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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
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Tiny ‘primordial' black holes created in the Big Bang may have rapidly grown to supermassive sizes
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Primordial black holes that formed during the earliest moments of the universe could have swollen quickly to supermassive sizes, complex cosmological simulations have revealed. The discovery could lead to a solution for one of the biggest problems in modern cosmology: how supermassive black holes could have grown to be millions or billions of times more massive than the sun before the universe was 1 billion years old. This problem has gotten out of hand recently, thanks to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The powerful scope has been probing the early universe, discovering more and more supermassive black holes that existed just 700 million years after the Big Bang, or even earlier. "The problem here is that, when we view the early universe with more and more powerful telescopes, which effectively allow us to see the cosmos as it was at very early times due to the finite speed of light, we keep seeing supermassive black holes," research team member John Regan, a Royal Society University research fellow at Maynooth University in Ireland, told "This means that supermassive black holes are in place very early in the universe, within the first few hundred million years." The processes that scientists previously proposed to explain the growth of supermassive black holes, such as rapid matter accretion and mergers between larger and larger black holes, should take more than a billion years to grow a supermassive black hole. The earliest and most distant supermassive black hole discovered thus far by JWST is CEERS 1019, which existed just 570 million years after the Big Bang and has a mass 9 million times that of the sun. That's too big to exist 13.2 billion years or so ago, according to the established models. "This is confusing, as the black holes must either appear at this large mass or grow from a smaller mass extremely quickly," Regan said. "We have no evidence to suggest that black holes can form with these huge masses, and we don't fully understand how small black holes could grow so rapidly." The new research suggests that primordial black holes could have given early supermassive black holes a head start in this race. Black holes come in an array of different masses. Stellar-mass black holes, which are 10 to 100 times heftier than the sun, are created when massive stars exhaust their nuclear fuel an die, collapsing to trigger huge supernova explosions. Supermassive black holes have at least one million times the mass of the sun and sit at the heart of all large galaxies. They're too large to be formed when a massive star dies. Instead, these black holes are created when smaller black holes merge countless times, or by ravenously feeding on surrounding matter, or in a combination of both processes. These two examples of black holes, as well as elusive intermediate-mass black holes, which sit in the mass gulf between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes, are classed as "astrophysical" black holes. Scientists have long proposed the existence of "non-astrophysical" black holes, in the form of primordial black holes. The "non-astrophysical" descriptor refers to the fact that these black holes don't rely on collapsing stars or prior black holes for their existence. Instead, primordial black holes are proposed to form directly from overdense pockets in the soup of steaming-hot matter that filled the universe in the first second after the Big Bang. There is no observational evidence of these primordial black holes thus far. However, that hasn't stopped scientists from suggesting that these hypothetical objects could account for dark matter, the mysterious "stuff" that accounts for 85% of the matter in the universe but remains invisible because it doesn't interact with light. The new research suggests that primordial black holes, proposed to have masses between 1/100,000th that of a paperclip and 100,000 times that of the sun, could have a big advantage in rapidly forming supermassive black holes. That's because the upper limit on their mass isn't restricted by how massive a star can get before it dies, as is the case with stellar mass black holes. "Primordial black holes should form during the first few seconds after the Big Bang. If they exist, they have some advantages over astrophysical black holes," Regan said. "They can, in principle, be more massive to begin with compared to astrophysical black holes and may be able to settle more easily into galactic centers, where they can rapidly grow." Primordial black holes can also get a head start on stellar-mass black holes, because they don't have to wait for the first generation of massive stars to die — a process that could take millions of years. Regan explained that, due to their origins, astrophysical black holes can form only after the first stars run out of fuel. Even then, astrophysical black holes can still be just a few hundred solar masses in total. Additionally, negatively impacting the prospect of supermassive black hole growth from stellar-mass black holes is the fact that the energy emitted from stars during their lives and their explosive supernova deaths clears material from around the newborn black holes, depleting their potential larder and curtailing their growth. "That can mean that there is no material for the baby black hole to accrete," Regan explained. Primordial black holes wouldn't emit energy and wouldn't "go 'nova, eliminating this hindrance. But, they would still need to find their way to an abundant source of matter. In the simulation performed by Regan and colleagues, primordial black holes needed to grow by accreting matter, with black hole mergers taking a backseat in the process. "Matter in the early universe is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium," Regan continued. "These primordial black holes are expected to mostly grow by accreting hydrogen and helium. Mergers with other primordial black holes may also play a role, but accretion is expected to be dominant." For the matter accretion of primordial black holes to be efficient enough to result in the creation of supermassive black holes, these objects need to be able to rapidly gobble up matter. That means making their way to regions of the universe where matter congregates — namely, the center of galaxies, which also happens to be where supermassive black holes lurk in the modern epoch of the cosmos. "For this, primordial black holes need to sink to the center of a galaxy," Regan said. "This can happen if there are enough primordial black holes. Only a few have to get lucky!" The number of primordial black holes available for this process determines whether astrophysical black holes would eventually play a role in the growth of early supermassive black holes. "If primordial black holes are very abundant, then they can make up the whole supermassive black hole population," Regan said. "Whether primordial black holes account for the entire mass of early supermassive black holes depends on how many there are. In principle, it's possible, but my guess is that astrophysical black holes play a role, too." Of course, these findings are based on simulations, so there is a long way to go before this theory can be confirmed. One line of observational evidence for this theory would be the detection of a massive black hole in the very, very early universe, prior even to 500 million years after the Big Bang. Another possible line of observational evidence would be the detection of a black hole with a mass smaller than three times that of the sun in the modern-day universe. That's because no black hole so small could have formed from the supernova death and collapse of a massive star, indicating this diminutive black hole grew from a primordial one. "I was surprised that primordial black holes grew so rapidly and that our simulations at least matched the parameter space in which they can exist," Regan said. "All we need now is a 'smoking gun' of a primordial black hole from observations — either a very low-mass black hole in the present-day universe or a really high-mass black hole in the very early universe. "Primordial black holes, if they exist, will be hiding in the extremes!" Related Stories: — A 'primordial' black hole may zoom through our solar system every decade — Primordial black holes may flood the universe. Could one hit Earth? — Tiny black holes left over from the Big Bang may be prime dark matter suspects In lieu of such observational evidence, the team will seek to improve their cosmological simulations to strengthen the theory of supermassive black holes starting off as primordial black holes. "The next steps are to increase the realism of the simulations. This was a first step. The simulations only had primordial black holes," Regan concluded. "Next, we want to model primordial and astrophysical black holes in the same environment and see if we can see any distinguishing characteristics." The team's research appears as a pre-peer review paper on the repository site arXiv.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
When is the first day of summer? When's the summer solstice? How much daylight will Ohio see?
Have you pulled out your lawn chairs, open-toed sandals, and sun hats yet? Summer is on its way. That means hotter temperatures, family vacations, and maybe a trip to Cedar Point or Kings Island. When is the first day of summer 2025? When is the summer solstice? Here's what to know. The first day of summer can vary, depending on the context. Climate scientists often identify June 1 as the first day of the meteorological summer. But if you're looking at the astronomical calendar, summer starts a few weeks later. The astronomical season begins with the summer solstice on June 20, 2025, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. In Ohio and the rest of the Eastern time zone, the summer solstice will happen at 10:42 p.m. ET, according to The site states that daylight in temperate and mid-northern latitudes, such as Ohio, could last 15 hours that day. The summer solstice marks the beginning of the summer astronomical season. June 20 will be the day of the year when we will enjoy the longest hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere. After this day, the daylight hours will begin to shorten as summer progresses. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, astronomical seasons are defined by the Earth's orbiting position in relation to the sun, Meteorological seasons are dictated by the Earth's temperatures, per USA Today. The Earth's tilt and "the sun's alignment over the equator" shape the equinoxes and solstices. The Earth is tilted approximately 23.5 degrees on its axis. Because of this tilt, there are times when part of our planet leans toward the sun, and other times when another part of the planet faces away, according to NCEI. The Earth's elliptical orbit brings our planet closer or farther to the sun, depending on where the planet is in its 365.24-day cycle. These factors determine when the astronomical seasons fall, and each season varies in length from 89 to 93 days. And because of these variations in length, meteorological seasons were created. So basically, meteorological summer begins on June 1, and astronomical summer 2025 starts with the summer solstice on June 20. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: When is the first day of summer 2025? How much daylight will Ohio see?
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Cosmic miracle!' James Webb Space Telescope discovers the earliest galaxy ever seen
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) excels at a lot of things, but there are two things it does better than any other scientific instrument in human history: spotting early galaxies and breaking its own records!Now, the $10 billion NASA space telescope has done both things again, detecting a galaxy that existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang, a feat that the team behind this research has dubbed a "cosmic miracle."Currently, as the earliest and most distant galaxy ever detected, this "the mother of all early galaxies," this new JWST discovery has been fittingly designated "MoM z14." "First and foremost, at the moment, this is the most distant object known to humanity. That title changes every so often, but I find it is always cause for pause and reflection," team member and Yale University professor of Astronomy and Physics Pieter van Dokkum told "MoM z14 existed when the universe was about 280 million years old - we're getting quite close to the Big Bang. "Just to put that in context, sharks have been around on Earth for a longer timespan!" Since it began sending data back to Earth in the summer of 2022, the JWST has excelled in detecting galaxies at so-called "high redshifts." Redshift refers to the phenomenon of the wavelength of light from distant and thus early sources being stretched and shifted toward the "red end" of the electromagnetic spectrum as it traverses expanding space. The earlier and thus further away an object is, the greater the redshift. Prior to the discovery of MoM z14, the galaxy holding the title of earliest and distant was JADES-GS-z14-0, which existed just 300 million years after the Big Bang, or around 13.5 billion years ago. This previous record galaxy has a redshift of z =14.32, while MoM z14 has a redshift of z = 14.44. There is a wider context to the observation of MoM z14 than the fact that it has broken the record for earliest known galaxy by 20 million years, though, as van Dokkum explained. "The broader story here is that JWST was not expected to find any galaxies this early in the history of the universe, at least not at this stage of the mission," van Dokkum said. "There are, very roughly, over 100 more relatively bright galaxies in the very early universe than were expected based on pre-JWST observations."Also, in addition to detecting this new, earliest, and most distant galaxy, the team was able to determine some of its characteristics using the JWST. The researchers were able to determine that MoM z14 is around 50 times smaller than the Milky Way. The team also measured emission lines from the galaxy, indicating the presence of elements like nitrogen and carbon. "The emission lines are unusual; it indicates that the galaxy is very young, with a rapidly increasing rate of forming new stars," van Dokkum said. "There are also indications that there is not much neutral hydrogen gas surrounding the galaxy, which would be surprising: the very early universe is expected to be filled with neutral hydrogen. "That needs even better spectra and more galaxies, to investigate more fully." The presence of carbon and nitrogen in MoM z14 indicates that there are earlier galaxies to be discovered than this 13.52 billion-year-old example. That is because the very earliest galaxies in the universe and their stars were filled with the simplest elements in the cosmos, hydrogen and helium. Later galaxies would be populated by these heavier elements, which astronomers somewhat confusingly call "metal," as their stars forged them and then dispersed them in supernova explosions. "MoM z14 is not one of the very first objects that formed in the universe, as the stars in those galaxies are composed of hydrogen and helium only - we would not see carbon or nitrogen," van Dokkum said. "It could be part of the first wave of formation of 'normal' galaxies, that is, the first galaxies that have elements like nitrogen and carbon - but we've thought that before!" Related Stories: — Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind —James Webb Space Telescope finds our Milky Way galaxy's supermassive black hole blowing bubbles (image, video) — James Webb Space Telescope sees early galaxies defying 'cosmic rulebook' of star formation As for finding even earlier galaxies than MoM z14 and perhaps even detecting that first generation, van Dokkum is confident that the JWST is up to the task. He explained: "The JWST continues to push the boundary beyond where we thought it was, and at this point I would not be surprised if we find galaxies at z =15 or z =16!" For now, van Dokkum and the rest of this team, led by Rohan Naidu of MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, can celebrate breaking new ground in our understanding of the early cosmos."In a program like this, the whole team is always hoping for a 'miracle,' that is, that some of the candidate extremely early galaxies actually pan out and are not 'mirages,' objects whose colors look like extremely early objects," van Dokkum concluded. "While we were hoping for some very early objects, I don't think any of us expected to break the redshift record!" A pre-peer-reviewed version of the team's research is published on the paper repository site arXiv.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers want direct images of exoplanets. They may need 'quantum-level' tech to get them
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A team of scientists is developing a "quantum-sensitive" device that could capture direct images of Earth-like exoplanets — something astronomers tend to consider so difficult it's nearly impossible. Humanity's ability to image the heavens has improved by leaps and bounds since the invention of the telescope in 1608. Although the earliest of these images were far from clear, astronomers from generations ago could already observe craters on our moon, identify four of Jupiter's moons, and reveal a diffuse ribbon of light arching across the sky — what we now know represents the Milky Way's structure. But modern telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), have really brought the field forward. For instance, telescopes these days rely on very sophisticated instruments called coronagraphs to observe light coming from objects orbiting bright stars. "Current leading coronagraphs, such as the vortex and PIAA coronagraphs, are ingenious designs," Nico Deshler, a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona and co-author of the new study, told "A coronagraph is an instrument used in astronomy to block or suppress the light coming from a very bright object, like a star, to reveal fainter objects surrounding it." This allows scientists to detect objects more than a billion times fainter than the stars they orbit. However, Deshler and his colleagues believe they can push coronagraphs further to capture direct images of distant worlds. "Our team is broadly interested in the fundamental limits of sensing and metrology imposed by quantum mechanics, particularly in the context of imaging applications," Itay Ozer, a Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland and another of the study's co-authors, told The idea is to use principles of quantum mechanics to surpass the resolution limits of current telescopes, allowing scientists to image objects smaller or closer together than what traditional optics would permit. "The resolution of a telescope generally describes the smallest feature that the telescope can faithfully capture," said Ozer. "This smallest length scale, dubbed the 'diffraction limit,' is related to the wavelength of the detected light divided by the diameter of the telescope." This means gaining higher resolution requires building larger telescopes. However, launching a telescope large enough to surpass the diffraction limit necessary to directly image an exoplanet poses different types of challenges: high launch costs and extreme engineering complexity. "In this regard, developing sub-diffraction imaging methods is an important pursuit because it allows us to expand the domain of accessible exoplanets given the challenges and constraints associated with space-based observation," added Deshler. "We were inspired to explore the implications of these newfound quantum information-theoretic limits in the context of sub-diffraction exoplanet imaging where many Earth-like exoplanets are suspected to reside." The team thus designed a "quantum-level" coronagraph that can sort the light collected by a telescope and isolate the faint signal from exoplanets — light that is usually overwhelmed by the glare of their host stars. The concept relies on the fact that photons, or particles of light, travel in different patterns known as spatial modes. "In astronomical imaging, the position of each light source in the field of view of a telescope excites different optical spatial modes," explained Ozer. By using an optical device called a "spatial mode sorter," which is a cascade of carefully designed diffractive phase masks, the team was able to separate the incoming light, allowing them to isolate photons coming specifically from the exoplanet below the sub-diffraction limit. "As light interacts with each mask and propagates downstream through the mode sorter," said Deshler, "the optical field interferes with itself in such a way that the photons in each spatial mode get physically routed to different non-overlapping regions of space." "The correspondence between the positions of light sources and their corresponding excited spatial modes is central to […] nulling of starlight and detection of exoplanets," added Ozer. "In this way, we are able to siphon the photons emitted by the star away from the photons emitted by the exoplanet." This goes beyond digitally processing an image and subtracts starlight after the fact — in other words, it removes starlight in the optical domain before the light even reaches a detector. "In exoplanet searches, a telescope is rotated to point directly at a prospective star, which we model as a point source of light," explained Deshler. "Under this alignment between the star and the telescope axis, all the photons emanating from the star couple to the [telescope's] fundamental mode — the specific spatial mode that is excited when looking at an on-axis point source." Under this alignment, all the photons emanating from the star couple to the fundamental mode. By filtering out this mode, Deshler, Ozer and their colleagues were able to effectively eliminate the starlight, revealing only the light from the exoplanet. "The exoplanet's light is misaligned to the telescope axis, and excites a different spatial mode from the star,' said Ozer. "Our method preserves as much of the pristine uncontaminated photons from the exoplanet as possible, which turn out to carry all the available information." In the lab, the team set out to show that their device could detect exoplanets positioned extremely close to their host stars — closer than traditional resolution limits allow. They tested it using two points of light: a bright one to represent the star and a much dimmer one to simulate an exoplanet. By gradually moving the dimmer light and recording the resulting images, they assessed how well the device could localize the exoplanet. They found that when the artificial exoplanet was very close to the star — less than one-tenth the separation limit of current telescopes — most of its photons were filtered out along with the starlight. At larger separations, however, the exoplanet's signal became clearer, rising above background noise and aligning with theoretical predictions. Additionally, by setting the star to be 1,000 times brighter than the planet and analyzing the images with a maximum likelihood estimator, the team achieved results within a few percent of the theoretical limit across a wide range of sub-diffraction planet positions. "This is a proof-of-principle demonstration that spatial mode sorting coronagraphs may provide access to deeply sub-diffraction exoplanets which lie beyond reach for current state-of-the-art systems," said Deshler. "We are hopeful that this method might allow astronomers to push the boundaries of exoplanets accessible with direct imaging." The team says the technology needed to build and implement their quantum-optimized coronagraph already exists. They're now working to refine the device into a deployable system that meets performance targets. "The main limitation is the fidelity of the mode sorter," explained Ozer. "In the lab, we measure the 'purity' of the modes through a metric called the cross-talk matrix, which describes the undesired photon leakage that occurs between independent modes. Cross-talk is largely induced by manufacturing imperfections and small experimental misalignments. To successfully image Exo-Earths, […] the mode sorter must isolate each photon in the fundamental mode to better than one part in a billion if the exoplanet is to be resolved." Related Stories: — Doubts over signs of alien life on exoplanet K2-18b are rising: 'This is evidence of the scientific process at work' — James Webb Space Telescope finds water in the air of exotic 'sub-Neptune' exoplanet — Lightning on alien worlds may fail to spark life, simulations suggest The team says precision manufacturing is necessary to fabricate high-quality phase masks that can meet these "cross-talk" requirements. "We envision the use of advanced techniques, such as photolithography, additive manufacturing, or micromachining, to construct extremely precise diffractive surfaces," Deshler said. The duo hopes this technology will one day provide complementary data for future flagship telescope missions like the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a proposed successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. "Direct imaging is one of the few observation strategies that can measure the wavelength spectrum of an exoplanet," explained Ozer. "In turn this spectrum may contain clues about atmospheric composition of an exoplanet and reveal potential chemical biosignatures." "We imagine that mode-sorter driven coronagraphs could augment the astronomy toolkit and enable better characterization of sub-diffraction exoplanets," added Deshler. "However, the difficulty of exoplanet discovery warrants cross-validation with a multiplicity of observational techniques such as transits, velocimetry, and gravitational microlensing. Therefore, this technology is by no means a one-size-fits-all solution." The study was published on April 22 in the journal Optica.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UCF provost Trump taps for NASA CFO is keen on Mars, wary of China
A UCF faculty member President Trump nominated for NASA chief financial officer sees the moon as a stepping stone to Mars but warns the U.S. needs to fix its space game if it's going to outplay China. Trump tapped Greg Autry on Monday for the post. He joined the university in 2024 as associate provost for Space Commercialization and Strategy. 'I have been honored to help move UCF's incredible space enterprise forward, and I hope to return after my service at NASA,' Autry said in a news release. 'Our space agency has a long history of excellence in financial management, and I am looking forward to joining the incredible team at NASA.' Autry worked with the first Trump administration as part of the White House transition team for NASA. In 2016, he helped lay out NASA's plans to return to the moon through its Artemis program. In January during SpaceCom, the commercial space conference in Orlando, Autry discussed his 2024 book, 'Red Moon Rising: How America Will Beat China on the Final Frontier,' which he authored along with Peter Navarro, current Trump senior adviser for trade and manufacturing. 'China is moving forward rapidly, and we, for some reason, can't even get people on the moon in eight years,' he said. 'We assumed that that could be done faster than John F. Kennedy was able to do it back when we didn't know what we're doing. But it turns out it can't. 'So we've got to be honest about the fact that we're not executing on time and on a program the way that the Chinese are.' China has plans to land astronauts on the moon in 2030 or earlier. He said from a science and engineering perspective, he's glad they're a competitor — it gives Americans something to hold themselves up to. While Autry has only been at UCF for a year, the school has dubbed him its 'space czar' as he works within the College of Business to help establish executive and MBA programs. It's a position he would have to give up if confirmed for the NASA post. The CFO post is one of four agency positions nominated by the president and requiring Senate confirmation — along with administrator, deputy administrator and inspector general. Billionaire Jared Isaacman was nominated for administrator, but no confirmation hearing has been put on the Senate calendar yet. Neither has one been scheduled for Autry. For Autry, the CFO role means overseeing NASA's financial management and budget. The agency has kept running under a continuing resolution this fiscal year on the 2024 budget of around $25 billion — a 2% cut from 2023. Of that total, deep-space exploration — including the Artemis moon-to-Mars campaign — has led spending at more than $7.6 billion. Autry is high on pursuing Mars — something Trump has stumped for along with close adviser Elon Musk. He said it was clear Mars was a goal in Trump's Space Policy Directive-1 in 2017, and to a lesser degree under the Obama administration, which initially called for a human on Mars by 2040 though not much time was spent on it. 'They had what we call the squid chart, which was basically a piece of mystery meat about how we work — we're going to theoretically put humans on Mars,' Autry said. 'NASA has never taken the task seriously, and I'm glad that we're going to go there.' He does think focusing on moon efforts with commercial and international partners, though, doesn't have to be separate from those targeting Mars. 'There's a lot of complimentary technology and capabilities that are developed for both those goals,' Autry said. 'You don't need to build an airplane to go to Miami and a different airplane to go to New York. So I'm hoping that we'll find that we can all get along.' One of the biggest financial dilemmas facing NASA is how much it has spent on the Artemis program. The Space Launch System rocket cost taxpayers $23.8 billion since its conception in 2011, according to data from The Planetary Society. The Orion spacecraft, which began under the Constellation program during the George W. Bush administration in 2006, cost another $20.4 billion while ground infrastructure tacked on $5.7 billion. By 2022, the total program had cost nearly $50 billion and continues to grow with prep toward next year's crewed Artemis II mission to fly around the moon. That's followed by a proposed 2027 Artemis III mission to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Some experts are skeptical of that time frame. Still, the moon is a gateway to Mars, he said. 'It's a question of cultural and economic relevance, and if the United States wants to be relevant in the 21st century, then they've got to participate in 21st century activities and be the best at them,' Autry said.
