Science
Oldest Black Hole Discovered Dating Back To 470 Million Years After The Big Bang
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.: Scientists have identified the world’s oldest black hole, a cosmic beast created only 470 million years after the Big Bang.
The findings, released on Monday, confirm previous predictions that supermassive black holes existed at the universe’s beginning. The observations were made by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory over a year.
Given that the cosmos is 13.7 billion years old, this black hole is 13.2 billion.
Even more startling to astronomers is the fact that this black hole is a whopper – ten times larger than the black hole in our own Milky Way galaxy.
According to senior author Akos Bogdan of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, it might weigh anywhere from 10% to 100% of the mass of all the stars in its galaxy. That is far from the tiny ratio of black holes in our Milky Way and other surrounding galaxies — an estimated 0.1%, he noted.
Oldest Black Hole Discovered Dating Back To 470 Million Years After The Big Bang
“It’s just really early in the universe to be such a behemoth,” said Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale University, who participated in the study published in Nature Astronomy. A companion piece was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. “It’s astounding how this thing is sitting in place already with its galaxy so early on in the universe.”
The black hole is thought to have been created from massive clouds of gas collapsing in a galaxy adjacent to one with stars. The black hole gained control once the two galaxies joined.
The fact that Chandra identified it using X-rays shows “without a doubt that it is a black hole,” according to Natarajan. Using X-rays, “you’re capturing the gas that is being gravitationally pulled into the black hole, sped up and it starts glowing in the X-rays,” the scientist explained.
She went on to say that this one is a quasar because it is actively developing, and the gas is blindingly brilliant.
According to scientists, the Webb telescope alone may have discovered a black hole 29 million years old, although it has yet to be viewed in X-rays and verified. Natarajan believes that more early black holes will be discovered – perhaps not as far out, but certainly fairly far away.
“We are expecting a new window to open in the universe, and I think this is the first crack,” she said.
The two space observatories, Webb and Chandra, magnified the region of space where this galaxy, UHZ1, and its black hole are located using a method known as gravitational lensing. The telescopes magnified UHZ1 and its black hole in the background using light from a much closer cluster of galaxies, only 3.2 billion light-years away from Earth.
“It’s a pretty faint object, and thanks to like luck, nature has magnified it for us,” said Natarajan.
Webb is the largest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever sent into space, launched in 2021 to a point 1 million miles (1.6 million km) away; it sees the universe in infrared. The considerably older Chandra spacecraft possesses X-ray vision and was launched into orbit in 1999.
“I absolutely find it amazing that Chandra can do such amazing discoveries 24 years after its launch,” Bogdan said in a statement.
Black holes are regions in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape from them. They form when massive stars collapse at the end of their lifecycle. The boundary surrounding a black hole is called the event horizon.
Anything that crosses the event horizon is pulled into the black hole and cannot escape. Scientists continue to study black holes to understand their properties and their role in the universe.
SOURCE – (AP)
Science
A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – A spacecraft launched Monday to probe the site of a cosmic accident.
The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft launched on a two-year trip to the little, harmless asteroid slammed by NASA two years ago as a practice run for the day when a murderous space rock threatens Earth. It’s the second phase of a planetary defense experiment that could one day save the globe.
SpaceX’s Falcon rocket vanished with Hera into the late morning clouds. An hour later, cheering erupted in the control center in Germany as the spacecraft split from the rocket’s upper stage and returned home. “It’s an amazing day,” the space agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, said later.
The 2022 crash of NASA’s Dart spacecraft reduced Dimorphos’ orbit around its larger companion, indicating that if a harmful rock was heading our way, it might be pushed off course with adequate warning.
nasa
A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test
Scientists are eager to analyze the aftermath of the impact up close to determine how effective Dart was and what improvements may be required to protect Earth in the future.
“The more detail we can glean the better as it may be important for planning a future deflection mission should one be needed,” University of Maryland astronomer Derek Richardson stated before launch.
Researchers want to know if Dart (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test) created a crater or changed the 500-foot (150-meter) asteroid more dramatically. It seemed to be a flying saucer before Dart’s blow and may now resemble a kidney bean, according to Richardson, who participated in the Dart mission and is assisting Hera.
Dart’s wallop sent rubble and boulders hurtling off Dimorphos, adding to the impact’s momentum. For months, the debris track extended thousands of miles (almost 10,000 kilometers) into space.
According to flight director Ignacio Tanco, some rocks and debris may still be hovering about the asteroid, posing a threat to Hera.
A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test
“We don’t really know very well the environment in which we are going to operate,” Tanco informed me. “But that’s the whole point of the mission is to go there and find out.”
European authorities refer to the $400 million (363 million euros) effort as a “crash scene investigation.”
“Hera is going back to the crime scene and getting all the scientific and technical information,” said project manager Ian Carnelli.
Carrying a dozen science instruments, the compact car-sized Hera must swing past Mars in 2025 for a gravitational boost before landing at Dimorphos by the end of 2026. It’s a moonlet of Didymos, the Greek word for twin, a five-times larger asteroid that spins quickly. At that point, the asteroids will be 120 million miles (195 million kilometers) from Earth.
Hera will attempt to enter orbit around the rocky duo, progressively reducing flyby distances from 18 miles (30 kilometers) to a half-mile (1 kilometer). The spacecraft will examine the moonlet for at least six months to determine its mass, shape, composition, and orbit around Didymos.
Before the crash, Dimorphos circled its larger partner from three-quarters of a mile (1,189 meters) away. Scientists believe the orbit has become tighter and more oval-shaped, and that the moonlet may be tumbling.
Two shoebox-sized Cubesats will launch from Hera for even closer drone-like examinations, with one employing radar to peek beneath the moonlet’s boulder-strewn surface. Scientists believe Dimorphos was produced from particles shed by Didymos. The radar measurements should assist in determining whether Didymos is the small moon’s parent.
A Spacecraft Is On Its Way To A Harmless Asteroid Slammed By NASA In A Previous Save-The-Earth Test
After their survey, the CubeSats will attempt to land on the moonlet. If the moonlet tumbles, the situation will become more complicated. Hera may potentially conclude its mission with a perilous touchdown but on the bigger Didymos.
Asteroids, which are remnants of the solar system’s origin 4.6 billion years ago, circle the sun principally between Mars and Jupiter in what is known as the main asteroid belt, where millions of them live. When they fall from the belt and land in our area, they become near-Earth objects.
NASA now has around 36,000 near-Earth objects, the majority of which are asteroids, although there are also some comets. More than 2,400 of them are deemed potentially dangerous to the Earth.
SOURCE | AP
NEW YORK — Prepare to spot a rare and dazzling comet.
The space rock is hurling toward Earth from the far reaches of the solar system and will make its closest approach on Saturday. It should be visible through the end of October, assuming clear skies.
A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October
Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas should be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars and telescopes will provide a clearer view.
“It’ll be this fuzzy circle with a long tail stretching away from it,” explained Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the Bell Museum in Minnesota.
What is a comet?
They are frozen remains from billions of years ago when the solar system was formed. They heat up as they swing toward the sun, revealing their distinctive streaming tails.
In 2023, a green one that had last visited Earth 50,000 years ago flew past again. Other significant flybys were Neowise in 2020 and Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake in the mid to late 1990s.
Where did Tsuchinshan-Atlas come from?
Also known as C/2023 A3, was found last year and named after the observatories in China and South Africa that spotted it.
It originated in the Oort Cloud, which extends far beyond Pluto. After making its closest approach to Earth at 44 million miles (71 million kilometers), it will not return for another 80,000 years, provided it survives the journey.
A Rare Comet Brightens The Night Skies In October
Every year, several comets are detected, but many of them burn up near the sun or are too far away to be observed without special equipment, according to Larry Denneau, a key researcher with the Atlas telescope that helped discover it.
How to View
Those seeking to see Tsuchinshan-Atlas should go outside about an hour after sunset on a clear night and look to the west.
The comet should be visible from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
SOURCE | AP
NEW YORK — To save power, NASA turned off another scientific equipment on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft.
NASA Switches Off Instrument On the Spacecraft To Save Power
The space agency announced on Tuesday that 2’s plasma science instrument, meant to study the movement of charged atoms, was turned off in late September to allow the spacecraft to continue exploring for as long as possible, which is estimated to be into the 2030s.
NASA turned off a suite of instruments on Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, after exploring the gas giant planets in the 1980s. Both are currently in interstellar space or the region between stars. The plasma instrument on Voyager 1 stopped working years ago and was finally shut off in 2007.
The remaining four instruments on 2 will continue to collect data on magnetic fields and particles. Its mission is to investigate the regions of space beyond the sun’s protective sphere.
NASA Switches Off Instrument On Voyager 2 Spacecraft To Save Power
It launched in 1977, is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. It is now more than 12 billion miles (19.31 billion kilometers) from Earth. 1 is more than 15 billion miles (24.14 billion kilometers) beyond Earth.
SOURCE | AP
President-Elect Trump Picks Matt Gaetz to Be Attorney General
Trump Shakes Up Pentagon Names Pete Hegseth Defence Secretary
Blizzard’s Remastered Versions Of Warcraft 1 And 2 Are Now Available On PCs.
Telehealth May Be Able to Stop Suicide in High-Risk Individuals.
The Main US Inflation Tracker Increased For The First Time Since March.
Trudeau Insists Trump Isn’t a Threat Despite His Past Rhetoric
Trudeau Government Forces Port Workers Back to Work
Archbishop of Canterbury Resigns Over Christian Camp Abuse
TikTok Initiates Integration With Lemon8 Amid Impending US Ban
Former NDP Leader Says Trudeau is Top on Trumps Hit List
Apple Unveiled A Fresh Glimpse Of Their AI Featuring ChatGPT Integration.
Connection Problems With The App Store Are Stopping Customers From Downloading Apps.
The Meta Foundation Launches a New Anti-Sextortion Campaign on Instagram.
Adobe Commences The Implementation Of AI Video Tools, Which Poses A Challenge To OpenAI And Meta.
Appeals Court Delays Order For Google To Open Its App Store In Antitrust Case
Arthur Hayes Predicts Bitcoin Will “Rise Stupendously” When Middle East Conflict Escalates.
Shares Dropped After Novavax Claimed The FDA Stopped Flu And Covid-Flu Vaccinations.
Here’s Why SSI Recipients Will Get an Additional Check in November
Costco Is Offering The Peloton Bike+ At 300 Locations This Holiday Season.
Joe Biden Is Adamant That Kamala Harris Would “Cut Her Own Path” In The US Election.
Trudeau Orders Facebook to Block Australian Presser Video
Pro-Khalistanis Sikhs Attack Hindu Temple in Brampton
Galaxy Gas the News Craze on TiKTok May Have Negative Consequences
Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ a Box Office Success Gets 4.5 Stars
Megalopolis Trailer Pulled By Lionsgate Over Fabricated Critics Quotes
Netflix Releases Squid Game Season 2 Teaser
Police Pepper Spray Antisemitic Protesters at McGill University, 15 Arrested
Thousands Descend on New York’s South Bronx for Trump Rally
Singapore Airlines Passenger Killed During Severe Turbulence
Former NDP Leader Mulclair Says Trudeau Should Retire
-
Tech3 weeks agoApple Unveiled A Fresh Glimpse Of Their AI Featuring ChatGPT Integration.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
Connection Problems With The App Store Are Stopping Customers From Downloading Apps.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
The Meta Foundation Launches a New Anti-Sextortion Campaign on Instagram.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
Adobe Commences The Implementation Of AI Video Tools, Which Poses A Challenge To OpenAI And Meta.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
Appeals Court Delays Order For Google To Open Its App Store In Antitrust Case
-
Business4 weeks ago
Arthur Hayes Predicts Bitcoin Will “Rise Stupendously” When Middle East Conflict Escalates.
