CosmicRami
CosmicRami  ·  2 weeks ago

Content Warning

You may have seen headlines today - such as in The New York Times - suggesting the possible detection of a biosignature on an exoplanet. It’s an exciting prospect, no doubt. But it’s also an extraordinary claim, and as the saying goes, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" (Carl Sagan).

While the molecule in question is associated with biological processes, it’s important to note that non-biological (abiotic) pathways for its formation exist as well (see: Reed et al. 2024 ApJL; Sanz-Novo et al. 2025 ApJL). These results are interesting, but far from conclusive.

Scientists work within a robust framework to test such claims. This includes:

- Peer review and replication
- Community feedback and critique
- Cross-validation through multiple instruments and techniques
- Avoiding sensationalism in science communication
- Building consensus through sustained investigation

I am looking forward to hearing more from the exoplanet and astrobiology communities on these findings before drawing conclusions.

In the meantime, the ripple effect of bold headlines - like "Possible Signs of Extraterrestrial Life" - has already begun. A friend at the dentist this morning spotted a very misleading headline about this on Channel 9 News!

This is where science communication becomes critical: managing public interest and excitement without compromising scientific accuracy.

We should use moments like these to show the process - how scientific ideas are proposed, tested, debated, and refined - to broader audiences. Whether we’re talking about space, climate change, or pandemics, this transparency is essential to building trust in science.

Aliens make for a great headline, but the real story is in how we do the science.

#JWST#Astronomy#Astrobiology #Astrodon#Science#ScienceCommunication

The search for life beyond Earth has led scientists to explore many suggestive mysteries, from plumes of methane on Mars to clouds of phosphine gas on Venus. But as far as we can tell, Earth’s inhabitants remain alone in the cosmos. Now a team of researchers is offering what it contends is the strongest indication yet of extraterrestrial life, not in our solar system but on a massive planet, known as K2-18b, that orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth. A repeated analysis of the exoplanet’s atmosphere suggests an abundance of a molecule that on Earth has only one known source: living organisms such as marine algae. “It is in no one’s interest to claim prematurely that we have detected life,” said Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and an author of the new study, at a news conference on Tuesday. Still, he said, the best explanation for his group’s observations is that K2-18b is covered with a warm ocean, brimming with life. “This is a revolutionary moment,” Dr. Madhusudhan said. “It’s the first time humanity has seen potential biosignatures on a habitable planet.”
The search for life beyond Earth has led scientists to explore many suggestive mysteries, from plumes of methane on Mars to clouds of phosphine gas on Venus. But as far as we can tell, Earth’s inhabitants remain alone in the cosmos. Now a team of researchers is offering what it contends is the strongest indication yet of extraterrestrial life, not in our solar system but on a massive planet, known as K2-18b, that orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth. A repeated analysis of the exoplanet’s atmosphere suggests an abundance of a molecule that on Earth has only one known source: living organisms such as marine algae. “It is in no one’s interest to claim prematurely that we have detected life,” said Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and an author of the new study, at a news conference on Tuesday. Still, he said, the best explanation for his group’s observations is that K2-18b is covered with a warm ocean, brimming with life. “This is a revolutionary moment,” Dr. Madhusudhan said. “It’s the first time humanity has seen potential biosignatures on a habitable planet.”
The search for life beyond Earth has led scientists to explore many suggestive mysteries, from plumes of methane on Mars to clouds of phosphine gas on Venus. But as far as we can tell, Earth’s inhabitants remain alone in the cosmos. Now a team of researchers is offering what it contends is the strongest indication yet of extraterrestrial life, not in our solar system but on a massive planet, known as K2-18b, that orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth. A repeated analysis of the exoplanet’s atmosphere suggests an abundance of a molecule that on Earth has only one known source: living organisms such as marine algae. “It is in no one’s interest to claim prematurely that we have detected life,” said Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and an author of the new study, at a news conference on Tuesday. Still, he said, the best explanation for his group’s observations is that K2-18b is covered with a warm ocean, brimming with life. “This is a revolutionary moment,” Dr. Madhusudhan said. “It’s the first time humanity has seen potential biosignatures on a habitable planet.”
CosmicRami
CosmicRami  ·  last month

Content Warning

A while back (around seven months ago) I posted an image of ISS (first image), but captured FROM ABOVE (higher orbit). This is the work of Aussie company HEO!

This type of work is really fascinating as things (like satellites) are all moving at high velocities up there (28,000 km/h) - so other things (like other satellites or space stations) zip past quickly. You would then need to 'de-zip' the object to make a crisp clear image.

Well, they've done it again.

This time, imaging the Chinese Space Station (second image) from a distance of 83 kilometres (resolution of 0.17 m/px) 🤯

This is really cool stuff. I promise.

📸 BlackSky / HEO

#Space#EarthObservation#SpaceStation #Astrodon

Daniel Pomarède
Daniel Pomarède  ·  last month

Content Warning

Webb unmasks true nature of the Cosmic Tornado

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a beautiful juxtaposition of the nearby protostellar outflow known as Herbig-Haro 49/50 with a perfectly positioned, more distant spiral galaxy.

📷 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_unmasks_true_nature_of_the_Cosmic_Tornado

#JWST#Webb#Astronomy#Astrophysics #Astrodon #science #news #galaxy

Angled from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of the image is a conical shaped orange-red cloud known at Herbig-Haro 49/50. This feature takes up about three-fourths of the length of this angle. The upper left end of this feature has a translucent, rounded end. At this same location there is a background spiral shaped galaxy with a concentrated blue center that fades outwards to blend in with red spiral arms. The conical feature widens slightly from the rounded end at the upper right down to the lower right. The black background of space is clearer, speckled with some white stars and smaller, more numerous, fainter white galaxies.
Angled from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of the image is a conical shaped orange-red cloud known at Herbig-Haro 49/50. This feature takes up about three-fourths of the length of this angle. The upper left end of this feature has a translucent, rounded end. At this same location there is a background spiral shaped galaxy with a concentrated blue center that fades outwards to blend in with red spiral arms. The conical feature widens slightly from the rounded end at the upper right down to the lower right. The black background of space is clearer, speckled with some white stars and smaller, more numerous, fainter white galaxies.
Angled from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of the image is a conical shaped orange-red cloud known at Herbig-Haro 49/50. This feature takes up about three-fourths of the length of this angle. The upper left end of this feature has a translucent, rounded end. At this same location there is a background spiral shaped galaxy with a concentrated blue center that fades outwards to blend in with red spiral arms. The conical feature widens slightly from the rounded end at the upper right down to the lower right. The black background of space is clearer, speckled with some white stars and smaller, more numerous, fainter white galaxies.
Daniel Pomarède
Daniel Pomarède  ·  4 months ago

Content Warning

Wowzer! Map of cosmic flows, by yours truly, makes it to the cover of the Nature Astronomy journal.

"Galaxies from
wherever flock
together"

I'm no poet, but could this be a Haiku?

https://www.nature.com/natastron/volumes/8/issues/12

Credits:
Image: Daniel Pomarède, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l’Univers, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay.
Cover design: Bethany Vukomanovic.

#Cosmology#Galaxies#Astronomy #Astrodon#Astrophysics#Cosmography#Cartography#Map#Cosmicflows #science#STEM #news #space

A cover of the Nature Astronomy journal, dated December 2024, Volume 8, issue number 12, featuring a three-dimensional visualization of the cosmic velocity field inferred from the Cosmicflows-4 catalog of galaxies' distances and velocities. This map spans two billion lightyears from top to bottom. The velocity field is mapped by means of tens of thousands of very thin streamlines, seeded at the positions of the catalog's galaxies. Streamlines are shown white and semi-transparent, against a black background. They exhibit a very complex pattern with multiple attractors, seen as points of convergence of the lines. A text reads Galaxies from wherever flock together.
A cover of the Nature Astronomy journal, dated December 2024, Volume 8, issue number 12, featuring a three-dimensional visualization of the cosmic velocity field inferred from the Cosmicflows-4 catalog of galaxies' distances and velocities. This map spans two billion lightyears from top to bottom. The velocity field is mapped by means of tens of thousands of very thin streamlines, seeded at the positions of the catalog's galaxies. Streamlines are shown white and semi-transparent, against a black background. They exhibit a very complex pattern with multiple attractors, seen as points of convergence of the lines. A text reads Galaxies from wherever flock together.
A cover of the Nature Astronomy journal, dated December 2024, Volume 8, issue number 12, featuring a three-dimensional visualization of the cosmic velocity field inferred from the Cosmicflows-4 catalog of galaxies' distances and velocities. This map spans two billion lightyears from top to bottom. The velocity field is mapped by means of tens of thousands of very thin streamlines, seeded at the positions of the catalog's galaxies. Streamlines are shown white and semi-transparent, against a black background. They exhibit a very complex pattern with multiple attractors, seen as points of convergence of the lines. A text reads Galaxies from wherever flock together.
Galaxy Map
Galaxy Map  ·  4 months ago

Content Warning

At the suggestion of our latest play testers, I added a star system legend on my Acrux game playing board at the upper right. The board is looking pretty good so I am considering having a quad fold version printed in Belgium.

The Acrux prototype is looking more and more like a real board game!

#boardgames #Astrodon #astronomy

Daniel Pomarède
Daniel Pomarède  ·  5 months ago

Content Warning

A map of the structure surrounding the Local Void

In this map our Milky Way galaxy lies at the origin of the red-green-blue orientation arrows, each 200 million lightyears in length.

☑️ this is Fig.1 of https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019ApJ...880...24T/abstract
☑️ more insights by APOD: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190806.html

#Cosmology#Cosmography#LocalVoid#APOD#GreatAttractor #map #astronomy #astrophysics#astrodon #science#STEM#MilkyWay #galaxy #galaxies#CosmicWeb

a cosmographic map featuring the cosmological large scale structure in our local cosmic neighborhood. The density field is displayed as semi-transparent isosurfaces, colored grey for the the lower isocontour value, and colored in nuances of red for five higher levels. The resulting structure is filamentary, with high-density knots at the filaments' crossing, an architecture typical of the Cosmic Web. Three colored arrows materialize the cardinal axes of the Supergalactic Coordiante System, centered at our location. Several important actors of our local cosmography are named: Milky Way, Virgo, Arrowhead, Great Attractor, Perseus-Pisces, Coma, Arch, Hercules. The name of the astronomer leading the study is inprinted in the lower right corner of the figure, reading R. Brent Tully. All these elements are drawn against a white background.
a cosmographic map featuring the cosmological large scale structure in our local cosmic neighborhood. The density field is displayed as semi-transparent isosurfaces, colored grey for the the lower isocontour value, and colored in nuances of red for five higher levels. The resulting structure is filamentary, with high-density knots at the filaments' crossing, an architecture typical of the Cosmic Web. Three colored arrows materialize the cardinal axes of the Supergalactic Coordiante System, centered at our location. Several important actors of our local cosmography are named: Milky Way, Virgo, Arrowhead, Great Attractor, Perseus-Pisces, Coma, Arch, Hercules. The name of the astronomer leading the study is inprinted in the lower right corner of the figure, reading R. Brent Tully. All these elements are drawn against a white background.
a cosmographic map featuring the cosmological large scale structure in our local cosmic neighborhood. The density field is displayed as semi-transparent isosurfaces, colored grey for the the lower isocontour value, and colored in nuances of red for five higher levels. The resulting structure is filamentary, with high-density knots at the filaments' crossing, an architecture typical of the Cosmic Web. Three colored arrows materialize the cardinal axes of the Supergalactic Coordiante System, centered at our location. Several important actors of our local cosmography are named: Milky Way, Virgo, Arrowhead, Great Attractor, Perseus-Pisces, Coma, Arch, Hercules. The name of the astronomer leading the study is inprinted in the lower right corner of the figure, reading R. Brent Tully. All these elements are drawn against a white background.
Daniel Pomarède
Daniel Pomarède  ·  5 months ago

Content Warning

Cosmography archives

2005: Discovery of the Sloan Great Wall

by J. Richard Gott and co-authors
https://doi.org/10.1086/428890

At the time of its discovery, this 1.37 billion light-years long filament is the largest observed structure in the Universe.

#Cosmology #galaxies#SloanGreatWall#Cosmography #archives #archive#CosmographyArchives #history #science#HistoryOfScience #Astrodon #astrophysics #astronomy #physics#STEM#Universe#CosmicWeb

The distribution of galaxies obtained with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and displayed as two fan-shaped plots with Right Ascension versus redshift distances as coordinates. Galaxies' positions are shown as black points on a white background, featuring filamentary structures typical of the Cosmic Web, which describes the large-scale structure of the Universe. The two fan-shaped plots lie on top of each other, with their boundaries elegantly matching each other's. On the lower plot, running from 0 to 14000 km/s in redshift, and from 8 to 17 hours in Right Ascension, is shown the CfA2 Great Wall, with its iconic stickman-shaped distribution of galaxies. On the higher plot, running from 14000 to 28000 km/s in redshift distances, and from about 9 to 14 hours in Right Ascension, is featured the Sloan Great Wall. A caption completes this figure.
The distribution of galaxies obtained with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and displayed as two fan-shaped plots with Right Ascension versus redshift distances as coordinates. Galaxies' positions are shown as black points on a white background, featuring filamentary structures typical of the Cosmic Web, which describes the large-scale structure of the Universe. The two fan-shaped plots lie on top of each other, with their boundaries elegantly matching each other's. On the lower plot, running from 0 to 14000 km/s in redshift, and from 8 to 17 hours in Right Ascension, is shown the CfA2 Great Wall, with its iconic stickman-shaped distribution of galaxies. On the higher plot, running from 14000 to 28000 km/s in redshift distances, and from about 9 to 14 hours in Right Ascension, is featured the Sloan Great Wall. A caption completes this figure.
The distribution of galaxies obtained with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and displayed as two fan-shaped plots with Right Ascension versus redshift distances as coordinates. Galaxies' positions are shown as black points on a white background, featuring filamentary structures typical of the Cosmic Web, which describes the large-scale structure of the Universe. The two fan-shaped plots lie on top of each other, with their boundaries elegantly matching each other's. On the lower plot, running from 0 to 14000 km/s in redshift, and from 8 to 17 hours in Right Ascension, is shown the CfA2 Great Wall, with its iconic stickman-shaped distribution of galaxies. On the higher plot, running from 14000 to 28000 km/s in redshift distances, and from about 9 to 14 hours in Right Ascension, is featured the Sloan Great Wall. A caption completes this figure.
Daniel Pomarède
Daniel Pomarède  ·  5 months ago

Content Warning

Zebra Rock, a mysterious rock with black and white stripes, captured by Perseverance in Stereo3D

To go 3D: eyes' lines of sight parallel/left image for left eye/right image for right eye

Calibrated images by the Mastcam-Z team at Arizona State Univ., Sol 1268, Sep. 13, 2024

#Mars#Perseverance#ZebraRock#FreyaCastle#3D#Stereo3D #stereoscopy #geology #planetaryscience#Mars2020 #rock #rocks #solarocks #science#Stem#astrodon #Mastcam #MastcamZforall #photography

Daniel Pomarède
Daniel Pomarède  ·  5 months ago

Content Warning

An asteroid’sdestruction may have given Mars rings, then moons

Scientists simulated a situation that may offer an improved explanation for how the Red Planet ended up with small Phobos and tiny Deimos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/science/mars-moons-asteroids-rings.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ck4.3uM1.EupDU6iZI7Uo&smid=url-share&et_rid=1080503712&et_cid=5442065

Credits video: Jacob Kegerreis, et al./NASA Ames

#Mars#Phobos#Deimos #science #Astrodon#STEM #space #rings#NYTimes #news

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