Tag Archive for 'UV'

Computer simulation of a region of the Universe wherein a low-density ‘void’ (dark blue region at top center) is surrounded by denser structures containing numerous galaxies (orange/white). Image credit: TNG Collaboration.

Early Universe’s Most Opaque Place Contained Relatively Little Matter: Study

Aug 15, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers have known that roughly 12 billion years ago, the gas in deep space was much more opaque than it is now in some regions, although the opacity...

On Earth, the Northern and Southern lights occur when the solar wind (electrically charged particles from the Sun) follow our planet’s geomagnetic field lines to the poles and collide with the upper atmosphere. Mars lacks a global magnetic field, so instead the solar wind piles up in front of Mars in a bow shock, which blocks charged particles from reaching the bulk of the atmosphere. However, in a process first observed by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, some solar wind protons can slip past the bow shock by first bonding with electrons from the Martian upper atmosphere to form hydrogen atoms. Because these hydrogen atoms are electrically neutral, they can pass through the bow shock and go on to create an ultraviolet proton aurora on the dayside of Mars. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Proton Aurora Discovered on Mars

Jul 24, 2018 by News Staff

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft has found a new type of Martian aurora that occurs over much of the day side of the...

These six images represent the variety of star-forming regions in nearby galaxies. The galaxies -- part of LEGUS survey -- are two dwarf galaxies (UGC 5340 and UGCA 281) and four large spiral galaxies (NGC 4258, NGC 3368, NGC 3627, and NGC 6744). They are between 19 million and 42 million light-years from Earth. The images are a blend of UV and visible light from Hubble’s WFC3 and ACS instruments. Image credit: NASA / ESA / LEGUS Team.

Hubble Surveys Star-Forming Galaxies in Local Universe

May 18, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have completed the sharpest, most comprehensive UV-light survey of star-forming galaxies in the local...

Ryder et al used Hubble to get the first image of a surviving companion to a supernova; this is the most compelling evidence that some supernova explosions originate in binary star systems. Image credit: NASA / ESA / S. Ryder, Australian Astronomical Observatory / O. Fox, STScI.

Hubble Snaps Image of Surviving Binary Companion to Type IIb Supernova

Apr 27, 2018 by News Staff

On December 10, 2001 Australian amateur astronomer Robert Evans discovered a supernova in the outer edge of NGC 7424, a spiral galaxy located in the southern...

This composite image shows the central region of the Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESA / CXC / STScI.

Hubble Discovers Origin of Mysterious Gas Cloud Heading toward Milky Way

Mar 23, 2018 by News Staff

In a cosmic tug-of-war between Large and Small Magellanic Clouds — two dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way — only the NASA/ESA Hubble Space...

Welch et al show for the first time that far-UVC efficiently inactivates airborne aerosolized viruses. These fluorescent images show epithelial cells infected with H1N1; the viruses were exposed in aerosolized form in the irradiation chamber to doses of 0, 0.8, 1.3 or 2.0 mJ/cm2 of 222-nm far-UVC light; infected cells fluoresce green. Image credit: Welch et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21058-w.

Study: Far Ultraviolet C Light Inactivates Airborne Viruses

Feb 12, 2018 by News Staff

Low doses of far ultraviolet C light can inactivate airborne influenza and other viruses without harming human tissues, according to a study published...

The panther chameleon shows fluorescent crests on the head. Image credit: David Prötzel, ZSM & LMU.

Chameleons Glow under Ultraviolet Light

Jan 17, 2018 by News Staff

Chameleons are small to mid-size tree-dwelling reptiles that are famous for their ability to change colors. A team of researchers from Germany has now...

This image of the dwarf galaxy NGC 4625 is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 4625

Nov 13, 2017 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of a dwarf galaxy called NGC 4625. This image of the dwarf galaxy NGC 4625 is a composite of separate...

This illustration depicts a hypothetical uneven ring of dust orbiting KIC 8462852. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Mysterious Long-Term Dimming of KIC 8462852 May Be Caused by Dust, Astronomers Say

Oct 9, 2017 by News Staff

University of Arizona astronomer Huan Meng and co-authors have found the long-term dimming of KIC 8462852 — a main-sequence F-type star located in...

This artist’s concept allows us to imagine what it would be like to stand on the surface of TRAPPIST-1f. Because this planet is thought to be tidally locked to its star, meaning the same face of the planet is always pointed at the star, there would be a region called the terminator that perpetually divides day and night. If the night side is icy, the day side might give way to liquid water in the area where sufficient starlight hits the surface. One of the unusual features of TRAPPIST-1 planets is how close they are to each other -- so close that other planets could be visible in the sky from the surface of each one. In this view, the planets in the sky correspond to TRAPPIST1e (top left crescent), d (middle crescent) and c (bright dot to the lower right of the crescents). TRAPPIST-1e would appear about the same size as the Moon and TRAPPIST1-c is on the far side of the star. The star itself, an ultra-cool dwarf, would appear about three times larger than our own Sun does in Earth’s skies. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Catlech.

TRAPPIST-1’s Outer Planets May Harbor Water, New Study Finds

Sep 1, 2017 by News Staff

In a research paper to appear in the Astronomical Journal (arXiv.org preprint), astronomers from MIT, the Geneva Observatory and elsewhere report that...

An all-sky image of the Milky Way Galaxy, as observed by ESA’s Planck Space Observatory in IR. The data contained in this image were used in this research and were essential in calculating the distribution of the light energy of the Galaxy. Image credit: ESA / HFI / LFI consortia.

Researchers Map Light Energy Distribution in Milky Way Galaxy

Jul 31, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has used data from ESA’s Planck Space Observatory and other telescopes to map the distribution of all light energy...

Daily tomato consumption appeared to cut the development of skin cancer tumors by half in the mouse study. Image credit: Hans Benn.

Tomato Consumption May Protect against Skin Cancer

Jul 20, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a research article published in the journal Scientific Reports, Ohio State University scientists report that male mice fed a diet of 10% tomato powder...

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser / Spaceengine.org.

Astrophysicists Identify Major Challenges for Development of Life on TRAPPIST-1 Planets

Jul 14, 2017 by News Staff

According to two separate teams of astrophysicists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and the Lowell Center for Space Science and...

World’s First Glow-In-The-Dark Frog Found in Argentina

Mar 30, 2017 by Maria Gabriela Lagorio, University of Buenos Aires

Scientists in Argentina have discovered a frog that glows in moonlight and at twilight. Fluorescence in terrestrial environments had previously only been...

This artist’s impression shows Proxima b orbiting Proxima Centauri, which at only 4.23 light-years is the closest star to our Solar System. The double star Alpha Centauri AB also appears in the image between the exoplanet and Proxima itself. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Exoplanets in Habitable Zones of Active Red Dwarfs May Face Oxygen Loss

Feb 11, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Vladimir Airapetian, a solar scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has developed a model that estimates the oxygen...

This artist’s concept depicts the early Martian environment (right) -- believed to contain liquid water and a thicker atmosphere -- versus the cold, dry environment seen at Mars today (left). Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Did Ancient Martian Volcanism Provide the Sunblock to Get Life Going?

Feb 8, 2017 by James Romero

Intense volcanism early in Mars history could have aided the emergence of life on the red planet through filtering out harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation...

Caenorhabditis elegans. Image credit: Bob Goldstein / University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

LITE-1: Researchers Discover New Type of Photoreceptor

Nov 21, 2016 by News Staff

Scientists have discovered a new type of photoreceptor protein that is about 50 times more efficient at capturing light than the rhodopsin, a protein that...

According to Hoel et al, the message of sun avoidance must be changed to acceptance of non-burning sun exposure sufficient to achieve serum 25(OH)D concentration of 30 ng/mL or higher in the sunny season and the general benefits of UV exposure beyond those of vitamin D. Image credit: Biedermann.

Study Says Avoiding the Sun is an Emerging Health Problem

Nov 20, 2016 by News Staff

Americans are increasingly at risk of insufficient sun exposure, according to a landmark study published this week in the Journal of Dermato-Endocrinology. According...

MAVEN obtained this image of rapid cloud formation on Mars in July 2016. Image credit: NASA / MAVEN / University of Colorado.

MAVEN Ultraviolet Images Reveal Hidden Secrets of Mars

Oct 18, 2016 by News Staff

New images from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft show the ultraviolet glow from the Red Planet’s atmosphere in detail,...

This image shows the Lyman-alpha blob LAB-1. This picture is a composite of two different images taken with the FORS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope - a wider image showing the surrounding galaxies and a much deeper observation of the blob itself at the center made to detect its polarization. The intense Lyman-alpha ultraviolet radiation from LAB-1 appears green after it has been stretched by the expansion of the Universe during its long journey to Earth. These new observations show for the first time that the light from this object is polarized. This means that the giant ‘blob’ must be powered by galaxies embedded within the cloud. Image credit: M. Hayes / ESO.

Astronomers Unravel Mystery of Gigantic Lyman-Alpha Blobs

Sep 21, 2016 by News Staff

This image shows the Lyman-alpha blob LAB-1. This picture is a composite of two different images taken with the FORS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope...

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