The SN 2004et and SN 2017eaw supernova remnants (Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ori Fox (STScI), Melissa Shahbandeh (STScI). Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))

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An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports the identification of large amounts of dust from two supernovae in the galaxy NGC 6946. A team of researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to find traces of dust coming from the supernovae SN 2004et and SN 2017eaw exploiting in particular the potential of the MIRI instrument. The result is the discovery of large amounts of dust among the material ejected from each of the two supernovae and this supports the theory that in the early universe, supernovae played a key role in producing dust.

A partial section of the Sun photographed by the Solar Orbiter space probe's EUV instrument with gas at a temperature of around one million degrees Celsius

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An article being published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports a study of what were compared to shooting stars, observed in details never obtained before together with the solar corona. A team of researchers coordinated by Northumbria University in Newcastle used observations conducted by ESA’s Solar Orbiter space probe to study what are actually clumps of plasma that can be up to 250 kilometers wide, a coronal rain that falls on the surface of the Sun. That plasma heats up to a few million degrees, a state that lasts a few minutes during the fall until it condenses following its quick drop in temperature.

The so-called ultradeep field used in the MIDIS survey and on the right, some of the primordial galaxies at the center of this study are highlighted in the circle

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports a study indicating that the early universe was much brighter than predicted by simulations based on current cosmological models. A team of researchers coordinated by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB) in Madrid, Spain, used observations conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope to examine galaxies that formed between 200 and 500 million years after the Big Bang. The combination of observations conducted with the NIRCam instrument and the MIRI Deep Imaging Survey (MIDIS) of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) on a sample of 44 primordial galaxies shows their surprising brightness and compactness.

The Euclid Space Telescope blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image courtesy SpaceX)

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A little while ago, ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. After just over 40 minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and entered its course that will take it towards the so-called L2 point, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, where its scientific mission will begin with an investigation of the dark universe.

The Euclid Space Telescope mission is focused on the cosmological mysteries connected to dark matter and dark energy. Cosmological research in recent decades indicates that the universe we see with the ordinary matter that forms galaxies constitutes only a small part of the cosmos. Astronomers and physicists are having difficulty investigating parts of the cosmos that we can neither see nor directly detect. It’s a problem that makes it difficult to test models that try to explain the effects that led to hypothesize the existence of dark matter and dark energy. For this reason, ESA developed a scientific mission focused on these cosmological problems.

The Dragon cargo spacecraft departing the International Space Station to end its CRS-28 mission (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ended its CRS-28 (Cargo Resupply Service 28) mission for NASA splashing down smoothly off the Florida Coast. The Dragon left the International Space Station about 22 hours earlier. For SpaceX, this was the 8th mission of the 2nd contract with NASA to transport supplies to the Station with the new version of the Dragon cargo spacecraft.

Shortly after the splashdown, SpaceX’s recovery ship went to retrieve the Dragon to transport it to the coast. The cargo brought back to Earth will be delivered to NASA within a few hours. The Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station on June 6, 2023.