Post once, get them twice!
No idea why my post about UV appeared twice.
Maybe it’s something to do with my connection speed on the train home…
And no, I have no idea why Jetpack/WordPress did that
July 5, 2023
Another James Webb discovery: UV actually helps life
July 3, 2023
For the first time ever, a team of international scientists detected a carbon compound known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on), or CH3+, in d203-506. CH3+ is significant for understanding how life began on Earth — and how it might develop elsewhere.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/jwst-spots-a-molecule-vital-to-life-in-protoplanetary-disk/
Ultraviolet radiation (UV) is known for destroying complex carbon-based molecules. But could it also provide the energy for them to exist?
Another James Webb discovery: UV actually helps life
July 3, 2023
For the first time ever, a team of international scientists detected a carbon compound known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on), or CH3+, in d203-506. CH3+ is significant for understanding how life began on Earth — and how it might develop elsewhere.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/jwst-spots-a-molecule-vital-to-life-in-protoplanetary-disk/
Ultraviolet radiation (UV) is known for destroying complex carbon-based molecules. But could it also provide the energy for them to exist?
In search of dark energy and dark matter
July 3, 2023
A European-built orbital satellite was launched into space on Saturday from Florida on a mission to shed new light on dark energy and dark matter, the mysterious cosmic forces scientists say account for 95% of the known universe.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/01/euclid-telescope-lifts-off-in-search-of-the-secrets-of-dark-universe
Like the James Webb telescope, the Euclid will be positioned in a LaGrange point (L2, in this case), rather than in high Earth orbit.
If all goes well.
It’s interesting that the Guardian article says the telescope was “designed and built entirely by Esa,” although NASA supplied parts and its launching pad was made available and the telescope was launched using a SpaceX rocket. And ESA consists of nearly 2000 scientists from the US, Canada, and Japan as well as various European countries.
It’s a joint project. That’s how science should work in the first place.
(For more on dark matter, dark energy, gravity, and quantum mechanics, check this out.)
Phosphorus on Enceladus boosts chances for life?
July 2, 2023
According to legend, the ancient giant Enceladus vents sulfur from his tomb. According to data, Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus vents more than that.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/phosphate-find-on-enceladus-boosts-chances-for-life/
Scientists have suspected for a long time that this tiny moon of Saturn may be the best place in our solar system to look for life.
Now they have confirmed evidence of all six crucial elements necessary for life to exist (life as we know it, anyway): carbon (C), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), phosphorus (P), and sulphur (S). If present as a phosphate, essential for DNA and RNA to exist, the discovery of phosphorus on the 310-mile-wide Enceladus may indicate life of sort sort, perhaps at a microscopic level beneath the icy surface.
One guess is that the oceans of Enceladus have at least 100 times more phosphorus than the Earth’s oceans. That would make for quite the carbonated fizzy pop. Methane has already been seen coming out out of various “ice geysers” (a.k.a. cryovolcanoes). Since methane results from rotten organic material, there logically should be something alive out there.
Now we just have to get back out there and figure out a way to find them.
And another post to which I forgot to add a title…
June 30, 2023
In a few billion years, our aging Sun will run out of hydrogen fuel in its core and begin to swell, eventually engulfing Mercury, Venus, and probably Earth itself. Known as the red giant phase, this is a normal step in a mid-sized star’s life cycle, when it swells to hundreds of times its usual size. There are plenty of red giants in the night sky, but astronomers have never caught one in the act of swallowing its planets — until now.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/star-seen-swallowing-its-planet-whole/
Pack your stuff, folks…
The photo is an artist’s depiction btw. The article describes how the astronomer discovered that star was eating its own planet.
And by the way, thanks for reading!
June 20, 2023
I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting much lately. Work has just become completely overwhelming, and the rainy season (here in Japan) hasn’t helped.
But I do read your comments and I appreciate them, and all your “likes,” too!
Just realized it’s been MONTHS since I posted the next installment of Bringer of Light.
Yikes.
Time to wrap up the first book and get to the climax already!
Chemical traces reveal first-generation stars
June 16, 2023
“The first-generation star we observed has the potential to become the oldest star we have ever seen,” said Alexander Heger, a professor in the school of physics and astronomy at Monash University in Australia who was part of the research team. “It probably had only lived for 2 1/2 million years and then exploded.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/chemical-traces-offer-evidence-universes-earliest-stars-rcna88790
Oh, and it also was discovered to be 260 times the size of our own Sun…just as theorized.
More importantly, this involved scientists from three different countries (China, Japan, and Australia), sharing information and working together for science.
Imagine if that spirit of cooperation could be extended into other domains…
Why Mars Shivers: The Explanation Behind Marsquakes
May 31, 2023
The post Why Mars Shivers: The Explanation Behind Marsquakes first appeared May 30, 2023 on Science Recent – Your Daily Science Source.The human …
Why Mars Shivers: The Explanation Behind Marsquakes
Something else for future potential Mars settlements to consider….
Plume of water seen on Saturn’s moon
May 31, 2023
The record-breaking plume reached nearly 6,000 miles into space – covering the distance between Ireland and Japan – and poured water into the void at an estimated rate of 300 litres a second.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/30/astronomers-see-6000-mile-water-vapour-plume-blasting-from-saturn-moon
Note that the water jetted out into space nearly 40 times longer than the actual size of the moon (about 500 in diameter, or as the Gurdian puts it “500-mile-wide” for those who forgot the meaning of “diameter).
Enceladus is probably the best bet for life elsewhere in the solar system due to its water — and while whipping around Saturn once per day, which is likely the reason for underwater volcanos and other vents that may provide the proper chemistry for life.
Also the perfect place to trick an inexperienced asteroid hunter crew…
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