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A study of the Ophiuchus star-forming complex has offered new insights into the conditions in which our own solar system was born.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

A region of active star formation in the constellation Ophiuchus is giving astronomers new insights into the conditions in which our own solar system was born.

In particular, the study showed how our solar system may have become enriched with short-lived radioactive elements.

Evidence of this enrichment process has been around since the 1970s when scientists studying certain mineral inclusions in meteorites concluded that they were pristine remnants of the infant solar system and contained the decay products of short-lived radionuclides.

These radioactive elements could have been blown onto the nascent solar system by a nearby exploding star (a supernova) or by the strong stellar winds from a type of massive star known as a Wolf-Rayet star.

The authors of the new study used multi-wavelength observations of the Ophiuchus star-forming region, including spectacular new infrared data, to reveal interactions between the clouds of star-forming gas and radionuclides produced in a nearby cluster of young stars.

Their findings indicated that supernovas in the star cluster are the most likely source of short-lived radionuclides in the star-forming clouds.

“Our solar system was most likely formed in a giant molecular cloud together with a young stellar cluster, and one or more supernova events from some massive stars in this cluster contaminated the gas which turned into the sun and its planetary system,” said co-author Douglas N. C. Lin, professor emeritus of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.

“Although this scenario has been suggested in the past, the strength of this paper is to use multi-wavelength observations and a sophisticated statistical analysis to deduce a quantitative measurement of the model’s likelihood,” he added.

First author John Forbes at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics said data from space-based gamma-ray telescopes enable the detection of gamma rays emitted by the short-lived radionuclide aluminum-26.

“These are challenging observations. We can only convincingly detect it in two star-forming regions, and the best data are from the Ophiuchus complex,” he said.

The Ophiuchus cloud complex contains many dense protostellar cores in various stages of star formation and protoplanetary disk development, representing the earliest stages in the formation of a planetary system.

By combining imaging data in wavelengths ranging from millimetres to gamma rays, the researchers were able to visualise a flow of aluminum-26 from the nearby star cluster toward the Ophiuchus star-forming region.

“The enrichment process we’re seeing in Ophiuchus is consistent with what happened during the formation of the solar system 5 billion years ago,” Forbes said.

“Once we saw this nice example of how the process might happen, we set about trying to model the nearby star cluster that produced the radionuclides we see today in gamma rays,” he added.

Forbes developed a model that accounts for every massive star that could have existed in this region, including its mass, age, and probability of exploding as a supernova, and incorporates the potential yields of aluminum-26 from stellar winds and supernovas.

The model enabled him to determine the probabilities of different scenarios for the production of the aluminum-26 observed today.

“We now have enough information to say that there is a 59 per cent chance it is due to supernovas and a 68 per cent chance that it’s from multiple sources and not just one supernova,” Forbes said.

This type of statistical analysis assigns probabilities to scenarios that astronomers have been debating for the past 50 years, Lin noted.

“This is the new direction for astronomy, to quantify the likelihood,” he added.

The new findings also showed that the amount of short-lived radionuclides incorporated into newly forming star systems can vary widely.

“Many new star systems will be born with aluminum-26 abundances in line with our solar system, but the variation is huge – several orders of magnitude,” Forbes said.

“This matters for the early evolution of planetary systems since aluminum-26 is the main early heating source. More aluminum-26 probably means drier planets,” he added.

The infrared data, which enabled the team to peer through dusty clouds into the heart of the star-forming complex, was obtained by coauthor Joao Alves at the University of Vienna as part of the European Southern Observatory’s VISION survey of nearby stellar nurseries using the VISTA telescope in Chile.

“There is nothing special about Ophiuchus as a star formation region,” Alves said.

“It is just a typical configuration of gas and young massive stars, so our results should be representative of the enrichment of short-lived radioactive elements in star and planet formation across the Milky Way,” he concluded.

The team also used data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Herschel Space Observatory, the ESA’s Planck satellite, and NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.


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Ancient Praise for Pharaoh Ramesses II Found on Paris Obelisk, Egyptologist Claims

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Ancient Praise for Pharaoh Ramesses II Found on Paris Obelisk, Egyptologist Claims

An Egyptologist claims that he has accidentally found a series of secret hieroglyphic inscriptions on an iconic 3300-year-old Egyptian obelisk in Paris. This inscriptions are claimed to be meant for Egypt’s nobility, and they are likely propaganda praising the famous pharaoh Ramesses II to be ordained by the divine entities. Apparently, the pharaoh himself commissioned this obelisk at the beginning of his rule, and it originally stood outside of the Luxor temple in upper Egypt alongside another similar obelisk. Both monuments were later gifted to France by Pasha Muhammed Ali, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire.a series of secret hieroglyphic inscriptions on an iconic 3300-year-old Egyptian obelisk in Paris.

Discovery of the hidden inscription

According to a comment published by Sciences et Avenir from Jean-Guillaume Olette-Pelletier, the Egyptologist from the Institut Catholique de Paris, the hieroglyphs indicated the entrance to the Luxor Temple portico. He discovered that there was no literature discussing the different scenes, so he studied the images from afar. He eventually discovered that the obelisk contained hieroglyphic cryptographies or hidden messages. These encrypted texts were often secret texts inserted into hieroglyphs or hidden in 3D carvings. Only the elite could decipher these hidden messages.

The hidden messages on the “Seine side” of the obelisk could only be read at a 45° angle. Olette-Pelletier discovered that the hidden messages were intended to be seen by nobles arriving by boat at the temple of Luxor during the annual Opet festival, celebrating the return of the life forces of the god Amun.

Further studies and criticism

According to Olette-Pelletier, he has discovered other concealed messages on the obelisk. He pointed out, for example, that there are two rows of hieroglyphs that, depending on how they are read, might convey several meanings, such as stating that Ramesses II had endless life or writing out his whole royal name.

The findings are set to be published in the journal Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne. However, scholars who were not involved in the research have urged caution in interpreting the findings, as they will not be able to review them in depth until the study is published. Egyptology professor Filip Taterka told Live Science that the inscriptions and imagery near the top of the obelisk would not have been visible to a noble person traveling by boat on the Nile.

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NASA’s New Space Telescope Starts Mapping to Reveal Universe’s Deep Mysteries



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NASA’s New Space Telescope Starts Mapping to Reveal Universe’s Deep Mysteries

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NASA’s New Space Telescope Starts Mapping to Reveal Universe’s Deep Mysteries

NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory has started capturing 3,600 distinct images every day as it maps the cosmos. Beginning with its launch on March 11, it will make more than 11,000 orbits over two years, circling Earth 14 and half times a day. The mission will produce four all-sky maps in two years, revealing clues into cosmic inflation and the expansion of the universe. The observatory will also map the entire sky in 102 infrared wavelengths of light, providing information about cosmic sources.

SPHEREx Telescope Exceeds Early Goals, Begins Mapping Universe in 3D Infrared Detail

As per a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory report, SPHEREx is already meeting performance expectations, rotating its orientation through reaction wheels rather than traditional thrusters. The telescope captures six different images, catching light in several infrared wavelengths with every exposure. Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting head of NASA’s astrophysics division, underlined how the mission supports upcoming projects such as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. SPHEREx’s spinning view of the sky also allows it to cover the entire sky every six months and therefore conduct four complete surveys over its two-year lifetime.

SPHEREx will employ spectroscopy to measure the distance between galaxies, creating a 3D cosmic map and revealing how water on Earth came to be and the role interstellar clouds played in the creation of the chemicals necessary for life. It is aimed at more than nine million measurements of the Milky Way, revealing the influence of the environment on cosmic chemistry. As per mission principal investigator Jamie Bock, some team members have worked for over a decade toward this milestone, and the mission could exceed its original scientific goals.

NASA’s SPHEREx observations could show signs of cosmic inflation, which powered the expansion of the universe after the Big Bang. These tendencies could expose the structure and history of the universe as well as those of stars and galaxies. Headed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA at Caltech in the USA, SPHEREx is under a worldwide cooperation agreement comprising South Korea and Taiwan. Data analysis investigates the universe downward, closer.

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Soviet Venus Probe Cosmos 482 Expected to Reenter Earth After 52 Years in Orbit

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Soviet Venus Probe Cosmos 482 Expected to Reenter Earth After 52 Years in Orbit

An Soviet Union lander is heading back into Earth’s atmosphere after 52 years staying in the orbit. Soviet Union’s Cosmos 482 was launched on March 31, 1972 and was supposed to land on Venus under the U.S.S.R.’s Venera programme. However, due to a certain malfunction, it could not leave Earth’s orbit and kept rotating around for 52 years. Its body was split into two halves; the main one crashed back to Earth, and the other section, the lander, got trapped in the Earth’s orbit.

Lander Returns to Earth

According to study, the lander is re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere and is expected to come back between May 8 to May 14. The most probable date is May 11, calculated based on the orbital data provided by satellite expert Marco Langbroek. This crash landing could occur anywhere between 52 degrees north and south of the equator, roughly from Quebec to Patagonia. According to NASA, the lander weighs around 1100 pounds, the weight of a car.

What Does it Look Like

This lander was designed to survive the way through the atmosphere of Venus, so there might be a possibility that it can survive the reentry into Earth’s atmosphere and remain intact with possibly no impact. However, the risks are not too high, but still not negligible, said Langbroek while speaking to Live Science.

Ralf Vandebergh, the advanced astrographer, used a camera attached to the telescope for tracking the orbiting satellites. Some images reveal that it might be the released parachute of the Cosmos 482, however, there is still no certainty, as it is surprising if the parachute will still work after so many years.

Cosmos 482 as Sister Probe to Venera 8

Cosmos 482 was built after Venera 8 as a sister probe. However, Venera 8 became the second craft to land on the hot surface of Venus during the same year, 1972. It beamed data from Venus for 50 minutes before getting burned by the scorching heat of Venus.

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