All articles tagged with #spectroscopy
For the first time, XRISM’s Resolve instrument directly measured the velocity of hot gas at the center of the starburst galaxy M82, finding speeds around 2 million mph (≈3 million km/h). The hot wind’s pressure from high temperatures appears capable of powering the cooler, galaxy-wide outflow, a result that challenges and refines models of starburst galaxies and the role of cosmic rays in driving galactic winds.
Scientists using resonance Raman spectroscopy found signals in fossil vessels from Tyrannosaurus rex and Brachylophosaurus canadensis that resemble hemoglobin fragments, suggesting ancient blood components may survive in some fossils and offering clues on how soft tissues can persist for tens of millions of years, potentially via mineralization processes like goethite formation.
Scientists used Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS) to analyze preservation liquids inside Charles Darwin’s sealed Beagle-era specimens without opening the jars, identifying fluids in about 78% of samples and revealing historical preservation methods for noninvasive museum conservation.
Scientists using the ALMA telescope captured the most detailed map yet of the Milky Way’s center, charting the cold molecular gas in the Central Molecular Zone and its motions with spectroscopy. The four-year ACES survey reveals where gas is shredding into stars and planets, offering insights into the solar system’s origins and serving as a window into conditions similar to the early universe, all produced by a large international collaboration and mapping more than 70 molecular lines.
The article highlights that osteoarthritis is increasingly diagnosed in younger, active individuals and discusses how emerging diagnostic techniques—such as spectral fingerprinting using spectroscopy to analyze blood biomarkers—could detect risk before pain or joint damage appears. This early detection could enable preventive actions like targeted exercise, weight management, and injury prevention, potentially reducing long-term disability and healthcare costs. Current treatments focus on symptom management and may involve injections or, in severe cases, joint replacement, but early identification could shift care toward prevention and preservation of joint health.
Scientists used portable spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) to peek inside Charles Darwin’s 200-year-old preserved specimen jars at the Natural History Museum without opening them. The technique identified preservation fluids in about 80% of jars (mammals/reptiles often in formalin then ethanol, invertebrates in formaldehyde-based mixtures), with 15% partially identifiable and 6.5% not confidently identified. The method helps conserve delicate collections while guiding storage practices across museums, and the study was published in ACS Omega (2026).
Astronomers reinterpreted the puzzling behavior of the red supergiant WOH G64 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, finding it is not rapidly dying but part of a binary system with a hotter, smaller companion that interacts with the red star’s extended atmosphere. New optical spectra from SALT show strong titanium oxide bands indicating a cool atmosphere, contradicting claims it was turning into a yellow hypergiant. The strange emissions and the recent dust cloud are explained by material being pulled from the red giant and forming structures around the companion, not by an imminent collapse. The result is a dramatic reminder that binary interactions can mimic signs of stellar death while the star’s evolution continues, with a future supernova still possible but not imminent.
Astronomers using the WEAVE instrument on the William Herschel Telescope have found a giant, straight bar of ionized iron at the center of the Ring Nebula, a first for a nebula. The iron bar is unusually massive and not explained by a jet from the white dwarf or by iron release from dust; its 3D shape could extend beyond our line of sight, and a torn-apart planet origin is unlikely. More observations of other nebulae are needed to uncover the iron's origin.
A Sun-like star J0705+0612 dramatically dimmed between September 2024 and May 2025 due to a giant, metal-rich cloud about 1.2 billion miles from the star. The cloud appears bound to a distant companion with a few Jupiter masses—potentially a brown dwarf, giant planet, or low-mass star—carrying a circumsecondary or circumplanetary disk. Gas moves with winds of metals such as calcium and iron, measured with the GHOST spectrograph, indicating a dynamic debris disk around the companion. The star is ~3,000 light-years away, and infrared excess suggests a disk in an older system, implying a late-stage collision may have produced the cloud. This rare observation shows mature planetary systems can experience dramatic, disk-driven obscurations.
Researchers using the William Herschel Telescope’s WEAVE instrument detected a long, ionized-iron structure—an iron bar—within the Ring Nebula (M57). The bar extends roughly 1,000 Pluto–Sun distances and contains iron mass about that of Mars, located in the nebula’s inner region. Its origin is unknown, with theories ranging from the star’s outer-layer ejection to vaporizing a rocky planet. A follow-up study at higher resolution is planned, and the team published their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Astronomers using the VLT captured detailed spectra of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, detecting atomic nickel and cyanogen gas, revealing its dust-rich composition and unique physical processes, which provide insights into material from other star systems.
Scientists have discovered hundreds of mysterious missing wavelengths in the Sun's spectrum that remain unexplained despite over 200 years of study, highlighting gaps in current atomic data and the complex, dynamic nature of the Sun's atmosphere.
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS may be a primitive carbon-rich object experiencing cryovolcanic activity, similar to outer solar system bodies, based on spectral analysis and comparisons with NASA Antarctic meteorite samples, providing insights into planetary formation and interstellar material.
Scientists used a hyperspectral camera to measure the blue aurora's altitude over Sweden, finding it occurs higher than previously thought—about 124 miles above Earth—due to chemical reactions and ionospheric changes during dawn, providing new insights into upper atmospheric physics.
Astronomers using the VLT detected unexpected nickel vapor in interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS at large distances from the sun, suggesting unique chemical processes and providing insights into the composition of material from another star system, which may differ from typical solar system comets.