Astrum

We wanted to share this reply from one of our Astrum newsletter subscribers ❤️
Thank you and be sure to sign up if you haven't yet: astrumspace.kit.com/bfea330fbb

1 week ago | [YT] | 957

Astrum

Have you signed up for the Astrum newsletter yet? astrumspace.kit.com/bfea330fbb

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 235

Astrum

Hello everyone, Ian here!

For the past few months, I have been writing the weekly Astrum newsletter, rounding up all the most exciting news from space.
The feedback has been really positive, so this week I'm sharing the newsletter on the community tab so that no one misses it.
If you want the newsletter in all its glory, with links to sources, stunning images, and our bonus segments, just subscribe here:
astrumspace.kit.com/a94e725f37

- - - - - - - -
ASTRUM NEWSLETTER 4/SEP/2025
Hi there and happy Thursday.
I have spent the past week recovering from a wisdom tooth removal, which meant a lot of time in front of the TV. That turned out to be a bit of a blessing, because I got to rewatch Interstellar, in which black holes feature front and center.
It reminded me of how much I love sci-fi epics, so today I want to share a list of a few of my favorites:
Arrval, Foundation, The Martian, Dune I & II, Blade Runner 2049, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As you can tell, I love Denis Villeneuve. Reply and let me know if any classics are missing!
- - - - - - - -

NEWS
🕳️ ANCIENT BLACK HOLE DISCOVERED
🌌 NASA ADVANCES PHOTON SENSORS
🪐 JUNO SPOTS CALLISTO FOOTPRINT
☀️ SOLAR FLARES FAR HOTTER
✨ ORIGIN OF FAST WHITE DWARFS
📡 RADIO WAVES FROM GRAVITY


ANCIENT BLACK HOLE DISCOVERED.
Cambridge scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope identified a 50 million solar mass black hole known as QSO1 dating back 13 billion years. Its sparse halo and pristine hydrogen-helium composition suggest it formed moments after the big bang, supporting the long-theorized but never confirmed primordial black hole scenario.

NASA ADVANCES PHOTON SENSORS.
NASA announced progress in single-photon CMOS sensor technology led by Rochester Institute of Technology. The sensors, vital for the upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory, aim to detect faint atmospheric biosignatures on distant exoplanets. Tests confirm radiation tolerance, low noise, and promising near-infrared prototypes to enable future life-detection missions.

JUNO SPOTS CALLISTO FOOTPRINT.
The Juno spacecraft confirmed Jupiter's Moon Callisto’s elusive auroral signature during its 22nd orbit in September 2019. The faint footprint appeared when a solar wind surge shifted Jupiter’s main oval, finally completing the set of auroras from all four Galilean moons. Though the observations were old, findings were just published September 1, 2025, by Jonas Rabia’s team.

SOLAR FLARES FAR HOTTER.
University of St Andrews researchers reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters that solar flare ions can exceed 60 million degrees, about 6.5 times hotter than electrons. Led by Dr. Alexander Russell, the study explains unusually broad spectral lines, resolving a decades-old mystery about flare heating and plasma behavior.

ORIGIN OF FAST WHITE DWARFS.
Technion researchers reported in Nature Astronomy that hypervelocity white dwarfs arise from mergers of rare hybrid helium–carbon–oxygen stars. Their simulations show one star detonates while ejecting the other at over 2000 km per second. The findings explain runaway stars like J0546 and J0927 and link them to unusual Type Ia supernovae.

RADIO WAVES FROM GRAVITY.
Chinese researchers propose neutron stars’ magnetic fields can convert very high frequency gravitational waves into detectable radio signals. The study, published September 4 in The Astrophysical Journal, outlines how telescopes like FAST and SKA could pick up transient and persistent signatures. Detecting them would probe primordial black holes and test quantum field theory.

- - - - - - - -

ASTRUM ANSWERS
"How far fetched is the scene entering a black hole in Interstellar? Could a person get that close to a black hole?"
Ian, NYC (Yes, I asked this one, sharing the answer).


The black hole in question (Gargantua) is supermassive, and so it would have weak tidal forces at its event horizon, making survival up to that point plausible.
The visuals of the warped accretion disk and the extreme time dilation near its gravity well are also grounded in Einstein’s general relativity, and this was modeled with input from physicist Kip Thorne.
All that said, once inside the event horizon physics predicts inescapable collapse, not survival in a higher-dimensional tesseract.

- - - - - - - -

STARWATCH
Keep an eye out for the full moon, coming up on September 7th!

- - - - - - - -

QUIZ
The black hole we discovered might be as old as the universe, but how old is the universe estimated to be?
Reply and let us know your answer!

All the best,
Ian, Astrum Team

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,884

Astrum

Our latest Astrum video dives into the Local Hot Bubble - a giant region of superheated plasma our solar system is charging through right now: https://youtu.be/fKPo5q-u-s8

For this episode, we worked with editor and animator Stefan Payne-Wardenaar (known for his scientific animations with ESO), who created bespoke animations that give this video a fresh visual style. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the video, so please let us know in the comments!

2 months ago | [YT] | 2,020

Astrum

🌎 Earth has giant circles visible from SPACE! 🌎

In our latest Astrum Earth video, we’re exploring the mysterious circular structures spotted on Google Earth: https://youtu.be/Ts9n9J7dl4w

How did these features form? Are they a mere coincidence, or part of a much grander, unexplained pattern? Join us as we investigate the science behind these magnificent rings, decoding what they reveal about Earth's turbulent past, lost civilisations, and the powerful events that have shaped our world.

#AstrumEarth #GiantCircles #AsSeenOnGoogleEarth

2 months ago | [YT] | 1,088

Astrum

🌎 NEW ASTRUM EARTH VIDEO 🌎
Click this link to watch Astrum Earth’s newest video exploring Earth's Deep Biome: https://youtu.be/RoDvSSmUqzI

As we have reached further into the depths of our planet with boreholes, mines and submersibles, we have been met with the strangest, most extreme, and largest habitat on Earth.

But how do you survive down here? What creatures have dared to stray so far from the light of day? And what can this new frontier teach us about our planet... and others?

#AstrumEarth #DeepBiome #AlienWorld

3 months ago | [YT] | 936

Astrum

I just wanted to share this, as I thought it was super cool!

The University of Maryland just released these incredible images from NASA’s DART mission, showing the moment DART impacted the asteroid moon Dimorphos. The images were captured by the LICIACube spacecraft, and you can see the main asteroid Didymos moving across the frame from upper left to upper right as LICIACube flies by.

The impact on Dimorphos created an epic plume of dust and rocks, shooting out in this asymmetric cone pattern full of filaments and streams of material. Scientists think DART hit a rocky surface covered in large boulders, which got shattered and blasted out in directions they didn’t expect.

What’s really striking is how this mission shows just how complicated asteroid deflection actually is in practice. We’re making progress, but there’s clearly still a lot we need to learn about how these impacts work, if we want to use this method for planetary defense.

If you’re interested in finding out more about DART, check out this Astrum supercut we made about the mission: https://youtu.be/21YXb0bnY4E

Link to article: cmns.umd.edu/news-events/news/massive-boulders-eje…

3 months ago | [YT] | 3,894

Astrum

🐝 NEW ASTRUM EARTH VIDEO 🐝

In Astrum Earth’s latest video, we’re exploring Superorganisms - https://youtu.be/trOTfM6d3gQ

​​Evolution is survival of the fittest... or is it? We're exploring a bizarre life form where thousands of individuals act as one, sacrificing everything for the group, blurring the line between individuals.

Is this the pinnacle of evolution?

#AstrumEarth #Superorganisms #HiveMind

3 months ago | [YT] | 1,032

Astrum

🌊 NEW ASTRUM EARTH VIDEO 🌊
Click this link now to watch Astrum Earth’s newest video, exploring a deep sea phenomenon that should not exist: https://youtu.be/FA_WgI3QHG0

In 2020, a submersible from the Ocean-Xplorer research ship found something incredible lurking on the ocean floor. Among the deep sea tube worms, smoking hydrothermal vents, and salt-encrusted crabs, was an undisturbed, underwater... lake.

Ready to dive into Earth's most mysterious waters?

#AstrumEarth #DeepSea #Exploration

3 months ago | [YT] | 687

Astrum

I saw this today and rapidly exhaled air. A simple guide to know the difference...

3 months ago | [YT] | 6,527