Latest news with #FrenchNationalCentreforScientificResearch
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope just found its first exoplanet
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of an exoplanet for the first time since it began science operations in July of 2022. The previously unknown celestial body has been named 'TWA 7 b.' It is located some 110 light-years away from Earth around the constellation Antlia and orbits the young nearby star TWA 7. 'After eliminating the possibility of a potential observation bias, the scientists concluded that it was most probably an exoplanet,' the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said in a statement. The image was taken using a coronagraph on the telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument, which is also known as 'MIRI.' Coronagraphs are used to block out the light of stars such as the sun in order to observe fainter nearby objects. The findings, spearheaded by a researcher at the center, were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. The center developed the coronagraph, alongside the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Looking within a disk of rocky debris and dust around the star, scientists have previously identified concentric ring-like structures within them. Until now, astronomers had suspected the structures resulted from gravitational interaction between the building blocks of planets and unidentified planets. TWA 7, which was one of two systems they looked at, has three rings. 'One of the two systems, named TWA 7, has three distinct rings, one of which is especially narrow, and surrounded by two empty areas with almost no matter,' the center said. The image Webb took revealed the potential source. 'Detailed simulations have indeed confirmed the formation of a thin ring and a 'hole' at the exact planet's position, which perfectly corresponds to the observations made with the JWST,' the center noted. With a mass comparable to Saturn, TWA 7 b is easier to detect in the mid-infrared thermal range because it is some 10 times lighter than those previously snapped in images. The recently formed planets in these systems are also still hot, making them brighter than their older counterparts. There are currently more than 5,900 confirmed exoplanets that exist beyond our solar system. Most of them orbit other stars and the majority of those that have been discovered are in our Milky Way galaxy. But, NASA believes that billions exist. Exoplanets help to better understand how planetary systems form including our own. However, they are often drowned out by starlight. Scientists hope to capture images of planets with even less mass in the future using Webb. 'This result marks a new step in the research and direct imaging of increasingly small exoplanets, which are more similar to the Earth than to the gas giants of the Solar System,' the center wrote.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope just found its first exoplanet
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of an exoplanet for the first time since it began science operations in July of 2022. The previously unknown celestial body has been named 'TWA 7 b.' It is located some 110 light-years away from Earth around the constellation Antlia and orbits the young nearby star TWA 7. 'After eliminating the possibility of a potential observation bias, the scientists concluded that it was most probably an exoplanet,' the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said in a statement. The image was taken using a coronagraph on the telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument, which is also known as 'MIRI.' Coronagraphs are used to block out the light of stars such as the sun in order to observe fainter nearby objects. The findings, spearheaded by a researcher at the center, were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. The center developed the coronagraph, alongside the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Looking within a disk of rocky debris and dust around the star, scientists have previously identified concentric ring-like structures within them. Until now, astronomers had suspected the structures resulted from gravitational interaction between the building blocks of planets and unidentified planets. TWA 7, which was one of two systems they looked at, has three rings. 'One of the two systems, named TWA 7, has three distinct rings, one of which is especially narrow, and surrounded by two empty areas with almost no matter,' the center said. The image Webb took revealed the potential source. 'Detailed simulations have indeed confirmed the formation of a thin ring and a 'hole' at the exact planet's position, which perfectly corresponds to the observations made with the JWST,' the center noted. With a mass comparable to Saturn, TWA 7 b is easier to detect in the mid-infrared thermal range because it is some 10 times lighter than those previously snapped in images. The recently formed planets in these systems are also still hot, making them brighter than their older counterparts. There are currently more than 5,900 confirmed exoplanets that exist beyond our solar system. Most of them orbit other stars and the majority of those that have been discovered are in our Milky Way galaxy. But, NASA believes that billions exist. Exoplanets help to better understand how planetary systems form including our own. However, they are often drowned out by starlight. Scientists hope to capture images of planets with even less mass in the future using Webb. 'This result marks a new step in the research and direct imaging of increasingly small exoplanets, which are more similar to the Earth than to the gas giants of the Solar System,' the center wrote.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
It's Official: Scientists Confirmed What's Inside Our Moon
Well, the verdict is in. The Moon is not made of green cheese after all. A thorough investigation published in May 2023 found that the inner core of the Moon is, in fact, a solid ball with a density similar to that of iron. This, researchers hope, will help settle a long debate about whether the Moon's inner heart is solid or molten, and lead to a more accurate understanding of the Moon's history – and, by extension, that of the Solar System. "Our results," wrote a team led by astronomer Arthur Briaud of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in France, "question the evolution of the Moon magnetic field thanks to its demonstration of the existence of the inner core and support a global mantle overturn scenario that brings substantial insights on the timeline of the lunar bombardment in the first billion years of the Solar System." Watch the video below for a summary on what they found: Probing the interior composition of objects in the Solar System is most effectively accomplished through seismic data. The way acoustic waves generated by quakes move through and reflect from material inside a planet or moon can help scientists create a detailed map of the object's interior. We happen to have lunar seismic data collected by the Apollo mission, but its resolution is too low to accurately determine the inner core's state. We know there is a fluid outer core, but what it encompasses remains under debate. Models of a solid inner core and an entirely fluid core work equally well with the Apollo data. To figure it out once and for all, Briaud and his colleagues collected data from space missions and lunar laser-ranging experiments to compile a profile of various lunar characteristics. These include the degree of its deformation by its gravitational interaction with Earth, the variation in its distance from Earth, and its density. Next, they conducted modeling with various core types to find which matched most closely with the observational data. They made several interesting findings. Firstly, the models that most closely resembled what we know about the Moon describe active overturn deep inside the lunar mantle. This means that denser material inside the Moon falls towards the center, and less dense material rises upwards. This activity has long been proposed as a way of explaining the presence of certain elements in volcanic regions of the Moon. The team's research adds another point in the "for" tally of evidence. And they found that the lunar core is very similar to that of Earth – with an outer fluid layer and a solid inner core. According to their modeling, the outer core has a radius of about 362 kilometers (225 miles), and the inner core has a radius of about 258 kilometers (160 miles). That's about 15 percent of the entire radius of the Moon. The inner core, the team found, also has a density of about 7,822 kilograms per cubic meter. That's very close to the density of iron. Curiously, in 2011 a team led by NASA Marshall planetary scientist Renee Weber found a similar result using what were then state-of-the-art seismological techniques on Apollo data to study the lunar core. They found evidence of a solid inner core with a radius of about 240 kilometers, and a density of about 8,000 kilograms per cubic meter. Their results, Briaud and his team say, are confirmation of those earlier findings, and constitute a pretty strong case for an Earth-like lunar core. And this has some interesting implications for the Moon's evolution. We know that not long after it formed, the Moon had a powerful magnetic field, which started to decline about 3.2 billion years ago. Such a magnetic field is generated by motion and convection in the core, so what the lunar core is made of is deeply relevant to how and why the magnetic field disappeared. Given humanity's hope to return to the Moon in relatively short order, perhaps we won't have long to wait for seismic verification of these findings. The research has been published in Nature. A version of this article was first published in May 2023. Jaw-Dropping Explosions on The Sun Captured in First NASA PUNCH Images SpaceX Starship Explodes in Towering Fireball Astronomers Uncover a Massive Shaft of Missing Matter
Observer
31-05-2025
- Science
- Observer
Tools made of whale bones reveal inventiveness of prehistoric people
Artifacts found at archeological sites in France and Spain along the Bay of Biscay shoreline show that humans have been crafting tools from whale bones since more than 20,000 years ago, illustrating anew the resourcefulness of prehistoric people. The tools, primarily hunting implements such as projectile points, were fashioned from the bones of at least five species of large whales, the researchers said. Bones from sperm whales were the most abundant, followed by fin whales, gray whales, right or bowhead whales - two species indistinguishable with the analytical method used in the study - and blue whales. With seafaring capabilities by humans not developing until thousands of years later, the Ice Age hunter-gatherers who made these implements would have been unable to actually hunt whales for their resources in the Bay of Biscay, a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean. "These whales were likely opportunistically acquired from stranded animals or drifted carcasses, rather than actively hunted," said biomolecular archaeologist Krista McGrath of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, co-lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications, opens new tab. "The majority of the bones were identified from offshore, deep-water species - such as sperm whale and fin whale - which would have been very difficult to hunt for these prehistoric groups. And there is no evidence from this time period that they had the level of technology that active hunting would have required, like seafaring boats," McGrath said. The 71 whale bone artifacts analyzed by the researchers were found at 27 cave or rock shelter sites. The two oldest ones, both from the bones of fin whales, came from the Spanish Cantabrian sites of Rascaño, dating to about 20,500 years ago, and El Juyo, dating to about 19,800 years ago. The rough age range of the artifacts was from 14,000 years old to more than 20,000 years old, but most were 16,000 to 17,500 years old. The main raw material used to manufacture spear points at the time was antler from reindeer or red deer because it is less brittle and more pliable than land mammal bone. But whale bone offered some advantages, including its large dimensions, with some of the projectile points measuring more than 16 inches (40 cm) long, a size difficult to achieve using antler. "They can be very long and thick, and were probably hafted on spear-style projectiles rather than arrows. They are usually found as fragments, many of which bear fractures related to use, and they were most likely used to hunt the main game animals of the time - reindeer and red deer, horse, bison and ibex," said archaeologist and study co-senior author Jean-Marc Pétillon of the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Bone tools were used by members of the human evolutionary lineage dating back far before our species Homo sapiens emerged more than 300,000 years ago in Africa. The artifacts examined in this study pushed back the oldest-known use of whale bones for toolmaking by 1,000 to 2,000 years. The objects were previously discovered at the various sites and kept in museum collections. The researchers used modern analytical techniques to determine the species from which the bones came and the age of the artifacts. Humans living in this period of prehistory generally were inland hunters, obtaining most of their subsistence needs from the hunting of large hoofed mammals, Pétillon said. The new findings enhance the understanding of their exploitation of seashore resources, Pétillon added. Previous research had shown that Ice Age people gathered seashells, hunted seabirds and fished for marine fishes as a complement to meat from terrestrial animals. "The new findings tell us that these prehistoric groups were likely very well adapted to these coastal environments, and very likely had deep local ecological knowledge and understanding of their coastal habitats," McGrath said. "Whale bones would have been for more than just making tools. There is evidence for their use as fuel as well - the bones contain large amounts of oil - among other things. And the rest of the whale would also certainly have been used – teeth or baleen depending on the species, meat, skin. A single whale provides a lot of resources," McGrath said.—Reuters
TimesLIVE
29-05-2025
- Science
- TimesLIVE
Tools made of whale bones reveal inventiveness of prehistoric people
Artefacts found at archaeological sites in France and Spain along the Bay of Biscay shoreline show that humans have been crafting tools from whale bones since more than 20,000 years ago, illustrating anew the resourcefulness of prehistoric people. The tools, primarily hunting implements such as projectile points, were fashioned from the bones of at least five species of large whales, the researchers said. Bones from sperm whales were the most abundant, followed by fin whales, grey whales, right or bowhead whales — two species indistinguishable with the analytical method used in the study — and blue whales. With seafaring capabilities by humans not developing until thousands of years later, the Ice Age hunter-gatherers who made these implements would have been unable to actually hunt whales for their resources in the Bay of Biscay, a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean. 'These whale bones were likely opportunistically acquired from stranded animals or drifted carcasses, rather than actively hunted animals,' said bimolecular archaeologist Krista McGrath of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, co-lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications. 'The majority of the bones were identified from offshore, deepwater species — such as sperm whale and fin whale — which would have been very difficult to hunt for these prehistoric groups. And there is no evidence from this time period that they had the level of technology that active hunting would have required, like seafaring boats,' McGrath said. The 71 whale bone artefacts analysed by the researchers were found at 27 cave or rock shelter sites. The two oldest ones, both from the bones of fin whales, came from the Spanish Cantabrian sites of Rascaño, dating to about 20,500 years ago, and El Juyo, dating to about 19,800 years ago. The rough age range of the artefacts was from 14,000 years old to more than 20,000 years old, but most were 16,000 to 17,500 years old. The main raw material used to manufacture spear points at the time was antler from reindeer or red deer because it is less brittle and more pliable than land mammal bone. But whale bone offered some advantages, including its large dimensions, with some of the projectile points measuring more than 40cm long, a size difficult to achieve using antler. 'They can be very long and thick, and were probably hafted on spear-style projectiles rather than arrows. They are usually found as fragments, many of which bear fractures related to use, and they were most likely used to hunt the main game animals of the time — reindeer and red deer, horse, bison and ibex,' said archaeologist and study co-senior author Jean-Marc Pétillon of the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Bone tools were used by members of the human evolutionary lineage dating back far before our species Homo sapiens emerged more than 300,000 years ago in Africa. The artefacts examined in this study pushed back the oldest-known use of whale bones for toolmaking by 1,000 to 2,000 years. The objects were previously discovered at the various sites and kept in museum collections. The researchers used modern analytical techniques to determine the species from which the bones came and the age of the artefacts. Humans living in this period of prehistory generally were inland hunters, obtaining most of their subsistence needs from the hunting of large hoofed mammals, Pétillon said. The new findings enhance the understanding of their exploitation of seashore resources. Previous research had shown that Ice Age people gathered seashells, hunted seabirds and fished for marine fishes as a complement to meat from terrestrial animals. 'The new findings tell us that these prehistoric groups were likely very well adapted to these coastal environments, and very likely had deep local ecological knowledge and understanding of their coastal habitats,' McGrath said. 'Whale bones would have been for more than just making tools. There is evidence for their use as fuel as well — the bones contain large amounts of oil — among other things. And the rest of the whale would also certainly have been used — teeth or baleen depending on the species, meat, skin. A single whale provides a lot of resources,' McGrath said.
