webb Discovers New Feature in Jupiter’s Atmosphere

    Newswise — NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, never-before-seen feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The high-speed jet stream, which spans more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide, sits over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks. The discovery of this jet is giving insights into how the layers of Jupiter’s famously turbulent atmosphere interact with each other, and how Webb is uniquely capable of tracking those features.

    “This is something that totally surprised us,” said Ricardo Hueso of the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, lead author on the paper describing the findings. “What we have always seen as blurred hazes in Jupiter’s atmosphere now appear as crisp features that we can track along with the planet’s fast rotation.”

    The research team analyzed data from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured in July 2022. The Early Release Science program – jointly led by Imke de Pater from the University of California, Berkeley and Thierry Fouchet from the Observatory of Paris – was designed to take images of Jupiter 10 hours apart, or one Jupiter day, in four different filters, each uniquely able to detect changes in small features at different altitudes of Jupiter’s atmosphere. 

    “Even though various ground-based telescopes, spacecraft like NASA’s Juno and Cassini, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have observed the Jovian system’s changing weather patterns, Webb has already provided new findings on Jupiter’s rings, satellites, and its atmosphere,” de Pater noted.

    While Jupiter is different from Earth in many ways – Jupiter is a gas giant, Earth is a rocky, temperate world – both planets have layered atmospheres. Infrared, visible, radio, and ultraviolet-light wavelengths observed by these other missions detect the lower, deeper layers of the planet’s atmosphere – where gigantic storms and ammonia ice clouds reside.

    On the other hand, Webb’s look farther into the near-infrared than before is sensitive to the higher-altitude layers of the atmosphere, around 15-30 miles (25-50 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops. In near-infrared imaging, high-altitude hazes typically appear blurry, with enhanced brightness over the equatorial region. With Webb, finer details are resolved within the bright, hazy band.

    The newly discovered jet stream travels at about 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour), twice the sustained winds of a Category 5 hurricane here on Earth. It is located around 25 miles (40 kilometers) above the clouds, in Jupiter’s lower stratosphere.

    By comparing the winds observed by Webb at high altitudes, to the winds observed at deeper layers from Hubble, the team could measure how fast the winds change with altitude and generate wind shears.

    While Webb’s exquisite resolution and wavelength coverage allowed for the detection of small cloud features used to track the jet, the complementary observations from Hubble taken one day after the Webb observations were also crucial to determine the base state of Jupiter’s equatorial atmosphere and observe the development of convective storms in Jupiter’s equator not connected to the jet.  

    “We knew the different wavelengths of Webb and Hubble would reveal the three-dimensional structure of storm clouds, but we were also able to use the timing of the data to see how rapidly storms develop,” added team member Michael Wong of the University of California, Berkeley, who led the associated Hubble observations.

    The researchers are looking forward to additional observations of Jupiter with Webb to determine if the jet’s speed and altitude change over time. 

    “Jupiter has a complicated but repeatable pattern of winds and temperatures in its equatorial stratosphere, high above the winds in the clouds and hazes measured at these wavelengths,” explained team member Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. “If the strength of this new jet is connected to this oscillating stratospheric pattern, we might expect the jet to vary considerably over the next 2 to 4 years – it’ll be really exciting to test this theory in the years to come.”

    “It’s amazing to me that, after years of tracking Jupiter’s clouds and winds from numerous observatories, we still have more to learn about Jupiter, and features like this jet can remain hidden from view until these new NIRCam images were taken in 2022,” continued Fletcher.

    The researchers’ results were recently published in Nature Astronomy. 

    The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

    To learn more, visit https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-147.

    Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

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  • Source of largest Mars quake revealed

    Source of largest Mars quake revealed

    Newswise — The quake, which had a magnitude of 4.7 and caused vibrations to reverberate through the planet for at least six hours, was recorded by NASA’s InSight lander on May 4 2022. Because its seismic signal was similar to previous quakes known to be caused by meteoroid impacts, the team believed that this event (dubbed ‘S1222a’) might have been caused by an impact as well, and launched an international search for a fresh crater.

    Although Mars is smaller than Earth, it has a similar land surface area because it has no oceans. In order to survey this huge amount of ground – 144 million km2 – study lead Dr Benjamin Fernando of the University of Oxford sought contributions from the European Space Agency, the Chinese National Space Agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation, and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency. This is thought to be the first time that all missions in orbit around Mars have collaborated on a single project. Each group examined data from their satellites orbiting Mars to look for a new crater, or any other tell-tale signature of an impact (e.g. a dust cloud appearing in the hours after the quake).

    After several months of searching, the team announced today that no fresh crater was found. They conclude that the event was instead caused by the release of enormous tectonic forces within Mars’ interior. The results, published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, indicate that the planet is much more seismically active than previously thought.

    Dr Fernando said: ‘We still think that Mars doesn’t have any active plate tectonics today, so this event was likely caused by the release of stress within Mars’ crust. These stresses are the result of billions of years of evolution; including the cooling and shrinking of different parts of the planet at different rates. We still do not fully understand why some parts of the planet seem to have higher stresses than others, but results like these help us to investigate further. One day, this information may help us to understand where it would be safe for humans to live on Mars and where you might want to avoid!’

    He added: ‘This project represents a huge international effort to help solve the mystery of S1222a, and I am incredibly grateful to all the missions who contributed. I hope this project serves as a template for productive international collaborations in deep space.’

    Dr Daniela Tirsch, Science Coordinator for the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Spacecraft said: ‘This experiment shows how important it is to maintain a diverse set of instruments at Mars, and we are very glad to have played our part in completing the multi-instrumental and international approach of this study.’

    From China, Dr Jianjun Liu (National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences) added: ‘We are willing to collaborate with scientists around the world to share and apply this scientific data to get more knowledge about Mars, and are proud to have provided data from the colour imagers on Tianwen-1 to contribute to this effort.’

    Dr Dimitra Atri, Group Leader for Mars at New York University Abu Dhabi and contributor of data from the UAE’s Hope Spacecraft, said: ‘This has been a great opportunity for me to collaborate with the InSight team, as well as with individuals from other major missions dedicated to the study of Mars. This really is the golden age of Mars exploration!’

    S1222a was one of the last events recorded by InSight before its end of mission was declared in December 2022. The team are now moving forward by applying knowledge from this study to future work, including upcoming missions to the Moon and Titan’s Moon Saturn.

    University of Oxford

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  • NASA’s Webb Detects Tiny Quartz Crystals in Clouds of Hot Gas Giant

    NASA’s Webb Detects Tiny Quartz Crystals in Clouds of Hot Gas Giant

    Newswise — Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have detected evidence for quartz nanocrystals in the high-altitude clouds of WASP-17 b, a hot Jupiter exoplanet 1,300 light-years from Earth. The detection, which was uniquely possible with MIRI (Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument), marks the first time that silica (SiO2) particles have been spotted in an exoplanet atmosphere.

    “We were thrilled!” said David Grant, a researcher at the University of Bristol in the UK and first author on a paper being published today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. “We knew from Hubble observations that there must be aerosols – tiny particles making up clouds or haze – in WASP-17 b’s atmosphere, but we didn’t expect them to be made of quartz.”

    Silicates (minerals rich in silicon and oxygen) make up the bulk of Earth and the Moon as well as other rocky objects in our solar system, and are extremely common across the galaxy. But the silicate grains previously detected in the atmospheres of exoplanets and brown dwarfs appear to be made of magnesium-rich silicates like olivine and pyroxene, not quartz alone – which is pure SiO2.

    The result from this team, which also includes researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, puts a new spin on our understanding of how exoplanet clouds form and evolve. “We fully expected to see magnesium silicates,” said co-author Hannah Wakeford, also from the University of Bristol. “But what we’re seeing instead are likely the building blocks of those, the tiny ‘seed’ particles needed to form the larger silicate grains we detect in cooler exoplanets and brown dwarfs.”

    Detecting Subtle Variations

    With a volume more than seven times that of Jupiter and a mass less than one-half of Jupiter, WASP-17 b is one of the largest and puffiest known exoplanets. This, along with its short orbital period of just 3.7 Earth-days, makes the planet ideal for transmission spectroscopy: a technique that involves measuring the filtering and scattering effects of a planet’s atmosphere on starlight.

    Webb observed the WASP-17 system for nearly 10 hours, collecting more than 1,275 brightness measurements of 5- to 12-micron mid-infrared light as the planet crossed its star. By subtracting the brightness of individual wavelengths of light that reached the telescope when the planet was in front of the star from those of the star on its own, the team was able to calculate the amount of each wavelength blocked by the planet’s atmosphere.

    What emerged was an unexpected “bump” at 8.6 microns, a feature that would not be expected if the clouds were made of magnesium silicates or other possible high-temperature aerosols like aluminum oxide, but which makes perfect sense if they are made of quartz.

    Crystals, Clouds, and Winds

    While these crystals are probably similar in shape to the pointy hexagonal prisms found in geodes and gem shops on Earth, each one is only about 10 nanometers across – one-millionth of one centimeter.

    “Hubble data actually played a key role in constraining the size of these particles,” explained co-author Nikole Lewis of Cornell University, who leads the Webb Guaranteed Time Observation (GTO) program designed to help build a three-dimensional view of a hot Jupiter atmosphere. “We know there is silica from Webb’s MIRI data alone, but we needed the visible and near-infrared observations from Hubble for context, to figure out how large the crystals are.”

    Unlike mineral particles found in clouds on Earth, the quartz crystals detected in the clouds of WASP-17 b are not swept up from a rocky surface. Instead, they originate in the atmosphere itself. “WASP-17 b is extremely hot – around 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,500 degrees Celsius) – and the pressure where the quartz crystals form high in the atmosphere is only about one-thousandth of what we experience on Earth’s surface,” explained Grant. “In these conditions, solid crystals can form directly from gas, without going through a liquid phase first.”

    Understanding what the clouds are made of is crucial for understanding the planet as a whole. Hot Jupiters like WASP-17 b are made primarily of hydrogen and helium, with small amounts of other gases like water vapor (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). “If we only consider the oxygen that is in these gases, and neglect to include all of the oxygen locked up in minerals like quartz (SiO2), we will significantly underestimate the total abundance,” explained Wakeford. “These beautiful silica crystals tell us about the inventory of different materials and how they all come together to shape the environment of this planet.”

    Exactly how much quartz there is, and how pervasive the clouds are, is hard to determine. “The clouds are likely present along the day/night transition (the terminator), which is the region that our observations probe,” said Grant. Given that the planet is tidally locked with a very hot day side and cooler night side, it is likely that the clouds circulate around the planet, but vaporize when they reach the hotter day side. “The winds could be moving these tiny glassy particles around at thousands of miles per hour.”

    WASP-17 b is one of three planets targeted by the JWST Telescope Scientist Team’s Deep Reconnaissance of Exoplanet Atmospheres using Multi-instrument Spectroscopy (DREAMS) investigations, which are designed to gather a comprehensive set of observations of one representative from each key class of exoplanets: a hot Jupiter, a warm Neptune, and a temperate rocky planet. The MIRI observations of hot Jupiter WASP-17 b were made as part of GTO program 1353.

    The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

    Media Contacts:
    Margaret Carruthers / Christine Pulliam
    Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
    [email protected]u / [email protected]

    Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

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  • Researchers Capture First-Ever Afterglow of Huge Planetary Collision in Outer Space

    Researchers Capture First-Ever Afterglow of Huge Planetary Collision in Outer Space

    Newswise — The study, published today in Nature, reports the sighting of two ice giant exoplanets colliding around a sun-like star, creating a blaze of light and plumes of dust. Its findings show the bright heat afterglow and resulting dust cloud, which moved in front of the parent star dimming it over time.

    The international team of astronomers was formed after an enthusiast viewed the light curve of the star and noticed something strange. It showed the system doubled in brightness at infrared wavelengths some three years before the star started to fade in visible light.

    Co-lead author Dr Matthew Kenworthy, from Leiden University, said: “To be honest, this observation was a complete surprise to me. When we originally shared the visible light curve of this star with other astronomers, we started watching it with a network of other telescopes.

    “An astronomer on social media pointed out that the star brightened up in the infrared over a thousand days before the optical fading. I knew then this was an unusual event.”

    The network of professional and amateur astronomers studied the star intensively including monitoring changes in the star’s brightness over the next two years. The star was named ASASSN-21qj after the network of telescopes that first detected the fading of the star at visible wavelengths.

    The researchers concluded the most likely explanation is that two ice giant exoplanets collided, producing the infrared glow detected by NASA’s NEOWISE mission, which uses a space telescope to hunt for asteroids and comets.

    Co-lead author Dr Simon Lock, Research Fellow in Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: “Our calculations and computer models indicate the temperature and size of the glowing material, as well as the amount of time the glow has lasted, is consistent with the collision of two ice giant exoplanets.”

    The resultant expanding debris cloud from the impact then travelled in front of the star some three years later, causing the star to dim in brightness at visible wavelengths.

    Over the next few years, the cloud of dust is expected to start smearing out along the orbit of the collision remnant, and a tell-tale scattering of light from this cloud could be detected with both ground-based telescopes and NASA’s largest telescope in space, known as JWST.

    The astronomers plan on watching closely what happens next in this system.

    Co-author Dr Zoe Leinhardt, Associate Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Bristol, added: “It will be fascinating to observe further developments. Ultimately, the mass of material around the remnant may condense to form a retinue of moons that will orbit around this new planet.”

    University of Bristol

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  • Scientists Discover a New Phase of High-Density, Ultra-Hot Ice

    Scientists Discover a New Phase of High-Density, Ultra-Hot Ice

    The Science

    Newswise — The outer planets of our solar system, like Uranus and Neptune, are water-rich gas giants. These planets have extreme pressures of 2 million times the Earth’s atmosphere. They also have interiors as hot as the surface of the Sun. Under these conditions, water exhibits exotic, high-density ice phases. Researchers recently observed one of these phases, called Ice XIX, for the first time using high-power lasers to reproduce the necessary extreme conditions. They measured the Ice XIX structure using the Matter at Extreme Conditions instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source, a pioneering X-ray laser facility, to show that oxygen atoms pack in a body-centered cubic structure, while the hydrogen atoms move freely like a fluid, dramatically increasing conductivity.

    The Impact

    Voyager II, a NASA solar system exploration spacecraft launched in 1977, measured highly unusual magnetic fields around Uranus and Neptune. Scientists considered exotic states of so-called superionic ice as a possible explanation due to these states’ increased electrical conductivity. This work demonstrates the existence of the previously undiscovered Ice XIX phase. It shows that this phase could form at the right depths and help explain the Voyager II magnetic data.

    Summary

    Water–a compound that is ubiquitous in our solar system and necessary for life–exhibits an exceptionally complex pressure-temperature phase diagram with 18 crystalline ice phases already identified. Nowhere are dense ice phases more important than in the interiors of gas giants like Uranus and Neptune. Scientists hypothesize that these planets’ complex magnetic fields are produced by exotic high-pressure states of water ice with superionic properties. However, the structure of ice at these extreme conditions is notoriously challenging to measure.

    Using the Matter at Extreme Conditions instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source, an ultrafast X-ray Free Electron Laser and a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility, to probe the ice structure during laser-driven dynamic compression, researchers found the first direct evidence of a new phase of high-density, ultra-hot water ice. At 200 GPa (2 million atmospheres) and 5,000 K (8,500 degrees Fahrenheit) this new high-pressure ice phase, deemed Ice XIX, has a body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice structure. Though other structures have been theorized to be stable at these conditions, Ice XIX’s BCC structure would enable an increase in the electrical conductivity much deeper into the interiors of ice giants than previously thought. The results provide an important and compelling origin of the multi-polar magnetic fields as measured by the Voyager II spacecraft for Uranus and Neptune.

     

    Funding

    Funding for this research included the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration; the DOE Office of Science, Fusion Energy Science; the Laboratory Directed Research & Development program of Los Alamos National Laboratory; and the National Science Foundation. The experimental measurements were conducted at the Matter at Extreme Conditions instrument (operated by the DOE Office of Science, Fusion Energy Science program) of the Linac Coherent Light Source, a DOE Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences user facility operated by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.


    Journal Link: Scientific Reports, Jan-2022

    Department of Energy, Office of Science

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  • Las capas estelares de una cebolla galáctica

    Las capas estelares de una cebolla galáctica

    BYLINE: Josie Fenske, Science Communicator

    Newswise — Al igual que los humanos, las galaxias están moldeadas por el entorno en el que se forman. Aunque no existen dos exactamente iguales, las galaxias se pueden clasificar en tres tipos principales: espirales, elípticas e irregulares. Las galaxias elípticas son las más grandes y se cree que evolucionan a partir de colisiones galácticas y fusiones entre galaxias espirales. Cerca de una décima parte de las galaxias elípticas se clasifican como galaxias de caparazón, caracterizadas por las capas concéntricas que forman sus halos galácticos.

    Un ejemplo sorprendente de este tipo de galaxia es NGC 3923, con sus bellas capas similares a la de una cebolla que se aprecian en esta imagen tomada con la Cámara de Energía Oscura (DECam) construida por DOE e instalada en el Telescopio de 4 metros Víctor M. Blanco del Observatorio Interamericano Cerro Tololo (CTIO), un Programa de NOIRLab de NSF. Situada en la constelación de Hidra (la Serpiente), NGC 3923 está a unos 70 millones de años luz de la Tierra y tiene 150.000 años luz de diámetro, lo que la hace un 50% más grande que nuestra Vía Láctea.

    Como en el caso de todas las galaxias de caparazón, se cree que la estructura en capas que se observa en NGC 3923 probablemente se desarrolló a partir de una fusión con otra galaxia espiral más pequeña en el pasado. A medida que se fusionaban, el campo gravitatorio de la galaxia más grande desprendió lentamente estrellas del disco de la galaxia más pequeña. Esas estrellas comenzaron a mezclarse gradualmente con el halo exterior de la galaxia más grande, formando bandas concéntricas o caparazones, similar a lo que sucede al añadir una gota de colorante de comida a un bowl de masa que se revuelve lentamente. La gota de colorante se estira formando una espiral que permanece visible durante mucho tiempo antes de mezclarse por completo.

    Las capas de NGC 3923 hacen que la galaxia sea bastante excepcional. No sólo tiene el caparazón más grande de todas las galaxias de caparazón observadas, sino que también tiene el mayor número de caparazones y la mayor relación entre los radios de sus caparazones externos e internos. Un estudio en 2016 determinó que NGC 3923 podría estar formado por hasta 42 caparazones distintos, habiéndose creado primero las capas más externas, seguidas de las capas más internas a medida que la danza celeste de las galaxias fue desacelerando su paso.

    Otra característica notable de NGC 3923 es que sus capas son mucho más tenues que las de otras galaxias de caparazón. Además, sus capas tienen una interesante simetría, mientras que las de otras galaxias de caparazón son más torcidas. Estas no muy comunes características son un ejemplo sublime de las estructuras únicas que las galaxias pueden adoptar dependiendo de sus condiciones evolutivas específicas.

    Si bien NGC 3923 es la atracción principal en esta enorme imagen de 250 megapíxeles, cuanto más se examina el brillante campo, encontramos más tesoros cósmicos. Entre las miles de galaxias e innumerables estrellas de la Vía Láctea que adornan esta imagen, se encuentran las galaxias espirales LEDA 744285 y ESO 440-11. Cerca de la parte superior de la imagen está el lente gravitacional extremadamente grande alrededor del cúmulo de galaxias PLCK G287.0+32.9.

    Los lentes gravitacionales, debatidos en revistas científicas desde la década de 1930, fueron planteados en la Teoría General de la Relatividad de Einstein, que establece que un objeto masivo, como un cúmulo de galaxias, puede deformar el espacio-tiempo. En 1989, utilizando el Telescopio de 4 metros Nicholas U. Mayall en el Observatorio Nacional Kitt Peak, el astrónomo Roger Lynds de NOIRLab (NOAO en esa época) y su colega de Stanford Vahé Petrosian descubrieron por primera vez figuras estrechas en forma de arco situadas alrededor de cúmulos de galaxias. Estas propiedades extragalácticas se interpretaron como el resultado de lentes gravitacionales fuertes de las galaxias distantes en el fondo.

    De hecho, al hacer un acercamiento a la imagen, se puede ver un puñado de galaxias estiradas y distorsionadas bajo la influencia gravitacional de la materia oscura, la misteriosa sustancia que se encuentra concentrada alrededor de los cúmulos de galaxias. Los lentes gravitacionales permiten a los astrónomos explorar las interrogantes más profundas de nuestro Universo, incluyendo la naturaleza de la materia oscura y el valor de la constante de Hubble, que define la expansión del Universo.

    Esta imagen se creó a partir de datos del estudio DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys.

    Más información

    [1] Los lentes gravitacionales fuertes son aquellos en los que el efecto es fácilmente visible en forma de arcos o anillos de Einstein.

    NOIRLab de NSF (Laboratorio Nacional de Investigación en Astronomía Óptica-Infrarroja de NSF), el centro de EE. UU. para la astronomía óptica-infrarroja en tierra, opera el Observatorio internacional Gemini (una instalación de NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brasil, MINCyT–Argentina y KASI – República de Corea), el Observatorio Nacional de Kitt Peak (KPNO), el Observatorio Interamericano Cerro Tololo (CTIO), el Centro de Datos para la Comunidad Científica (CSDC) y el Observatorio Vera C. Rubin (operado en cooperación con el National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) del Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos (DOE). Está administrado por la Asociación de Universidades para la Investigación en Astronomía (AURA) en virtud de un acuerdo de cooperación con NSF y tiene su sede en Tucson, Arizona. La comunidad astronómica tiene el honor de tener la oportunidad de realizar investigaciones astronómicas en Iolkam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) en Arizona, en Maunakea, en Hawai‘i, y en Cerro Tololo y Cerro Pachón en Chile. Reconocemos y apreciamos el importante rol cultural y la veneración que estos sitios tienen para la Nación Tohono O’odham, para la comunidad nativa de Hawai‘i y para las comunidades locales en Chile, respectivamente.

    Enlaces

    NSF’s NOIRLab

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  • Milky Way-like galaxies abundant in early universe, reshaping cosmic theories

    Milky Way-like galaxies abundant in early universe, reshaping cosmic theories

    Newswise — Galaxies from the early Universe are more like our own Milky Way than previously thought, flipping the entire narrative of how scientists think about structure formation in the Universe, according to new research published today.

    Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of researchers including those at The University of Manchester and University of Victoria in Canada discovered that galaxies like our own Milky Way dominate throughout the universe and are surprisingly common.

    These galaxies go far back in the Universe’s history with many of these galaxies forming 10 billion years ago or longer.

    The Milky Way is a typical ‘disk’ galaxy, which a shape similar to a pancake or compact disk, rotating about its centre and often containing spiral arms.  These galaxies are thought to be the most common in the nearby Universe and might be the types of galaxies where life can develop given the nature of their formation history. 

    However, astronomers previously considered that these types of galaxies were too fragile to exist in the early Universe when galaxy mergers were more common, destroying what we thought was their delicate shapes.

    The new discovery, published today in the Astrophysical Journal, finds that these ‘disk’ galaxies are ten times more common than what astronomers believed based on previous observations with the Hubble Space Telescope.

    Christopher Conselice, Professor of Extragalactic Astronomy at The University of Manchester, said: “Using the Hubble Space Telescope we thought that disk galaxies were almost non-existent until the Universe was about six billion years old, these new JWST results push the time these Milky Way-like galaxies form to almost the beginning of the Universe.”

    The research completely overturns the existing understanding of how scientists think our Universe evolves, and the scientists say new ideas need to be considered.

    Lead author, Leonardo Ferreira from the University of Victoria, said: “For over 30 years it was thought that these disk galaxies were rare in the early Universe due to the common violent encounters that galaxies undergo. The fact that JWST finds so many is another sign of the power of this instrument and that the structures of galaxies form earlier in the Universe, much earlier in fact, than anyone had anticipated. “

    It was once thought that disk galaxies such as the Milky Way were relatively rare through cosmic history, and that they only formed after the Universe was already middle aged. 

    Previously, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope believed that galaxies had mostly irregular and peculiar structures that resemble mergers.  However, the superior abilities of JWST now allows us to see the true structure of these galaxies for the first time. 

    The researchers say that this is yet another sign that ‘structure’ in the Universe forms much quicker than anyone had anticipated.

    Professor Conselice continues: “These JWST results show that disk galaxies like our own Milky Way, are the most common type of galaxy in the Universe. This implies that most stars exist and form within these galaxies which is changing our complete understanding of how galaxy formation occurs. These results also suggest important questions about dark matter in the early Universe which we know very little about.”

    “Based on our results astronomers must rethink our understanding of the formation of the first galaxies and how galaxy evolution occurred over the past 10 billion years.”

    University of Manchester

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