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Rogue Cosmic Objects

8 November 2023
Astronomy

The James Webb Space Telescope is proving an eye opener for astronomers. It has spotted a lot of objects beyond our solar system that do not always conform to mainstream thinking – see https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/james-webb-space-telescope-spots-dozens-of-physics-breaking-rogue-objects-floating-through-space-in-pairs … astronomers have spotted Jupiter mass binary objects, known as JUMBOs, in the Orion constellation. These are, apparently, rogue objects as space scientists have yet to dream up how they might have formed.

Again, at https://www.livescience.com/space/mysterious-fountain-of-youth-near-milky-ways-central-black-hole-is-full-of-newborn-stars-that-shouldnt-exist-james-webb-telescope-reveals … a fountain of new born stars that exist near the Milky Way’s black hole, should not exist – but they do.

At https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231011182251.htm … the James Webb Space Telescope is at it yet again – spotting an ethereal view of NGC346. This is the brightest and largest star forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Filaments of dust and gas festoon this star forming region – in the latest detailed image of this small galaxy. Once again, theory is trumped by observation. We are told the Small Magellanic Cloud is more primeval than the Milky Way as it contains fewer heavy elements. These, they say, are forged in stars through nuclear fusion and supernova explosions. This repeated mainstream trope seems to deliberately ignore elements being formed in plasma in laboratories. The SAFIRE project springs to mind, for example. Mainstream have also seen this occur more recently. Paradigms die hard, it would seem. Star forming dust is formed by heavy elements such as silicon and oxygen, it is thought, so space scientists did not expect the Small Magellanic Cloud to have sufficient amounts of dust. Observations prove them wrong. Dusty silicates and sooty chemical molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, have been revealed. More diffuse red emission shines from warm dust heated by the brightest and most masive stars in the heart of the region. An arc at the centre left may be a reflection of light from the star  near the arc’s centre – image at link. Bright patches and filaments mark areas with abundant numbers of proto-stars. The reddest stars are pin pricks of light, most of them young stars still embedded in their dusty cocoons.

Over at https://www.sciencenews.org/article/vela-exploded-star-highest-energy-pulsar … see https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02052-3 … pulsars described as cosmic light houses beaming high energy across space are apparently now much more energetic than previously imagined. Scientists are asking what powers them? A new analysis form the High Energy Steroscopic System array in Namibia has found a pulsar that radiates at 20 trillion electron volts. This is said to  be a challenge as to how scientists understand how pulsars emit radiation. In other words, it is emitting more radiation than thought possible. The mainstream mantra is that pulsars are the dense remnants of exploding stars, emitting beams of light as they twirl up to hundreds of times per second. Wal Thornhill suggested they were plasma discharges in a stellar magnetosphere. This might be indicated as pulsars are reputed to have a massive magnetic field according to the link above.

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