admin, Author at Space History

Japanese scientists have discovered more than 20 different amino acids during the study of soil samples from the distant asteroid Ryugu

Japanese scientists during the study of soil samples from the distant asteroid Ryugu found more than 20 different amino acids that make up proteins. This may be a confirmation of the theory of the cosmic origin of the materials that form the basis of life on Earth.

NASA specialists managed to isolate isoleucine and valine, as well as glycine and glutamic acid in the sand from the asteroid. It is believed that amino acids were originally abundant on Earth when it appeared more than 4.5 billion years ago. However, then they could not survive the period when the Earth was covered with magma.

Until now, amino acids have been found in meteorites found on Earth. However, since their fragments were in contact with the earth’s surface and air, it cannot be ruled out that amino acids got into them after the fall. The samples taken from Ryugu can confirm the theory that amino acids were brought back to Earth by meteorites flying over the planet during its cooling.

Astronomers have discovered an interesting exoplanet

Astronomers have discovered an interesting exoplanet: it orbits the red dwarf Ross 508, which is relatively close to the Solar System.

Its radius and mass are five times smaller than the radius and mass of the Sun. During measurements of the radial velocity of Ross 508, astronomers discovered deviations caused by the gravity of its invisible companion. It received the designation Ross 508 b.

The mass of Ross 508 b is four times the mass of our planet. Thus, we are talking about a super-earth. It makes a revolution around its star in 10.75 days and receives 40% more energy from its luminary than the Earth. This places Ross 508 b on the inner boundary of the habitable zone — a region where, provided a suitable atmosphere, liquid water can exist on the surface of a celestial body!

The exact orbital characteristics of Ross 508 b are still unknown. Initially, the planet could form at a greater distance from the star and only later migrate to the current orbit. They hope that new observations will be able to confirm or refute this hypothesis.

Along with seasickness, there is also space sickness, which, obviously, only astronauts suffer from

Space sickness is a condition experienced by about half of all astronauts when adapting to weightlessness. According to the symptoms, the condition is similar to seasickness: decreased appetite, dizziness, headache, increased salivation, nausea, vomiting sometimes occurs, spatial illusions. All these effects usually go away on the first day.

The astronaut’s unhealthy state arises due to the adaptation of the vestibular apparatus to weightlessness, a violation of the interaction of other sensory systems of the body and the redistribution of blood in the body.

Unpleasant sensations and symptoms associated with space adaptation syndrome vary in severity. About 50% of astronauts experience moderate discomfort (nausea, headache, disorientation); approximately 10% have a severe reaction (vomiting, other symptoms that completely deprive a person of the opportunity to work normally during the habituation period).

Where does the color of the Northern Lights come from?

The color of the radiance is formed due to the fact that particles of the solar wind hit the molecules of our air. Air consists of nitrogen and oxygen. These molecules are excited and then quite quickly (seconds) give off the excitation energy in the form of radiation of a strictly defined wavelength (stripes in the spectrum, of a strictly defined color). If you look at the spectrum of the aurora, you will see that in the visible region of the spectrum, the brightest bands are green and red (both belong to oxygen). The red glow is formed at altitudes of more than 200 km, where the gas density is lower. And the green glow is formed closer to the height of 100 km, where the gas density is higher. The fact that you see a “pink” color is already the result of mixing red and green colors. Purple color may also appear, but that’s another story – when at the level of 100 km and below, the solar wind hits nitrogen molecules.

New record: An ultramassive black hole with a new record mass has been discovered

Найденная черная дыра весит как 40 миллиардов солнц (предыдущие рекорды принадлежат черным дырам с массой 20 и 17 миллиардов солнц). Измерения массы были проведены напрямую по динамике звезд в ее окрестностях (самый точный и достоверный метод). Расстояние до «рекордной» черной дыры составляет около 700 миллионов световых лет, что довольно значительно даже по космическим меркам.

Логично, что самая тяжелая черная дыра имеет и наибольшие размеры. Радиус черной дыры составляет около 790 астрономических единиц. Для сравнения, Плутон находится на расстоянии лишь около 39,5 а. е.
Даная черная дыра обнаружена в галактике Holmberg 15A и носит соответствующее название Holm 15A. Вероятно, Holm 15A сформировался в результате столкновения двух галактик раннего типа.

Уверен, есть те, кто хотят напомнить нам про черную дыру TON618, которая имеет массу 66 миллиардов солнц. Но масса данного объекта определена лишь приближенно. Разные исследования по-разному оценивают ее массу и пока нельзя сказать ничего точного. Поэтому TON618 пока вне рейтинга.

What will happen to the Earth if a black hole forms in place of the Sun?

For starters, the Sun will never become a black hole. This threatens only massive stars, to which the Sun does not belong. In the future, our star will expand and turn into a red giant, and then, most likely, will form a beautiful planetary nebula.

If a black hole with a solar mass suddenly turned out to be in place of the Sun, we would still not be pulled into it, because black holes “work” differently. A hypothetical black hole would have the same mass as the Sun, but not the same size. The size of a black hole is determined by the point of no return or, officially, the event horizon. The distance from the event horizon to the center of a black hole is called the Schwarzschild radius. The only thing we need to do to survive (apart from the absence of light) is to be outside this radius and not approach it.

According to calculations, the larger the black hole, the larger this radius. A black hole with the mass of the Sun would have a Schwarzschild radius of 2954 meters. That is, if you do not approach such a black hole closer than three kilometers, then you still have a chance of survival. In order for the event horizon to reach Earth, the black hole must be 51 million times more massive than the Sun.

Nothing will happen to the Earth’s orbit either. Orbits in space do not depend much on the size of the object around which they pass. They depend on its mass. So if the mass does not change, then the orbit remains unchanged. That is why the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy did not swallow us and nearby stars.

Super-Earths are the most likely candidates for the existence of extraterrestrial life

Super-earths are the most likely candidates for the existence of extraterrestrial life, but hypothetical alien civilizations living on super-earths cannot leave their planets due to the large force of gravity.

For example, take the exoplanet Kepler-20b. It is about 70% larger than Earth in size, and almost 10 times larger in mass. On such a planet, the lowest speed that must be given to an object to overcome the gravitational attraction of this celestial body will be about 2.41 times higher than on Earth. In this case, to launch into space just one ton of matter from Kepler-20b, the launch vehicle must be about 3 times larger than Saturn-5. To launch into orbit a telescope similar to the James Webb (which weighs 6.2 tons), approximately 55 thousand tons of fuel will be required. Finally, it will take about 400 thousand tons of fuel to launch Apollo 11 into orbit. Thus, the use of chemical rocket engines becomes impractical. At the same time, fuel volumes grow exponentially with the increase in the mass of the exoplanet, so that even one rocket will need a significant share of all the fuel on the planet to fly.

On planets even more massive than Kepler-20b, the use of chemical rocket engines in principle makes no sense. Such civilizations would not have satellite television, a lunar program or space telescopes. Perhaps it is for this reason that Earthlings have not yet been able to find traces of the activity of any other intelligent life in the Universe.

Миссия Nasa DAVINCI приземлится на Венеру в 2031 году

DAVINCI is a flying laboratory of analytical chemistry. With the help of it, scientists are going to measure different aspects of the climate of Venus for the first time. Astronomers also plan to get the first image of the highlands of the planet to make up the relief of the surface. It’s impossible to do this from orbit.

The mission will also be able to measure the amount of unknown gases that exist in the deepest layers of the atmosphere. In particular, scientists are interested in the ratio of hydrogen isotopes. With it, you can understand whether there is liquid water on the planet.

As a result, scientists plan to obtain a huge amount of chemical, biological and visual data. These measurements will help to assess how the atmosphere of Venus has changed, find out if there are special types of rocks on it, for example, granite, and also find out if there are characteristic features of the landscape that speak of erosion or other formation processes.

The launch of DAVINCI is tentatively scheduled for June 2029, and the entry into the atmosphere of Venus is scheduled for June 2031.

In the neighboring system , at a distance of 12.5 light-years from us , two exoplanets as similar to Earth as possible have been discovered

The discovered exoplanets, called Teegarden b and Teegarden c, are only slightly larger than our Earth, but in general they resemble it very much. Teegarden b even took first place in the list of potentially habitable exoplanets, scoring the highest score on the Earth similarity index. This index is used to approximate the suitability of exoplanets and their satellites for life. Scientists claim that the “Earth similarity index” of the planet Teegarden b is 0.95, and Teegarden c has 0.68, which is about the same as Mars.

The surface temperature of Teegarden b varies from zero to +50 degrees Celsius, and the average is about 28 degrees. Teegarden c is located farther from the star, so the climate on it is cooler and more similar to that of Mars. The average temperature on its surface is about -47 degrees Celsius.

Given that both planets have a rocky, partially iron or water composition, they should have radii similar to Earth’s. These two planets resemble the inner planets of the Solar System. They are located in the so-called habitable zone, where water may be present, which is why they are included in the list of potentially habitable exoplanets. If these planets have an atmosphere, then they may well be habitable.

Can another planet fit between Mars and Earth?

A simple instantaneous addition of an Earth-mass planet with an orbit located somewhere in the middle between the orbits of Earth and Mars, moving in the plane of the ecliptic in the same direction with the first cosmic (for its distance) speed will not change anything. It is easy to verify this by conducting a simulation in the Universe Sandbox (https://universesandbox.com /) or using other means of simulating celestial mechanics and correctly scoring the characteristics of the bodies.

The whole effect will be limited to the appearance of another wave component of motion in the population of the solar system, this system is stable in the future for billions of years. Is it possible to add this planet “naturally”, that is, to capture a successful series of gravitational captures flying through the solar system (primarily from Jupiter and the Sun), and even without a critical increase in the eccentricities of the orbits of the existing planets?

Apparently not: to “drag” the planet to the right distance (and even to the right aphelion point) it is still possible, whereas sharply reducing the eccentricity of the orbit at such large distances seems to be a completely impossible requirement.