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Flight Through the Orion Nebula—NASA 360 Video
Use a mouse to scroll the view when using a computer. For full immersion, watch using a virtual reality device and a 360 video player.
This visualization explores the Orion Nebula using both visible-light observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and infrared-light observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The contrast between visible and infrared views of the nebula is examined using two spatially matched, three-dimensional models. As the camera flies into the star-forming region, the sequence cross-fades back and forth between the visible and infrared views.
The glowing gaseous landscape has been illuminated and carved by the high-energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the center of the nebula. The infrared observations generally show cooler gas at a deeper layer of the nebula that extends well beyond the visible image. In addition, the infrared view showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths. The higher resolution visible observations show finer details including wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped protoplanetary disks (or proplyds). In this manner, the video illustrates the contrasting features uncovered by multi-wavelength astronomy.
Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Hustak, L. Frattare, M. Robberto and M. Gennaro (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC); Acknowledgement: R. Gendler
Music: Dvorak – "Serenade for Strings Op22 in E Major Larghetto", performed by The Advent Chamber Orchestra, CC BY-SA
Duration: 2 minutes, 16 seconds
Release Date: May 16, 2018
+Hubble Space Telescope
+Spitzer Space Telescope
+NASA Goddard
+European Space Agency, ESA
+Space Telescope Science Institute
#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Nebula #Orion #Cosmos #Universe #Ultraviolet #Spitzer #Telescope #ESA #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Visualization #360Video #Video
Use a mouse to scroll the view when using a computer. For full immersion, watch using a virtual reality device and a 360 video player.
This visualization explores the Orion Nebula using both visible-light observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and infrared-light observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The contrast between visible and infrared views of the nebula is examined using two spatially matched, three-dimensional models. As the camera flies into the star-forming region, the sequence cross-fades back and forth between the visible and infrared views.
The glowing gaseous landscape has been illuminated and carved by the high-energy radiation and strong stellar winds from the massive hot stars in the center of the nebula. The infrared observations generally show cooler gas at a deeper layer of the nebula that extends well beyond the visible image. In addition, the infrared view showcases many faint stars that shine primarily at longer wavelengths. The higher resolution visible observations show finer details including wispy bow shocks and tadpole-shaped protoplanetary disks (or proplyds). In this manner, the video illustrates the contrasting features uncovered by multi-wavelength astronomy.
Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, J. DePasquale, L. Hustak, L. Frattare, M. Robberto and M. Gennaro (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC); Acknowledgement: R. Gendler
Music: Dvorak – "Serenade for Strings Op22 in E Major Larghetto", performed by The Advent Chamber Orchestra, CC BY-SA
Duration: 2 minutes, 16 seconds
Release Date: May 16, 2018
+Hubble Space Telescope
+Spitzer Space Telescope
+NASA Goddard
+European Space Agency, ESA
+Space Telescope Science Institute
#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Nebula #Orion #Cosmos #Universe #Ultraviolet #Spitzer #Telescope #ESA #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Visualization #360Video #Video
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MY SECOND FAVORITE CONSTELLATION NEXT TO PEGASUS... ♥
Cassiopeia A is among the best-studied supernova remnants. This image blends data from NASA's #Spitzer (red), #Hubble (yellow), and #Chandra (green and blue) #observatories .
Cassiopeia is the 25th largest constellation in the night sky, occupying an area of 598 square degrees. It lies in the first quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ1) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -20°.
The brightest star in the constellation is Schedar, Alpha Cassiopeiae.
The Perseid meteor shower is associated with the constellation Cassiopeia.
Cassiopeia belongs to the Perseus family of constellations, along with Andromeda, Auriga, Cepheus, Cetus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum. It was named after Cassiopeia, the vain and boastful queen in Greek mythology.
#science #space #astronomy
Cassiopeia A is among the best-studied supernova remnants. This image blends data from NASA's #Spitzer (red), #Hubble (yellow), and #Chandra (green and blue) #observatories .
Cassiopeia is the 25th largest constellation in the night sky, occupying an area of 598 square degrees. It lies in the first quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ1) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -20°.
The brightest star in the constellation is Schedar, Alpha Cassiopeiae.
The Perseid meteor shower is associated with the constellation Cassiopeia.
Cassiopeia belongs to the Perseus family of constellations, along with Andromeda, Auriga, Cepheus, Cetus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum. It was named after Cassiopeia, the vain and boastful queen in Greek mythology.
#science #space #astronomy
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ASTEROID FLORENCE -- A mountain-size space rock cruised past Earth at 8:06 a.m. EDT (1206 GMT) in September-7th. The roughly 2.7-mile-wide asteroid 3122 "Florence" came within a mere 4.4 million miles of Earth — just 18 times the distance from our planet to the moon.
According to Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, only 10 or so asteroids as big as Florence exist in near-Earth space, and, nothing this big has passed this close to Earth since NASA started tracking near earth asteroids. Astronomers have mapped out Florence's orbit well enough to know that it poses no threat to Earth for the next few centuries at least, he stressed. But if something as big as Florence did hit us, it will be catastrophic, since scientists regard any impactor at least 0.6 miles, or 1 km, across as a potential civilization-ender, and Florence is estimated to be 2.7 miles wide, which is based on infrared observations by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
#NASA #Spitzer #Florence
According to Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, only 10 or so asteroids as big as Florence exist in near-Earth space, and, nothing this big has passed this close to Earth since NASA started tracking near earth asteroids. Astronomers have mapped out Florence's orbit well enough to know that it poses no threat to Earth for the next few centuries at least, he stressed. But if something as big as Florence did hit us, it will be catastrophic, since scientists regard any impactor at least 0.6 miles, or 1 km, across as a potential civilization-ender, and Florence is estimated to be 2.7 miles wide, which is based on infrared observations by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
#NASA #Spitzer #Florence
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#JPL: #Spitzer Hears Stellar '#Heartbeat' from Planetary Companion
astrocometal.blogspot.be
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When your 💕heart beats💕close to mine: +NASA’s #Spitzer space telescope has detected unusual pulsations in the outer shell of a star.
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Illustration of Epsilon Eridani System | NASA
Illustration based on Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the inner and outer parts of the Epsilon Eridani system compared with the corresponding components of our solar system. The similarity of the structure of the Epsilon Eridani system to our solar system is remarkable, although Epsilon Eridani is much younger than our sun. SOFIA observations confirmed the existence of the asteroid belt adjacent to the orbit of the Jovian planet.
May 2, 2017: NASA’s flying observatory, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, recently completed a detailed study of a nearby planetary system. The investigations confirmed that this nearby planetary system has an architecture remarkably similar to that of our solar system.
Located 10.5 light-years away in the southern hemisphere of the constellation Eridanus, the star Epsilon Eridani, eps Eri for short, is the closest planetary system around a star similar to the early sun. It is a prime location to research how planets form around stars like our sun.
Credits: NASA/JPL/Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)
Release Date: May 2, 2017
+NASA's Ames Research Center
+DLR, German Aerospace Center
+The University of Arizona
+NASA Armstrong
+NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory+Spitzer Space Telescope
#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Exoplanets #Planet #Star #EpsilonEridani #epsEri #Eridanus #Universe #Cosmos #SolarSystem #SOFIA #Airborne #Observatory #Infrared #Boeing #Boeing747SP #Aircraft #Ames #Armstrong #California #UnitedStates #Spitzer #Telescope #DLR #Germany #Deutschland #STEM #Education #Artist #Illustration #Infographic
Illustration based on Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the inner and outer parts of the Epsilon Eridani system compared with the corresponding components of our solar system. The similarity of the structure of the Epsilon Eridani system to our solar system is remarkable, although Epsilon Eridani is much younger than our sun. SOFIA observations confirmed the existence of the asteroid belt adjacent to the orbit of the Jovian planet.
May 2, 2017: NASA’s flying observatory, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, recently completed a detailed study of a nearby planetary system. The investigations confirmed that this nearby planetary system has an architecture remarkably similar to that of our solar system.
Located 10.5 light-years away in the southern hemisphere of the constellation Eridanus, the star Epsilon Eridani, eps Eri for short, is the closest planetary system around a star similar to the early sun. It is a prime location to research how planets form around stars like our sun.
Credits: NASA/JPL/Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)
Release Date: May 2, 2017
+NASA's Ames Research Center
+DLR, German Aerospace Center
+The University of Arizona
+NASA Armstrong
+NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory+Spitzer Space Telescope
#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Exoplanets #Planet #Star #EpsilonEridani #epsEri #Eridanus #Universe #Cosmos #SolarSystem #SOFIA #Airborne #Observatory #Infrared #Boeing #Boeing747SP #Aircraft #Ames #Armstrong #California #UnitedStates #Spitzer #Telescope #DLR #Germany #Deutschland #STEM #Education #Artist #Illustration #Infographic
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Moult munitie harmonielle d'opiniâtreté merveilleuse jetatorisée avec une systémie de recherche dextrique qui couronne le dépassement des imbroglios barbouillis de superstitions fallacieuse de balourdises ténébreuses,mais innove une excellente orfèvrerie optique d'une transcendance optique universelle mirifique et de magnanimité culturelle admirable d'une vertu universelle prolifique, grâce à la plénitude optimale de perfectibilité symétrique de longanimité de la NASA, et cadencée par un somptueux événement qui sous-tend un spectacle d'une immanence céleste dans licet de bonheur flexible d'une objectivité substratum d'une grande découverte apexique de magnificence ordrale et abyssale de plénitude arborescente de sept planètes ayant la même taille que notre édénique maison commune j'ai avisé et avalisé, la Terre. La NASA et TRAPPIST-1,nous offres, un trésor de planètes trouvés | JPL,grâce à un ustensile d'une acuité esciente inouïe, qui est le télescope spatial Spitzer de la NASA, qui a oeuvré à une observation autour d'une étoile naine à proximité de ultra-cool appelé TRAPPIST - 1,se qui honore une excellente orfèvrerie de béatification d'une sollicitude de bonification fertile de louanges dithyrambiques à la NASA et à FRIENDS OF NASA pour une information innovatrice d'une grande bavouresque visée scientifique et technologique post-moderne référentielle aussi d'une épistémologie appliquée scientifique plénière d'une ontologie horizontale qui bouscule le cerveau dans une symétrie investigative d'une acribologie d'une architectonique investigation photogénique de savoir juste où peut-on exceller la cohérence habile de la connaissance de l'homme, donc humaine,c'est - à- dire, je me rationalise:,c'est- à-dire,je me scientifise:QUI A INVENTÉ L'HOMME ?
Mille constellations apophantiiques de mercis à la NASA avec une adéquate optique numérique pleine d'instruction zénithale de vénusté neptique légalisée par une couverture universelle d'une science productive de fertilité spontanée de communication pour une altérité longanime dialectisée par une compréhension de notre univers dans une logique d'ambiance alacritérante de pure prouesse intelligente noble.
Mille constellations apophantiiques de mercis à la NASA avec une adéquate optique numérique pleine d'instruction zénithale de vénusté neptique légalisée par une couverture universelle d'une science productive de fertilité spontanée de communication pour une altérité longanime dialectisée par une compréhension de notre univers dans une logique d'ambiance alacritérante de pure prouesse intelligente noble.
NASA & TRAPPIST-1: A Treasure Trove of Planets Found | JPL
Feb. 22, 2017: Seven Earth-sized planets have been observed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope around a tiny, nearby, ultra-cool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Three of these planets are firmly in the habitable zone.
Over 21 days, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope measured the drop in light as each planet passed in front of the star. Spitzer was able to identify a total of seven rocky worlds, including three in the habitable zone, where liquid water might be found.
The video features interviews with Sean Carey, manager of the Spitzer Science Center, Caltech/IPAC; Nikole Lewis, James Webb Space Telescope project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute; and Michaël Gillon, principal investigator, TRAPPIST, University of Liege, Belgium.
The system has been revealed through observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) telescope, as well as other ground-based observatories. The system was named for the TRAPPIST telescope.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at Caltech/IPAC. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer and http://spitzer.caltech.edu.
Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: February 22, 2017
+Spitzer Space Telescope
+NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
+Prof. Sara Seager
+Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
+Université de Liège (ULg)
+Space Telescope Science Institute
+Space Telescope Science Institute
#NASA #Astronomy #Exoplanets #Trappist #Earth #Astrobiology #Science #Water #Exploration #Discovery #JPL #Spitzer #STEM #Education #Animation #Video
Feb. 22, 2017: Seven Earth-sized planets have been observed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope around a tiny, nearby, ultra-cool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Three of these planets are firmly in the habitable zone.
Over 21 days, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope measured the drop in light as each planet passed in front of the star. Spitzer was able to identify a total of seven rocky worlds, including three in the habitable zone, where liquid water might be found.
The video features interviews with Sean Carey, manager of the Spitzer Science Center, Caltech/IPAC; Nikole Lewis, James Webb Space Telescope project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute; and Michaël Gillon, principal investigator, TRAPPIST, University of Liege, Belgium.
The system has been revealed through observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) telescope, as well as other ground-based observatories. The system was named for the TRAPPIST telescope.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at Caltech/IPAC. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer and http://spitzer.caltech.edu.
Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: February 22, 2017
+Spitzer Space Telescope
+NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
+Prof. Sara Seager
+Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
+Université de Liège (ULg)
+Space Telescope Science Institute
+Space Telescope Science Institute
#NASA #Astronomy #Exoplanets #Trappist #Earth #Astrobiology #Science #Water #Exploration #Discovery #JPL #Spitzer #STEM #Education #Animation #Video
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'Iceball' Planet Discovered Through Microlensing | NASA JPL
Image: This artist's concept shows OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, a planet discovered through a technique called microlensing.
April 26, 2017: Scientists have discovered a new planet with the mass of Earth, orbiting its star at the same distance that we orbit our sun. The planet is likely far too cold to be habitable for life as we know it, however, because its star is so faint. But the discovery adds to scientists' understanding of the types of planetary systems that exist beyond our own.
"This 'iceball' planet is the lowest-mass planet ever found through microlensing," said Yossi Shvartzvald, a NASA postdoctoral fellow based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and lead author of a study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Microlensing is a technique that facilitates the discovery of distant objects by using background stars as flashlights. When a star crosses precisely in front of a bright star in the background, the gravity of the foreground star focuses the light of the background star, making it appear brighter. A planet orbiting the foreground object may cause an additional blip in the star's brightness. In this case, the blip only lasted a few hours. This technique has found the most distant known exoplanets from Earth, and can detect low-mass planets that are substantially farther from their stars than Earth is from our sun.
The newly discovered planet, called OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, aids scientists in their quest to figure out the distribution of planets in our galaxy. An open question is whether there is a difference in the frequency of planets in the Milky Way's central bulge compared to its disk, the pancake-like region surrounding the bulge. OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is located in the disk, as are two planets previously detected through microlensing by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
"Although we only have a handful of planetary systems with well-determined distances that are this far outside our solar system, the lack of Spitzer detections in the bulge suggests that planets may be less common toward the center of our galaxy than in the disk," said Geoff Bryden, astronomer at JPL and co-author of the study.
For the new study, researchers were alerted to the initial microlensing event by the ground-based Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey, managed by the University of Warsaw in Poland. Study authors used the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, and Spitzer, to track the event from Earth and space.
KMTNet consists of three wide-field telescopes: one in Chile, one in Australia, and one in South Africa. When scientists from the Spitzer team received the OGLE alert, they realized the potential for a planetary discovery. The microlensing event alert was only a couple of hours before Spitzer's targets for the week were to be finalized, but it made the cut.
With both KMTNet and Spitzer observing the event, scientists had two vantage points from which to study the objects involved, as though two eyes separated by a great distance were viewing it. Having data from these two perspectives allowed them to detect the planet with KMTNet and calculate the mass of the star and the planet using Spitzer data.
"We are able to know details about this planet because of the synergy between KMTNet and Spitzer," said Andrew Gould, professor emeritus of astronomy at Ohio State University, Columbus, and study co-author.
Although OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is about the same mass as Earth, and the same distance from its host star as our planet is from our sun, the similarities may end there.
OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is nearly 13,000 light-years away and orbits a star so small, scientists aren't sure if it's a star at all. It could be a brown dwarf, a star-like object whose core is not hot enough to generate energy through nuclear fusion. This particular star is only 7.8 percent the mass of our sun, right on the border between being a star and not.
Alternatively, it could be an ultra-cool dwarf star much like TRAPPIST-1, which Spitzer and ground-based telescopes recently revealed to host seven Earth-size planets. Those seven planets all huddle closely around TRAPPIST-1, even closer than Mercury orbits our sun, and they all have potential for liquid water. But OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, at the sun-Earth distance from a very faint star, would be extremely cold—likely even colder than Pluto is in our own solar system, such that any surface water would be frozen. A planet would need to orbit much closer to the tiny, faint star to receive enough light to maintain liquid water on its surface.
Ground-based telescopes available today are not able to find smaller planets than this one using the microlensing method. A highly sensitive space telescope would be needed to spot smaller bodies in microlensing events. NASA's upcoming Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), planned for launch in the mid-2020s, will have this capability.
"One of the problems with estimating how many planets like this are out there is that we have reached the lower limit of planet masses that we can currently detect with microlensing," Shvartzvald said. "WFIRST will be able to change that."
JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
For more information about Spitzer, visit:
http://spitzer.caltech.edu
www.nasa.gov/spitzer
Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Release Date: APRIL 26, 2017
+Spitzer Space Telescope
+NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Exoplanet #OGLE2016BLG1195Lb #Spitzer #Telescope #Infrared #Microlensing #Cosmos #Universe #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #Artist #Illustration #STEM #Education
Image: This artist's concept shows OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, a planet discovered through a technique called microlensing.
April 26, 2017: Scientists have discovered a new planet with the mass of Earth, orbiting its star at the same distance that we orbit our sun. The planet is likely far too cold to be habitable for life as we know it, however, because its star is so faint. But the discovery adds to scientists' understanding of the types of planetary systems that exist beyond our own.
"This 'iceball' planet is the lowest-mass planet ever found through microlensing," said Yossi Shvartzvald, a NASA postdoctoral fellow based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, and lead author of a study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Microlensing is a technique that facilitates the discovery of distant objects by using background stars as flashlights. When a star crosses precisely in front of a bright star in the background, the gravity of the foreground star focuses the light of the background star, making it appear brighter. A planet orbiting the foreground object may cause an additional blip in the star's brightness. In this case, the blip only lasted a few hours. This technique has found the most distant known exoplanets from Earth, and can detect low-mass planets that are substantially farther from their stars than Earth is from our sun.
The newly discovered planet, called OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, aids scientists in their quest to figure out the distribution of planets in our galaxy. An open question is whether there is a difference in the frequency of planets in the Milky Way's central bulge compared to its disk, the pancake-like region surrounding the bulge. OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is located in the disk, as are two planets previously detected through microlensing by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
"Although we only have a handful of planetary systems with well-determined distances that are this far outside our solar system, the lack of Spitzer detections in the bulge suggests that planets may be less common toward the center of our galaxy than in the disk," said Geoff Bryden, astronomer at JPL and co-author of the study.
For the new study, researchers were alerted to the initial microlensing event by the ground-based Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey, managed by the University of Warsaw in Poland. Study authors used the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, and Spitzer, to track the event from Earth and space.
KMTNet consists of three wide-field telescopes: one in Chile, one in Australia, and one in South Africa. When scientists from the Spitzer team received the OGLE alert, they realized the potential for a planetary discovery. The microlensing event alert was only a couple of hours before Spitzer's targets for the week were to be finalized, but it made the cut.
With both KMTNet and Spitzer observing the event, scientists had two vantage points from which to study the objects involved, as though two eyes separated by a great distance were viewing it. Having data from these two perspectives allowed them to detect the planet with KMTNet and calculate the mass of the star and the planet using Spitzer data.
"We are able to know details about this planet because of the synergy between KMTNet and Spitzer," said Andrew Gould, professor emeritus of astronomy at Ohio State University, Columbus, and study co-author.
Although OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is about the same mass as Earth, and the same distance from its host star as our planet is from our sun, the similarities may end there.
OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is nearly 13,000 light-years away and orbits a star so small, scientists aren't sure if it's a star at all. It could be a brown dwarf, a star-like object whose core is not hot enough to generate energy through nuclear fusion. This particular star is only 7.8 percent the mass of our sun, right on the border between being a star and not.
Alternatively, it could be an ultra-cool dwarf star much like TRAPPIST-1, which Spitzer and ground-based telescopes recently revealed to host seven Earth-size planets. Those seven planets all huddle closely around TRAPPIST-1, even closer than Mercury orbits our sun, and they all have potential for liquid water. But OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, at the sun-Earth distance from a very faint star, would be extremely cold—likely even colder than Pluto is in our own solar system, such that any surface water would be frozen. A planet would need to orbit much closer to the tiny, faint star to receive enough light to maintain liquid water on its surface.
Ground-based telescopes available today are not able to find smaller planets than this one using the microlensing method. A highly sensitive space telescope would be needed to spot smaller bodies in microlensing events. NASA's upcoming Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), planned for launch in the mid-2020s, will have this capability.
"One of the problems with estimating how many planets like this are out there is that we have reached the lower limit of planet masses that we can currently detect with microlensing," Shvartzvald said. "WFIRST will be able to change that."
JPL manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
For more information about Spitzer, visit:
http://spitzer.caltech.edu
www.nasa.gov/spitzer
Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Release Date: APRIL 26, 2017
+Spitzer Space Telescope
+NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Exoplanet #OGLE2016BLG1195Lb #Spitzer #Telescope #Infrared #Microlensing #Cosmos #Universe #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #Artist #Illustration #STEM #Education
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#NASA #Hubble and #Spitzer space telescopes observe Dying Star reborn into a Black Hole #clarksville #space #science
Written by Elizabeth Landau NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA – Astronomers have watched as a massive, dying star was likely reborn as a black hole. It took the combined power of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), and NASA’s Hubble and…
Written by Elizabeth Landau NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA – Astronomers have watched as a massive, dying star was likely reborn as a black hole. It took the combined power of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), and NASA’s Hubble and…
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