ESO: Most distant galactic magnetic field detected

September 6, 2023 TopSpacer

A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Note that the galaxy of interest was initially discovered by a citizen science project sponsored by the BBC’s Stargazing Live television program [1].

Furthest ever detection of a galaxy’s magnetic field

This image shows the orientation of the magnetic field in the distant 9io9 galaxy, seen here when the Universe was only 20% of its current age — the furthest ever detection of a galaxy’s magnetic field. The observations were done with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. Dust grains within 9io9 are somewhat aligned with the galaxy’s magnetic field, and due to this they emit polarised light, meaning that light waves oscillate along a preferred direction rather than randomly. ALMA detected this polarisation signal, from which astronomers could work out the orientation of the magnetic field, shown here as curved lines overlaid on the ALMA image. The polarised light signal emitted by the magnetically aligned dust in 9io9 was extremely faint, representing just one percent of the total brightness of the galaxy, so astronomers used a clever trick of nature to help them obtain this result. The team was helped by the fact that 9io9, although very distant from us, had been magnified via a process known as gravitational lensing. This occurs when light from a distant galaxy, in this case 9io9, appears brighter and distorted as it is bent by the gravity of a very large object in the foreground.

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected the magnetic field of a galaxy so far away that its light has taken more than 11 billion years to reach us: we see it as it was when the Universe was just 2.5 billion years old. The result provides astronomers with vital clues about how the magnetic fields of galaxies like our own Milky Way came to be.

Lots of astronomical bodies in the Universe have magnetic fields, whether it be planets, stars or galaxies.

“Many people might not be aware that our entire galaxy and other galaxies are laced with magnetic fields, spanning tens of thousands of light-years,”

says James Geach, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, and lead author of the study published today in Nature.

“We actually know very little about how these fields form, despite their being quite fundamental to how galaxies evolve,”

adds Enrique Lopez Rodriguez, a researcher at Stanford University, USA, who also participated in the study. It is not clear how early in the lifetime of the Universe, and how quickly, magnetic fields in galaxies form because so far astronomers have only mapped magnetic fields in galaxies close to us.

Now, using ALMA, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, Geach and his team have discovered a fully formed magnetic field in a distant galaxy, similar in structure to what is observed in nearby galaxies. The field is about 1000 times weaker than the Earth’s magnetic field, but extends over more than 16 000 light-years.

“This discovery gives us new clues as to how galactic-scale magnetic fields are formed,”

explains Geach. Observing a fully developed magnetic field this early in the history of the Universe indicates that magnetic fields spanning entire galaxies can form rapidly while young galaxies are still growing.

The team believes that intense star formation in the early Universe could have played a role in accelerating the development of the fields. Moreover, these fields can in turn influence how later generations of stars will form. Co-author and ESO astronomer Rob Ivison says that the discovery opens up

“a new window onto the inner workings of galaxies, because the magnetic fields are linked to the material that is forming new stars.”

To make this detection, the team searched for light emitted by dust grains in a distant galaxy, 9io9 [1]. Galaxies are packed full of dust grains and when a magnetic field is present, the grains tend to align and the light they emit becomes polarised. This means that the light waves oscillate along a preferred direction rather than randomly. When ALMA detected and mapped a polarised signal coming from 9io9, the presence of a magnetic field in a very distant galaxy was confirmed for the first time.

“No other telescope could have achieved this,”

says Geach. The hope is that with this and future observations of distant magnetic fields the mystery of how these fundamental galactic features form will begin to unravel.

Notes

[1] 9io9 was discovered in the course of a citizen science project. The discovery was helped by viewers of the British BBC television programme Stargazing Live, when over three nights in 2014 the audience was asked to examine millions of images in the hunt for distant galaxies.

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Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – Sept.4.2023

September 4, 2023 TopSpacer

This week’s selection of videos about space stations and living in space including NASA’s latest Space to Ground report for the International Space Station:

** Expedition 69 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Space Station Farewell Remarks – Aug. 31, 2023 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, Crew-6 which includes NASA astronauts Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev provided farewell remarks on August 31 ahead of their upcoming departure from the space station. Joining Crew-6 for the farewell remarks were NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin and Sergey Prokopyev. Crew-6 is slated to undock on September 2 and splashdown off the coast of Florida September 3 after completing a six-month mission

** SpaceX Crew-6 undocking and departure – SciNews

The “Endeavour” Crew Dragon spacecraft autonomously undocked from the Harmony module’s forward International Docking Adapter, departing the International Space Station, on 3 September 2023, at 11:05 UTC (07:05 EDT). The “Endeavour” Crew Dragon spacecraft, with NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, is scheduled to splashdown off the coast of Florida, on 4 September 2023, at 04:17 UTC (00:17 EDT).
Credit: NASA/SpaceX, Music: “Blue Danube by Strauss” courtesy of YouTube Audio Library

** NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Flight Day 3 Highlights – September 4, 2023 – NASA Video

NASA astronauts Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev began their journey back to Earth from the International Space Station on Sunday, September 3, by closing the hatch to the SpaceX Dragon, named Endeavour, followed by undocking. After nearly 16 hours of transit, Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev returned to Earth with a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida on Monday, September 4. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 completed an approximately six-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights that pave the way for NASA’s Artemis program.

** Andreas Mogensen’s second mission Huginn soars high – European Space Agency, ESA

Huginn, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s second mission to the International Space Station, is now under way. Together with Crew-7, the ESA astronaut was launched on the Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance on 26 August 2023, at 08:27 BST (09:27 CEST).

Alongside him are NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA, and Konstantin Borisov from Roscosmos. The crew will spend approximately six months on the Space Station, 420 km above Earth.

This isn’t Andreas’s first journey into space. In 2015, he participated in the 10-day ‘iriss’ mission. However, Huginn marks his first launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, and his first flight with a Crew Dragon.

Watch the replay of pivotal moments such as the crew’s arrival at the Kennedy Space Center on 20 August, liftoff, as well as Andreas piloting Crew Dragon on its 11th crewed flight.

The journey also included a special passenger, who served as microgravity indicators. After approximately 30 hours, the Crew Dragon approached and docked with the Space Station, where Andreas and his colleagues were greeted by the resident astronauts.

For more about Andreas and his Huginn mission, visit the Huginn mission page: https://www.esa.int/Science_Explorati…

** Hurricane Franklin as Seen from the International Space Station – NASA

External cameras on the International Space Station captured views of major Hurricane Franklin at 9:56 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023 as the station flew 260 miles overhead. Franklin was located over the Atlantic well out to sea at the time of the flyover, packing winds of 130 miles an hour. Franklin is moving north-northeast over the Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

** Chinese Astronauts Clean Space Station in Shift Change – CCTV Video News Agency

The three Chinese astronauts aboard the country’s space station Tiangong did some cleaning chores during the interval in the change of shifts, to make their space home clean and tidy.

** Shenzhou-16 Crew Reap Good Harvest in Space Planting Experiment – CCTV Video News Agency

The space vegetable planting experiment conducted by the Shenzhou-16 crew who have been in orbit for almost three months has yielded a good harvest.

** Live Video from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream) – NASA

Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed.

The space station orbits Earth about 250 miles (425 kilometers) above the surface. An international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries operates the station, and it has been continuously occupied since November 2000. It’s a microgravity laboratory where science, research, and human innovation make way for new technologies and research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. More: https://go.nasa.gov/3CkVtC8

Did you know you can spot the station without a telescope? It looks like a fast-moving star, but you have to know when to look up. Sign up for text messages or email alerts to let you know when (and where) to spot the station and wave to the crew: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov

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Night sky highlights for September 2023

September 1, 2023 TopSpacer

Check out the night sky this month, September 2023. Here are videos highlighting the top sights to observe.

** What’s Up: September 2023 Skywatching Tips from NASA – NASA JPL

Venus returns to the early morning skies as a bright beacon in the east. The full moon at the end of the month is known as the Harvest Moon. And if you have access to dark skies away from urban light pollution, you might be able to glimpse the faint, glowing pillar of the zodiacal light.

0:00 Intro
0:13 Venus in the morning sky
0:36 Viewing Jupiter and Saturn
1:01 The Harvest Moo
1:37 The Zodiacal Light
2:50 OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return
3:21 September Moon phases

Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatch….

** Tonight’s Sky: September 2023 – Space Telescope Science Institute – Tonight’s Sky

In September, Pegasus becomes increasingly prominent in the southeastern sky, allowing stargazers to locate globular star clusters and a nearby double star, Alpha Capricorni. Keep watching for space-based views of densely packed, spherical collections of ancient stars in visible and X-ray light.

** What to see in the night sky: September 2023 – BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Pete Lawrence and Paul Able guide us through this month’s night-sky highlights, including Mercury emerging as a morning planet, Neptune at opposition, lunar occultation of Botein, Gruithuisen’s Lunar City, the autumn equinox and 2023’s Harvest Moon.

** Sky & Telescope’s Sky Tour Podcast – September 2023 | The Harvest Moon and the Summer Triangle – Sky & Telescope Youtube

Our monthly Sky Tour #astronomy #podcast provides an informative and entertaining 10-minute guided tour of the nighttime sky. Listen to the September episode and celebrate the equinox; stalk the Harvest #Moon; check in with #Saturn, #Jupiter, and #Venus; and explore the #Summer Triangle. Grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.