Brighter Skies Ahead—As solar max approaches, new tech is on call

By -
https://eos.org/agu-news/brighter-skies-ahead

By Heather Goss, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: ...An impressive cadre of Sun-targeted missions has recently come online to replace or support an aging fleet of spacecraft, just as solar max is about to set in. ...In February 2020, Solar Orbiter launched from Florida, carrying 10 state-of-the-art instruments to make the closest ever observations of the Sun. Daniele Telloni and colleagues, in “A New Journey Around (and Around) the Sun,” describe for us “the groundbreaking observations that Solar Orbiter has made already,” such as the “short-lived, small-scale flickering bright spots, nicknamed ‘campfires,’ in the solar corona.” Not only will this joint European Space Agency–NASA mission shed new light on the unsolved mysteries of the Sun, but also it’s revealing a new side of Venus from its 2020 flyby. ...in our next feature, “Shake, Rattle, and Probe.” Helioseismology is a burgeoning discipline that allows physicists to better understand the structure of our star. ...“11 Discoveries Awaiting Us at Solar Max,” get excited about peering inside coronal mass ejections, creating “Sun to mud” predictions, and better understanding magnetic fields throughout our solar system.…

Popular posts from this blog

Stellar remains of famed 1987 supernova found at last

By -
https://www.science.org/content/article/stellar-remains-famed-1987-supernova-found-last By DANIEL CLERY , Science.  Excerpt: When a nearby star exploded in 1987, it created the first supernova visible to the naked eye in 4 centuries and became one of the most intensely studied objects in space. Now, after more than 35 years of searching, researchers have finally discovered the cinder left behind. Using NASA’s new giant space telescope JWST, astronomers spotted  glowing gas at the center of the blast that can only have been energized by something hot and compact inside it , they report this week in Science. They believe a neutron star, all that remains of the shattered star, is responsible.... 
Read more

Planets around dead stars offer glimpse of the Solar System’s future—after the Sun swallows us up

By -
https://www.science.org/content/article/planets-around-dead-stars-offer-glimpse-solar-system-s-future-after-sun-swallows-us By JONATHAN O’CALLAGHAN , Science.  Excerpt: In about 5 billion years the Sun will balloon up into a red giant, consuming Mercury, probably Venus, and maybe even Earth. But even if the outer planets avoid being swallowed up, they might eventually get pulled in or ejected from the Solar System. A new discovery suggests they can survive intact. Using NASA’s JWST space telescope, astronomers have for the first time directly imaged planets on Solar System–like orbits around white dwarfs, the dead stars left after Sun-like stars swell into red giants and subside. The planets follow orbits resembling those of the giant planets in the outer Solar System—big enough for them to have escaped the inferno.... For GSS A Changing Cosmos chapter 1.
Read more

Supernova of a Generation: Brightest Exploding Star in 40 Years Spotted

By -
Source:   IB Times Excerpt: Astronomers from Berkeley have discovered the closest supernova, or exploded star, in 40 years in the Pinwheel Galaxy, located just 21 million light-years from Earth. ...Being the source of most of the chemical elements in the universe heavier than iron, supernovas also play an important role in the evolution of galaxies and planetary systems. They also seed the rest of space with elements such as carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, and can "nudge" gas clouds into collapsing to form new star systems. www.ibtimes.com/art/services/print.php
Read more