NASA: Why the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Could Change Everything We Know About The Universe

Very recommendable! Very exciting!

(1569) Why Roman Could Change Everything We Know About The Universe - YouTube

Why total solar eclipses are so special

Recommendable!

(438) Why total solar eclipses are so special - YouTube

The Universe Has Been Expanding Since the Big Bang. Just Not How We Thought with Matt O'Dowd

As usual, very recommendable, but not easy to follow!

(650) The Universe Has Been Expanding Since the Big Bang. Just Not How We Thought. - YouTube

Space is sweet: interstellar sugars found in our Milky Way galaxy

Amazing stuff!

"Astronomers have found sugars in interstellar medium for the first time, suggesting an answer to a riddle about the origin of life.

Sugars are critical organic molecules. They form the backbone of DNA and RNA as well as playing a key role in metabolic processes.

Scientists have long wondered how sugars first formed on Earth. ..."

From the abstract:

"Sugars are essential biomolecules, serving as metabolic fuels, nucleic acid backbone components and structural or energy-storage polymers.

A central question in origin-of-life research is how monosaccharides formed on the primitive Earth, as laboratory experiments under prebiotic conditions yield insufficient concentrations.

The detection of ribose, glucose and other monosaccharides in asteroids and meteorites suggests an exogenous origin, possibly in the interstellar medium (ISM) before meteoritic parent-body formation. However, no sugar has been observed in the ISM so far.

Here we report the discovery of erythrulose, a chiral four-carbon ketose, in the ISM. The detection was achieved through ultrasensitive, broadband spectral surveys of the Galactic Centre molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027, using the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m telescopes.

Erythrulose appears to be at least eight times more abundant than analogous three-carbon sugars, which remain undetected in our ultrasensitive observations. Quantum chemical and astrochemical models indicate that erythrulose forms efficiently on interstellar dust grains from simpler two-carbon aldehydes and alcohols.

As ketoses readily isomerize into aldoses in aqueous conditions, interstellar erythrulose could have contributed to the sugar inventory available for early metabolic and replication processes."

Space is sweet: interstellar sugars found | News | ConnectSci

Detection of a four-carbon sugar in interstellar space (open access)

Fig. 1: Brightest and most unblended transitions of erythrulose observed towards the G+0.693 molecular cloud.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe flew close by the double-lobed asteroid Torifune some 62 million miles from Earth

Amazing stuff!

"Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe flew close by the double-lobed asteroid Torifune on Sunday, capturing striking images of the 1,475-foot space rock some 62 million miles from Earth. ..."

Tuesday, July 7, 2026 - Join The Flyover

Japan's Hayabusa2 probe captures remarkable photo of a two-headed asteroid 62 million miles away

Hayabusa2 spots asteroid Torifune!

Stunning!

Figure 1: Image of Asteroid Torifune captured by Hayabusa2. This image is a composite of photographs taken at intervals between 20 June and 21 June 2026. The small celestial body within the yellow square is Torifune, moving in the direction of the arrow. The image is a cropped section of approximately one square degree, created from images captured by the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) with a scale of approximately 22.3 arcseconds per pixel.

Astronomer, analyzing old satellite date with the help of AI may have just discovered over 10,000 more explanet candidates than previously known

Good news! We are not alone!

"Astronomers using AI found more than 10,000 possible new planets beyond our solar system in old NASA satellite data, a haul that could double the known exoplanet count if confirmed."

From the abstract:

"The T16 project has produced a uniformly detrended and systematics-corrected set of 83,717,159 TESS Cycle 1 full-frame image (FFI) light curves for stars observed by TESS in its primary mission down to T = 16 mag, enabling sensitive transit searches beyond the official TESS pipelines.

While most existing TESS planet searches focus on relatively bright targets, planet occurrence rates suggest that a substantial number of planets should exist around fainter stars. We therefore use the T16 light curves to conduct a semiautomated search for transiting exoplanets across the full Cycle 1 FFI sample, resulting in 11,554 planet candidates orbiting stars down to the 16th magnitude in the TESS band, with orbital periods between 0.5 and 27 days.

Of these, 10,091 are new planet candidates, and 411 are single-transit events, for which we do not attempt to determine orbital parameters. The remaining 1052 candidates are previously known TESS candidates.

We validate our pipeline through Magellan/Planet Finder Spectrograph radial-velocity follow-up measurements on one of our candidate hosts, TIC 183374187, a metal-poor thick-disk star, confirming the signal as a newly identified hot Jupiter, which we call TIC 183374187 b.

This detection demonstrates our pipeline’s ability to identify real, previously undiscovered, transiting planets.

Overall, this work shows that large-scale, machine learning–assisted transit searches of TESS FFIs can significantly expand the census of transiting planet candidates, in particular around faint stars, providing a rich target set for future validation and follow-up efforts. Our findings more than double the number of known TESS exoplanet candidates."

Thursday, May 14, 2026 - Join The Flyover

Scientists may have just found 10,000 planets beyond our solar system

Scientists found 10,000 possible exoplanets hiding in NASA data

The T16 Planet Hunt: 10,000 New Planet Candidates from TESS Cycle 1 and the Confirmation of a Hot Jupiter around TIC 183374187* (open access)

Figure 3. Left: example of automated off-center source detection. This example shows an off-center residual, indicating a blend as the source of the measured variability. The checkered pattern at the source position is consistent with Poisson noise or imperfect image subtraction due to the brightness of the source. Right: localized, on-center residual, indicating that the variability is due to the target.

Solar System’s largest moon is unique with a still forming core for billions of years

Amazing stuff!

"In 1996, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft made a shocking discovery at Ganymede, Jupiter’s—and the Solar System’s—largest moon. Unlike every other known moon, it hosted an internally powered magnetic field called a dynamo. Now, scientists think the reason might make the moon doubly unique: its core may still be forming. ...

Typically, the elements within a planet or moon stratify over time, with heavier elements like iron sinking down to form a dense core. When that core churns, it generates electrical currents that sustain a magnetic field.

Scientists only know of such dynamos on the gas giants, Earth, and Mercury. But when researchers modeled the process on Ganymede to match the magnetic field measurements from Galileo, they found that the core might not simply be churning, but actively growing, with new iron still dripping down from rocks in the moon’s mantle. If true, that would render Ganymede the only known body still to be forming its center. ..."

From the abstract:

"Ganymede is the only known moon with an active dynamo today.

Previous studies interpret Ganymede’s dynamo as arising from convection in a metal core that formed billions of years ago.

However, Ganymede likely accreted too cold to form with a metal core, which confounds interpretations of Ganymede’s magnetic field as a constraint on the moon’s broader history.

Here, we reevaluate the thermal evolution of Ganymede’s rock-metal interior from a cold start. Our models show that Ganymede’s observed dynamo is consistent with ongoing core formation, a process not yet observed elsewhere.

If Ganymede has an Fe-FeS core with a sub-eutectic composition, then gradual mantle warming may expel dense Fe melt onto the growing protocore and stir liquid metal, sustaining a dynamo for billions of years."

ScienceAdviser

Core of Solar System’s largest moon may still be forming "Ganymede discovery could force rethink of how worlds power their magnetic fields"

Powering Ganymede’s dynamo with protracted core formation (open access)

Fig. 1. Possible thermal evolution of Ganymede’s interior based on assumed initial temperatures.

Deep inside Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, molten iron may be sinking, adding to a still-growing core.

Gravitational lensing could break the Hubble tension

Amazing stuff!

"How do you measure the distance to far off cosmic objects? That question is key to calculating the speed of the universe’s expansion and hence understanding its evolution and eventual fate. The rate of cosmic expansion, known as the Hubble constant, is so important for cosmologists that the disagreement among researchers over its value has its own name: the Hubble tension.

Astronomers measure it one way, using stars or supernovae with predictable brightness. Cosmologists have another way, studying ripples in the echo of the Big Bang and winding the clock forward to today. The two techniques have become increasingly precise, but they steadfastly disagree with each other.

A third method is needed to break the deadlock . That may come through the magic of gravitational lensing, which can cause a supernova—a star exploding at the end of its life—to appear to explode again and again. If a supernova is situated behind a large mass, such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies, then as its light passes by the mass, its gravity bends the light along different paths, producing multiple images that show the explosion at different times when viewed from Earth. Using the time delays and path lengths, researchers can calculate the distance to the supernova and so calculate the Hubble constant.

Only a handful of such lensed supernovae have been found so far, but several upcoming survey telescopes, including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, are expected to find them by the dozen and, hopefully, to ease the Hubble tension."

"... The idea goes back to the early 1960s, when gravitational lenses had only been theorized. But Sjur Refsdal, a graduate student at the University of Oslo, suggested a way to calculate how such a lens would bend light, using the same geometric tools used to model the paths of light through a glass lens. His thesis evaluators weren’t convinced—until he got the result published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1964. In the same issue, Refsdal also proposed a way to put his technique to work. He suggested time-delayed images of a lensed supernova could offer a handle on the Hubble constant."

ScienceAdviser

Reappearing flashes from deep space, lensed by gravity, could resolve a dispute over the speed of the expanding universe

A foreground galaxy (center) acts as a lens to produce four images of a background supernova in 2014. The supernova is dubbed SN Refsdal in honor of Sjur Refsdal, who predicted this effect 50 years earlier.

New theory reshapes quantum view of earliest expansion of Big Bang

Amazing stuff!

"... Their work suggests that the universe’s rapid early expansion could have arisen naturally from a deeper, more complete theory of quantum gravity. ...

research team that explored a novel method of combining gravity with quantum physics, the rules that govern how the smallest particles in the universe behave. While general relativity has been successful for more than a century, it breaks down at the extreme conditions that existed at the birth of the universe. To address this problem, the team used Quadratic Quantum Gravity, which remains mathematically consistent even at extremely high energies — similar to the kind present during the Big Bang.

Most existing explanations for the Big Bang rely on Einstein’s theory of gravity, plus additional components added by hand. This new approach offers a more unified picture that connects the earliest moments of the universe to the well-tested cosmology scientists observe today.

The research team found that the Big Bang’s rapid early expansion can emerge naturally from this simple, consistent theory of quantum gravity, without adding any extra ingredients. This early burst of expansion, often called inflation, is a central idea in modern cosmology because it explains why the universe looks the way it does today.

Their model also predicts a minimum amount of primordial gravitational waves, which are tiny ripples in spacetime geometry created in the first moments after the Big Bang. These signals may be detectable in upcoming experiments, offering a rare chance to test ideas about the universe’s quantum origins. ..."

From the abstract:

"We present a quantum quadratic gravity inflationary scenario that can accommodate the new cosmological constraints, which have disfavored Starobinsky inflation. The theory is asymptotically free in the ultraviolet, but 1-loop running is found to dynamically lead to slow-roll inflation toward the infrared. When a large number of matter fields contribute to the beta functions, the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be phenomenologically viable. We find that as inflation ends, the theory approaches its strong coupling regime and general relativity must emerge, as an effective field theory, as the universe must reheat and enter its standard radiation era. In order to avoid strong coupling, a minimum tensor-to-scalar ratio of 0.01 is predicted for this theory. Our framework offers a laboratory for connecting a concrete ultraviolet completion (quantum quadratic gravity) with inflationary dynamics, reheating, and precise cosmological observations."

New theory reshapes quantum view of Big Bang "Researchers show how the universe’s earliest expansion may emerge directly from quantum gravity"

Ultraviolet Completion of the Big Bang in Quadratic Gravity (open access)

Credits: Urknall-Rätsel gelöst? Neue Theorie erklärt die Inflation "Neue Studie aus Waterloo: Die quadratische Quantengravitation erklärt die Inflation des frühen Universums ganz ohne Zusatzfaktoren."

Fig. 2.

Plot of the scalar spectral index ns vs the tensor-to-scalar ratio r for Starobinsky inflation (in black), contrasted with our QQG model in color for different values of the coupling λtH. The purple and dashed contours correspond to a combination of CMB (Planck18+ACT+SPT+Lensing+BK) and BAO (DESI) observational constraints for ΛCDM and w0waCDM cosmologies, respectively

"Dark Galaxy" Identified by Hubble - NASA

Recommendable!

(245) "Dark Galaxy" Identified by Hubble - YouTube

Astronomers reveal new details about dark matter’s influence on universe

Amazing stuff! The reported overlap between dark matter and matter might be an artefact or may not represent the whole picture.

"... Dark matter doesn’t emit, reflect, absorb, or even block light, and it passes through regular matter like a ghost. But it does interact with the universe through gravity, something the map shows with a new level of clarity. Evidence for this interaction lies in the degree of overlap between dark matter and regular matter. According to the researchers, Webb’s observations confirm that this close alignment can’t be a coincidence but, rather, is due to dark matter’s gravity pulling regular matter toward it throughout cosmic history. ...

“Wherever we see a big cluster of thousands of galaxies, we also see an equally massive amount of dark matter in the same place. And when we see a thin string of regular matter connecting two of those clusters, we see a string of dark matter as well,” ...

Found in the constellation Sextans, the area covered by the new map is a section of sky about 2.5 times larger than the full Moon. ..."

From the abstract:

"Ordinary matter—including particles such as protons and neutrons—accounts for only about one-sixth of all matter in the Universe. The rest is dark matter, which does not emit or absorb light but plays a fundamental role in galaxy and structure evolution.

Because it interacts only through gravity, one of the most direct probes is weak gravitational lensing: the deflection of light from distant galaxies by intervening mass. Here we present an extremely detailed, wide-area weak-lensing mass map covering 0.77° × 0.70°, using high-resolution imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope as part of the COSMOS-Web survey. By measuring the shapes of 129 galaxies per square arcminute—many independently in the F115W and F150W bands—we achieve an angular resolution of . 

Our map has more than twice the resolution of earlier Hubble Space Telescope maps, revealing how dark and luminous matter co-evolve across filaments, clusters and underdensities. It traces mass features out to z ≈ 2, including the most distant structure at z ≈ 1.1. The sensitivity to high-redshift lensing constrains galaxy environments at the peak of cosmic star formation and sets a high-resolution benchmark for testing theories about the nature of dark matter and the formation of large-scale cosmic structure."

Astronomers reveal new details about dark matter’s influence on universe | University of Cambridge "Scientists using data from the James Webb Space Telescope have made one of the most detailed high-resolution maps of dark matter ever produced. It shows how the invisible, ghostly material overlaps and intertwines with ‘regular’ matter, the stuff that makes up stars, galaxies, and everything we can see."

An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter (no public access)

An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter (preprint, open access)

NASA Reveals the Invisible Web of Dark Matter Shaping the Universe

Recommendable!

Far and Wide Part 3: Exoplanets

Recommendable!

Polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn hints at the planets’ interior details

Amazing stuff!

"Over the years, passing spacecraft have observed mystifying weather patterns at the poles of Jupiter and Saturn. The two planets host very different types of polar vortices, which are huge atmospheric whirlpools that rotate over a planet’s polar region. On Saturn, a single massive polar vortex appears to cap the north pole in a curiously hexagonal shape, while on Jupiter, a central polar vortex is surrounded by eight smaller vortices, like a pan of swirling cinnamon rolls.

Given that both planets are similar in many ways — they are roughly the same size and made from the same gaseous elements — the stark difference in their polar weather patterns has been a longstanding mystery.

Now, MIT scientists have identified a possible explanation for how the two different systems may have evolved. Their findings could help scientists understand not only the planets’ surface weather patterns, but also what might lie beneath the clouds, deep within their interiors. ...

After comparing simulations, the team found that vortex patterns, and whether a planet develops one or multiple polar vortices, comes down to one main property: the “softness” of a vortex’s base, which is related to the interior composition.

The scientists liken an individual vortex to a whirling cylinder spinning through a planet’s many atmospheric layers. When the base of this swirling cylinder is made of softer, lighter materials, any vortex that evolves can only grow so large. The final pattern can then allow for multiple smaller vortices, similar to those on Jupiter. In contrast, if a vortex’s base is made of harder, denser stuff, it can grow much larger and subsequently engulf other vortices to form one single, massive vortex, akin to the monster cyclone on Saturn. ..."

From the significance and abstract:

"Significance

One intriguing difference between the two largest planets in the solar system is their polar vortex structures: Jupiter hosts multiple vortices at its poles, while Saturn exhibits a single polar vortex.

By systematically surveying the parameter space of a 2D quasi-geostrophic system, we demonstrate that 4 different polar vortex patterns may arise, depending on two key nondimensional numbers and the initial conditions. Analytical criteria predicting the 4 possible patterns are provided. Utilizing the observed vortex patterns, we further obtain constraints on Saturn’s vortex depth and stratification.

Abstract

The distinct polar vortex dynamics observed on Jupiter and Saturn may provide insights into their interiors. In this study, we examine how the number and structure of polar vortices vary with forcing strength, dissipation rate, and interior stratification using a 1.5-layer quasi-geostrophic model. This simplified setup enables a broad exploration of the parameter space, revealing that vortex characteristics are determined by the sequence in which three key length scales—the deformation radius , the zonostrophic scale , and the dissipative scale —are encountered as energy cascades from small to large scales.

Four distinct vortex patterns are identified, including a vortex crystal resembling Jupiter’s polar vortices and a single-vortex state akin to that of Saturn. The conditions under which these patterns emerge provide constraints on the stratification of Jupiter and Saturn."

Polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn hints at the planets’ interior details | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology "New research may explain the striking differences between the two planets’ polar vortex patterns."

Polar vortex dynamics on gas giants: Insights from 2D energy cascades (no public access)

Jupiter

Saturn

Chinese submillimeter telescope in Antarctica traces the carbon cycle in the feedback of massive stars

Amazing stuff! Can the West keep up with China?

"... Astronomers in China have now shown it’s possible to peer through this veil, with a small terahertz telescope in the world’s driest spot: Dome A, the highest point on a massive plateau more than 4 kilometers above sea level near the center of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Last week, they reported seeing the faint glow of carbon in gas clouds within distant stellar nurseries, using two weeks’ worth of observations from the Antarctic Terahertz Explorer (ATE60), a prototype instrument with a dish 60 centimeters across. ..."

From the abstract:

"The cycling of carbon between its ionized, atomic, and molecular phases shapes the chemical compositions and physical conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM). However, ground-based studies of the full carbon cycle have been limited by atmospheric absorption.

Dome A, the most promising site for submillimeter astronomy, has long resisted successful submillimeter astronomical observations. Using the 60-centimeter Antarctic Terahertz Explorer, we present the first successful CO (4-3) and [CI] () mapping observations of two archetypal triggered massive star-formation regions at Dome A.

These data, together with archival [CII], provide the first complete characterization of all three carbon phases in these environments. We find elevated C0/CO abundance ratios in high-extinction regions, plausibly driven by deep penetration of intense radiation fields from massive stars into a clumpy ISM. These findings mark a major milestone for submillimeter astronomy at Dome A and offer valuable insights into the impact of massive star feedback on the surrounding ISM."

Chinese telescope in Antarctica probes uncharted heavenly radiation | Science | AAAS

First submillimeter lights from Dome A: Tracing the carbon cycle in the feedback of massive stars

Antarctic submillimeter telescope enables more complete view of the carbon cycle in star-forming regions

Overview of the observational site at Dome A. China’s tiny, 60-centimeter Antarctic Terahertz Explorer observatory

Ex-Google CEO Eric and wife Wendy Schmidt fund private space telescope bigger than Hubble ready in four years

Good news! Once more American philanthropy at its best!

"Today [1/7/2026] at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Schmidt Sciences, a foundation backed by billionaires Eric and Wendy Schmidt, announced one of the largest ever private investments in astronomy: funding for an orbiting observatory larger than NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, along with funds to build three novel ground-based observatories. The project aims to have all four components up and running by the end of the decade. ...

Schmidt Sciences declined to say how much it is investing but ... the space telescope, called Lazuli, alone will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. ..."

Ex–Google CEO funds private space telescope bigger than Hubble | Science | AAAS "Schmidt Sciences announces investments in orbiting observatory and three ground-based instruments"

The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System "Four novel observatories expanding access and enabling new ways to explore the cosmos"

The Argus Array, part of the new Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, will record a movie of the visible sky with 1200 small telescopes.

Eric and Wendy Schmidt (Source)

A rogue planet as massive as Saturn discovered in our Milky Way galaxy

Amazing stuff!

"Planets ... But some can go rogue, breaking away from their orbit and meandering through the galaxy. Researchers have discovered one such free floater, named Gaia24cdn, which they reported last week in Science.

Spotting rogue planets is challenging because they emit hardly any light. While astronomers typically track exoplanets by the dips in light they cause when passing in front of a star, astronomers must find rogue planets through subtle gravitational effects. Unfortunately, the gravitational method cannot reveal the distance or mass of a planet, making our knowledge of these floaters limited.

Using Polish and Korean-run ground-based telescope networks and the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope, a team detected a fleeting gravitational event where an object magnified the light from a star behind it.

Due to the multiple telescope angles, the team was able to determine the object’s location and mass: about 10,000 light-years from Earth and comparable to the mass of Saturn. Since the telescopes did not detect a host star, the researchers determined the object was a rogue planet. They think it likely formed in a typical solar system, then got expelled during a period of gravitational turmoil caused by interactions with neighboring planets or unstable stars.

Rogue planets like Gaia24cdn won’t be so sneaky for long. ... that the impending launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will “allow [for] the detection of thousands of new planets and the rigorous testing of planet formation models.”"

From the abstract (Perspective):

"Planets are often found orbiting a star or a group of multiple stars. However, planets have also been observed to drift independently without a known accompanying star system. These celestial objects, called free-floating or rogue planets, are difficult to detect because they don’t emit enough light to be spotted through current generation telescopes. ... report the discovery of a rogue planet by a short-lived microlensing event, an astronomical phenomenon in which the gravitational effect of a foreground object magnifies the light from a background star.

By combining simultaneous measurements on Earth and in space, the mass of the planet was estimated to be 22% that of Jupiter. This finding demonstrates how coordinated observations can overcome difficulties in determining both the position and mass of a rogue planet and improve the understanding of how these planets form. ..."

From the editor's summary and abstract:

"Editor’s summary

Gravitational microlensing causes the apparent brightness of a background star to vary when a foreground object passes across our line of sight. The mass and distance of the lensing object are usually degenerate parameters. Dong et al. have identified a microlensing event caused by a planetary-mass object with no associated host star ... By combining observations from Earth and a distant spacecraft, the mass-distance degeneracy can be broken, allowing for measurement of the lensing object’s mass, which is similar to Saturn’s. The researchers argue that this free-floating object did not form in isolation but was ejected from a host planetary system by dynamical interactions. ...

Abstract

A population of free-floating planets is known from gravitational microlensing surveys. None have a directly measured mass, owing to a degeneracy with the distance, but the population statistics indicate that many are less massive than Jupiter.

We report a microlensing event—KMT-2024-BLG-0792/OGLE-2024-BLG-0516, which was observed from both ground- and space-based telescopes—that breaks the mass-distance degeneracy. The event was caused by an object with 

 Jupiter masses that is either gravitationally unbound or on a very wide orbit. Through comparison with the statistical properties of other observed microlensing events and predictions from simulations, we infer that this object likely formed in a protoplanetary disk (like a planet), not in isolation (like a brown dwarf). Dynamical processes then ejected it from its birthplace, producing a free-floating object."

ScienceAdviser

Two views of a rogue planet (Perspective, no public access)

A free-floating-planet microlensing event caused by a Saturn-mass object (no public access)

A free-floating-planet microlensing event caused by a Saturn-mass object (preprint, open access)

Earth climate and planet Earth movements in space

Earth is a sort of spaceship inside the Milky Way galaxy and a ball with a moving axis circling around the sun. If I am not totally mistaken then the effects of all these planet Earth movements on the climate on Earth are not well understood to this day.

The Milky Way itself travels through space (According to Google: "it's moving at roughly 2.2 million km/h (1.3 million mph) relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) reference frame").

Our solar system travels within the Milky Way galaxy. According to Google: "The Solar System travels through the Milky Way by orbiting its center, where a supermassive black hole resides, completing one full lap (a galactic year) in about 230 million years at roughly 240 km/s (828,000 km/h)".

The Earth axis rotates in cycles of about 26,000 years. This axis precession also wobbles meaning the cycle of the axis is not a perfect circle as in geometry and the wobbles are of a shorter duration! These wobbles appear to be called nutation motions.

What about the orbital eccentricity of the Earth relative to the sun? "The eccentricity of Earth's orbit is currently about 0.0167; its orbit is nearly circular." However, "Over hundreds of thousands of years, the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit varies from nearly 0.0034 to almost 0.058 as a result of gravitational attractions among the planets." "The timescale of Earth’s eccentricity variation is ~400,000 years with a superimposed 100,000 year cycle.  There is also an unimportant 2.1 million year cycle."(Source)

Then there are the famous Milankovitch cycles that "describe the collective effects of changes in the Earth's movements on its climate over thousands of years."
How do we really know about these cycles and their effect on climate?
Where are we currently in this Milankovitch cycle? 

How about the Equatorial bulge (aka  oblate ellipsoid) "The planet Earth has a rather slight equatorial bulge; its equatorial diameter is about 43 km (27 mi) greater than its polar diameter, with a difference of about 1⁄298 of the equatorial diameter.". The bulge is not constant over time.

The Earth's rotation is slowing over time. What effect does this have on climate? According to Google: "Earth's rotation is gradually slowing down over millions of years due to the Moon's tidal pull, lengthening our days by about 1.8 milliseconds per century, but recent climate change, especially melting ice redistributing mass, has caused short-term fluctuations, even making the Earth spin slightly faster at times"

Caveat: I did not have the time to do more investigations into the link of all these Earth movements and climate on Earth. However, my impression is that this link has been poorly researched so far. It is easier and more ideological convenient for scientists and socialists and good for business to blame CO2!

Source

  Rotation   Precession  Nutation in obliquity of a planet (Source)

Strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system

Amazing stuff! We are not alone!

hycean planet (from Hydrogen + Ocean)

"A team led by Cambridge astronomers detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious. The team found signs of specific chemicals – on Earth, chemicals only produced by life – in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the habitable zone."

"Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the habitable zone. ..."

From the abstract:

"The sub-Neptune frontier has opened a new window into the rich diversity of planetary environments beyond the solar system. The possibility of hycean worlds, with planet-wide oceans and H2-rich atmospheres, significantly expands and accelerates the search for habitable environments elsewhere.

Recent JWST transmission spectroscopy of the candidate hycean world K2-18 b in the near-infrared led to the first detections of the carbon-bearing molecules CH4 and CO2 in its atmosphere, with a composition consistent with predictions for hycean conditions.
The observations also provided a tentative hint of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a possible biosignature gas, but the inference was of low statistical significance.
We report a mid-infrared transmission spectrum of K2-18 b obtained using the JWST MIRI LRS instrument in the ∼6–12 μm range. The spectrum shows distinct features and is inconsistent with a featureless spectrum at 3.4σ significance compared to our canonical model. We find that the spectrum cannot be explained by most molecules predicted for K2-18 b, with the exception of DMS and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), also a potential biosignature gas.
We report new independent evidence for DMS and/or DMDS in the atmosphere at 3σ significance, with high abundance (≳10 ppmv) of at least one of the two molecules.
More observations are needed to increase the robustness of the findings and resolve the degeneracy between DMS and DMDS. The results also highlight the need for additional experimental and theoretical work to determine accurate cross sections of important biosignature gases and identify potential abiotic sources. We discuss the implications of the present findings for the possibility of biological activity on K2-18 b."

Your Cambridge research highlights

Strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system "Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious."

New Constraints on DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K2-18 b from JWST MIRI (open access)

Transmission spectrum of the habitable zone exoplanet K2-18 b using the JWST MIRI spectrograph.

Astronomers spot one of the largest spinning structures ever found in the Universe

Amazing stuff!

"Their findings, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, could offer valuable new insights into how galaxies formed in the early Universe.

Cosmic filaments are the largest known structures in the Universe: vast, thread-like formations of galaxies and dark matter that form a cosmic scaffolding. They also act as ‘highways’ along which matter and momentum flow into galaxies. Nearby filaments containing many galaxies spinning in the same direction – and where the whole structure appears to be rotating – are ideal systems to explore how galaxies gained the spin and gas they have today. They can also provide a way to test theories about how cosmic rotation builds up over tens of millions of light-years.

In the study ... found 14 nearby galaxies rich in hydrogen gas, arranged in a thin, stretched-out line about 5.5 million light-years long and 117,000 light-years wide.

This structure sits inside a much larger cosmic filament containing over 280 other galaxies, and is roughly 50 million light-years long. Many of these galaxies appear to be spinning in the same direction as the filament itself- far more than if the pattern of galaxy spins was random. This challenges current models and suggests that cosmic structures may influence galaxy rotation more strongly or for longer than previously thought.

The researchers found that the galaxies on either side of the filament's spine are moving in opposite directions, suggesting that the entire structure is rotating. Using models of filament dynamics, they inferred the rotation velocity of 110 km/s and estimated the radius of the filament’s dense central region at approximately 50 kiloparsecs (about 163,000 light-years).

“What makes this structure exceptional is not just its size, but the combination of spin alignment and rotational motion,” ...

The team used data from South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope, one of the world’s most powerful telescopes, comprising an array of 64 interlinked satellite dishes. This spinning filament was discovered using a deep survey of the sky called MIGHTEE, combined with optical observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to reveal a cosmic filament exhibiting both coherent galaxy spin alignment and bulk rotation."

From the abstract:

"Understanding the cold atomic hydrogen gas (H i) within cosmic filaments has the potential to pin down the relationship between the low density gas in the cosmic web and how the galaxies that lie within it grow using this material.

We report the discovery of a cosmic filament using 14 H i-selected galaxies that form a very thin elongated structure of 1.7 Mpc. These galaxies are embedded within a much larger cosmic web filament, traced by optical galaxies, that spans at least ~15 Mpc.

We find that the spin axes of the H i galaxies are significantly more strongly aligned with the cosmic web filament (⁠⁠) than cosmological simulations predict, with the optically selected galaxies showing alignment to a lesser degree (⁠⁠). This structure demonstrates that within the cosmic filament, the angular momentum of galaxies is closely connected to the large-scale filamentary structure.

We also find strong evidence that the galaxies are orbiting around the spine of the filament, making this one of the largest rotating structures discovered thus far, and from which we can infer that there is transfer of angular momentum from the filament to the individual galaxies.

The abundance of H i galaxies along the filament and the low dynamical temperature of the galaxies within the filament indicates that this filament is at an early evolutionary stage where the imprint of cosmic matter flow on galaxies has been preserved over cosmic time."

Astronomers spot one of the largest spinning structures ever found in the Universe | University of Cambridge "Astronomers have identified one of the largest rotating structures ever reported: a “razor-thin” string of galaxies embedded in a giant spinning cosmic filament, 140 million light-years away."

A 15 Mpc rotating galaxy filament at redshift z = 0.032 (open access)

Figure 2.Top left: the on-sky distribution of H i galaxies (squares), SDSS and DESI optical galaxies (circles and lines, depending on the availability of optical PA measurements), and the cosmic filament. The MIGHTEE COSMOS footprint is shown in a block. Other panels show the DESI multiband cutout image and the H i moment-1 map of each H i-selected galaxy. ...