Tag

Alma

All articles tagged with #alma

astronomy10 days ago•119 min saved

ALMA Captures First Direct Evidence of Gas Swirls Around Forming Twin Planets

Astronomers have produced the clearest image yet of two forming planets interacting with their birth disk. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers observed the WISPIT 2 system, located 430 light-years away. The data reveals how the twin planets, WISPIT 2b and 2c, carve gaps and cavities in the surrounding gas and dust. This marks the first time gas velocity distortions, or 'spiral wakes,' have been directly linked to a confirmed planet, providing a crucial calibration point for future exoplanet detection.

via Space|

#alma #astronomy #exoplanets

space1 month ago•135 min saved

Chance encounter births a binary star system just 60 years ago

Space researchers used ALMA, with follow-up data from VLA, JWST and VLT, to monitor the massive protobinary IRAS 07299−1651, about 5,300 light-years away. They found the two protostars likely formed in separate clouds and later interacted in a chance encounter roughly 60 years ago, resulting in highly eccentric, misaligned orbits and disks. The results, published in Nature Astronomy, suggest some binaries form by capture rather than fragmentation and highlight the chaotic early lives of stars; their future bound status remains uncertain.

via Space|

#alma #astronomy #binary-stars

space1 month ago•11 min saved

Ancient Oxygen in a 300‑Million‑Year‑Old Galaxy Reveals Early Stellar Enrichment

ALMA detected the ionised oxygen [O III] 88 μm line in JADES-GS-z14-0, a galaxy seen when the universe was under 300 million years old (z ≈ 14.18), confirming rapid heavy‑element production by early generations of massive stars. The inferred abundances are about 5–20% of solar (around 17% in some models), indicating fast chemical enrichment, while not pinning down specific stellar histories or supernovae.

via spacedaily.com|

#alma #early-universe #jwst

space1 month ago•5 min saved

Betelgeuse's boiling surface uncovers a stubborn hotspot

New ALMA observations reveal Betelgeuse’s boiling, irregular surface with an average temperature around 2300 K and a brightest hotspot about 800 K hotter than its surroundings. The hotspot appears in 2015 and 2023 data in nearly the same location, indicating a persistent feature lasting at least seven years and shedding light on deep convection, mass loss, and the star’s atmosphere as Betelgeuse—about 600 light-years away and ~800 solar radii—nears its eventual supernova (not imminent).

via Futura, le média qui explore le monde|

#alma #astronomy #betelgeuse

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Unprecedented Snow Blankets the Atacama as El Niño Drives Wide Storms

Back-to-back winter storms in August 2026 dumped rare snow across the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, stretching from the Andes to the Pacific coast, with some rain in parts of the region. The event, tied to a strengthened El Niño and a large trough, disrupted ALMA operations and triggered mudflows and flooding. Satellite imagery from Landsat 8/9 and Terra MODIS captured the before-and-after views, illustrating how unusually widespread snowfall transformed the hyper-arid desert.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#alma #atacama-desert #el-nino

space1 month ago•2 min saved

Betelgeuse Unveiled: ALMA Reveals a Lumpy, Convection-Powered Surface

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have produced one of the most detailed images of Betelgeuse, revealing a bumpy, irregular atmosphere with bright hotspots likely tied to convective motions; comparison with 2015 data shows a hotspot persisting for at least seven years and variations of up to about 6% in the star’s apparent radius, underscoring Betelgeuse’s non-spherical, extended surface as it heads toward its supernova fate.

via BBC Sky at Night Magazine|

#alma #astronomy #betelgeuse

space1 month ago•159 min saved

ALMA captures Betelgeuse’s bubbling surface in unprecedented detail

Using ALMA, scientists captured 2023 images of Betelgeuse, a ~20-solar-mass red supergiant about 600 light-years away, revealing a turbulent, bubbling surface with bright hotspots caused by giant convective flows in its atmosphere; the warmest region in the northeast persists for at least seven years, hinting at long-lived surface structures and possibly a companion star; with atmospheric temperatures around 2,030°C and pockets hotter by about 530°C, these observations help explain mass loss and atmospheric dynamics as Betelgeuse nears its eventual supernova; the study will continue monitoring and is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics (arXiv).

via Space|

#alma #betelgeuse #convection

science1 month ago•160 min saved

Giant gas river tilts planet-forming disk around GW Orionis

Astronomers using ALMA found a massive streamer of gas feeding the three-ring protoplanetary disk around the young triple-star GW Orionis in Orion, tipping the outer ring and potentially explaining why some exoplanets have highly misaligned orbits. The streamer spans about 0.2 light-years and transfers angular momentum to the disk, reshaping how planets form in this system. While this could illuminate a mechanism for misaligned planets, researchers caution it’s based on one disk and plan broader surveys to see how common such streamers are.

via Space|

#alma #exoplanet-misalignment #gas-streamer

space3 months ago•7 min saved

Milky Way’s Quiet Core Reveals Hidden Wind From Its Central Black Hole

Astronomers using ALMA and Chandra detected a cone-shaped cavity around Sagittarius A*, signaling a hot wind from the Milky Way’s central black hole that has cleared nearby gas; the outflow is estimated to have been active for at least 20,000 years, offering new insight into how Sgr A* influences its environment even in a relatively quiet state and into black hole feedback in galaxies.

via SciTechDaily|

#alma #black-hole-wind #chandra

science-space3 months ago•190 min saved

Milky Way’s Central Black Hole Reveals Hidden Wind

Astronomers using ALMA radio maps and NASA’s Chandra X-ray data detected a 3-light-year cone-shaped cavity around Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, indicating a previously unseen wind. The finding helps explain why our galaxy’s center appeared windless and provides a new observable for understanding how black holes influence their host galaxies.

via CNN|

#alma #black-hole-wind #chandra

science4 months ago•9 min saved

Milky Way Core Winds: Evidence of Gas Outflows From Sgr A*

Astronomers used five years of ALMA observations, along with supporting data, to identify a wind emanating from the Milky Way’s central black hole, Sagittarius A*, including a southern lobe and evidence for a northern lobe. The wind consists of small gas wisps radiatively driven by the SMBH, demonstrating galactic-center feedback even from a relatively quiescent black hole.

via Hackaday|

#alma #astronomy #blackholes

science4 months ago•6 min saved

Milky Way’s central black hole reveals a cosmic wind reshaping its surroundings

Astronomers using ALMA and Chandra observations have captured the first clear evidence of a wind blowing from the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, carving a cone-shaped cavity in surrounding cold gas and indicating the black hole has been actively shaping its environment for at least 20,000 years while remaining relatively quiet compared with active galaxies.

via BBC Sky at Night Magazine|

#alma #black-hole #galactic-center

science4 months ago•72 min saved

Milky Way’s central black hole finally reveals its wind after decades of looking

After a 50-year search, astronomers using ALMA and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected evidence of a wind flowing from Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole. The wind appears to have carved a three-light-year cone in surrounding molecular gas, with X-ray data lining up to confirm the wind. Though relatively weak compared with winds from actively feeding black holes, it may have been active for about 20,000 years, providing a window into black hole outflows in a quiet state.

via Space|

#alma #blackholewinds #chandrax-ray

science5 months ago•38 min saved

The Milky Way’s Core Unveiled: A High-Resolution Map of Galactic Gas

Astronomers released the largest, most detailed image of the Milky Way's center, created with ALMA's 66 antennas to map cold molecular gas and dust at millimeter wavelengths. The mosaic reveals intricate gas filaments and molecular fingerprints, offering new insight into how stars form in the extreme environment around the galactic center, including a mysterious millimeter ultra-broad line object (MUBLO) detected only by ALMA. The project will be complemented by JWST observations to place our Galaxy in broader cosmic context and to inform theories of solar-system formation.

via WBUR|

#alma #interstellar-medium #milky-way

space5 months ago•7 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Carries Unprecedented Heavy Water, Hinting at Cold Birth

Astronomers analyzing the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS found an exceptionally high amount of heavy water (deuterium-rich water), suggesting it formed in a much colder, lower-radiation environment than our solar system. This marks the first successful water analysis of an interstellar object and points to diverse planetary-forming conditions across the galaxy, with future studies likely to reveal more such visitors as observational capabilities improve.

via ScienceDaily|

#3iatlas #alma #deuterium