WDBD FOX 40 Jackson MS Local News, Weather and Sports

WDBD Television for Jackson, MS

    fox-news/science/air-and-space/astronomy

    NASA releases black hole sonifications

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has released two new sonifications of well-known black holes.

    The first came from a black hole at the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster, which was made well-known due to sound waves detected around it by Chandra in astronomers 2003. 

    SPACEX’S CREW-3 ASTRONAUTS RETURN HOME FROM ISS WITH SUCCESSFUL SPLASHDOWN OFF FLORIDA COAST

    In a release, the observatory wrote that scientists discovered pressure waves from the black hole caused ripples in the cluster’s hot gas that could be translated into a note some 57 octaves below middle C. 

    NASA notes that the sonification is unique because it revisits the actual sound waves discovered in Chandra’s data. 

    The sound waves were extracted outwards from the center and the signals were then resynthesized into the range of human hearing by scaling them upward by 57 and 58 octaves above their true pitch. 

    “The popular misconception that there is no sound in space originates with the fact that most of space is essentially a vacuum, providing no medium for sound waves to propagate through,” Chandra wrote. “A galaxy cluster, on the other hand, has copious amounts of gas that envelop the hundreds or even thousands of galaxies within it, providing a medium for the sound waves to travel.”

    NEW MEXICO WILDFIRES CAPTURED IN NASA SATELLITE IMAGES

    In the visual image of these data blue and purple both show X-ray data captured by Chandra and the radar-like scan allows people to hear waves emitted in different directions.

    For the black hole at the center of Galaxy M87, or Messier 87, the sonification does not feature the data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project – which made it famous in 2019 – but looks at data from other telescopes that observed M87 on much wider scales at roughly the same time. 

    Listeners can hear representations of three different wavelengths of light, including X-rays from Chandra, optical light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and radio waves from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile. 

    In the corresponding image, the brightest region on the left is where the black hole is found and the structure to the right is a jet produced by the black hole. 

    The sonification scans across the image from left to right, with each wavelength mapped to a different range of audible tones. 

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Radio waves are mapped to the lowest tones, optical data to medium tones and X-rays to the highest tones. 

    The brightest part of the image corresponds to the loudest portion of the sonification.

    NASA researchers discover first X-rays from Uranus

    Astronomers at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected X-rays from the planet Uranus for the first time.

    Researchers used observations of the ice giant taken in 2002 and 2017 to detect the radiation as part of a new study published Tuesday in the Journal of Geophysical Research. 

    SEE IT: NASA’S CURIOSITY ROVER TAKES MARS SELFIE

    In an examination and with further analysis, they saw clear detection of X-rays from the first observation and possible flare of X-rays from those 15 years later.

    The scientists believe that the sun could be the driving force causing Uranus to emit the X-rays. 

    Uranus at approximately the same orientation as it was during the 2002 Chandra observations. 2017 HRC Composite Image (Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXO/University College London/W. Dunn et al; Optical: W.M. Keck Observatory)
    (NASA)

    Astronomers have previously observed that both Jupiter and Saturn scatter X-ray light from the sun. 

    However, while the study’s authors say they believe the X-rays detected would also be from “scattering,” another source of X-rays is also likely.

    Like Saturn, they say, Uranus’ rings could be producing the X-rays itself or even the planet’s aurora — a phenomenon created when high-energy particles interact with the atmosphere.

    BIDEN WH KEEPS TRUMP’S NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL DESPITE MOCKING SPACE FORCE

    “Uranus is surrounded by charged particles such as electrons and protons in its nearby space environment,” the Chandra X-ray Observatory wrote in a release. “If these energetic particles collide with the rings, they could cause the rings to glow in X-rays.”

    X-rays are emitted in Earth’s auroras and Jupiter has auroras, as well, though X-rays from auroras on Jupiter come from two sources.

    However, a nearly identical NASA release notes that researchers remain uncertain about what causes the auroras on Uranus.

    The agency wrote that the unusual orientations of its spin axis and magnetic field may cause the planet’s auroras to be “unusually complex and variable.”

    The rotation axis of Uranus is nearly parallel to its path around the sun — unlike the axes of other planets in the solar system — and while Uranus is tilted on its side, its magnetic field is tiled by a different amount.

    “Determining the sources of the X-rays from Uranus could help astronomers better understand how more exotic objects in space, such as growing black holes and neutron stars, emit X-rays,” NASA wrote.

    CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

    Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun in the solar system. It has two sets of rings around its equator. Its diameter is four times that of Earth.

    Because Voyager 2 was the only spacecraft to ever fly by Uranus, astronomers rely on telescopes like Chandra to learn more about the cold planet that is made up almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.

    Draconid meteor shower on deck: What you need to know

    Skywatchers are in for a treat this week as the Draconid meteor shower appears in the sky.

    “The shower is active between October 6 and 10,” explains the EarthSky website, noting that its peak is expected to be on Wednesday. “This shower favors the Northern Hemisphere, but Southern Hemisphere observers might catch some Draconids, too.”

    HOW DO NASA ASTRONAUTS VOTE IN SPACE?

    The Geminid meteor shower lit up the sky over Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom, on Dec. 14, 2018.
    (Ian Forsyth/Getty)

    “This is one shower that’s best to watch at nightfall or early evening, not after midnight,” EarthSky explains. “No matter where you are on Earth, watch as close to nightfall as possible.”

    The meteor shower is the result of debris from a comet, according to NASA. “The Draconid meteors are caused when Earth collides with bits of debris shed by periodic comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner (and that’s why this shower used to be called the Giacobinids),” explains the space agency’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SERVI) on its website.

    Another meteor shower will occur in October with the Orionid meteor shower expected to peak early in the morning of Oct. 21. “The expected peak (under ideal conditions) is about 20 visible meteors per hour,” explains NASA. “However, according to the International Meteor Organization the strength of this shower has been varying from year to year and sometimes has several peaks across several days near the expected peak.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Other meteor showers this year include the Leonids and Geminds in November and December, respectively.

    Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

    Hubble Space Telescope spots summertime on Saturn in new image

    Summertime on Earth is a little different than summer on Saturn.

    The Hubble Space Telescope captured a remarkably clear image of the ringed planet on July 4, when the planet was 839 million miles from Earth, according to a statement from NASA.

    The image shows the rings in exceptional detail, while also highlighting “a number of small atmospheric storms” that come and go with each annual observation of the planet by the telescope.

    NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of Saturn on July 4, 2020. This image is taken as part of the Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) project. OPAL is helping scientists understand the atmospheric dynamics and evolution of our solar system’s gas giant planets. In Saturn’s case, astronomers continue tracking shifting weather patterns and storms. (Credits: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), and the OPAL Team)

    SATURN’S MYSTERIOUS MOON COULD SUPPORT ALIEN LIFE THANKS TO THIS NEW DISCOVERY

    “The banding in the northern hemisphere remains pronounced as seen in Hubble’s 2019 observations, with several bands slightly changing color from year to year,” NASA said in the statement. “The ringed planet’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium with traces of ammonia, methane, water vapor, and hydrocarbons that give it a yellowish-brown color.”

    The reddish haze seen in the northern hemisphere could be due to increased heat from the sunlight, changing the circulation of the atmosphere or removing ices from aerosols, NASA suggested. Another idea is the increased sunlight during the summer months is changing the amounts of photochemical haze produced.

    “It’s amazing that even over a few years, we’re seeing seasonal changes on Saturn,” lead investigator Amy Simon of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center added in the statement.

    Although the age of Saturn’s rings is debated, their icy composition can also be seen in remarkable detail in the image. Many scientists believe the rings are almost as old as the planet itself, while others believe they are just a few hundred million years old, given their brightness.

    “However, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft measurements of tiny grains raining into Saturn’s atmosphere suggest the rings can only last for 300 million more years, which is one of the arguments for a young age of the ring system,” said Michael Wong in the statement.

    Two of Saturn’s moons are also visible in the image, Mimas (right) and Enceladus (bottom). NASA has previously said Enceladus could support life, making it one of the most intriguing places in the solar system.

    AGE OF SATURN’S RINGS DEBATED AS QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE EMERGE

    Hubble, which was launched into low-Earth orbit in April 1990, celebrated its 30th anniversary in space earlier this year. Its eventual successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, described by NASA as the most powerful and complex space telescope ever built, is scheduled to launch on March 30, 2021.

    However, work on the telescope was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Hubble Telescope finds flapping ‘Bat Shadow’ in deep space

    Bruce Wayne may have given us the signal on Earth, but there’s a bat shadow in deep space.

    The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a “curious ‘flapping’ motion” around the star HBC 627, nicknamed the “Bat Shadow.” The star is part of the Serpens Nebula, approximately 1,400 light-years from Earth. A light-year, which measures distance in space, is approximately 6 trillion miles.

    The flapping, which was observed over a span of 404 days, could be the result of a planet “pulling on the disk and warping it,” according to a statement from NASA.

    Astronomers using Hubble previously captured a remarkable image of a young star’s unseen, planet-forming disk casting a huge shadow across a more distant cloud in a star-forming region. The star is called HBC 672, and the shadow feature was nicknamed the “Bat Shadow” because it resembles a pair of wings. The nickname turned out to be unexpectedly appropriate, because now those “wings” appear to be flapping! (Credits: NASA, ESA, and STScI)

    HUBBLE SPOTS ‘DYNAMIC DUO’ IN DEEP SPACE

    “You have a star that is surrounded by a disk, and the disk is not like Saturn’s rings – it’s not flat,” Klaus Pontoppidan, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “It’s puffed up. And so that means that if the light from the star goes straight up, it can continue straight up – it’s not blocked by anything. But if it tries to go along the plane of the disk, it doesn’t get out, and it casts a shadow.”

    “The shadow moves. It’s flapping like the wings of a bird!” Pontoppidan added.

    The Bat Shadow was first observed in 2018, Fox News previously reported.

    Pontoppidan and the other researchers deduced that the exoplanet tugging on the star’s disk needs at least 180 days to orbit the star. It’s also believed to be approximately the same distance from its star that Earth is from the sun, or roughly 93 million miles.

    It’s also possible that another exoplanet could also be in Bat Shadow’s disk, the researchers added.

    The research can be read on the arXiv repository here and will appear in an upcoming version of The Astrophysical Journal.

    NASA SPACECRAFT TAKES IMAGES OF ‘ALIEN SKY’ 4.3B MILES FROM EARTH

    If a “flapping” Bat Shadow isn’t enough for you Batman fans, Hubble discovered a “dynamic duo” of galaxies in December 2019.

    Hubble, which was launched into low-Earth orbit in April 1990, celebrated its 30th anniversary in space earlier this year. Its eventual successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, described by NASA as the most powerful and complex space telescope ever built, is scheduled to launch on March 30, 2021.

    However, work on the telescope was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Fox News’ James Rogers contributed to this story.

    Hubble Telescope finds flapping ‘Bat Shadow’ in deep space

    Bruce Wayne may have given us the signal on Earth, but there’s a bat shadow in deep space.

    The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a “curious ‘flapping’ motion” around the star HBC 627, nicknamed the “Bat Shadow.” The star is part of the Serpens Nebula, approximately 1,400 light-years from Earth. A light-year, which measures distance in space, is approximately 6 trillion miles.

    The flapping, which was observed over a span of 404 days, could be the result of a planet “pulling on the disk and warping it,” according to a statement from NASA.

    Astronomers using Hubble previously captured a remarkable image of a young star’s unseen, planet-forming disk casting a huge shadow across a more distant cloud in a star-forming region. The star is called HBC 672, and the shadow feature was nicknamed the “Bat Shadow” because it resembles a pair of wings. The nickname turned out to be unexpectedly appropriate, because now those “wings” appear to be flapping! (Credits: NASA, ESA, and STScI)

    HUBBLE SPOTS ‘DYNAMIC DUO’ IN DEEP SPACE

    “You have a star that is surrounded by a disk, and the disk is not like Saturn’s rings – it’s not flat,” Klaus Pontoppidan, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “It’s puffed up. And so that means that if the light from the star goes straight up, it can continue straight up – it’s not blocked by anything. But if it tries to go along the plane of the disk, it doesn’t get out, and it casts a shadow.”

    “The shadow moves. It’s flapping like the wings of a bird!” Pontoppidan added.

    The Bat Shadow was first observed in 2018, Fox News previously reported.

    Pontoppidan and the other researchers deduced that the exoplanet tugging on the star’s disk needs at least 180 days to orbit the star. It’s also believed to be approximately the same distance from its star that Earth is from the sun, or roughly 93 million miles.

    It’s also possible that another exoplanet could also be in Bat Shadow’s disk, the researchers added.

    The research can be read on the arXiv repository here and will appear in an upcoming version of The Astrophysical Journal.

    NASA SPACECRAFT TAKES IMAGES OF ‘ALIEN SKY’ 4.3B MILES FROM EARTH

    If a “flapping” Bat Shadow isn’t enough for you Batman fans, Hubble discovered a “dynamic duo” of galaxies in December 2019.

    Hubble, which was launched into low-Earth orbit in April 1990, celebrated its 30th anniversary in space earlier this year. Its eventual successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, described by NASA as the most powerful and complex space telescope ever built, is scheduled to launch on March 30, 2021.

    However, work on the telescope was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Fox News’ James Rogers contributed to this story.

    Hubble Telescope finds flapping ‘Bat Shadow’ in deep space

    Bruce Wayne may have given us the signal on Earth, but there’s a bat shadow in deep space.

    The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a “curious ‘flapping’ motion” around the star HBC 627, nicknamed the “Bat Shadow.” The star is part of the Serpens Nebula, approximately 1,400 light-years from Earth. A light-year, which measures distance in space, is approximately 6 trillion miles.

    The flapping, which was observed over a span of 404 days, could be the result of a planet “pulling on the disk and warping it,” according to a statement from NASA.

    Astronomers using Hubble previously captured a remarkable image of a young star’s unseen, planet-forming disk casting a huge shadow across a more distant cloud in a star-forming region. The star is called HBC 672, and the shadow feature was nicknamed the “Bat Shadow” because it resembles a pair of wings. The nickname turned out to be unexpectedly appropriate, because now those “wings” appear to be flapping! (Credits: NASA, ESA, and STScI)

    HUBBLE SPOTS ‘DYNAMIC DUO’ IN DEEP SPACE

    “You have a star that is surrounded by a disk, and the disk is not like Saturn’s rings – it’s not flat,” Klaus Pontoppidan, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “It’s puffed up. And so that means that if the light from the star goes straight up, it can continue straight up – it’s not blocked by anything. But if it tries to go along the plane of the disk, it doesn’t get out, and it casts a shadow.”

    “The shadow moves. It’s flapping like the wings of a bird!” Pontoppidan added.

    The Bat Shadow was first observed in 2018, Fox News previously reported.

    Pontoppidan and the other researchers deduced that the exoplanet tugging on the star’s disk needs at least 180 days to orbit the star. It’s also believed to be approximately the same distance from its star that Earth is from the sun, or roughly 93 million miles.

    It’s also possible that another exoplanet could also be in Bat Shadow’s disk, the researchers added.

    The research can be read on the arXiv repository here and will appear in an upcoming version of The Astrophysical Journal.

    NASA SPACECRAFT TAKES IMAGES OF ‘ALIEN SKY’ 4.3B MILES FROM EARTH

    If a “flapping” Bat Shadow isn’t enough for you Batman fans, Hubble discovered a “dynamic duo” of galaxies in December 2019.

    Hubble, which was launched into low-Earth orbit in April 1990, celebrated its 30th anniversary in space earlier this year. Its eventual successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, described by NASA as the most powerful and complex space telescope ever built, is scheduled to launch on March 30, 2021.

    However, work on the telescope was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Fox News’ James Rogers contributed to this story.

    Get set for super pink moon

    Skywatchers are in for a treat Tuesday when a super pink moon lights up the sky.

    “The moon will rise on the evening of 7 April and burn brightly all night long. You may even see it cast moon shadows on the ground,” explains Zoltan Toth-Czifra, founder of Under Lucky Stars, in a statement emailed to Fox News.

    The pink moon, or April full moon, is the closest supermoon of the year, which means that it is the largest, according to EarthSky.

    FULL WORM SUPERMOON THRILLS SKYWATCHERS

    Supermoons happen when the moon’s elliptical orbit brings it to the closest point to the Earth while the moon is full. The phrase was coined in 1979, according to NASA.

    Detail of the ‘Full Moon Pink’ view from Oaxaca, Mexico on April 20, 2019.
    (Photo by Carlos Tischler/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

    The space agency explains that the moon will be at perigee, at 2:08 pm EDT on April 7. The moon will be full at 10:35 p.m. EDT that day.

    “For people looking for something different to fill their evenings, the traditionally named ‘Pink Moon’ is an invitation from the cosmos to scan your sky and peer out at our celestial partner,” Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History, told Fox News. “A full moon is always a sight to see as the disk of the moon is fully illuminated for us to study in detail.  Calling it a ‘Pink Moon’ is a reminder that spring is here and people of the past used to live their lives much more closely with what was happening in the nighttime sky.”

    SNOW MOON STUNS AS ONE OF THE LARGEST FULL MOONS OF 2020 LIGHTS UP THE SKY

    Toth-Czifra, however, says that the moniker “pink moon,” is a little misleading.

    “I am afraid to disappoint – but it will not be bright pink! Moons always rise in the East and set in the West — so follow this direction in your search,” he explained. “The April Moon takes this name from the ‘Phlox,’ a plant which blossoms pink in April.”

    Skygazers recently enjoyed the stunning March full moon, or worm moon, which was also a supermoon.

    SUPER PINK MOON: NASA’S TOP TIPS FOR APRIL SKYWATCHERS

    Some experts described the spectacular February full moon, or snow moon, as a supermoon, although others feel that it does not qualify as that category of celestial event.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    The snow moon was one of the largest full moons of 2020.

    The Associated Press contributed to this article. 

    Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers

    Astronomers believe they have found the edge of the Milky Way galaxy

    Astronomers believe they have discovered the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, according to a new study.

    The research, which can be read on the arXiv repository, notes there is a measurement that was discovered that could give us the exact dimensions of the galaxy, as well as how many galaxies surround ours.

    “Using the current dwarf galaxy population, we predict the edge of the Milky Way halo to be 292 +/- 61 [kiloparsecs],” the astronomers wrote in the study’s abstract. As a result, the researchers believe the diameter of the Milky Way is 1.9 million light-years, based on their findings.

    This image released by NASA depicts the Milky Way galaxy’s center. (X-Ray:NASA/CXC/UMass/D. Wang et al.; Radio:NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT)
    (X-Ray:NASA/CXC/UMass/D. Wang et al.; Radio:NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT)

    ‘MIND-BOGGLING’ MONSTER BLACK HOLE AT MILKY WAY’S CENTER SEEN BY SCIENTISTS

    A kiloparsec is 1,000 parsecs or 3,262 light-years. A light-year, which measures distance in space, equals 6 trillion miles.

    Via their computer simulations, the researchers discovered galaxies were slowing down near the Milky Way galaxy.

    “In many analyses of the Milky Way halo, its outer boundary is a fundamental constraint,” the researchers wrote. “Often the choice is subjective, but as we have argued, it is preferable to define a physically and/or observationally motivated outer edge. Here we have linked the boundary of the underlying dark matter distribution to the observable stellar halo and the dwarf galaxy population.”

    There are believed to be approximately 60 galaxies surrounding our own, but it’s possible others could be discovered, thanks to the research.

    BLACK HOLE AT MILKY WAY’S CENTER SEEN BEHAVING STRANGELY

    In October 2019, Fox News reported the Milky Way had stolen several dwarf galaxies from the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) galaxy, including the Carina and Fornax, as part of a merger between the two that is still ongoing.

    Earlier this month, NASA released a new image of the center of the Milky Way. At the center of the galaxy are a number of different objects, including the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, which weighs approximately 4 million times the mass of the Sun and has clouds of gas at temperatures of millions of degrees.

    In January, astronomers spotted four “strange” objects orbiting Sagittarius A*.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    Interstellar comet Borisov could be breaking apart, researchers believe

    Since it was first discovered in August 2019, astronomers have been awestruck by interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov. But recent observations of the space object suggest that it could be breaking apart.

    A group of researchers from Poland have noted that the object has brightened up twice this month.

    “The total brightness increase is thus about 0.7 mag in 5 days between UT 2020 March 4.3 and 9.3,” the researchers wrote in a note published March 12. “This behavior is strongly indicative of an ongoing nucleus fragmentation.”

    The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, as seen on Oct. 12 with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
    (NASA, ESA and David Jewitt/UCLA)

    SECOND INTERSTELLAR VISITOR HAS A FAMILIAR LOOK AS OUMUAMUA BECOMES MORE MYSTERIOUS

    It’s possible that this action was caused by 2I/Borisov’s approach toward the sun, Space.com reported.

    In December 2019, comet 2I/Borisov reached its closest point to the sun, 190 million miles away, known as perihelion. That same month, the Hubble Space Telescope captured images of the comet, which was discovered by astronomer Gennady Borisov.

    Researchers recently theorized that 21/Borisov could be intercepted using existing technology and studied to see what material, if any, it has picked up from other solar systems.

    MYSTERIOUS INTERSTELLAR OBJECT COULD BE ‘LIGHTSAIL’ FROM ANOTHER CIVILIZATION

    In September 1019, the International Astronomical Union confirmed that the object was from another solar system, making it the second-known interstellar object.

    A study published in October 2019 suggested it could be carrying water on it from beyond the Solar System, which if true, would be the first time water from outside the Solar System has been detected.

    In November 2019, astronomers captured an image of the mysterious comet and its impressive tail, which at nearly 100,000 miles long, is roughly 14 times the size of Earth.

    Comet 2I/Borisov is the second interstellar object discovered, following the mysterious cigar-shaped Oumuamua, which was discovered in October 2017.

    No longer observable by telescopes as of January 2018, many have speculated what Ouamumua is. Some have theorized it may have been a light sail sent from an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization, a comet or an asteroid.

    The mystery about its exact nature deepened in late 2018  when NASA said it was looking at the object for two months and did not originally see it.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP