#Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph

[meteorologistaustenlonek]

#SomewhereDeepInTheNight "The international #GeminiObservatory composite color image of the planetary nebula CVMP 1 imaged by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile." NOIRLab

[myfeeds]

Rare double-lobe nebula resembles overflowing cosmic jug

The glowing nebula IC 2220, nicknamed the Toby Jug Nebula owing to its resemblance to an old English drinking vessel, is a rare astronomical find. This reflection nebula, located about 1200 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Carina (the keel), is a double-lobed, or bipolar, cloud of gas and dust created and illuminated by the red-giant star at its center. This end-of-life phase of red giant stars is relatively brief, and the celestial structures that form around them are rare, making the Toby Jug Nebula an excellent case study into stellar evolution. This image, captured by the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, showcases the Toby Jug Nebula’s magnificent, nearly symmetrical double-looped structure and glowing stellar heart. These features are unique to red giants transitioning from aging stars to planetary nebulae [1] and therefore offer astronomers valuable insight into the evolution of low- to intermediate-mass stars nearing the end of their lives as well as the cosmic structures they form. At the heart of the Toby Jug Nebula is its progenitor, the red-giant star HR3126. Red giants form when a star burns through its supply of hydrogen in its core. Without the outward force of fusion, the star begins to contract. This raises the core temperature and causes the star to then swell up to 400 times its original size. Though HR3126 is considerably younger than our Sun — a mere 50 million years old compared to the Sun’s 4.6 billion years — it is five times the mass. This allowed the star to burn through its hydrogen supply and become a red giant much faster than the Sun. As HR 3126 swelled, its atmosphere expanded and it began to shed its outer layers. The expelled stellar material flowed out into the surrounding area, forming a magnificent structure of gas and dust that reflects the light from the central star. Detailed studies of the Toby Jug Nebula in infrared light have revealed that silicon dioxide (silica) is the most likely compound reflecting HR3126’s light. Astronomers theorize that bipolar structures similar to those seen in the Toby Jug Nebula are the result of interactions between the central red giant and a binary companion star. Previous observations, however, found no such companion to HR3126. Instead, astronomers observed an extremely compact disk of material around the central star. This finding suggests that a former binary companion was possibly shredded into the disk, which may have triggered the formation of the surrounding nebula. In about five billion years from now, when our Sun has burned through its supply of hydrogen, it too will become a red giant and eventually evolve into a planetary nebula. In the very distant future, all that will be left of our Solar System will be a nebula as vibrant as the Toby Jug Nebula with the slowly cooling Sun at its heart. The image was processed by NOIRLab’s Communication, Education & Engagement team as part of the NOIRLab Legacy Imaging Program. The observations were made with Gemini South on Cerro Pachón in Chile using one of the dual Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs (GMOS). Though spectrographs are designed to split light into various wavelengths for study, the GMOS spectrographs also have powerful imaging capabilities, as demonstrated by this exceptional view of the Toby Jug Nebula. More information [1] The term “planetary nebulae” is a misnomer; they are unrelated to planets. The term was likely first used in the 1780s by astronomer William Herschel, who noted their seemingly round, planet-like shape when observed through early telescopes.

[astroimages]

AS VIOLENTA EXPLOSÃO QUE MUDOU TUDO QUE SABEMOS!!!

VENHA FAZER A PÓS GRADUAÇÃO DE ASTRONOMIA DO SPACE TODAY: DETALHES: http://academyspace.com.br/ Por quase duas décadas, os astrofísicos acreditaram que longas explosões de raios gama (GRBs) resultaram apenas do colapso de estrelas massivas. Agora, um novo estudo derruba essa crença há muito estabelecida e aceita. Liderada pela Northwestern University, uma equipe de astrofísicos descobriu novas evidências de que pelo menos alguns GRBs longos também podem resultar de fusões de estrelas de nêutrons, que antes se acreditava resultar apenas de GRBs curtos. Depois de detectar um GRB de 50 segundos em dezembro de 2021, a equipe começou a procurar o longo brilho posterior do GRB, uma explosão de luz incrivelmente luminosa e que desaparece rapidamente que geralmente precede uma supernova. Mas, em vez disso, eles descobriram evidências de uma kilonova, um evento raro que só ocorre após a fusão de uma estrela de nêutrons com outro objeto compacto (outra estrela de nêutrons ou um buraco negro). A pesquisa, que inclui dados de dois Observatórios Maunakea no Havaí, o Observatório WM Keck e o Observatório Gemini , foi publicada na edição de hoje da revista Nature . "Este evento parece diferente de tudo o que vimos antes de uma longa explosão de raios gama", disse Jillian Rastinejad , Ph.D. Northwestern. estudante, que conduziu o estudo. “Seus raios gama se assemelham aos das explosões produzidas pelo colapso de estrelas massivas. Dado que todas as outras fusões confirmadas de estrelas de nêutrons que observamos foram acompanhadas por explosões com duração inferior a dois segundos, tínhamos todos os motivos para esperar que esse GRB de 50 segundos fosse criado pelo colapso de uma estrela massiva. Este evento representa uma emocionante mudança de paradigma para a astronomia de explosão de raios gama.” “Quando seguimos essa longa explosão de raios gama, esperávamos que isso levasse a evidências de um colapso massivo de estrelas”, disse Wen-fai Fong , da Northwestern, autor sênior do estudo. “Em vez disso, o que encontramos foi muito diferente. Quando entrei no campo há 15 anos, estava gravado em pedra que longas explosões de raios gama vêm de colapsos massivos de estrelas. Essa descoberta inesperada não apenas representa uma grande mudança em nossa compreensão, mas também abre uma nova janela para descobertas”. Fong é professor assistente de física e astronomia no Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences da Northwestern e membro-chave do Centro de Exploração Interdisciplinar e Pesquisa em Astrofísica (CIERA) . Rastinejad, um Ph.D. aluno do CIERA e membro do grupo de pesquisa de Fong, é o primeiro autor do artigo. As explosões mais brilhantes e energéticas desde o Big Bang, os GRBs são divididos em duas classes. GRBs com durações inferiores a dois segundos são considerados GRBs curtos. Se um GRB durar mais de dois segundos, ele será considerado um GRB longo. Os pesquisadores acreditavam anteriormente que os GRBs em ambos os lados da linha divisória deveriam ter origens diferentes. O Telescópio de Alerta de Explosão do Observatório Neil Gehrels Swift da NASA e o Telescópio Espacial de Raios Gama Fermi detectaram pela primeira vez a brilhante explosão de luz de raios gama, chamada GRB211211A. A equipe então imaginou o evento em comprimentos de onda do infravermelho próximo usando o Observatório Gemini no Havaí e o Observatório MMT no Arizona, que revelou um objeto incrivelmente fraco que desapareceu rapidamente. As supernovas não desaparecem tão rapidamente e são muito mais brilhantes, então a equipe percebeu que encontrou algo inesperado que antes se acreditava impossível – uma quilonova, que só pode vir de fusões de estrelas de nêutrons. O evento não foi a única parte estranha do estudo. A galáxia hospedeira do GRB, chamada SDSS J140910.47+275320.8, também é bastante curiosa. Usando o DEEP Imaging and Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) do Observatório Keck, a equipe conseguiu rastrear as origens do GRB até uma galáxia localizada a cerca de 1,1 bilhão de anos-luz de distância - tornando o GRB211211A um dos GRBs mais próximos descobertos até hoje. Além disso, os dados do Observatório Keck revelaram que a galáxia hospedeira é jovem e formadora de estrelas, quase exatamente o oposto do único outro universo local conhecido como hospedeiro de um evento de fusão de estrelas de nêutrons: a galáxia hospedeira de GW170817, NGC4993. FONTES: https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2228/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05390-w #GRB #KILONOVA #EXPLOSION

[irvinenewshq]

Astronomers Detect What Might Be Most Highly effective Explosion Ever Recorded

It might not seem important, however you’re trying on the BOAT. Picture: Worldwide Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. O’Connor (UMD/GWU) & J. Rastinejad & W Fong (Northwestern Univ) Picture processing: T.A. Rector (College of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab) Astronomers have detected an enormous increase within the distant universe that they consider often is the strongest explosion ever recorded. It’s already acquired a nickname: ‘BOAT,’ or the Brightest Of All Time. The explosion was a gamma-ray burst that scientists consider was triggered by a supernova, or the loss of life of a star, that gave solution to a black gap. The occasion, named GRB 221009A, was seen by the Gemini South telescope in Chile, operated by the Nationwide Science Basis’s NOIRLab. As a result of the occasion has solely simply been noticed, scientists have but to run thorough analyses of it. However that is what we all know: It occurred about 2.4 billion light-years away and was first detected on the morning of October 9 by a number of X-ray and gamma-ray area telescopes. At the moment, the FLAMINGOS-2 imaging spectrograph and the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph collected observations, which means that two impartial groups of astronomers now have recorded knowledge on the occasion. “The exceptionally lengthy GRB 221009A is the brightest [gammy-ray burst] ever recorded and its afterglow is smashing all data in any respect wavelengths,” mentioned Brendan O’Connor, a researcher affiliated with the College of Maryland and George Washington College and one of many group’s leaders, in a NOIRLab launch. “As a result of this burst is so brilliant and likewise close by, we predict this can be a once-in-a-century alternative to handle among the most basic questions relating to these explosions, from the formation of black holes to checks of darkish matter fashions,” O’Connor added. When stars die, they usually illuminate the cosmos in extraordinarily brilliant supernovae—actually the ejection of their mass into area after an epic implosion. Typically these occasions depart behind neutron stars, among the densest objects within the universe. Different occasions, the result’s a black gap. When a black gap kinds, it pushes out superheated particle jets that may transfer at almost the velocity of sunshine. When pointed at Earth, the jets might be noticed in X-rays and gamma rays. Jillian Rastinejad, a researcher at Northwestern College and the chief of the opposite group, mentioned within the NOIRLab launch that the large occasion is already being known as the ‘BOAT,’ or the Brightest Of All Time. Although the superlative nature of the gamma-ray burst has but to be confirmed, it’s clear that no matter occurred 2.4 billion light-years from Earth was a ginormous explosion. The haste with which astronomers managed to picture the occasion after its preliminary detection is a testomony to the significance of sharing data throughout astronomical groups and observatories. It additionally exhibits how essential it’s for observatories to maintain their eyes on the sky. Quickly, the Vera Rubin Observatory digital camera—the most important digital digital camera ever constructed, with 3.2 billion pixels—will start its surveillance of the sky. It is going to be in a position to scan your entire sky as soon as every week, like an astronomical Eye of Sauron. Any happenings of astronomical intrigue might be instantly recorded, and groups around the globe will obtain alerts. On this means, astronomers will be capable of pay attention to severe bombastic occasions, irrespective of how fleeting. Whether or not any occasion can examine to the BOAT, nicely, we’ll have to attend and see. Extra: Astronomers Might Have Noticed the Remnants of One of many Earliest Stars Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[spaceexp]

Gemini observatory captures multicolor image of first-ever interstellar comet

Hilo HI (SPX) Sep 16, 2019 The first-ever comet from beyond our Solar System has been successfully imaged by the Gemini Observatory in multiple colors. The image of the newly discovered object, denoted C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was obtained on the night of 9-10 September using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii's Maunakea. "This image was possible because of Gemini's ability to r Full article

[scifigeneration]

Cosmic telescope zooms in on the beginning of time

Observations from Gemini Observatory identify a key fingerprint of an extremely distant quasar, allowing astronomers to sample light emitted from the dawn of time. Astronomers happened upon this deep glimpse into space and time thanks to an unremarkable foreground galaxy acting as a gravitational lens, which magnified the quasar's ancient light. The Gemini observations provide critical pieces of the puzzle in confirming this object as the brightest appearing quasar so early in the history of the Universe, raising hopes that more sources like this will be found.

Before the cosmos reached its billionth birthday, some of the very first cosmic light began a long journey through the expanding Universe. One particular beam of light, from an energetic source called a quasar, serendipitously passed near an intervening galaxy, whose gravity bent and magnified the quasar's light and refocused it in our direction, allowing telescopes like Gemini North to probe the quasar in great detail.

"If it weren't for this makeshift cosmic telescope, the quasar's light would appear about 50 times dimmer," said Xiaohui Fan of the University of Arizona who led the study. "This discovery demonstrates that strongly gravitationally lensed quasars do exist despite the fact that we've been looking for over 20 years and not found any others this far back in time."

The Gemini observations provided key pieces of the puzzle by filling a critical hole in the data. The Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawai'i, utilized the Gemini Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (GNIRS) to dissect a significant swath of the infrared part of the light's spectrum. The Gemini data contained the tell-tale signature of magnesium which is critical for determining how far back in time we are looking. The Gemini observations also led to a determination of the mass of the black hole powering the quasar. "When we combined the Gemini data with observations from multiple observatories on Maunakea, the Hubble Space Telescope, and other observatories around the world, we were able to paint a complete picture of the quasar and the intervening galaxy," said Feige Wang of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who is a member of the discovery team.

That picture reveals that the quasar is located extremely far back in time and space -- shortly after what is known as the Epoch of Reionization -- when the very first light emerged from the Big Bang. "This is one of the first sources to shine as the Universe emerged from the cosmic dark ages," said Jinyi Yang of the University of Arizona, another member of the discovery team. "Prior to this, no stars, quasars, or galaxies had been formed, until objects like this appeared like candles in the dark."

The foreground galaxy that enhances our view of the quasar is especially dim, which is extremely fortuitous. "If this galaxy were much brighter, we wouldn't have been able to differentiate it from the quasar," explained Fan, adding that this finding will change the way astronomers look for lensed quasars in the future and could significantly increase the number of lensed quasar discoveries. However, as Fan suggested, "We don't expect to find many quasars brighter than this one in the whole observable Universe."

The intense brilliance of the quasar, known as J0439+1634 (J0439+1634 for short), also suggests that it is fueled by a supermassive black hole at the heart of a young forming galaxy. The broad appearance of the magnesium fingerprint captured by Gemini also allowed astronomers to measure the mass of the quasar's supermassive black hole at 700 million times that of the Sun. The supermassive black hole is most likely surrounded by a sizable flattened disk of dust and gas. This torus of matter -- known as an accretion disk -- most likely continually spirals inward to feed the black hole powerhouse. Observations at submillimeter wavelengths with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Maunakea suggest that the black hole is not only accreting gas but may be triggering star birth at a prodigious rate -- which appears to be up to 10,000 stars per year; by comparison, our Milky Way Galaxy makes one star per year. However, because of the boosting effect of gravitational lensing, the actual rate of star formation could be much lower.

Quasars are extremely energetic sources powered by huge black holes thought to have resided in the very first galaxies to form in the Universe. Because of their brightness and distance, quasars provide a unique glimpse into the conditions in the early Universe. This quasar has a redshift of 6.51, which translates to a distance of 12.8 billion light years, and appears to shine with a combined light of about 600 trillion Suns, boosted by the gravitational lensing magnification. The foreground galaxy which bent the quasar's light is about half that distance away, at a mere 6 billion light years from us.

Fan's team selected J0439+1634 as a very distant quasar candidate based on optical data from several sources: the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System1 (Pan-STARRS1; operated by the University of Hawai'i's Institute for Astronomy), the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope Hemisphere Survey (conducted on Maunakea, Hawai'i), and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope archive.

The first follow-up spectroscopic observations, conducted at the Multi-Mirror Telescope in Arizona, confirmed the object as a high-redshift quasar. Subsequent observations with the Gemini North and Keck I telescopes in Hawai'i confirmed the MMT's finding, and led to Gemini's detection of the crucial magnesium fingerprint -- the key to nailing down the quasar's fantastic distance. However, the foreground lensing galaxy and the quasar appear so close that it is impossible to separate them with images taken from the ground due to blurring of the Earth's atmosphere. It took the exquisitely sharp images by the Hubble Space Telescope to reveal that the quasar image is split into three components by a faint lensing galaxy.

The quasar is ripe for future scrutiny. Astronomers also plan to use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and eventually NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, to look within 150 light-years of the black hole and directly detect the influence of the gravity from black hole on gas motion and star formation in its vicinity. Any future discoveries of very distant quasars like J0439+1634 will continue to teach astronomers about the chemical environment and the growth of massive black holes in our early Universe.

[the-telescope-times]

Everything around us is spinning: particles, planets, stars, galaxies. Why not the universe?

Gemini Legacy image of the galaxy group VV 166, obtained using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at the Gemini North telescope located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. In this image, north is up, east left, and the field of view is 5.2 x 5.2 arcminutes. Composite color image produced by Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage. Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA

    Spin is ubiquitous in the cosmos. Planets rotate, as do stars and galaxies. This comes about simply from conservation of angular momentum. When two ice skaters approach each other and link arms, they will start rotating — clockwise if they link right arms and counterclockwise if they link left arms. If two stars approach each other, gravity along with other effects might cause their mutual capture. The associated matter may form planets and other objects that share the original angular momentum and are all likely to rotate or spin with an axis along its original direction. This is a random process, so we would not expect the universe as a whole to have a net angular momentum, unless it had one originally. Astrophysicists believe the universe started some 13.8 billion years ago in a “Big Bang” that rapidly expanded into the universe we see today. We are confined within that universe, and we can never see what, if anything, is outside it. Still, we can imagine seeing our universe from the outside. It is possible to visualize our universe spinning in this larger space. Protons were born spinning, as were electrons, neutrinos, etc. Why not universes? If the universe was born with an initial spin, as it expanded from the Big Bang, turbulence would cause the initial angular momentum to dissipate among smaller and smaller objects. In other words, we would not expect the universe as a whole to be rotating now. Instead, the smaller objects like galaxies would “remember” the primordial angular momentum and show a preference for rotating about the original spin axis. This would show up in the orientation of spiral galaxies as we see them. In fact, there is significant evidence that spiral galaxies do exhibit a preferred spin direction about an axis close to the north pole of our Milky Way. About 10 percent more spiral galaxies are left-handed spirals, spinning in the same direction as our own. Michael J. Longo University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 

~ astronomy.com/magazine

[beautyaboveus]

Dragonfly 44

Astronomers photographed the ultradiffuse galaxy Dragonfly 44 in 2016 using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on the 8-meter Gemini North telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

1 KPC = 3262 Light-years = 3.0861782E+16 Kilometers 

Credit: Pieter van Dokkum, Roberto Abraham, Gemini Observatory/AURA

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[fishstickmonkey]

Interacting galaxy Pair NGC1532 and NGC1531

The interacting galaxy pair NGC1532 and NGC1531 were imaged using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini South in Chile on December 5, 2004. This view reveals spectacular details in the galactic pair embraced in a fiery waltz.

credit line: Gemini Observatory/Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage 

NOAO

[gaetaniu]

Gli Astronomi scoprono il cianuro nella cometa interstellare 2I/Borisov

Gli Astronomi scoprono il cianuro nella cometa interstellare 2I/Borisov

Gli astronomi hanno rilevato per la prima volta il gas cianuro (CN) – un ingrediente comune delle comete del sistema solare – nella cometa interstellare.

Questa immagine composita, ottenuta dallo spettrografo multioggetto Gemini North Multi-Object Spectrograph sul telescopio Gemini North da 8,2 m, mostra 2I/Borisov. 

Il CN, spesso chiamato cianogeno, è un gas tossico composto da atomi di carbonio…

[sciencespies]

The first images have started coming in of that new interstellar visitor

https://sciencespies.com/space/the-first-images-have-started-coming-in-of-that-new-interstellar-visitor/

The first images have started coming in of that new interstellar visitor

On August 30, amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov spotted a comet of extrasolar origin passing through our Solar System.

This is the second time in as many years that an interstellar object has been observed (the last being ‘Oumuamua 2.0 in 2017). Thanks to the Gemini Observatory, we now have pictures of this comet, making it the first object of its kind to be successfully imaged in multiple colors!

The comet, designated C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was captured by the Gemini North Telescope’s Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the night of September 9-10.

The image, below, showed a very pronounced tail, which is indicative of outgassing and confirms that the object is a comet. This is another first, where C/2019 Q4 is the first interstellar visitor to clearly form a tail as a result of outgassing.

(Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA)

Andrew Stephens, an astronomer with the Gemini Observatory, was responsible for coordinating the observations. As he explained:

“This image was possible because of Gemini’s ability to rapidly adjust observations and observe objects like this, which have very short windows of visibility. However, we really had to scramble for this one since we got the final details at 3:00 am and were observing it by 4:45!”

The color image was produced by combining the Gemini observations, which were taken in two color bands.

These were obtained as part of a project led by Piotr Guzik and Michal Drahus at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland), which seeks to capture images of astronomical “targets of opportunity”.

At present, C/2019 Q4 is close to the apparent position of the Sun and is therefore difficult to observe.

Over the next few months, its hyperbolic flight path will bring it to more favorable observing conditions.

It is this same path that led astronomers to conclude that it is likely to be interstellar in origin, and follow-up observations are expected to reveal more about its composition.

Below you can see an artist’s impression of `Oumuamua experiencing outgassing as it leaves our Solar System.

(ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESO, M. Kornmesser)

Since asteroids and comets are believed to be leftover material from the formation of a system, knowing what this comet is composed of will allow astronomers to learn a great deal about where it came from.

This is one of the greatest benefits of interstellar objects, in that they allow us to learn more about distant star systems without actually having to send robotic spacecraft there.

In the case of C/2019 Q4, astronomers also have the benefit of knowing about it in advance. When ‘Oumuamua was first detected, it had already made its closest pass to the Sun and flew by Earth on its way out of the Solar System.

In other words, the most opportune times to study it had largely passed by the time it was spotted.

And if there is even the slightest chance that this interstellar visitor is an extra-terrestrial probe (as was suggested about ‘Oumuamua), then future studies will reveal far more than we ever expected! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here…

Further Reading: Gemini Observatory

This article was originally published by Universe Today. Read the original article.

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#Space

[mitchbattros]

Cosmic Telescope Zooms In On The Beginning Of Time

Observations from Gemini Observatory identify a key fingerprint of an extremely distant quasar, allowing astronomers to sample light emitted from the dawn of time. Astronomers happened upon this deep glimpse into space and time thanks to an unremarkable foreground galaxy acting as a gravitational lens, which magnified the quasar's ancient light. The Gemini observations provide critical pieces of the puzzle in confirming this object as the brightest appearing quasar so early in the history of the Universe, raising hopes that more sources like this will be found.

Before the cosmos reached its billionth birthday, some of the very first cosmic light began a long journey through the expanding Universe. One particular beam of light, from an energetic source called a quasar, serendipitously passed near an intervening galaxy, whose gravity bent and magnified the quasar's light and refocused it in our direction, allowing telescopes like Gemini North to probe the quasar in great detail. "If it weren't for this makeshift cosmic telescope, the quasar's light would appear about 50 times dimmer," said Xiaohui Fan of the University of Arizona who led the study. "This discovery demonstrates that strongly gravitationally lensed quasars do exist despite the fact that we've been looking for over 20 years and not found any others this far back in time." The Gemini observations provided key pieces of the puzzle by filling a critical hole in the data. The Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawai'i, utilized the Gemini Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (GNIRS) to dissect a significant swath of the infrared part of the light's spectrum. The Gemini data contained the tell-tale signature of magnesium which is critical for determining how far back in time we are looking. The Gemini observations also led to a determination of the mass of the black hole powering the quasar. "When we combined the Gemini data with observations from multiple observatories on Maunakea, the Hubble Space Telescope, and other observatories around the world, we were able to paint a complete picture of the quasar and the intervening galaxy," said Feige Wang of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who is a member of the discovery team. That picture reveals that the quasar is located extremely far back in time and space -- shortly after what is known as the Epoch of Reionization -- when the very first light emerged from the Big Bang. "This is one of the first sources to shine as the Universe emerged from the cosmic dark ages," said Jinyi Yang of the University of Arizona, another member of the discovery team. "Prior to this, no stars, quasars, or galaxies had been formed, until objects like this appeared like candles in the dark." The foreground galaxy that enhances our view of the quasar is especially dim, which is extremely fortuitous. "If this galaxy were much brighter, we wouldn't have been able to differentiate it from the quasar," explained Fan, adding that this finding will change the way astronomers look for lensed quasars in the future and could significantly increase the number of lensed quasar discoveries. However, as Fan suggested, "We don't expect to find many quasars brighter than this one in the whole observable Universe." The intense brilliance of the quasar, known as J0439+1634 (J0439+1634 for short), also suggests that it is fueled by a supermassive black hole at the heart of a young forming galaxy. The broad appearance of the magnesium fingerprint captured by Gemini also allowed astronomers to measure the mass of the quasar's supermassive black hole at 700 million times that of the Sun. The supermassive black hole is most likely surrounded by a sizable flattened disk of dust and gas. This torus of matter -- known as an accretion disk -- most likely continually spirals inward to feed the black hole powerhouse. Observations at submillimeter wavelengths with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Maunakea suggest that the black hole is not only accreting gas but may be triggering star birth at a prodigious rate -- which appears to be up to 10,000 stars per year; by comparison, our Milky Way Galaxy makes one star per year. However, because of the boosting effect of gravitational lensing, the actual rate of star formation could be much lower. Quasars are extremely energetic sources powered by huge black holes thought to have resided in the very first galaxies to form in the Universe. Because of their brightness and distance, quasars provide a unique glimpse into the conditions in the early Universe. This quasar has a redshift of 6.51, which translates to a distance of 12.8 billion light years, and appears to shine with a combined light of about 600 trillion Suns, boosted by the gravitational lensing magnification. The foreground galaxy which bent the quasar's light is about half that distance away, at a mere 6 billion light years from us. Fan's team selected J0439+1634 as a very distant quasar candidate based on optical data from several sources: the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System1 (Pan-STARRS1; operated by the University of Hawai'i's Institute for Astronomy), the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope Hemisphere Survey (conducted on Maunakea, Hawai'i), and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope archive. The first follow-up spectroscopic observations, conducted at the Multi-Mirror Telescope in Arizona, confirmed the object as a high-redshift quasar. Subsequent observations with the Gemini North and Keck I telescopes in Hawai'i confirmed the MMT's finding, and led to Gemini's detection of the crucial magnesium fingerprint -- the key to nailing down the quasar's fantastic distance. However, the foreground lensing galaxy and the quasar appear so close that it is impossible to separate them with images taken from the ground due to blurring of the Earth's atmosphere. It took the exquisitely sharp images by the Hubble Space Telescope to reveal that the quasar image is split into three components by a faint lensing galaxy. The quasar is ripe for future scrutiny. Astronomers also plan to use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and eventually NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, to look within 150 light-years of the black hole and directly detect the influence of the gravity from black hole on gas motion and star formation in its vicinity. Any future discoveries of very distant quasars like J0439+1634 will continue to teach astronomers about the chemical environment and the growth of massive black holes in our early Universe. Read the full article

[arxt1]

Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph Integral Field Unit Spectroscopy of the Double-peaked Broad Emission Line of a Red Active Galactic Nucleus. (arXiv:2005.09014v1 [astro-ph.GA])

Galaxy mergers are expected to produce multiple supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in close-separation, but the detection of such SMBHs has been difficult. 2MASS J165939.7$+$183436 is a red active galactic nucleus (AGN) that is a prospective merging SMBH candidate owing to its merging features in Hubble Space Telescope imaging and double-peaked broad emission lines (BELs). Herein, we report a Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph Integral Field Unit observation of a double-peaked broad H$\alpha$ line of 2MASS J165939.7$+$183436. Furthermore, we confirm the existence of two BEL peaks that are kinematically separated by 3000\,$\rm km\,s^{-1}$, with the SMBH of each BEL component weighing at $10^{8.92\pm0.06}\,M_{\rm \odot}$ and $10^{7.13\pm0.06}\,M_{\rm \odot}$, if they arise from independent BELs near the two SMBHs. The BEL components were not separated at $>0\farcs1$; however, under several plausible assumptions regarding the fitting of each spaxel, the two components are found to be spatially separated at $0\farcs085$ ($\sim250$\,pc). Different assumptions for the fitting can lead to a null ($< 0\farcs05$) or a larger spatial separation ($\sim0\farcs15$). Given the uncertainty regarding the spatial separation, various models, such as the disk emitter and multiple SMBH models, are viable solutions to explain the double BEL components. These results will promote future research for finding more multiple SMBH systems in red AGNs, and higher-resolution imaging validates these different models.

from astro-ph.HE updates on arXiv.org https://ift.tt/3g8fb6m

[astroblogs]

Tweede interstellaire komeet die we kennen heet vanaf nu 2I/Borisov

Tweede interstellaire komeet die we kennen heet vanaf nu 2I/Borisov

Komeet 2I/Borisov, gefotografeerd in de nacht van 9–10 september 2019 met de Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph van de Gemini North Telescope op de Mauna Kea op Hawaï. Credit: Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA.

De Internationale Astronomische Unie (IAU) heeft besloten om de tweede interstellaire komeet die we kennen te noemen naar z’n ontdekker. Vanaf nu heet ‘ie komeet 2I/Borisov(voorheen bekend als…

[scifigeneration]

Superluminous supernova marks the death of a star at cosmic high noon

The death of a massive star in a distant galaxy 10 billion years ago created a rare superluminous supernova that astronomers say is one of the most distant ever discovered. The brilliant explosion, more than three times as bright as the 100 billion stars of our Milky Way galaxy combined, occurred about 3.5 billion years after the big bang at a period known as "cosmic high noon," when the rate of star formation in the universe reached its peak.

Superluminous supernovae are 10 to 100 times brighter than a typical supernova resulting from the collapse of a massive star. But astronomers still don't know exactly what kinds of stars give rise to their extreme luminosity or what physical processes are involved.

The supernova known as DES15E2mlf is unusual even among the small number of superluminous supernovae astronomers have detected so far. It was initially detected in November 2015 by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration using the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Follow-up observations to measure the distance and obtain detailed spectra of the supernova were conducted with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the 8-meter Gemini South telescope.

The investigation was led by UC Santa Cruz astronomers Yen-Chen Pan and Ryan Foley as part of an international team of DES collaborators. The researchers reported their findings in a paper published July 21 in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The new observations may provide clues to the nature of stars and galaxies during peak star formation. Supernovae are important in the evolution of galaxies because their explosions enrich the interstellar gas from which new stars form with elements heavier than helium (which astronomers call "metals").

"It's important simply to know that very massive stars were exploding at that time," said Foley, an assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. "What we really want to know is the relative rate of superluminous supernovae to normal supernovae, but we can't yet make that comparison because normal supernovae are too faint to see at that distance. So we don't know if this atypical supernova is telling us something special about that time 10 billion years ago."

Previous observations of superluminous supernovae found they typically reside in low-mass or dwarf galaxies, which tend to be less enriched in metals than more massive galaxies. The host galaxy of DES15E2mlf, however, is a fairly massive, normal-looking galaxy.

"The current idea is that a low-metal environment is important in creating superluminous supernovae, and that's why they tend to occur in low mass galaxies, but DES15E2mlf is in a relatively massive galaxy compared to the typical host galaxy for superluminous supernovae," said Pan, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Santa Cruz and first author of the paper.

Foley explained that stars with fewer heavy elements retain a larger fraction of their mass when they die, which may cause a bigger explosion when the star exhausts its fuel supply and collapses.

"We know metallicity affects the life of a star and how it dies, so finding this superluminous supernova in a higher-mass galaxy goes counter to current thinking," Foley said. "But we are looking so far back in time, this galaxy would have had less time to create metals, so it may be that at these earlier times in the universe's history, even high-mass galaxies had low enough metal content to create these extraordinary stellar explosions. At some point, the Milky Way also had these conditions and might have also produced a lot of these explosions."

"Although many puzzles remain, the ability to observe these unusual supernovae at such great distances provides valuable information about the most massive stars and about an important period in the evolution of galaxies," said Mat Smith, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Southampton. The Dark Energy Survey has discovered a number of superluminous supernovae and continues to see more distant cosmic explosions revealing how stars exploded during the strongest period of star formation.

[adrianusv61]

Tweede interstellaire komeet die we kennen heet vanaf nu 2I/Borisov

Tweede interstellaire komeet die we kennen heet vanaf nu 2I/Borisov

Komeet 2I/Borisov, gefotografeerd in de nacht van 9–10 september 2019 met de Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph van de Gemini North Telescope op de Mauna Kea op Hawaï. Credit: Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA.

De Internationale Astronomische Unie (IAU) heeft besloten om de tweede interstellaire komeet die we kennen te noemen naar z’n ontdekker. Vanaf nu heet ‘ie komeet 2I/Borisov(voorheen bekend als…