New high-definition pictures of the early universe (Image courtesy of ACT Collaboration; ESA/Planck) New high-definition pictures of the early universe Research by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration has led to the clearest and most precise images yet of the universe’s infancy—the cosmic microwave background radiation that was visible only 380,000 years after the Big Bang. 8 min. read
A less clumpy, more complex universe? A less clumpy, more complex universe? Researchers combined cosmological data from two major surveys of the universe’s evolutionary history and found that it may have become “messier and complicated” than expected in recent years.
Takeaways: The new mini moon On Sunday, Sept. 29, Earth welcomed 2024 PT5, a “mini-moon” temporarily captured by the planet’s orbit that’s set to depart on Monday, Nov. 25.(Image: Courtesy of NASA/JPL) Takeaways: The new mini moon Last month Earth welcomed a visitor known as 2024 PT5. To learn more about this celestial guest, Penn Today caught up with two astronomers in the School of Arts & Sciences, Gary Bernstein and Bhuvnesh Jain.
What’s That? The Rittenhouse Orrery Penn Libraries curator John Pollack with the Rittenhouse Orrery.nocred What’s That? The Rittenhouse Orrery The Rittenhouse Orrery is a nearly intact 18th-century mechanical model of the solar system, demonstrating the motions of the planets and their satellites around the sun, built by astronomer David Rittenhouse.
Researchers upend theory about the formation of the Milky Way Galaxy This image visualizes the Milky Way and its surrounding “halo” of stars. Most stars in the Milky Way lie in the disc (like the Sun, for example), but stars from past collisions end up in the halo, a large “cloud” of stars that extends outwards in all directions. These halo stars have been enhanced in this image, but in reality would be very dim compared to the disc. The halo appears messy and “wrinkly” here, a sign that a merger has occurred relatively recently.(Image: Halo stars: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, T Donlon et al. 2024; Background Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds: Stefan Payne-Wardenaar) Researchers upend theory about the formation of the Milky Way Galaxy New findings by Robyn Sanderson and collaborators suggest galaxy’s last major collision was billions of years later than previously thought.
Total solar eclipse Sliski's composite image of the solar eclipse, with plumes located above and below the poles of the stars, red prominences located near the edge of the sun (at 11 and 8 o'clock), and with one extensions each to the east and west of the solar disc. This data will be compared to predictive models to better refine the current understanding of the sun (Image credit: David Sliski). Total solar eclipse Gary Bernstein and Bhuvnesh Jain speak with Penn Today about the significance of the coming total eclipse.
Once a spy satellite, now a telescope with an eye on the cosmos (On homepage) Engineers at Ball Aerospace, one of Roman’s industrial partners, installed and aligned the element wheel assembly into the observatory’s Wide Field Instrument. The assembly will help Roman solve some of the most profound mysteries in astrophysics. When light bounces off and is concentrated by the main and secondary mirrors of Roman, it will move through a component called the element wheel. After being focused and filtered, this light will hit a big array of sensors that captures the light to form an image. Depending on their research needs, astronomers can use special science filters to pick out certain types of light for their studies. (Image: Courtesy of Ball Aerospace) Once a spy satellite, now a telescope with an eye on the cosmos Researchers from Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences are part of a collaboration to develop Hubble’s wide-eyed cousin, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Dark Energy Survey uncovers clues to universe’s complexity An image of NGC 1365 collected by the Dark Energy Survey. Also known as the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy, NGC 1365 is an example of a spiral galaxy and is located about 56 million light-years away. (Image: DECam, DES Collaboration) nocred Dark Energy Survey uncovers clues to universe’s complexity The decade-long effort reveals findings consistent with standard cosmological models, but open to more complex interpretations.
Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole The Wall Street Journal Russia aims to restore prestige in race to moon’s south pole Benjamin L. Schmitt of the School of Arts & Sciences and the Weitzman School of Design says that sentiment in the scientific and astronaut communities has begun to shift toward a future in which NASA and Roscosmos are no longer close partners. Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is rich with detail. Thousands of galaxies—including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared—have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s Near-Infra Red Cam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus—they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. (Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI) Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? Penn Professors Vijay Balasubramanian and Mark Devlin offer a broader understanding of a recent paper’s claim that the universe could be 26.7 billion years old.
Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is rich with detail. Thousands of galaxies—including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared—have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. The image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it. Webb’s Near-Infra Red Cam has brought those distant galaxies into sharp focus—they have tiny, faint structures that have never been seen before, including star clusters and diffuse features. (Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI) Could the age of the universe be twice as old as current estimates suggest? Penn Professors Vijay Balasubramanian and Mark Devlin offer a broader understanding of a recent paper’s claim that the universe could be 26.7 billion years old.