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Dead Galaxies, Salt Clouds & Earth-Mass Planet Finder
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
JWST reveals galaxy CRISTAL-02 is killing itself with its own star-formation winds — overturning black hole quenching theory. Plus: salty clouds on GJ504b, a new AI exoplanet tool, and Curiosity's latest rock layers on Mars.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
Astronomers have figured out why the early universe is full of dead galaxies that shouldn't exist yet, and the answer isn't what most models predicted. The galaxy in question is called CRISTAL-02.
JWST also delivered a separate result this cycle, and this one reshapes how we think about cold planetary atmospheres. GJ504b is a planetary-mass object about fifty-seven light-years away.
On the detection side, a new deep-learning framework is now publicly available for finding Earth-mass exoplanets through radial-velocity measurements. The tool is called doppleriann, and it pushes sensitivity down to around twenty-five centimetres per second in Doppler shift detection.
On Mars, Curiosity is now surveying a new geological zone on Mount Sharp. The rover has identified distinct rock bands with different textures and compositions, smooth light-toned layers that stand apart from the terrain it's been crossing.
Solar activity remains moderate. The sun produced twelve flares in the past twenty-four hours, all in the B and C class range, nothing severe.
The two things worth watching closely from this cycle: whether the CRISTAL-02 findings hold up as the merger interpretation is tested against additional data, and how that new solar region develops once it rotates fully into view. Both carry real uncertainty.
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