High-energy transient signals are most often determined to be gamma-ray burst events, but the recently-launched Einstein Probe has expanded astronomers’ ability to quickly respond to similar signals occurring at X-ray wavelengths. Now, a multi-wavelength study of EP240408a concludes that while many of the signal’s characteristics might lead to the conclusion that it is a gamma-ray burst, the non-detection at radio wavelengths precludes that possibility.
Recent News
Students Contribute to New Understanding of ‘Twinkling’ Pulsars
The flexible observing setup of the Green Bank Observatory’s 20-meter telescope enabled frequent, long-duration observations of eight pulsars, spanning two and a half years for a student-driven study carried out by students in the Pulsar Science Collaboratory program.
Double the Disks, Double the Discovery: New Insights into Planet Formation in DF Tau
Tucked away in a star-forming region in the Taurus constellation, a pair of circling stars are displaying some unexpected differences in the circumstellar disks of dust and gas that surround them. A new study led by researchers at Lowell Observatory, combining data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and Keck Observatory, has unveiled intriguing findings about planet formation in this binary star system, known as DF Tau, along with other systems in this region.
Listen to the Music of a Dying Star
The ALMA Music Box, currently on display in Japan, now available on iTunes
Music from the ALMA Music Box — an audio artwork that plays melodies created from ALMA observations — is now available to be purchased in the iTunes store, on the compilation set “Music for a Dying Star”.
R Sculptoris, a massive red giant star located roughly 1000 light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor, is in the final stages of its life, and is violently expelling massive amounts of gas into space as it depletes its supply of fuel.
The ALMA Music Box plays musical disks inscribed with information from ALMA’s observations of this dying star, based on images taken at 70 different radio frequencies. The Music Box, a collaboration between the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, PARTY New York, and Qosmo, plays 70 musical disks, each corresponding to a different radio frequency observation. The disks feature holes corresponding to points of intensity in the emission.
The ALMA Music Box will be on display at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan until November 15, 2015. The exhibition also features a miniature model of a Japanese 12-meter ALMA antenna and two receiver cartridges, which are installed into the antennas to receive radio waves.
The exhibition’s success recently prompted the production of the crowd-funded compilation CD “Music for a Dying Star.” This audio set features an assortment of melodies from the box integrated into original tracks from 11 international artists, including Taeji Sawai, Takagi Masakatsu, Throwing a Spoon, and Christian Fennesz.
“Music for a Dying Star” can now be purchased in the iTunes store for $14.88. More information about the ALMA Music Box and the CD is available on the CD’s dedicated website.
More information
ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of ESO, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.
Recent News
NSF VLA Contributes Crucial Puzzle Piece to ‘Peculiar’ High Energy Transient
High-energy transient signals are most often determined to be gamma-ray burst events, but the recently-launched Einstein Probe has expanded astronomers’ ability to quickly respond to similar signals occurring at X-ray wavelengths. Now, a multi-wavelength study of EP240408a concludes that while many of the signal’s characteristics might lead to the conclusion that it is a gamma-ray burst, the non-detection at radio wavelengths precludes that possibility.
Students Contribute to New Understanding of ‘Twinkling’ Pulsars
The flexible observing setup of the Green Bank Observatory’s 20-meter telescope enabled frequent, long-duration observations of eight pulsars, spanning two and a half years for a student-driven study carried out by students in the Pulsar Science Collaboratory program.
Double the Disks, Double the Discovery: New Insights into Planet Formation in DF Tau
Tucked away in a star-forming region in the Taurus constellation, a pair of circling stars are displaying some unexpected differences in the circumstellar disks of dust and gas that surround them. A new study led by researchers at Lowell Observatory, combining data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and Keck Observatory, has unveiled intriguing findings about planet formation in this binary star system, known as DF Tau, along with other systems in this region.