{"id":2310,"date":"2026-09-17T04:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/?p=2310"},"modified":"2026-09-17T04:23:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:23:06","slug":"modern-technologies-and-problems-of-studying-the-milky-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/2026\/09\/17\/modern-technologies-and-problems-of-studying-the-milky-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern technologies and problems of studying the Milky Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The European Space Agency&#8217;s XMM-Newton and NASA&#8217;s Chandra space telescopes captured the aftermath of three bright explosions echoing in the Milky Way&#8217;s outer spiral arms. NASA&#8217;s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help scientists better understand the fainter components of our Milky Way galaxy\u2014the gas and dust scattered between stars, known as the interstellar medium. Scientists can also gain insight into the ages, masses, and sizes of stars using the Kepler space telescope, which provided asteroseismic data on approximately 16,000 stars before its decommissioning in 2018. A laser star pointer mounted on Cerro Pach\u00f3n in central Chile points upward across the Gemini South observatory&#8217;s field of view, illuminating the Milky Way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\" style=\"color: #000080;\">NASA&#8217;s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help scientists better understand the dim components of our Milky Way galaxy\u2014the gas and dust scattered between the stars, known as the interstellar medium.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">One of the Roman space telescope&#8217;s primary observing programs, the Galactic Plane Survey, will peer into our galaxy to its farthest edge, mapping approximately 20 billion stars\u2014roughly four times more than have already been mapped. Scientists will use these star data to study and map the dust their light passes through, providing the most comprehensive picture yet of the Milky Way&#8217;s structure, star formation, and the origins of our solar system, according to NASA&#8217;s press service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Thanks to the Roman project, we will be able to transform existing artistic representations of the Milky Way into more data-driven models using new constraints on the three-dimensional distribution of interstellar dust,&#8221; said Katherine Zucker, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Scientists, by combining observations of the Milky Way and other spiral galaxies, now know what our galaxy likely looks like. But dust clouds make it difficult to study details on the opposite side of our galaxy. Imagine trying to map your surroundings while looking through the windows of a house shrouded in thick fog.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"712\" height=\"401\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EM5xPm_jg2w\" title=\"Our Interstellar Medium\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">Our Milky Way galaxy is home to more than 100 billion stars, often separated by trillions of kilometers. The space between them, called the interstellar medium, is not empty\u2014it&#8217;s strewn with gas and dust, which contain both the seeds of new stars and the remnants of long-dead stars. Studying the interstellar medium with observatories like NASA&#8217;s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide new insights into the galactic dust cycle. NASA\/Lane Havens; Music: Building Heroes by Enrico Cacase [BMI], Universal Production Music<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Using a special camera and filters that detect infrared radiation\u2014light with a longer wavelength than our eyes can detect\u2014Roman will be able to see through the dust &#8220;fog.&#8221; Infrared light is more likely to pass through dust clouds without being scattered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Light with shorter wavelengths, including the blue light emitted by stars, scatters more easily. This means that stars shining through the dust appear dimmer and redder than they actually are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">By comparing observations with information about the characteristics of the source star, astronomers can separate the star&#8217;s distance from the degree of redness in its color. Studying these effects provides insight into the properties of the dust.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">\u201cI can ask, \u2018How much redder and dimmer is the starlight that the Roman telescope detects at different wavelengths?\u2019 Then I can take that information and relate it to the properties of the dust grains themselves, and in particular their size,\u201d said Brandon Hensley, a scientist who studies interstellar dust at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Scientists will also study the composition of the dust and examine clouds to understand the physical processes underlying changes in the dust&#8217;s properties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Clues contained in the light of dust-affected stars indicate the amount of dust between us and the star. Comparing observations of multiple stars allows astronomers to create detailed three-dimensional maps of the dust. This would allow scientists like Zucker to create a model of the Milky Way that would show us what it looks like from the outside. Scientists would then be able to better compare the Milky Way with other galaxies we only observe from the outside, fitting it into a cosmological perspective on galaxy evolution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4497\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/wavelength-extinction-3d-v1.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">This artist&#8217;s concept visualizes different types of light moving through a cloud of particles. Because infrared light has a longer wavelength, it can more easily penetrate dust. This means astronomers observing in infrared light can peer deeper into dusty regions. NASA&#8217;s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Roman will add a whole new dimension to our understanding of the galaxy because we&#8217;ll see billions and billions of new stars,&#8221; Zucker said. &#8220;Once we start observing stars, we&#8217;ll also have data on dust, because its effects are encoded in every star Roman detects.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The interstellar medium not only stirs the Milky Way\u2014it fuels the formation of stars and planets. Dense clumps of the interstellar medium form molecular clouds, which can gravitationally collapse and trigger the first stages of stellar development. Young stars emit hot winds that can cause surrounding dust to coalesce into the building blocks of planets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Dust carries a lot of information about our origins and how everything came to be,&#8221; said Josh Peake, an assistant astronomer and head of data processing at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. &#8220;Right now, we&#8217;re essentially standing on a very large dust grain\u2014Earth was built from many very small grains that coalesced into a giant ball.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The Roman spacecraft will identify young star clusters in new, distant star-forming regions, and will also provide data on &#8220;star factories&#8221; previously discovered by missions such as NASA&#8217;s decommissioned Spitzer Space Telescope.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Understanding star formation in different environments requires understanding the interstellar landscape that fuels these processes,&#8221; Zucker said. &#8220;Roman&#8217;s method will allow us to relate the three-dimensional structure of the interstellar medium to the three-dimensional distribution of young stars across the galactic disk.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">New 3D dust maps obtained with the Roman telescope will help refine our understanding of the Milky Way&#8217;s spiral structure\u2014a pinwheel-like pattern where stars, gas, and dust accumulate like galactic traffic jams. By combining velocity data with dust maps, scientists will be able to compare observations with model predictions to determine the cause of the spiral structure, which currently remains unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The role of this spiral structure in star formation also remains unclear. Some theories suggest that galactic congestion triggers the star formation process, while others argue that these &#8220;traffic jams&#8221; accumulate matter but do not stimulate star formation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"712\" height=\"401\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gVPyadHvYK0\" title=\"Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Capturing Our Cosmic Home\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">NASA&#8217;s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will survey the galactic plane to study our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The survey will map approximately 20 billion stars, each containing information about the dust and gas between them, called the interstellar medium. Studying the interstellar medium can provide clues about our galaxy&#8217;s spiral arms, galactic recycling, and much more. NASA, STScI, Caltech\/IPAC<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The Roman telescope will help solve these mysteries by providing more data on dusty regions throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. This will allow scientists to compare different galactic environments and study star formation in specific structures, such as the galaxy&#8217;s winding spiral arms or its central stellar bar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Once processed, Roman&#8217;s data will be made publicly available online through the Roman Research Nexus and the Barbara A. Mikulski Space Telescope Archive, which will ensure open access to the data for years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;People who haven&#8217;t been born yet will be able to do some really interesting analyses of this data,&#8221; Peake said. &#8220;We have a wonderful part of our heritage that we will pass on to future generations and honor.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">This photo, taken in September 2025, shows Space Station 15, one of the 35-meter antennas at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California. Goldstone is part of NASA&#8217;s Deep Space Network (DSN), which operates three complexes around the world that provide communications for dozens of deep-space missions.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The DSN is NASA&#8217;s international network of giant radio antennas that supports interplanetary space missions, as well as several Earth-orbiting missions. The DSN also provides radar and radio astronomy data that improve our understanding of the solar system and the universe as a whole, according to NASA&#8217;s press service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4498\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/antena1202261.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/antena1202261.jpg 660w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/antena1202261-198x300.jpg 198w\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"1000\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Through the Artemis program, NASA is establishing a robust presence in space and exploring the Moon in unprecedented territory. To achieve this goal, Artemis missions utilize both the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Near Space Network (NSN). These networks, managed by NASA&#8217;s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office, utilize global infrastructure and relay satellites to ensure seamless communications and tracking of the Orion spacecraft during launch, Earth orbit insertion, lunar voyage, and return to Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">The European Space Agency&#8217;s XMM-Newton and NASA&#8217;s Chandra space telescopes have detected the aftermath of three bright explosions echoing in the outer spiral arms of our galaxy, the Milky Way. By measuring the distance to these echoes, they found that the outer arms are 10% further away than previously thought<\/span><\/strong><span dir=\"auto\">\u00a0.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">It may seem surprising, but we know little about the structure of our galaxy&#8217;s outer regions. Observing our galaxy from within is difficult; the solar system is deeply embedded in its disk, preventing a bird&#8217;s-eye view, and many regions are obscured by dense clouds of cosmic dust, according to the European Space Agency&#8217;s press service.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">But the situation is changing: since the launch of the European Space Agency&#8217;s (ESA) Gaia space telescope, scientists have learned a great deal. Using data collected by Gaia, scientists are now mapping the Milky Way galaxy in unprecedented detail, measuring precise distances to its stars. Before Gaia&#8217;s launch, it was unclear whether our galaxy had two or four spiral arms (it is now known to have four).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Now, another ESA mission has found a new way to map the outer reaches of our galaxy. &#8220;We typically model the Milky Way&#8217;s outer arms indirectly, based on what we know about our galaxy&#8217;s rotation, but this approach leaves room for error,&#8221; says Beatrice Vaia of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Italy, who led the study as part of her doctoral dissertation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Instead, we did something new: we studied the aftermath of three cosmic explosions that occurred in much more distant galaxies. These explosions emitted X-rays that were reflected in several outer arms of the Milky Way, and we directly measured the distances to these echoes.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The researchers combined observations of gamma-ray bursts 221009A (discovered in 2022), 160623A (2016), and 031203 (2003); the bright, dust-scattered, ring-shaped echoes of each of these events were observed with XMM-Newton, Chandra, or both between December 2003 and November 2022. The results of the study were published on June 29, 2026, in the journal Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics, in the article &#8220;Precise Distances to Galactic Spiral Arms from Dust-Scattered X-Rays from Gamma-Ray Bursts.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4499\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/XMM-Newton_Chandra_revise_distance_to_the_outer_spiral_arms_animation_article-scaled.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">Mapping the Milky Way Galaxy. XMM-Newton and Chandra reassess the distance to the outer spiral arms (animation). ESA<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The X-rays were emitted by three bright explosions known as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The X-rays were reflected and scattered by dust particles in the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy, forming bright rings that were then captured by the XMM-Newton and Chandra telescopes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">By studying how these ring-shaped echoes slowly expanded over time, Beatrice and her colleagues were able to accurately determine the distance to the dispersing dust grains. Because they are located in clouds within the arms of our galaxy, the team was able to directly measure the distance to the arms. In addition to confirming the known distance to the Perseus Arm, the scientists discovered that two of the Milky Way&#8217;s arms\u2014the Scutum-Centaurus Arm and the Outer Arm\u2014are 10% further away than previously thought.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">While the European Space Agency&#8217;s Gaia telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the Milky Way galaxy, current distance measurements from this telescope are less accurate for the outer arms. Using X-rays to determine distances to dust clouds, as XMM-Newton and Chandra have done, provides high accuracy at large distances, allowing the research team to revisit the map of the Milky Way&#8217;s outer reaches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;This discovery is a wonderful example of how ESA&#8217;s long-term missions, such as XMM-Newton, launched in 1999, continue to play a vital role in exploring the Universe,&#8221; says Erik Cuulkers, ESA&#8217;s XMM-Newton project scientist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Now in its third decade, XMM-Newton continues to deliver groundbreaking scientific data on a wide range of topics: from the brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed to stars being destroyed by black holes to X-ray images of Mars. It&#8217;s even more exciting when missions join forces, as they have here. Together, they can reveal a vast amount of information about our sky.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Our knowledge of our home galaxy will continue to grow in the coming years. Along with the ever-increasing amount of data obtained during the fourth and fifth Gaia data releases (scheduled for December 2026 and after the end of 2030, respectively), the European Space Agency&#8217;s next-generation NewAthena X-ray observatory is poised to transform X-ray astronomy and allow scientists to probe much fainter X-ray echoes on the outskirts of our galaxy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">A team of researchers has confirmed that the stars are ringing loud and clear in a &#8220;tone&#8221; that will align well with the scientific goals and capabilities of NASA&#8217;s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The turbulent nature of stars generates waves that cause variations in their overall brightness. By studying these changes\u2014a method called asteroseismology\u2014scientists can gain insight into the age, mass, and size of stars. These brightness variations were visible to NASA&#8217;s Kepler space telescope, which provided asteroseismic data on approximately 16,000 stars before its decommissioning in 2018. The results of this study were published in The Astrophysical Journal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Using Kepler data as a starting point and adapting the dataset to the expected quality of data obtained with the Roman telescope, astronomers recently demonstrated the feasibility of asteroseismology with this soon-to-be-launched telescope and provided a rough estimate of the range of detectable stars. This is an added bonus to the Roman telescope&#8217;s primary scientific goals: as observations are made for the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey\u2014a key study that will collect data on hundreds of millions of stars in the bulge of our Milky Way galaxy\u2014the telescope will also provide enough information for astronomers to determine the parameters of stars using asteroseismology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;Asteroseismology with the Roman telescope is possible because we don&#8217;t have to ask the telescope to do something it wasn&#8217;t designed to do anyway,&#8221; said Mark Pinsonneault of Ohio State University in Columbus, co-author of a paper detailing the research. &#8220;The power of the Roman mission is astounding: it&#8217;s designed in part to advance exoplanet science, but we&#8217;ll also obtain truly valuable data for other scientific fields beyond its primary mission.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4500\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/zvezdy060426.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/zvezdy060426.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/zvezdy060426-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/zvezdy060426-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/zvezdy060426-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/zvezdy060426-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">This artist&#8217;s concept depicts the Sun and several red giant stars with varying radii. NASA&#8217;s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be well-suited to studying red giant stars using a technique known as asteroseismology. This approach involves studying changes in the overall brightness of stars caused by turbulent processes in their interiors, which create waves and oscillations. Using asteroseismic data, astronomers can learn about the age, mass, and size of stars. Scientists estimate that using this method, the Roman telescope will be able to detect a total of 300,000 red giant stars, the largest sample of its kind ever collected. NASA, STScI, Ralph Crawford (STScI)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The galaxy is densely populated by red giant branch stars and red clump stars, which are more evolved and voluminous than main-sequence stars. (Main-sequence stars are at a similar stage in their lives to our Sun.) Their high luminosity and oscillation frequency, varying from hours to days, play into the hands of the Roman telescope. As part of its time-domain study of the Galactic Bulge, the telescope will observe the Milky Way&#8217;s galactic bulge every 12 minutes for six periods of 70.5 days, making it particularly suitable for red giant asteroseismology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">While previous studies explored the potential of asteroseismology using the Roman spacecraft, the team conducted a more detailed study, examining Roman&#8217;s capabilities and the specifics of its mission. Their research consisted of two major phases:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The team first examined asteroseismic data from the Kepler telescope and applied parameters to match the expected quality of the Roman telescope&#8217;s data. This included increasing the observation frequency and adjusting the wavelength range of the light. The team calculated detection probabilities that confidently confirmed that the Roman telescope would be able to detect oscillations of red giant stars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The team then applied the resulting detection probabilities to a model of the Milky Way galaxy and considered proposed fields of view for surveying the galactic bulge to understand how many red giants and red clump stars could be investigated using asteroseismology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;At the time of our study, the primary community study area wasn&#8217;t fully defined, so we examined several different models and simulations. Our lower estimate was 290,000 total objects, of which 185,000 were in the bulge,&#8221; said Trevor Weiss of California State University, Long Beach, a co-author of the paper. &#8220;Now that we know the study will be conducted at 12-minute intervals, we&#8217;re looking at over 300,000 asteroseismic detections in total. This will be the largest asteroseismic data sample ever collected.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 800px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-2310-1\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Sonification-of-Red-Giant-Echoes-with-Roman.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Sonification-of-Red-Giant-Echoes-with-Roman.mp4\">https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Sonification-of-Red-Giant-Echoes-with-Roman.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span dir=\"auto\">This sound interpretation is based on a simulation of the data that NASA&#8217;s Roman Space Telescope will collect when it launches in the fall of 2026. The sound interpretation converts waves propagating inside red giant stars into sound. These pressure waves cause tiny changes in brightness that Roman can measure. Larger stars take longer to reflect the waves, meaning the changes in brightness have a lower frequency. Here, these frequencies are converted to sound and sped up so we can hear them. The first sound in the sonification comes from the Sun, to give a sense of scale (although Roman will not be looking at the Sun). The sound then moves to increasingly larger red giants, with the pitch changing for each one. Astronomers can calculate the star&#8217;s size and other properties by measuring these frequencies. The audio version is available for download at the bottom of the page. NASA, STScI; Sonification: Christopher Britt (STScI), Martha Irene Saladino (STScI); Designer: Ralph Crawford (STScI); Data Science: Noah Downing (OSU), Trevor Weiss (CSU)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">The benefits of asteroseismology within the Roman mission are numerous, including links to exoplanet studies, one of the mission&#8217;s primary focuses, and to exploration of the galactic bulge. Roman will detect exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system, using microlensing, a technique in which the gravity of a foreground star enhances the light from a background star. The presence of an exoplanet can cause a noticeable &#8220;blip&#8221; in the resulting brightness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;With asteroseismic data, we&#8217;ll be able to learn a lot about the stars that host exoplanets, and that will give us a lot of valuable information about the exoplanets themselves,&#8221; Weiss said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;It will be difficult to directly determine the age and abundance of heavy elements like iron in the host stars of exoplanets discovered by the Roman program,&#8221; Pinsonneau said. &#8220;Knowing these parameters\u2014age and composition\u2014could be important for understanding exoplanets. Our work will allow us to determine the statistical characteristics of the entire population\u2014typical elemental abundances and ages\u2014so that scientists studying exoplanets can contextualize the measurements obtained by the Roman program.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Additionally, for astronomers seeking to understand the history of the Milky Way galaxy, asteroseismology can reveal information about its formation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;We actually know little about our galaxy&#8217;s bulge, as it can only be seen in infrared light due to the large amount of dust surrounding it,&#8221; Pinsonneau said. &#8220;There could be surprising populations or chemical patterns there. What if young stars are there? The Roman telescope will open a completely new window into the world of stars at the center of the Milky Way. I&#8217;m open to surprises.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">NASA astronaut Chris Williams captured the Milky Way rising above Earth&#8217;s airglow on April 13, 2026, while aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4502\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1mlechnyiput2508266.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1650px) 100vw, 1650px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1mlechnyiput2508266.jpg 1650w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1mlechnyiput2508266-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1mlechnyiput2508266-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1mlechnyiput2508266-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1mlechnyiput2508266-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1650\" height=\"1100\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">NASA\/Chris Williams<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">This atmospheric glow is also known as airglow. It occurs when atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to release excess energy. Alternatively, it can occur when atoms and molecules ionized by sunlight collide and capture a free electron. In both cases, they release a particle of light\u2014a photon\u2014to relax again. This phenomenon is similar to auroras, but while auroras are caused by high-energy particles emanating from the solar wind, airglow is fueled by ordinary, everyday solar radiation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">A laser star pointer mounted on Cerro Pach\u00f3n in central Chile points up across the Gemini South observatory&#8217;s field of view, illuminating the Milky Way.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Gemini South, located in Chile, is one of two observatories in the Gemini network, the other of which (called Gemini North or Alopeke) is located in Hawaii, on the Mauna Kea volcano.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Each Gemini observatory houses a 26.6-foot (8.1-meter) telescope. The same mountain in Chile houses the 13.4-foot (4.1-meter) SOAR telescope.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">In this image taken by Piotr Choralek, an audiovisual representative at the National Center for Ground-Based Nighttime Optical Astronomy at NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), the Gemini South satellite appears to be about to be launched into the night sky.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4503\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1lazer250826.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1lazer250826.jpg 650w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1lazer250826-300x169.jpg 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">The Gemini South Observatory emits a beam of light. Gemini International Observatory\/NOIRLab\/NSF\/AURA\/P. Hor\u00e1lek<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">However, there&#8217;s no alien ship behind this laser beam. Instead, the Gemini South telescope uses a laser beam as a guide star\u2014a powerful laser that creates the effect of an artificial star in the night sky. This artificial star serves as a reference point, helping the telescope calibrate and correct for any light distortions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Even this photograph, which shows the observatory in operation, makes it clear why this mountain is a center for astronomical observations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">These peaks were chosen for many reasons, including their altitude and distance from bright light sources that could interfere with observations. But even with a simple photograph, Goralek was able to capture the incredible beauty of the glow from the heart of the Milky Way above the mountain range, where all the colors of the rainbow are revealed in the gas and dust of our galaxy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><span dir=\"auto\">When people become impatient with the lack of progress in the search for extraterrestrial life, researchers often point out how few of the approximately 100 billion stars in the Milky Way have been explored so far. But the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) may have covered more stars than astronomers previously thought.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Louise Mason, a PhD student at the University of Manchester, recently concluded that astronomers have actually searched a much larger portion of our galaxy for radio signals than previously thought. Mason reached this conclusion by using a specialized model of the Milky Way called the Besan\u00e7on Galaxy Model and comparing it with sky surveys conducted by the Green Bank and Parkes radio telescopes. Based on star catalogs, it was calculated that the two telescopes observed 288,315 stars in 1,327 sky observations. However, by applying the Besan\u00e7on Galaxy Model, Mason discovered that the survey actually included over 6.1 million stars, most of which were too faint to detect. The findings were published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in July 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;One of the most exciting aspects of this work is the realization that we&#8217;ve observed many more stars than originally thought,&#8221; Mason said in a statement. &#8220;Even a very small observation can reveal a vast number and diversity of stars that we may never have planned to study.&#8221; But while Mason&#8217;s calculations suggest we&#8217;ve actually observed many more of these stars than we thought, we shouldn&#8217;t despair over the lack of detections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">When a radio telescope is pointed at a target star, it not only &#8220;listens&#8221; to that star but also &#8220;eavesdrops&#8221; on all other stars in its field of view. This is very useful for a practice called commensal SETI, where a SETI instrument uses the results of a radio telescope&#8217;s routine, everyday observations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Typically, the number of stars in a radio telescope&#8217;s field of view is estimated by comparing them with detailed star catalogs, such as those compiled by the European Space Agency&#8217;s Gaia mission. However, these catalogs are limited, as they only include stars bright enough to be observed; there are many more stars too dim to be observed with optical and infrared telescopes. However, if a radio telescope is pointed toward them, it will still be able to detect their radio signal, even if we can&#8217;t see the star itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4504\" src=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1antenny250826.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1antenny250826.jpg 970w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1antenny250826-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1antenny250826-768x432.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"546\" \/><br \/>\n<em><span dir=\"auto\">Antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. ESO\/C. Malin<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">While the search may be larger in terms of the number of stars, it&#8217;s still very small in terms of the time spent listening to each star, and it&#8217;s still limited by the radio frequency range covered by those stars. We could easily have missed a signal by observing between broadcasts or at the wrong frequency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Therefore, Mason also sought to expand the range of radio frequencies that could be explored. Since the modern SETI program began in 1960, the bulk of SETI searches have focused on a frequency range known as the &#8220;waterhole,&#8221; between the emission frequency of atomic hydrogen at 1420 MHz and hydroxyl (a molecule consisting of one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom) at 1666 MHz. The name &#8220;waterhole&#8221; derives from the fact that when hydrogen combines with hydroxyl, a water molecule (two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom) is formed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">One of the reasons a body of water was chosen as a preferred observation site is that radio waves in this frequency range are not absorbed by the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere. Furthermore, many astronomical studies are conducted in the hydrogen frequency range, so there is a high probability of the accidental discovery of extraterrestrial civilizations. Furthermore, extraterrestrials may understand the importance of water for life and the symbolic significance of transmitting signals in this frequency range.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">However, there are many other frequencies that could be explored, and in this context, Mason conducted the first-ever search for extraterrestrial intelligence using ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array in Chile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;For decades, SETI researchers have focused on a relatively small part of the radio spectrum,&#8221; Mason said. &#8220;We wanted to ask what might happen if we looked at a completely different location.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">Mason did not conduct new observations with ALMA, but analyzed a small amount of archival data for narrowband signals that could easily have been missed. ALMA operates at shorter radio wavelengths and, therefore, higher frequencies than most conventional radio telescopes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">One of the advantages of observing higher frequencies is that they are less subject to dispersion, which is the delay of low frequency waves interacting with electrons in space, causing them to arrive at their destination slightly later than higher frequency waves, which therefore distorts the overall signal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">While Mason hasn&#8217;t found any promising new signals in her ALMA searches, she remains optimistic about using higher frequencies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span dir=\"auto\">&#8220;The millimeter and submillimeter radio ranges remain almost completely unexplored for SETI, so this is about opening up a new region of parametric space to search,&#8221; she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/go\/47\"  class=\"su-button su-button-style-flat su-button-wide\" style=\"color:#FFFFFF;background-color:#af170f;border-color:#8c130c;border-radius:5px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color:#FFFFFF;padding:7px 22px;font-size:17px;line-height:26px;border-color:#c75d57;border-radius:5px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;text-shadow:none;-moz-text-shadow:none;-webkit-text-shadow:none\"><i class=\"sui sui-heart\" style=\"font-size:17px;color:#FFFFFF\"><\/i> Comment on Facebook* The owner of the Meta company is recognized as extremist in Russia and is banned.<\/span><\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The European Space Agency&#8217;s XMM-Newton and NASA&#8217;s Chandra space telescopes captured the aftermath of three bright explosions echoing in the Milky Way&#8217;s outer spiral arms. NASA&#8217;s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help scientists better understand the fainter components of our Milky Way galaxy\u2014the gas and dust scattered between stars, known as the interstellar medium. Scientists can also gain insight into the ages, masses, and sizes of stars using the Kepler space telescope, which provided asteroseismic data on approximately 16,000 stars before its decommissioning in 2018. A laser star pointer mounted on Cerro Pach\u00f3n in central Chile points upward across the Gemini South observatory&#8217;s field of view, illuminating the Milky Way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[545,40],"tags":[1021,717,720,1019,1020],"class_list":{"0":"post-2310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-deepspace","8":"category-kosmos","9":"tag-chandra","10":"tag-galaxy","11":"tag-milky-way","12":"tag-stars","13":"tag-xmm-newton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2310"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2313,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2310\/revisions\/2313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planeta21vek.ru\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}