astrophysics Archives

This image combines 678 separate images taken by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Explore this image in full resolution on the NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory website.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

First Imagery From The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

by Keith CowingJune 23, 2025June 23, 2025

From distant stars and galaxies to asteroids whizzing through the solar system, this next-generation facility unveils its first imagery and brings the night sky to life like never before.

This composite image combines observations from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope of the Phantom Galaxy (M74) with a high-resolution simulation of galactic turbulence. The simulation from this study — zoomed into a small patch of the galaxy’s interstellar medium — reveals extremely high-resolution chaotic motions of plasma that regulate star formation, structure formation, and the magnetic field across the galactic scales. -- Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team; Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt; Simulation: J. Beattie.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Simulating Turbulence In A Galaxy

by Keith CowingMay 29, 2025May 26, 2025

From the ocean’s rolling swells to the bumpy ride of a jetliner, turbulence is everywhere. It breaks large waves into smaller ones, cascading energy across scales. It is ubitquitous throughout […]

The early universe and its expansion. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Status Report

Influence of Dark Matter on the Formation of Biogenic Elements in Early Universe Stars

by Keith CowingMay 27, 2025May 27, 2025

We demonstrate that dark matter interactions can profoundly influence stellar nucleosynthesis in the early universe by altering thermodynamic gradients and modifying nuclear reaction rates within primordial stars.

NASA Planetary Science Summer School -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrobiology (general), Conferences and Meetings, Courses, Education and Outreach, Status Report

Apply Now: 2025 NASA Planetary Science Summer School

by Keith CowingJanuary 22, 2025

Now through March 18, 2025, NASA is encouraging applications for its 37th Annual Planetary Science Summer School. Offered by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, PSSS is a 3-month […]

Energy diagram for the C2H5 + S reaction. Values in square brackets indicate energies for the same well in the C2H5 + O reaction studied in Vazart et al. (2020). Insets correspond to the structures at the potential wells. We note that the products cy-CH2SCH2 + H and C2H3SH + H are almost isoenergetic. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Status Report

Detection of Thioacetaldehyde (CH3CHS) in TMC-1: Sulfur-oxygen Differentiation Along The Hydrogenation Sequence

by Keith CowingJanuary 11, 2025January 11, 2025

In recent years the chemistry of sulfur in the interstellar medium has experienced a renewed interest due to the detection of a large variety of molecules containing sulfur.

The WISE and VLASS-SE images of J2335-0004. The right panel is the VLASS-SE image. The FWHM and centroid derived from the VLASS-SE image are blue ellipses and dots in all five panels. The four left panels are W1, W2, W3, and W4 band images of the source. The green contours represent 10𝜎, 50𝜎 and 100𝜎 of the noise levels in WISE W1 and W2 images, 3𝜎 and 6𝜎 in W3 and W4 images, and −1𝜎, 10𝜎 and 80𝜎 in the VLASS-SE image. The candidate star’s location is shown as the red stars in all the panels. -- astro-ph.GA

Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Science Fiction, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report

High-resolution Imaging Of The Radio Source Associated With Project Hephaistos Dyson Sphere Candidate G

by Keith CowingJanuary 11, 2025January 11, 2025

We present high-resolution e-MERLIN and EVN (e-VLBI) observations of a radio source associated with Dyson Sphere candidate G, identified as part of Project Hephaistos.

Primordial SN explosions. One kpc images of the 13 M⊙ CC SN in the 1.1 × 106 M⊙ halo 1.2 Myr after the explosion (a) and the 200 M⊙ PI SN in the 2.2 × 107 M⊙ halo 0.7 Myr after the explosion (b). The relic H II regions of the stars are visible as the 2000 K - 10,000 K gas and the CC and PI ejecta are visible as the 104 and 105 K shocked gas with radii of ∼ 50 and 100 pc, respectively. At the end of the simulations both SN remnants are still trapped within their respective H II regions. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Status Report

Abundant Water From Early Supernovae At Cosmic Dawn

by Keith CowingJanuary 9, 2025January 9, 2025

Primordial (or Pop III) supernovae were the first nucleosynthetic engines in the Universe, forging the heavy elements required for the later formation of planets and life.

Brightness distribution of the 13CO J=2−1 lines integrated over the velocity interval corresponding to the full width at zero intensity of the C18O J=2−1 lines. The contours show levels at 3, 5, 10, and 20 times the root mean square noise level of the image. -- astro-ph.SR

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

ALMA Observations of CO Isotopologues Towards Six Obscured post-AGB Stars

by Keith CowingJanuary 9, 2025January 9, 2025

Low- and intermediate-mass stars evolve through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), when an efficient mass-loss process removes a significant fraction of their initial mass.

Illustration of the main modalities included in the Multimodal Universe, along with typical associated machine learning tasks. In addition, the Multimodal Universe also includes a small amount of hyperspectral images and tabular data, not shown here. -- astro-ph.IM

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Apps - Games, Astronomy & Telescopes, Status Report

The Multimodal Universe: Enabling Large-Scale Machine Learning with 100TB of Astronomical Scientific Data

by Keith CowingDecember 6, 2024December 6, 2024

We present the MULTIMODAL UNIVERSE, a large-scale multimodal dataset of scientific astronomical data, compiled specifically to facilitate machine learning research.

Upper panels: Cosmic star formation rate density, as computed with our extension of the SP21 model (dashed black line) and as given by the original SP21 model (dot-dashed red line). In the left panel, we further show with the empirical fit (dotted black line) to a compilation of observational data provided by Madau & Dickinson (2014) (grey data points). The right panel shows the behaviour of the SP21 model and our extended formalism in the future of the universe. As future times correspond to negative redshifts, and the cosmic star formation rate density becomes asymptotically null at arbitrarily large times, both axes switch from logarithmic to linear scale when moving from the left to the right panel. The grey hatched shaded area in the right panel excludes the non-physical region corresponding to 𝜌¤∗ < 0. Lower panels: Relative difference between the two models showed above (dashed black line), and between our formalism and the fit from Madau & Dickinson (2014) (dotted black line). The latter comparison is available only for positive redshifts (i.e., past cosmic times), as the fit represents a purely empirical fit to the data, and not a predictive theoretical model. The SP21 model agrees well with the improved method introduced in this work at high redshift, but overestimates the cosmic star formation rate density at lower redshift and in the future. In the redshift range 0 < 𝑧 < 10, both the original SP21 model and our updated formalism agree with the empirical fit within a factor of ∼ 2. -- astro-ph.CO

Astronomy & Telescopes, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

The Impact Of The Cosmological Constant On Past And Future Star Formation

by Keith CowingNovember 23, 2024November 23, 2024

We present an extended analytic model for cosmic star formation, with the aim of investigating the impact of cosmological parameters on the star formation history within the ΛCDM paradigm.

astrophysics

First Imagery From The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Simulating Turbulence In A Galaxy

Influence of Dark Matter on the Formation of Biogenic Elements in Early Universe Stars

Apply Now: 2025 NASA Planetary Science Summer School

Detection of Thioacetaldehyde (CH3CHS) in TMC-1: Sulfur-oxygen Differentiation Along The Hydrogenation Sequence

High-resolution Imaging Of The Radio Source Associated With Project Hephaistos Dyson Sphere Candidate G

Abundant Water From Early Supernovae At Cosmic Dawn

ALMA Observations of CO Isotopologues Towards Six Obscured post-AGB Stars

The Multimodal Universe: Enabling Large-Scale Machine Learning with 100TB of Astronomical Scientific Data

The Impact Of The Cosmological Constant On Past And Future Star Formation

White Paper On Phototrophic Biosignatures: Research Priorities For The Search For Life On Other Worlds

Autonomous AI-Cosmoindustry and the Quiet Expansion Filter: A Threshold-Based Resolution of the Fermi Paradox

A Scalable Path to Astrometric Exomoon Discoveries with the Nautilus Space Observatory

20 Years Later: The ALH 84001 Debate in Context with Viking’s Results. Lessons Learned and Portals Opened

Ocean Planet Research: 31 New Species Discovered in Two Weeks of Deep Sea Exploration