Category Archives: Astronomy

A team of astronomers studying the gas surrounding a distant quasar believe it may carry remnants of one of the universes first stars.

The first stars are known as Population III stars (the three star populations were named in the order they were observed, so the Population III stars are counterintuitively the earliest). These oldest stars are hypothetical at the moment and presumed long gone, as they would have been hundreds of times the mass of the Sun and would have burned out quickly.

None have ever been observed, but their deaths presumably culminated in dazzling supernovae, which blasted their constituent elements into space.

Now, an astronomical team believes theyve found the remnants of one such stars supernova, in 13.1-billion-year-old light from gas surrounding the distant quasar ULAS J1342+0928. The team studied the quasar using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii.

Specifically, they looked at the chemical elements that surrounded the quasar, the bright, active galactic core surrounding a supermassive black hole. The teams findings were published today in The Astrophysical Journal.

The researchers think the remnants were ejected from a pair-instability supernova, a specific type of explosive star death that leaves no superdense remnant behind, like a black hole or a neutron star. In a pair-instability supernova, every bit of the star is ejected into space.

Yuzuru Yoshii, an astronomer at the University of Tokyo and a co-author of the paper, said in a NOIRLab releasethat a star about 300 times the mass of the Sun that went supernova would produce the ratio of magnesium to iron that matches the elemental makeup of the quasars gas.

In other words, ULAS J1342+0928 has a unique heavy element combination that the team believes is evidence that the galactic core contains remnants of a Population III star.

Metal-rich stars become less common the further one looks back in time, because the early universe was composed mostly of lighter hydrogen and helium. When stars formed, they became factories for all heavier elements (considered metals in astronomy).

ULAS J1342+0928 contained over 10 times more iron than magnesium compared to our Suns combination of the same elements, according to NOIRLab. In other words, whatever primordial furnace produced the gas swirling around that quasar had a very different chemical cocktail than our relatively young Sun.

The team is observing the quasars gas as it appeared when the universe was just 700 million years old. But newer observatories may help find the remains of Population III stars and evaluate the assessment of thisdistant quasar. Those observations may help clarify what happened to the most ancient stars materialperhaps it was flung out and eventually clung to quasars like ULAS J1342+0928.

The Webb Space Telescope, in particular, will be crucial for such investigations. One of the space observatorys main objectives is to scrutinize the oldest light in the universe, to see the first stars and galaxies being born.

More: How Astronomers Spotted the Oldest Known Star

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Astronomers May Have Spotted the Remnants of One of the Earliest Stars - Gizmodo

Lori Melton

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Space enthusiasts everywhere can celebrate National Astronomy Day on Oct. 1

Curious stargazers have been studying the cosmos since ancient times. In the modern era, humankinds continued fascination has launched global space programs that land astronauts on the moon and send crews to the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct scientific experiments.

Todays astronomers use advanced telescopes, satellites, and other instruments to gather data about the realms outside our planet. They study neighboring planets in our solar system, the Milky Way, and galaxies millions of miles away.

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Aspiring astronomers and space enthusiasts can feed their passion and interstellar fandom with these items that stargazers of all levels will enjoy.

Busy intergalactic information seekers can learn more about the universe while carrying on about their day when they listen to the Audible Audiobook version ofAstrophysics for People in a Hurry by renowned astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Tyson leads listeners through the cosmos to learn about the big bang, black holes, quantum mechanics, the quest to discover if there is life beyond Earth, and more.

Space enthusiasts of all ages can look at the stars and capture amazing images in their own backyard, with thisAstronomical Portable Refracting Telescope from HEXEUM.

Kids and adults can use this telescope to look at the moon, stars, and planets. Using powerful optics, you can zoom right into the surface of the moon as if you could touch it. The telescope comes with an aluminum alloy tripod, a finder scope, a Zenith monitor, two eyepieces, and a Barlow lens. You can also take incredible photos with a smartphone adapter.

Space nerds of all ages can display their affection for the galaxy with thisSolar System T-Shirt that features colorful graphics of the planets as they orbit around the sun. Its a neat shirt to wear for astronomy or science clubs and comes in youth and adult sizes.

Precocious space enthusiasts can explore the solar system and its planets from home with thisMotorized Solar System Toy from GeoSafari.

Rotating inner and outer planets move around the sun at different speeds to replicate the planets true orbit. At night, swap the sun for a star dome and it will project constellations or the wall or ceiling. This battery-operated, educational toy promotes STEM learning and is suitable for kids eight and older.

Kids fascinated by space can have lots of fun coloring, doing puzzles, mazes, and more with thisSolar System Coloring and Activity Book. Each page features fun space facts and images to color like planets, stars, astronauts, and rockets. Kids should use crayons or colored pencils to shade both sides of each page.

Astronomy admirers can proudly display their interstellar enthusiasm when they wear thisSolid Color Solar System T-Shirt. The bold screen print graphics depict realistic images of the planets hovering in a starry sky while circling the sun. It is available in youth and adult sizes.

National Geographic delivers a captivating visual tour of the solar system, planets, stars, and more in this extensive photographic volume,Visual Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Milky Way and Beyond. Over 350 breathtaking photos, illustrations, and graphics guide readers on a visual journey of the cosmos. Its a must-have book for aspiring astronomers and space fans.

Space buffs can show off just how tiny our planet is in the vast frontier of space when they wear thisYou Are Here Astronomy Milky Way T-Shirt. Like a small pinpoint on a geographic map, the shirt features the fun header You Are Here, with a line extending down to a tiny dot in the middle of a picture of the Milky Way. This shirt makes an excellent gift for space and science aficionados of all ages.

Astronomy disciples can enhance their bedroom, office, or hobby room dcor with this unparalleledSolar System and Beyond Map Poster from STAR BUILDERS. The intricately detailed poster is the only map with all known moons.

Other unique features include a Solar System Anniversary Calendar, dwarf planets, descriptions of layers and composition for all eight planets and the sun, and much more. The poster measures 55 1/4 20 3/4 inches or 14053 centimeters for horizontal hanging.

Nurture your aspiring space cadets enthusiasm for the planets and give them the ultimate night light with thisStar Projector VEESA 3 in 1 Planet Galaxy Projector. The 360-degree rotating projector displays images of a solar system containing nine planets and a moon. The galaxy star projector adds a starry sky backdrop. The unit boasts three light modes, 15 color combinations, and 10 stars.

If youre a space lover adding to your own collection, or looking for the perfect gift for an astronomy geek, these items are out of this world.

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10 Items Astronomy Buffs and Space Geeks Will Love - Journal Times

Dr. Kevork Abazajian is a professor of physics and astronomy and the director of the Center for Cosmology at UCI. In 2011, Abazajian was accoladed with the National Science Foundations (NSF) most prestigious recognition the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award.

In an interview with the New University, Abazajian discussed his journey to a career in astronomy. His interest in astronomical pursuit trails back to suburban Clear Lake City, a part of Greater Houston, Texas. Growing up near the NASA Johnson Space Center enabled Abazajian to discover and observe all the equipment and devices that they prepare and use for space missions.

If I were to pin it down to a single book that was most influential it was a book written by Heinz Pagels, Perfect Symmetry, Abazajian said.

This work indulges in quantum physics and cosmology in an attempt to explain the origin and evolution of the universe. Additionally, Pagels book entails a loose chronology of the first astronomical discoveries all the way to the latest ideas in particle cosmology. An example of these particle studies includes Abazajians very own research on particle physics.

George Fuller of UCSD, theoretical astrophysicist and doctorate advisor of Abazajian during his graduate-student years, was also a contributor to Abazajians career in cosmology due to his leading work in neutrino cosmology (the science of the origin and development of our universe) and neutrino astrophysics (a branch of science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry).

Scientific American defines a neutrino as a subatomic particle that is very similar to an electron, but has no electrical charge and a very small mass, which might even be zero. Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles in the universe. Because they have very little interaction with matter, however, they are incredibly difficult to detect.

In late 2000 and early 2001, Abazajian and Fuller worked on a project that led to the discovery of a certain kind of dark matter (particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light) candidate particle [possibly] a kind of neutrino, called a sterile neutrino because it does not interact the same as the other neutrinos. Dr. Abazajian noted that this dark matter constitutes 85% of the matter in the universe.

Furthermore, Abazajian and Fuller found that X-ray astronomy places one of the most stringent constraints (restrictions) on the dark matter candidate. Dark matter cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation.

However, thanks to the advanced X-ray telescopes used in the 1999 U.S. mission Chandra X-ray Space Telescope and the European mission XMM Newton, observations were able to determine the most stringent constraints on this dark matter candidate has what is called a radiative decay mode (giving off light but at a very low level).

Abazajian and Fuller essentially placed a constraint, realized a constraint indeed exists, and began forecasting more possible flux levels (measurements of the total magnetic field which passes through a given area) in space, some of which were confirmed in 2014 by Harvards Chandra X-ray Science Center.

When hes not working on personal research, Abazajian teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate level at UCI. He is a professor for the doctoral program in physics, allowing him to not only educate but to also supervise and mentor students as an advisor.

When you involve a student in the research that youre interested in and working on it can get them started on new projects [and] trained to become a full fledged researcher in astrophysics, Abazajian said.

In the past 11 years, Abazajian has been awarded twice with the distinction of Faculty with Greatest Impact on an Outstanding Graduating Senior here at UCI. Additionally, he has been recognized with the Distinguished Assistant Professor Award for Research from the University of California Academic Senate, Irvine Division, in 2013.

Abazajian is also taking community action as part of the City of Irvines Green Ribbon Environmental Committee.

We are a campus, but we are also a key part of the City of Irvine community, Abazajian said.

Abazajian has been an active advocate for affecting action on climate change. In fact, Abazajian thought the most environmentally impactful thing I could do is run for city council.

Abazajian continues his political involvement with the committee today.

Advising City Council on matters related to climate protection, energy, recycling, waste management, sustainability, transportation, and water, as well as environmental and energy goals, he said.

Natalie Ringdahl is a STEM Intern for the spring 2022 quarter. She can be reached at nringdah@uci.edu.

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Faculty Spotlight: Physics and Astronomy Professor Dr. Kevork Abazajian - New University

A few years ago, UC Santa Cruz Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kevin Bundy became intrigued by the potential of photonic devices, which can detect and manipulate light on small scales, to miniaturize the methods used to capture information about objects in the night sky.

Excited by the possibility of this astrophotonics technology, he reached out to Holger Schmidt, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering and an expert in the field of photonics, to open a conversation about the potential for collaboration.

Now, the two researchers have won an NSF grant that will allow them to pursue this emerging technology of making spectrometers on a chip tiny devices for separating and measuring light at ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths to to study the properties of objects in the sky, including their composition and distance. They believe that this technology can not only enable advances in astronomy when used as part of telescope instrumentation, but can be leveraged for a wide variety of applications across fields such as chemical analysis, environmental monitoring, and biosensing.

There's a lot of technology now that can be brought to bear in taking these spectrometers these color analyzers and shrinking them down from about the size of a car to something much more compact, and in some senses more powerful, Schmidt said.

Spectrometers-on-a-chip have the potential to be very impactful in that sizing down the technology to split and detect wavelengths of light can mean many can be packed on to one single telescope, making it possible to one day collect spectra from tens or even hundreds of thousands of celestial sources simultaneously.

Their small size also means they can be produced at a lower cost, transported more easily, and integrated with other components to create a device with a wide range of functionality all of the benefits we typically associate with the miniaturization of tech.

The general benefit is just the ability to collect a lot more information from the sky a lot more powerfully and cheaply, Bundy said. You can imagine putting these devices on a satellite or on a balloon, because they would be so much smaller and lighter.

But there are two main challenges the researchers must address before their spectrometers-on-a-chip can be successfully implemented in telescopes and potential other applications.

The first is the issue of optimizing the chip itself, which includes making them more efficient, making sure they can record and provide the right information about the light they detect, learning how to integrate them so they can pack multiple chips side-by-side on one device. The researchers need to operationalize the chips so that they can become a robust component of a larger instrument, such as one mounted on a telescope, and not just a device that is studied in the lab.

The other main challenge is to couple the light received through the telescope into the miniature spectrometers. Because of Earths atmosphere, ground-based telescopes never produce a perfectly stable image of a star, but instead the star is always wobbling slightly in the image. This effect is not conducive to photonic spectrometers, which work best when the light they receive is pure and undisturbed. This requires the scientists to think innovatively about how to best feed light from the telescopes to the spectrometers.

That challenge is the reason why this is an interesting problem, and its one of the reasons we don't have this technology on existing telescopes, Bundy said.

Bundy believes there is growing momentum for this area of research, and that it can be of great benefit to ongoing efforts within the astronomy community. For example, a current project at the Rubin Observatory will capture images of and catalog billions of objects in the night sky. Current technology only allows scientists to capture the spectra of 5,000 objects at a time, making a project to follow up on the images captured and measure spectra at this scale nearly impossible. But Bundy hopes that the new devices the UCSC researchers develop will make this affordable and feasible.

For cosmology and galaxy formation, I don't see another way to continue our forward momentum in terms of better instruments in the 10 to 20 year timescale, Bundy said. In about ten years, there has to be some technological transformation, or we're kind of stuck. I think there's going to be growing interest in making this work.

Schmidts lab will focus on designing and testing the miniature spectrometers, with fabrication of the devices spearheaded by collaborators at Brigham Young University. Bundys group, led by graduate student Matt DeMartino, will establish the requirements for the device in order to optimize and test its performance.

I think this will be the first step in hopefully a broader set of programs and projects that combine photonics and astronomy, Schmidt said.

The researchers will work to integrate their miniaturized spectrometers onto the telescope at Lick Observatory, which is managed by UC Observatories and located close to Santa Cruz. In the near future, the team hopes to test their devices on the telescope there, meaning the three-meter, nearly 80-year old device can play an important role for developing cutting-edge astronomical instrumentation.

The grant will also fund several STEM outreach programs taken on by the researchers. The researchers will run experiments related to photonics as part of the Seeds Spoon Science program, which teaches local school children and their families science through gardening. They will also participate in the UC LEADS and CAMP programs which sponsor promising students from underrepresented groups, and continue successful outreach programs at local elementary and middle schools.

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Collaboration between engineering and astrophysics will develop cutting-edge spectrometers-on-a-chip - University of California, Santa Cruz

Undergraduate and masters students, along with faculty of physics, astronomy and astrophysics in India, can learn more about radio astronomy from leading scientists and researchers at the upcoming Radio Astronomy Winter School in Pune.

The winter school programme, scheduled between December 13 and 23 in an offline mode in Pune, will be jointly organised by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) under Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA).

University and college students currently doing their second year Bachelors of Science (BSc) or final year of BS-MS courses, Master of Science (MSc), Bachelor of Technology (BTech) or Bachelor of Engineering (BE) are eligible to apply for the winter school. Faculty members from relevant streams can also apply.

During the 10-day-long meet, students and faculty will get to interact with scientists and astronomers, and learn about the science and techniques in radio astronomy through lectures, live demonstrations and hands-on experiments. IUCAA operates a 2-metre optical telescope while NCRA operates the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, both located in Pune.

The last date for sending online applications is October 9. For details, log on to https://raws.iucaa.in/RAWS2022.

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Pune: Applications invited for Radio Astronomy Winter School - The Indian Express

The so-called "Jupiter Opposition" happens when Jupiter, the Earth and the Sun are aligned in the same line.

Jupiter was at the opposition on September 26 at 20:00 UTC. At the time of the opposition, Jupiter was at a distance of 3.95 AU or 591 million km or 33 light minutes from our planet.

All the planets in the Solar System orbit around the Sun. At certain points during these orbits, the Earth finds itself directly between the Sun and another planet. This is the moment at which that planet is said to be "in opposition".

During opposition, the planet appears at its largest and brightest, and it is above the horizon for much of the night. For stargazers and astro photographers, it's an ideal time to view and photograph the superior planets. Jupiters opposition to the sun and closest approach to Earth fell on the same day.

Thats because opposition took place so near in time to Jupiters perihelion on January 21, 2023 its closest point to the sun in its 12-year orbit. The juxtaposition of Jupiters opposition in September 2022, and perihelion in early 2023, brings the planet closer to Earth at this opposition than it has been for 59 years (since 1963).

The emirates leading archaeological and eco-tourism project, developed by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) is located in the historic dunes of Mleiha, approximately 40 minutes away from Sharjah city lights.

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UAE astronomy enthusiasts gather for Jupiter Opposition event - Gulf News

The Mercer Astronomy Student Association is on a mission to grow the field of astronomy through outreach events.

Junior Bryson Malta, a double-major in biology and philosophy, wanted to start an astronomy club since his first year at Mercer. Now, the club is a reality and is helping create a community focused on outreach events to bring more people together through hands-on experience with astronomy.

Bryson feels really strongly about astronomy as an outreach tool and bringing it to people, and I really admire that and appreciate that. I think having outreach in the bones of the club, as its core mission, is really valuable, Dr. Frank McNally, the clubs faculty adviser and an assistant physics professor, said. These students seeing themselves as educators, to some degree, I think will really help them grow to appreciate and learn even more about astronomy.

Maltas interest in astronomy started in a high school class. He later bought his own telescope and taught himself how to use it.

What I find most interesting about astronomy, or at least more specifically, amateur astronomy, is just, well, the feeling of it, Malta said. That feeling of bliss.

Right now, the club is still gaining momentum, as it continues to grow in members and interest. Recently, the club had its election for officers.

Mostly right now (the club meetings are) about the basics of how to set up astronomical equipment and some of the terms that we use, Malta said.

The meetings emphasize hands-on applications such as constructing the equipment to learn how to use it.

As the club continues to grow, perhaps the astronomy program at Mercer will grow, too.

From my experience in teaching astronomy, it feels like there are a lot of students at Mercer who are really interested in the stars. And so, MASA feels like a great way to help show that to the administration, Dr. McNally said, noting how astronomy is now being taught twice a year instead of just once.

Part of that growth includes plans for land Mercer owns out in Crawford County, with hopes to turn it into an astronomy observatory. The project, Dr. McNally said, was spearheaded by Dr. Matthew Marone, another physics professor at Mercer.

The land, which is away from Mercers campus, is farther from light pollution.

It is basically an elevated plateau. And so you still have light from Atlanta, you still have light from Macon, but it is significantly darker than here, Dr. McNally said, noting how celestial bodies people dont often get to see, such as the Milky Way, can be observed.

The astronomy courses at Mercer utilize the land for observations, and Dr. McNally hopes to take the club there soon.

The Mercer Astronomy Student Association has some outreach events coming up, the first of which is a viewing of the Jupiter opposition from 8:30-11 p.m. Sept. 26 on Cruz Plaza. The Jupiter opposition is when Jupiter and Earth are on the same side of the sun during their elliptical orbits, said Dr. McNally.

When you look at Jupiter through the telescopes that we have, youll be able to see stripes on the planet, (and) youll be able to see the four Galilean moons, Dr. McNally said.

The club also has plans for a Halloween event and a viewing of a total lunar eclipse.

For students interested in joining the Mercer Astronomy Student Association, meetings are from 8-10 p.m. on Mondays in the Science and Engineering Building, Room 143.

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New astronomy club aims to help more people see the stars and beyond - Mercer University

Virginia Trimble, 78, is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, whose astronomy career spans more than 50 years. She has studied the structure and evolution of stars, galaxies and the universe and published more than 1,000 works, including research papers in astronomy, astrophysics, the history of science and scientometrics the field concerned with measuring scientific outputs as well book reviews and biographies. She has co-edited The Sky Is for Everyone, a new collection of 37 autobiographical essays by distinguished female astronomers, including herself. Spanning a range of generations and nationalities, each tells of the barriers they have overcome to change the face of modern astronomy.

What got you into astronomy?It wasnt a love of stars: I grew up in Los Angeles very nearsighted and never saw the night sky. I really wanted to be an Egyptologist, but the University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA] didnt have an archaeology major. My father looked at the catalogue and saw astronomy. I enrolled in an astronomy-math double degree but that got moved to the school of engineering, which wasnt terribly welcoming to women, so I switched to astronomy-physics. I started at UCLA in 1961 in the gifted students programme.

In 1962, you were featured in a Life magazine article, Behind a Lovely Face, a 180 IQ. Where did that lead?As a result, I was approached by a publicity agency looking for some way to bring up the ratings of what was going to be the last year of the Twilight Zone programmes. In my year being Miss Twilight Zone, I toured 10 cities where television ratings were taken, doing newspaper, radio and television interviews. The shtick was that I was reading the scripts for accuracy. Some of my suggestions were taken, for instance that there is a difference between a solar system and a galaxy. It brought in some extra, much-needed pennies.

You started graduate school at the prestigious California Institute of Technology, or Caltech, in 1964 when you were not quite 21. You were awarded your joint masters in physics and astronomy in 1965 and your PhD in astronomy in 1968. Was it hard getting in?I hadnt quite realised that they admitted women only under exceptional circumstances. My exceptional circumstance was that my fellowship required me to go someplace other than my undergraduate institution and I didnt want to leave home (Caltech and UCLA were the only two places in southern California with astronomy majors). There were 14 women on the entire campus when I arrived, and the two women who arrived ahead of me in astronomy both came with their husbands.

It seems Caltech was a hotbed of seduction. You became friendly with the physicist Richard Feynman by modelling for himI had quickly noticed in both my undergraduate and graduate classes there were a lot of nice men students and faculty. The astronomy professor who became my PhD adviser Guido Mnch and I were lovers for about three years until I left Caltech.

Feynman was learning to draw and hed seen me walking across campus and decided: I want that one. He saw Mnch coming out of the building I had gone into and went up to him and said: Im hunting, perhaps you know the quarry. Mnch brought Feynman to my office and introduced us.

Feynman paid me $5.50 an hour (a lot then) plus all the physics I could swallow. His studio was in the basement of his house in Altadena and I used to go there Tuesday evenings for a couple of hours. Sometimes I posed nude. Sometimes we cuddled, but innocently. I recall once he suggested we cuddle on the couch, and I said I didnt think we really wanted to do that. His wife quite often brought us orange juice and cookies, and I didnt want to be naked on the couch with Feynman when she did.

Wasnt it creepy to be involved with these professors? There was a big power imbalance.I enjoyed the company of men who liked me. I was never aware of a power imbalance; I could always just walk away. Of course, it would get us all fired today!

You have published hundreds of research papers, but perhaps your colleagues know you best for your amusing, must-read annual summaries of astrophysics research, which you undertook for 16 years starting in 1991. How deliberate was the humour?I couldnt help [the jokes]. I am told that if we who are on the autism spectrum and I would say I am slightly Aspergerish simply describe things the way we see them, it strikes many other people as amusing. But some of the footnotes were designed to be funny. I described distinguished colleagues by pseudonyms such as the rotund musician or the keen amateur dentist. I made enemies both by not citing people and by citing them, because quite often I picked out something from their paper which was not what they had primarily intended. It was said that each time [a summary] came out you could see the Princeton astronomers tiptoeing into the library late at night to see if they had been mentioned.

How have things changed for female astronomers?The first women in astronomy came in through a father, brother or husband, and some almost certainly married in order to do science. Then came being a human computer [which involved doing calculations by hand, and later machine]. These women didnt necessarily fall in love with astronomy but it was an interesting job that a college-educated woman could do that wasnt teaching or nursing. Then in the US, driven by post-Sputnik concerns, graduate programmes in space-related fields grew rapidly. They were so desperate to expand they even hired women faculty! Today roughly 30-40% of astronomy graduate students are female, though that lessens up the hierarchy.

Which female astronomers have been overlooked for a Nobel prize?Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin discovered that stars are made of hydrogen and helium. But she wasnt believed until it was confirmed by men. Jocelyn Bell (later Bell Burnell) was a PhD student when she participated in the discovery of pulsars but the resultant share of the Nobel prize was awarded only to her male supervisor. In contrast, the male PhD student who recognised the signal from the first binary pulsar shared the prize with his adviser.

Various female astronomers in the book note some shockingly sexist behaviour and at least one details being sexually harassed in an elevator. You must have experienced some of this in your working life, but you dont seem too riled about men behaving badlyClearly men behaving badly has been a major problem for some of my colleagues, and I dont want to seem to be defending law-breakers. I dont feel that I have ever been sexually harassed. I am friends with some senior male scientists whove been accused of being seriously inappropriate and I just find it hard to believe. I think perhaps some things can feel very different to different women.

What words of advice would you give young women who want an astronomy career?Nearly everybody says: follow your passion. My view is: find something youre good enough at to earn your living and do it.

The Sky Is for Everyone, edited by Virginia Trimble and David A Weintraub, is published by Princeton University Press (25). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

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Astronomer Virginia Trimble: There were 14 women on the Caltech campus when I arrived in 1964 - The Guardian

Learn about the James Webb Space Telescope that NASA launched in December 2021 during this months astronomy night at Cape Lookout National Seashore, a certified International Dark Sky Park.

Meet in the Harkers Island Visitor Center Theater at 7 p.m. Saturday to hear NASA Solar System Ambassador Matthew Bruce give a 45-minute talk on Webb, the largest, most powerful and complex space telescope ever built and launched into space, organizers said.

After the presentation, park staff and area astronomers from the Crystal Coast Stargazers, a NASA Night Sky Network astronomy club, will host a Star Party on the visitor center grounds. Participants will have a chance to view astronomical objects above the Southern Outer Banks through the lens of a telescope.

The free event is child-friendly, but organizers ask no pets. Solar System Ambassador programs are rain or shine but stargazing is weather dependent. Organizers recommend dressing for the weather, bringing lawn chairs, blankets, water, snacks, bug repellent, or any other comfort items, as well as a flashlight with a red filter to help maintain everyones night vision.

Folks may also consider bringing their own telescopes to learn how to get the most out of their equipment from members of the Stargazers club.

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Webb telescope the star of this month's astronomy night | Coastal Review - Coastal Review Online

A team of astronomers has found what may be the oldest known planetary nebula ever seen, and certainly one of the biggest. These structures are fleeting on a cosmic timescale, so finding one so old is extremely helpful in nailing down what happens as stars die.

Bonus: It was confirmed to be in a bright, nearby stellar cluster, making it far easier to nail down several of its characteristics [link to paper].

A planetary nebula is a huge cloud of gas blown off by a star like the Sun as it ages and dies. Stars generate energy by fusing lighter elements into heavier ones in their cores. They can do this for billions of years, but eventually the usable fuel runs out. This sets off a complicated chain of events, but in a nutshell the core contracts and heats up, while the outer layers of the star expand and cool. The star becomes a red giant, and blows a wind of gas away that eventually depletes it of gas.

The core of the star, dense and hot and exposed to space, is now called a white dwarf. Its so hot it pours out ultraviolet light that excites the gas it previously blew away, which responds by glowing quite literally like a neon sign. Thats the planetary nebula. Over time the expanding gas gets so spread out the ultraviolet light passes right through it, so the nebula fades away. This typically takes a few thousand years, which is the blink of an eye in a stars lifetime.

A few thousand planetary nebulae are known in our galaxy, but most are distant, small, and faint.

RELATED: Crash Course Astronomy: White Dwarfs and Planetary Nebulae

The planetary nebula in question here is called IPHASX J055226.2+323724 lets call it J0552 for short. It was discovered in 2008, right on top of the well-known open cluster M 37. Open clusters are small collections of hundreds or thousands of stars, typically all born at the same time from a single cloud of gas. Thousands are known, and some are close enough to see by the naked eye, like the Pleiades or the Hyades, the latter of which is the V-shaped series of stars that makes up the head of the constellation Taurus the Bull.

I was delighted to read about this planetary nebula because M 37 is one of a few bright open clusters in the constellation of Auriga that are easily seen from a dark site with binoculars. Ive observed it many, many times with my own telescope because its big, bright, and very easy to find.

The nebula J0552 is large on the sky for a planetary nebula, about a tenth of a degree, or a fifth the size of the full Moon on the sky. Its incredibly faint, and only shows up in very deep exposures using filters that block all light except for the reddish hue that comes from glowing hydrogen gas. It appears to be just off-center in M37, well inside the cluster.

The problem here is that space is deep, and things can appear to overlap while being at wildly different distances. Just seeing a nebula coincident in the sky with an open cluster doesnt mean theyre physically associated.

The new work shows that the two are in fact related. One key is finding the planetary nebula central star, the star that cast off the gas in the first place. Thats usually easy for small nebulae, but for big ones, especially in dense fields of stars, it can be difficult. However in this case it wasnt too hard: Young white dwarfs tend to be blue and hot, and theres only one blue star anywhere near the nebula center. Observations indicate it is in fact a white dwarf with a temperature of 100,000C, and its moving through space along with the cluster. These pretty much clinch its membership.

The beauty of this is that we know the clusters distance from us: about 4,700 light-years away. That gives the physical size of the nebula as 10 light-years, which is huge. Most fade away when theyre a fraction of that size.

Using spectra, the astronomers determined the nebular gas is expanding at a rate of about 20 kilometers per second. Knowing its distance and size, that gives an age of the nebula of about 80,000 years, making this the oldest planetary nebula ever seen.

An important relationship in how stars die is how massive the star was at first, and how massive the white dwarf it leaves behind is when the star dies. The central white dwarf star of J0552 has a mass of about 0.6 times that of the Sun now. Using the characteristics of the cluster the astronomers find it started off life with 2.8 times the Suns mass, making it a beefy blue-white star back in the day.

With these numbers in hand, plus the age, size, and chemical composition of the gas determined from spectra, astronomers can learn quite a bit about what happens when stars die. On top of that, only two other planetary nebulae are known in our galaxy that exist in open clusters, so this helps us understand these stellar jewels as well. Interestingly, the other two are large, old, and come from higher mass stars as well. That might be due to a bias: Open clusters disperse over time, so we tend to see them when theyre relatively young. It takes time for a star to die, with higher-mass stars dying first, so of course in a young cluster well likely only see planetary nebulae from more massive stars.

Or it might be telling us something fundamental about the way clusters make stars and how those stars die. That will take a lot more observations, but that first step is finding these cluster nebulae. J0552 is a precious object.

Mind you, our own Sun will follow this path someday. Not for many billions of years, but it too will run out of core fuel, swell up (engulfing the Earth in the process), blow off its outer layers, and form a planetary nebula. Studying these objects means studying ourselves, if our far-distant-future selves. But if we want a complete picture of the Sun and Earth, we need to understand the whole picture, including what happens, and how, eons from now.

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Astronomers find the death cry of a star in a cluster long ago and not so very far away - Syfy