Spain  MADRID 27/06/2023

A system has been designed to detect and estimate satellite manoeuvres more accurately

This development may help reduce the problem of space debris

Researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), Polytechnic University of Milan and the company GMV have developed a new methodology for detecting and estimating satellite manoeuvres that improves the operation of the systems currently in use. This development, which is already being tested in operational environments, may help reduce the problem of space debris.

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 26/04/2022

Scientists find elusive gas hiding in plain sight

The discovery of turbulent, compact gas in otherwise dormant galaxies gives researchers one more clue to solving the mystery of how galaxies in particular live, evolve and die

Scientists discover that post-starburst galaxies condense their gas rather than expelling it, begging the question: what’s keeping them from forming stars? Post-starburst galaxies were previously thought to scatter all of their gas and dust—the fuel required for creating new stars—in violent energy bursts and at extraordinary speed. New data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveals that these galaxies don’t scatter all of their star-forming fuel. Instead, these dormant galaxies hold onto and compress large amounts of highly-concentrated, turbulent gas after their supposed end. But contrary to expectation, they’re not using it to form stars.

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 30/03/2022

Hey DUDE: mysterious death of carbon star plays out like six-ring circus

V Hya is a carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star located approximately 1,300 light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra

Scientists studying V Hydrae (V Hya) have witnessed the star’s mysterious death throes in unprecedented detail. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the team discovered six slowly-expanding rings and two hourglass-shaped structures caused by the high-speed ejection of matter out into space. The results of the study are published in The Astrophysical Journal.

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 17/01/2022

ALMA catches “intruder” redhanded in rarely detected stellar flyby event

While such intruder-based flyby events have previously been witnessed with some regularity in computer simulations of star formation, few convincing direct observations have ever been made

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) made a rare detection of a likely stellar flyby event in the Z Canis Majoris (Z CMa) star system. An intruder—not bound to the system—object came in close proximity to and interacted with the environment surrounding the binary protostar, causing the formation of chaotic, stretched-out streams of dust and gas in the disk surrounding it.

 

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 03/12/2021

Stellar cocoon with organic molecules at the edge of our galaxy

The discovery, which revealed the hidden chemical complexity of our Universe, appears in a paper in 'The Astrophysical Journal'

For the first time, astronomers have detected a newborn star and the surrounding cocoon of complex organic molecules at the edge of our Galaxy, which is known as the extreme outer Galaxy. The discovery, which revealed the hidden chemical complexity of our Universe, appears in a paper in The Astrophysical Journal.

 

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 20/07/2021

EHT pinpoints dark heart of the nearest radio galaxy

The astronomers reveal how a gigantic jet is being born

An international team anchored by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, which is known for capturing the first image of a black hole in the galaxy Messier 87, has now imaged the heart of the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A in unprecedented detail. The astronomers pinpoint the location of the central supermassive black hole and reveal how a gigantic jet is being born. Most remarkably, only the outer edges of the jet seem to emit radiation, which challenges our theoretical models of jets. This work, led by Michael Janssen from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn and Radboud University Nijmegen is published in Nature Astronomy on July 19th.

 

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 14/06/2021

Earliest gigantic black hole storm discovered

This finding confirm that huge black holes have a profound effect on the growth of galaxies from the very early history of the Universe

Researchers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) discovered a titanic galactic wind driven by a supermassive black hole 13.1 billion years ago. This is the earliest-yet-observed example of such wind to date and is a telltale sign that huge black holes have a profound effect on the growth of galaxies from the very early history of the Universe.

 

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 24/05/2021

Oldest spiral galaxy discovered

Studies have shown that the proportion of spiral galaxies declines rapidly as we look back through the history of the Universe. So, when were the spiral galaxies formed?

Analyzing data obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers found a galaxy with a spiral morphology in the Universe, only 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. This is the most ancient galaxy of its kind ever observed. The discovery of a galaxy with a spiral structure at such an early stage is an essential clue to solve the classic questions of astronomy: “How and when did spiral galaxies form?".

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 23/04/2021

Rotating infant galaxy with help of natural cosmic telescope

The team was able to explore for the first time the nature of small and dark “normal galaxies” in the early Universe, representative of the main population of the first galaxies

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers found a rotating baby galaxy 1/100th the size of the Milky Way at a time when the Universe was only seven percent of its present age. Assisted by the gravitational lens effect, the team was able to explore for the first time the nature of small and dark “normal galaxies” in the early Universe, representative of the main population of the first galaxies, which greatly advances our understanding of the initial phase of galaxy evolution.

  
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Spain  MADRID 14/04/2021

A European project to develop electrodeless plasma thrusters

The results could also be applied in other fields, such as nuclear fusion by magnetic confinement

In-depth research into the physics of a new type of plasma rockets for space missions and revolutionising their design. This is the aim of ZARATHUSTRA, a European ERC Starting Grant research project at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) that aims to develop a new aerospace technology and whose results could also be applied in other fields, such as nuclear fusion by magnetic confinement.

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 05/04/2021

Stellar eggs near galactic center hatching into baby stars

The observations prove that even in the strongly disturbed areas around the Galactic Center, baby stars still form, astronomers say

Astronomers found a number of baby stars hiding around the center of the Milky Way using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Previous studies had suggested that the environment there is too harsh to form stars because of the strong tidal forces, strong magnetic fields, high energy particles, and frequent supernova explosions. These findings indicate that star formation is more resilient than researchers thought. These observations suggest there is ubiquitous star formation activity hidden deep in dense molecular gas, which may allow for the possibility of a future burst of star formation around the Galactic Center.

 

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 18/03/2021

Powerful stratospheric winds measured on Jupiter for the first time

This planet is famous for its distinctive red and white bands: swirling clouds of moving gas that astronomers traditionally use to track winds in Jupiter’s lower atmosphere

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of astronomers have directly measured winds in Jupiter’s middle atmosphere for the first time. By analyzing the aftermath of a comet collision from the 1990s, the researchers have revealed incredibly powerful winds, with speeds of up to 1450 kilometers an hour, near Jupiter’s poles. They could represent what the team has described as a “unique meteorological beast in our Solar System.”

  
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Spain  MADRID 03/02/2021

A laboratory integrates a deorbit device to eliminate space debris

The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and SENER Aeroespacial have set up a laboratory to develop a new device to deorbit space debris based on electrodynamic tether technology

The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and SENER Aeroespacial have set up a laboratory to develop a new device to deorbit space debris based on electrodynamic tether technology. The laboratory, located in SENER’s facilities in Tres Cantos (Madrid, Spain), will be used to integrate the avionics system into the deorbit device that is currently under development thanks to E.T.PACK, a FET-OPEN project funded with €3 million by the European Commission. The avionic system of the device belongs to the activities of an industrial doctorate funded by the Government of the Community of Madrid.

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 22/10/2020

ALMA shows volcanic impact on Io’s atmosphere

Io is the most volcanically active moon in our solar system. It hosts more than 400 active volcanoes

New radio images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) show for the first time the direct effect of volcanic activity on the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Io.

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 31/07/2020

ALMA finds possible sign of neutron star in supernova 1987A

Two teams of astronomers have made a compelling case in the 33-year-old mystery surrounding Supernova 1987A

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Chile  ATACAMA 08/07/2020

Stellar fireworks celebrate birth of giant cluster

The cluster is located in the Carina region of our galaxy, about 8000 light-years away

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Chile  ATACAMA 17/06/2020

Supergiant atmosphere of Antares revealed by radio telescopes

Red supergiant stars, like Antares and its more well-known cousin Betelgeuse, are huge, relatively cold stars at the end of their lifetime

An international team of astronomers has created the most detailed map yet of the atmosphere of the red supergiant star Antares. The unprecedented sensitivity and resolution of both the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) revealed the size and temperature of Antares’ atmosphere from just above the star’s surface, throughout its chromosphere, and all the way out to the wind region.

  
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Chile  ATACAMA 26/05/2020

ALMA spots twinkling heart of Milky Way

Astronomers presume that a supermassive black hole with a mass of 4 million suns is located at the center of Sgr A*

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) found quasi-periodic flickers in millimeter-waves from the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius (Sgr) A*. The team interpreted these blinks to be due to the rotation of radio spots circling the supermassive black hole with an orbit radius smaller than that of Mercury. This is an interesting clue to investigate space-time with extreme gravity.

  
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Spain  MADRID 21/05/2020

A new plasma engine will allow less expensive, more efficient, and longer space missions

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) patent

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have patented a new spatial plasma-fueled engine capable of satellite and spacecraft propulsion, with magnetic field geometry and configuration that would minimize losses on walls and their erosion, thereby resolving issues of efficiency, durability, and operating restrictions of engines that are currently in orbit.

  
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Chile  CHILE 06/05/2020

ESO instrument finds closest black hole to Earth

Invisible object has two companion stars visible to the naked eye

A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our Solar System than any other found to date and forms part of a triple system that can be seen with the naked eye. The team found evidence for the invisible object by tracking its two companion stars using the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. They say this system could just be the tip of the iceberg, as many more similar black holes could be found in the future.

  
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