Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Northwestern Univ./F. Yusef-Zadeh et al; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKat; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk Astronomers have discovered a likely explanation for a fracture in a huge cosmic “bone” in the Milky Way galaxy, using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and radio telescopes.
The bone appears to have been struck by a fast-moving, rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar. Neutron stars are the densest known stars and form from the collapse and explosion of massive stars. They often receive a powerful kick from these explosions, sending them away from the explosion’s location at high speeds.
Enormous structures resembling bones or snakes are found near the center of the galaxy. These elongated formations are seen in radio waves and are threaded by magnetic fields running parallel to them. The radio waves are caused by energized particles spiraling along the magnetic fields.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Northwestern Univ./F. Yusef-Zadeh et al; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKat; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk This new image shows one of these cosmic “bones” called G359.13142-0.20005 (G359.13 for short), with X-ray data from Chandra (colored blue) and radio data from the MeerKAT radio array in South Africa (colored gray). Researchers also refer to G359.13 as the Snake.
Examining this image closely reveals the presence of a break, or fracture, in the otherwise continuous length of G359.13 seen in the image. The combined X-ray and radio data provides clues to the cause of this fracture.
Astronomers have now discovered an X-ray and radio source at the location of the fracture, using the data from Chandra and MeerKAT and the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array. A likely pulsar responsible for these radio and X-ray signals is labeled. A possible extra source of X-rays located near the pulsar may come from electrons and positrons (the anti-matter counterparts to electrons) that have been accelerated to high energies.
The researchers think the pulsar likely caused the fracture by smashing into G359.13 at a speed between one million and two million miles per hour. This collision distorted the magnetic field in the bone, causing the radio signal to also become warped.
At about 230 light-years long, G359.13 is one of the longest and brightest of these structures in the Milky Way. To put this into context, there are more than 800 stars within that distance from Earth. G359.13 is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, near the center of the Milky Way.
A paper describing these results appeared in the May 2024 issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and is available here. The authors of the study are Farhad Yusuf-Zadeh (Northwestern University), Jun-Hui Zhao (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian), Rick Arendt (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Mark Wardle (Macquarie University, Australia), Craig Heinke (University of Alberta), Marc Royster (College of the Sequoias, California), Cornelia Lang (University of Iowa), and Joseph Michail (Northwestern).
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Learn More
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
https://www.nasa.gov/chandra
https://chandra.si.edu
Visual Description
This release features two composite images of a long, thin, cosmic structure. With the structure’s vertical orientation, seemingly fragile dimensions, and pale grey color against the blackness of space, the images resemble medical X-rays of a long, thin, bone. The main image shows the structure in its entirety. The inset image is an annotated close-up highlighting an apparent fracture in the bone-like structure.
The structure, called G359.13, or “The Snake”, is a Galactic Center Filament. These filament formations are threaded by parallel magnetic fields, and spiraling, energized particles. The particles cause radio waves, which can be detected by radio arrays, in this case by the MeerKAT array in South Africa.
In the first composite image, the largely straight filament stretches from the top to the bottom of the vertical frame. At each end of the grey filament is a hazy grey cloud. The only color in the image is neon blue, found in a few specks which dot the blackness surrounding the structure. The blue represents X-rays seen by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
In the annotated close-up, one such speck appears to be interacting with the structure itself. This is a fast-moving, rapidly spinning neutron star, otherwise known as a pulsar. Astronomers believe that this pulsar has struck the filament halfway down its length, distorting the magnetic field and radio signal.
In both images, this distortion resembles a small break, or spur, in the bone-like filament.
News Media Contact
Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
View the full article
-
By NASA
In microgravity, without the continuous load of Earth’s gravity, the tissues that make up bones reshape themselves. Bone cells readjust their behaviors—the cells that build new bone slow down, while the cells that break down old or damaged bone tissue keep operating at their normal pace so that breakdown outpaces growth, producing weaker and more brittle bones. For every month in space, astronauts’ weight-bearing bones become roughly 1% less dense if they don’t take precautions to counter this loss. Muscles, usually activated by simply moving around on Earth, also weaken because they no longer need to work as hard. This loss of bone and muscle is called atrophy.
Atrophy has serious implications for astronaut health. On Earth, muscle and bone loss or atrophy also occur from normal aging, sedentary lifestyles, and illnesses. This may cause serious health issues from injuries due to falls, osteoporosis, or many other medical problems.
While researchers understand broad causes of atrophy, they continue to investigate the fundamental mechanisms and contributing factors of microgravity-induced muscle and bone atrophy. Much research focuses on determining the right combination of diet, exercise, and medication to keep astronauts healthy during missions and when they return to Earth or set foot on the Moon or Mars.
Exercise & Forces
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Kjell Lindgren work out on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED). Credits: NASA Each astronaut aboard the space station engages the muscles, bones, and other connective tissues that comprise their musculoskeletal systems using Earth-like exercise regimens. Crews exercise for an average of two hours a day.
Astronauts have biked on stationary bicycles and run on treadmills in space for decades. One of the first missions on the space station flew TVIS, a treadmill with a harness to keep the user tethered to the machine and add some gravity-like force.1 A current piece of equipment called ARED allows astronauts to mimic weightlifting in microgravity.
Unfortunately, these machines are too large to bring aboard a spacecraft for long duration space flight where room is at a premium. So scientists are curious: Could exercises using minimal or no equipment could provide adequate physical activity while taking up less room?
One study in particular aims to find out. For the Zero T2 experiment, some astronauts do not use the treadmill and instead simply perform aerobic and resistance exercises. Researchers plan to compare their muscle performance and recovery to their crewmates who did use the treadmill.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio performs maintenance on the space station’s treadmill.NASA The motivation to exercise is a major hurdle both on Earth and on the space station. Two hours or more of exercise a day is a large chunk of time! VR for Exercise focuses on developing a virtual reality environment astronauts can pedal through while on the station’s exercise bicycle. It’s more than just a different view—creating an immersive experience helps astronauts enjoy their time exercising.
In addition to testing the exercise regime itself, researchers want to understand how the body experiences exercise in microgravity. Full-body exercise affects the entire musculoskeletal system. ARED Kinematics analyzes how muscle strain, bone stress, and other internal factors affect the body while exercising in microgravity. Measuring the body during space workouts can help scientists understand how astronauts need to adapt exercises in microgravity to preserve and optimize their health during long duration spaceflight missions. Researchers found that pre-flight exercise training improves performance on station, just as pre-season training helps athletes in later competition. 2 The investigation aims to determine optimal exercise programs to prepare astronauts before a mission, limit the effects of microgravity during a mission, and enable safe and rapid recovery postflight.2
ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Alexander Gerst gets a workout on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED). NASA The search for treatments for bone atrophy in space overlaps with research on bone loss associated with osteoporosis on Earth. Some experiments, like Vertebral Strength, capture detailed scans of astronauts’ bones and muscles supporting the vertebral column before and after flight, providing researchers with information about overall musculoskeletal strength.
Drugs used to prevent bone loss on Earth, such as myostatin inhibitors, also may successfully prevent bone and muscle loss in both astronauts and animal models in space. Rodent Research 19 (RR-19) tested this drug during spaceflight.3 Developing drugs to treat bone loss could benefit people on Earth as well as provide countermeasures for those on long-duration space missions.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir installs the Bone Densitometer device for the Rodent Research 19 experiment.NASA Tissue chips are small devices that imitate complex functions of specific tissues and organs. Rather than bringing a whole organ to study in space, researchers can send a small sample in a handheld device. One tissue chip experiment, Human Muscle-on-Chip, used a 3D model of muscle fibers created from muscle cells of young and older adults to study muscle function changes in microgravity. Electrical pulses cause the tissue to contract, just like the muscles in our bodies when we use them. Researchers found decreased expression of genes related to muscle growth and metabolism in muscle cells exposed to space, with differences based on the age of the individuals that the tissue samples came from.4
Understanding how to prevent and treat muscle atrophy and bone loss is particularly important as NASA plans missions to the Moon and Mars. Once they arrive, astronauts may need to perform strenuous activity in partial gravity after a long time in near weightlessness.
CIPHER is an integrated experiment measuring psychological and physiological changes—including bone and muscle loss – in crew members on missions ranging in length from a few weeks to one year. As NASA sets goals or longer missions deeper into space, scientists want to know: Do long missions change astronauts’ physical bodies more than shorter missions? Do changes to certain systems plateau after a certain amount of time in space? Do any changes feed back to affect different biological systems? NASA needs such data to best prepare astronauts to achieve agency exploration goals.
Through CIPHER, NASA can conduct the same research over missions of different durations. This allows scientists to extrapolate to multi-year missions, such as a three-year round trip to Mars. Findings could be key to developing protective strategies and safeguarding crew members for exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.
Studying bone and muscle loss aboard the space station is advancing the development of strategies that keep space travelers safe and treatments for people on Earth with disease-related and age-related bone and muscle atrophy.
Resources for Additional Learning
Search this database of scientific experiments to learn more about those mentioned above: Space Station Research Explorer
Citations:
Belyaev MY, Babkin EV, Ryabukha SB, Ryazantsev AV. Microperturbations on the International Space Station during physical exercises of the crew. Cosmic Research. 2011 April 16; 49(2): 160-174. DOI: 10.1134/S0010952511010011. Lambrecht G, Petersen N, Weerts G, Pruett CJ, Evetts SN, Stokes M, Hides JA. The role of physiotherapy in the European Space Agency strategy for preparation and reconditioning of astronauts before and after long duration space flight. Musculoskeletal Science & Practice. 2017 January; 27 Suppl 1S15-S22. DOI: 10.1016/j.math.2016.10.009 Lee S, Lehar A, Meir JU, Koch C, Morgan A, Warren L, Rydzik R, Youngstrom DW, Chandok H, George J, Gogain J, Michaud M, Stoklasek TA, Liu Y, Germain-Lee EL. Targeting myostatin/activin A protects against skeletal muscle and bone loss during spaceflight. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2020 September 2; 117(38): 23942-23951. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014716117. PMID: 32900939. Parafati M, Giza S, Shenoy T, Mojica-Santiago JA, Hopf M, Malany LK, Platt D, Moore I, Jacobs ZA, Kuehl P, Rexroat JT, Barnett G, Schmidt CE, McLamb WT, Clements TS, Coen P, Malany S. Human skeletal muscle tissue chip autonomous payload reveals changes in fiber type and metabolic gene expression due to spaceflight. npj Microgravity. 2023 September 15; 9(1): 77. DOI: 10.1038/s41526-023-00322-y. In this STEMonstration, NASA Astronaut Joe Acaba stresses the importance of exercising in orbit, and dives into the science behind what happens to bones and muscles in microgravity. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics
Station Science 101: Human Research
Living in Space
Humans In Space
Latest News from Space Station Research
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.