The first brown dwarf ever found was the strangest – now we know why

 

Image courtesy of K. Miller, R. Hurt/Caltech/IPA.C

Joel Kontinen  

The first brown dwarf was a mystery, but it is not a single star. God can make what He did  in surprising ways.

”An odd star that has confused researchers for decades now makes sense – it turns out not to be a single star but two companions.

“It used to be that this brown dwarf didn’t make any sense. We worried that we were doing something horribly wrong, or that our models were horribly wrong. But, no, everything’s fine. It just has a friend,” says Timothy Brandt at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland

Now, two research teams have used instruments at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the Very Large Telescope in Chile to unravel the mystery of the first brown dwarf.

Brown dwarfs are “failed stars” in that they have too little matter and are too cool to sustain nuclear 2fusion. They become faint in the night sky, similar to planets, instead of burning bright for millennia. The first brown dwarf, called Gliese 229B, was discovered in 1995, but its mass was inexplicably large, says Jerry Xuan at the California Institute of Technology, who worked on one of the studies.”

Source:

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, 2024 The first brown dwarf ever found was the strangest – now we know why | New Scientist 16 October.

 

 

NASA set to launch Europa probe to search for signs of habitability

 

Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Joel Kontinen

A 6000-kilogram spacecraft will embark on a six-year journey to Jupiter to explore whether its icy moon Europa has the conditions to support life.

Could NASA a find life on Europa?

According to some evolutionists, “The largest spacecraft ever created NASA for an interplanetary mission will launch today to determine whether Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, has an environment that could support life.

The Europa Clipper mission is expected to launch at 12:06 pm local time aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, having been delayed by several days as a precaution because of Hurricane Milton.

Europa is the smallest of the so-called Galilean moons, which are Jupiter’s four largest moons. It is slightly smaller than our own moon and is of particular interest to scientists. Previous observations have indicated that Europa has a vast subsurface ocean, and this mission is designed to explore the possibility that life could reside within it.

With its solar arrays deployed that Europa has a vast subsurface ocean, and this mission is designed to explore the possibility that life could reside within it.

With its solar arrays deployed, Europa Clipper spans more than 30 metres and weighs 3241 kilograms without propellant, which will add a further 2750 kilograms.

The spacecraft will take around six years to travel 2.9 billion kilometres to its rendezvous with Jupiter in April 2030, using the gravity. of Mars and then Earth to boost its speed.”

 Some believers in evolution have supposed that Europa is teeming with life, but only God can bring it about.

Source:

 Matthew Sparkes 2024 NASA set to launch Europa Clipper probe to search for signs of habitability | New Scientist 14 October.

The water world with (potentially) living oceans

 

Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

Will this exoplanet have life?

K2-18 b is a large world located about 120 light-years from the sun. It inhabits the Goldilocks zone around its star, meaning at liquid water (and potentially life) could exist there.

A recent analysis with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) supports the idea that the exoplanet may have its own liquid water ocean — and that the ocean may be home to living creatures. But probably not little green men.

In the study, JWST detected possible traces of dimethyl sulfide, a chemical known to be emitted only by phytoplankton on Earth, in the exoplanet's atmosphere.

But scientist have been adamant that such things happened on  Venus, which will not support life.

Source:

Brandon Specktor 2024 32 alien planets that really exist (msn.com)  2 October.

Earth may be about to pass through the ion tail of a comet

 Image courtesy of Carlos de Saa/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Joel Kontinen

The ion tail of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) could appear as a blue streak across the northern hemisphere sky during October, in a rare event thought to happen only every few decades.

Can the Earth go through the iron tail of a comet?

It is a fact, but it will be comfortable with no risks.  

”Earth is about to have a close encounter with a comet, possibly passing through its ion tail – a rare occurrence. If we are lucky, it could show up as a blue streak in the northern hemisphere night sky.

Samuel Grant at University College London and Geraint Jones at the European Space Agency say there is a good chance that tonight, 10 October, our planet will intersect the path of the ion tail of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).”

Source:

Jonathan O’Callaghan 2024. Earth may be about to pass through the ion tail of a comet | New Scientist 10 October 

 

What is the largest exoplanet in the universe?

 

Image courtesy of Penn State

Joel Kontinen

The giant exoplanet LS 3154b has scientists scratching their heads, because it seems far too large for its tiny star. 

This planet is too large compared to its sun.

“This planet, which is about 13 times more massive than Earth but orbits a star nine times less massive than the sun, doesn't seem like it could exist, researchers said upon its discovery in 2023. Future studies of this "impossible" world could upend the known rules of planet formation.” which is by evolutionary design.

Source:

 Brandon Specktor 2024  32 alien planets that really exist | Live Science 2. October.

Alligator gar: The 'living fossil' that has barely evolved for "100 million years"

 

Image courtesy of © Danny Ye / Alamy Stock Photo

Joel Kontinen

A living fossil has been found that can grow as large as an alligator, and it has a strong armour that it survived the death of the dinosaurs when an asteroid killed them in "66million years" ago according to evolutionary speculation.  

Its name is Alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) and it lives in the south of the USA, and in Mexico, it grows to about 24 metres or eight feet long and can be mistaken for a ferocious alligator but it only eats crabs and little fish,  turtles and carrion.

Source:

Melissa Hobson 2024.  Alligator gar: The 'living fossil' that has barely evolved for 100 million years (msn.com)  6. October.

The "hell planet" where it rains lava

 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

55 Cancri e is a rocky world about eight times the size of Earth. It is the type of exoplanet  known as a "super Earth." Despite its ample size, nothing is "super" about the living conditions here.

Often nicknamed the "hell planet," 55 Cancri e is completely covered in flowing seas of lava, and it may even rain lava there as well. The exoplanet is located 41 light-years from Earth, making it a popular target for studies.

There are no little green men on this lava covered planet.

Source:

Brandon Specktor 2024 32 alien planets that really exist (msn.com) 2. October.