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Articles by Trisha Muro
IGRINS on Gemini South Detects Surprising Signatures in Dynamic Atmosphere of Exoplanet WASP-121b
IGRINS on Gemini South Detects Surprising Signatures in Dynamic Atmosphere of Exoplanet WASP-121b by Trisha Muro for NOIRLab News Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 04, 2025 Nearly one third of known exoplanets are enormous gas giants, similar to Jupiter or Saturn. But whereas our Solar System developed with gas giants far from our Sun, some planetary systems consist of so-called 'hot - or even ultra-hot - Jupiters' orbiting very close to their star, some as close as Mercury is to the Sun.
Astronomers apply machine learning techniques to find early-universe quasars in an ocean of data Original
Quasars are extremely luminous galactic cores where gas and dust falling into a central supermassive black hole emit enormous amounts of light. Due to their exceptional brightness, these objects can be seen at high redshifts, i.e., large distances. A higher redshift not only indicates a quasar is at a greater distance but also further back in time. Astronomers are interested in studying these ancient objects because they hold clues about the evolution of our universe in its early adolescence.
Astronomers apply machine learning techniques to find early-universe quasars in an ocean of data
It took three years and two teams of astronomers, but scientists managed to uncover the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the …
Scientists Say: Cosmic microwave background
atom: The basic unit of a chemical element. Atoms are made up of a dense nucleus that contains positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons. The nucleus is orbited by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. Big Bang: The rapid expansion of dense matter and space-time that, according to current theory, marked the origin of the universe. It is supported by astronomers’ current understanding of the composition and structure of the universe.
Experiment: Make your own cents-able battery
aluminum: A metallic element, the third most abundant in Earth’s crust. It is light and soft, and used in many items from bicycles to spacecraft. ampere: A rate of electrical current equal to one coulomb per second. attention: The phenomenon of focusing mental resources on a specific object or event. battery: A device that can convert chemical energy into electrical energy. ceramic: A hard but brittle material made by firing clay or some other non-metal-based mineral at a high temperature.
Scientists Say: Semiconductor
ATM: An abbreviation for automated teller machine. It is a stand-alone machine communicates with banks over the Internet. Depending on the ATM unit, some just dispense cash from a person’s account or from a line of credit offered to them by a credit-card company. Others accept cash deposits and give read-outs of how much money an individual has in a checking or savings account.
Did James Webb telescope images ‘break’ the universe?
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is raising big questions about the early universe. In its first images, JWST captured what appeared to be huge galaxies in the ancient universe. In fact, those galaxies looked much too big to fit scientists’ current theory of how the universe grew up. This has raised some concerns that the history of the early universe needs to be rewritten. But a new look at old data from the Hubble Space Telescope tells another story.
Engineers cook up a new way to tackle CO2: make baking soda
acidification: A process that lowers the pH of a solution. When carbon dioxide dissolves in water, it triggers chemical reactions that create carbonic acid. alkaline: An adjective that describes a chemical that produces hydroxide ions (OH-) in a solution. These solutions are also referred to as basic — as in the opposite of acidic — and have a pH above 7. ammonia: A colorless gas with a nasty smell. Ammonia is a compound made from the elements nitrogen and hydrogen.
The Same Sky, Differently
My favorite coffee shop keeps a sign behind the espresso machine: “Is Mercury in retrograde?” The barista uses a flip-style “yes/no” just below to indicate each day’s status. I’ve noticed that her greetings tend to be more along the lines of, “Be careful out there!” when the sign says yes versus, “Hey, enjoy the gorgeous day!” when the sign says no. I instinctually roll my eyes at that sign. Her cappuccino is the best in town, though, so I keep coming back.
Experiment: A puzzling parallax helps stargazers
astronomy: The area of science that deals with celestial objects, space and the physical universe. People who work in this field are called astronomers. axis: (in mathematics) The line to the side or bottom of a graph. It is labeled to explain the graph’s meaning and the units of measurement. constellation: Patterns formed by prominent stars that appear to lie close to each other in the night sky.
Explainer: What is chaos theory?
Power Words More About Power Words angle: The space (usually measured in degrees) between two intersecting lines or surfaces at or close to the point where they meet. behavior: The way something, often a person or other organism, acts towards others, or conducts itself. chaos: A situation that is confused and has no order. (in physics) A situation where the behaviors of a system appear random and unpredictable.
Scientists Say: Parabola
Power Words More About Power Words focus: (in physics) The point at which rays (of light or heat for example) converge sometimes with the aid of a lens. (In vision, verb, "to focus") The action a person's eyes take to adapt to light and distance, enabling them to see objects clearly. parallel: An adjective that describes two things that are side by side and have the same distance between their parts. In the word “all,” the final two letters are parallel lines.
Scientists Say: Ellipse
acoustics: The science of sound. bronze: A metallic alloy that consists primarily of copper and tin, but may include other metals. It is harder and more durable than copper. ellipse: An oval curve that is geometrically a flattened circle. elliptical: Having the shape of an ellipse, which is an oval shape. focal point: The spot where several points converge or where a beam narrows to a point. orbit: The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a galaxy, star, planet or moon.
Scientists Say: Explosion
An explosion happens when some substance undergoes a chemical or nuclear reaction that releases a lot of energy very fast. That energy blasts outward from the source of the explosion in the form of heat and expanding gas. It can also make a lot of noise. Many different types of things can explode. Sticks of dynamite explode when their fuses are lit. Some metals explode when dropped in water. And dying stars explode when they start to collapse.
Could a plant ever eat a person?
Power Words More About Power Words arthropod: Any of numerous invertebrate animals of the phylum Arthropoda, including the insects, crustaceans, arachnids and myriapods, that are characterized by an exoskeleton made of a hard material called chitin and a segmented body to which jointed appendages are attached in pairs. bacteria: (singular: bacterium) Single-celled organisms.
Explainer: Reflection, refraction and the power of lenses
Power Words More About Power Words angle: The space (usually measured in degrees) between two intersecting lines or surfaces at or close to the point where they meet. arc: A curve, often mapping out what appears to be part of a circle. array: A broad and organized group of objects. Sometimes they are instruments placed in a systematic fashion to collect information in a coordinated way.
Analyze This: Plants sound off when they’re in trouble
Power Words More About Power Words biologist: A scientist involved in the study of living things. cell: (in biology) The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Depending on their size, animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells. Most organisms, such as yeasts, molds, bacteria and some algae, are composed of only one cell.
Mimosa plant ‘muscles’ fold tickled leaves fast
Power Words More About Power Words biology: The study of living things. The scientists who study them are known as biologists. Caribbean: The name of a sea that runs from the Atlantic Ocean in the East to Mexico and Central American nations in the West, and from the southern coasts of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico down to the northern coasts of Venezuela and Brazil. The term is also used to refer to the culture of nations that border on or are islands in the sea.
A powerful laser can control the paths that lightning takes Original
Like a high-tech hammer of Thor, a powerful laser can grab hold of a lightning bolt and reroute its path through the sky. Scientists have used lasers to wrangle electricity in the lab before. But researchers now offer the first proof that this can also work in real-world storms. Their tests took place on a Swiss mountaintop. Someday, they say, it could lead to better protection against lightning. The most common anti-lightning tech is the lightning rod: a metal pole rooted to the ground.
Scientists Say: Equinox and Solstice
Equinox (noun, “EEK-win-ox”) and Solstice (noun, “SOUL-stiss”) An equinox is a time of year when the amount of daytime and nighttime hours per day are about equal. On Earth, we experience two equinoxes each year. One equinox happens around March 20 or 21. It marks the start of spring in the northern hemisphere. And it marks the start of fall in the southern hemisphere. The other equinox falls around September 22 or 23. It marks the start of autumn in the northern hemisphere.
In a breakthrough experiment, fusion gave off more energy than it used
Scientists have finally managed to bottle the sun. Nuclear fusion powers stars, including our sun. To do it, lightweight atoms fuse together to form heavier elements. They release energy in the process. To make them fuse, high temperatures and pressures must squeeze atoms together. Intense gravity does much of this work inside stars. But fusion is very difficult to achieve on Earth. Until now, fusing atoms in the lab has always eaten up more energy than it gave off.
Explainer: Kinetic and potential energy
When we talk with friends about energy, sometimes we’re talking about how tired or invigorated we feel. Other times we’re referring to how much charge is left in the battery on our phones. But in science, the word energy has a very specific meaning. It refers to the ability to perform some type of work on an object. That could be lifting the object off the ground or making it speed up (or slow down). Or it could be kick-starting a chemical reaction. There are lots of examples.
Protecting forests may help head off future pandemics
COVID-19 is just one example of a disease that has jumped from a wild animal to people. In hopes of preventing future outbreaks, scientists are working to understand what led to the jump, also known as a spillover event. A group working in Australia thinks it may have one answer: Keep wildlife well-fed. The team shared its findings in a pair of papers in January. All animals carry germs. Some viruses don’t harm the animals in which they are typically found.
Explainer: All about carbon dioxide Original
Carbon dioxide, also known as CO2,is a simple molecule that makes life on Earth possible. CO2 is called a trace gas because it makes up less than 1 percent of the atmosphere. Even that small amount, however, plays a big role in shaping Earth’s climate. Without it warming Earth’s atmosphere, our planet would be too cold for most organisms to survive. But lately, this beneficial triplet of atoms has taken a lot of heat for making the atmosphere a bit too toasty.
Explainer: What is friction? Original
Friction is a very familiar force in everyday life. With a soft pair of socks on our feet, it lets us slide and glide across uncarpeted floors. But friction also holds our shoes steady on a sidewalk. Sometimes friction gets confused with traction. In science, though, friction has a very specific meaning. Friction is the force felt between two surfaces when one attempts to slide against the other — whether or not they are moving. It always acts to slow things down.
Fossil-fuel use is confusing some carbon-dating measurements
Carbon is the basis of life on Earth; it’s in the cells of every living thing. This element comes in several forms, or isotopes. Most of it will be the stable form: carbon-12, which is non-radioactive. But some of it is carbon-14. This isotope is unstable, meaning it decays — morphs into another element over time. Scientists have been able to use that decay to figure out the age of once-living things up to 55,000 years old.
Explainer: Radioactive dating helps solve mysteries Original
You discover a fossilized bone and want to know how old it is. You can start by using the rock layers nearby to make a good guess about the fossil’s age. Maybe those clues tell you that the rocks are somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 years old. That’s a big range. Fortunately, the science of radioactive dating can offer a more precise measuring tool for the bone itself. The key is understanding the rate at which a radioactive element decays. All the elements on the periodic table have isotopes.
Explainer: Radiation and radioactive decay
Chemical elements can take several related forms, known as isotopes. Some of these forms are unstable, also known as radioactive isotopes. But they don’t want to be unstable. So they morph by shedding one or more subatomic particles. Through this process, they naturally transform into a more stable (and always smaller) element. The expelled particles and energy are known as radiation. That morphing process is called radioactive decay. The radiation emitted by that decay can take several forms.
Mysteries about the universe abound, from its beginning to its end
All matter and energy in our cosmos appear to be governed by fundamental laws of physics. These rules hold from the tiniest, subatomic scale through the vast expanse of space. But that wasn’t always true. The earliest eras in cosmic history were both fleetingly short — and surprisingly lawless. The law of gravity came first. Physics suggests that about 10-43 second after the Big Bang, gravity emerged as its own distinct force. A fraction of a second later, the strong force came into its own.
Cosmic timeline: What’s happened since the Big Bang
When astronomers think about how the universe has evolved, they divide the past into distinct eras. They start with the Big Bang. Each subsequent era spans a different length of time. Important events characterize each period — and lead directly to the next era. No one truly knows how to describe the Big Bang. We can sort of imagine it as a gigantic explosion. But a typical explosion expands into space. The Big Bang, however, was an explosion of space. Space didn’t exist until the Big Bang.
It all started with the Big Bang - and then what happened?
Our universe started with a bang. The Big Bang! Energy, mass and space flashed into existence — all within a fleeting instant. But what exactly happened during this event remains one of the toughest puzzles facing science. This question was sparked nearly a century ago by a discovery made by astronomer Edwin Hubble. In 1929, Hubble found that distant galaxies were moving away from Earth. Importantly, galaxies farther away were moving away faster. This was true no matter which direction he looked.
Explainer: How the Doppler effect shapes waves in motion Original
Next time you hear a train whistling its approach, or an ambulance driving by with its siren blaring, listen closely. You’ll hear the pitch rise as it gets closer to you, and then fall as it passes. This is due to the Doppler effect, which describes how waves — such as sound waves — change when their source is moving relative to an observer. All waves can be described by their length. That is, how far it is from the top of one wave to the top of the next.
Scientists Say: Habitable Zone
Habitable zone (noun, “HAB-it-uh-bull ZOHN”) The habitable zone is the region around a star where planets could have liquid water on their surfaces. Here, planets are not so close to their stars that all their water would boil away. Nor are they so far from their stars that all their water would freeze. This not too hot, not too cold region is also called the Goldilocks zone. It has long been considered the best place to look for alien life. Why? All life as we know it needs liquid water.
Noises sound totally different on Mars than on Earth. Here’s why
Having a conversation on Mars would be difficult. That’s partly because Mars can be really cold, and your teeth may be chattering. But it’s also because the Red Planet’s thin atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide doesn’t carry sound well. In fact, someone speaking next to you on Mars would sound as quiet as if they were talking 60 meters (200 feet) away. “It’s a pretty drastic difference from Earth,” says Baptiste Chide.
Scientists Say: Habitable Zone
Habitable zone (noun, “HAB-it-uh-bull ZOHN”) The habitable zone is the region around a star where planets could have liquid water on their surfaces. Here, planets are not so close to their stars that all their water would boil away. Nor are they so far from their stars that all their water would freeze. This not too hot, not too cold region is also called the Goldilocks zone. It has long been considered the best place to look for alien life. Why? All life as we know it needs liquid water.
Noises sound totally different on Mars than on Earth. Here’s why
Having a conversation on Mars would be difficult. That’s partly because Mars can be really cold, and your teeth may be chattering. But it’s also because the Red Planet’s thin atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide doesn’t carry sound well. In fact, someone speaking next to you on Mars would sound as quiet as if they were talking 60 meters (200 feet) away. “It’s a pretty drastic difference from Earth,” says Baptiste Chide.
The InSight lander has caught a large ‘earthquake’ on Mars Original
Martians! If you’re out there — duck and cover! On May 4, a monster Marsquake shook the Red Planet. And it was a doozy. The roughly magnitude 5 quake rocked and rolled for more than six hours. It’s not the first quake seen on Mars. But it’s the largest detected to date. In fact, it let loose more than 10 times as much energy as the previous record-holding quake. NASA’s InSight lander recorded the new finding. A quake this strong would be considered a medium-size one on Earth.
The first plants ever grown in moon dirt have sprouted
That’s one small stem for a plant, one giant leap for plant science. In a tiny, lab-grown garden, the first seeds ever sown in lunar dirt have sprouted. This small crop was planted in samples returned by the Apollo missions roughly 50 years ago. And its success offers hope that astronauts might someday grow their own food on the moon. But there’s a catch. Plants potted in lunar dirt were far scrawnier than those grown in volcanic material from Earth.
Behold: The biggest known comet in our solar system Original
New data show that a comet discovered in 2014 is one for the record books. This frigid object, dubbed Bernardinelli-Bernstein, is the largest comet ever spotted. Comets are chunks of rock and ice that orbit the sun. Such “dirty snowballs” in space are often surrounded by clouds of gas and dust. Those hazy shrouds arise from frozen chemicals sizzling off comets as they pass near the sun. But when it comes to comparing comet sizes, astronomers focus on a comet’s icy core, or nucleus.
Scientists Say: Inertia
Inertia (noun, “In-ER-shuh”) All objects have inertia. This is the natural tendency of objects to resist changes in their motion. Objects that are not moving tend to stay that way. Objects in motion tend to keep moving at the same speed and in the same direction. Overcoming an object’s inertia to change its motion requires applying a force. For instance, a soccer ball laying on the ground will stay there until someone applies a force to it — say, by kicking it.
A new clock shows how gravity warps time - even over tiny distances
The force of gravity treats time like taffy. The stronger its pull, the more gravity can stretch out time, making it pass more slowly. By using a new atomic clock, scientists have now measured this slowing of time over the shortest distance yet — just one millimeter (0.04 inch). Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicts that where gravity is stronger, time passes more slowly. That’s called time dilation. Gravity is stronger closer to the center of the Earth.
A new clock shows how gravity warps time - even over tiny distances
array: A broad and organized group of objects. Sometimes they are instruments placed in a systematic fashion to collect information in a coordinated way. Other times, an array can refer to things that are laid out or displayed in a way that can make a broad range of related things, such as colors, visible at once. The term can even apply to a range of options or choices. astrophysics: An area of astronomy that deals with understanding the physical nature of stars and other objects in space.
A star called ‘Earendel’ could be the most distant ever seen
A lucky lineup may have revealed a star that started shining before the universe’s one billionth birthday. This star appears to be the most distant one ever seen. Its light began traveling some 12.9 billion years before it reached Earth. That’s about 4 billion years longer than the former record holder. Researchers reported the news March 30 in Nature. The universe includes all things that are found today in space and time.
Muons reveal the inner worlds of pyramids, volcanoes and more
Inside Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza lies a mysterious cavity. This void has never been seen by any human alive today. Its surface is untouched by modern hands. Luckily, scientists are no longer limited to human senses. To map out the pyramid’s unexplored interior, scientists tracked tiny particles called muons. Those subatomic particles are born high in Earth’s atmosphere. From there, the muons hurtle toward the ground. Along the way, some have burrowed through the pyramid.
Gravitational waves ‘kicked’ a newborn black hole across space
One black hole really knows how to kick back. It was born when two others spiraled and smashed into each other. During its formation, this new black hole got a “kick” that flung it away from its birthplace. It zoomed off at about 5 million kilometers (3.1 million miles) per hour — give or take a few million. That’s blazingly quick. Light is the fastest thing in the universe. And it’s only 200 times as fast as this black hole sped across space.
Some of the sun’s iconic coronal loops may be ghostly illusions
Hot strands of plasma arch out from the sun’s surface. These iconic features are known as coronal loops. But many of the loops we see might not actually be there, scientists now report. Some, they say, might be an illusion created by dense “wrinkles” in a curtain of plasma known as the coronal veil. They base this idea on unexpected structures that emerged in computer models. Those computer programs were designed to simulate the sun’s atmosphere — including its outermost region, the corona.
Explainer: All about orbits
Even in ancient times, stargazers knew that planets differed from stars. While stars always appeared in the same general place in the night sky, planets shifted their positions from night to night. They appeared to move across the backdrop of stars. Sometimes, planets even appeared to move backward. (This behavior is known as retrograde motion.) Such strange movements across the sky were hard to explain. Then, in the 1600s, Johannes Kepler identified mathematical patterns in the planets’ movements.
Forces are all around us. The force of gravity holds Earth in orbit around the sun. The force of magnetism makes bar magnets attract iron filings. And one known as the strong force glues together the building blocks of atoms. Forces affect every object in the universe — from the biggest galaxies to the smallest particles. All these forces have one thing in common: they cause objects to change their motion.
Explainer: The fundamental forces
Power Words More About Power Words acceleration: A change in the speed or direction of some object. artifact: Some human-made object (such as a pot or brick) that can be used as one gauge of a community’s culture or history. (in statistics or experiments) Something measured or observed that is not naturally a part of some system. It was instead introduced accidentally as a result of how the measurement or study was performed. atom: The basic unit of a chemical element.
Scientists Say: Doppler effect
siren audio courtesy of jobro / freesound.org Doppler effect (noun, “DOPP-ler ee-FEKT”) The Doppler effect is a change in the apparent wavelength of light or sound waves. This change is caused by the source of those waves moving toward or away from an observer. If a wave source moves toward an observer, then that observer perceives shorter waves than the source actually emitted. If a wave source moves away from an observer, then that observer perceives longer waves than those actually emitted.
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