Daily Archives: January 30, 2024

A stunning new Hubble Space Telescope image shows a huge 'bridge of stars' extending from one of the galaxies in a galactic grouping to another.

The image focuses on the galaxy Arp 295a, from which the 250,000 light-year-long streamer of stars is stretching, as it is seen edge-on by Hubble and surrounded by a milky-colored envelope of gas and dust. Also visible in the full image is the nearby galaxy Arp 295c, which appears as a smaller bright blue spiral in the top left in the full Hubble telescope image.

Along with Arp 295b, which is not seen in the Hubble image, these galaxies make up the loose galactic grouping called Arp 295, which is located around 270 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Aquarius.

While a gorgeous image in its own right, the photo could also foreshadow what could eventually become of our own cosmic home, as Hubble's observations of the group may hint at what could happen when the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies collide in 4 billion years.

Related: Hubble Space Telescope sees colliding galaxies aglow with stars

The streamer of stars seen by Hubble bridging the gap between the two Arp 295 galaxies was created when two galaxies in the grouping circled each other with the gravitational interaction that ensues, drawing out gas, dust and stars.

Galaxies that come close enough to each other to gravitational disrupt their shapes are known as interacting galaxies. This galactic interplay can last for billions of years as the galaxies involved loop around each other, making multiple close passages.

Eventually, the repeated close passes between interacting galaxies can result in these galaxies colliding and merging.

This more permanent interaction changes the shape of the progenitor galaxies, wiping out features such as spiral arms and creating a more homogenous, shapeless, irregular galaxy. The merger also causes an influx of gas into the resultant galaxy, which causes a bout of intense star formation called a starburst, as collapsing clouds of gas and dust are the building blocks of new stars.

As the merger continues, the two supermassive black holes with masses millions or billions of times that of the sun at the heart of the colliding galaxies head toward the center of the newly created galaxy, where they will spiral around each other.

This causes the emission of gravitational waves that carry away angular momentum from the supermassive black hole binary, causing them to draw together and eventually merge themselves, creating a new, even more massive supermassive black hole.

Observing interacting and merging galaxies gives astronomers a hint of the fate that awaits the Milky Way and its neighboring galaxy, Andromeda.

The two spiral galaxies are approximately 2.5 million light-yearsaway and are drawing together at a rate of around 671,000 miles per hour (1,079,870 km/h), about 450 times as fast as the top speed of a Lockheed Martin F-16 jet fighter. As a result, our galaxy and Andromeda are predicted to merge in around 4.5 billion years.

In 2006, scientists simulated this clash and saw the sun and the solar system could be pushed closer to Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, as a result of the merger.

From here, our star may either be ejected from the Milky Way altogether or, if it comes close enough to the 4.5 million solar mass black hole, maybe shredded by the immense gravity of Sgr A*.

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Hubble Telescope spies massive 'bridge of stars' connecting 2 galaxies on collision course (image) - Space.com

Just when we think weve seen it all with astronomy photos, the Hubble Space Telescope takes our breath away yet again with a trip to a galaxy far, far away.

I dont know about you, but when images like this are released, it brings up not only a wave of emotions but also a few moments of pause in even the busiest day to marvel and take in the power of a space telescope and just how captivating our universe is. It doesnt matter what we are seeing or what galaxy or constellation is before us; the truth is, it magically transports you to a window into the great unknown, giving you a front-row seat to the beauty and mystery of what we can only see through the eyes of a telescope.

Lets come back down to Earth for a second, so I can explain exactly what we are looking at in the photo above, a newly released image from the NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope. This is IC 438, a spiral galaxy thats pretty far away from Earth (130 million light-years, to be exact). It's in a constellation named Lepus, which means "the hare," surrounded by more familiar star patterns like Canis Major, Orion and Canis Minor.

Related: The best Hubble Space Telescope images of all time!

The Hubble photo was originally taken in 2021 so scientists could study the aftermath of a supernova explosion that happened in 2017 (from our perspective here on Earth). Although we cannot see the immediate aftermath or the moment the explosion occurred in this image, it still tells a very important astronomical story.

"With Hubbles exquisite angular resolution at visible wavelengths, astronomers can now study the stars in the region around the supernova, allowing them to better estimate the age and type of star that exploded," Chris Evans, ESA's Hubble project scientist, shared with me on Tuesday (Jan. 23). "This is an excellent example of where Hubbles unique capabilities at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths are continuing to give us exciting new views of the universe."

Another fun fact: Lepus is part of a family of 88 constellations highlighted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). This organization was created in 1919 with a mission to "promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects (including research, communication, education and development) through international cooperation," as its homepage states. And, as weve learned with every different and unique picture that is taken across the entire universe, theres a story to be told and a new part of history discovered and to learn from.

"Alongside the powerful infrared capabilities of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, Hubbles imaging and spectroscopy at shorter wavelengths provides us with critical information that we need to further our understanding of objects such as supernovae and other astronomical transients," Evans said.

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This Hubble Telescope photo of a spiral galaxy will take your breath away - Space.com

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that the atmosphere of a relatively small planet outside the solar system is rich with water vapor. Don't plan a vacation to this destination just yet, however. The planet's surface is hot enough to melt lead, meaning it's a steamy world inhospitable to life as we know it.

More specifically, the team behind this finding says the extra-solar planet, or exoplanet, named GJ9872d exhibits Venus-like temperatures of 752 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees Celsius). But that doesn't make this discovery any less exciting.

Though scientists have found water vapor in the atmospheres of many extra-solar planets before, the Hubble Telescope's observations of this hot and steamy world, designated GJ9827d, represent the smallest exoplanet around which this vital element for life has been found thus far.

"The discovery of water on GJ 9827d is exciting because its the smallest planet yet where we've detected an atmosphere," Laura Kreidberg, team member and director of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy's Atmospheric Physics of Exoplanets department, told Space.com."It pushes closer than ever to characterizing truly Earth-like worlds."

Related: Newfound Earth-size exoplanet has a scorching-hot lava side

GJ 9827d is around twice as wide as Earth and orbits a star called GJ 987, which is located around 97 light-years away from us toward the constellation of Pisces. The planet is just one of three Earth-like worlds orbiting this star, which appears to be around 6 billion years old.

"This would be the first time that we can directly show through atmospheric detection, that these planets with water-rich atmospheres can actually exist around other stars," Bjrn Benneke, team member and a scientist at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Universit de Montral, said in a statement. "This is an important step toward determining the prevalence and diversity of atmospheres on rocky planets."

A major question remains, however: What type of planet is GJ 9872d?

"The nature of these small-ish planets, between two and three times the size of Earth, is really uncertain," Kreidberg said. "They could be true super-Earths, with a large rocky core and a light atmosphere on top, or they could be something completely different, like a water world made predominantly from water ice that has no analog in our own solar system."

Hubble observed GJ 9827d for three years and watched as the world crossed the face of its star, or "transited" it, 11 times. Because chemical elements and compounds absorb light at characteristic wavelengths, as light from a parent star passes through a planet's atmosphere, it carries fingerprints of the elements that comprise the planet itself.

Currently, the astronomers behind this discovery aren't certain whether Hubble detected a small amount of water in a puffy ,hydrogen-rich atmosphere when it examined GJ 9872d or, if the planet's atmosphere is predominantly made of water.

"Either result would be exciting, whether water vapor is dominant or just a tiny species in a hydrogen-dominant atmosphere," Pierre-Alexis Roy, research lead author and a scientist at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Universit de Montral, said in the statement.

If GJ 9872d has spent its 6 billion-year lifetime close to its parent star, intense radiation should have boiled away any primordial hydrogen present, leaving the tiny planet with an atmosphere dominated by water vapor. This seems to be supported by the fact that attempts to detect hydrogen around GJ 9872d have thus far failed.

Alternatively, if GJ 9872d is still clinging to a hydrogen-rich envelope laced with water, it would be classified as a mini-Neptune, a type of planet less massive than Neptune but that still resembles the solar system ice giant in possessing a thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.

On the other hand, the exoplanet could resemble a larger and hotter version of Jupiter's moon Europa, which is believed to host twice as much water as Earth sealed beneath a thick icy crust."The planet GJ9827d could be half water, half rock. And there would be a lot of water vapor on top of some smaller rocky body," Benneke said.

Should GJ9827d still possess a thick atmosphere of water vapor, this would imply that it was born further out from its star where temperatures would've been lower before migrating to the position we see today.

This migration would have resulted in the exoplanet being blasted with more radiation from its host star, transforming potential ice on GJ9827d into liquid water and water vapor. Any present hydrogen would've gotten heated, eventually beginning to leak from the planet's atmosphere due to the world's relatively low gravity; this leaking could still be occurring while astronomers observe the exoplanet today.

"Until now, we had not been able to detect the atmosphere of such a small planet directly. And we're slowly getting in this regime now," added Benneke. "At some point, as we study smaller planets, there must be a transition where there's no more hydrogen on these small worlds, and they have atmospheres more like Venus, which is dominated by carbon dioxide."

The study of GJ9827d with Hubble has marked the planet as a prime target for a follow-up investigation conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This work is already underway, with the $10 billion telescope capable of delivering more details about this potential water world.

"GJ 9827d is being observed with JWST to learn more about its atmospheric composition and search for additional molecules like carbon dioxide," Kreidberg concluded. "Observations are ongoing, and well have more answers soon!

"Hopefully, we can now settle the question of water worlds once and for all."

The team's research was published last year in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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Hubble telescope spots water around tiny hot and steamy exoplanet in 'exciting discovery' - Space.com

The poor Hubble telescope has become a bit of a geriatric since the younger, higher-res James Webb Space Telescope started its mission. In its heyday it delivered images of space in never-before-seen quality, offering scientists and researchers wisdom than ever before on how the universe came to be.

Almost 30 years after its launch, the Hubble telescope orbits much closer to Earth but its still delivering photos from Space - albeit lower res than the mighty JWST.

In the latest image, the NGC 3384 galaxy is visible and although the slightly blurred image isnt as jaw-dropping as other images from space, it still holds importance. The so-called elliptical galaxy is rounded in shape, shows few visible features and rarely shows recent start formations. These galaxies are dominated by old, aging red-hued stars unlike the Milky Way (a spiral galaxy) which is bursting with populations of young blue stars that create the spiral arms around its bright core.

Whats interesting about this image is that at its center there appears to be a disc-like structure you would normally expect to see in a spiral galaxy, such as the Milky Way. A central bar is thought to funnel material through and around a galaxys core helping to maintain and fuel activities and processes that occur.

In recent years, the Hubble Telescope has had to undergo maintenance so it's kept in a low orbit close to Earth so that it is safe and accessible for astronauts to repair and upgrade its components. To this day, the Hubble orbits the Earth at 17,000mph/27,000 kph, sees 15 sunrises every day and in its lifetime has traveled over 4 billion miles. The Hubble telescope may have been superseded by the JWST but its contribution to our understanding of space has been monumental.

As the Hubble Telescope edges closer to retirement, it will continue to photograph space, informing astronomers and researchers of the secrets of the universe.

Check out the best telescopes for astrophotography, and see our guide to all the best lenses for astrophotography

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Old age is the one thing the Hubble telescope and its latest photo have in common - Digital Camera World

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have made a groundbreaking discovery in their search for exoplanets. For the first time, they have detected water vapour in the atmosphere of a small exoplanet called GJ 9827d. This is a significant step towards determining the prevalence and diversity of atmospheres on rocky planets.

GJ 9827d is only about twice the diameter of Earth, making it the smallest exoplanet where water vapour has been detected in its atmosphere. This discovery could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy.

This would be the first time that we can directly show through an atmospheric detection that these planets with water-rich atmospheres can actually exist around other stars, said team member Bjrn Benneke of the Universit de Montral.

However, it remains too early to tell whether the planets atmosphere is mostly made of water, left behind after a primaeval hydrogen/helium atmosphere evaporated under stellar radiation, or if Hubble spectroscopically measured a small amount of water vapour in a puffy hydrogen-rich atmosphere.

Our observing programme was designed specifically with the goal of not only detecting the molecules in the planets atmosphere, but of actually looking specifically for water vapour. Either result would be exciting, whether water vapour is dominant or just a tiny species in a hydrogen-dominant atmosphere, said the science papers lead author, Pierre-Alexis Roy of the Universit de Montral.

The team used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the planet during 11 transits over three years. During transits, starlight is filtered through the planets atmosphere and carries the spectral fingerprint of water molecules.

If the planets atmosphere were predominantly water vapour, it would be an inhospitable, steamy world, as it is as hot as Venus at roughly 425 degrees Celsius. At present, the team is left with two possibilities. The planet could be a mini-Neptune, still clinging to a hydrogen-rich envelope laced with water, or it could be a warmer version of Jupiters moon Europa, which has twice as much water as Earth beneath its crust.

The planet GJ 9827d could be half water, half rock. And there would be a lot of water vapour on top of some smaller rocky body, said Benneke.

The discovery of water vapour in GJ 9827ds atmosphere could mean that the planet formed farther away from its host star, where the temperature is cold and water is available in the form of ice, than its present location. In this scenario, the planet would have then migrated closer to the star and received more radiation. The hydrogen was then heated and escaped, or is still in the process of escaping, the planets weak gravity.

The Hubble programme has opened the door to studying GJ 9827d in more detail. It is a good target for the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to do infrared spectroscopy to look for other atmospheric molecules.

GJ 9827d was discovered by NASAs Kepler Space Telescope in 2017. It completes an orbit around a red dwarf star every 6.2 days. The star, GJ 9827, lies 97 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pisces.

Journal Reference

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Hubble Telescope detects water vapour in the atmosphere of smallest exoplanet GJ 9827d - Tech Explorist