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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Science
- Indian Express
Are new planets being formed outside our solar system? Here's what astronomers have found
In the vast emptiness of space, some 1,370 light-years away, a faint glow pulses. Around a baby star called HOPS-315, astronomers have caught an extraordinary glimpse of a new world taking shape. For the first time, scientists say, we are witnessing the very beginning of rocky planet formation around a young, sun-like protostar. 'It's a direct glimpse of the hot region where rocky planets like Earth are born,' said Melissa McClure of Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, as per AP, who led the international research team. 'For the first time, we can conclusively say that the first steps of planet formation are happening right now.' The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, offer what McClure calls a 'snapshot of time zero,' a look at the earliest phase of planetary birth. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's ALMA telescope in Chile worked together to study HOPS-315, a young yellow dwarf star still in its infancy at just 100,000 to 200,000 years old. Though it's destined to become a star like our sun, it's currently surrounded by a thick disk of gas and dust—the raw material for future planets. The researchers detected silicon monoxide gas and crystalline silicates, minerals believed to be the first solid substances to form in our own solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. These materials were spotted in a region similar in distance to our asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. McClure noted that such hot mineral condensation had never been directly observed around other young stars before. 'So we didn't know if it was a universal feature of planet formation or a weird feature of our solar system,' she wrote in an email, as per AP. 'Our study shows that it could be a common process during the earliest stage of planet formation.' While previous studies have examined either younger gas disks or more mature ones where planets may already be forming, this is the first time astronomers have caught the transition phase, when the first solid particles begin to emerge. 'This is one of the things we've been waiting for,' said Fred Ciesla as per AP, a planetary scientist at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study. 'Astronomers have been thinking about how planetary systems form for a long period of time. There's a rich opportunity here.' It's too early to tell how many planets might eventually form around HOPS-315. But McClure said that with a gas disk as massive as the one our own solar system had in its early days, the star could potentially give rise to as many as eight planets over the next million years. Merel van 't Hoff, a co-author from Purdue University, said the team is eager to explore more systems like this. The goal is to find out just how common the path to Earth-like worlds really is. 'Are there Earth-like planets out there,' van 't Hoff asked as per AP, 'or are we so special that we might not expect it to occur very often?' (With inputs from AP)
India.com
2 hours ago
- Science
- India.com
China is hunting for 'treasure' in the Indian Ocean with help from US's NASA; what's really happening in India's neighborhood?
There is a power struggle between the United States and China in the Indian Ocean. The Chinese presence and activities in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) have increased substantially in the last few years. This is undoubtedly unsettling for both India, with the challenge of China's immediate presence in its neighborhood, and for the United States, which is becoming increasingly concerned about Beijing's expanding influence. What is the 'treasure' China is searching for beneath the Indian Ocean? The fight for supremacy in the Indian Ocean is well known, as is the clash between the two nations for control over the global mineral resource wealth. In this context, a surprising fact has come to light — it has now been disclosed that America has been a key player in assisting China with its mining efforts in the Indian Ocean. As per a recent article from the South China Morning Post(SCMP), scientists in China have expressed appreciation to NASA, the U.S. space agency, for providing China with very significant data about the Indian Ocean. Chinese oceanographers have been using this information to expedite the search for minerals in the Indian Ocean. On June 12, the Chinese research team published a paper in the 'Chinese Journal of Tropical Oceanography' on how the satellite data boosted their research, reported the South China Morning Post. The team led by Mao Huabin, of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science, wrote, 'Thank you, Nasa … for providing the gravitational field data.' What kind of data did NASA provide, and how did China access it? Such unexpected collaboration has raised several questions: Why are two competitors— China and the U.S.— partnering in India's backyard? What's driving this unlikely relationship? According to the report, the U.S. agency did not directly assist China. But the United States' twin GRACE satellites detected an unusual pattern southeast of India while mapping the oceans. Afterwards, NASA detected an unusual spike in gravity readings over a relatively flat seabed several thousand metres deep. The space agency then made this data publicly available online, free for anyone to access and use. Who is helping China in this deep-sea exploration mission—directly or indirectly? Chinese oceanographers who came across the data decided to dig deeper. In 2022, they outfitted the Shiyan 6, one of the most advanced research vessels in the world, with advanced instruments and went on a deep-sea trip of more than 12,000 nautical miles. Chinese researchers found that regions of the oceanic crust where these layers were upthrust upward were enriched with minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and rare Earths. This upthrust was attributed to underlying magma. They were able to discover the target areas for exploration, saving years of investigation and millions of dollars in the process. In appreciation, Mao Huabin's team from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology wrote, 'Thank you, Nasa … for providing the gravitational field data.' U.S. legislation prohibits NASA from working with China in any aspect. According to the South China Morning Post(SCMP) report, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE) project is a multi-national initiative process in Potsdam, Germany; that is to say, access to the gravity measurements is disseminated via academic channels without any government military agendas, hence the Chinese scientists were not impeded in by international regulations. The Chinese research team thanked not only NASA but also the German Aerospace Centre for the public data. As deep-sea mining is becoming more urgent internationally, it is clear that the race to exploit underwater mineral resources is accelerating. In April, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order effectively permitting American companies to engage in deep-sea mining without needing authorization through the United Nations. This illustrates how serious the U.S. government is about extending its influence over marine mining. China has United Nations permission to explore the Indian Ocean and other international waters. It has more submersibles capable of going to the ocean's deepest trenches than anyone else. Chinese shipyards are constructing vessels at nearly 200 times the pace of the U.S. shipyards, according to the report.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers capture birth of a new solar system around sun-like baby star
Astronomers have, for the first time, discovered the moment when planets started to form around a sun-like baby star, scientists reported Wednesday. The specks of planet-forming material are emerging around HOPS-315, a protostar or baby star located 1,300 light-years away from us. One light year is approximately 5.88 trillion miles. While astronomers have seen discs of gas and dust around protostars before, they've never before identified a new planetary system at such an early stage. Minerals in the system around HOPS-315 are just starting to form. "We're seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form," study co-author Merel van 't Hoff, a professor at Purdue University, said in a news release from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The observatory paired up with NASA's Webb Space Telescope to identify the minerals forming the new solar system. Researchers turned to data from our own solar system to determine that these minerals show the start of a new system. In Earth's solar system, the first solid materials to form can now be found inside ancient meteorites. Those ancient meteorites contain a mineral called silicon monoxide, which only forms at extremely high temperatures, like those near a young star. Scientists were able to identify the formation of silicon monoxide around HOPS-315, which they said tells them they've caught the development of a solar system at an early stage. "This is the first time this early stage of planet-building has ever been observed outside our own Solar System," the Planetary Society wrote in a social media post about the discovery. The discovery marks "the birth of the seeds of the planets," study co-author Edwin Bergin, a professor at the University of Michigan, told CBS News. The silicate-mineral rich material around HOPS-315 will make planets after another million years or so. "So we are watching the beginnings of the construction of planets," Bergin said. With the discovery, Bergin said researchers now know what to look for to find other budding systems. ESO's Alma telescope network in Chile captured an image of the still-forming planetary system around HOPS-315. In orange, the image shows the distribution of carbon monoxide blowing away from HOPS-315. Blue shows a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, which is also beaming away from the baby star. Astronomers hope it can help them learn more about the dawn of our solar system. "This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our Solar System," van 't Hoff said in a news release. HOPS-315 is much younger than the Sun; it's about 100,000 years old, Bergin said. "So we get a glimpse of the system in its infancy," Bergin said in an email. "Given that the Sun is 4.6 Billion years old this is a baby star that is still gaining mass and getting bigger." Son of man who was violently detained by ICE reacts after release Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files Fighting elderly loneliness
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA issues challenge for public design of ejection system
July 16 (UPI) -- Dreaming of designing part of a rocket for NASA? The space organization is offering a challenge for those who think they can solve a capability gap in its Stratospheric Projectile Entry Experiment on Dynamics (SPEED), a two-stage stratospheric drop test architecture. SPEED is under development to bridge the state-of-the-art gap that many NASA flagship missions need to reduce system risk and allow more optimized designs via margin reduction, a NASA press release said. "As current ejection system designs are conceptual, complex and untested, NASA is looking for alternative ideas that can be incorporated into the design of their next iteration of SPEED flight vehicles to increase system reliability," NASA said in a statement. "We are challenging the public to design innovative concepts for a separation mechanism that can be used to assess NASA and commercial re-entry vehicle stability." The winnings: $7,000 in total prizes, including $3,000 for first place. "A successful outcome of this contest is a credible 3D model of a separation mechanism that is both cost-effective by utilizing easy-to-manufacture methods (such as 3D printing or laser/water jet cutting) and Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) parts and doesn't rely on high-energy systems like explosives," GrabCAD reported. The challenge began on Monday and ends Sept. 8. More details on the design specs and contest rules are on Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
CU students build virtual-reality moon-exploring robot
DENVER (KDVR) — Students at the University of Colorado Boulder are preparing to explore the moon from the comfort of an earthbound room, after designing a robot that can take them to the moon's surface via virtual reality. The student-built robot could help shape the future of lunar exploration — even though it currently lives in a quiet, carpeted office, the university said in a press release. What to expect for severe storms rolling through Colorado on Wednesday In its current state, the robot nicknamed 'Armstrong' is a three-wheeled robot that uses a mechanical arm to pick up and move plastic rocks. An exercise that could potentially develop into a system where robots are controlled on the moon by the use of a 'digital twin,' which is a hyper-realistic virtual reality environment. 'That's what is really exciting about this—you're able to simulate everything in the environment, from the shadows to the texture of the dirt, and then train operators on conditions that are as close to real as possible,' said Xavier O'Keefe, a master's student in aerospace engineering sciences. 'That way, once you get to the moon, you have a higher chance of success.' O'Keefe has been working on the project since he was studying as an undergraduate student at the university. The robot study was funded by NASA and a Colorado-based company called Lunar Outpost. The project is led by CU astrophysics professor emeritus and the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy's Jack Burns. Burns is part of a team that received a grant from NASA to design FarView, which is a proposed moon observatory, covering 77 square miles and requiring robots to install thousands of antennas, according to the university. As part of the new study, students replicated their lab environment in a video game engine and gauged the performance of people controlling robots who had been trained in VR versus those who hadn't. The study concluded that students who had trained with the digital twin were able to complete tasks 30% faster and were less stressed while doing so. To take one more step towards complete function, the team will begin research on how dust may affect the robots by creating a simulation of the moon's surface. O'Keefe said it is a small step, but one that's bringing humanity closer to walking and rolling on the moon again. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
