Newscenter

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to many astronomers the space observatory of the next decade.

Xinting Yu, at Johns Hopkins University

Instrument Scientist Emily Martin of UC Santa Cruz hugging W. M. Keck Observatory’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSPEC), which she helped upgrade as part of her project under the Keck Visiting Scholars Program. Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory

Jonathan Fortney

A still image from a video simulation shows the formation and evolution of the first stars and galaxies in a virtual universe similar to our own. Shown are galaxies in the early universe, forming at a time comparable to the galaxies detected in the new observations. (Image credit: Prof. Brant Robertson, University of California — Santa Cruz).

This is an artist's concept of a hypothetical 10-million-year-old star system. The bright blur at the center is a star much like our Sun. The other orb in the image is a gas-giant planet like Jupiter. Wisps of white throughout the image represent traces of gas.

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found evidence showing that gas-giant planets either form within the first 10 million years of a sun-like star's life, or not at all. The lifespan for sun-like stars is about 10 billion years.

The scientists came to this conclusion after searching for traces of gas around 15 different sun-like stars, most with ages ranging from 3 million to 30 million years. With the help of Spitzer's Infrared Spectrometer instrument, they were able to search for relatively warm gas in the inner regions of these star systems, an area comparable to the zone between Earth and Jupiter in our own solar system. They also used ground-based radio telescopes to search for cooler gas in the outer regions of these systems, an area comparable to the zone around Saturn and beyond.

© 2020 Laurie Hatch - LICK OBSERVATORY - Mt. Hamilton California - 2020 February 7 - A team of astronomers have installed two prototype SETI telescopes into the refurbished dome at Lick Observatory which houses the historic Carnegie Astrograph. Panoramic SETI (PANOSETI) will ultimately utilize a configuration of many SETI telescopes which will allow simultaneously monitoring the entire observable sky whenever weather permits. The unique, compact telescope design uses Fresnel lenses combined with fast-response (nanosecond) optical sensors to search for very brief optical pulses. The first pair of 0.5m telescopes will image the sky with a 10 degree by 10 degree field of view every billionth of a second. The program aims to discover very brief optical pulses that may arise either from astrophysical sources or extraterrestrial communication ("technosignatures"). Lick staff has recently completed a magnificent restoration of the 80-year old dome. The new installation has been achieved without disturbing the historic first telescope occupant of the dome. - Lick Observatory crowns the 4,200-foot Mt. Hamilton summit above Silicon Valley in central California. This research station serves astronomers from University of California campuses and their collaborators worldwide. Eccentric Bay Area tycoon and philanthropist James Lick (1796-1876) bequeathed funding for construction which spanned from 1880 to 1887, fulfilling his vision of the Observatory as a premier astronomical facility. In 1959, the Shane 3-meter reflecting telescope was completed on Mt. Hamilton. It continues to provide data for forefront research and engineering programs. In total, the mountain top is home to ten telescopes which are supported by resident staff and by headquarters at UC Santa Cruz. Acclaimed for academic excellence, technical expertise, and superior instrumentation, Lick Observatory probes the expanding frontiers of space. - EXPOSURE DATA: Two image Composite for High Definition Ran

This image of Centaurus A shows a spectacular new view of a supermassive black hole's power. Jets and lobes powered by the central black hole in this nearby galaxy are shown by submillimeter data (colored orange) from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile and X-ray data (colored blue) from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Visible light data from the Wide Field Imager on the Max-Planck/ESO 2.2 m telescope, also located in Chile, shows the dust lane in the galaxy and background stars. The X-ray jet in the upper left extends for about 13,000 light years away from the black hole. The APEX data shows that material in the jet is travelling at about half the speed of light.

Illustration by Robin Dienel courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science

Astronomy student Jennifer Burt