It’s Official: NASA Scientists Discovered Another Earth

Astronomers have discovered a planet nearly the same size as Earth that orbits in its star’s habitable zone, where liquid water could exist on its surface, a new study said.

The presence of liquid water also indicates the planet could support life.

This newly found world, Kepler-1649c, is 300 light-years away from Earth and orbits a star that is about one-fourth the size of our sun.

What’s exciting is that out of all the 2,000 plus exoplanets that have been discovered, this world is most similar to Earth both in size and estimated temperature, NASA said.

This exoplanet...

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Tags: astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science, astronomy, science, NASA, space, space science, science, Earth, Earth science, breaking news, science,

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which is currently pointing at the skies from its home in the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Arizona’s Kitt Peak National Observatory, is tasked with charting the expansion of space, investigating dark energy, and creating the most detailed 3D map of the Universe ever been put together.

We’re only seven months into DESI’s mission, and we already have a record-breaking, jaw-dropping, three-dimensional picture of the galaxy all around us, demonstrating DESI’s capabilities and the potential it has for mapping space.

DESI has cataloged and charted over 7.5 million galaxies, with over a million new ones added each month. Over 35 million galaxies are expected to have been mapped by the time the scan is completed in 2026, providing astronomers with a massive library of data to mine

"There is a lot of beauty to it," says astrophysicist Julien Guy from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

"In the distribution of the galaxies in the 3D map, there are huge clusters, filaments, and voids. They’re the biggest structures in the Universe. But within them, you find an imprint of the very early Universe, and the history of its expansion since then."

DESI is made up of 5,000 optical fibers, each of which is individually controlled and positioned by its own tiny robot. These fibers must be precisely positioned to within 10 microns, or less than the thickness of a human hair, and then capture glimpses of light as it filters down from the cosmos to Earth.

Using this fiber network, the instrument captures color spectrum images of millions of galaxies, covering more than a third of the sky, before calculating how much the light has been redshifted – that is, how much it has been pushed towards the red end of the spectrum due to the expansion of the Universe.

Because this light can take billions of years to reach Earth, redshift data can be used to see depth in the Universe: the greater the redshift, the farther away something is. Furthermore, the structures mapped by DESI can be reverse engineered to see their original formation.

The main objective of DESI is to reveal more about the dark energy that is thought to make up 70 percent of the Universe as well as speeding up its expansion. This dark energy could drive galaxies into an infinite expansion, cause them to collapse back on themselves or something in between – and cosmologists are keen to narrow down the options.

"[DESI] will help us to search for clues about the nature of dark energy," Carlos Frenk, a

"We will also learn more about the dark matter and the role it plays in how galaxies like the Milky Way form and how the universe is evolving."

The already-released 3D map demonstrates that scientists do not need to wait for DESI to complete its work to benefit from its in-depth look into space. Other DESI-enhanced research is looking into whether or not smaller galaxies have their own black holes like larger galaxies.

The best way to detect a black hole is to identify the gas, dust, and other material being dragged into it, which is difficult to do in smaller galaxies – something that DESI’s high-precision spectra data should help with.

Then there’s the study of quasars, particularly bright galaxies powered by supermassive black holes, which act as signposts back through billions of years of space history. DESI will be used to test a hypothesis around quasars: that they start off surrounded by an envelope of dust that gets driven off as time goes on.

The amount of dust around a quasar is thought to affect the color of the light it gives off, which makes it a perfect job for DESI. The instrument should be able to collect information on some 2.4 million quasars by the time its survey is completed.

"DESI is really great because it’s picking up much fainter and much redder objects," says astronomer Victoria Fawcett from Durham University.

"We’re finding quite a lot of exotic systems, including large samples of rare objects that we just haven’t been able to study in detail before."

The image above may look like a fairly normal picture of the night sky, but what you’re looking at is a lot more special than just glittering stars. Each of those white dots is an active supermassive black hole.

And each of those black holes is devouring material at the heart of a galaxy millions of light-years away – that’s how they could be pinpointed at all.

By combining 256 hours of observations of the northern sky, astronomers have created a map showing 25,000 supermassive black holes. This is the most detailed celestial map in the field of so-called low radio frequencies.

The map covers 4% of the sky in the northern hemisphere. Scientists used supercomputers with new algorithms to create this map, which correct the ionosphere’s effect every four seconds.

The astronomers used 52 stations with LOFAR antennas located across nine European countries, including Leiden astronomers.

The map seems to have several thousand stars, but they are supermassive black holes located in separate, distant galaxies.

Research leader Francesco de Gasperin (formerly Leiden University, now Universität Hamburg, Germany) says about the study: "This results from many years of work on incredibly difficult data. We had to invent new methods to convert the radio signals into images of the sky."

Co-author Reinout van Weeren (Leiden Observatory) explains, "Observations at long radio wavelengths are complicated by the ionosphere that surrounds the Earth. This layer of free electrons acts like a cloudy lens that constantly moves across the radio telescope. It’s similar to when you try to see the world while immersed in a swimming pool. When you look up, the waves on the water of the pool deflect the light rays and distort the view."

Work on the James Webb Space Telescope is just getting started.

The new observatory, the largest space telescope ever built, successfully unfolded its final primary mirror segment on Saturday (Jan. 8), capping off what NASA has billed as one of its most complicated space deployments ever. The Webb mission team is now focusing on guiding the telescope to its final destination while also bringing key parts of the observatory online for astronomy work.

Webb is expected to arrive at its "insertion location" by Jan. 23, where it will fire its engines and glide to Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2 (L2), which is 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from our planet. If Webb gets to the right zone, it can use a minimum of fuel to stay in place thanks to a near-perfect alignment with the sun, Earth and Moon.

However, the control teams will be required to perform more than just space maneuvers. Webb still has a lot of complex commissioning operations ahead, and NASA particularly pointed to aligning its mirror and getting its instruments ready as key milestones to watch for in the next few weeks.

The engineering team for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope celebrates at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimor, Maryland as the observatory completed unfolding its primary mirror on Jan. 8, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

As Webb prepares for the engine fire, team members will spend the next 15 days aligning the 18 mirror segments to "essentially perform as one mirror," according to John Durning, Webb’s deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, during a press conference Saturday (Jan. 8) from Webb’s control center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

"I should say also, that Webb will start turning on the instruments in the next week or so," Durning added. "And then after we get into L2, as the instruments get cold enough, they [engineers] are going to be starting to turn on all the various instruments."

L2 is an ideal location for Webb to carry out its duties. Webb will work in the darkness required for heat-seeking infrared observations due to the great distance from the sun and a sunshield. Infrared wavelengths will allow the telescope to peer through dust to examine objects such as young exoplanets or the interiors of distant galaxies, all on its quest to understand the universe and its evolution.

According to NASA, Webb is equipped with four science instruments that will allow observations in visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared (0.6 to 28.5 micrometers) wavelengths, including a near-infrared camera, a near-infrared spectrograph, a mid-infrared instrument, and a combination fine guidance sensor and spectrograph.

The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed all five layers of its tennis-court-sized sunshield, a requirement for the telescope’s science operations and the most tense part of its risky deployment.

Yesterday (Jan. 4), the difficult procedure, which required careful tensioning of each of the five hair-thin layers of the complex sunshield structure, was a complete success. Its completion came as a huge relief to the thousands of engineers who worked on the project over three decades, as well as the countless scientists around the world who are eagerly awaiting Webb’s groundbreaking observations.

"Yesterday, we did not think we were going to get through the first three layers," Keith Parrish, the observatory manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, said in a live NASA webcast during today’s deployment. "But the team just executed everything flawlessly. We were only planning to do one yesterday, but that went so well. They said hey, can we just keep going? And we almost had to hold them back a little bit."

A complex system of cables and motors pulling at the diamond-shaped sunshield’s corners was used to secure the right tension for each of the sunshield’s five layers.

Earth’s magnetic north pole, which has been wandering faster than expected in recent years, has now crossed the prime meridian.

The team of researchers that maintain the World Magnetic Model (WMM) has updated it and released it a year ahead of schedule due to the speed with which the pole is moving. The newly updated model shows the magnetic north pole moving away from Canada and toward Siberia.

The magnetic north pole is the point on the Earth that compasses designate as true north. It is the result of geological processes deep within the planet—molten iron flow creates a magnetic field with poles near the geographic North and South Poles. But unlike the geographic poles, the magnetic poles can move—and the magnetic north pole has been moving faster in recent years, which made necessary the early update of the WMM.

The WMM is a model maintained jointly by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the British Geological Survey—its purpose is to show what Earth’s magnetic field looks like, most particularly, where the locations of the magnetic poles lie.

Data for the model comes from satellites and 160 land-based observatories. The model is normally updated every five years; thus, the next update is scheduled for 2025. THE WMM is important because of the critical role it plays in navigation—in addition to GPS, militaries around the world rely on it for a wide variety of navigational applications.

It is currently not known why the poles drift. Some have suggested it is due to an underground jet stream of sorts. Nor is the mechanism driving them understood. They were only discovered in 1831—since that time, both poles have been tracked, and the speed at which they move recorded. The north magnetic pole has traveled 1,400 miles since it was first discovered—and has changed speed, as well. As recently as 2000, the speed was clocked at 10 km/year. The latest readings show it moving at a brisk 50 km/year.

The increased speed of movement of the north magnetic pole is not expected to have much of an impact for most people—non-scientists may notice changes to GPS applications on smartphones and possibly re-designation of runway markers at airports.

Earth’s magnetic field is generated by the convection of molten iron in the planet’s core, around 1,800 miles beneath our feet. This superheated liquid generates electric currents that in turn produce electromagnetic fields. While the processes that drive pole reversal are comparatively less understood, computer simulations of planetary dynamics show that the reversals arise spontaneously. This is supported by observation of the Sun’s magnetic field, which reverses approximately every 11 years.

Our own magnetic field came into existence at least 4 billion years ago, and Earth’s magnetic poles have reversed many times since then. Over the last 2.6 million years alone, the magnetic field switched ten times — and, because the most recent occurred a whopping 780,000 years ago, some scientists believe we are overdue for another. But reversals are not predictable and are certainly not periodic.

The JWST is finally in orbit after 14 years of development. The space telescope is now the biggest and most powerful ever launched into space. At 7:20 a.m. EST, the rocket lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, South America (12:20 GMT).

3.5 minutes after launch, the telescope encountered the vacuum of space. The launch vehicle was left behind about a half-hour later, the solar panels unfurled, and the space telescope began its long journey to its final orbit.

JWST will not be in a low-Earth orbit like Hubble, but rather at the Sun-Earth system’s second Lagrangian Point (or L2). That is a unique location in space 1.5 million kilometers (932,000 miles) directly behind our planet, and an object placed there will orbit the Sun with the Earth without falling behind.

The position is far beyond the Moon’s orbit. In fact, JWST will pass through its orbit in just three days, which is slightly faster than the Apollo missions. That’s a quarter of the way to L2. The entire journey to orbit, including slowing down, will take about a month.

NASA has dubbed it the "29 Days on Edge." The telescope has 300 single-point failure items that must all function in order for the entire telescope to function. We can’t go back up there and fix it later or upgrade it like we did with Hubble until 2009. Everything must function properly from the start.

The sunshields that will cool the telescope will be unfurled during the first week. The telescope structures will unfold and prepare over the course of 29 days, but they won’t be operational until they cool down to low and stable temperatures. The telescope will then be tested and calibrated for its science mission, which will begin in the middle of next year, over the next five months.

JWST will be a game changer. Its incredible power will push our astronomical knowledge to new heights, exploring everything from exoplanets to the farthest reaches of the universe. We’ll learn a lot more about the things we already know, and we’ll definitely learn a lot about things we don’t know yet.

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