September 2024

The Arp 107 pair seen in the near and mid-infrared by a combination of several filters of the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI and NIRCam instruments

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An image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope shows Arp 107, a pair of interacting galaxies. The spiral galaxy UGC 5984 (or PGC 32620) and the elliptical galaxy MCG +05-26-025 (or PGC 32628) will eventually merge. The Arp 107 pair was already studied several times with various telescopes but the combination of the MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instruments allowed to capture many new details of the star formation activity triggered by the interaction between the two galaxies.

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field with an inset that shows a magnification of two primordial galaxies, one of which contains a supermassive black hole

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports the results of a census of the youngest supermassive black holes that existed in the early universe. A team of researchers used observations conducted with the Hubble Space Telescope that started from the so-called Hubble Ultra Deep Field to search for primordial supermassive black holes with the addition of data recently collected using the James Webb Space Telescope. The conclusion is that these objects are more numerous than expected, a confirmation that they formed very quickly. This new study will help to understand how.

Digel Cloud 2S

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An article published in “The Astronomical Journal” reports the discovery of areas of remarkable star formation in the molecular clouds known as Digel Clouds, more than 58,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way. A team of researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to obtain the detail needed to recognize protostars, outflows and jets of material, and nebular structures. Star formation is more intense than what was visible in observations conducted with other instruments and is interesting also because the Digel Clouds are poor in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, a characteristic that makes them similar to the primordial Milky Way.

The Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft ends its Polaris Dawn mission splashing down (Image courtesy SpaceX)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft concluded its Polaris Dawn mission splashing down without problems. Onboard were Jared Isaacman, Sarah Gillis, Anna Menon, and Scott Poteet, who finished this completely private space mission in the Gulf of Mexico. Shortly after the splashdown, the SpaceX ship went to retrieve the Crew Dragon and its crew to transport them to the coast.

The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago, the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and after a little more than three hours reached the International Space Station with three new crew members on board. It docked with the Station’s Rassvet module. As is becoming increasingly common for crewed trips as well, the ultra-fast track was used which halves the journey duration.