Latest news with #ALMA
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers discover baby planets taking their 1st steps in nearby stellar nursery (images)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers may have caught the first stages of planets being born around infant stars. The discovery came about when a team of scientists studied 78 planet-forming, flattened clouds of gas and dust, or "protoplanetary disks," in the Ophiuchus star-forming region. This stellar nursery, also known as the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, is located around 460 light-years from Earth, making it the closest star-forming region to our solar system. The team discovered previously unseen rings, spirals and other substructures in the swirling, plate-like planet-forming clouds around a number of stars just a few hundred thousand years old. If that seems ancient, consider this: Our middle-aged star, the sun, is 4.6 billion years old. The team's findings suggest stars and planets evolve together in environments that are rich in gas and dust. Stars are born when overly dense regions in vast clouds of gas and dust called molecular clouds collapse under their own gravity. This collapse creates a protostar wrapped in a pre-natal envelope of material from which it continues to gather mass. This matter-harvesting continues until the star is sufficiently massive enough to trigger the fusion of hydrogen to helium at the heart of the star, the nuclear process that defines what a fully grown or main-sequence star end result is a young star surrounded by a flattened disk of gas and dust within which planets can begin to form. When planets begin to take shape in these disks, their gravitational influence can gather or eject materials. That process gives rise to substructures in the protoplanetary disk. However, the big question is: At what point in the evolution of planetary systems do these substructures begin to appear? That's a question astronomers have been attempting to answer using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an array of 66 antennas in northern Chile that work together to act as form a single telescope. In particular, two large programs conducted by ALMA, DSHARP and eDisk, have discovered intricate details of structures in protoplanetary disks. DSHARP found that such structures are common in the disks that surround 20 young stars under 1 million years of age. Meanwhile, eDisk studied younger protostars that are just between 10,000 and 100,000 years old and thus still in their matter-harvesting stage. This revealed that structures present around 1 million-year-old stars are absent around stars 10 and 100 times younger. That implies the characteristics of a protoplanetary disk are dependent on the age of its central star. The new study's team looked at stars with ages between those studied in the DSHARP and eDisk programs, turning to super-resolution imaging provided by public software called "Python module for Radio Interferometry Imaging with Sparse Modeling," or (PRIISM), and applied this to ALMA archival data. This allowed the researchers to obtain a resolution three times greater than what's provided by standard procedures for half of the imaged protoplanetary disks. The team's results were further bolstered by the fact their Ophiuchus sample was four times larger than what was used in the DSHARP and eDisk programs. The investigation revealed 27 of the 78 examined disks had ring or spiral structures, 15 of which had never been seen before. This revealed substructures form in disks that have widths 30 times the distance between Earth and the sun (30 astronomical units). This, in turn, implies that substructures form much earlier than previously thought — while such disks are still abundant with gas and dust. In other words, infant stars and planets seem to evolve together — at least, in the Ophiuchus stellar nursery. Related Stories: —The deadly atmosphere on Venus could help us find habitable worlds. Here's how. — Could nearby stars have habitable exoplanets? NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory hopes to find out — Astronomers discover origins of mysterious double hot Jupiter exoplanets: 'It is a dance of sorts' "These findings, bridging the gap between the eDisk and DSHARP projects, were enabled by the innovative imaging that allows for both achieving high resolution and a large number of samples," Ayumu Shoshi, team leader and a researcher at Kyushu University, said in a statement. "While these findings only pertain to the disks in Ophiuchus, future studies of other star-forming regions will reveal whether this tendency is universal." The team's research was published in The Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Science
- Malay Mail
Snow blankets Atacama Desert, the world's driest, in rare weather event
SANTIAGO, June 27 — Residents of the world's driest desert, the Atacama in northern Chile, woke up Thursday to a jaw-dropping spectacle: its famous lunar landscape blanketed in snow. "INCREDIBLE! The Atacama Desert, the world's most arid, is COVERED IN SNOW," the ALMA observatory, situated 2,900 meters (9,500 feet) above sea level, wrote on X, alongside a video of vast expanses covered in a dusting of white. The observatory added that while snow is common on the nearby Chajnanator Plateau, situated at over 5,000 meters and where its gigantic telescope is situated, it had not had snow at its main facility in a decade. University of Santiago climatologist Raul Cordero told AFP that it was too soon to link the snow to climate change but said that climate modelling had shown that "this type of event, meaning precipitation in the Atacama desert, will likely become more frequent." The Atacama, home to the world's darkest skies, has for decades been the go-to location for the world's most advanced telescopes. The ALMA telescope, which was developed by the European Southern Observatory, the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, is widely recognized as being the most powerful. — AFP
New York Post
3 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Astronomers make groundbreaking discovery about largest comet ever observed flying through deep space
A groundbreaking discovery was recently made about the largest comet ever observed hurtling toward the sun from the Oort Cloud in the outer reaches of our solar system. Astronomers recently got a close-up look at the comet, known as C/2014 UN271, flying through deep space with the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile. The icy giant is 85 miles across and is more than 10 times the size of any known comet, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO reported that astronomers found that new observations from the comet showed jets of carbon monoxide gas erupting out from the comet's solid icy core. Using the ALMA, the researchers found the comet in deep space near Neptune or about 17 times the distance between the Sun and Earth, according to a release from NRAO. Using the ALMA telescope's high sensitivity and resolution, the researchers were able to focus on the carbon monoxide and heat being emitted from the comet. Nathan Roth of American University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the lead author of the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, discussed how this gives researchers insight into the workings of this frozen rock hurtling through space. 4 Astronomers discovered jets of carbon monoxide gas erupting out from the comet's solid icy core. NRAO/Melissa Weiss 4 The comet was spotted in deep space near Neptune. NASA Goddard 'These measurements give us a look at how this enormous, icy world works,' Roth said. 'We're seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise new questions about how this comet will evolve as it continues its journey toward the inner solar system.' Using previous ALMA observations and these newest findings, researchers were able to measure the comet. They measured the thermal signal to find the comet's size and amount of dust surrounding its core. 4 Scientists hope the new data will give them a better understanding of the makeup of the solar system. AP 4 Researchers used the ALMA telescope to track the carbon monoxide and heat being emitted from the comet. Diogo Josí© – Researchers believe that as C/2014 UN271 gets closer to the sun, they will see more frozen gas begin to vaporize off the titan of a comet. This could possibly give researchers more information about the primitive makeup of this icy giant. The researchers also hope that this will give a better understanding of the makeup of the solar system.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Science
- Fox News
Astronomers make groundbreaking discovery about largest comet ever observed flying through deep space
A groundbreaking discovery was recently made about the largest comet ever observed hurtling toward the sun from the Oort Cloud in the outer reaches of our solar system. Astronomers recently got a close-up look at the comet, known as C/2014 UN271, flying through deep space with the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile. The icy giant is 85 miles across and is more than 10 times the size of any known comet, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO reported that astronomers found that new observations from the comet showed jets of carbon monoxide gas erupting out from the comet's solid icy core. Using the ALMA, the researchers found the comet in deep space near Neptune or about 17 times the distance between the Sun and Earth, according to a release from NRAO. Using the ALMA telescope's high sensitivity and resolution, the researchers were able to focus on the carbon monoxide and heat being emitted from the comet. Nathan Roth of American University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the lead author of the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, discussed how this gives researchers insight into the workings of this frozen rock hurtling through space. "These measurements give us a look at how this enormous, icy world works," Roth said. "We're seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise new questions about how this comet will evolve as it continues its journey toward the inner solar system." Using previous ALMA observations and these newest findings, researchers were able to measure the comet. They measured the thermal signal to find the comet's size and amount of dust surrounding its core. Researchers believe that as C/2014 UN271 gets closer to the sun, they will see more frozen gas begin to vaporize off the titan of a comet. This could possibly give researchers more information about the primitive makeup of this icy giant. The researchers also hope that this will give a better understanding of the makeup of the solar system.
Toronto Sun
3 days ago
- Science
- Toronto Sun
James Webb telescope discovers its first exoplanet
The telescope has turbocharged the search for planets beyond the Solar System since coming online in 2022 Published Jun 25, 2025 • 3 minute read The star HL Tauri, surrounded by the rings of a disc of gas and dust. Photo by ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) / EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY/AFP/File PARIS — The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered its first exoplanet, astronomers said Wednesday, capturing rare direct images of the relatively small world in the Earth's galactic backyard. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The telescope, which can see farther into the universe than anything before it, has turbocharged the search for planets beyond the Solar System since coming online in 2022. Until now, however, its deep gaze has mostly been used to probe already known exoplanets — to find out key information such as the atmospheric composition — rather than tracking down new worlds. The discovery of exoplanet TWA 7b, revealed in a study in the journal Nature, 'represents a first for the telescope,' France's CNRS research centre said in a statement. The large majority of the nearly 6,000 exoplanets found so far have been identified from the light they blot out when they pass in front of their star, rather than from direct images of the planet. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Webb 'has spent an enormous amount of time observing planets that have never been directly imaged,' lead study author Anne-Marie Lagrange of the Paris Observatory told AFP. 'Blinded by the light' Capturing direct images of faraway planets is difficult because they are 'very faint' due to a lack of heat, Lagrange said. Even worse, she added, 'we're blinded by the light of the star they orbit.' But Webb has a way to get around the problem. An attachment to Webb's MIRI instrument called a coronagraph masks the star, creating an effect similar to a solar eclipse. The telescope's infrared vision can then peer through and spot the planet. Astronomers pointed Webb at the star TWA 7, which is around a hundred light years from Earth — relatively nearby in the universe. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The star, which was first spotted by the Hubble space telescope in 1999, was thought to be a promising target for two reasons. It is just 6.4 million years old — a baby compared to the Sun's 4.5 billion years — and still surrounded by a massive disc of gas and dust where planets are thought to form. And from the direction of Earth, the disc is seen from above, giving a good view of its rings. The three rings around the star, which stretch more than 100 times the distance separating the Sun and Earth, had previously been spotted by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. But inside an otherwise empty section of the second ring, the Webb telescope detected something particularly bright. Astronomers ruled out that the light was coming from an object at the edge of the Solar System, or from a distant galaxy behind the star. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That could mean only that the light source was a relatively small and cold planet, with a mass at least 10 times lighter than any other exoplanet directly imaged so far, according to the study. The hunt for smaller worlds The researchers estimated that the planet's mass was similar to that of Saturn, a gas giant that weighs only a third of Jupiter, the biggest planet in the Solar System. Webb has increased the ability to detect exoplanets via direct images by a factor of 10, Lagrange said. That is important because smaller, rocky planets similar to Earth or Mars are the ultimate target in the search for habitable worlds outside of the Solar System. Lagrange said she would be delighted to discover 'Earth-like planets' one day. But she said astronomers needed to study all kinds of planets — and to understand how planetary systems form — to know whether the life-hosting Solar System is unique. In the future, astronomers expect the Webb telescope will be able to spot planets even smaller than TWA 7b. But directly capturing images of faraway worlds similar to Earth will require even more telescopic power, such as from he Extremely Large Telescope that is scheduled to come online in Chile in 2028. Toronto Maple Leafs MLB Toronto Blue Jays Toronto & GTA Celebrity
