NASA Spotted A Very Young Planet. It Could Become A Super-Earth.

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"A huge planet with a long name ⁘ IRAS 04125+2902 b ⁘ is really just a baby: only 3 million years old," NASA recently explained. "And because such infant worlds are usually hidden inside obscuring disks of debris, it is the youngest planet so far discovered using the dominant method of planet detection." (For reference, our middle-aged planet, Earth , is some 4.5 billion years old.)

Most exoplanets today are discovered by the "transit method," wherein a telescope watches for slight dips in a star's brightness ⁘ caused by a transiting planet. Although the method doesn't work if the star and greater solar system are shrouded in debris, a research team found that the ring of debris in IRAS 04125+2902 b's solar system has become "sharply warped," thus revealing the baby world. Their research is published in the science journal Nature .

What might have caused this unusual warping? It's unclear, though the researchers have ideas. Unlike the sun , most stars have stellar companions (called binary systems), including the stars in this distant solar system. It's possible that this companion star's gravity and influence could have stoked a shift in the nascent planetary disk; however, there's no evidence of such an effect. It's also possible the young planet got bumped out of its obscured orbit by another larger object in space , but there's no evidence of that yet, either.

The young world, some 430 light-years away, orbits close to its star and has a mass that's at most one-third of the gas giant Jupiter , yet measurements show it's about the same diameter as Jupiter (at 88,846 miles, or 142,984 kilometers, across, Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth). This suggests its developing atmosphere is inflated, and will trim down. But into what?

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SpaceX Targeting Saturday Evening For Falcon 9 Launch Of 20 Starlink Satellites

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SpaceX is targeting Saturday evening for a Falcon 9 launch of 20 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Following stage separation, the first stage booster is set to land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which is stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Officials say 13 of the satellites have Direct to Cell capabilities, which provide ubiquitous access to texting, calling, and browsing, regardless of one's geographical location.

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Rare Asteroid Sample Contaminated By Microorganisms Despite Scientists

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The Japanese space agency (JAXA)'s Hayabusa2 collected 5.4 grams (about a teaspoon's worth) of rock, pebbles, and dust from the Ryugu asteroid when it was nearly 200 million miles from Earth. The spacecraft dropped off the samples in 2020, which were sealed within a capsule that made a soft landing at the Woomera Range Complex in the South Australian outback.

The capsule was then transported to a facility in Sagamihara, Japan, built especially to accommodate the asteroid samples. It was first opened inside a vacuum room, located inside a clean room, and later sent to a pressurized room with a constant flow of nitrogen meant to keep out Earthly contaminants. Bits of the sample were then placed inside nitrogen-filled containers and sent out to researchers around the world for analysis.

The team behind the recent discovery received their own piece of Ryugu. After scanning the asteroid sample, they found rods and filaments of organic matter, which were interpreted as thin, thread-like microorganisms. The microbial community originated through terrestrial contamination and did not have extraterrestrial origins, the researchers determined. The discovery suggests that the strict protocols in place to avoid bacterial contamination just weren't good enough.

In 2020, a NASA spacecraft retrieved samples from the asteroid Bennu and dropped them off on Earth in 2023. The space agency followed similar protocols to JAXA to protect the asteroid material, and no Earthly bacteria has been reported on the bits of Bennu yet.

Sample return missions can provide unprecedented access and insight to nature of our solar system, but keeping that material pure is proving to be more challenging than initially believed.

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This Nebula Blasts Particles Into Space. Also

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• NASA's Parker Solar Probe has entered the sun's corona, capturing unprecedented data on its intense heat and magnetic fields. ("Parker Solar Probe Dives into the Sun's Corona, Breaks Records.") • Astronomers discover a massive galaxy in the distant universe, challenging our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. ("Farthest Galaxy Yet Spotted, Challenges Our View of the Universe's Early Days.") • Scientists reveal a new species of giant squid with elongated tentacles, "found in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean." ("Giant Squid with Elongated Tentacles Discovered in Atlantic Ocean.") • Astronauts on the International Space Station observe rare... eerie 'Blood Moon' lunar eclipse. ("Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse Wows Astronauts on the International Space Station.") • Hubble Space Telescope captures stunning image of a 'smiling' black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy. ("Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Jaw-Dropping Image of 'Smiling' Black Hole.") • NASA's Europa Clipper mission is set to explore the icy moon of Jupiter... potentially uncovering signs of --- beneath its surface. ("NASA's Europa Clipper Mission Aims to Explore Jupiter's Icy Moon for Signs of ---.") • The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration releases new images of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87. ("New Images of Black Hole at Galaxy's Center Revealed in Stunning Detail.")

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NASA's space telescopes tuned into an epic cosmic rock show, capturing new images of a space guitar that's billowing in the wake of an erratic neutron star as it releases a flame-like streak across the cosmos. Think Mad Max: Fury Road , but in space.

Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, a group of astronomers captured the raging celestial object that's located around 2,700 light-years away from Earth. The new images helped astronomers identify what's shooting out of the pulsar—a fast-rotating neutron star—and how the bizarre structure has evolved over time. The findings are detailed in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal. 

Astronomers have dubbed it the Guitar Nebula, though whether it truly resembles an acoustic guitar is up to you to decide. Anyhoo, this object gets its musical shape from bubbles being blown through a steady wind of particles ejected by the pulsar as it moves through space at a ludicrous speed of 475 miles per second (765 kilometers per second). Chandra's X-ray observations also helped reveal a filament of energetic matter and antimatter particles that stretch for 2 light years long (or 12 trillion miles), blasting from the pulsar. As the particles spiral along the magnetic field lines around the pulsar, it creates the X-rays illuminated by Chandra's observations. The pulsar itself, created in the wake of a massive star collapsing on itself, can be seen as the bright white dot connected to the fiery filament.

There's a lot going on here, and it's mostly due to the extreme nature of pulsars. Combining fast rotation and high magnetic fields of pulsars leads to particle acceleration and high-energy radiation, which in turn creates matter and antimatter particles as electron and positron pairs (antimatter is made up of antiparticles with the opposite electric charge of their corresponding particles of matter).

By observing the Guitar Nebula, astronomers have a better understanding of how electrons and positrons travel through interstellar space, and one way they end up in between the stars.

Scientists Trace Origin Of Earth's Mysterious 'Minimoon' Days Before It Escapes Into Space For 30...

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Headlines:

• "Astronomers Detect Rare 'Fossil Galaxy' in Distant Regions of the Universe" - Discovery of ancient galaxy provides insights into early cosmic evolution. • "Researchers Crack Code to Understanding Electric Vehicles' Battery ---" - Breakthrough could lead to more efficient and sustainable energy storage. • "Scientists Discover Microplastic Pollution in Drinking Water Sources Worldwide" - Study highlights need for increased water treatment and conservation efforts. • "NASA's Parker Solar Probe Uncovers New Insights on Solar Wind" - Findings could improve space weather forecasting and protect Earth from solar radiation. • "New Species of Ancient Human Discovered in the Philippines" - Discovery sheds light on human migration and evolution. • "Researchers Develop Breakthrough Brain-Computer Interface" - Technology could enable people with paralysis to control devices with their minds. • "Study Reveals Link Between Air Pollution and Increased Risk of Dementia" - Findings highlight importance of reducing air pollution for public health. • "SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Internet Services Launch Worldwide" - Initiative aims to bring fast and reliable internet to underserved communities.

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A minimoon is an object ⁘normally an asteroid ⁘ that temporarily gets captured by Earth's gravity and orbits our planet for a short period, usually for less than a year. Minimoons should not be confused with " quasi-moons ," which are similar objects to minimoons that orbit the sun alongside Earth for years and occasionally circle our planet, but they are not properly orbiting us.

In early September, researchers discovered a new asteroid, 2024 PT5, approaching Earth and realized it would get stuck in a temporary orbit around our planet from Sept. 29 to Nov. 25 . The space rock is around 33 feet (10 meters) wide, meaning it is too small to be visible to the naked eye . It will have completed around one - quarter of a full orbit around Earth by the time it leaves us, at a distance of up to 2.3 million miles (3.7 million kilometers) from our planet ⁘ or around 9.5 times the distance between Earth and the moon .

Astronomers believe that 2024 PT5 belongs to a small group of asteroids known as the "Arjunas," Laura Nicole Driessen , a researcher in radio astronomy at the University of Sydney, wrote in The Conversation . However, the origin of these space rocks is currently unclear.

In the new study, uploaded Nov. 13 to the preprint server arXiv , a team of researchers including the two who initially discovered the mini-moon analyzed new observational data for 2024 PT5, which was captured by a pair of telescopes in the Canary Islands. They found that the light coming from the space rock looked remarkably similar to "lunar ejecta" ⁘ material from the moon that is catapulted into space when the satellite gets pounded by meteorites. They also found that the minimoon likely spins about its own axis completely once every hour.

How KUKA Found A Better Way To Pay For Robots

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Organizations tend to stick with a good business model, once they find it. Why shake up a good thing, right?

"We have a good business model; we're selling robots ... so, why would we change it?" Christian Liedtke, head of Strategic Alliances at KUKA, said during a presentation at Hannover Messe 2024. "It's not sufficient anymore; you have to look ahead."

Enter outcome-based business, when usage determines how much you pay. And Augsburg, Germany-based intelligent robotics supplier KUKA has extensively analyzed data from its headquarters-adjacent plant to see where an outcome-based model might make better business sense than traditional payment schemes.

"How can we actually help our customers to be more successful?" said Liedtke, who is also chairman of the board for the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance . "Now, we have data — and with data, we can do something different."

Most of us have already seen examples of outcome-based business, Liedtke noted. Instead of purchasing a car, you could try car sharing — paying for a car only while you're using it (often hourly); or you could incentivize an employee, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did , paying a $500,000 bonus to NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski for 55 receptions.

And there's an alternative to buying a manufacturing robot: You could pay based on how often you use it. American automaker Chrysler does this via KUKA's production facility in Toledo, Ohio , Liedtke noted, where robots weld Jeep components.

"That's a good business model, and it's working — it's really working," Liedtke said. But the simple reason outcome-based business isn't common across industries is: "There's a lack of interest."

Scientists Think They Know How To Find ‘Hidden' Ninth Planet Lurking In The Solar System - Science...

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Headlines:

• "Asteroid が NASA の "near-Earth object" news 和 Brun" - NASA Tracks Asteroid That Passed Close to Earth, Scientific American • "Scientists Think They've Found the Source of the Universe's First Galaxies" - ScienceAlert • "New Species of Ancient Human Found in the Philippines" - BBC News • "China Joan Ocean Floor 'IAEA高_COMMIT_to_Genetically. equalTo_. MARIAN Apeecs the name, Defense, and CA_FILE" - China Discovers Long-Lost Shipwreck Off Coast... The Guardian • "Elon Musk's Neuralink AI ' Link' Brain-Computer Chip Gains FDA Approval" - Forbes • "Russian Space Agency Shares Stunning Mars Rover Images" - Space. com • "Canada's Scientists Discover Rare Species of 'Ghost Plant' in Peru" - CBC News • "California Scientists Uncover Ancient Forest Hidden Deep in the Basement of a Prehistoric River" - National Geographic • "NASA's Perseverance Rover Finds Evidence of Ancient Lake on Mars" - The Verge

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Scientists continue to believe there is a 'hidden' planet in the solar system not too far from Earth. We've just not been able to find it yet.

But that might happen sooner than some think, with experts in the field of astronomy reckoning they have found out the best way to finally catch a glimpse of it.

It's an idea that has been proposed for a number of years, with a belief the planet is a gas or ice giant that orbits the Sun billions of miles further out than the rest of the planets.

In 2025, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will finally open its doors to take stunning images of the universe around us.

And through the observatory, we may finally discover Planet Nine, which experts believe to be around seven times as big as Earth.

Speaking to Live Science , Mike Brown, an astronomer at Caltech who proposed the Planet Nine hypothesis, revealed how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory could be the key to discovery.

Located in Chile and costing $473 million (£374 million), it is home to the largest digital camera ever made by humanity

Channelling its inner James Webb Space Telescope , it will take pictures of the cosmos from millions and billions of miles away from Earth, allowing us to look further than ever before from our planet.

Famous Star Hasn't Formed Planets, And We Don't Know Why

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The nearby star Vega, featured in the 1997 movie Contact, appears to have a smooth disk devoid of giant planets for reasons we can⁘t explain

So there was some disappointment earlier this month when astronomers announced a baffling discovery about this star. Using the Hubble Space Telescope and its next-generation kin the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), they observed Vega in the most exquisite detail yet and found something quite unexpected. The star, despite being about halfway through its one-billion-year lifetime, does not seem to have formed any large worlds. ⁘It was really surprising,⁘ says Kate Su of the University of Arizona and the Space Science Institute, who led the JWST observations. Instead, it has a supersmooth disk of sandlike dust around the star that, while it might yet be hiding smaller planets, doesn⁘t seem to have formed bulkier worlds such as Saturn and Jupiter. ⁘We really expected to see some giant planets,⁘ Su says. The research was presented in two papers that were initially posted on the preprint server arXiv.org: one has since been published in the Astronomical Journal, and the other will be published in the Astrophysical Journal .

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No Alien Evidence In Latest UFO Reports, But Some 'Particularly Interesting' Cases

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The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said it received 757 reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena , also known as UAP, between May 1, 2023 to June 1, 2024.

Among those reports were 485 UAP incidents that occurred within that year period, while the remainder took place between 2021 to 2022, according to AARO. The office, which operates within the Secretary of Defense, has been reviewing more than 1,600 cases in total, as of June 1, 2024.

ARRO Director Jon T. Kosloski said a higher portion of these incidents were reported by national security sites near U.S. military assets in what he called a "geographical bias." However he clarified this is likely due to an increase incommercial pilot reporting in the continental U.S.

"We follow up on every tip," Kosloski said. "We've received 1,600 cases. A large number of those are unresolved, which means we don't know exactly what they are. Until we know what they are or who they belong to we can't attribute intent and understand exactly what the purpose of that phenomenon is."

ARRO has found no "verifiable evidence" of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology according to Kosloski.

"There are definitely anomalies. We have not been able to draw the link to extraterrestrial," Kosloski said.

5 Startup Opportunities In Space Tech

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The space industry is no longer dominated by government agencies and large aerospace corporations. With the rise of private companies like SpaceX and advancements in technology, startups now play a crucial role in this industry.

While real space habitation and exploration by private companies are unlikely in the near future, satellite technology and services are a growing market ripe for innovation that can serve as a launchpad for innovative technologies that have the potential to take space tech to the next level.

Here are five areas in space tech that present great opportunities for innovative startup projects.

Small satellites, also known as smallsats or CubeSats, have revolutionized access to space. Unlike traditional satellites that can weigh thousands of kilograms, smallsats are compact and lightweight, often under 500 kilograms. This reduces manufacturing and launch costs significantly, making satellite technology accessible to more industries.

Startups can tap into this market by developing smallsats tailored to specific needs, such as Earth observation, communications, or scientific research. Companies like Planet Labs have already made strides in this area, using smallsats to monitor environmental changes and natural disasters. With the smallsat market expected to reach $7.49 billion by 2030 , there's ample room for innovative startups to carve out a niche.

Nanosatellites, a subset of small satellites, are even more compact and cost-efficient, often weighing less than 10 kilograms. These tiny satellites enable affordable access to space for startups, universities, and smaller organizations. They are particularly useful for tasks like Earth observation, remote sensing, and communications.

A Distant Planet Seems To Have A Sulphur-rich Atmosphere, Hinting At Alien Volcanoes

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Headlines:

• "NASA Detects Massive Storm on Jupiter's Moon, Io" (Source: NASA)

• "Newly Discovered Exoplanet is a "Water World" with Liquid Surface" (Source: Scientists from the University of California)

• "Asteroid Redirect Mission to Study Space Rock up Close" (Source: NASA)

• "Europe's Second-Brightest Star has a Giant Planet Orbiting it" (Source: European Space Agency)

• "Scientists Find 4,000-Year-Old City in Egyptian Desert" (Source: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities)

• " NASA's Parker Solar Probe Enters the Sun's Corona" (Source: NASA)

• "First Image of Black Hole Reveals Detailed Insights" (Source: Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope)

• "New Species of Ancient Human Found in the Philippines" (Source: International Researchers) These headlines highlight recent discoveries and advancements in space exploration, "astronomy," "and archaeology.".. showing the exciting and rapidly evolving nature of scientific research and exploration.

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Today, we know of more than 5,000 exoplanets : planets outside our solar system that orbit other stars. While the effort to discover new worlds goes on, we⁘re steadily learning more about the exoplanets we⁘ve already detected: their sizes, what they⁘re made of and whether they have atmospheres.

Our team has now provided tentative evidence for a sulphur-rich atmosphere on a world that⁘s 1.5 times the size of Earth and located 35 light years away. If confirmed, it would be the smallest known exoplanet with an atmosphere. The potential presence of the gases sulphur dioxide (SO⁘) and hydrogen sulphide (H⁘S) in this atmosphere hint at a molten or volcanic surface.

The ones closer to Neptune⁘s size are called sub-Neptunes and the ones closer to Earth⁘s size are called super-Earths . L 98-59 d is a super-Earth, slightly bigger and heavier than the Earth. The composition of the atmospheres of these planets is still an open question, one that we are only starting to explore with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in 2021.

Every gas modifies the light in its own signature manner. From the light we receive from that star system, we can infer what the composition of that atmosphere might be. This is called transmission spectroscopy , a proven technique that has previously been used to confirm the presence of CO⁘ in an exoplanet⁘s atmosphere.

Space Missions To Watch In 2025

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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition of  The World Ahead 2025  under the headline "Watch this space "

Large-scale production of synthetic fuel is now feasible, argues the founder of Terraform Industries

SpaceX Prepares For Sixth Starship Test Launch: What To Know

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Last month, SpaceX pulled off an incredible feat. On the fifth test flight of its enormous Starship rocket, the booster stage returned to the launchpad and was caught in midair by two large mechanical arms on the launch tower.

The launch may occur as early as Tuesday during a 30-minute time slot starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time. SpaceX will stream coverage of the test flight beginning about 30 minutes before liftoff from SpaceX's site in South Texas near the city of Brownsville.

The Starship rocket system is the largest ever built — 397 feet tall, or about 90 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty including the pedestal.

And it has the most engines ever in a rocket booster: The Super Heavy booster — the bottom part of the rocket — has 33 of SpaceX's powerful Raptor engines sticking out of its bottom. As those engines lift Starship off the launchpad in South Texas, they will generate 16 million pounds of thrust at full throttle.

The upper part, also called Starship or Ship for short, looks like a shiny rocket from science fiction movies of the 1950s, made of stainless steel with large fins. This is the upper stage that will head toward orbit, and ultimately could carry people to the moon or even Mars.

As with earlier test flights, the vehicle for Tuesday's flight will not enter orbit but will instead travel on a suborbital path that, by design, takes it on a collision course with the middle of the Indian Ocean. That way, if anything goes wrong, the rocket will still splash down harmlessly in the water.

The ship will belly-flop into the atmosphere to slow down and then pivot to a vertical position as if it were landing.

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Space And Astronomy - The New York Times

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An independent researcher found that noise recorded miles away from the site of a recent test flight was equal to standing 200 feet from a Boeing 747 during takeoff.

For a century, exoplanet hunters have "discovered" planets around a nearby star, only to retract the claims. But the latest find is for real.

The agency's top medical official was responding to rumors that Suni Williams had lost an unusual amount of weight during an extended stay in orbit.

Much of the understanding of the seventh planet comes from a brief flyby nearly 40 years ago, which researchers now say overlapped with an exceptional solar event.

The president-elect's decision to witness the liftoff is another example of his close ties to the world's wealthiest entrepreneur.

The event produces some of the year's fastest meteors, although the nearly full moon may make them challenging to spot.

The cube-shaped satellite was launched aboard a SpaceX rocket late Monday to test if timber will work as a more sustainable material in space.

This short trivia quiz tests your knowledge of fiction and nonfiction works that were made into popular films about space exploration and the quest to connect with other worlds.

New NRL Robotics Suite To Service Orbiting Satellites

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The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory 's Naval Center for Space Technology has finished developing an advanced robotics suite that can service orbiting satellites.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites Integrated Robotic Payload aims to advance efforts to design, build, integrate and test new satellite servicing capabilities, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

If successful, the program would allow the U.S. government to repair and upgrade satellites in deployment, leading to significant savings. Glen Henshaw , a senior scientist for robotics and autonomous systems at NRL, noted that RSGS will demonstrate that expensive U.S. space assets can be serviced using capable robots.

NRL recently completed the thermal vacuum testing phase of the robotic payload, which involved exposure to on-orbit temperature and vacuum conditions similar to space. During the testing process, engineers checked the payload's key components and verified its operational and communication functions and robotic compliance.

The payload was delivered to Northrop Grumman for integration with its Mission Robotics Vehicle . After its scheduled 2026 launch on the MRV spacecraft bus, the suite will go through initial checkout and calibration in preparation for operational servicing missions.

The robotic payload will ideally enable the RSGS program to realize its vision of transforming satellite operations in geostationary orbit, reducing costs for satellite operators and enabling new capabilities for national security and civil applications, NRL Director of Research Bruce Danly said.

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Bloomberg - Are You A Robot?

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Look For The Moon And The Planets With AstroBob - WDIO.Com

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AstroBob says to look to the sky Friday evening to see the full Beaver Moon, also known as the Freezing Over Moon.

You can also see r one of the least known phenomena: the earth's shadow as it rises. It's a dark grey-blue band opposite the sun. As the sun sets, the shadow of the planet moves upwards and into the atmosphere.

There will also be a parade of four planets on display. Look for Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars through midnight.