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Yahoo
a day ago
- General
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'Cosmic miracle!' James Webb Space Telescope discovers the earliest galaxy ever seen
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) excels at a lot of things, but there are two things it does better than any other scientific instrument in human history: spotting early galaxies and breaking its own records!Now, the $10 billion NASA space telescope has done both things again, detecting a galaxy that existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang, a feat that the team behind this research has dubbed a "cosmic miracle."Currently, as the earliest and most distant galaxy ever detected, this "the mother of all early galaxies," this new JWST discovery has been fittingly designated "MoM z14." "First and foremost, at the moment, this is the most distant object known to humanity. That title changes every so often, but I find it is always cause for pause and reflection," team member and Yale University professor of Astronomy and Physics Pieter van Dokkum told "MoM z14 existed when the universe was about 280 million years old - we're getting quite close to the Big Bang. "Just to put that in context, sharks have been around on Earth for a longer timespan!" Since it began sending data back to Earth in the summer of 2022, the JWST has excelled in detecting galaxies at so-called "high redshifts." Redshift refers to the phenomenon of the wavelength of light from distant and thus early sources being stretched and shifted toward the "red end" of the electromagnetic spectrum as it traverses expanding space. The earlier and thus further away an object is, the greater the redshift. Prior to the discovery of MoM z14, the galaxy holding the title of earliest and distant was JADES-GS-z14-0, which existed just 300 million years after the Big Bang, or around 13.5 billion years ago. This previous record galaxy has a redshift of z =14.32, while MoM z14 has a redshift of z = 14.44. There is a wider context to the observation of MoM z14 than the fact that it has broken the record for earliest known galaxy by 20 million years, though, as van Dokkum explained. "The broader story here is that JWST was not expected to find any galaxies this early in the history of the universe, at least not at this stage of the mission," van Dokkum said. "There are, very roughly, over 100 more relatively bright galaxies in the very early universe than were expected based on pre-JWST observations."Also, in addition to detecting this new, earliest, and most distant galaxy, the team was able to determine some of its characteristics using the JWST. The researchers were able to determine that MoM z14 is around 50 times smaller than the Milky Way. The team also measured emission lines from the galaxy, indicating the presence of elements like nitrogen and carbon. "The emission lines are unusual; it indicates that the galaxy is very young, with a rapidly increasing rate of forming new stars," van Dokkum said. "There are also indications that there is not much neutral hydrogen gas surrounding the galaxy, which would be surprising: the very early universe is expected to be filled with neutral hydrogen. "That needs even better spectra and more galaxies, to investigate more fully." The presence of carbon and nitrogen in MoM z14 indicates that there are earlier galaxies to be discovered than this 13.52 billion-year-old example. That is because the very earliest galaxies in the universe and their stars were filled with the simplest elements in the cosmos, hydrogen and helium. Later galaxies would be populated by these heavier elements, which astronomers somewhat confusingly call "metal," as their stars forged them and then dispersed them in supernova explosions. "MoM z14 is not one of the very first objects that formed in the universe, as the stars in those galaxies are composed of hydrogen and helium only - we would not see carbon or nitrogen," van Dokkum said. "It could be part of the first wave of formation of 'normal' galaxies, that is, the first galaxies that have elements like nitrogen and carbon - but we've thought that before!" Related Stories: — Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind —James Webb Space Telescope finds our Milky Way galaxy's supermassive black hole blowing bubbles (image, video) — James Webb Space Telescope sees early galaxies defying 'cosmic rulebook' of star formation As for finding even earlier galaxies than MoM z14 and perhaps even detecting that first generation, van Dokkum is confident that the JWST is up to the task. He explained: "The JWST continues to push the boundary beyond where we thought it was, and at this point I would not be surprised if we find galaxies at z =15 or z =16!" For now, van Dokkum and the rest of this team, led by Rohan Naidu of MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, can celebrate breaking new ground in our understanding of the early cosmos."In a program like this, the whole team is always hoping for a 'miracle,' that is, that some of the candidate extremely early galaxies actually pan out and are not 'mirages,' objects whose colors look like extremely early objects," van Dokkum concluded. "While we were hoping for some very early objects, I don't think any of us expected to break the redshift record!" A pre-peer-reviewed version of the team's research is published on the paper repository site arXiv.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers want direct images of exoplanets. They may need 'quantum-level' tech to get them
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A team of scientists is developing a "quantum-sensitive" device that could capture direct images of Earth-like exoplanets — something astronomers tend to consider so difficult it's nearly impossible. Humanity's ability to image the heavens has improved by leaps and bounds since the invention of the telescope in 1608. Although the earliest of these images were far from clear, astronomers from generations ago could already observe craters on our moon, identify four of Jupiter's moons, and reveal a diffuse ribbon of light arching across the sky — what we now know represents the Milky Way's structure. But modern telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), have really brought the field forward. For instance, telescopes these days rely on very sophisticated instruments called coronagraphs to observe light coming from objects orbiting bright stars. "Current leading coronagraphs, such as the vortex and PIAA coronagraphs, are ingenious designs," Nico Deshler, a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona and co-author of the new study, told "A coronagraph is an instrument used in astronomy to block or suppress the light coming from a very bright object, like a star, to reveal fainter objects surrounding it." This allows scientists to detect objects more than a billion times fainter than the stars they orbit. However, Deshler and his colleagues believe they can push coronagraphs further to capture direct images of distant worlds. "Our team is broadly interested in the fundamental limits of sensing and metrology imposed by quantum mechanics, particularly in the context of imaging applications," Itay Ozer, a Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland and another of the study's co-authors, told The idea is to use principles of quantum mechanics to surpass the resolution limits of current telescopes, allowing scientists to image objects smaller or closer together than what traditional optics would permit. "The resolution of a telescope generally describes the smallest feature that the telescope can faithfully capture," said Ozer. "This smallest length scale, dubbed the 'diffraction limit,' is related to the wavelength of the detected light divided by the diameter of the telescope." This means gaining higher resolution requires building larger telescopes. However, launching a telescope large enough to surpass the diffraction limit necessary to directly image an exoplanet poses different types of challenges: high launch costs and extreme engineering complexity. "In this regard, developing sub-diffraction imaging methods is an important pursuit because it allows us to expand the domain of accessible exoplanets given the challenges and constraints associated with space-based observation," added Deshler. "We were inspired to explore the implications of these newfound quantum information-theoretic limits in the context of sub-diffraction exoplanet imaging where many Earth-like exoplanets are suspected to reside." The team thus designed a "quantum-level" coronagraph that can sort the light collected by a telescope and isolate the faint signal from exoplanets — light that is usually overwhelmed by the glare of their host stars. The concept relies on the fact that photons, or particles of light, travel in different patterns known as spatial modes. "In astronomical imaging, the position of each light source in the field of view of a telescope excites different optical spatial modes," explained Ozer. By using an optical device called a "spatial mode sorter," which is a cascade of carefully designed diffractive phase masks, the team was able to separate the incoming light, allowing them to isolate photons coming specifically from the exoplanet below the sub-diffraction limit. "As light interacts with each mask and propagates downstream through the mode sorter," said Deshler, "the optical field interferes with itself in such a way that the photons in each spatial mode get physically routed to different non-overlapping regions of space." "The correspondence between the positions of light sources and their corresponding excited spatial modes is central to […] nulling of starlight and detection of exoplanets," added Ozer. "In this way, we are able to siphon the photons emitted by the star away from the photons emitted by the exoplanet." This goes beyond digitally processing an image and subtracts starlight after the fact — in other words, it removes starlight in the optical domain before the light even reaches a detector. "In exoplanet searches, a telescope is rotated to point directly at a prospective star, which we model as a point source of light," explained Deshler. "Under this alignment between the star and the telescope axis, all the photons emanating from the star couple to the [telescope's] fundamental mode — the specific spatial mode that is excited when looking at an on-axis point source." Under this alignment, all the photons emanating from the star couple to the fundamental mode. By filtering out this mode, Deshler, Ozer and their colleagues were able to effectively eliminate the starlight, revealing only the light from the exoplanet. "The exoplanet's light is misaligned to the telescope axis, and excites a different spatial mode from the star,' said Ozer. "Our method preserves as much of the pristine uncontaminated photons from the exoplanet as possible, which turn out to carry all the available information." In the lab, the team set out to show that their device could detect exoplanets positioned extremely close to their host stars — closer than traditional resolution limits allow. They tested it using two points of light: a bright one to represent the star and a much dimmer one to simulate an exoplanet. By gradually moving the dimmer light and recording the resulting images, they assessed how well the device could localize the exoplanet. They found that when the artificial exoplanet was very close to the star — less than one-tenth the separation limit of current telescopes — most of its photons were filtered out along with the starlight. At larger separations, however, the exoplanet's signal became clearer, rising above background noise and aligning with theoretical predictions. Additionally, by setting the star to be 1,000 times brighter than the planet and analyzing the images with a maximum likelihood estimator, the team achieved results within a few percent of the theoretical limit across a wide range of sub-diffraction planet positions. "This is a proof-of-principle demonstration that spatial mode sorting coronagraphs may provide access to deeply sub-diffraction exoplanets which lie beyond reach for current state-of-the-art systems," said Deshler. "We are hopeful that this method might allow astronomers to push the boundaries of exoplanets accessible with direct imaging." The team says the technology needed to build and implement their quantum-optimized coronagraph already exists. They're now working to refine the device into a deployable system that meets performance targets. "The main limitation is the fidelity of the mode sorter," explained Ozer. "In the lab, we measure the 'purity' of the modes through a metric called the cross-talk matrix, which describes the undesired photon leakage that occurs between independent modes. Cross-talk is largely induced by manufacturing imperfections and small experimental misalignments. To successfully image Exo-Earths, […] the mode sorter must isolate each photon in the fundamental mode to better than one part in a billion if the exoplanet is to be resolved." Related Stories: — Doubts over signs of alien life on exoplanet K2-18b are rising: 'This is evidence of the scientific process at work' — James Webb Space Telescope finds water in the air of exotic 'sub-Neptune' exoplanet — Lightning on alien worlds may fail to spark life, simulations suggest The team says precision manufacturing is necessary to fabricate high-quality phase masks that can meet these "cross-talk" requirements. "We envision the use of advanced techniques, such as photolithography, additive manufacturing, or micromachining, to construct extremely precise diffractive surfaces," Deshler said. The duo hopes this technology will one day provide complementary data for future flagship telescope missions like the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a proposed successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. "Direct imaging is one of the few observation strategies that can measure the wavelength spectrum of an exoplanet," explained Ozer. "In turn this spectrum may contain clues about atmospheric composition of an exoplanet and reveal potential chemical biosignatures." "We imagine that mode-sorter driven coronagraphs could augment the astronomy toolkit and enable better characterization of sub-diffraction exoplanets," added Deshler. "However, the difficulty of exoplanet discovery warrants cross-validation with a multiplicity of observational techniques such as transits, velocimetry, and gravitational microlensing. Therefore, this technology is by no means a one-size-fits-all solution." The study was published on April 22 in the journal Optica.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UCF provost Trump taps for NASA CFO is keen on Mars, wary of China
A UCF faculty member President Trump nominated for NASA chief financial officer sees the moon as a stepping stone to Mars but warns the U.S. needs to fix its space game if it's going to outplay China. Trump tapped Greg Autry on Monday for the post. He joined the university in 2024 as associate provost for Space Commercialization and Strategy. 'I have been honored to help move UCF's incredible space enterprise forward, and I hope to return after my service at NASA,' Autry said in a news release. 'Our space agency has a long history of excellence in financial management, and I am looking forward to joining the incredible team at NASA.' Autry worked with the first Trump administration as part of the White House transition team for NASA. In 2016, he helped lay out NASA's plans to return to the moon through its Artemis program. In January during SpaceCom, the commercial space conference in Orlando, Autry discussed his 2024 book, 'Red Moon Rising: How America Will Beat China on the Final Frontier,' which he authored along with Peter Navarro, current Trump senior adviser for trade and manufacturing. 'China is moving forward rapidly, and we, for some reason, can't even get people on the moon in eight years,' he said. 'We assumed that that could be done faster than John F. Kennedy was able to do it back when we didn't know what we're doing. But it turns out it can't. 'So we've got to be honest about the fact that we're not executing on time and on a program the way that the Chinese are.' China has plans to land astronauts on the moon in 2030 or earlier. He said from a science and engineering perspective, he's glad they're a competitor — it gives Americans something to hold themselves up to. While Autry has only been at UCF for a year, the school has dubbed him its 'space czar' as he works within the College of Business to help establish executive and MBA programs. It's a position he would have to give up if confirmed for the NASA post. The CFO post is one of four agency positions nominated by the president and requiring Senate confirmation — along with administrator, deputy administrator and inspector general. Billionaire Jared Isaacman was nominated for administrator, but no confirmation hearing has been put on the Senate calendar yet. Neither has one been scheduled for Autry. For Autry, the CFO role means overseeing NASA's financial management and budget. The agency has kept running under a continuing resolution this fiscal year on the 2024 budget of around $25 billion — a 2% cut from 2023. Of that total, deep-space exploration — including the Artemis moon-to-Mars campaign — has led spending at more than $7.6 billion. Autry is high on pursuing Mars — something Trump has stumped for along with close adviser Elon Musk. He said it was clear Mars was a goal in Trump's Space Policy Directive-1 in 2017, and to a lesser degree under the Obama administration, which initially called for a human on Mars by 2040 though not much time was spent on it. 'They had what we call the squid chart, which was basically a piece of mystery meat about how we work — we're going to theoretically put humans on Mars,' Autry said. 'NASA has never taken the task seriously, and I'm glad that we're going to go there.' He does think focusing on moon efforts with commercial and international partners, though, doesn't have to be separate from those targeting Mars. 'There's a lot of complimentary technology and capabilities that are developed for both those goals,' Autry said. 'You don't need to build an airplane to go to Miami and a different airplane to go to New York. So I'm hoping that we'll find that we can all get along.' One of the biggest financial dilemmas facing NASA is how much it has spent on the Artemis program. The Space Launch System rocket cost taxpayers $23.8 billion since its conception in 2011, according to data from The Planetary Society. The Orion spacecraft, which began under the Constellation program during the George W. Bush administration in 2006, cost another $20.4 billion while ground infrastructure tacked on $5.7 billion. By 2022, the total program had cost nearly $50 billion and continues to grow with prep toward next year's crewed Artemis II mission to fly around the moon. That's followed by a proposed 2027 Artemis III mission to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Some experts are skeptical of that time frame. Still, the moon is a gateway to Mars, he said. 'It's a question of cultural and economic relevance, and if the United States wants to be relevant in the 21st century, then they've got to participate in 21st century activities and be the best at them,' Autry said.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Push to move NASA headquarters to Florida still a buzz among space community
ORLANDO, Fla. — The idea floated earlier this month by Gov. Ron DeSantis that NASA might consider moving its headquarters from Washington to Florida remains a topic of interest in space circles. During a panel discussion about public-private partnerships during the commercial space convention SpaceCom's final day at the Orange County Convention Center on Thursday, the top-voted question during a Q&A portion asked for panel members to weigh in on the idea of bringing the headquarters to Kennedy Space Center. While there was laughter among the crowd, it still prompted an evenhanded answer from Jonathan Baker, the chief of spaceport development at Kennedy Space Center. 'We're focused on exploration and innovation, and so we want to enable that in whatever way possible, right? So however the agency deems best to accomplish that here at KSC, we're ready and on board to support that,' he said. 'Whether that means a move for headquarters or not. We are ready to support whatever the agency needs to move forward.' Rob Long, the CEO of Space Florida, the state's aerospace finance and development authority, smiled and chimed in as well. 'I mean, it would make a lot of sense to move NASA headquarters to Kennedy Space Center,' he said. 'Just saying.' While the back-and-forth was made with some levity, the idea isn't completely unrealistic, especially in an era under President Trump's second administration married with SpaceX founder Elon Musk's push to cut government spending as head of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency. In his comments earlier this January, DeSantis while attending an event at KSC said he had been discussing the potential move with then KSC Director Janet Petro, who has since been named acting interim NASA administrator. 'They have this massive building in Washington, D.C., and like nobody goes to it, so why not just shutter it and move everybody down here? I think they're planning on spending like a half a billion to build a new building up in D.C. that no one will ever go to either,' DeSantis said. 'So hopefully, with the new administration coming in, they'll see a great opportunity to just headquarter NASA here on the Space Coast of Florida. I think that'd be very, very fitting.' NASA headquarters currently employs nearly 2,500 people among its total workforce of nearly 18,000 civil employees. The agency also has its work spread out among 10 field centers including KSC, Johnson Space Center in Houston and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 'We have an opportunity, of course, to bring down more federal resources. We also have an ability to fuel innovative research initiatives and allow for the development of national space policy right here in the Sunshine State,' DeSantis said. 'So the possibilities are significant.' Long, a retired colonel from the Space Force who took over the CEO role at Space Florida in 2023, said he'd be more than happy if that was the ultimate decision, adding to other recent moves to bring more jobs to the Sunshine State. That includes the Space Force's choice of Patrick Space Force Base as the future headquarters of STARCOM, the Space Force training and readiness command. Brig. Gen Kristin Panzenhagen, who leads Space Launch Delta 45 also based at Patrick SFB, said an advance team has already been at the base since 2024. 'Just a handful of folks at Patrick for about the last year working with us on planning, making sure everything's going to go smoothly when the larger body arrives,' she said. At full capacity, STARCOM numbers, which include both military and civilian personnel, are expected to top 450, the Space Force previously stated. 'We are planning the first main group of folks (this summer) and then hopefully they'll reach full operational capability the following year,' Panzenhagen said. 'So it's been a very close partnership with STARCOM and the Space Launch Delta 45 as the host installation to make sure everything's ready for their arrival.' ---------
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Push to move NASA HQ to Florida still a buzz among space community
The idea floated earlier this month by Gov. Ron DeSantis that NASA might consider moving its headquarters from Washington to Florida remains a topic of interest in space circles. During a panel discussion about public-private partnerships during the commercial space convention SpaceCom's final day at the Orange County Convention Center on Thursday, the top-voted question during a Q&A portion asked for panel members to weigh in on the idea of bringing the headquarters to Kennedy Space Center. While there was laughter among the crowd, it still prompted an evenhanded answer from Jonathan Baker, the chief of spaceport development at Kennedy Space Center. 'We're focused on exploration and innovation, and so we want to enable that in whatever way possible, right? So however the agency deems best to accomplish that here at KSC, we're ready and on board to support that,' he said. 'Whether that means a move for headquarters or not. We are ready to support whatever the agency needs to move forward.' Rob Long, the CEO of Space Florida, the state's aerospace finance and development authority, smiled and chimed in as well. 'I mean, it would make a lot of sense to move NASA headquarters to Kennedy Space Center,' he said. 'Just saying.' While the back-and-forth was made with some levity, the idea isn't completely unrealistic, especially in an era under President Trump's second administration married with SpaceX founder Elon Musk's push to cut government spending as head of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency. In his comments earlier this January, DeSantis while attending an event at KSC said he had been discussing the potential move with then KSC Director Janet Petro, who has since been named acting interim NASA administrator. 'They have this massive building in Washington, D.C., and like nobody goes to it, so why not just shutter it and move everybody down here? I think they're planning on spending like a half a billion to build a new building up in D.C. that no one will ever go to either,' DeSantis said. 'So hopefully, with the new administration coming in, they'll see a great opportunity to just headquarter NASA here on the Space Coast of Florida. I think that'd be very, very fitting.' NASA headquarters currently employs nearly 2,500 people among its total workforce of nearly 18,000 civil employees. The agency also has its work spread out among 10 field centers including KSC, Johnson Space Center in Houston and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 'We have an opportunity, of course, to bring down more federal resources. We also have an ability to fuel innovative research initiatives and allow for the development of national space policy right here in the Sunshine State,' DeSantis said. 'So the possibilities are significant.' Long, a retired colonel from the Space Force who took over the CEO role at Space Florida in 2023, said he'd be more than happy if that was the ultimate decision, adding to other recent moves to bring more jobs to the Sunshine State. That includes the Space Force's choice of Patrick Space Force Base as the future headquarters of STARCOM, the Space Force training and readiness command. Brig. Gen Kristin Panzenhagen, who leads Space Launch Delta 45 also based at Patrick SFB, said an advance team has already been at the base since 2024. 'Just a handful of folks at Patrick for about the last year working with us on planning, making sure everything's going to go smoothly when the larger body arrives,' she said. At full capacity, STARCOM numbers, which include both military and civilian personnel, are expected to top 450, the Space Force previously stated. 'We are planning the first main group of folks (this summer) and then hopefully they'll reach full operational capability the following year,' Panzenhagen said. 'So it's been a very close partnership with STARCOM and the Space Launch Delta 45 as the host installation to make sure everything's ready for their arrival.'
