Lifeboat Foundation

This week, see how new telescopes may reshape how astronomers view the cosmos, discover forgotten medieval cities, learn about fireflies’ early evolution, and more.

Astronomers discover largest water reservoir surrounding a quasar 12 billion light-years away.

Abstract: We report the discovery of a bright pulse having a dispersion measure (DM) equal to 134.4 \pm 2 pc cm^{-3}, a peak flux density (S_p) equal to 20 \pm 4 Jy and a half-width (W_e) equal to 211 \pm 6 ms. The excessive DM of the pulse, after taking into account the Milky Way contribution, is 114 pc cm^{-3} that indicates its extragalactic origin. Such value of DM corresponds to the luminosity distance 713 Mpc. The above parameters make the pulse to be a reliable candidate to the fast radio burst (FRB) event, and then it is the second FRB detected at such a large \lambda \sim 2.7 m wavelength and the first one among non-repeating FRBs. The normalized luminosity L_
u of the event, which we have designated as FRB 20,190,203, estimated under assumption that the whole excessive DM is determined by the intergalactic environment toward the host galaxy, is equal to \simeq 10^{34} erg s^{-1} Hz{-1}. In addition to the study of radio data we analyzed data from the quasi-simultaneous observations of the sky in the high energy (\ge 80 keV) band by the omnidirectional detector SPI/ACS aboard the INTEGRAL orbital observatory (in order to look for a possible gamma-ray counterpart of FRB 20190203). We did not detect any transient events exceeding the background at a statistically significant level. In the INTEGRAL archive, the FRB 20,190,203 localization region has been observed many times with a total exposure of \sim 73.2 days. We have analyzed the data but were unable to find any reliable short gamma-ray bursts from the FRB 20,190,203 position. Finally we note that the observed properties of FRB 20,190,203 can be reproduced well in the framework of a maser synchrotron model operating in the far reverse shock (at a distance of \sim 10^{15} cm) of a magnetar. However, triggering the burst requires a high conversion efficiency (at the level of 1%) of the shock wave energy into the radio emission.

From: Sergey Tyul’bashev A. [view email].

A 1930s-era breakthrough is helping physicists understand how quantum threads could weave together into a holographic space-time fabric.

Considering the future: What Voyager 2 has in store

According to Miller (2024), even though this instrument has been deactivated, engineers anticipate that Voyager 2 will have at least one operable instrument for exploration through the 2030s. The spacecraft continues to operate and transmit data. NASA is also hoping that the spacecraft continues to provide valid information about the interstellar medium too.

The seamless continuation of activities was made possible by the confirmation that the instrument was operating normally. In 2018, it was confirmed that Voyager 2 had crossed the heliosphere’s border and entered interstellar space thanks in large part to the plasma science instrument. Significant changes in atoms, particles, and magnetic fields that are detectable by the instruments of the Voyager probes define this barrier.

NASA recently evaluated initial flight data and imagery from Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-4 (PTD-4), confirming proper checkout of the spacecraft’s systems including its on-board electronics as well as the payload’s support systems such as the small onboard camera. Shown above is a test image of Earth taken by the payload camera, shortly after PTD-4 reached orbit. This camera will continue photographing the technology demonstration during the mission.

Payload operations are now underway for the primary objective of the PTD-4 mission – the demonstration of a new power and communications technology for future spacecraft. The payload, a deployable solar array with an integrated antenna called the Lightweight Integrated Solar Array and anTenna, or LISA-T, has initiated deployment of its central boom structure. The boom supports four solar power and communication arrays, also called petals. Releasing the central boom pushes the still-stowed petals nearly three feet (one meter) away from the spacecraft bus. The mission team currently is working through an initial challenge to get LISA-T’s central boom to fully extend before unfolding the petals and beginning its power generation and communication operations.

Continue reading “NASA Begins New Deployable Solar Array Tech Demo on Pathfinder Spacecraft” »

Comet’s distance from the sun: 75 million miles (121 million kilometers)

Comet’s distance from Earth: 71 million miles (115 million kilometers)

So far, the guiding lights to find the comet have been the bright planet Venus and the bright red star Arcturus. However, as October draws to a close, both are so close to the horizon an hour after sunset that they’re unlikely to be visible. So, instead, use the stars of the Summer Triangle to find the comet. Vega in the constellation Lyra should be easy enough to find above due west and, above it, Deneb in Cygnus.

Inspired by the half-human, half-horse creatures that are part of Ancient Greek mythology, the field of astronomy has its own kind of centaurs: distant objects orbiting the sun between Jupiter and Neptune. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has mapped the gases spewing from one of these objects, suggesting a varied composition and providing new insights into the formation and evolution of the solar system.

Centaurs are former trans-Neptunian objects that have been moved inside Neptune’s orbit by subtle gravitational influences of the planets in the last few million years, and may eventually become short-period comets. They are “hybrid” in the sense that they are in a transitional stage of their orbital evolution: Many share characteristics with both trans-Neptunian objects (from the cold Kuiper Belt reservoir), and short-period comets, which are objects highly altered by repeated close passages around the sun.

Since these small icy bodies are in an orbital transitional phase, they have been the subject of various studies as scientists seek to understand their composition, the reasons behind their outgassing activity—the loss of their ices that lie underneath the surface—and how they serve as a link between primordial icy bodies in the outer solar system and evolved comets.

The Radcliffe Wave, a 9,000 light-year-long structure, is oscillating through the Milky Way.

The Milky Way galaxy is far from static. One striking example of its dynamic nature is the discovery of the Radcliffe Wave, a massive, 9,000 light-year-long structure made of star-forming gas. Located just 500 light-years from the Solar System at its nearest point, the Radcliffe Wave was first identified in 2018 using data from the Gaia spacecraft, with findings published in 2020. But recent research has unveiled something even more intriguing: this enormous structure is not just moving in its orbit around the galactic center, it’s also oscillating like a wave.