Latest news with #VeryLargeTelescope
Time of India
28-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
New baby planet twice as big as Neptune emerges from dust around sun-like star, astronomers reveal big discovery; details inside
From meteor showers to solar eclipses, astronomical events always keep us surprised and hooked. Now, in yet another new development, astronomers have found strong evidence that suggests that a baby planet is emerging deep within a swirling disk of gas and dust around the star HD 135344B. According to the online platform Live Science, the newly formed planet, according to astronomers, appears to be sculpting intricate spiral arms around its stellar host. Notably, it is the first time around that a planet has been found embedded inside a dust spiral around a star, actively shaping its environment. According to NASA , the latest discovery further strengthens the proof that the building blocks of planets emerge from protoplanetary disks, giant, doughnut-shaped disks of gas and dust that circle young stars. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Data Science PGDM Healthcare Data Science MBA healthcare others CXO Management Digital Marketing Public Policy Data Analytics Project Management Product Management Cybersecurity Others Technology Design Thinking Leadership Degree Skills you'll gain: Strategic Data-Analysis, including Data Mining & Preparation Predictive Modeling & Advanced Clustering Techniques Machine Learning Concepts & Regression Analysis Cutting-edge applications of AI, like NLP & Generative AI Duration: 8 Months IIM Kozhikode Professional Certificate in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Starts on Jun 26, 2024 Get Details These dense, rotating clouds of material around young stars have been observed to have rings and spirals, which are suspected to be caused by baby planets, but this is the first direct evidence. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Glīd Technologies Delivers: The World's First Autonomous Dual-Mobile Road-to-Rail Platform - TechBullion TechBullion Undo Astronomers previously saw the sculpted protoplanetary disk around the star HD 135344B using the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. How did scientists discover baby planet Live Events Scientists finally discovered a new planet using a new instrument called the Enhanced Resolution Imager and Spectrograph (ERIS). The planet sits at the base of one spiral arm, exactly where models predicted a planet would need to be to create this feature, and is believed to be twice the size of Jupiter. It's located about as far from its host star as Neptune is from the Sun, roughly 30 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. What did researchers say about planet discovery "What makes this detection potentially a turning point is that, unlike many previous observations, we can directly detect the signal of the protoplanet, which is still highly embedded in the disc," Francesco Maio, a doctoral researcher at the University of Florence and lead author of a study describing the discovery, was quoted by Live Science as saying in a statement. The existence of many exoplanets, which are planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, is inferred from other data, such as a dip in a star's brightness that is believed to be caused by a planet. Seeing the planet's light, reflected from its host star, gives the discoverers of the protoplanet much greater confidence in its existence. "We will never witness the formation of Earth, but here, around a young star 440 light-years away, we may be watching a planet come into existence in real time," Maio said. Other discoveries by ERIS ERIS also played a decisive role of a similar nature in another recent discovery. Astronomers used ERIS to find an object, possibly a brown dwarf, an object halfway between a giant planet and a small star, in the protoplanetary disk around the young star V960 Mon, located 5,000 light-years away, in the constellation Monoceros.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers caught a star that blew up not once, but twice when it died
Astronomers have finally caught a dying star in space going out with a bang — and then another bang. The new photographic evidence, captured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, shows the first proof of a rare kind of stellar death called a double-detonation supernova. This double-blast event, spotted in the supernova remnant known as SNR 0509-67.5, confirms a theory that has divided astrophysicists for decades. The star's remains, about 300 years old, show a distinctive pattern: two separate shells of calcium, one nested inside the other like Russian matryoshka dolls. This could only form if a white dwarf exploded twice. The breakthrough, published in Nature Astronomy, rewrites part of the story behind one of the most important tools in astronomy, the Type Ia supernova. Sometimes dubbed a "cosmic yardstick" by NASA, this special supernova shines brightly for a short time and gives off a predictable, known amount of light. That makes it perfect for measuring distance in space: The farther the supernova, the fainter it appears to us. By collecting light from these blasts, scientists also can figure out how fast the universe has been expanding. "Our results required a large resource commitment with a very advanced instrument on a large telescope," Ivo Seitenzahl, one of the researchers, told Mashable. "Basically, the observations are near the limit of what's currently technically feasible." Understanding how exactly these events work isn't just academic, it's essential for making sense of the universe. These explosions forge the majority of iron in our galaxy — the same stuff found in our blood, buildings, and planet. A white dwarf star — the dense stellar core left behind after a sun-like star runs out of fuel — gradually steals material from a neighboring star. Once it grows massive enough, it ignites in a thermonuclear explosion. But some researchers have suspected there is another way: A thin outer layer of helium could explode first, sending a shockwave inward that then blows up the white dwarf's core. The second blast is the ultimate supernova that tears the star apart. Until now, this two-step concept lived mostly on whiteboards and in computer simulations. Now, astronomers have receipts proving it really happens. The explosions would have occurred in quick succession, Seitenzahl said. The second blast likely followed just two seconds later, "essentially the time it takes the helium detonation to travel from one side of the white dwarf star to the other." Scientists turned the telescope's Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer instrument toward the glowing wreckage in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy neighboring the Milky Way. The calcium detections were the giveaway. Sandwiched in between the blown-off shells was sulfur, with each layer consisting of different densities from the two explosions. "Revealing the inner workings of such a spectacular cosmic explosion is incredibly rewarding," said Priyam Das, lead author of the paper, in a statement, describing the remnant as a "beautifully layered structure." Astronomers can't normally see what happens deep inside a star during its final moments. The explosion itself is too bright, fast, and distant. But hundreds of years later, the drifting shrapnel betrays the secret. Though this discovery doesn't close the case on how all Type Ia supernovas work, it does show at least some stars don't need to hit a critical mass of matter before going boom. It seems a smaller star with the right kind of helium wrapper can self-destruct just fine. For this particular system, there won't be any more explosions, but the hunt continues for variations on this exotic breed. Some models for double detonations indicate the primary star can actually trigger yet another double detonation in the lighter companion star. "This would be a double double detonation," Seitenzahl said. UPDATE: Jul. 2, 2025, 12:50 PM EDT This story has been updated to include additional reporting, including new quotes, from the researchers.
Scottish Sun
11-07-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
Mystery space rock blazing through solar system ‘may be oldest comet ever seen' – and there's a chance you can spot it
SPACE INVADER Mystery space rock blazing through solar system 'may be oldest comet ever seen' – and there's a chance you can spot it AN INTERSTELLAR space rock zooming through our solar system may be the oldest comet ever seen by humans, according to researchers. The mysterious cosmic object was discovered last week, and is believed to have travelled from interstellar space. 6 ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has obtained new images of the comet and its path, shown as a dotted line Credit: ESO/O. Hainaut 6 An artist's impression of an interstellar comet Credit: ESA 6 The interstellar comet is seen inside the red box Credit: David Rankin / Saguaro Observatory Now researchers say the comet could be older than our solar system by more than three billion years. That would make the rock a whopping 7.6billion years old, University of Oxford astronomer Matthew Hopkins told the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Durham. The ancient hunk of debris, named 3I/ATLAS, is covered in water-based ice - which has given it a "fuzzy" appearance through telescopes. The celestial visitor is only the third interstellar object on record to grace our solar system, and is also likely the largest yet detected. It follows the rare visits from the famous 1I/ʻOumuamua asteroid in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. Unlike the previous two interstellar objects to enter our solar system, 3I/ATLAS appears to be travelling on a steep path through the galaxy. Its current trajectory suggests it originated from the Milky Way's 'thick disk' – a field of ancient stars. No comet from that region has ever graced Earth with a flyby, according to astronomers. 6 The comet was first spotted on 1 July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile Credit: ESA "All non-interstellar comets such as Halley's comet formed with our solar system, so are up to 4.5billion years old," said Hopkins. "But interstellar visitors have the potential to be far older, and of those known about so far our statistical method suggests that 3I/ATLAS is very likely to be the oldest comet we have ever seen." Incredible moment a fireball comet is spotted racing past stunning aurora towards Earth The comet was first spotted on 1 July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile. But ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has obtained new images of the comet and its path, shown as a dotted line. Professor Chris Lintott, co-author of the study and presenter of the BBC's The Sky at Night, added: "This is an object from a part of the galaxy we've never seen up close before. "We think there's a two-thirds chance this comet is older than the solar system, and that it's been drifting through interstellar space ever since." What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet? Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa... Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth) An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth) Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it'll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it'll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn't vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite If a meteoroid doesn't vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vaporizing) The lonesome space rock, believed to be leftover material of the early solar system, has been on quite the journey over its lifetime. As it approaches our Sun, the rock will heat up and release gas and dust from the heart of the comet. It's this that gives comet's their fuzzy glow and tail. Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre, said last week: "It looks kind of fuzzy... It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail." 6 Comet A11pl3Z's path through the solar system Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech While astronomers are still refining their calculations, the object appears to be zooming more than 60 kilometers (37 miles) a second. The comet poses no threat to Earth, said Richard Moissl, head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency (ESA). It's closest approach of Earth, which is projected to occur in late October, will see it pass "just inside the orbit of Mars," according to Moissl. It will pass our blue dot no closer than 240 million kilometres – over 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. While it will be quite far away, it might still be a once in a lifetime spot for stargazers. Researchers reckon 3I/ATLAS should be visible through a reasonably-sized amateur telescope sometime in late 2025 and early 2026. An exact date - or days - will be announced closer to the time. 6 An artist's impression of 'Oumuamua, the first known interstellar visitor in our solar system Credit: Nasa All you need to know about planets in our solar system Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all... How old is Earth? Plus other facts on our planet How many moons does Mercury have? What colour is Venus? How far away is Mars to Earth? And other facts on the red planet How big is Jupiter? How many moons does Saturn have? Does Uranus have rings? How many moons does Neptune have? How big is Pluto? How hot is the Sun?
The Irish Sun
11-07-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Mystery space rock blazing through solar system ‘may be oldest comet ever seen' – and there's a chance you can spot it
AN INTERSTELLAR space rock zooming through our solar system may be the oldest comet ever seen by humans, according to researchers. The mysterious cosmic object was discovered last week, and is believed to have travelled from interstellar space. Advertisement 6 ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has obtained new images of the comet and its path, shown as a dotted line Credit: ESO/O. Hainaut 6 An artist's impression of an interstellar comet Credit: ESA 6 The interstellar comet is seen inside the red box Credit: David Rankin / Saguaro Observatory Now researchers say the comet could be older than our solar system by more than three billion years. That would make the rock a whopping 7.6billion years old, University of Oxford astronomer Matthew Hopkins told the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Durham. The ancient hunk of debris, named 3I/ATLAS, is covered in water-based ice - which has given it The celestial visitor is only the third interstellar object on record to grace our solar system, and is also likely the largest yet detected. Advertisement READ MORE ON SPACE It follows the rare visits from the famous 1I/ʻOumuamua asteroid in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. Unlike the previous two interstellar objects to enter our solar system, 3I/ATLAS appears to be travelling on a steep path through the galaxy. Its current trajectory suggests it originated from the Milky Way's 'thick disk' – a field of ancient stars. No comet from that region has ever graced Earth with a flyby, according to astronomers. Advertisement Most read in Tech Exclusive 6 The comet was first spotted on 1 July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile Credit: ESA "All non-interstellar comets such as Halley's comet formed with our solar system, so are up to 4.5billion years old," said Hopkins. "But interstellar visitors have the potential to be far older, and of those known about so far our statistical method suggests that 3I/ATLAS is very likely to be the oldest comet we have ever seen." Incredible moment a fireball comet is spotted racing past stunning aurora towards Earth The comet was first spotted on 1 July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile. Advertisement But ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has obtained new images of the comet and its path, shown as a dotted line. Professor Chris Lintott, co-author of the study and presenter of the BBC's The Sky at Night, added: "This is an object from a part of the galaxy we've never seen up close before. "We think there's a two-thirds chance this comet is older than the solar system, and that it's been drifting through interstellar space ever since." What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet? Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa... Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth) Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it'll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn't vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vaporizing) The lonesome space rock, believed to be leftover material of the early solar system, has been on quite the journey over its lifetime. Advertisement As it approaches our Sun, the rock will heat up and release gas and dust from the heart of the comet. It's this that gives comet's their fuzzy glow and tail. Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre, said last week: "It looks kind of fuzzy... It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail." 6 Comet A11pl3Z's path through the solar system Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Advertisement While astronomers are still refining their calculations, the object appears to be zooming more than 60 kilometers (37 miles) a second. The comet poses no threat to Earth, said Richard Moissl, head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency (ESA). It's closest approach of Earth, which is projected to occur in late October, will see it pass "just inside the orbit of Mars," according to Moissl. It will pass our blue dot no closer than 240 million kilometres – over 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Advertisement While it will be quite far away, it might still be a once in a lifetime spot for stargazers. Researchers reckon 3I/ATLAS should be visible through a reasonably-sized amateur telescope sometime in late 2025 and early 2026. An exact date - or days - will be announced closer to the time. 6 An artist's impression of 'Oumuamua, the first known interstellar visitor in our solar system Credit: Nasa Advertisement All you need to know about planets in our solar system Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all... How old is How many moons does What colour is How far away is How big is How many moons does Does How many moons does How big is How hot is the
Yomiuri Shimbun
10-07-2025
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Astronomers Get Picture of Aftermath of Double Detonation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The explosion of a star, called a supernova, is an immensely violent event. It usually involves a star more than eight times the mass of our sun that exhausts its nuclear fuel and undergoes a core collapse, triggering a single powerful explosion. But a rarer kind of supernova involves a different type of star — a stellar ember called a white dwarf — and a double detonation. Researchers have obtained photographic evidence of this type of supernova for the first time, using the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope. The back-to-back explosions obliterated a white dwarf that had a mass roughly equal to the sun and was located about 160,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Dorado in a galaxy near the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud. The image shows the scene of the explosion roughly 300 years after it occurred, with two concentric shells of the element calcium moving outward. This type of explosion, called a Type Ia supernova, would have involved the interaction between a white dwarf and a closely orbiting companion star — either another white dwarf or an unusual star rich in helium — in what is called a binary system. The primary white dwarf through its gravitational pull would begin to siphon helium from its companion. The helium on the white dwarf's surface at some point would become so hot and dense that it would detonate, producing a shockwave that would compress and ignite the star's underlying core and trigger a second detonation. 'Nothing remains. The white dwarf is completely disrupted,' said Priyam Das, a doctoral student in astrophysics at the University of New South Wales Canberra in Australia, lead author of the study published on July 2 in the journal Nature Astronomy. 'The time delay between the two detonations is essentially set by the time it takes the helium detonation to travel from one pole of the star all the way around to the other. It's only about two seconds,' said astrophysicist and study coauthor Ivo Seitenzahl, a visiting scientist at the Australian National University in Canberra. In the more common type of supernova, a remnant of the massive exploded star is left behind in the form of a dense neutron star or a black hole. The researchers used the Very Large Telescope's Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, or MUSE, instrument to map the distribution of different chemical elements in the supernova aftermath. Calcium is seen in blue in the image — an outer ring caused by the first detonation and an inner ring by the second. These two calcium shells represent 'the perfect smoking-gun evidence of the double-detonation mechanism,' Das said. 'We can call this forensic astronomy — my made-up term — since we are studying the dead remains of stars to understand what caused the death,' Das said. Stars with up to eight times the mass of our sun appear destined to become a white dwarf. They eventually burn up all the hydrogen they use as fuel. Gravity then causes them to collapse and blow off their outer layers in a 'red giant' stage, eventually leaving behind a compact core — the white dwarf. The vast majority of these do not explode as supernovas. While scientists knew of the existence of Type Ia supernovas, there had been no clear visual evidence of such a double detonation until now. Type Ia supernovas are important in terms of celestial chemistry in that they forge heavier elements such as calcium, sulfur and iron. 'This is essential for understanding galactic chemical evolution including the building blocks of planets and life,' Das said. A shell of sulfur also was seen in the new observations of the supernova aftermath. Iron is a crucial part of Earth's planetary composition and, of course, a component of human red blood cells. In addition to its scientific importance, the image offers aesthetic value. 'It's beautiful,' Seitenzahl said. 'We are seeing the birth process of elements in the death of a star. The Big Bang only made hydrogen and helium and lithium. Here we see how calcium, sulfur or iron are made and dispersed back into the host galaxy, a cosmic cycle of matter.'
