Latest news with #ShanghaiAstronomicalObservatory
South China Morning Post
31-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
China doubles down on building telescopes in Thailand to monitor Earth using space signals
China has completed its first overseas new-generation radio telescope in northern Thailand , bolstering a global scientific network that monitors deep space signals and tracks subtle shifts in the Earth's rotation and tectonic plates. Advertisement The 13-metre (43-foot) radio antenna, jointly developed by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, was officially inaugurated in Chiang Mai on May 16, according to the observatory's WeChat account. Together with a second telescope under construction in Songkhla, southern Thailand, the station will enhance deep-space tracking and high-precision Earth monitoring, contributing to more accurate GPS, climate research and earthquake forecasting. 11:05 Space race elevates Asia in new world order Space race elevates Asia in new world order Ding Chibiao, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, described the Chiang Mai telescope as 'a role model of scientific cooperation between China and Thailand'. During the inauguration ceremony, he said its launch held special significance as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Supachai Pathumnakul, permanent secretary of Thailand's higher education and science ministry, said the telescope reflected the growing scientific partnership between the two nations and would deliver high quality data for global research efforts. According to the Shanghai observatory, the project began with a memorandum of understanding in 2017. After years of delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic , the telescope captured its first signal in August last year. Advertisement By April, it had completed a full 24-hour observation session – including enhanced measurements of Earth's rotation – as part of a network of similar Chinese telescopes. The data met the expected precision benchmarks.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Detect "Strange Filaments" at the Heart of Our Galaxy
Researchers have zoomed in on the area surrounding the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our galaxy, and made a fascinating discovery: a structure of "strange filaments" driving a cycle of gas emissions and replenishment. As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, the international team of astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Chilean desert to produce high-resolution observations of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), a region known for continuously cycling through copious amounts of dust and gas molecules. However, how these cycles of formation and destruction actually function has largely remained a mystery. But thanks to ALMA's highly detailed map of the region, astronomers discovered a new type of filamentary structure, which reacts to shock waves rippling through the region. "When we checked the ALMA images showing the outflows, we noticed these long and narrow filaments spatially offset from any star-forming regions," said Shanghai Jiao Tong University researcher and team lead Kai Yang in a statement that described the findings as vast "alien structures." "Unlike any objects we know, these filaments really surprised us," he added. "Since then, we have been pondering what they are." The team made the discovery by tracing silicon monoxide (SiO) and eight other molecules in the region, using ALMA. Interestingly, their velocities suggest they're not associated with dust emissions. "Our research contributes to the fascinating Galactic Center landscape by uncovering these slim filaments as an important part of material circulation," said Shanghai Astronomical Observatory research professor and corresponding author Xing Lu. "We can envision these as space tornados: they are violent streams of gas, they dissipate shortly, and they distribute materials into the environment efficiently." In their paper, the researchers suggest the filaments are "associated with parsec-scale shocks, likely arising from dynamic interactions between shock waves and molecular clouds." According to their findings, these shocks bring these slim filaments to life, releasing SiO and several other complex organic molecules, including methanol, into the CMZ. They then dissipate, allowing molecules to freeze back into dust grains, restarting the cycle. The researchers are hoping that future ALMA observations could shed more light on the process to hone in on these filaments' origins. "We speculate that these slim filaments represent a distinct class from the dense gas filaments typically observed in nearby molecular clouds, and they may result from interactions between shocks and molecular clouds," the paper reads. More on the supermassive black hole: Scientists Intrigued by "Star Grinder" Pulverizing Entire Star Systems in Our Galaxy
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Giant 'Space Tornadoes' Discovered Raging in Milky Way's Turbulent Heart
In the absolute omnishambles of the Milky Way galactic center, we've just found a new kind of turbulent structure. Peering into the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) that surrounds the galactic supermassive black hole, astronomers have identified long, thin filaments of gas, near outflows of material. Filaments have been identified around the galactic center previously, but these new ones are unlike any other filaments ever seen. After puzzlement, then analysis, a team of astronomers led by Kai Yang of Shanghai Jiao Tong University has determined that they represent a never-before-seen mechanism for the dispersal of gas throughout the CMZ – a kind of cosmic tornado. "When we checked the ALMA images showing the outflows, we noticed these long and narrow filaments spatially offset from any star-forming regions," Yang says. "Unlike any objects we know, these filaments really surprised us." The CMZ is a region of clouds rich in dust and molecular gas that roils around the galactic nucleus. It measures up to 2,000 light-years across, and it's dense. It contains nearly 80 percent of all the dense gas in the galaxy, and around 5 percent of all the galaxy's molecular gas. As you can imagine, all this densely packed material makes for a bit of a wild environment, with clouds slamming through space at up to 100 kilometers per second. Shock fronts and turbulence are common. Clouds form, break apart, and reform in an endless cycle. It's not clear what drives this process, but the CMZ is kind of hard to study. Because the clouds therein are so dense, it can be a little tricky to peer into their midst. Yang and colleagues used the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to try to shed some light on the dynamic processes at play in the CMZ. They were specifically looking for traces of silicon monoxide, a gas whose presence is particularly useful in tracing and delineating shocks. They weren't expecting what they found, though: very long, narrow filaments traced out in silicon monoxide at a finer scale than other filaments found in the CMZ. The research team named these structures "slim filaments," and set about analyzing them in greater detail. In addition to silicon monoxide, the slim filaments contain the complex organic molecules cyclopropenylidene, formaldehyde, cyanoacetylene, methanol, isocyanic acid, sulfur monoxide, and acetonitrile. In addition, their velocity distributions are inconsistent with measurements of other kinds of filaments, and they are dominated by turbulent pressure. This suggests that the structures may be a little bit like tornadoes, or dust devils, and perform a similar role. "Our research contributes to the fascinating Galactic Center landscape by uncovering these slim filaments as an important part of material circulation," says astronomer Xing Lu of Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in China. "We can envision these as space tornadoes: they are violent streams of gas, they dissipate shortly, and they distribute materials into the environment efficiently." Although how the slim filaments form is unclear, the researchers believe that shock plays a role in their genesis. Shocks generated by collisions in the CMZ may give rise to filaments of turbulence that heat complex molecules into their gas phase and release them into the interstellar medium. As they cool, these molecules revert to dust, replenishing the CMZ and redistributing its material. If the filaments are as abundant throughout the CMZ as the researchers found them in their observation sample, they would explain a large part of the recycling rate of the region. "We speculate that these slim filaments represent a distinct class from the dense gas filaments typically observed in nearby molecular clouds, and they may result from interactions between shocks and molecular clouds," the researchers write in their paper. "Their eventual dissipation within 10,000 years may enrich silicon monoxide and several complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium, thus leading to the observed widespread emission of silicon monoxide and complex organic molecules in the CMZ." The research has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. First-Ever Images of Neptune's Eerie Glow Finally Reveal Missing Aurora Toxic Mars Dust Could Pose Major Health Risks For Future Astronauts Stunning Swirl in Europe's Skies Caused by Classified Space X Mission
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers discover space ‘tornadoes' around our galaxy's core
Scientists say they've found 'space tornadoes' swirling in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. While the galaxy's center, including the supermassive black hole Sgr A*, is known to be active and filled with swirling dust and gas molecules, the process has remained mysterious. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array — a group of dozens of radio telescopes in the Chilean desert and the largest astronomical project in existence — astronomers were able to peel back the curtain and sharpen their view of the area. That's how they found the so-called 'tornadoes.' 'We can envision these as space tornados: they are violent streams of gas, they dissipate shortly, and they distribute materials into the environment efficiently,' Xing Lu, a research professor at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, said in a statement. Lu is a corresponding author of the study, which was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. They used the telescope array's high-resolution capabilities to map the narrow bands of light within cold and dense regions at the center of the galaxy. 'When we checked the ALMA images showing the outflows, we noticed these long and narrow filaments spatially offset from any star-forming regions. Unlike any objects we know, these filaments really surprised us. Since then, we have been pondering what they are,' Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Kai Yang, who led the research, explained. What they found do not fit the profile of previously discovered types of dense gas filaments, and it remains unknown how they form. But, they have an idea. It could be due to energetic shock waves, they said, citing the presence of emissions of bright lines and other observations. The findings offer a more detailed view of what happens in the Milky Way's center, and suggest that there's a cyclical process of material circulating there. Shocks would create the tornadoes, releasing gas. Then, they would dissipate to refuel the material that was released. And, the molecules the shocks release would then freeze. The authors of the paper hope that future observations using the array will confirm how the tornadoes are formed.
The Independent
21-03-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Astronomers discover space ‘tornadoes' around our galaxy's core
Scientists say they've found 'space tornadoes' swirling in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. While the galaxy's center, including the supermassive black hole Sgr A*, is known to be active and filled with swirling dust and gas molecules, the process has remained mysterious. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array — a group of dozens of radio telescopes in the Chilean desert and the largest astronomical project in existence — astronomers were able to peel back the curtain and sharpen their view of the area. That's how they found the so-called 'tornadoes.' 'We can envision these as space tornados: they are violent streams of gas, they dissipate shortly, and they distribute materials into the environment efficiently,' Xing Lu, a research professor at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, said in a statement. Lu is a corresponding author of the study, which was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. They used the telescope array's high-resolution capabilities to map the narrow bands of light within cold and dense regions at the center of the galaxy. 'When we checked the ALMA images showing the outflows, we noticed these long and narrow filaments spatially offset from any star-forming regions. Unlike any objects we know, these filaments really surprised us. Since then, we have been pondering what they are,' Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Kai Yang, who led the research, explained. What they found do not fit the profile of previously discovered types of dense gas filaments, and it remains unknown how they form. But, they have an idea. It could be due to energetic shock waves, they said, citing the presence of emissions of bright lines and other observations. The findings offer a more detailed view of what happens in the Milky Way's center, and suggest that there's a cyclical process of material circulating there. Shocks would create the tornadoes, releasing gas. Then, they would dissipate to refuel the material that was released. And, the molecules the shocks release would then freeze. The authors of the paper hope that future observations using the array will confirm how the tornadoes are formed.
