The 10 biggest exoplanet discoveries of 2021 - Space.com

The place that humans know most intimately in all the universe is a rocky planet called Earth. It makes sense, then, that humans are existentially driven to imagine what other such celestial bodies may be like. The scientific curiosity about what planets exist beyond the sun's neighborhood is supported by several missions, like NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and its Kepler spacecraft. 

The study of exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system, helps address questions about our place in the solar system and in the universe. For example, learning about massive gas giants can boost our understanding about how Jupiter, one of Earth's major shields from cosmic strikes, got to be where it is now located. Searching for rocky planets in habitable zones around their distinct parent stars highlights the rarity and preciousness of our planet. And discovering what is possible out there certainly inspires our imaginations.

These are some of the top exoplanet discoveries made in 2021. 

1) Exoplanet in another galaxy

In October, scientists published a study describing what is possibly the first-ever discovery of an exoplanet outside of our galaxy. 

Researchers spotted this exoplanet candidate in the Whirlpool Galaxy (Messier 51), which is located 28 million light-years away from Earth. 

One typically-used technique to detect exoplanets is the transit method, in which scientists look for dips in a star's optical brightness. The faint periods often indicate that a planet is passing in front of the star's face, at least from our perspective on Earth. Astronomers use spacecraft like TESS to find alien worlds this way.

But astronomers put a twist to this method to find the potentially-supergalactic world. This exoplanet candidate, called M51-ULS-1b, was spotted by scientists who were looking for dips of X-ray brightness instead of changes in optical light. X-ray observations allowed the researchers to see the objects transiting stars farther away in space. 

The team used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton space telescope to scan several spots across multiple galaxies, all in a quest to locate a planet outside the Milky Way. In the Whirlpool galaxy alone, they looked at 55 different star systems. 

It was there that they found M51-ULS-1b, a potentially Saturn-sized exoplanet that orbits its parent star and an incredibly dense object (like a neutron star or black hole) at about twice the distance at which Saturn orbits the sun. 

2) Astronomers capture a planetary baby photo

A direct image captured by the Subaru Telescope of the newfound exoplanet 2M0437b, a gas giant that circles a star 417 light-years from Earth. The extremely bright host star has been mostly removed by image-processing techniques; the four "spikes" are artifacts produced by the telescope's optics. (Image credit: Subaru Telescope)

Astronomers captured an image of a baby exoplanet as light reflected off this young world. 

The amazing photo is not a common occurrence. The planet featured in this view is close enough to Earth that the Subaru Telescope at the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano was able to photograph it. 

Exoplanet 2M0437b is a fascinating world. In addition to its proximity to Earth — a short 417 light-years away — this place is also one of the youngest exoplanets ever found. It is much younger than the planets in the solar system, for instance. Its juvenile age of just a few million years means that the world is newly formed and therefore its surface is incredibly hot, perhaps as scorching as lava.

The planet was first spotted in 2018, but it took scientists three years to confirm 2M0437b's existence since its parent star moves very slowly across Earth's sky. 

3) Rogue planets could be bending light and be revealing themselves

An artist's depiction of a rogue planet. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons reproduced under a Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0)

Astronomers used a phenomenon called gravitational lensing to spot 27 possible rogue planets. 

These Earth-sized worlds are floating freely in space and aren't bound to a star, like ours is to the sun. 

Astronomers published their findings in July 2021, but future observations will be needed to confirm the existence of these planetary travelers. Since the planets are not orbiting stars at regular intervals, optical light observations that measure stellar brightness or dimming cannot be used to spot the wayward celestial bodies. 

Instead, astronomers looked at data obtained by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope during two months in 2016 to detect signs of rare gravitational microlensing events. These light-warping moments occur when the gravity of a massive foreground object (like a rogue planet) bends the light of a more-distant star or quasar. 

Future observations from missions such as NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Euclid mission could help astronomers confirm these findings. 

4) A planet-making ring outside our solar system

The PDS 70 system captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) (Image credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Benisty et al.)

If the photo of a baby exoplanet wasn't cute enough, astronomers caught another alien world in an even younger developmental stage. This year, researchers discovered the first known moon-forming disk around a planet outside the solar system.

The primordial ring of material swims in the space around a Jupiter-like exoplanet called PDS 70c. Along with a companion fetal planet, PDS 70c, are still in the early stages of formation. The definitive detection of this system is a big win for astronomers seeking knowledge about how protoplanetary disks shape planets and moons in a system's infancy. 

The circumplanetary disk of this system is located about 400 light-years away and it is about 500 times larger than Saturn's rings. Scientists think this ring of cosmic material is enough to form three bodies about the size of Earth's moon. 

5) An exoplanet may have spawned a new atmosphere 

A nearby planet may have created a new atmosphere after losing one.

Scientists think this may have happened with GJ 1132 b, a world located 41 light-years away that circles its parent red dwarf star every 1.5 Earth days. Astronomers looked at observations of this exoplanet by the Hubble Space Telescope and found possible signs that the atmosphere currently shrouding the planet was not there when the world formed. One possibility is that the strange new atmosphere could have been created by gases released from molten rock in the planet.

Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, launched on Dec. 25, 2021. Once it is up and running, the instruments aboard this next-generation observatory could help scientists get a better look at what's going on with GJ 1132 b. 

6) Possible water clouds in a Neptune-like exoplanet

An artist's depiction of a Neptune-like exoplanet. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The high atmosphere of one exoplanet may contain clouds of water, according to research published this year. 

TOI-1231 b is located just 90 light-years from Earth, takes just 24 days to orbit its tiny parent M dwarf star and is slightly smaller than Neptune. While the findings published this spring about its atmosphere are exciting, more observations will be needed to confirm that water clouds are indeed floating in this world's atmosphere.

TOI-1231 b is a temperate world with a relatively cool atmosphere when compared to other similar planets. This gaseous planet, which is approximately 3.5 times larger than Earth, may have a dense water-vapor atmosphere like the preliminary research suggests. If further observations from telescopes like JWST show that this isn't the case, the planet's atmosphere may more closely resemble Neptune's hydrogen-helium composition. 

7) Exoplanet with shortest-known orbit is detected

An artist's depiction of a hot Jupiter orbiting its star. (Image credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon)

Astronomers utilizing NASA's TESS mission discovered an exoplanet that takes just 16 hours to circle its star. This world, called TOI-2109b, is also getting closer to its star at the fastest rate ever observed. 

TOI-2109b is a kind of "hot Jupiter," which is a gas giant that orbits close to its parent star. Thus far, astronomers have identified about 400 of these planets. This particular world is unique: It is about five times as massive as Jupiter, about twice the mass of our sun and it is the second-hottest exoplanet ever known. The heat, which reaches nearly 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit (3,300 degrees Celsius), could be caused by the planet's proximity to its parent star and the fact that its tidally-locked dayside never turns to face away from the star. 

TOI-2109b is located in the constellation Hercules, and its star is approximately 855 light-years away from Earth. The paper detailing TOI-2109b was published on Nov. 23, 2021.

8) Nearby star Alpha Centauri A may host a Neptune-sized exoplanet

This wide-field view of the sky around the bright star system Alpha Centauri was created from photographic images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.  (Image credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2 Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin)

A $3 million project called Near Earths in the Alpha Cen Region (NEAR) has been searching for planets in the habitable zones of the stars of the Alpha Centauri system. These stars are located a stone's throw away from Earth, at a distance of a little more than 4 light-years. 

This year, the project discovered evidence that suggests a previously-unknown planet exists in this system. In 2016 astronomers found an Earth-sized world in Alpha Centauri, called Proxima b, that dwells at a distance from its star that could support the existence of liquid water. This region is called a habitable zone, and the 2021 exoplanet finding also orbits its parent star from such a range. 

The new planet candidate orbits Alpha Centauri A, a sunlike star that makes up a binary pair with Alpha Centauri B. The study authors published their findings in February 2021 and hope that the new work inspires other astronomers to peer into this nearby stellar system to find more exoplanets there. 

9) GOT 'EM-1b takes more than 200 days to orbit its star

An artist's rendering of a 10-million-year-old star system with a gas-giant planet like Jupiter. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle)

An exoplanet with the funny unofficial name "GOT 'EM-1b" has an unusually long 218-day orbit around its parent star.

Astronomers hope that this world, which is located about 1,300 light-years away from Earth, can help improve scientific understanding about planetary populations and their migrations. 

Gas giants like those in our solar system orbit their star at a hefty distance. However, there are several hundred known "hot Jupiters," which are gaseous planets that orbit incredibly close to their stars. Only a few dozen of the thousands of exoplanets Kepler discovered had orbits longer than 200 days.

GOT 'EM-1b — otherwise called Kepler-1514b, after its parent star Kepler-1514 — is an anomaly. It is about five times the mass of Jupiter and falls into the gas giant category. But its exceptionally-long trip around its star resembles just a few dozen other known "hot Jupiters." 

10) TESS spots one of the oldest-known rocky exoplanets 

Artist’s rendition of TOI-561, one of the oldest, most metal-poor planetary systems discovered yet in the Milky Way galaxy. (Image credit: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko)

One of the oldest stars in Earth's home galaxy might be hosting a hot, rocky planet, according to a paper published In January 2021.

TOI-561b has an average surface temperature of over 3,140 degrees F (1,726 degrees C). That's because this exoplanet, which is roughly three times more massive than Earth, orbits its star closely. It takes less than 12 hours to travel once around its parent star.

The planet itself is also quite old. Using data from NASA's TESS mission and the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, astronomers determined a rough estimate for the exoplanet's age. They think it is about 10 billion years old based on its density. This makes TOI-561b one of the oldest rocky planets yet discovered, and shows that the universe has been forming rocky planets almost since its inception (which was about 14 billion years ago). 

Follow Doris Elin Urrutia on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

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2021-12-31 17:33:23Z
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James Webb Space Telescope – “We Expect Ground-Breaking Findings” - SciTechDaily

The James Webb Space Telescope is a space observatory to see further into the Universe than ever before. It is designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe and to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy. Webb will observe the Universe’s first galaxies, reveal the birth of stars and planets, and look for exoplanets with the potential for life. Closer to home, Webb will also look at our own Solar System in new light. Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and CSA. The mission launches on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. As well as launch services, ESA contributes to two of the four science instruments, as well as personnel to support mission operations. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

Interview with Oliver Krause from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy about the James Webb Space Telescope.

It will be the largest observatory ever stationed in space. On December 25, the six-and-a-half-ton James Webb Space Telescope set off on its mission from the European Kourou Cosmodrome in French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket. It will travel to its observation post more than one million kilometers from Earth. Over the next few years, it will peer deeper into the universe than any telescope before it. What are the special features of the cosmic observatory? And what “Made in Germany” technology does it carry on board? Questions for Oliver Krause from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg. His team played a key role in the development of the space telescope.

Mr. Krause, the James Webb Space Telescope is often referred to as the “Hubble successor.” But there are considerable differences. What are they?

Oliver Krause: First, the James Webb Space Telescope has a much larger primary mirror than Hubble – six and a half meters compared with just under two and a half meters in diameter. While Hubble operates mainly in visible light, the James Webb Space Telescope is an extremely sensitive infrared telescope in keeping its scientific objectives. Because such an observatory and its scientific instruments have to be operated at temperatures ranging from -266 to -223°C, the two space telescopes also differ significantly in their design. For example, the James Webb Space Telescope features a multi-layered solar shield the size of a tennis court to protect it from thermal radiation from the sun, earth, and moon. The observation sites are also different. Unlike Hubble, the Webb telescope will not circle our planet in an orbit of only 500 km. Instead, it will move around the sun 1.5 million km away from the earth in Lagrange point L2.

Oliver Krause is a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and leads a team that has done considerable work on the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: MPIA

Why is this necessary? What is the benefit of stationing the telescope in the Lagrange point?

Lagrange point L2 makes it possible to position the Sun, the Earth, and the James Webb telescope as if they were strung on a string of pearls, thereby allowing the telescope to always look into the cold universe in the shadow of the protective shield. In the course of a year, the entire sky area will then also be accessible to the telescope. However, unlike Hubble, the observatory cannot be maintained at this great distance. Therefore, everything on board must function with maximum reliability because astronaut visits will not be possible.

The Hubble and James Webb telescopes both work in space. Do you see any similarities there?

Yes, there is a common feature that ultimately justifies the designation “Hubble successor”: Both observatories are equipped with powerful instruments that allow observations using various methods from astronomy and astrophysics. Both satellites are also operated by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. And what’s more: Like Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope will expand what can be observed by many orders of magnitude. It is expected that the James Webb Space Telescope will provide fundamental and ground-breaking new insights into the cosmos – much like the Hubble has already done.

The James Webb Space Telescope operates in the infra-red part of the spectrum, which is invisible to the human eye. Will it be able to provide images at all?

Onboard, there are several cameras, the sensitivity of which begins in the red spectral range. This is still perceptible to the eye and extends to a wavelength of 28 µm. Especially the images obtained in the near infra-red will look quite similar to photos in the visible spectral range. However, it is important to remember that these are false color composites that are translated into the visual domain.

How is the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy involved with the James Webb Telescope?

Our Institute is a main partner of the MIRI instrument. This is a camera and spectrometer for the long-wave range between 5 and 28 µm. The entire instrument was developed and built by a consortium of European research institutes. The detectors and cooling machine of the MIRI come from the US. Because of its technological expertise, the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy is responsible for all moving parts – or wheel mechanisms – that can be used to switch optically between different observation methods. Another instrument on the James Webb telescope, the multi-object spectrograph NIRSpec, was built by a European industrial consortium led by the space agency ESA. The ESA insisted that the team from our Institute also be responsible for developing the filter and grating wheel. Because the mechanisms of moving parts can easily fail, their construction is particularly critical. We are therefore quite proud to have contributed these sophisticated components to the mission. Because only then can the instruments on board be used to their fullest capacity.

Origami in space: Because of its size, the James Webb Space Telescope cannot be transported “in one piece.” It is folded and stowed away in the Ariane 5 rocket and will be fully deployed only once in space. Credit: NASA / Chris Gunn

How long did you spend building these components? And did you have partners?

The construction of these mechanisms was done together with Hensoldt – formerly Carl Zeiss Optronics – in Oberkochen. The development was funded by the Max Planck Society and the German Aerospace Centre. The project started in Heidelberg back in 2000. The intensive first phase of work lasted until 2012/2013, when the instruments were delivered to NASA. However, there were repeated delays on the part of the US space agency. Since then, our team has been involved primarily in developing the data analysis pipeline and preparing for instrument operation. And, of course, in defining and preparing the scientific observations of the telescope.

The components must be “space-qualified,” so to speak. How and where did the relevant tests take place?

Testing the mechanisms and their components for their suitability for use in space was carried out at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg as well as in the clean room and environmental laboratories of the Hensolt and Carl Zeiss companies in Oberkochen. We made optimum use of the laboratory facilities at both sites in order to carry out the lengthy and technically demanding measurements at the extremely low temperatures of around -266°C and to establish the reliability and fulfillment of all performance requirements for subsequent operation in space.

What is the timetable after the launch? When do you expect the first results?

During the first two weeks after launch, the large sun shield and then the main mirror with its 18 individual segments will unfold. After that, the instruments will slowly cool down to operating temperature. This will take a few weeks. As the coldest instrument on board, the longest-wave instrument MIRI will have to wait the longest. The commissioning of all instruments, in which our Heidelberg MIRI team is also closely involved, will be completed six months after the launch. From then on, scientific results can be expected. However, the “first light” for the James Webb Space Telescope will come earlier as part of the commissioning of the main mirror. I expect this to be about three months after launch.

In which research areas do you hope to gain new insights from this mission?

There are two areas in particular: observing the first galaxies in the universe shortly after the Big Bang and studying the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. From the outset, the James Webb Space Telescope was designed to capture the extremely faint radiation emission from the first generation of galaxies, which must have formed 100 to 200 million years after the birth of the universe. Because of the cosmic red shift into the infra-red range, only the JWST has sufficient sensitivity to detect these objects from the cradle of our universe and to study them in detail.

And the observation of exoplanets?

When the James Webb Space Telescope was launched more than 25 years ago, the first planets around distant stars had only just been discovered. Over the past two decades, this field of research has exploded, and we now know of several thousand such exoplanets. After an epoch of discoveries, we can now study the atmospheres and origins of these objects in detail. The James Webb Space Telescope will play a crucial role in studying the chemical composition and physical conditions in the gas envelopes of such distant worlds.

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2021-12-31 16:44:58Z
1205415723

James Webb Telescope Begins Long-awaited Space Journey - VOA News

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2021-12-30 20:06:04Z
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Due to Precision Launch, NASA Says Webb Space Telescope's Fuel Likely To Last Way More Than 10 Years - SciTechDaily

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

After a successful launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope on December 25, and completion of two mid-course correction maneuvers, the Webb team has analyzed its initial trajectory and determined the observatory should have enough propellant to allow support of science operations in orbit for significantly more than a 10-year science lifetime.  (The minimum baseline for the mission is five years.)

Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, December 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe’s Spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. The observatory will study every phase of cosmic history—from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The analysis shows that less propellant than originally planned for is needed to correct Webb’s  trajectory toward its final orbit around the second Lagrange point known as L2, a point of gravitational balance on the far side of Earth away from the Sun. Consequently, Webb will have much more than the baseline estimate of propellant – though many factors could ultimately affect Webb’s duration of operation.

Webb has rocket propellant onboard not only for midcourse correction and insertion into orbit around L2, but also for necessary functions during the life of the mission, including “station keeping” maneuvers – small thruster burns to adjust Webb’s orbit — as well as what’s known as momentum management, which maintains Webb’s orientation in space.

The extra propellant is largely due to the precision of the Arianespace Ariane 5 launch, which exceeded the requirements needed to put Webb on the right path, as well as the precision of the first mid-course correction maneuver – a relatively small, 65-minute burn after launch that added approximately 45 mph (20 meters/sec) to the observatory’s speed.  A second correction maneuver occurred on December 27, adding around 6.3 mph (2.8 meters/sec) to the speed.

The accuracy of the launch trajectory had another result: the timing of the solar array deployment. That deployment was executed automatically after separation from the Ariane 5 based on a stored command to deploy either when Webb reached a certain attitude toward the Sun ideal for capturing sunlight to power the observatory – or automatically at 33 minutes after launch. Because Webb was already in the correct attitude after separation from the Ariane 5 second stage, the solar array was able to deploy about a minute and a half after separation, approximately 29 minutes after launch.

From here on, all deployments are human-controlled so deployment timing – or even their order — may change. Explore what’s planned here.

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2021-12-30 10:17:49Z
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“Baby Yingliang” – Exquisitely Preserved Dinosaur Embryo Discovered Inside Oviraptorosaur Egg - SciTechDaily

Life reconstruction of a close-to-hatching oviraptorosaur dinosaur embryo, based on the new specimen “Baby Yingliang.”
Credit: Lida Xing

Over the last 100 years, many fossilized dinosaur eggs and nests have been found, but finding one with a well-preserved embryo inside is exceedingly rare. Now, researchers reporting in the journal iScience on December 21, 2021, have detailed one such specimen discovered in southern China.

What’s more, their studies lead them to suggest that oviraptorosaurs (a group of therapods closely related to birds) took on a distinctive tucking posture before they hatched, a behavior that had been considered unique to birds. It raises the possibility that tucking behavior may have evolved first among non-avian theropods during the Cretaceous, the researchers say.

“Most known non-avian dinosaur embryos are incomplete with skeletons disarticulated,” said Waisum Ma of the University of Birmingham, U.K. “We were surprised to see this embryo beautifully preserved inside a dinosaur egg, lying in a bird-like posture. This posture had not been recognized in non-avian dinosaurs before.”

The fossilized dinosaur embryo comes from Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, southern China.

Animated life reconstruction of a close-to-hatching oviraptorosaur dinosaur embryo, based on the new specimen “Baby Yingliang.” Credit: Lida Xing

It had been acquired in 2000 by Liang Liu, director of a company called Yingliang Group, who suspected it might contain egg fossils. But it then ended up in storage, largely forgotten until about ten years later, when museum staff during the construction of Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum sorted through the boxes and unearthed the fossils.

“Museum staff identified them as dinosaur eggs and saw some bones on the broken cross section of one of the eggs,” Lida Xing of China University of Geosciences, Beijing, said. The fossils were then prepared, unveiling the embryo hidden within, which they named “Baby Yingliang.”

Photo of the oviraptorosaur embryo “Baby Yingliang.” Credit: Xing et al./iScience

In the new study, Xing and colleagues report that the head lies ventral to the body, with the feet on either side, and the back curled along the blunt pole of the egg, in a posture previously unrecognized in a non-avian dinosaur. That’s especially notable because it’s reminiscent of a late-stage modern bird embryo.

Comparison of the specimen to other late-stage oviraptorosaur embryos suggests that before hatching, oviraptorosaurs developed avian-like postures late in their incubation. In modern birds, such coordinated embryonic movements are associated with tucking, a behavior that’s controlled by the central nervous system and is critical for hatching success.

The notion that such pre-hatching behavior may have originated among non-avian theropods can now be further investigated through more studies of other fossil embryos. But first, the researchers say they’ll continue studying this rare specimen in even more depth, using various imaging techniques to image its internal anatomy, such as skull bones, and other body parts that are still covered in rocks.

For more on this discovery, read Exquisitely Preserved Dinosaur Embryo Found Inside Fossilized Oviraptorosaur Egg.

Reference: “An exquisitely preserved in-ovo theropod dinosaur embryo sheds light on avian-like prehatching postures” by Lida Xing, Kecheng Niu, Waisum Ma, Darla K. Zelenitsky, Tzu-Ruei Yang and Stephen L. Brusatte, 21 December 2021, iScience.
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103516

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 111 Project, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.

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2021-12-28 00:53:58Z
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Will the James Webb Space Telescope mission be successful? - Aljazeera.com

Video Duration 24 minutes 20 seconds 24:20

From: Inside Story

The world’s largest and most advanced space telescope is launched in the first such trip in decades.

Humanity has embarked on another space adventure.

One of the most sophisticated technological systems ever created on Earth is on its way to making history and looking back in it.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful space observatory to be launched into space.

With a price tag of $10bn, it is also one of the most expensive.

But how will it help us further understand our universe?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Avi Loeb – Professor of science at Harvard University and author of Extraterrestrial

Elizabeth Pearson – Astrophysicist and space journalist

Francisco Diego – Senior research fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London

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2021-12-27 18:32:14Z
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Perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo was preparing to hatch like a bird - Phys.org

This undated photo courtesy of Lida Xing and the University of Birmingham shows the oviraptorosaur embryo 'Baby Yingliang' found in the Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, southern China.

Scientists on Tuesday announced the discovery of an exquisitely preserved dinosaur embryo from at least 66 million years ago that was preparing to hatch from its egg just like a chicken.

The fossil was discovered in Ganzhou, southern China and belonged to a toothless theropod dinosaur, or oviraptorosaur, which the researchers dubbed "Baby Yingliang."

"It is one of the best dinosaur embryos ever found in history," University of Birmingham researcher Fion Waisum Ma, who co-authored a paper in the journal iScience, told AFP.

Ma and colleagues found Baby Yingliang's head lay below its body, with the feet on either side and back curled—a posture that was previously unseen in dinosaurs, but similar to modern birds.

In birds, the behavior is controlled by the central nervous system and called "tucking." Chicks preparing to hatch tuck their head under their right wing in order to stabilize the head while they crack the shell with their beak.

Embryos that fail to tuck have a higher chance of death from an unsuccessful hatching.

"This indicates that such behavior in modern birds first evolved and originated among their dinosaur ancestors," said Ma.

An alternative to tucking might have been something closer to what is seen in modern crocodiles, which instead assume a sitting posture with the head bending upon the chest up to hatching.

This undated illustration courtesy of Lida Xing and University of Birmingham shows a rendition of a close-to-hatching oviraptorosaur dinosaur embryo, which is based on the new specimen 'Baby Yingliang' found in the Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, southern China.

Forgotten in storage

Oviraptorosaurs, which means "egg thief lizards," were feathered dinosaurs that lived in what is now Asia and North America during the Late Cretaceous period.

They had variable beak shapes and diets, and ranged in size from modern turkeys at the lower end to massive Gigantoraptors, that were eight meters (26 feet) long.

Baby Yingliang measures around 27 centimeters (10.6 inches) long from head to tail, and lies inside a 17 centimeter-long egg at the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum.

Researchers believe the creature is between 72 and 66 million years old, and was probably preserved by a sudden mudslide that buried the egg, protecting it from scavengers for eons.

It would have grown two to three meters long if it had lived to be an adult, and would have likely fed on plants.

The specimen was one of several egg fossils that were forgotten in storage for decades.

The research team suspected they might contain unborn dinosaurs, and scraped off part of Baby Yingliang's egg shell to uncover the embryo hidden within.

"This dinosaur embryo inside its egg is one of the most beautiful fossils I have ever seen," said Professor Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh, part of the research team, in a statement.

"This little prenatal dinosaur looks just like a baby bird curled in its egg, which is yet more evidence that many features characteristic of today's birds first evolved in their dinosaur ancestors."

The team hopes to study Baby Yingliang in greater detail using advanced scanning techniques to image its full skeleton, including its skull bones, because part of the body is still covered by rock.

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Explore further

Exquisitely preserved embryo found inside fossilized dinosaur egg

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More information: Waisum Ma et al, An exquisitely preserved in-ovo theropod dinosaur embryo sheds light on avian-like prehatching postures, iScience (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103516. www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext … 2589-0042(21)01487-5

© 2021 AFP

Citation: Perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo was preparing to hatch like a bird (2021, December 26) retrieved 26 December 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-12-perfectly-dinosaur-embryo-hatch-bird.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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2021-12-26 15:50:02Z
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Canadian scientists involved in James Webb space telescope say it's a dream come true - CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

Virginie Ann, The Canadian Press
Published Saturday, December 25, 2021 5:08PM EST

MONTREAL - As the world tuned in on Christmas morning to see NASA's James Webb Space Telescope lift off, Canadian scientists who played a crucial part in its creation were emotional.

The collaboration between European and Canadian space agencies soared from French Guiana on South America's northeastern coast on Saturday, riding a European Ariane rocket into the Christmas morning skies.

Rene Doyon, principal investigator of the telescope, said seeing the launch in-person was the best Christmas gift he could have ever hoped for. COVID-19 requirements meant most Canadian scientists who worked on the project had to stay home.

“It was an intense moment, absolutely incredible emotions after 20 years of working on the project,” Doyon said in an interview Saturday.

“I could have never imagined that it would have happened on Christmas. It was a good moment for Canada.”

Nathalie Ouellette, outreach scientist for the Webb at the Universite de Montreal, was with her family watching the long-awaited launch in Montreal.

“To see the telescope leave Earth … what a joy for Christmas,” Ouellette said.

“I cried. We took a video to commemorate the moment. The launch went perfectly.”

The telescope will search for unprecedented details on the first galaxies created after the Big Bang, and on the development of potentially life-friendly planets beyond our solar system.

For Lisa Campbell, president of the Canadian Space Agency, the launch was the culmination of a 30-year-old dream.

“What an exceptional day,” Campbell said.

“It's the most powerful and complex space observatory ever built.”

Canada has been working on the James Webb Space Telescope almost from the start and will be among the first countries to study its discoveries, she said.

“It is a new step in astronomy, in understanding the universe, and our place in it,” Campbell said.

“And these scientific discoveries will be possible thanks to Canada's expertise in astronomy.”

At least half of the 600 scientists in the Canadian Astronomical Society have been involved with the telescope and dozens of engineers are part of its design team.

Ouellette noted that the Webb's work is only beginning.

Most people are familiar with Hubble Space Telescope - which was launched in 1990 - but the Webb is set to be 100 times more powerful, she said.

“We often talk about Webb as Hubble's successor,” she explained.

“Webb is much bigger, it will capture more distant objects with low luminosity, look further into the history of the universe.”

The $10 billion telescope started to hurtle toward its destination 1.6 million kilometres away, or more than four times beyond the moon, on Saturday. It will take a month to get there and another five months before its infrared eyes are ready to start scanning the cosmos.

Key to that work will be the Fine Guidance Sensor, which helps aim the telescope, and the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph, which helps analyze the light it observes.

Both have been designed and built in Canada.

“We are the eyes of the telescope, it's Canadian eyes that allow all observations,” Ouellette said. “Canada has never been involved at this level in this kind of project.”

Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne issued a statement to congratulate Canadian's expertise, saying past investments in space technologies made it possible for the country to be “an active partner in this exciting mission.”

“Once again, Canada's space sector is pushing the frontier of science and, more so, of astronomy,” Champagne said. “Webb is the largest space science project in the 60-year history of Canada's space program.”

For Daryl Haggard, a professor of physics at Montreal's McGill University and James Webb Space Telescope co-investigator, the telescope is an undeniable source of pride.

“We were looking at the launch video, and my husband was pointing out that he could see the logo for NASA, but also the Canadian Space Agency, right there on the rocket,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion.

“It's pretty awesome.”

Haggard said she hopes the project will put Canada on the map for its astronomical expertise.

People usually refer to Canadarm from the Canadian Space Agency, but this country does much more than that, she said. Canadarm is a robotic arm that supported American space shuttle missions for about 30 years from 1981.

In exchange for Canada's contribution on the telescope, the country is guaranteed at least five per cent of the telescope's observation time, once data starts to come in about six months.

Campbell said this will allow Canadian scientists to further their studies on exoplanets and black holes among other things.

“We will be able to see phenomena at the origin of the creation of our universe, its history,” she said.

“We often wonder why we explore space, but it will tell us so much.”

- With files from The Associated Press

- With files from Bob Weber in Edmonton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 25, 2021.

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2021-12-25 22:08:58Z
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Fossil of baby dinosaur preserved in egg astounds science community - The Weather Network

The connection between birds and dinosaurs isn't groundbreaking, but the recent discovery of a fossil with a perfectly intact embryo has the scientific community reeling with excitement as it sheds even more light on the link.

The finding of a fossil, believed to be up to 72 million years old, maintains the embryonic skeleton of an oviraptorid dinosaur -- given the moniker of Baby Yingliang after the Chinese museum that stores it.

SEE ALSO: Dinosaur bone bigger than a human being unearthed in France

According to Darla Zelenitsky, an associate professor in the geoscience department at the University of Calgary, baby dinosaur bones are tiny and fragile, and very rarely kept intact as fossils, making it a fortunate discovery.

"It is an amazing specimen...I have been working on dinosaur eggs for 25 years and have yet to see anything like it," Zelenitsky told CNN through email. "Up until now, little has been known of what was going on inside a dinosaur's egg prior to hatching, as there are so few embryonic skeletons, particularly those that are complete and preserved in a life pose."

The egg measures about 17 centimetres length-wise, while the embryo was gauged to be about 27 centimetres from head to tail. It is suspected, according to researchers, that if it were to have lived as an adult, it would have grown to a three-metre span.

(Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum/Storyful)

DINOSAURS FOUND TO SHIFT AND CHANGE POSITIONS BEFORE HATCHING

Similar to infant birds, it was noted by scientists from China, the United Kingdom in Canada that inside the eggs the dinosaurs shifted and switched poses before they hatched. The team determined the link after studying the positions of Baby Yingliang and other discovered oviraptorid embryos.

Movements in present-day birds are affiliated with a behaviour known as tucking, managed by the central nervous system and is key for the success of hatching.

"Dinosaur embryos are some of the rarest fossils. Most of them are incomplete with the bones dislocated. We are very excited about the discovery of Baby Yingliang. It is preserved in a great condition that we could answer a lot of questions about dinosaur growth and reproduction with it," Fion Waisum Ma, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Birmingham, U.K., said in a statement.

BIRDS EVOLVED FROM TWO-LEGGED DINOSAURS

Birds directly developed from a batch of two-legged dinosaurs, theropods, whose species include the Tyrannosaurus rex and smaller velociraptors.

(Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum/Storyful)

The behaviour that has been observed prior to hatching isn't the only trait modern birds derived from the dinosaur predecessors. The same breed of dinosaurs were also perched atop of their eggs to fertilize them in a similar fashion as birds, Zelenitsky, a co-author of the research that was published in the journal iScience on Tuesday, said.

“Because oviraptorids belong to a larger group of dinosaurs that ultimately gave rise to birds, this behaviour of taking on various positions prior to hatching is no longer unique to living birds,” said Zelenitsky, in a news release.

The fossil was located in China's Jiangxi province and bought in 2000 by Liang Liu, director of Yingliang Group. It found its way to storage, mostly ignored until about 10 years later, when museum staff sifted through the boxes and uncovered it during the building of the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum.

The uncovering of other well-maintained embryos is expected by scientists in the future so their suggestions can be examined more for these and other dinosaurs.

Thumbnail courtesy of Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum/Storyful.

Follow Nathan Howes on Twitter.

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2021-12-25 15:24:00Z
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How to watch NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launch on Christmas Day - CBS News

NASA and its international partners are counting down to a Christmas Day launch of the most expensive science probe ever built, a $10 billion telescope designed to capture starlight from the first galaxies born in the fiery crucible of the Big Bang.

Billions over budget and years behind schedule, the James Webb Space Telescope is targeted for blastoff from the European Space Agency's Kourou, French Guiana, launch site at 7:20 a.m. EST Saturday atop an Ariane 5 rocket, weather permitting.

Equipped with two solid-fuel strap-on boosters, the workhorse rocket will propel Webb away from the northeast coast of South America on an easterly trajectory, releasing the telescope to fly on its own about 27 minutes after liftoff.

An Ariane 5 rocket with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope onboard sits at the launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, on December 23, 2021. Chris Gunn/NASA via Getty Images

Still folded up to fit inside the Ariane 5's nose cone, the observatory's single solar panel, critical for recharging the spacecraft's batteries, is scheduled to unfold about six minutes after separation, the first in a series of major milestones.

Webb will need a month to reach its planned parking place a million miles from Earth on the far side of the moon's orbit — known as Lagrange Point 2 — where it can circle the sun in gravitational lockstep with Earth, providing the cold, dark environment needed for mission success.

The telescope is optimized to capture images of the first stars and galaxies to begin shining in the aftermath of the Big Bang, light that has been stretched into the infrared region of the spectrum by the expansion of space itself over the past 13.8 billion years.

That light can't be seen by the iconic Hubble Space Telescope, which was designed to study visible light wavelengths. Even so, Hubble has detected galaxies dating back to within a half billion years of the Big Bang.

But Webb should be able to push several hundred million years beyond that, detecting light that began heading out when the universe was just 200 million years or so old. That's the era when the cosmos first emerged from the hydrogen fog of birth and starlight began traveling freely through space.

This combination of images shows the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting the Earth (left) and an illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is designed to be 100 times more powerful. NASA via AP

Closer to home, Webb also will study the atmospheres of planets orbiting nearby stars to characterize their habitability and provide routine, up-close looks at planets, moons, asteroids and comets in Earth's solar system from Mars outward.

But first, the telescope must deploy a five-layer sunshield the size of a tennis court, unfold its segmented 21.3-foot-wide primary mirror and unfold its secondary mirror on an articulating tripod.

Those make-or-break deployments, the most complex ever attempted for a science probe, will be carried out over the first two weeks of the mission.

If all of that goes well, engineers and astronomers will spend the next five months or so aligning the telescope's optical system and calibrating its four science instruments. The first science images are expected in about six months.

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2021-12-24 23:59:56Z
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