It’s an anomaly detected in the 1980s by the Voyager 1 and 2 probes. For a long time it was believed to be just extraneous noise, but similar anomalies were observed by Hubble, and eventually by Cassini – a probe that ended its life in 2017 by plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere. Thanks to her, we learned many things about this planet, in particular that a shower of micro-meteorites from the rings falls on it.
Saturn: excess ultraviolet radiation in the atmosphere
The question is simple: since with energy and matter, “nothing is gained, nothing is lost and everything is transformed”, does this rain upset the energy balance of the atmosphere and this overflow of ultraviolet radiation attributable to these small meteorites?
To answer these questions, it was necessary to look at the most abundant element of the gas giant planets: atomic hydrogen, and more particularly the most powerful part of its emission spectrum, which is called the “Lyman alpha line”. ”. It was necessary to look for this small fragment of light in all the available data: those of the Voyager 1 and 2 probes, Cassini and the IUE and Hubble telescopes.
The problem is that all are calibrated differently: the values can go from simple to double by changing the instrument. It was therefore necessary to use a reference point, in which everyone trusts: the Hubble telescope. This made it possible to re-process the 40 years of data and to be able to compare them with each other.
As a result, the excess ultraviolet radiation is indeed caused by the rain of matter coming from these rings. But that’s not all, the lyman alpha line is wider at one particular location, which means it’s heating up in Saturn’s upper atmosphere.
Interview with Lot-fi ben-JaffelCNRS researcher at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics and Sorbonne University and co-author of this study published in
The Planetary Science Journal.
The observation of a slew of stars caught between several black holes
These are also observations made by Hubble and there too, we first believed that it was an anomaly!
This intergalactic trail of stars is twice the diameter of our Milky Way and is located 200,000 light years away.
We know that black holes are used to gobbling up everything in their path, but here they are three and very fast, too fast to feed. Two so-called “supermassive” black holes in pairs on one side and on the other, one smaller than the others, a positioning that compressed the galactic gas and possibly created these stars.
A phenomenon observed for the first time. The results were published in The Astrophysical journal. NASA explains that they must be confirmed by observations from the Chandra Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope.
Why do aquatic turtles come out of the water at night?
They stand still out of the water and wait, as they do during the day to sunbathe, but here for a moonbath. A strange behavior observed many times, still never explained.
In this study published in
Global Ecology and Conservation and relayed by the magazine
Science and Future, the scientists wanted to systematize their observations. By studying many species in very different places, they highlight that the culprit is probably the temperature. Aquatic turtles only tend to exhibit this behavior in tropical and subtropical environments. Water that is too hot at these latitudes would force them to go out for a while at night to regulate their temperature.
Spanish researcher suspended from pay for next 13 years
The University of Cordoba sanctions him for having signed a publication as a professor of a Russian university, without having informed him beforehand. An error on his part according to him, but which highlighted that he was affiliated with many other universities.
It’s everyday
The country who reports the case and who digs his CV. The chemist Rafael Louqué is very prolific and he is one of the most cited scientists in the world. This year alone, he has published nearly 58 articles, or one every 37 hours. And he doesn’t hide, ChatGPT allows him to write papers in just one day, whereas he needed three before.
Problem, these text generators sometimes use “surprising” expressions so as not to be accused of plagiarism. In his case, it is for example “vegetative electron microscopy”, a nice term, but which does not refer to any scientific concept.
He is thus pinned down by several scientific specialists in fraud for facts of what is called misscience. With the suspicion of having had ties of financial interest. He acknowledges that he did not follow the procedures for collaborating with other institutions but attributes this sanction to a form of jealousy and incomprehension on the part of his former main employer.
Thanks to Lot-fi ben-Jaffel for his valuable explanations.
For further…
The study of Saturn’s rings (The Planetary Science Journal)
Saturn’s atmosphere is warmed by a meteor shower falling from its rings (Science and Future)
Rafael Luque, one of the world’s most cited scientists, suspended without pay for 13 years (El País, in English)
The turtle study (Global Ecology and Conservation)
Why do aquatic turtles come out of the water to bask in the moonlight? (Science and Future)