Matt Williams, Author at Universe Today

January 13, 2025January 13, 2025 by Matt Williams

LIGO Fails to Find Continuous Gravitational Waves From Pulsars

Illustration of a pulsar with powerful magnetic fields. Credit: NASA's Goddard Flight Center/Walt Feimer

In February 2016, scientists working for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) made history by announcing the first-ever detection of gravitational waves (GW). These waves, predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, are created when massive objects collide (neutron stars or black holes), causing ripples in spacetime that can be detected millions or billions of light years away. Since their discovery, astrophysicists have been finding applications for GW astronomy, which include probing the interiors of neutron stars.

For instance, scientists believe that probing the continuous gravitational wave (CW) emissions from neutron stars will reveal data on their internal structure and equation of state and can provide tests of General Relativity. In a recent study, members of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration conducted a search for CWs from 45 known pulsars. While their results showed no signs of CWs emanating from their sample of pulsars, their work does establish upper and lower limits on the signal amplitude, potentially aiding future searches.

January 12, 2025January 12, 2025 by Matt Williams

Planets Can Form in Even the Harshest Conditions

Artist concept of planet formation occuring in harsh stellar environments. Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/S.Dagnello.

According to the most widely held astronomical model (the Nebular Hypothesis), new stars are born from massive clouds of dust and gas (aka. a nebula) that experience gravitational collapse. The remaining dust and gas form a protoplanetary disk that encircles the new star, which slowly accretes to form systems of planets. For the past decade, astronomers have relied on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to study young stars and their disks and learn more about how this process occurs.

In a recent study, an international team of astronomers used ALMA to capture high-resolution images of eight protoplanetary disks in the Sigma Orionis cluster, a group of stars located in the constellation Orion. During their observations, the team found evidence of gaps and rings in most of the disks, which are potential indications that giant planets are forming. This was surprising, seeing as how these disks are irradiated by intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from a massive star in the cluster. Their findings suggest that planet formation can occur in conditions that were previously thought to be inhospitable.

January 11, 2025January 11, 2025 by Matt Williams

NASA is Sending a Vacuum Cleaner to the Moon

The Lunar Planet Vac, or LPV, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Credit: Firefly Aerospace

By the end of this decade, NASA, the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA), Roscosmos, and other space agencies plan to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon. A crucial aspect of these plans is using local resources (particularly water) to lessen dependence on Earth, a process known as in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Hence why NASA plans to establish a base of operations around the lunar south pole, a heavily cratered region where water ice exists in abundance in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs).

To harvest water ice and other resources successfully, NASA is investing in technologies that will enable cost-effective sample collection, in-situ testing (with or without astronaut oversight), and real-time data transmission to Earth. One such technology is the Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), a sample acquisition and delivery system designed to collect and transfer lunar regolith to sample containers without reliance on gravity. The LPV is one of 10 payloads that will be flown to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 by Matt Williams

It's Time for Sustainable Development Goal for Space

The destruction of a single satellite could be catastrophic for our orbital endeavours. Image Credit: ESA

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—a universal call to action to protect the planet for future generations and ensure that all people will enjoy peace and prosperity. These 17 goals included the elimination of poverty, hunger, and inequalities, the promotion of education, and the promotion of sustainable development worldwide. With the rapid development in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), there are growing concerns that an 18th SDG should be adopted for space.

This goal calls for the sustainable use of Earth’s orbit by space agencies and commercial industry and the prevention of the accumulation of space junk. This has become a growing problem in recent years thanks to the deployment of satellite mega-constellations and the “commercialization of LEO.” In a recent study led by the University of Plymouth, a team of experts outlined how the lessons learned from marine debris mitigation could be applied to space so that future generations can live in a world where space truly is “for all humanity.”

January 7, 2025January 7, 2025 by Matt Williams

Here's How Pluto and Charon Became a Bizarre Double Planet

Artist's impression of New Horizons' close encounter with the Pluto–Charon system. Credit: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI/Steve Gribben

On July 14th, 2015, the New Horizons probe made history by accomplishing the first flyby of Pluto and its largest satellite, Charon. The stunning images this mission took of these icy worlds have helped scientists address some of the key questions about Pluto and its massive moon, which have been shrouded in mystery for decades (owing to their great distance from Earth). One of the biggest mysteries that scientists have contemplated since Charon was first discovered in 1978 is how it came together with Pluto in the first place.

For decades, astronomers suspected that Pluto and Charon formed through a process similar to Earth and the Moon. This theory, known as the Giant Impact Hypothesis, states that roughly 4.5 billion years ago, primordial Earth was struck by a Mars-sized body named Theia. In a new study, a team of researchers from the University of Arizona challenged this assumption and offered an alternate theory known as “kiss and capture.” Their findings could help scientists better understand how planetary bodies in the outer Solar System form and evolve.

January 6, 2025January 6, 2025 by Matt Williams

This Superbacteria can Withstand Enough Radiation to Kill a Person

A new study reveals the secret to the antioxidant that allows the bacteria Deinococcus radiodurans to withstand radiation doses 28,000 times greater than what would kill a human. Credit: Northwestern University

Nature is filled with examples of extreme life (aka. extremophiles), which are so-called because they can withstand extreme conditions. These include organisms that can survive in extremely dry conditions, extreme temperatures, acidity, pressure, and even the vacuum of space. The study of these organisms not only helps scientists learn more about the kinds of environments life can survive (and even thrive) in. It also helps astrobiologists to speculate about possible life in the Universe. Perhaps the name “tardigrades” (aka. “water bears”) rings a bell, those little creatures that could survive in interstellar space?

Then you have Deinococcus radiodurans (D. radiodurans), which microbiologists call “Conan the Bacterium” due to its ability to tolerate the harshest conditions. This includes radiation doses thousands of times higher than what would kill a human, or any other organism on Earth, for that matter. In a new study, a team of researchers from Northwestern University and the Uniformed Services University (USU) characterized a synthetic organism inspired by Deinococcus radiodurans that could allow humans to withstand the elevated radiation levels in deep space, on the Moon, and Mars.

January 5, 2025January 5, 2025 by Matt Williams

If We Want to Live on Other Worlds, We're Going to Need New Clocks

Artist's impression of astronauts on the lunar surface, as part of the Artemis Program. How will they store power on the Moon? 3D printed batteries could help. Credit: NASA

Between NASA, other space agencies, and the commercial space sector, there are some truly ambitious plans for humanity’s future in space. These plans envision the creation of permanent infrastructure on and around the Moon that will enable a permanent human presence there, complete with research, science, and commercial operations. They also call for the first crewed missions to Mars, followed by the creation of surface habitats that will allow for return visits. These plans present many challenges, ranging from logistical and technical issues to health and human safety.

Another challenge is coordinating operations across the lunar surface with those in orbit and back at Earth, which requires a system of standardized time. In a recent study, a team of NASA researchers developed a new system of lunar time for all lunar assets and those in cis-lunar space. They recommend that this system’s foundation be relativistic time transformations, known more generally as “time dilation.” Such a system will allow for coordination and effective timekeeping on the Moon by addressing discrepancies caused by gravitational potential differences and relative motion.

January 3, 2025January 3, 2025 by Matt Williams

New Study Explains How Mars Dust Storms Can Engulf the Planet

A dust storm spreads over the surface of Mars in 2018. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Mars is well-known for its dust storms, which occur every Martian year during summer in the southern hemisphere. Every three Martian years (five and a half Earth years), these storms grow so large that they are visible from Earth and will engulf the entire planet for months. These storms pose a significant threat to robotic missions, generating electrostatic charges that can interfere with their electronics or cause dust to build up on their solar panels, preventing them from drawing enough power to remain operational.

While scientists have studied these storms for decades, the precise mechanisms that trigger them have remained the subject of debate. In a new study, a team of planetary scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) has provided new insight into the factors involved. According to their findings, relatively warm and sunny days may kick off the largest storms every few years. These could be the first step toward forecasting extreme weather on Mars, which is vital for future crewed missions to Mars.

January 2, 2025January 2, 2025 by Matt Williams

NASA Scientists Discover “Dark Comets” Come in Two Populations.

An artist's concept of a dark comet floating in space. Courtesy Nicole Smith.

On October 19th, 2017, the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System-1 (Pan-STARRS-1) in Hawaii announced the first-ever detection of an interstellar object, named 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua (the Hawaiin word for “scout”). This object created no shortage of confusion since it appeared as an asteroid but behaved like a comet (based on the way it accelerated out of the Solar System). Since then, scientists have noticed a lot of other objects that behave the same way, known as “dark comets.”

These objects are defined as “small bodies with no detected coma that have significant nongravitational accelerations explainable by outgassing of volatiles,” much like ‘Oumuamua. In a recent NASA-supported study, a team of researchers identified seven more of these objects in the Solar System, doubling the number of known dark comets. Even more important, the researchers were able to discern two distinct populations. They consist of larger objects that reside in the outer Solar System and smaller ones in the inner Solar System.

January 2, 2025January 2, 2025 by Matt Williams

Is There a Fundamental Logic to Life?

Will it be possible someday for astrobiologists to search for life "as we don't know it"? Credit: NASA/Jenny Mottar

One of the more daunting questions related to astrobiology—the search for life in the cosmos—concerns the nature of life itself. For over a century, biologists have known that life on Earth comes down to the basic building blocks of DNA, RNA, and amino acids. What’s more, studies of the fossil record have shown that life has been subject to many evolutionary pathways leading to diverse organisms. At the same time, there is ample evidence that convergence and constraints play a strong role in limiting the types of evolutionary domains life can achieve.

For astrobiologists, this naturally raises questions about extraterrestrial life, which is currently constrained by our limited frame of reference. For instance, can scientists predict what life may be like on other planets based on what is known about life here on Earth? An international team led by researchers from the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) addressed these and other questions in a recent paper. After considering case studies across various fields, they conclude that certain fundamental limits prevent some life forms from existing.