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Astronomers at NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered at least six early galaxies, massive in size, which were “dead” when the universe was about 3 billion years old. These galaxies had run out of cold hydrogen, something necessary for the formation of stars. With no fuel to form stars, the galaxies were running “empty”, NASA said.   

Lead author Kate Whitaker said that at this point in the universe — 3 billion years after the Big Bang — all galaxies should be forming lots of stars, adding that it’s the “peak epoch” of star formation. So what happened to all the cold gas in these galaxies so early on, asks Whitaker, also an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

This study of early, distant, and dead galaxies, has been published in the journal Nature and was part of the REQUIEM — Resolving QUIEscent Magnified Galaxies At High Redshift — programme. The REQUIEM team uses huge foreground galaxy clusters as natural telescopes.

It doesn’t look like these kinds of dead galaxies rejuvenate even after later minor mergers and accretions of nearby small galaxies and gas, NASA said. Eleven billion years later, when analysed in the present-day universe, these compact galaxies are thought to have evolved to be larger but are still “dead”, for they form no stars now. 

While the US space agency said that the six galaxies in question lived “fast and furious” lives and formed stars in a short time, why they ran out of cold oxygen and then stopped creating stars remains a mystery.  

Did a supermassive black hole in the galaxy’s centre turn on and heat all the gas? Whitaker said that if that is the case the gas could still be there, but it’s hot.

The next possible explanation, according to Whitaker, is that the gas could have been expelled, and now it’s being stopped from accreting back onto the galaxy. Or the galaxy just use it all up and the supply is cut off, she says, adding that these are among the questions the team will continue to explore following new observations.

This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we discuss the Surface Pro 8, Go 3, Duo 2, and Laptop Studio — as Microsoft sets a vision for Windows 11 hardware. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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How NASA Saved a Dying Camera Near Jupiter with Just Heat

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10 hours ago

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July 24, 2025

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How NASA Saved a Dying Camera Near Jupiter with Just Heat

NASA’s Juno spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, had a huge problem when its JunoCam imager started to fail after sitting through the planet’s harsh radiation belts for so many orbits. Designed to only last through the initial few orbits, JunoCam astonishingly endured 34 orbits. Yet by the 47th orbit, the effects of radiation damage became visible, and by the 56th orbit, images were almost illegible. With few alternatives and time slipping away before a close flyby of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, engineers made a daring but creative gamble. Employing an annealing process, they sought to resuscitate the imager by warming it up—an experiment that proved successful.

Long-distance fix

According to NASA, JunoCam’s camera resides outside the spacecraft’s radiation-shielded interior and is extremely vulnerable. After several orbits, it started developing damage thought to be caused by a failing voltage regulator. From a distance of hundreds of millions of miles, the mission team implemented a last-ditch repair: annealing. The technique, which subjects materials to heat in order to heal microscopic defects, is poorly understood but has been succeeding in the lab. By heating the camera to 77°F, scientists wished to reorient its silicon-based parts.

At first, efforts were for naught, but only days before the December 2023 flyby of Io, the camera unexpectedly recovered—restoring close-to-original image quality just in time to photograph previously unseen volcanic landscapes.

Radiation Lessons for the Future

Though the camera showed renewed degradation during Juno’s 74th orbit, the successful restoration has led to broader applications. The team has since applied similar annealing strategies to other Juno instruments, helping them withstand harsh conditions longer. Juno’s findings are now informing spacecraft design across the board. “We’re learning how to build radiation-tolerant systems that benefit both defense and commercial satellites,” said Juno’s principal investigator Scott Bolton. These findings would inform future missions, such as those visiting outer planets or working in high-radiation environments near Earth, in the Van Allen belts. Juno’s mission continues to pay dividends with unexpected innovations—a lesson in how a small amount of heat can do wonders.

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Rising Rocket Launches May Delay Ozone Layer Recovery, Study Finds

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July 24, 2025

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Rising Rocket Launches May Delay Ozone Layer Recovery, Study Finds

With the increase in global rocket launches, scientists are reporting concerns about their impact on the ozone layer, our planet’s natural shield against harmful UV radiation. The research team, which includes Sandro Vattioni and other scientists, put emphasis on the environmental risks that can increase with the rocket emissions are still now underestimated. However, it can be addressed with proactive and coordinated efforts. With a boom in the commercial space industry, there comes opportunity; however, with this comes a lot of threat to the environment by causing ozone layer depletion during the launch and re-entry of the spacecrafts.

Rocket Emissions Pose a Growing Threat to the Ozone Layer

As per Phys org, Rockets release pollutants as soot and chlorine into the atmosphere’s middle and upper parts. These particles remain for longer than the ground ones and catalyse the chemical reactions that damage the ozone layer. The re-entry of the satellite releases metal particles and nitrogen oxides, which in turn do more damage. The current models don’t usually account for the effects through re-entry, making it an overall cost to the environment, which is higher than the estimated one.

Research has been conducted through the climatic simulations show that if rocket launches increase to 2,040 yearly by the end of 2030. The global thickness of the ozone layer is yet healing from the previous damage caused by CFCs, which re now banned, however, full recovery will still not be achieved even after 40 years. The unchecked emissions might be a cause to the recovery delay.
Global Cooperation Needed to Protect Earth’s Atmospheric Shield

Rocket fuel selection is significant, as the majority of rockets utilise propellants that have soot and chlorine, which are depleting the ozone layer. A small percentage utilised cryogenic fuels like hydrogen and oxygen as liquids, which are thought to have less of an effect on the ozone layer; however, it is difficult to handle.

For protecting the ozone layer, the space industry may have transitioned to cleaner fuels, check emissions and stick to the strict guidelines. The Montreal Protocol has helped us phase out CFCs, where worldwide collaboration is needed to save the atmosphere of Earth, with the advancement in space exploration.

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New Study Reveals Mars Faced Heavy Rains: Possible Clue to Ancient Life

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11 hours ago

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July 24, 2025

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New Study Reveals Mars Faced Heavy Rains: Possible Clue to Ancient Life

The Mars surface is a hostile and dry environment, having little atmosphere with no stagnant water. The new research tells that this has not always been the case. Mars has faced many rains that actually shaped the landscape. If in the past era any alien life had existed, it would likely need some sort of protection, maybe even umbrellas, to tolerate the downpour. This study was published in Nature Geoscience, and it reviewed the crater erosion patterns on the planet.

Heavy Rains and a Thicker Atmosphere: Rethinking Mars’ Climate History

As per the Royal Astronomical Society, it was concluded that the Martian atmosphere during that time was thick enough to bear heavy rains. Researchers used the satellite data and erosion modelling to determine how much water flowed across the Martian surface. They found that the precipitation level must have been somewhere similar to the tropical region of the Earth at present. This signals that Mars once had the potential to hold surface water in rivers; in fact, there is a possibility it even had lakes.

Could Mars Have Supported Life? What New Evidence Suggests

However, only rain could not signify the possibilities of life sustenance. These constant downpours led to erosion, and it became a driving force in the change of the shape of Mars’ landscape. This tells us that if there is any primitive life existed in the past, it would have adapted to the climate and terrain of Mars.

The findings derived from the observation challenge the old assumptions about Mars of being dry and cold. In fact, they support the opinion that early Mars had a wet and warm climate, which is suitable for microbial life. Further, it adds excitement to the current missions named NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is active in the search for fossilised signs of past life on Mars.

This research not just redefines Mars’ past era climate, but also widens the scope of what early life could look like on other planets. It also tells us that the extraterrestrial life search is not just limited to Earth but also to the planets that had the possibility of life in the past.

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Pixel 10 Pro Design Officially Revealed Ahead of August 20 Launch; Google Store Offer Teased

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