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Event Horizon Telescope Discovers Potential Origin of Messier 87 Black Hole’s Jet

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Astronomers utilizing the groundbreaking Event Horizon Telescope—a global network of eight advanced radio telescopes—have pinpointed the likely origin of a massive space jet emanating from the core of Messier 87.

This Webb/NIRCam image showcases the extraordinary space jet of Messier 87. Image credits: Jan Röder, Maciek Wielgus, Joseph B. Jensen, Gagandeep S. Anand, R. Brent Tully.

Messier 87, a colossal elliptical galaxy situated approximately 53 million light-years away in the Virgo constellation, is of great scientific interest.

Also known as M87, Virgo A, and NGC 4486, this galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole, approximately 6 billion times the mass of our Sun.

This supermassive black hole generates a striking, narrow jet of particles that extends roughly 3,000 light-years into the cosmos.

To investigate such distant regions, astronomers are combining radio telescopes from around the world to create a virtual Earth-sized observatory known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).

Using EHT observations of M87 conducted in 2021, researchers assessed the brightness of radio emissions at various spatial scales.

They discovered that the luminous ring surrounding the black hole does not account for all radio emissions, identifying an additional compact source approximately 0.09 light-years from the black hole that aligns with the predicted location of the jet’s base.

“By pinpointing where the jet originates and how it connects to the black hole’s shadow, we are adding significant insights into this cosmic puzzle,” stated Saurabh, a student at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and a member of the EHT Collaboration.

“The newly collected data is currently undergoing analysis with contributions from international partners and will soon incorporate additional telescopes, improving our understanding of this area,” remarked Dr. Sebastiano von Fehrenberg, an astronomer at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics.

“This will provide us with a much clearer view of the jet’s launch region.”

“We’re transitioning from merely calculating the positions of these structures to aiming for direct imaging,” he added.

“The jet is postulated to be launched using the rotational energy of the black hole through electromagnetic processes, presenting a unique laboratory where general relativity and quantum electrodynamics intersect,” explained Professor Bert Lipperda, also from the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics.

“Studying how jets are launched in proximity to a black hole’s event horizon is a crucial advancement in our comprehension of these cosmic titans.”

“The observational data will empower scientists to test theories regarding the interplay between gravity and magnetism in the universe’s most extreme environments, bringing us closer to understanding the ‘engines’ that shape entire galaxies.”

Find more details in the result published in the Journal on January 28, 2026, in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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Saurabh et al. 2026. Investigation of the jet-based ejection from M87* with 2021 Event Horizon Telescope observations. A&A 706, A27; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202557022

Source: www.sci.news

Discovery of Three Supermassive Black Holes Merging into One: A Cosmic Event Unveiled

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Supermassive black holes absorbing matter

Supermassive black holes can consume or merge with other black holes.

Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library

Recent studies reveal that three galaxies featuring supermassive black holes at their cores are merging into a colossal galaxy—a phenomenon rarely observed in astronomy.

Astronomers posit that to achieve their immense sizes, supermassive black holes often need to engulf or merge with other massive black holes during galactic collisions. Discovering these events is challenging, as they are short-lived compared to a black hole’s lifespan. These mergers are most easily detected when a black hole is actively consuming matter and emitting light, which is not frequently the case. Currently, only around 150 pairs of merging galactic black holes have been identified.

Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., led by Emma Schwartzman, have identified a trio of supermassive black holes actively feeding and functioning as a single system. “The more galaxies involved, the rarer this system becomes,” Schwartzman noted.

Each supermassive black hole emits low-frequency radiation as radio waves, which can penetrate dust that obscures other forms of light. This characteristic enabled Schwartzman and her team to conduct observations using the Very Long Baseline Array in Hawaii and the Very Large Array in New Mexico, effectively ruling out alternate light sources such as star-filled galaxies.

“What’s particularly intriguing is that all three of these black holes show signs of merging. There’s no guarantee we will observe emissions in the radio spectrum that we haven’t detected before,” Schwartzman commented.

According to Isabella Lamperti, a researcher at the University of Florence, there are visible indications that the galaxies are beginning to interact. Given that two of the galaxies are approximately 70,000 light-years apart, and the third is 300,000 light-years away, this interaction is still in a relatively early phase.

However, considering their life spans spanning billions of years, we are witnessing a dramatic conclusion. “It’s akin to capturing the final moments of a melodrama where the galaxies converge,” commented Emma Kuhn from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany.

Simulating the merging of three active supermassive black holes presents substantial difficulty, but observing this unique system will provide physicists with better insights into more intricate mergers, according to Kuhn. “This marks the initial step in unraveling the physics underlying the system,” she stated.

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Join a weekend filled with learning alongside some of science’s brightest minds as you delve into the mysteries of the universe. The program includes a fascinating tour of the iconic Lovell Telescope.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Asteroid Explodes “Bomb-Like” Over France in Rare Event

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Asteroids Fragmenting in Unforeseen Ways

Wikimedia/CC-BY-SA-4.0

A rare asteroid explosion occurred in France two years ago, raising alarms regarding the planet’s defense against certain rocky bodies.

On February 13, 2023, a small asteroid named 2023 CX1 entered Earth’s atmosphere, creating a streak across the Normandy sky. This event marked one of the rare instances of meteors monitored before atmospheric entry, happening approximately 7 hours ago.

Bright fireballs resulted from the event, with multiple meteorites collected from the ground. Only two asteroids were monitored, and debris was recovered from their descent. The second one was located in Germany in 2024.

Analysis of footage capturing the asteroid’s descent by Aurian Egal from Western University of Ontario and her team revealed remarkable findings. While most asteroids disintegrate upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, the 2023 CX1 maintained its integrity almost entirely until it reached an altitude of 28 km, where it exploded with an energy equivalent to about 0.029 kilotons, resembling 29 tons of TNT.

“It resembled a bomb,” Egal noted, emphasizing that it was “a singular blast that generated a single spherical shockwave, rather than numerous explosions throughout its course.”

At just 72 centimeters, asteroid 2023 CX1 is roughly the size of a beach ball, which posed no significant threat to the ground. However, should a larger asteroid explode in a similar fashion, the potential for damage could be greater compared to one that disintegrates more gradually in the atmosphere.

In 2020, the Novomest Meteor in Slovenia lost around 80% of its mass due to a singular explosion.

This type of fragmentation poses an even greater threat,” Egal warned. “If a larger asteroid exhibits similar behavior, the consequences could be severe. Evacuations may be necessary for extensive areas surrounding the predicted impact site.”

Meteorite fragments of asteroid 2023 CX1 discovered in February 2023 near Dieppe, Normandy, northwest France

Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images

The exact reason for the asteroid’s survival at such lower altitudes in the atmosphere remains somewhat enigmatic but may pertain to its origin. 2023 CX1 belongs to the L-chondrite category, likely formed from a precursor body in the inner asteroid belt known as Massalia and contributing to approximately one-third of Earth’s rock samples.

“We observe multiple impact veins within the meteorite,” remarked the eyewitness, highlighting its significant collision history.

This implies that vigilance is imperative for monitoring similar L-chondrite asteroids, especially larger ones, according to Thomas Burbin from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts. “Given that this type of meteorite is quite prevalent, it raises considerable concern,” he elaborated. “L-chondrites can inflict more damage than one might anticipate.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Apple Unveils Sleek New iPhone at Stunning Annual Product Event

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Anticipate a sleeker design for Apple’s upcoming iPhone set to launch on Tuesday. The tech giant aims to introduce the slimmest iPhone yet at its annual product event, themed “Awe-Dropping.” The showcase will take place at the Steve Jobs Theatre located at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, starting at 10 AM.

The iPhone 17 lineup will comprise standard, Pro, and Pro Max variants, expected to feature a new member, the iPhone Air. This latest iteration of the iPhone has been dubbed Apple’s lightest flagship, reminiscent of its Slim MacBook laptops, according to industry observers. Apple has not refuted any speculations regarding future models.

Alongside mobile devices, Apple is set to unveil updates for the Apple Watch Series 11 and AirPods. There are whispers that the new AirPods may include live translation features, enabling Apple to keep pace with its rival, Google, which introduced a similar feature in its Pixel Buds a few years back.

Additionally, Apple is likely to announce launch dates for its upcoming mobile and desktop operating systems, iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe.

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The tariffs imposed by Donald Trump are looming over the debut of the new product, potentially impacting the iPhone’s intricate global supply chain and leading to significant price increases for consumers looking to upgrade. Nevertheless, CEO Tim Cook has managed to evade predictions of a $2,000 iPhone lifespan, relocating much of Apple’s production from China to India and dispatching hundreds of tons of iPhones to the U.S. ahead of the tariffs’ implementation date.

Investors and iPhone users are keenly observing discussions around Apple Intelligence, a set of features introduced in October 2024, which has garnered mixed reactions concerning AI integration on the iPhone. Last year’s announcements promised a revamp of Siri, which has yet to materialize.

During the earnings call in July, Cook noted, “we’re making solid strides towards a more personalized Siri,” and affirmed its release for the following year. Reports suggest Apple is in talks with Google to enhance Siri utilizing the latter’s Gemini AI framework. Bloomberg made a similar shift when they restructured Safari’s search engine.

Wall Street analysts perceive Apple as trailing behind in artificial intelligence competitiveness, especially against major players like Google in Silicon Valley.

Source: www.theguardian.com

The most severe bleaching event on record has affected 84% of the world’s coral reefs

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The harmful bleaching of corals around the world has increased to affect 84% of the ocean coral reefs, marking the most intense event in recorded history, as announced by the International Coral Reef Initiative on Wednesday.

This is the fourth global bleaching event since 1998, surpassing the 2014-17 bleaching that impacted two-thirds of the reefs during that time. The current crisis began in 2023, and it remains unclear when it will end, with ocean warming being criticized for the phenomenon.

Mark Eakin, the executive director of the International Coral Reef Association and former coral monitoring officer for the US National Marine and Atmospheric Administration, stated, “We’re witnessing a complete transformation of the planet and its impact on our oceans’ ability to sustain life and livelihoods.”

Last year was reported as the hottest year on record globally, with average sea surface temperatures for oceans away from the poles reaching 20.87 degrees Celsius (69.57 degrees Fahrenheit), which is detrimental to corals. These structures are vital for seafood production, tourism, and protecting coastlines from erosion and storms. Coral reefs are often referred to as “rainforests of the sea” because they host a significant amount of marine biodiversity, with approximately twenty five% of all marine species living in and around them.

Corals house colorful algae, which give them their vibrant hues and serve as a food source. However, prolonged warming causes the algae to release toxins, leading to coral bleaching where they expel the algae and turn white. Weakened corals are at an increased risk of death due to these events, prompting NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program to introduce additional levels to the bleaching alert scale to convey the heightened risk of coral mortality.

Efforts to conserve coral reefs are underway, such as initiatives to restore coral populations. Dutch labs are working with coral fragments, including those sourced from the Seychelles, with the intention to propagate them in zoos for potential reintroduction to natural reef habitats. Similar projects, including those in Florida, aim to rescue at-risk corals from high temperatures and rehabilitate them before returning them to the sea.

Nevertheless, scientists stress the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and methane to combat planet-warming effects and protect coral reefs.

Melanie Mcfield, co-chair of the Caribbean Steering Committee for the Global Coral Reef Surveillance Network, emphasized, “The most effective way to safeguard coral reefs is to address the root causes of climate change by reducing human emissions, primarily from fossil fuel combustion. Inaction poses a significant threat to coral reef ecosystems.”

This update coincides with President Donald Trump’s efforts to bolster fossil fuels and scale back clean energy initiatives as he enters a second term, prompting concerns about the future of coral reefs. Eakin remarked, “The current government is actively dismantling these ecosystems, and eliminating their protections would have catastrophic consequences.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Rome’s Collapse Linked to Mini Ice Age Triggered by Ancient Geological Event

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Iceberg calving from a Greenland glacier can carry rocks to distant coasts

Professor Ross Mitchell

The rocks transported by icebergs from Greenland to Iceland add to evidence that the European climate became much colder for a century or two in 540 AD.

This cold season in the Northern Hemisphere has been shown previously by research on tree rings and sediment cores, but is linked to many historical events around the world, from the collapse of the northern WEI dynasty in China to the decline of the city of Teotihuacan, Central America. The Justinian plague that affected the Eastern Roman Empire after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 may also have been caused in part by cold weather.

Christopher Spencer Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada and his colleagues decided to explore Iceland’s west coast beaches, as they showed it was a light colour, rather than the basalt black of almost every other beach in Iceland.

Its bright colour turned out to be due to the presence of many shells, but while walking through the area, Spencer spotted a cobblestone-sized granite stone. It was immediately clear to him that these rocks were not from Iceland. “It’s a bit embarrassing how easy it is to make a discovery,” he says.

Sure enough, analysis of the rocks confirmed that they came from various parts of Greenland. Greenland is the closest point, about 300 km from Iceland. So, Spencer must have been carried by icebergs spotted and washed away on the beach from Greenland’s glacier.

The beach formations where Greenland rocks reside were previously dated from AD 500 to AD 700, says Spencer. Greenland icebergs can still reach this area, but Greenland Rock has not been found in other layers of the beach.

An ancient rock collection analyzed in the study was traced to Greenland

Dr. Christopher Spencer

Therefore, this finding indicates that numerous Greenlandic Icebergs were washed away at this beach during the period when this layer was formed. This suggests that because of the cold conditions, Greenland’s glaciers grew larger during this period, hiding more icebergs, says Spencer.

This is neatly linked to evidence of cold seasons, sometimes known as the late antique red ice age. The cause of this event is unknown. Some people think it was caused by volcanoes, while others think it was caused by a surprising piece of Earth from a comet. Spencer believes that the solar heat is simply dependent on changes in the orbit that reaches Earth.

The extent to which climate contributed to events such as the collapse of Rome remains debated, but there is growing evidence that climate change has shaped the fate of many civilizations.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Elon Musk unexpectedly attends AfD event in eastern Germany

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Elon Musk surprised many by appearing at an Alternative for Germany (AfD) election campaign event in Halle, eastern Germany, on Saturday. This marked his second public declaration of support for the far-right party in recent weeks.

During the event, Musk, alongside party co-leader Alice Weidel, addressed an audience of 4,500 people via video link. They spoke about the importance of preserving German culture and protecting the German people.

“It’s important to take pride in German culture and values, and not let them be diluted by multiculturalism,” Musk stated.

Just a week prior, Musk sparked controversy at President Donald Trump’s inauguration with a gesture that some interpreted as a Nazi salute.

Reacting to the criticism, Musk addressed the crowd on Saturday, emphasizing, “Children should not be held accountable for the actions of their ancestors, let alone their great-grandparents.”

He added, “There’s too much emphasis on past guilt; it’s time to move forward.”

Musk, known for his concerns about free speech limitations under the German government, has previously criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Expressing his support for the far-right, Musk declared to the audience, “I am enthusiastic about the AfD. I believe you are Germany’s best hope for a prosperous future.”

Weidel thanked Musk, drew parallels between the AfD and the Republican Party’s efforts to “make America great again,” and urged supporters to work towards “making Germany great again.”

Earlier in the month, Musk interviewed Weidel on X, raising concerns about potential election interference.

Despite the chilly conditions, anti-far-right activists gathered in large numbers on Saturday. Around 100,000 people assembled near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and up to 20,000 in Cologne, some carrying colorful umbrellas, representing diverse age groups.

Source: www.theguardian.com

New research suggests Voyager 2’s approach to Uranus in 1986 occurred during an uncommon solar event

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When NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus in 1986, scientists got their first close glimpse of the giant icy planet. Alongside the discovery of new moons and rings, a puzzling new mystery faced scientists. The energetic particles around Uranus defied their understanding of how magnetic fields trap particle radiation. The cause of that special mystery is a cosmic coincidence, according to a new study. Just before Voyager 2's flyby, Uranus was found to have been affected by an unusual type of space weather that crushed and dramatically compressed the planet's magnetic field. Its magnetosphere.

The first panel of this artist's concept depicts how Uranus' magnetosphere operated before NASA's Voyager 2 flyby. The second panel shows that an unusual type of solar weather occurred during the 1986 flyby, giving scientists a biased view of the magnetosphere. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The planetary magnetosphere (the region around a planet dominated by its magnetic field) influences the environment around the planet, and understanding its properties is important for mission planning.

Voyager 2's close encounter of Uranus reveals a unique magnetosphere that is highly asymmetric and appears to lack plasma, a common element in the magnetospheres of other planets, and has an unusually strong band of high-energy electrons It became.

The signatures from this single measurement have since been used as the basis for understanding Uranus's magnetic field, but these anomalies have been difficult to explain without complex physics.

“If Voyager 2 had arrived just a few days earlier, we would have seen a completely different magnetosphere on Uranus,” said Dr. Jamie Jasinski, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“The spacecraft observed Uranus in a situation that has a probability of only about 4%.”

Jasinski and his colleagues reanalyzed Voyager 2 data before the flyby and found that the spacecraft encountered Uranus shortly after a violent solar wind event that ejected streams of charged particles from the Sun's atmosphere.

This compressed Uranus's magnetosphere, creating a condition that only occurs 4% of the time.

In this state, we see a plasma-free magnetosphere with highly excited electron emission bands.

The authors suggest that two magnetospheric cycles may exist during solar minimum due to variations in Uranus' solar wind.

Additionally, the chances of Uranus' outermost major moons, Titania and Oberon, orbiting outside the magnetosphere may be very low, giving scientists the possibility of detecting an underground ocean without interference from the magnetosphere. There is.

“The 1986 flyby was full of surprises, and we were looking for an explanation for its unusual behavior,” said Dr. Linda Spilker, also of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“The magnetosphere measured by Voyager 2 is just a snapshot in time.”

“This new study explains some of the apparent contradictions and will once again change our view of Uranus.”

of findings Published in today's magazine natural astronomy.

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JM Jasinski others. Unusual conditions in Uranus' magnetosphere during Voyager 2's flyby. Nat Astronpublished online on November 11, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02389-3

Source: www.sci.news

The Permian mass extinction could have been influenced by the Mega El Niño event

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Diagram of the end-Permian extinction event, where extreme temperatures may have caused forests to die off.

Richard Jones/Science Photo Library

The end-Permian extinction, 250 million years ago, may have been amplified by an El Niño event that was much stronger and longer-lasting than anything we see today.

These giant El Niño events caused extreme changes in the climate, wiping out forests and many land animals. Alexander Farnsworth At the University of Bristol, UK.

The El Niño also set off a feedback process that helped make this mass extinction so bad, he said: “There's a knock-on effect that's making these kinds of El Niños stronger and lasting longer.”

The end-Permian extinction is thought to have wiped out about 90 percent of all species living at the time, making it the worst mass extinction in history, and is widely thought to have been caused by a massive volcanic eruption in what is now Siberia.

These eruptions heated rocks rich in fossil carbon, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide, causing extreme global warming. Oceans became stagnant and oxygen-depleted, killing marine life.

But this doesn't explain the whole story: in particular, terrestrial species began to go extinct tens of thousands of years earlier than marine species.

A variety of ideas have been proposed to explain this, from volcanic winters to a disappearing ozone layer, but the idea that an extreme El Niño might be involved arose from studies of past ocean temperatures based on oxygen isotopes in fossils. Yadong Sun At China University of Geosciences in Wuhan.

Now, Farnsworth and his colleagues have run computer models to explore what might have happened at the end of the Permian period that could explain Sun's findings.

Currently, El Niño occurs when warm water in the western Pacific Ocean spreads eastward across the ocean surface, creating an area of ​​anomalously warm water that heats the atmosphere and affects weather across the globe.

The researchers found that before the Permian extinction began, El Niño events were probably similar in strength and duration to today, meaning abnormally warm waters were about 0.5°C (0.9°F) hotter than average and the event lasted for several months.

But these events occurred in a huge ocean called the Panthalassa, which was 30 percent larger at the equator than the present-day Pacific Ocean. This means that the area of ​​unusually warm water during El Niño was much larger than it is today, and its impact on the planet was much greater.

According to the team's model, rising carbon dioxide levels at the end of the Permian period caused El Niño events to become stronger and last longer. These events caused extreme weather changes on land and killed forests, which stopped absorbing carbon dioxide and started releasing it, leading to further warming and more extreme El Niño events.

In the ocean, the temperature changes would have been less drastic, and marine life would have had an easier time migrating to avoid them. This is why the marine extinctions occurred after more intense global warming. “The deadly extreme global warming that caused the marine extinctions was made worse by these El Niños because they stripped away carbon sinks,” says Farnsworth.

At the peak of the extinctions, El Niño temperature anomalies reached up to 4°C (7.2°F), and each event lasted for more than a decade, he says.

It's unclear whether a similar event will occur in the future — computer models vary in their predictions about how El Niño will change as the planet warms, Farnsworth said — but because El Niño occurs in a warmer world, it's already having big effects.

“The recent El Niño event has caused record temperatures and sparked a lot of wildfires,” he says, “and what worries me most is the signs of tree death in the Amazon during this El Niño event.”

Research shows that under certain climate conditions, El Niño could cause extinctions, Pedro Dinezio According to a team of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder, such giant El Niño events don't occur today because the Pacific Ocean is smaller than the Panthalassa.

“These results are really interesting for understanding the past, rather than the near future,” Dinezio says. “To understand what El Niño will bring, we need to look at past periods when the continents were positioned similarly to the present.”

“I think this is a compelling study.” Phil Jardine Researchers at the University of Münster in Germany have discovered the first direct evidence that the ozone layer disappeared during the Permian mass extinction.

“I don't think this event and other extinction drivers, including ozone depletion, are mutually exclusive,” he says. “The scary thing about the end-Permian extinction is that a lot of things were happening at the same time, and they seemed to feed off each other in cascading ways throughout the Earth system.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

2024 Perseid Meteor Shower: A Guide to Witnessing the Spectacular Annual Event

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2023 Perseid meteor shower observed in Chinese grasslands

Cynthia Lee/Alamy

The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best opportunities to see hundreds of shooting stars, and this year it will peak around August 12 and 13. The shower is expected to last from mid-July until the end of August, but the most meteors will be visible during the dawn hours near the peak.

What is the Perseid meteor shower?

Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes dust and debris drifting behind a comet. These tiny particles of debris slam into the atmosphere at incredible speeds, and friction with the atmospheric particles causes the dust to heat up and burn up, leaving only a flash of light in the air. This moving flash is called a shooting star or meteor.

The Perseid meteor shower is caused by the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 133 years. Once a year, Earth passes through its debris trail, lighting up the sky with meteors.

When should you view the Perseid meteors?

The best days to view the Perseid meteor shower are within a few days of its peak – outside of that period you may see some, but they won’t be as impressive.

Meteors can be seen at any time of the night, but a bright moon can make them harder to spot. This year, a half moon will be visible at the peak, so the best time to look for meteors is midnight after the moon has set. This is true for observers around the world, but the best views of the Perseid meteor shower will be in the Northern Hemisphere due to the orientation of the Earth relative to the comet’s debris trail.

How many meteors can we see this year?

Typically, the Perseids emit between 50 and 100 meteors per hour during the peak of the meteor shower. They can also produce fireballs, which are bright meteors that are created when a large chunk of a comet impacts Earth’s atmosphere. The number of meteors visible from a particular location depends on the level of light pollution, so getting away from city lights is essential if you want to see as many meteors as possible.

How do you observe the Perseid meteor shower?

The best way to observe the meteor shower is to be in as dark a place as possible with as much sky as possible visible. The Perseid meteors appear to streak towards the constellation Perseus, but they will appear all over the sky. It may take up to 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t see anything at first. To allow your eyes to adjust, look at the sky as much as possible without looking at street lights, cell phones or even the moon. When you see a tiny point of light streaking across the sky for a few seconds or less, that’s the Perseid meteor shower.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Moon freeze may solve Stonehenge mystery in rare event

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Stonehenge, an ancient prehistoric temple in southern England, remains a fascinating mystery. Construction began around 5,000 years ago, but the purpose of this enigmatic site remains unknown as its builders left no written records.

Analysis has shown that the massive stones of Stonehenge were transported from distant quarries, some weighing over 20 tonnes.

The alignment of Stonehenge with the sun during the solstices is well-documented, but its potential connection with the moon has intrigued experts. Scholars are exploring whether Stonehenge was not only designed to align with the sun but also with the moon, a remarkable achievement for a society predating the invention of the wheel.

On June 21, 2024, experts are investigating the relationship between Stonehenge and the lunar cycles as a rare lunar standstill event unfolds.

Professor Michael Parker Pearson, a renowned expert in British prehistory, speculates that Stonehenge’s builders may have aimed to unify people, ancestors, land, and the cosmos by linking the movements of the sun and moon.

The lunar standstill, occurring once every 18.6 years, results in the moon reaching its most extreme northern and southern positions in the night sky. This phenomenon, unlike the annual solstices tied to the sun, creates a unique celestial display.

While Stonehenge’s alignment with the solstices is well-known, its relationship with the lunar cycles remains less understood. Research indicates that burials at Stonehenge predate the arrival of the large stones, and possible alignments suggest a connection with the lunar standstill phenomenon.

An ongoing study by experts from Oxford, Leicester, and Bournemouth universities aims to delve into the significance of the moon in Stonehenge’s construction, potentially reshaping our understanding of this ancient monument.

Experts like Professor Parker Pearson, Professor Ruggles, and Dr. Chadburn are at the forefront of unraveling the mysteries of Stonehenge and its celestial connections.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

New research uncovers that the Great Oxidation Event persisted for a minimum of 200 million years

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About 2.5 billion years ago, free oxygen first began to accumulate in meaningful levels in Earth's atmosphere, setting the stage for the emergence of complex life. Scientists call this phenomenon Great Oxidation EventBut a new study led by researchers at the University of Utah suggests that Earth's early buildup of oxygen wasn't as simple as that moniker suggests.

The Great Oxidation Event refers to the transition from a slowly reducing Archean atmosphere-ocean system to an oxygen-rich atmosphere and shallow ocean during the early Paleoproterozoic. Image courtesy of Hadeano.

“The new data suggest that the early rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere was dynamic, possibly progressing intermittently up until 2.2 billion years ago,” said Dr Chadrin Ostrander, a researcher at the University of Utah.

“Our data validate this hypothesis and go a step further by extending this dynamics to the ocean.”

By analysing stable thallium isotope ratios and redox-sensitive elements, Dr Ostrander and his colleagues found evidence of fluctuations in ocean oxygen levels that are consistent with changes in atmospheric oxygen.

The discovery helps improve understanding of the complex processes that shaped oxygen levels on Earth at key times in its history and paved the way for the evolution of life as we know it.

“We have no idea what was going on in the oceans where Earth's earliest life forms are thought to have arisen and evolved,” Dr Ostrander said.

“So knowing the oxygen content of the ocean and how it evolved over time is probably more important for early life than the atmosphere.”

In 2021, researchers discovered that oxygen wasn't permanently present in the atmosphere until about 200 million years after the global oxygenation process began — much later than previously thought.

Definitive evidence for an anoxic atmosphere is the presence of rare mass-independent sulfur isotope signatures in the sediment record prior to the Great Oxidation Event.

There are very few known processes on Earth that could produce these sulfur isotope signatures, and atmospheric oxygen would almost certainly be absent for them to be preserved in the rock record.

For the first half of Earth's existence, its atmosphere and oceans were almost devoid of oxygen. This gas was likely produced by cyanobacteria in the oceans before the Great Oxidation Event, but during this early epoch the oxygen was rapidly destroyed in reactions with exposed minerals and volcanic gases.

Scientists found that traces of rare sulfur isotopes disappeared and reappeared, suggesting that atmospheric oxygen increased and decreased multiple times during the Great Oxidation Event – it wasn't a single “event.”

“When oxygen began to be produced, the Earth was not ready to be oxygenated. The Earth needed time to evolve biologically, geologically and chemically to encourage oxygenation,” Dr Ostrander said.

“It's like a seesaw. Oxygen is produced, but there's so much oxygen destruction that nothing happens.”

“We're still trying to figure out when the scales will tip completely and Earth will no longer be able to go back to an oxygen-free atmosphere.”

To map ocean oxygen levels during the Great Oxidation Event, the authors relied on expertise in stable thallium isotopes.

Thallium isotope ratios are sensitive to the burial of manganese oxides to the seafloor, a process that requires oxygen in seawater.

The team looked at thallium isotopes in the same ocean shales, which have recently been shown to be able to track fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen during the Great Oxidation Event, along with rare sulfur isotopes.

The researchers found a significant enrichment of the lighter isotope thallium-203 in the shale, a pattern best explained by the burial of manganese oxides on the ocean floor and the buildup of oxygen in the water.

These enrichments were found in the same samples that lacked the rare sulfur isotope signature, meaning the atmosphere was no longer anoxic, and they disappeared once the rare sulfur isotope signature reappeared.

These findings were supported by redox-sensitive element enrichments, a more classical means of tracing ancient oxygen changes.

“The sulfur isotopes indicate that the atmosphere was oxygenated, and the thallium isotopes indicate that the oceans were oxygenated,” Dr Ostrander said.

“Sulfur isotopes indicate that the atmosphere has become anoxic again, and thallium isotopes indicate the same for the oceans.”

“So the atmosphere and oceans were simultaneously oxygenating and deoxygenating. This is new and exciting information for people interested in the ancient Earth.”

of Investigation result Published in the journal Nature.

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Ostrander Commercial othersCoupled oxygenation of the atmosphere and oceans began 2.3 billion years ago. NaturePublished online June 12, 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07551-5

Source: www.sci.news

A rare “nova explosion” may illuminate the night sky in an unforgettable event

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Skywatchers around the world should gear up for an incredible celestial event, as the binary star system T Corona (T CrB) is expected to experience a magnificent nova explosion sometime between now and September. This explosion could occur at any moment.

This remarkable outburst will change T CrB from an unseen star to one as bright as Polaris.

Novae like the one predicted for T CrB happen in binary star systems where a white dwarf orbits closely with a companion star.

“A nova is a binary system in which two stars orbit close to each other.”Dr. Darren Baskill, an Astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex, tells BBC Science Focus, “About half of the stars in the night sky are double star systems.”

These should not be confused with supernovae, the dramatic explosions that occur when a massive star dies and can illuminate an entire galaxy momentarily.

White dwarfs accumulate material from their companion stars through a process called accretion. When this material reaches a critical temperature, it triggers powerful hydrogen fusion reactions.

The outcome? A nuclear explosion that ejects gas from the white dwarf, significantly increasing the system’s brightness.

“This sudden onset of nuclear fusion causes the surface gas layer to become even hotter, triggering more nuclear reactions and leading to a brightening of the star – a nova explosion,” Baskill explained.

This is a “fireworks nova,” captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2015. Like T CrB, it caused a stir in the astronomy community when it suddenly appeared as one of the brightest stars in the sky for a few days in 1901. – Image credit: NASA

While most novae are unpredictable and observed only once, T CrB is a recurrent nova that erupts roughly every 80 years. If you miss it this time, you’ll have to wait until around the year 2100!

T CrB is the closest star system to Earth, about 3,000 light years away, and is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye even in areas with moderate light pollution.

The nova explosion of T CrB is so distant from Earth that it has just reached us. Since then, there have been over 35-40 similar explosions, and the light signals from each one are yet to reach us.

Previous eruptions of T CrB were recorded in 1866 and 1946, with a noticeable brightness decrease before the latter eruption. A similar decline was noted earlier this year, hinting at a potential new explosion.

“Amateur astronomers around the world have observed slight brightness changes in this star every three to four months,” Baskill noted. “In 1945, when this happened, the gas on the white dwarf’s surface exploded dramatically within a year, causing a nova. Is it possible that the same scenario could repeat soon?”

How to witness a nova explosion

Although T CrB is currently too dim to be seen without help, a nova eruption would be visible without any special equipment. Amateur telescopes can observe T CrB before the eruption.

To prepare, stargazers should study Corona Borealis using a star chart or a smartphone app.

This preparation will enhance the spectacle when a nova suddenly emerges and brightens a familiar constellation.

Dr. Mark HollandsResearchers from the University of Warwick advise: “The nova will be visible to the naked eye for a few nights, reaching a brightness similar to other stars in Corona Borealis. If you miss that window, it should be visible for several weeks with binoculars.”

Though our Sun will become a white dwarf in billions of years, it will not undergo a nova explosion due to the lack of a companion star.

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event and seize the rare chance to witness a nova explosion bright enough to see without a telescope.

About the experts

Darren Baskill is an Outreach Officer and Lecturer at the University of Sussex. She previously taught at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, where she founded the observatory’s annual ‘Astronomy Photographer of the Year’ competition.

Mark Hollands is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, focusing on white dwarfs. His work appears in journals like Natural Astronomy, Monthly Bulletin of the Royal Astronomical Society, and he has spoken at conferences worldwide.

Read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

NASA reveals stunning visualization of a supermassive black hole’s event horizon

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Thanks to a new visualization created on a NASA supercomputer, we can now dive into the event horizon, the point of no return for a black hole.

“People often ask about this, but simulating these hard-to-imagine processes is the key to bringing the mathematics of relativity to reality,” said Dr. Jeremy Schnitman, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “It helps us connect this with real-world consequences in the universe.”

“So I simulated two different scenarios: one in which the camera, standing in for the daring astronaut, misses the event horizon and the slingshot recedes; This is a scenario in which your fate will be determined.

To create the visualization, Dr. Schnitman worked with scientist Brian Powell at Goddard Space Flight Center and used the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Climate Simulation Center.

It took about five days to generate about 10 terabytes of data and run on just 0.3% of Discover’s 129,000 processors. It would take a typical laptop more than a decade to do the same thing.

The destination is a supermassive black hole with a mass 4.3 million times that of the Sun, comparable to the monster at the center of the Milky Way.

“If I had a choice, I would want to fall into a supermassive black hole,” Dr. Schnitman said.

“Stellar-mass black holes, containing up to about 30 solar masses, have much smaller event horizons and stronger tidal forces, and can tear apart approaching objects before they reach the horizon.”

This occurs because the gravitational force at the edge of the object near the black hole is much stronger than at the opposite edge. Falling objects stretch like noodles, a process astrophysicists call spaghettification.

The simulated black hole’s event horizon spans about 16 million miles (25 million km), or about 17% of the distance from Earth to the sun.

A flat, swirling cloud of hot, glowing gas called an accretion disk surrounds it and serves as a visual reference as it falls.

The same goes for glowing structures called photon rings, which are formed near black holes by light that has circled the hole one or more times.

A starry sky background seen from Earth completes the scene.

As the camera approaches the black hole, approaching the speed of light itself, the glow from the accretion disk and background stars is amplified, similar to the pitch of the sound of an approaching race car increasing.

If you look in the direction of travel, the light will appear brighter and whiter.

The film begins with a camera located some 640 million km (400 million miles) away, and a black hole quickly fills the field of view.

In the process, the black hole’s disk, photon ring, and night sky become increasingly distorted, even forming multiple images as light traverses an increasingly distorted space-time.

In real time, the camera takes about three hours to fall to the event horizon, performing nearly two full 30-minute orbits along the way. But for those observing from afar, it will never get there.

As the space-time distortion increases as you approach the horizon, the camera’s image slows down and appears to stop in front of you. This is why astronomers originally called black holes “frozen stars.”

At the event horizon, even space-time itself flows inward at the speed of light, the speed limit of the universe.

Once inside, both the camera and the spacetime it moves through hurtle towards the center of the black hole. A one-dimensional point called a singularity, where the laws of physics as we know them no longer work.

NASA’s visualization shows a camera tracking a supermassive black hole, similar in mass to that at the center of our galaxy, as it approaches, briefly orbits, and crosses the event horizon (point of no return). Masu. Image credit: J. Schnittman & B. Powell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

“Once the camera crosses the horizon, there are only 12.8 seconds left before spaghettification destruction,” Dr. Schnitman said.

From there, the singularity is only 128,000 km (79,500 miles) away. The last leg of this voyage is over in the blink of an eye.

In another scenario, the camera orbits close to the event horizon, but never crosses it and flees to safety.

If an astronaut were to fly this six-hour round trip, and her co-worker on the mother ship was far away from the black hole, she would return 36 minutes younger than her co-worker.

That’s because time slows down when you move near a strong source of gravity or at speeds close to the speed of light.

“This situation could become even more extreme,” Dr. Schnitman says.

“If a black hole were rotating rapidly, like the one shown in the 2014 movie, interstellar, she would return many years younger than the sailors. ”

Source: www.sci.news

First Global Event Celebrates Sui with Over 1,000 Builders, Partners, Investors, and Enthusiasts

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Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, April 18, 2024, Chainwire

This annual event is the culmination of Sui's extraordinary debut

Last week, more than 1,000 projects, partners, investors and enthusiasts from 65 countries gathered in Paris for the celebration. Sui Proudly at Layer 1's 1st Global Sui Basecamp Conference.

At its first annual event held during Paris Blockchain Week, Sui was welcomed by developers and builders from around the world during the two-day event. Speakers at Sui She Basecamp spanned all aspects of the industry, from payments to gaming, e-commerce to Major League Sports, and provided commentary through keynotes, panel discussions, and fireside chats.

The event was punctuated by three important announcements. In partnership with Playtron, the Sui team announced: SuiPlay0x1 is the world's first lightweight handheld gaming device designed with native Web3 functionality, promising a new gaming experience. Additionally, First Digital Labs joins the announcement that FDUSD, the fastest growing stablecoin in cryptocurrencies, will become Sui's first native dollar-backed stablecoin, adding that it is already the fastest growing stablecoin in the industry. This will be a boon for the DeFi ecosystem. Finally, Sui announced Enoki, his Web3 utility suite that makes it very easy for businesses to leverage distributed solutions within their applications, products, and services.

Sui Basecamp participants from 65 countries had the opportunity to meet each other in person.

“In building Sui, we started with a blank canvas. We aimed to create a great platform for decentralized applications without the structural limitations found in other blockchains.” said Evan Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Mysten Labs, founder of Sui Network. . “Less than a year after we launched Sui's mainnet, the remarkable strength of Sui's performance has validated that approach, from near-unlimited horizontal scalability to industry-leading execution speed; Achieving the highest number of transactions in a single day of any blockchain to date, Sui's performance has been exceptional and the network has only scratched the surface.”

The industry veterans who founded Sai launched their mainnet nearly a year ago with high expectations, and the network has performed extremely well. Rather than replicating an existing network, the Sui team started from scratch to build an entirely new infrastructure layer that addresses the shortcomings of existing blockchains. They started by creating a new smart contract language, Move, and then created a new object-centric architecture that enables performance and functionality not available on existing blockchains. The result is the industry's only blockchain, a universal coordination layer for intelligent assets.

Sai is the industry leader in delivering ultra-fast transactions with recorded finality times of just 400ms. Similarly, Sui's scalability is also at the highest level, reaching 297,000 TPS in a controlled environment. However, the Sui team is constantly improving its technology. At the conference, members of the Sui team announced the next advancements in speed and scalability: Mysticeti, which significantly reduces the time to finalization of Sui, and Pilotfish, which enables nearly unlimited horizontal scaling for validators. .

And beyond its performance in test environments, Sui has broken records for transactions performed in a single day in just four months, higher than any existing blockchain while fees remain low and stable. Achieved. Remarkably, in almost his year on mainnet, Sui has not experienced a single minute of her downtime.

Gradually, after a series of community events around the world, Sui's early notable milestones, sustained ecosystem growth, and builders bypassed other blockchains to leverage the Sui network. A flurry of media articles highlighting the multiple stories of builders, developers, investors, and the broader community began to understand. The potential of Sui's groundbreaking blockchain technology. The crowd that gathered at Sui Basecamp 2024 represented the culmination of Sui's arrival.

“The overwhelming turnout and vibrant enthusiasm of our inaugural Sui Basecamp event reflects the Sui community, which is fascinated by Sui’s potential to improve people’s lives.” Sui Foundation Money said Greg Ciolounis, Managing Director. “Over the coming months, the Sui Foundation will benefit from the ecosystem of projects leveraging Sui and their applications to make Sui one of the most widely adopted blockchains to solve real-world challenges.” With state-of-the-art technology and web3's most dedicated and professional community behind it, Sui's progress to date will continue to grow this network. It gives you a glimpse of what you can accomplish.”

For more information about the event, please visit sui blog.

contact

Sui Foundation
media@sui.io

Source: www.the-blockchain.com

NOAA Declares Fourth Mass Bleaching Event Imminent for World’s Coral Reefs

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Invertebrates are highly sensitive to heat stress, so coral health is closely linked to seawater temperature. Corals turn whitish when stressed. release symbiotic algae They live in organizations. Bleaching indicates that the health of the coral is at risk.

“When a coral bleaches, it doesn’t mean it’s dead. It means it’s weak and at risk of dying if conditions don’t improve,” says Ana Palacio, a scientific assistant at the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Institute Collaborative Research Institute based at the University of Miami in partnership with NOAA.

Corals are important ecosystems that support a wide variety of fish and aquatic species, helping to nourish coastal communities and attract tourists. The economic value of coral reefs is estimated at $2.7 trillion annually. According to the 2020 report of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.

“They protect our coastlines. They protect us from storms and hurricanes. They have great value to our economy and security,” said Palacio.

Coral ecosystems are among the ecosystems that scientists believe are most at risk from global warming. In 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that: 70% to 90% of the world’s coral reefs They will disappear if the average global temperature drops. exceeded the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

Last year was the hottest year on record on Earth. The average global temperature has approached that threshold for the first time, but scientists believe 2023 was an anomaly, driven by El Niño.

Experts say bleaching began early in the season as sea surface temperatures soared in Florida.

“Typically, bleaching is observed around August to September in the Northern Hemisphere. We started observing the bleaching phenomenon in July last year,” said marine biologist Fanol Montoya Maya from the Coral Restoration Foundation, an organization that collects, restores, and replants coral.

Palacio said the area has seen widespread mortality of elkhorn and staghorn corals, two species that are the focus of restoration efforts.

“In some places, about 20 percent of those populations survived,” Palacio said of the restored corals. “We’re focusing our hopes on why those corals survived and what they can tell us about resistance, and how corals can become more resilient.”

The last global coral bleaching event occurred in 2014 and lasted until 2017. More than 56% of the world’s coral reef areas experienced temperatures that could cause bleaching during that period.

Bleached coral at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Galveston, Texas, Gulf of Mexico, September 16, 2023.
LM Otero / AP

Manzello said in an email Monday that 54% of the world’s coral reef areas have experienced bleaching-level heat stress in the past year, and this event could be the worst bleaching event on record.

“The proportion of coral reef areas experiencing bleaching-level heat stress is increasing by about 1% every week,” Manzello said. “This event is likely to exceed the previous peak.”

Montoya-Maya said bleaching warnings were already issued in Florida earlier than last year. He said the Coral Restoration Foundation is preparing for a busy summer in response to new bleaching events.

The natural pattern of El Niño is beginning to disappear, and NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center estimates that an El Niño event is possible. There is a 60% chance of a La Niña event occurring this summer.This could cool the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and allow some corals to recover, at least temporarily.

“This is very heartbreaking and will cause damage to many coral reefs around the world,” Palacio said. “I hope this bleaching event creates some traction and people start to care more and pay attention to what’s happening to the climate.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The Event Horizon Telescope Detects a Twisted Magnetic Field Surrounding the Central Black Hole of the Milky Way

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According to astronomers’ best models of black hole evolution, the magnetic field within the accretion disk must be strong enough to push the accreted plasma out into the surroundings. New results from Sagittarius A*, the 4.3 million solar mass black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and its much larger cousin M87* provide the first direct observational evidence supporting these models.

This image from the Event Horizon Telescope shows a polarized view of Sagittarius A*. The lines superimposed on this image show the direction of polarization associated with the magnetic field around the black hole’s shadow. Image credit: EHT Collaboration.

In 2022, EHT collaboration The first image of Sagittarius A*, about 27,000 light-years from Earth, has been released, showing that the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole looks very good despite being more than 1/1000th smaller and lighter in mass than M87. revealed that they are similar.

This led scientists to wonder if the two men had more in common than just their looks. To find out, they decided to study Sagittarius A* in polarized light.

Previous studies of the light surrounding M87* revealed that the magnetic field around the supermassive black hole causes powerful jets of matter to be ejected into the surrounding environment.

Based on this study, new EHT images reveal that the same may be true for Sagittarius A*.

“What we’re seeing now is a strong, twisted, organized magnetic field near the black hole at the center of the Milky Way,” said astronomers at the Harvard University & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. said Dr. Sarah Isaun.

“In addition to having a polarization structure that is strikingly similar to that seen in the much larger and more powerful M87* black hole, Sagittarius A* has a polarization structure that is strikingly similar to that seen in the much larger and more powerful M87* black hole. We found that strong, well-ordered magnetic fields are important for how they act.”

Light is a vibrating or moving electromagnetic wave that allows us to see objects. Light can oscillate in a particular direction, which scientists call polarization.

Polarized light is all around us, but to the human eye it is indistinguishable from “normal” light.

In the plasma around these black holes, particles swirling around magnetic field lines impart a polarization pattern perpendicular to the magnetic field.

This will allow astronomers to see in clearer detail what’s happening in the black hole region and map its magnetic field lines.

“By imaging polarized light from glowing gas near a black hole, we are directly inferring the structure and strength of the magnetic field that flows through the streams of gas and matter that the black hole feeds and ejects.” said Dr. Angelo Ricarte. Astronomer at Harvard University and the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

“Polarized light can tell us much more about astrophysics, the properties of the gas, and the mechanisms that occur when black holes feed.”

But imaging black holes under polarized light isn’t as easy as wearing polarized sunglasses. This is especially true for Sagittarius A*. Sagittarius A* changes so quickly that you can’t stand still and take a photo.

Imaging supermassive black holes requires sophisticated tools beyond those previously used to capture a more stable target, M87*.

“Sagittarius A*s are like enthusiastic toddlers,” said Avery Broderick, a professor at the University of Waterloo.

“For the first time, we see invisible structures that guide matter within a black hole’s disk, drive plasma to the event horizon, and help the plasma grow.”

“Sagittarius A* moves around while trying to photograph it, so it was difficult to even construct an unpolarized image,” said astronomer Dr. Jeffrey Bower of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica in Taipei. Told.

“The first image is an average of multiple images from the movement of Sagittarius A*.”

“I was relieved that polarized imaging was also possible. Some models had too much scrambling and turbulence to build polarized images, but nature isn’t that cruel. did.”

Professor Maria Felicia de Laurentiis, University of Naples Federico II, said: “Using samples of two black holes with very different masses and host galaxies, we can determine what they agree on and what they do not agree on.” It’s important.

“Since both point us toward strong magnetic fields, this suggests that this may be a universal and perhaps fundamental feature of this type of system.”

“One similarity between these two black holes could be a jet. But while we imaged a very obvious black hole in M87*, we have yet to find one in Sagittarius A*. not.”

The results of this research are published in two papers (paper #1 & paper #2) in Astrophysics Journal Letter.

_____

Collaboration with Event Horizon Telescope. 2024. Horizon telescope results for the first Sagittarius A* event. VII. Polarization of the ring. APJL 964, L25; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad2df0

Collaboration with Event Horizon Telescope. 2024. Horizon telescope results for the first Sagittarius A* event. VIII. Physical interpretation of polarization rings. APJL 964, L26; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad2df1

Source: www.sci.news

Rare stargazing event allows naked-eye view of Nova explosion

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An uncommon cosmic eruption is set to happen in the Milky Way galaxy soon, resembling the appearance of a “new” star in the night sky for a brief period.

Referred to as Nova, this event presents a unique sky-watching opportunity for individuals in the northern hemisphere. NASA states that such explosions occur infrequently in our galaxy.

This stellar eruption will take place in the T Coronae Borealis star system, situated 3,000 light-years away from Earth. This system consists of two stars, one being a deceased star, or “white dwarf,” orbiting near a red giant star that is nearing the end of its life cycle. According to NASA, our solar system’s sun will face a similar fate.

In systems like T Coronae Borealis, the proximity between the two stars causes material from the red giant to overflow onto the white dwarf’s surface over time. This leads to a buildup of pressure and heat, culminating in an eruption.

“The buildup of material on the white dwarf’s surface results in increased temperature and pressure until it eventually explodes. It’s a runaway reaction,” explained Bradley Schaefer, a retired physics and astronomy professor from Louisiana State University.

Schaefer likened a nova explosion to a hydrogen bomb detonating in space, creating a visible fireball from Earth’s perspective. (Not to be confused with a supernova, which occurs when a massive star collapses and dies.)

At the peak of the eruption, it should be visible to the naked eye, making it easy to observe from your backyard, Schaefer stated.

Astronomers anticipate the nova explosion happening between now and September. The last eruption from this system occurred in 1946, with the next expected eruption in about 80 years.

Astronomers worldwide are monitoring the North Star system for activity. If an eruption is detected, it could quickly reach a brightness similar to Polaris in less than 24 hours, offering a spectacular view. The explosion might remain visible to the naked eye for several days before fading.

According to NASA, skywatchers could potentially spot the eruption for around a week after dark using binoculars.

NASA

Typically too faint to be seen with the naked eye, T-corona systems can be identified by looking for the constellation or northern cap. This constellation forms a small semicircular arc between Hercules and Boes.

Schaefer, who extensively researched the T Coronae system, encourages catching a glimpse of this incredible phenomenon.

“This system has a recurrence time scale of less than 100 years, with most cycles lasting around 1,000 years,” he stated.

In a recent publication by the Astronomical History Journal, Schaefer unveiled two previous “long-lost” Ti Coronae Borealis eruptions from historical records, observed in 1217 by a German monk and in 1787 by English astronomer Francis Wollaston.

Schaefer shared a historical anecdote, recalling the monks near Augsburg, Germany, describing such an eruption as a significant yearly event, even naming it “signum mirabile,” which translates to ‘great omen’ in Latin. It was considered a favorable omen.

Yet, predicting the exact viewing period for this “wonderful omen” presents a challenge.

“This event could happen tonight,” Schaefer stated. “Most likely in the next few months, possibly by the end of summer.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

How to Witness the Spectacular ‘Devil’s Comet’ Event of 2024 Tonight, Comparable to Mount Everest in Size

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Currently in orbit within the inner regions of the solar system is comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as Pons-Brooks, which is making its first appearance in over 70 years and is expected to be visible without the aid of telescopes soon. This massive ice chunk, roughly 30 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter, is comparable in size to Mount Everest and is considered one of the brightest known periodic comets by astrophysicists. Pons-Brooks, classified as a Halley-type comet, has an orbit around the Sun of 71.3 years and was last observed in the sky in 1954. Discovered in 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons and later confirmed in 1883 by William Robert Brooks, this is the first recorded sighting of the comet dating back to 1385.

When is Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Visible?

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is currently visible and will remain so until April 21, 2024, with optimal viewing conditions expected towards the end of March. With binoculars or a small telescope, the comet is already observable in the sky, particularly when the Moon is located in the west below the Andromeda Galaxy moving through Pisces. By the end of the month, the comet will pass near the brighter stars in Aries, moving in the direction of Jupiter. As its brightness increases towards the end of the month, it may become visible to the naked eye under clear, dark skies. On March 31st, Pons-Brooks will be just 0.5 degrees away from a bright star named Hamal, which is equivalent to the diameter of the full moon, according to Strom. Those having trouble locating these constellations can benefit from downloading a stargazing app. For residents of the United States, the comet may also be visible in the sky during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Following its closest approach to the Sun on April 21, Pons-Brooks will fade and become visible only to observers in the southern hemisphere.

Why the Name “Devil’s” Comet?

The recent sighting of Pons-Brooks is not its first appearance in recent times. Referred to as the “Devil’s Comet,” due to a peculiar outburst in July 2023 that led to a temporary brightening resembling devil horns, Pons-Brooks is classified as a cryovolcanic comet that sporadically erupts, expelling dust, gas, and ice into space. These eruptions are triggered by the comet warming up as it nears the Sun, resulting in increased pressure causing the release of icy material from beneath the surface of the comet. The gas forms a bright coma, a halo of evaporated material surrounding the solid core of the comet. Comets appear brightest when closest to the Sun due to sunlight reflecting off the evaporated material, with the tails formed by interaction with charged particles from the solar wind. Pons-Brooks experienced similar but less intense outbursts on various dates in recent months, contributing to its brightness when close to the Sun.

What Does “12P” Mean?

The designation “12P” in the comet’s name indicates that it is the 12th comet discovered within a set period. Baskill explains that long-period comets, originating from the edge of the solar system, may have orbits lasting thousands or even tens of thousands of years, while short-period comets like Pons-Brooks return to the inner solar system in less than 200 years. Notable short-period comets include Comet Halley, with a period close to that of Pons-Brooks, expected to return in 2061. Current estimations suggest there are around 3,910 known comets in total, but astronomers believe there could be up to 1 trillion comets within our solar system.

Upcoming Comets

Expect to observe Comet 13P/Olbers in June and July, with observers in the Northern Hemisphere likely to spot it using binoculars. This comet, also known as a Halley’s Comet, orbits the Sun every 69 years. In late 2024, Comet C/2023 A3 is predicted to enter the inner solar system, potentially showcasing exceptional brightness in September and October, comparable to the brightest stars and potentially earning the title of “Great Comet.”

About Our Experts:

Dr. Paul Strom serves as an Assistant Professor within the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group at the University of Warwick, focusing on the PLATO space mission and various astrophysical topics, particularly far-ultraviolet observations to understand the environments where young planets form. His research paper titled “Exo-solar Comets from a Solar System Perspective” was published in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Dr. Darren Baskill is an outreach officer and lecturer at the University of Sussex’s School of Physics and Astronomy. Previously involved with the Royal Observatory Greenwich, he organized the annual Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia experiences its fifth major bleaching event in just eight years

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Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing significant heat-induced coral bleaching once again, as confirmed by the country’s government on Friday.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, responsible for conservation and protection efforts for the reef, stated that widespread bleaching is occurring due to increased heat stress over the summer.

Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science reported that this is the fifth major bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef since 2016.

Coral bleaching poses a serious threat to coral reefs worldwide, triggered by abnormal conditions such as high or cold seawater temperatures and increased acidity. When corals expel photosynthetic algae, they turn white, making them more vulnerable to disease.

While corals can recover from bleaching events, frequent occurrences make it difficult for reefs to bounce back. Climate change is causing ocean temperatures to rise, leading to more frequent bleaching events globally.

The current mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef is consistent with reports of bleaching in coral reefs in the Northern Hemisphere, exacerbated by El Niño and climate change, according to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

On March 5, researchers observed large-scale coral bleaching at a site in the southern Great Barrier Reef.Renata Ferrari / Australian Institute of Marine Science

The agency, in collaboration with scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, conducted an aerial survey covering nearly two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to assess the severity of the bleaching event.

Further research and underwater assessments are necessary to gauge the impact of the ongoing bleaching event, with plans for additional aerial surveys in other reef areas.

While heat stress has not affected the entire reef, variations exist in the extent of bleaching among different areas, as highlighted by Neil Cantin, a senior research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Coral affected by coral bleaching (left), Arlington Reef, Central Barrier Reef, February 27.Grace Frank / Australian Institute of Marine Science

Since the first recorded bleaching event in 1998, with subsequent events in 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2022, it is clear that coral bleaching incidents are becoming more frequent, posing a significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef.

Efforts are underway to understand the overall condition of the reef and implement effective restoration measures guided by aerial surveys and underwater observations.

David Wachenfeld, the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s research program director, emphasized the urgent need to address climate change to protect the Great Barrier Reef effectively.

“Protecting coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef from climate change requires global emissions reductions, best practices in local management, interventions to increase climate and reef resilience, and ongoing research and development,” Wachenfeld stated.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

First Annual Basecamp Event Unveils Initial Lineup of Speakers at Exciting Blockchain Venue

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Chainwire, Palo Alto, USA, February 20, 2024

Sui Basecamp, co-organizer of the inaugural global Sui conference, today announced the first batch of confirmed speakers for the Paris event, to be held on April 10 and 11, 2024. Sui Basecamp is a celebration of the developers and entrepreneurs building on Sui, enabling innovative layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platforms, and featuring speakers and thinkers from around the world and across the greater Web3 ecosystem. Leaders participate.

Sui Basecamp's first speakers include:

  • Arianna Simpson, a16z General Partner
  • Balaji S. Srinivasan, angel investor, technology founder, author of The Network State
  • Meltem Demiraz, passionate cult leader
  • Evan Cheng, CEO of Mysten Labs and former Sui contributor
  • Nikola Plecas, Global Head of Product GTM and Product Commercialization, Visa Crypto
  • Rachel Conran, Binance Chief Marketing Officer
  • Sam Blackshear, Chief Technology Officer at Mysten Labs and Creator of Move
  • Vincent Chok, Chief Executive Officer, First Digital Trust
  • Logan Jastremski, Managing Partner, Frictionless Capital
  • Adeniyi Abiodun, Chief Product Officer, Mysten Labs
  • Benoit Pellevoizin, Head of Marketing and Communications, CoinShares France
  • Robert Knight, Cointelegraph Feature Writer
  • Greg Ciolounis, Managing Director, Sui Foundation

Sponsored by Misten Lab and the Sui Foundation, Sui Basecamp will be held at two selected venues. The first day and opening night of his party, Suissoirée, will be held at the Pavillon Cambon Capucines, the former headquarters of Credit Foncied de France, after which participants will move to the Pavillon. The festival on the second day was Vendôme. Both locations are adjacent to the main event of Paris Blockchain Week.

Early bird tickets are available at a discounted price of $99 from now until March 1st. Ticket prices will remain at the discounted price of US$149 from March 2nd to 31st, but will increase to the full price of US$299 from April 1st until the event.

Registration is currently being accepted https://sui.io/basecamp.

About Sui

Sui is a first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform designed from the bottom up to make digital asset ownership fast, private, secure, and accessible to everyone. An object-centric model based on the Move programming language enables parallel execution, sub-second finality, and rich on-chain assets. With horizontally scalable processing and storage, Sui supports a wide range of applications at low cost and unmatched speed. Sui is a step-function advancement in blockchain and a platform that allows creators and developers to build amazing user-friendly experiences. learn more: https://sui.io

About Misten Lab

Mysten Labs is a team of leading experts in distributed systems, programming languages, and cryptography, and its founders were senior executives and lead architects of pioneering blockchain projects. Mysten Labs' mission is to create the foundational infrastructure for Web3. learn more: https://mystenlabs.com

Sui Foundation

The Sui Foundation is an independent organization dedicated to promoting and popularizing Sui. The Sui Foundation supports the Sui community and its projects that enable individuals and creators to take unprecedented ownership over their data and content.

Media contact:

lexi.wangler@mystenlabs.com

contact

Lexi Wangler
lexi.wangler@mystenlabs.com

Source: the-blockchain.com