Latest news with #Jupiters
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Giant Crude Face Appears on Sun
If you look just right, the Sun appears to be opening its mouth and laughing at us. (We can't imagine why.) As ScienceAlert reports, this colossal gash forming the mouth is what's known as "coronal hole," which occurs when the star's magnetic field opens up and allows a gust of charged solar wind to rush out, leaving the area it just left much cooler and giving it that gaping look. As for the eyes, those are smaller sunspots to the hole's north, giving this solar face a look of surprise. When looking at the Sun from Earth — which we recommend only doing with special glasses or instruments, by the way — you won't notice its wide grin unless viewing it on the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum. From that wavelength, a different picture emerges: one with a wide, open mouth that laughs at our little lives back on terra firma. A fairly regular occurrence, coronal holes like this one can cause strong geomagnetic activity and even the kind of "storms" that send out bursts of charged particles towards Earth, often resulting in beautiful auroras or communication systems failures. Space weather reports indicate that this latest coronal hole is indeed causing such a storm, though it's unclear whether any tech glitches will follow in its wake. The images we're seeing of the Sun's cheeky grin don't do justice to just how huge it is. As ScienceAlert notes, this coronal hole is as wide as five Jupiters lined up side-by-side, which would put it at about 434,000 miles across. Interestingly, this is not the first time a five-Jupiter-width geomagnetic chasm has opened up to form a creepy grin on the Sun. Almost exactly 18 months ago — not long before the so-called "solar maximum," or period when the Sun's geomagnetic activity is at its peak, in October 2024 — a slightly more devilish smile was seen on our star as it blew out its ultracharged breath towards Earth. In that instance, as in this one, the geomagnetic storm associated with the coronal hole wasn't all that strong, resulting in little more than glittering auroras and a bit of social media panic. More on the Sun: New Imaging Technique Makes the Sun Look Like a Swirling Pink Liquid
Time of India
3 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Did you know?
Astronomers have discovered a massive planet orbiting an unusually small star, defying current theories of planetary formation. The star, TOI-6894 , is located about 240 light-years away in the constellation Leo and has just 21% the mass of the Sun. Yet, it hosts a gas giant roughly the size of Saturn much larger than expected for such a small star. This challenges existing models, which suggest that small stars form only small, rocky planets like Earth. Forming giant planets typically requires large amounts of material in a protoplanetary disk, which small stars aren't thought to possess. 'It's hard to build a giant planet in such conditions,' said study co-author Vincent Van Eylen. The planet completes an orbit in just three days, lying 40 times closer to its star than Earth is to the Sun. Despite its close orbit, it's cooler than typical 'hot Jupiters.' Its mass is 56% hat of Saturn and 17% of Jupiter. Data from NASA's TESS and the ESO's VLT were used for the discovery, with further observations planned using the James Webb Space Telescope.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
A Giant Mouth Has Opened on The Sun And Even It Looks Surprised
A giant mouth-like hole in the Sun about as wide as five Jupiters is blasting hot Sun breath in Earth's general direction. It's not an actual hole in the Sun, but what is known as a coronal hole: a region where the Sun's magnetic field opens up, allowing the wind of solar particles constantly blowing from our Sun to escape more readily, sending a gust of material blasting through the Solar System. If you look at the Sun in optical wavelengths (we don't recommend doing this without special equipment), you won't notice anything; but, because these regions are cooler and less dense than the surrounding plasma, if you look at them in ultraviolet light, they appear as large, void-like patches of darkness. Currently, the configuration of coronal holes on the face of the Sun is, well, exactly like that: a screaming face with a wide, mouth-like gash on the southern hemisphere, and two eye-like spots on the north. Of course, they are much more impressive than normal eyes. Each of those northern 'dots' is around the size of Jupiter alone. And all three regions are blasting the Solar System with particles and plasma. This is nothing to worry about, even though the Sun seems to have its own feelings on the matter. Coronal holes are normal. The powerful wind they expel can generate geomagnetic storms when the particles collide with Earth's magnetosphere, but they tend to be on the milder side – nowhere near the level of storm we experience from the full frontal blast of a coronal mass ejection. That's a powerful eruption of particles powered by magnetic reconnection in regions where the solar magnetic field is more powerful than its surrounds. But the Sun's coronal hole antics may not even produce a small geomagnetic storm this time. "The next possible fast wind enhancement is from the coronal hole in the south disk," the British Met Office advises. "However this is low confidence and likely to be only a weak interaction due to its southern location, perhaps bringing a further period of elevated winds." Not to worry, though. The Sun is currently going haywire with flare and coronal mass ejection activity – our planet was just wracked by a powerful G4 geomagnetic storm that saw the auroras borealis and australis bathe our skies in a panoply of colors at latitudes that rarely get the experience. Since the Sun is currently emerging from the most active phase of a particularly active cycle, we expect more surprises. We just hope maybe it can try to look a bit less worried next time. A Super-Tiny Star Gave Birth to a Giant Planet And We Don't Know How Water Discovered Around a Young, Sun-Like Star For First Time June's Full Moon Will Be The Lowest in The Sky For Decades. Here's Why.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Exoplanet discovered in 2020 has the coldest temperatures ever measured, scientists say
An exoplanet discovered in 2020 contains the coldest temperatures ever measured on a planetary body, according to scientists. The planet, called WD 1856+534 b, is a gas giant exoplanet the size of nearly 14 Jupiters and nearly six times its mass, according to NASA. Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope in space, suggest that the exoplanet's average temperature is about -125 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the coldest planet ever detected, according to a paper published last week in arXiv, an open archive server. MORE: Several planets found orbiting star less than 6 light-years away Life can grow at temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit, scientists say. However, few organisms can complete their life cycle at temperatures below 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit. To date, emissions from no planets cooler than about 35.33 degrees Fahrenheit -- a temperature comparable to Earth -- have been directly detected, the researchers said. Astronomers used Webb's sophisticated infrared optics and spectrometers to pinpoint characteristics of the exoplanet. By using the Direct Imaging Method, which consists of observing how much light is reflected from the surface or atmosphere of the exoplanet, scientists were able garner details about the planet's formation and which biosignatures were present, such as oxygen, water and methane, according to the paper. WD 1856+534 b is also the first transiting planet known to orbit a white dwarf star -- the hot remnant of a star that has shed its outer layers after exhausting its nuclear fuels -- the researchers said. Typically, a planet would become engulfed in the white dwarf star's "forbidden zone" during the star's red giant phase, according to the study. MORE: How global warming could threaten satellites, according to new study It is likely twice the age of the Milky Way and orbits a K-type star -- also known as orange dwarfs -- in just 1.4 days, according to NASA. K-type stars are cooler and less massive than the sun. Direct imaging of exoplanets can be difficult because of the overwhelming brightness coming from their host star, the authors said. However, advanced telescopes like Webb could eventually detect habitable planets outside our solar system, according to NASA. MORE: Binary star system found near the Milky Way's black hole: An 'amazing' discovery, astrophysicists say NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory, a planned infrared and ultraviolet space telescope, will specifically target Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars when it launches in May 2027. The researchers hope that further observations of WD 1856+534 b scheduled for 2025 will identify additional planets, according to the paper. Exoplanet discovered in 2020 has the coldest temperatures ever measured, scientists say originally appeared on
01-05-2025
- Science
Exoplanet discovered in 2020 has the coldest temperatures ever measured, scientists say
An exoplanet discovered in 2020 contains the coldest temperatures ever measured on a planetary body, according to scientists. The planet, called WD 1856+534 b, is a gas giant exoplanet the size of nearly 14 Jupiters and nearly six times its mass, according to NASA. Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope in space, suggest that the exoplanet's average temperature is about -125 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the coldest planet ever detected, according to a paper published last week in arXiv, an open archive server. Life can grow at temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit, scientists say. However, few organisms can complete their life cycle at temperatures below 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit. To date, emissions from no planets cooler than about 35.33 degrees Fahrenheit -- a temperature comparable to Earth -- have been directly detected, the researchers said. Astronomers used Webb's sophisticated infrared optics and spectrometers to pinpoint characteristics of the exoplanet. By using the Direct Imaging Method, which consists of observing how much light is reflected from the surface or atmosphere of the exoplanet, scientists were able garner details about the planet's formation and which biosignatures were present, such as oxygen, water and methane, according to the paper. WD 1856+534 b is also the first transiting planet known to orbit a white dwarf star -- the hot remnant of a star that has shed its outer layers after exhausting its nuclear fuels -- the researchers said. Typically, a planet would become engulfed in the white dwarf star's "forbidden zone" during the star's red giant phase, according to the study. It is likely twice the age of the Milky Way and orbits a K-type star -- also known as orange dwarfs -- in just 1.4 days, according to NASA. K-type stars are cooler and less massive than the sun. Direct imaging of exoplanets can be difficult because of the overwhelming brightness coming from their host star, the authors said. However, advanced telescopes like Webb could eventually detect habitable planets outside our solar system, according to NASA. NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory, a planned infrared and ultraviolet space telescope, will specifically target Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars when it launches in May 2027. The researchers hope that further observations of WD 1856+534 b scheduled for 2025 will identify additional planets, according to the paper.
