On Oct. 24, NASA reconnected with the Voyager 1 spacecraft after a brief pause in communications. The spacecraft recently turned off one of its two radio transmitters, and the team […]
Interstellar
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, People Of Astrobiology, SETI & Technosignatures, Societal Issues, Status Report
Stephen Hawking’s Warning on Contacting Aliens: A Physics Perspective on the Intelligence Trap
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a fascinating and important endeavor, but it raises significant ethical and safety concerns. In the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, scientists use knowledge of physics […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Dust Extinction-curve Variation In The Translucent Interstellar Medium Is Driven By PAH Growth
The first all-sky, high-resolution, 3D map of the optical extinction curve of the Milky Way (Zhang & Green 2024) revealed an unexpected steepening of the extinction curve in the moderate-density, […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
JWST/MIRI Detection Of A Carbon-rich Chemistry In A Solar Nebula Analog
It has been proposed, and confirmed by multiple observations, that disks around low mass stars display a molecule-rich emission and carbon-rich disk chemistry as compared to their hotter, more massive […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Rotationally Inelastic Rate Coefficients For C7N− and C10H− anions in Collision With H2 at Interstellar Conditions
The anions C7N− and C10H− are the two longest of the linear (C,N)-bearing and (C,H)-bearing chains which have so far been detected in the Interstellar Medium.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
The Largest Molecule Ever Detected Using Radioastronomy
The discovery of a four-ring carbon molecule in a distant interstellar cloud may help to reveal how our own solar system formed.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Radiation, Status Report
Neural Network Constraints on the Cosmic-Ray Ionization Rate and Other Physical Conditions in NGC 253 with ALCHEMI Measurements of HCN and HNC
We use a neural network model and ALMA observations of HCN and HNC to constrain the physical conditions, most notably the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR, zeta), in the Central Molecular […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
Molecules That Store Carbon Discovered In A Distant Interstellar Cloud
The discovery of pyrene derivatives in a distant interstellar cloud may help to reveal how our own solar system formed.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Infrared Spectra of Solid-State Ethanolamine: Laboratory Data in Support of JWST Observations
Ethanolamine (NH2CH2CH2OH, EA) has been identified in the gas phase of the ISM within molecular clouds. Although EA has not been directly observed in the molecular ice phase, a solid […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia Mission, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
A Candidate High-Velocity Exoplanet System In The Galactic Bulge
We present an analysis of adaptive optics (AO) images from the Keck-I telescope of the microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-262. The original discovery paper by Bennett et al. 2014 reports two distinct […]