visible light

This artist impression shows the pulsar PSR J1023+0038 stealing gas from its companion star. This gas accumulates in the disk around the pulsar, slowly falls into it and is eventually ejected in a narrow jet. In addition, there is a wind of particles blowing from the pulsar, represented in the figure by a cloud of very small dots. This wind collides with the gas falling in, heating it and causing the system to glow brightly in X-rays, UV and visible light. Eventually clumps of this hot gas are ejected with the jet, and the pulsar returns to its initial, weaker state, and repeats the cycle. This pulsar has been observed to continuously switch between these two states every few seconds or minutes. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Cosmic Shells: Solving the Mystery of Strange Pulsar Brightness Changes

Astronomers have deciphered the strange behavior of the pulsar J1023+0038. This pulsar, which rapidly transitions between two brightness states, emits material in sudden bursts that cause these transitions. Thanks to this breakthrough, which included observations and analyses
Clusters of satellites, such as the BlueWalker 3 prototype, are causing concern among astronomers due to possible interference with night sky observations and radio astronomy. Balancing the global needs for communication and maintaining astronomical research is critical. Credit: AST SpaceMobile

A prototype of a large low-orbit communications satellite is troubling astronomers

The BlueWalker 3 satellite whose antenna area is 64 square meters has become one of the brightest objects in the night sky, the fear is that when there are a hundred satellites in this constellation and hundreds in other constellations it will be impossible to watch the sky
Caption: Above, azobenzene is a molecule that can change its shape with light. An azobenzene molecule switches between two forms under the influence of light. In the lower figure: a molecular cage containing the molecules of the photosensitizer azobenzene. The new mechanism is based on a supramolecular approach in which the molecules of azobenzene and the photosensitizer are locked together in a molecular cage. The limited space accessible to the caged molecules allows only the E-form, but not the Z-form of azobenzene, so this molecule is pushed out of the cage. Credit: Jonathan R. Church

Publication in Science magazine about a new discovery: using harmless light to change the shape of an azobenzene molecule within a supramolecular complex

Azobenzenes are versatile compounds with many potential uses, such as advancing technology through the production of tiny machines, as well as creating light-activated drugs. These molecules can be found in two different forms called