Astronomers have discovered something weird happening on Neptune. Nearly all the clouds that decorate its apparent blue atmosphere have disappeared, leaving the far-flung world almost devoid of clouds. Unlike the calm blue sky on Earth, Neptune's sky is constantly changing and full of action. It has some of the fastest winds in our solar system, reaching up to 2000 km/hr or 1200 mi/hr.
These turbulent conditions whip clouds of methane and other gases into a never-ending show, like a dance we can barely see from Earth. But here's the surprising part: lately, all the clouds have seemingly disappeared on Neptune, dramatically changing the appearance of the distant planet. Things took an interesting turn when scientists discovered the reason behind this change: the 11-year solar cycle, whose origin remains a mystery to date.
So, how did astronomers discover the reason behind the disappearance of the Neptunian clouds? How does the Sun, lying 4.4 billion km away, affect the atmosphere of Neptune to such a great extent? Finally, and most importantly, what evidence do we have to support this idea?
The 73rd episode of the Sunday Discovery Series answers all these questions in detail.
RESEARCH PAPER:
Evolution of Neptune at Near-Infrared Wavelengths from 1994 through 2022, E. Chavez at al. - https://bit.ly/3RrBh9m
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Our galaxy is positioned near the center of a massive cosmic void known as the KBC void or the Local Hole. This void, which stretches an incredible 2 billion light-years across, challenges some of the most basic ideas in cosmology. The existence of such a vast empty space raises big questions about the Big Bang, how galaxies are spread out, and the very nature of the universe’s expansion. However, the most intriguing part is that this void could help explain two of astronomy’s biggest puzzles: the Hubble Tension and the Fermi Paradox.
REFERENCE:
A simultaneous solution to the Hubble tension and observed bulk flow within 250 h−1 Mpc – Mazurenko et al. (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)– https://sou42.co/3AHnvt2
🎼 MUSIC
Ayama
Exhale With the Wind
Moonlit Serenity
Without Saying
Midnight Evening
Inner Strength
Stark Goes Dark
🎥 FOOTAGE:
Envato Elements, StoryBlocks, NASA, ESA, and Pond5
💻 Created and Produced by: Rishabh Nakra
✍🏻 Written and Researched by: Shreejaya Karantha
🎙️ Narrated by: Jeffrey Smith
🌌 Animated by: Prakriti Eeshika
🌐 3D Scenes: Orkun Zengin
,1,The James Webb Space Telescope has made a record-breaking observation in deep space. The infrared observatory has given astronomers their first detailed glimpse of supernovae from when our universe was just a small fraction of its current age.
Within a patch of sky about the size of a rice grain held at arm's length, Webb has discovered at least 80 supernovae, increasing the number of known supernovae in the early universe by tenfold. Some of these newly found supernovae are the farthest we've ever seen, including ones that help us measure how fast the universe is expanding.
To discover supernovae, the team compared several images taken up to a year apart, searching for sources that either appeared or vanished. These objects, which change in brightness over time, are known as transients. Supernovae are a specific type of transient. The team spent over 100 hours of Webb's observing time on each image, and the results have opened a new window into the early universe.
📝 REFERENCES:
The JADES Transient Survey: Discovery and Classification of Supernovae in the JADES Deep Field, DeCoursey et al - https://bit.ly/3KXP96x
NASA Press Release - https://bit.ly/3z1ekm5
🎼 Music: Envato Elements, YouTube Audio Library, and MotionElements
🎥 Footage: Envato Elements, StoryBlocks, NASA, ESA, and Pond5
💻 Created, Written, and Produced by: Rishabh Nakra
🎙️ Narrated by: Jeffrey Smith
🌌 Animated by: Sankalp Dash
🌐 3D Modeling: Orkun Zengin
,1,Astronomers have found the strongest statistical evidence of Planet 9, the hidden planet of our solar system believed to be lurking in the outskirts of the solar system. The possibility of the existence of Planet 9 has long intrigued scientists. Some researchers believe it might have been a rogue planet captured by our Sun's gravity, while others think it could have formed from the same disk of gas and dust as the other planets. If Planet 9 exists, it is believed to be ten times more massive than Earth and orbit the Sun at a distance of 400 to 800 Astronomical Units, which is 400 to 800 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
Astronomers have been eagerly hunting for clues, using powerful telescopes and advanced computer models to track its influence. After years of watching the sky, solving mathematical equations, and running complex computer simulations, they now have the strongest evidence yet that Planet 9 really exists. This discovery introduces an exciting plot twist in the story of the hidden planet.
📝 REFERENCES:
Generation of Low-Inclination, Neptune-Crossing TNOs by Planet Nine, Batygin et al (2024), The Astrophysical Journal - https://bit.ly/4c0A0gG
Evidence for a Distant Giant Planet in the Solar System, Batygin and Brown (2016), The Astrophysical Journal - https://bit.ly/4efIxOx
🎼 Music: Envato Elements, YouTube Audio Library, and MotionElements
🎥 Footage: Envato Elements, StoryBlocks, NASA, ESA, and Pond5
💻 Created, and Produced by: Rishabh Nakra
✍🏻 Written by: Simran Buttar and Rishabh Nakra
🔍 Researched by: Simran Buttar
🎙️ Narrated by: Jeffrey Smith
🌌 Animated by: Sankalp Dash
🌐 3D Modeling: Orkun Zengin
,1,Astronomy Calendar 2024: In this video, you will find all the important astronomical events taking place in 2024: meteor showers, eclipses, comets, and planetary conjunctions. As it turns out, 2024 is going to be a great year for astronomy enthusiasts. It has four eclipses, two supermoons, and several planetary conjunctions.
Best space apps: https://bit.ly/space_apps_2022
Basics of Astrophysics series: https://bit.ly/3xII54M
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Created By: Rishabh Nakra
Eclipse Maps: Dominic Ford, in-the-sky.org
Sky Illustrations: Stellarium Web
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The James Webb Space Telescope has made history by discovering the earliest black hole known in the Universe. This infrared observatory found a massive black hole that existed when the Universe was only 470 million years old, roughly 3% of its current age. The discovery became even more intriguing when scientists measured the black hole's mass, which turned out to be 40 million times that of our Sun. This is ten times the mass of Sagittarius A* (A star), the supermassive black hole located at the center of our galaxy. This finding appears to have resolved one of the most significant mysteries in astronomy: the origin of the first black holes in the Universe.
But how did such a massive black hole form so quickly in the baby universe? What's so puzzling about the mass of this supermassive black hole lying at the edge of time? Finally, and most importantly, how does this discovery shed light on the birth of the first black holes in the cosmos?
The 79th episode of the Sunday Discovery Series answers all these questions.
RESEARCH PAPER:
Evidence for heavy seed origin of early supermassive black holes from a z~10 X-ray quasar, Bogdan et al.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.15458
Created By: Rishabh Nakra
Written By: Shreejaya Karantha
Narrated By: Jeffrey Smith
,1,Astronomers have discovered something weird happening on Neptune. Nearly all the clouds that decorate its apparent blue atmosphere have disappeared, leaving the far-flung world almost devoid of clouds. Unlike the calm blue sky on Earth, Neptune's sky is constantly changing and full of action. It has some of the fastest winds in our solar system, reaching up to 2000 km/hr or 1200 mi/hr.
These turbulent conditions whip clouds of methane and other gases into a never-ending show, like a dance we can barely see from Earth. But here's the surprising part: lately, all the clouds have seemingly disappeared on Neptune, dramatically changing the appearance of the distant planet. Things took an interesting turn when scientists discovered the reason behind this change: the 11-year solar cycle, whose origin remains a mystery to date.
So, how did astronomers discover the reason behind the disappearance of the Neptunian clouds? How does the Sun, lying 4.4 billion km away, affect the atmosphere of Neptune to such a great extent? Finally, and most importantly, what evidence do we have to support this idea?
The 73rd episode of the Sunday Discovery Series answers all these questions in detail.
RESEARCH PAPER:
Evolution of Neptune at Near-Infrared Wavelengths from 1994 through 2022, E. Chavez at al. - https://bit.ly/3RrBh9m
