Thursday, September 05, 2024

SPACE

Small asteroid burns up over Luzon

By GMA Integrated News
Published September 5, 2024 

Screengrab from Unang Hirit report

A little asteroid hit the Earth's atmosphere early Thursday morning, producing a fireball that was seen in the skies over Luzon.

Netizens posted videos of the celestial event, which occurred at 12:39 a.m.

The asteroid, 2024 RW1, was only detected hours before it struck Earth.

Earlier, the European Space Agency said the asteroid, which is around one meter in size, was ''harmless."

“This is just the ninth asteroid that humankind has ever spotted before impact,” the ESA said.

— VBL, GMA Integrated News

May 23, 2018 ... Comets are also composed of material left over from the formation of our solar system and formed around the same time as asteroids. However, ...



An Asteroid Hit Earth’s Atmosphere Today—Here’s Why Astronomers Say That’s a Good Thing

Asteroid 2024 RW1 was discovered early this morning, marking the ninth time in history that humans have detected an approaching space rock before its impact


Margherita Bassi
Daily Correspondent

September 4, 2024 
Catalina Sky Survey's images identifying Asteroid 2024 RW1. Catalina Sky Survey via X


At around 12:40 p.m. Eastern time today, an asteroid raced through Earth’s atmosphere. You may have noticed, however, that scientific communities didn’t panic, nor did governments issue evacuation orders. That’s because the celestial object, designated asteroid 2024 RW1, posed no real danger to humans: It was only a little over three feet long, and it mostly burned up in the atmosphere over the Philippines’ Luzon Island. Any remnants of the rock probably landed in the ocean.

“An object this small can’t do any damage on the ground, we’re protected from them by the Earth’s atmosphere,” Alan Fitzsimmons, an expert in the field of asteroid and cometary science, tells New Scientist’s Matthew Sparkes and James Dinneen.

Instead, the asteroid simply created a dazzling spectacle for people in the area, streaking across the sky as a bright fireball. Despite an initial assessment from the European Space Agency (ESA) suggesting tropical storms might obscure the view of the asteroid, several videos of the space rock lighting up the night sky have popped up on social media.

Here’s how Asteroid RW1 looks like from Gonzaga, Cagayan, Philippines. Best shot so far!! pic.twitter.com/eYgQsHqxFP— Raymon Dullana (@raymongdullana) September 4, 2024

Jacqueline Fazekas, a research technologist at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey, first spotted asteroid 2024 RW1 hurtling toward Earth early this morning. The news was announced by the Catalina Sky Survey on X less than nine hours before impact.

To some, that narrow statistic might seem worrying. The detection, however, “is a good thing,” writes EarthSky’s Kelly Kizer Whitt. “We’re getting better at spotting asteroids before they hit us.”

The occurrence was “a dramatic and scientifically valuable event,” writes the International Meteor Organization’s Karl Antier. Two or three objects similar to asteroid 2024 RW1 hit our planet every year, per New Scientist, but this is only the ninth time in human history that scientists spotted one of these Earth-impacting extraterrestrial objects before it entered the atmosphere.

“The really positive aspect about this is that the survey telescopes are now good enough to spot these things coming in and give us a bit of warning,” Fitzsimmons tells New Scientist. “Put another way, if this object had been much larger and so perhaps pose[d] a threat to people on the ground, then it would be much brighter, and we’d have projected it much further out. So, this actually is a really nice demonstration that the current survey systems are doing a very good job.”

This detection is actually great news! This is only the ninth time that humankind has discovered an asteroid before it impacts Earth and is a sign of our improving planetary defence capabilities.

Take a look at this graphic: https://t.co/jNz2KNE7tb

And find out more about the…— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) September 4, 2024

For example, one of the most notorious asteroids of the modern era, a rock called Apophis, was detected by a team of astronomers at Arizona’s Kitt Peak National Observatory in 2004. At first, researchers calculated that it had a 2.7 percent chance of crashing catastrophically into our planet, though that number has since been adjusted to zero percent for at least the next 100 years. The 1,100-foot-long asteroid is predicted to make a close pass by Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029—zooming by at a distance closer than geosynchronous satellites.

Today’s detection of asteroid 2024 RW1 is a small victory within the greater context of planetary defense. In 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft smashed into a 525-foot-wide asteroid called Dimorphos to change its motion, demonstrating the viability of asteroid redirection. Basically, if a threatening object is found hurtling toward Earth, DART suggests we have a chance of diverting its path by crashing a spacecraft into it.

In October, the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft is scheduled to launch on a mission to carry out a post-impact survey of Dimorphos, in hopes of turning NASA’s DART experiment into a repeatable technique.

WELCOME TO EARTH, ASTEROID 2024 RW1!

Here's a clear shot of the much-awaited small asteroid 2024 RW1 (#CAQTDL2) burning bright into a greenish 'fireball' over Lal-lo, Cagayan around 12:39 AM PhST, 05 September 2024. Did you see it too?

… pic.twitter.com/B3oAm6nNdD— ScienceKonek (@sciencekonek) September 4, 2024

The advance detection of the asteroid that impacted Earth today is “a sign of our improving planetary defense capabilities,” ESA Operations writes on X.

Hopefully, that means that if a much larger object than asteroid 2024 RW1 gets too close for comfort in the future, we’ll be ready.




Margherita Bassi |
Margherita Bassi is a trilingual storyteller and freelance journalist with a particular interest in ancient history, astronomy and human interest stories.


Space Development Agency Will Soon Deliver Capability to Warfighters

Sept. 5, 2024 | By David Vergun, DOD News 

The Defense Department wants missile-tracking capability available to combatant commanders for operational use by the end of calendar year 2025, the director of the Space Development Agency said yesterday.

Derek Tournear said the agency has launched 27 demonstration satellites, while keeping one on the ground for a test bed for debugging and software updates to those satellites in geosynchronous low Earth orbit at a Defense News Conference event in Arlington, Virginia. 

During the discussion of advances in missile tracking from space using data transport and missile tracking satellites, Tournear said the Space Development Agency is still in tranche 0, which means the early stages of satellite deployment for capability demonstrations. 

These satellites for national security are referred to as PWSA, or proliferated warfighter space architecture. 

Tranche 0 proved that Link 16 from space to warfighter is feasible, he said. Link 16 is a secure military communications system that allows the exchange of real-time tactical data among military aircraft, ships and ground forces by U.S. and coalition forces.

Link 16 from space has "never been done before," he said. It was demonstrated with Australian partners and a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and airframe. Future tests will include Norway, Tournear said. 

The next question the agency will address is: Can you do the missile-tracking mission from low Earth orbit satellites with all of the space clutter in that orbit with a dim-appearing missile in flight in real time? 

The answer is yes. There's been some success zeroing in on missile or rocket "targets of opportunity," including a SpaceX launch and some classified missile launches that can't be discussed, he said. 

Another question answered by tranche 0: Can DOD form an optical network in low Earth orbit using laser communications? "Last night, it was actually demonstrated. Two tracking satellites did that, acquiring and maintaining links for several hours," he said.

Tranche 1 should be initiated around the end of this calendar year or a little after.  

Tranche 2 is in the design phase, with launch scheduled to begin around September 2026. 

Tranche 3 work is ongoing. These satellites have about a five-year design life, so tranche 3 will need to replenish some of the earlier satellites. 

Tournear noted that his agency is a lean, fast-paced, results-driven organization that is cost-effective, and fully accountable to and supported by Congress.


Guardian Angel

A Space Force Guardian Is Bringing Stranded Boeing Astronauts Home


They're coming home.


Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty / Ruturism


Our Saviors

Sep 4, 2024
by Noor Al-Sibai

A Space Force Guardian is going on a mission none has ever attempted before: actually going to space.

In a press release, NASA announced that Col. Nick Hague will take charge as the first ever active-duty Space Force Guardian to journey into space (astronaut Michael Hopkins was deputized into the Space Force during a ceremony on board the ISS in 2020, but he wasn't yet a member when he traveled there, and the military branch's personnel weren't yet known as Guardians.)

Hague's mission is simple, according to Military.com's breakdown: bring back Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, the now-stranded astronauts who took Boeing's doomed Starliner up to the International Space Station earlier this summer and have since been unable to return home in the malfunctioning capsule.

The international pair of saviors will fly with two empty seats on a SpaceX Dragon capsule for NASA's Crew-9 mission, which will launch later this month and return to Earth with their precious cargo no sooner than February with Wilmore and Williams in tow.
Delays on Delays

What was slated to be an eight-day jaunt to and from the ISS in early June will end up being at least seven months for the Starliner crew — but the uncrewed capsule itself is set to return to Earth alone on September 6.

Hague's historic first launch as a designated Space Force Guardian was also delayed by the Starliner fiasco.

Despite it being his first launch with the Space Force, this won't be Hague's first space rodeo, since he stayed aboard the ISS for six months when he was still in the Air Force back in 2019. Prior to that successful launch, Hague had also attempted a launch in 2018 on a Russian Soyuz rocket that ended up malfunctioning, resulting in a close call and mission abort.

Between then and now, Hague joined the Space Force and became the new branch's director of test and evaluation.

Now his branch-switching, close-calls, and patience are being rewarded — unless the mission slips yet again, that is.


NASA prepares for Starliner return from ISS

Jeff Foust
September 4, 2024

NASA is proceeding with plans for a Sept. 6 return of the Starliner spacecraft from the ISS without a crew on board. Credit: NASA



WASHINGTON — NASA is preparing for the uncrewed return to Earth of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as the agency begins work on changes to the spacecraft to correct problems found during its test flight.

Agency officials confirmed at a Sept. 4 briefing plans for Starliner to undock from the station Sept. 6 at 6:04 p.m. Eastern. The spacecraft will quickly depart the vicinity of the ISS and perform a deorbit burn at 11:17 p.m. Eastern, setting up a landing of the Starliner crew capsule at White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico, at 12:03 a.m. Eastern Sept. 7.

Steve Stich, NASA commercial crew program manager, said there were no technical issues being worked ahead of Starliner’s uncrewed departure to complete the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission. Weather at White Sands was also forecast to be favorable, with a slight chance of rain the only concern. A backup landing opportunity is available Sept. 10.

Starliner’s departure from the station will be different from what was originally planned when it would have astronauts on board. The spacecraft will make a relatively rapid departure from the vicinity of the station, called a “breakout burn,” rather than a more gradual separation that would include a flyaround of the station.

The breakout burn allows for a faster departure from the station, said Anthony Vareha, the lead NASA space station flight director for the undocking, as well as accommodates the lack of crew on board. “Without the crew on board, able to take manual control if needed, there’s just a lot less variables that we need to account for when we do the breakout burn, and allows us to get the vehicle on a trajectory home that much sooner.”

Stich added that this trajectory puts “less stress” on reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, whose problems on approach to the station in June ultimately led to NASA’s decision to have the spacecraft return without a crew on board. “There’s a lot fewer thruster firings,” he said.

Once Starliner is away from the vicinity of the station, though, controllers to plan to test-fire several of the thrusters. Stich said engineers are still choosing what thrusters to test, but that they may involve some of the aft thrusters that experienced problems, including one that appeared to lose all thrust on approach to the station and did not recover in subsequent tests.

Those tests will be short pulses, lasting about 0.1 seconds, which will be enough to see how well they are performing. “The purpose of that is to continue to learn,” he said, collecting data in addition to tests performed while Starliner was docked to the station. “We really want to see how the thrusters perform and what the thrust levels exactly are after we undock and fire them for a little bit.”

The RCS thrusters will be used again to maintain attitude control during the deorbit burn, which is carried out by larger thrusters. The RCS thrusters will maneuver the spacecraft after that burn to separate the crew capsule from the service module and orient the capsule for reentry.

Assuming Starliner does safely return to Earth, NASA will turn its attention to changes to the spacecraft to address the thruster problems as well as helium leaks so that the vehicle can be certified for crew rotation missions.

“We’ve been entirely focused this summer on understanding what is happening on orbit, trying to decide if we could bring the crew back or not,” Stich said. “What we need to do now is really lay out the overall plan, which we have not had time to do.”

For the helium leaks, he said the leading explanation is that exposure to oxidizer vapors is causing a seal to degrade. “One of the things we’re looking at is a different material on the seal and maybe a different, slightly enlarged seal.”

He suggested, though, that the thruster problems could be resolved without major hardware changes. “Clearly, the way we fire the thrusters causes the thruster to overheat,” he said, causing a component called a poppet and made of Teflon to swell, constraining the flow of propellant to the thruster. “We need to understand what kinds of pulses in particular cause that swelling, the number of pulses.”

While he said nothing was ruled out, he indicated that NASA was leaning towards operational changes rather than replacing or modifying the thrusters themselves. “We know the thrusters are working well when we don’t command them in a manner that overheats them and gets the poppet to swell,” he said, noting that most thrusters worked without issue. “We know that the thruster is a viable thruster.”

“The easiest thing to do is to figure out how do we lower the temperature the thruster is operating at and maybe not firing it in a manner that causes it having this overheating phenomenon,” he said. He added later in the briefing that it could include modifications to structures on the service module called doghouses that contain the thrusters to better dissipate heat or cool thrusters.

At the briefing, NASA did not indicate how long post-flight reviews of Starliner and corrective actions might take, or if Boeing would be required to perform another test flight before certification. As with several previous briefings, Boeing was not a participant.

NASA officials, though, rejected reports that earlier meetings about whether to allow astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return on the spacecraft descended into yelling.

“I would not characterize it as heated,” Stich said, but acknowledged that there was “some tension in the room” as Boeing argued that Starliner was safe enough while NASA felt models of thruster performance were too uncertain. “I wouldn’t say it was a yelling screaming kind of meeting. It was a tense technical discussion.”

Chinese astronauts study ancient microbes aboard Tiangong space station

Chinese astronauts aboad the Tiangong space station are studying anaerobic archaea in an experiment to determine if some of Earth's early forms of life can handle a simulated cosmic environment.

Shenzhou 18 crewmembers — commander Ye Guangfu and crewmates Li Cong and Li Guangsu — have been aboard the Tiangong space station since late April and have been busy conducting spacewalks and running experiments.

That scientific work includes research on space radiation damage and adaptability of anaerobic archaea, as a newly released video shows. 

China's Shenzhou 18 astronauts perform research aboard the nation's Tiangong space station. (Image credit: CCTV)

The archaea are a domain of single-celled organisms and one of Earth's oldest lifeforms. The archaea used in the Tiangong experiment consume hydrogen and carbon dioxide, in turn producing methane as a waste product.

The research aims to test their survival under Mars-like conditions and extreme cosmic radiation, contributing to the search for alien life, according to a report from Chinese state-run broadcaster CCTV. 

Methane, a potential biomarker but also a gas produced by geological processes, has been detected on Mars a number of times and is of great interest to scientists. Similar experiments have been sent to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of research into the potential for life to exist beyond Earth.

The anaerobic archaea were delivered to the space station aboard the Tianzhou 7 cargo spacecraft earlier this year and have been housed in a small centrifuge module aboard Tiangong. 

Related: Weightlessness and its effect on astronauts

Meanwhile, Ye Guangfu and his crew have been working on a wide array of other experiments and maintenance tasks. This includes replacing samples in fluid physics cabinets and containerless cabinets, performing vacuum operations in the combustion chamber and conducting experiments related to microgravity fluid physics, combustion science and space materials science. 

Other recent tests include pharmacokinetic studies to assess the impact of long-duration spaceflight on the human body and to provide reference for in-orbit medication, according to CCTV.

China completed the construction of Tiangong in late 2022 and aims to keep the orbital outpost permanently occupied and running experiments for at least a decade. The incoming Shenzhou 19 astronauts are expected to launch to Tiangong around November. They will take over from the current crew, who will return to Earth after a few days of sharing the space station.


SpaceX satellites with Tesat terminals achieve first laser data exchange for U.S. military


This marks the first time that satellites built for the Space Development Agency demonstrate laser communications in space using optical terminals compliant with military standards
September 4, 2024
SPACE NEWS
Tesat-Spacecom artist rendering of optical communications in space. 
Credit: Tesat-Spacecom


ARLINGTON, Va. — Two SpaceX-built satellites successfully exchanged data using optical communications terminals in a milestone for the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA), the agency’s director Derek Tournear said Sept. 4.

The satellites, part of SDA’s Tranche 0 experimental spacecraft in low Earth orbit, used laser terminals manufactured by Tesat-Spacecom to communicate. This marks the first time the agency has demonstrated laser communications in space using optical terminals compliant with military standards required for SDA satellites.

“We had not previously demonstrated laser communications,” Tournear said at a DefenseNews conference. He reported that the data exchange occurred on September 3, with the satellites establishing a connection in under 100 seconds and maintaining it for several hours.

The successful test involved two of four SpaceX satellites equipped with Leidos infrared sensors and Tesat terminals. Tesat-Spacecom, a Germany-based subsidiary of Airbus Defense and Space, has expanded its U.S. presence to support growing demand for optical communication technologies from SDA.

This demonstration addressed doubts about SDA satellites’ ability to form an optical network in low Earth orbit. It follows a 2021 test conducted with the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which used different optical terminals that did not comply with the current standard required by the SDA, making the recent test even more significant.
Crucial step for SDA’s mesh network

The laser communications test is a crucial step in SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) program. PWSA aims to create a network of hundreds of small satellites to enhance military communication and surveillance capabilities.

Tournear also noted that all four SpaceX satellites have successfully detected missile launches with their infrared sensors, including SpaceX’s Starship reentry in June.

In addition to the laser communications breakthrough, Tournear highlighted a late 2023 demonstration of Link 16 network entry from space, using satellites made by York Space. This test involved transmitting tactical messages from orbit to ground-based receivers, highlighting the potential for enhanced military communications through space-based platforms.

The Tranche 0 deployment included satellites from SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, York Space and L3Harris.



Heat shield a hot decision —


After Starliner, NASA has another big human spaceflight decision to make

"We still have a lot of work to do to close out the heat shield investigation.”


Eric Berger - 9/4/2024, 

Enlarge / The Artemis II Orion spacecraft being prepared for tests at NASA’S Kennedy Space Center in Florida in June 2024.
NASA / Rad Sinyak44

Now that NASA has resolved the question of the Starliner spacecraft and its two crew members on the International Space Station, the agency faces another high-stakes human spaceflight decision.

The choice concerns the Orion spacecraft's heat shield and whether NASA will make any changes before the Artemis II mission that will make a lunar flyby. Although Starliner has garnered a lot of media attention, this will be an even higher-profile decision for NASA, with higher consequences—four astronauts will be on board, and hundreds of millions, if not billions of people, will be watching humanity's first deep space mission in more than five decades.


The issue is the safety of the heat shield, located at the base of the capsule, which protects Orion's crew during its return to Earth. During the Artemis I mission that sent Orion beyond the Moon in late 2022, without astronauts on board, chunks of charred material cracked and chipped away from Orion's heat shield during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Once the spacecraft landed, engineers found more than 100 locations where the stresses of reentry damaged the heat shield.

After assessing the issue for more than a year, NASA convened an "independent review team" to conduct its analysis of NASA's work. Initially, this review team's work was due to be completed in June, but its deliberations continued throughout much of the summer, and it only recently concluded.

The team's findings are not public yet, but NASA essentially faces two choices with the heat shield: It can fly Artemis II with a similar heat shield that Orion used on Artemis I, or the agency can revamp the design and construct a new heat shield, likely delaying Artemis II from its September 2025 launch date for multiple years.
What they’re saying

In recent comments, NASA officials have been relatively tight-lipped when asked how the heat shield issue will be resolved:NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, in an interview with Ars, in early August: "They are still deciding. I'm very confident [in a launch date of September 2025] unless there is the problem with the heat shield. Obviously, that would be a big hit. But I have no indication at this point that the final recommendation is going to be to go with another heat shield."

NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free, in conversation with Ars, in late August: "That’s on a good path right now."

NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development, Catherine Koerner, in an interview with Ars in mid-August: "The entire trade space is open. But as far as the actual Artemis II mission, right now, we're still holding to the September ’25 launch date, knowing that we still have a lot of work to do to close out the heat shield investigation.”

NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Moon to Mars Program Amit Kshatriya to the NASA Advisory Committee in late August: "The independent review team has just wrapped up their analysis, so I expect that to close out. We should have a disposition there in terms of how they incorporate those findings."

Ars Video
How Scientists Respond to Science Deniers


In summary, the Independent Review Team's work is done, and it has begun to brief NASA officials. A final decision will then be made by NASA's senior leadership.
What happens now

In preparation for Artemis II, the Orion spacecraft underwent thermal and vacuum testing this year before it will be stacked onto the Space Launch System rocket. Initially, NASA planned to begin the stacking process this month but ultimately delayed this until there was clarity on the heat shield question. The shield is already attached to the spacecraft.

Most people Ars spoke to believe NASA will likely fly with the heat shield as is. Sources have indicated that NASA engineers believe the best way to preserve the heat shield during Artemis II is by changing its trajectory through Earth's atmosphere.


The inspector general's report May 1 included new images of Orion's heat shield.
NASA Inspector General

During Artemis I, the spacecraft followed a "skip" reentry profile, in which Orion dipped into the atmosphere, skipped back into space, and then made a final descent into the atmosphere. This allowed for precise control over Orion's splashdown location and reduced g-forces on the vehicle. There are other options, including a ballistic reentry, with a steeper trajectory that is harder on the crew in terms of gravitational forces, and a direct reentry, which involves a miniature skip.

A steeper trajectory would allow Orion's heat shield to be exposed to atmospheric heating and air resistance for a shorter period of time. NASA engineers believe that the cracking issues observed during Artemis I were due to the duration of exposure to atmospheric heating. So less time—theoretically—means that there would be less damage observed during the reentry of Orion during Artemis II.

Why this will be difficult

Theoretically, of course, Orion's heat shield was supposed to perform nominally in response to the skip entry profile during Artemis I. Assessing the performance of the vehicle's heat shield was one of the main objectives of that uncrewed spaceflight, to ensure its safety before putting astronauts on board the vehicle.

While the heat shield performed its function—a crew inside the Orion vehicle would have been fine—it sustained significantly more damage than NASA's engineers anticipated. That's why they've spent the better part of two years studying the issue, and it is why NASA has already delayed Artemis II from this year into September 2025.

The engineers are probably right about the heat shield's performance with a steeper trajectory, but there is no way to know for sure without flying the heat shield, as designed, through such a profile. This raises a third choice: NASA could also fly the Artemis II mission without crew, testing the new life support equipment not in place for Artemis I, as well as the heat shield.

Each of these options would be difficult. If NASA flies the existing heat shield with a steeper trajectory, there will likely be dissenters. As observed during the Starliner deliberation process, the NASA safety community was emboldened to speak up. Similarly, some people within the NASA safety community are likely to express concerns about flying the heat shield as is after the unexpected damage on Artemis I.

At the same time, redesigning and rebuilding the heat shield would add years to the Artemis timeline, as would flying Artemis II without a crew. Both of these decisions would be difficult politically and financially for the space agency at a time when Congress has been inclined to cut money from NASA's budget rather than add it.

Whatever NASA decides, don't expect an official decision soon. No one wants to touch this political quagmire before the US presidential election, and it may slip into next year.

Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to wonky NASA policy, and author of the book Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston.


Distorted galaxy forming cosmic question mark

Date:  September 4, 2024
Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Summary
:It's 7 billion years ago, and the universe's heyday of star formation is beginning to slow. What might our Milky Way galaxy have looked like at that time? Astronomers have found clues in the form of a cosmic question mark, the result of a rare alignment across light-years of space.


FULL STORY

It's 7 billion years ago, and the universe's heyday of star formation is beginning to slow. What might our Milky Way galaxy have looked like at that time? Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have found clues in the form of a cosmic question mark, the result of a rare alignment across light-years of space.

"We know of only three or four occurrences of similar gravitational lens configurations in the observable universe, which makes this find exciting, as it demonstrates the power of Webb and suggests maybe now we will find more of these," said astronomer Guillaume Desprez of Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a member of the team presenting the Webb results.

While this region has been observed previously with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the dusty red galaxy that forms the intriguing question-mark shape only came into view with Webb. This is a result of the wavelengths of light that Hubble detects getting trapped in cosmic dust, while longer wavelengths of infrared light are able to pass through and be detected by Webb's instruments.

Astronomers used both telescopes to observe the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154, which acts like a magnifying glass because the cluster is so massive it warps the fabric of space-time. This allows astronomers to see enhanced detail in much more distant galaxies behind the cluster. However, the same gravitational effects that magnify the galaxies also cause distortion, resulting in galaxies that appear smeared across the sky in arcs and even appear multiple times. These optical illusions in space are called gravitational lensing.

The red galaxy revealed by Webb, along with a spiral galaxy it is interacting with that was previously detected by Hubble, are being magnified and distorted in an unusual way, which requires a particular, rare alignment between the distant galaxies, the lens, and the observer -- something astronomers call a hyperbolic umbilic gravitational lens. This accounts for the five images of the galaxy pair seen in Webb's image, four of which trace the top of the question mark. The dot of the question mark is an unrelated galaxy that happens to be in the right place and space-time, from our perspective.

In addition to producing a case study of the Webb NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) instrument's ability to detect star formation locations within a galaxy billions of light-years away, the research team also couldn't resist highlighting the question mark shape. "This is just cool looking. Amazing images like this are why I got into astronomy when I was young," said astronomer Marcin Sawicki of Saint Mary's University, one of the lead researchers on the team.

"Knowing when, where, and how star formation occurs within galaxies is crucial to understanding how galaxies have evolved over the history of the universe," said astronomer Vicente Estrada-Carpenter of Saint Mary's University, who used both Hubble's ultraviolet and Webb's infrared data to show where new stars are forming in the galaxies. The results show that star formation is widespread in both. The spectral data also confirmed that the newfound dusty galaxy is located at the same distance as the face-on spiral galaxy, and they are likely beginning to interact.

"Both galaxies in the Question Mark Pair show active star formation in several compact regions, likely a result of gas from the two galaxies colliding," said Estrada-Carpenter. "However, neither galaxy's shape appears too disrupted, so we are probably seeing the beginning of their interaction with each other."

"These galaxies, seen billions of years ago when star formation was at its peak, are similar to the mass that the Milky Way galaxy would have been at that time. Webb is allowing us to study what the teenage years of our own galaxy would have been like," said Sawicki.

The Webb images and spectra in this research came from the Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). The research paper is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Story Source:

Materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Related Multimedia:Galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154

Distorted galaxy forming cosmic question mark

Date:September 4, 2024

Source:NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Summary
:It's 7 billion years ago, and the universe's heyday of star formation is beginning to slow. What might our Milky Way galaxy have looked like at that time? Astronomers have found clues in the form of a cosmic question mark, the result of a rare alignment across light-years of space.


FULL STORY

It's 7 billion years ago, and the universe's heyday of star formation is beginning to slow. What might our Milky Way galaxy have looked like at that time? Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have found clues in the form of a cosmic question mark, the result of a rare alignment across light-years of space.

"We know of only three or four occurrences of similar gravitational lens configurations in the observable universe, which makes this find exciting, as it demonstrates the power of Webb and suggests maybe now we will find more of these," said astronomer Guillaume Desprez of Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a member of the team presenting the Webb results.


While this region has been observed previously with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the dusty red galaxy that forms the intriguing question-mark shape only came into view with Webb. This is a result of the wavelengths of light that Hubble detects getting trapped in cosmic dust, while longer wavelengths of infrared light are able to pass through and be detected by Webb's instruments.

Astronomers used both telescopes to observe the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154, which acts like a magnifying glass because the cluster is so massive it warps the fabric of space-time. This allows astronomers to see enhanced detail in much more distant galaxies behind the cluster. However, the same gravitational effects that magnify the galaxies also cause distortion, resulting in galaxies that appear smeared across the sky in arcs and even appear multiple times. These optical illusions in space are called gravitational lensing.

The red galaxy revealed by Webb, along with a spiral galaxy it is interacting with that was previously detected by Hubble, are being magnified and distorted in an unusual way, which requires a particular, rare alignment between the distant galaxies, the lens, and the observer -- something astronomers call a hyperbolic umbilic gravitational lens. This accounts for the five images of the galaxy pair seen in Webb's image, four of which trace the top of the question mark. The dot of the question mark is an unrelated galaxy that happens to be in the right place and space-time, from our perspective.

In addition to producing a case study of the Webb NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) instrument's ability to detect star formation locations within a galaxy billions of light-years away, the research team also couldn't resist highlighting the question mark shape. "This is just cool looking. Amazing images like this are why I got into astronomy when I was young," said astronomer Marcin Sawicki of Saint Mary's University, one of the lead researchers on the team.

"Knowing when, where, and how star formation occurs within galaxies is crucial to understanding hogalaxies have evolved over the history of the universe," said astronomer Vicente Estrada-Carpenter of Saint Mary's University, who used both Hubble's ultraviolet and Webb's infrared data to show where new stars are forming in the galaxies. The results show that star formation is widespread in both. The spectral data also confirmed that the newfound dusty galaxy is located at the same distance as the face-on spiral galaxy, and they are likely beginning to interact.

"Both galaxies in the Question Mark Pair show active star formation in several compact regions, likely a result of gas from the two galaxies colliding," said Estrada-Carpenter. "However, neither galaxy's shape appears too disrupted, so we are probably seeing the beginning of their interaction with each other."

"These galaxies, seen billions of years ago when star formation was at its peak, are similar to the mass that the Milky Way galaxy would have been at that time. Webb is allowing us to study what the teenage years of our own galaxy would have been like," said Sawicki.

The Webb images and spectra in this research came from the Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). The research paper is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Story Source:

Materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Related Multimedia:Galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154

Biblical artifact described as 'Israel's most important archaeological find EVER' to go on display in US

By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

Published:  4 September 2024

An artifact described as one of the most important archaeological finds of all time will soon be on display in the US.

The Tel Dan Stele, a stone inscribed with ancient Hebrew, is the earliest known archaeological evidence of the existence of King David, a king of ancient Israel.

The monument fragment is being sent loaned from The Israel Museum to Oklahoma's Herbert W. Armstrong College from September 22 through November 25 as part the 'Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered' exhibit.



The Tel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993, is set to be on display at a college in Oklahoma starting this month

Exhibit curator Brad Macdonald said: 'This is a colossal honor for Oklahoma and the Armstrong Foundation.

The Tel Dan Stele was discovered in 1993 and carbon dating puts its creation somewhere in the late ninth century BC.

The large rock features several lines of text describing the victory of an Aramean king over a 'king of the House of David.'

The writings corroborate passages from the Hebrew Bible.

For centuries, scholars had either dismissed King David as mythological figures, or disputed the era in which they ruled over the Israelites, as told in the Bible.

'The discovery of the stele caused an earthquake in the archaeological community,' Macdonald said.

'It vanquished the common belief that King David was a fictional character and bolstered the credibility of the Bible as a valuable historical source.

'This is just one reason that it is one of the most important archaeological discoveries ever found.'



Archaeologists believe the stone slab confirms the existence of King David who is said to have been a shepherd boy who became Israel's third and most crucial king around 1000 BC when he united all the tribes of Israel under a single monarch





The large rock dates to the late ninth century BC and features several lines of text describing the victory of an Aramean king over a 'king of the House of David'

David is said to have been a shepherd boy who became Israel's third and most crucial king around 1000 BC when he united all the tribes of Israel under a single monarch.

The Bible also states that Mary, Jesus's mother, was a descended of David's son Nathan.

David was the first king of a united Israel and the founder of a dynasty, according to the Old Testament's Books of Samuel.

However, the most popular Biblical story is about David defeating the giant Goliath using only a stone and a sling.


READ MORE: Archaeologist says he found the kingdom of King David


City light pollution is shrinking spiders' brains, new study finds


garden orb weaving spiders
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

As darkness falls, the nocturnal half of the animal kingdom starts its day. Nocturnal species are perfectly adapted to navigate and survive the dark of night that has existed for countless millions of years.

What happens to these creatures when the darkness they call home is transformed by streetlights and other artificial night lighting?

In new research published in Biology Letters, we studied how  affects the development of Australian garden orb weaving spiders. We discovered it makes their brains smaller, particularly in the regions devoted to vision—with unknown effects on their behavior.

What light pollution means for animals

Artificial light is one of the fastest-growing ways humans are polluting the world, and it has a huge range of effects on animals, plants and ecosystems. Recent evidence suggests the stress of living with light pollution may impair the growth and development of the brain in some birds and mammals.

This may be catastrophic. To survive in novel environments where light pollution is most common, such as cities, animals may actually need larger and more complex brains.

But what about insects and spiders and other, smaller creatures that inhabit the night? Could light pollution similarly affect the growth and development of their brains?

Our study on the nocturnal Australian garden orb weaving spider suggests it does.

More insects, but fewer offspring

The Australian garden orb weaving spider is a perfect species to explore this question. It lives happily in cities and  where it constructs its webs each night in wide open areas (even under streetlights).

In previous studies we found urban spiders that build webs under streetlights catch more insect prey. We also showed that light at night has a cost because it accelerates juvenile development, resulting in smaller adults that produce fewer offspring.

In this current study we investigated whether developing under light at night also affects  in males and females.

To explore this question, we took late-juvenile spiders from relatively dark parks in Melbourne, Australia and reared them in the laboratory until they were adults.

During rearing, we kept half the spiders under darkness at night and exposed the other half to nocturnal lighting equivalent to the brightness of a streetlight.

Smaller brains, but why?

A few weeks after the spiders were fully grown, we assessed whether light at night had affected the development of their brains. As a spider brain is around the size of the nib of a ballpoint pen (less than a cubic millimeter), we used micro-CT imaging technology to visualize what was inside.

We found that short-term exposure to light at night resulted in overall smaller spider brain volumes. The strongest effects were seen in the area of the brain linked to vision in the spider's primary eyes.

These results are a first for invertebrates (animals with no backbone, such as insects and spiders), but they mirror what has been described in vertebrates. We can only speculate how these differences came about.

It is possible that the presence of light at night created a stressful environment that disrupted hormonal processes related to growth and development. However, if this were the case, we might expect to see all parts of the brain affected, which was not the case.

An alternative explanation is that spiders forced to develop under light at night changed their "investment" in different parts of the brain. Proper brain function is essential for an animal to navigate its environment, so under stressful conditions,  may be directed to the more important parts of the brain. For spiders that don't rely on vision, like orb-weavers, they may compensate by reducing investment in the visual parts of the brain, as we found here.

Other invertebrates such as desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) show similar "neuroplastic shifts" in the visual center of their brain when they move from subterranean nest-tending to above-ground, vision-based foraging.

Why spiders—and their brains—matter

All this is quite interesting, but you might be wondering why we should care about light pollution affecting the size of a spider's brain.

Well, spiders are very important in an ecosystem. They eat other invertebrates, including many pest species such as flies and mosquitoes. Spiders are also important prey for other predators, such as birds and lizards.

If spiders' brains get smaller, it may affect their cognitive function and ability to perform these vital roles. We know from other species of birds and mammals that larger brains can help individuals survive in novel city environments and it is likely the same may be true for spiders.

This research also shows that the effects of light pollution on brain development extend to invertebrates as well as birds and mammals. The full effects of humanity's love of artificial lighting are likely much bigger than we yet understand.

More information: Nikolas J. Willmott et al, The effects of artificial light at night on spider brains, Biology Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0202


Journal in formation: Biology Letters  ]


Provided by The Conversation 


This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation

New archaeological discoveries found frozen in Ice

Archaeologists have made several new discoveries during a study of ice patches in Lendbreen, Norway.


I
mage Credit : Secrets Of The Ice


By:Mark Milligan
Date: September 4, 2024
Archaeology


“Secrets Of The Ice” is a glacier archaeology program, dedicated to studying ice patches containing preserved artefacts and organic objects.
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Snowdrifts and ice patches can preserve organic remains for extended periods, as cold temperatures significantly slow down chemical and biological processes, nearly halting the degradation when temperatures reach freezing.


As part of a wider survey in the Breheimen National Park, situated in Norway’s Innlandet and Vestland counties, archaeologists have been surveying the area of Lendbreen.

Lendbreen is a glacier and mountain pass that served as an important trade route from the Roman era until the late Middle Ages. As the glacier has receded due to climate change, it has revealed a range of ancient artefacts that provide new insights into the history of human activity in the high-altitude regions of Norway.

Secrets Of The Ice

The survey has yielded the discovery of a 1300-year-old arrow, complete with a preserved shaft and iron arrowhead. The only part missing are the fletches, however, a faint imprint is still visible on the shaft.
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According to a press announcement on social media, the arrow has only recently melted from the ice, which was found in situ on the ice surface.


The researchers also recently found a horse’s canine tooth, likely belonging to one of the packhorses that traversed the Lendbreen pass during the Iron Age and Medieval period, in addition to a preserved piece of textile that dates from the Viking Age or Medieval Period.

At another survey site in August 2024, the team discovered scaring stick flags used for hunting deer, as well as a Viking-era arrowhead in the Jotunheimen Mountains.

Header Image Credit : Secrets Of The Ice

Sources : Secrets Of The Ice

 

H5N1 avian influenza virus found in multiple bird species in Antarctica

H5N1 avian influenza virus found in multiple bird species in Antarctica
Birds in Antarctica. Credit: Ashley Bennison

A team of virologists with the U.K.'s Animal and Plant Health Agency, working with colleagues from the British Antarctic Survey, the KEMH Pathology and Food, Water & Environmental Laboratory, and the Department of Agriculture, both in the Falkland Islands, has found that the global spread of the H5N1 avian influenza virus has made its way to multiple bird species in Antarctica.

In their paper published in Nature Communications, the group describes how they tested multiple birds for the virus in the region over the years 2022–23 and what they learned by doing so.

The H5N1 , as its name suggests, infects mainly birds, though it has been found to infect a few mammals, including humans. It was first observed in 1959 and then again in 1997. Early outbreaks were stopped by mass killing of animals in the infected areas.

More recently, infections have become widespread, infecting birds, both wild and domestic, across the globe. Billions of birds have been killed, thus far, and there is no indication that the pandemic is slowing. In this new effort, the researchers have found that the virus has even made its way to birds living in Antarctica—one place on the planet that is generally safe from such outbreaks.

The researchers traveled to several sub-Antarctic and Antarctic sites and tested birds that were living there, finding infected birds in all the places they visited. They also noted that the virus was infecting multiple species, ranging from Antarctic terns, to South Georgia shags, to brown skuas. They also found the virus had infected several marine mammals, such as the southern elephant seal.

In conducting a genetic analysis of the viruses they found, the research team was able to determine that the virus had spread to the sub-Antarctic (likely via ) from South America, and from there to Antarctica. The team also tested two penguins, one a king and the other a southern rockhopper, and found no evidence of infection.

The research team concludes by noting that it is not yet known what sort of impact the virus is having on bird populations in Antarctica, but that their work highlights the need for more research in the region.

More information: Ashley C. Banyard et al, Detection and spread of high pathogenicity avian influenza virus H5N1 in the Antarctic Region, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51490-8

Journal information: Nature Communications© 2024 Science X Network


Chickens, ducks, seals and cows: A dangerous bird flu strain is knocking on Australia's door

 

SF Bay area study reveals chemical levels in bottled, tap and household-treated tap water

tap water
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A team of water technicians at water testing company SimpleLab has tested chemical levels in hundreds of water samples collected from bottles, household taps and treated tap water in the San Francisco Bay area. Their paper is published in the journal PLOS Water.


For many years,  in the average American home was consumed without hesitation, considered to be absolutely safe. Such beliefs have been tested in recent years, however, with reporting about lead in drinking water consumed by children in Flint, Michigan.

In response, many consumers have stopped drinking tap water and have turned instead to filters or even commercially sold . In this new effort, the team at SimpleLab tested drinking water from the three main sources available to people living in the San Francisco Bay area to see how they compared.

The work involved analyses of 100 samples of bottled water, 603 samples of tap  and 111 samples of household tap water that had been filtered using a Brita filter. They found that almost all the water samples they tested met federal drinking water health standards.

But they also found that chemical levels in filtered and bottled water were nearly equal, while water straight from the tap had much higher levels. The most common chemicals of concern, they note, were trihalomethanes, released when chlorine is used to disinfect the water. All three sources contained some amount of the chemicals.

Trihalomethanes have been linked to several  including , developmental delays and an increased risk of some types of cancers. They also note that their findings are not meant to alarm consumers—consumption of small amounts of trihalomethanes or the other chemicals that they found in the water is not likely to cause harm.

They conclude that most  would likely benefit from the use of a filter when drinking tap water. Doing so, they note, also makes water taste better.

More information: Samantha E. Bear et al, Bottled water, tap water and household-treated tap water–insight into potential health risks and aesthetic concerns in drinking water, PLOS Water (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pwat.0000272


Journal information: PLOS Water 


© 2024 Science X Network

Europe's drinking water contaminated by 'forever chemical': NGOs


Viewpoint: In the face of DEI backlash, belonging plays a key role to future success


 SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

Welcoming workplace
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have become increasingly visible in U.S. workplaces, especially over the past five years. However, DEI has recently come under attack, with companies scaling back their DEI plans.

As a professor of organizational psychology, I believe businesses should refine rather than abandon these efforts. Introducing a powerful concept, "belonging," could hold the key.

Although people mistakenly use "belonging" and "inclusion" interchangeably, their differences matter a lot—and can have a significant impact on employee satisfaction and organizational success.

What DEI is and why it's struggling

Diversity initiatives have a long history in American workplaces, but it's only recently that "DEI" has become a buzzword. DEI refers to policies and initiatives implemented by organizations to ensure fair treatment of and full participation by all people.

Adoption of formal DEI programs has seen significant growth. In 2019, around 64% of organizations had some form of DEI initiative. By 2023, this rose to 89%, demonstrating a clear upward trend.

Research shows that companies with diverse teams are 70% more likely to capture new markets and are 87% better at making decisions. Additionally, 85% of CEOs report diverse workforces improving profitability. Despite this, a trend of businesses and schools significantly or completely eradicating their DEI initiatives has become prevalent in 2024.

What happened? While external factors contributed to the backlash, including political pressure and a changed legal environment, research suggests that problems with how DEI is conceptualized and practiced also bear a fair share of the blame.

Misunderstanding DEI

While diversity and inclusion are often well-intentioned, many organizations that approached change initiatives solely through diversity metrics have failed. Effective DEI strategy focuses on learning and development, mentorship, and allyship, extending beyond race and gender. The challenge comes from narrow views of DEI, driving oversimplifications and zero-sum thinking.

For example, people have multiple intersecting identities, with complex traits that often depend on social context. But some DEI efforts ignore that complexity, reducing employees to a single category, such as gender, race, age or disability status. That leaves people, regardless of whether they feel included in "ingroups" or "outgroups," feeling diminished.

Similarly, research shows that people's actions and opportunities are strongly influenced by their environment. But too often, DEI efforts place the responsibility for growth entirely on individuals. That actually reinforces people's biases because  and social structures shape collective behaviors.

When models fail to distribute accountability and responsibility effectively, collective behavior will uphold toxic environments.

To be fair, not all organizations have fallen into these traps. Those with leaders that adopted a more contemporary understanding of power and bias have developed more effective strategies for employees to thrive.

My research suggests that for DEI initiatives to succeed, respect and fairness must be present. These requirements are rooted in the foundations of belonging.

DEI's evolution: Integrating belonging for lasting impact

While belonging is related to inclusion, research shows it's much more than just a synonym.

Inclusion may focus on being seen, accepted and valued within a team or community. Belonging goes deeper, involving a genuine sense of connection and identity within a group.

To truly experience belonging, it's not enough to feel included; my research shows that five critical indicators must also be present.

These elements ensure that individuals feel a deep, meaningful attachment to the group, which inclusion alone cannot fully achieve. This distinction underscores that belonging is a unique and essential experience, distinct from inclusion, and critical for fostering a truly cohesive and supportive environment.

So what are the five indicators of belonging? They are comfort, connection, contribution, psychological safety and well-being, and all of them can be measured.

When an environment is high in each of the five indicators, and the measured gap between the ingroup and outgroup is low, it suggests an environment where responsibility for creating opportunities to thrive is shared and balanced. Let's unpack these concepts:

  1. Comfort. When an organization is high in comfort, people feel seen for who they are. This requires them to accept that others have complex, sometimes contradictory identities, and to adopt a mindset of awareness. Perhaps counterintuitively, achieving comfort requires being a little uncomfortable, too. That's because respectfully seeing and being seen means acknowledging other people's discomfort.

  2. Connection. Connection is the need to be known and trusted. For an organization to score high on connection, people will be aligned on values and goals. Connection creates a shared sense of responsibility and accountability. This shared responsibility is a foundation for empathy, since trust and fairness are born from understanding and empathizing with the social and emotional needs of others.

  3. Contribution. An organization high in contribution values its members for the unique and diverse attributes they bring to the table. In belonging environments, an individual's contribution is evaluated through curiosity and openness; ideas and perspectives are shared to influence and challenge the status quo, driving innovation and creativity. When someone is genuinely acknowledged for their contributions, both they and their team feel fulfilled.

  4. Psychological safety. When a person is genuinely accepted into a group, making a mistake or even failing is seen as a chance to learn and grow, not an opportunity to shame, blame or exclude. This is the essence of psychological safety. In cases where people's perspectives are dramatically different, psychological safety requires everyone to reflect and put themselves in the shoes of the other to respect their differences and be accountable for behavior.

  5. Well-being. In an organization high in well-being, members' experiences are considered and cared for. This requires everyone to share responsibility for caring for individuals, groups, teams and the organization as a whole, each with their authentic needs.

Belonging, based on my research, is not just a buzzword; it's the bedrock of a thriving, innovative workplace. Leaders who understand this and take action can enhance individual well-being while unlocking the full potential of their teams.

By committing to building environments where the indicators of belonging are prioritized, leaders can ignite passion, loyalty and excellence in their workplaces.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation


DEI policies work best when they are designed to include everyone and are backed by evidence, says researcher



Māori king's daughter crowned as king buried

Ali Abbas Ahmadi
BBC News
BBC
The newly crowned Māori monarch Queen Ngâwai Hono I Te Pô

A new queen was crowned as the eighth Māori monarch in New Zealand as her father, King Tuheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, was laid to rest.


Twenty-seven-year-old Ngā Wai hono i te pō was chosen as Kuini by a council of New Zealand's indigenous Māori chiefs during an elaborate ceremony in the country's North Island.


She is only the second Māori queen, the first being her grandmother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.


Ngā Wai hono i te pō is the youngest child of King Tuheitia, who died last Friday at the age of 69.



Sitting on a carved wooden throne, the new queen was announced at a gathering at Tûrangawaewae Marae, which is the seat of the Kiingitanga or Māori king movement.

She sat in front of her father's coffin, wearing a wreath and a cloak as prayers and chants were performed ahead of his burial.

A flotilla of war canoes then transported the king - who laid in state for six days before his burial - to his final resting place on Mount Taupiri, sacred to the Māori people.

The king had been recovering from heart surgery in hospital when he died, just days after celebrating the 18th anniversary of his coronation.

"The death of Kiingi Tuheitia is a moment of great sadness for followers of Te Kiingitanga, Maaoridom and the entire nation," Rahui Papa, spokesman for the Kiingitanga or Māori king movement said at the time. "A chief who has passed to the great beyond. Rest in love."

“Our country will be in mourning,” said Chris Hipkins, leader of New Zealand’s opposition Labour party, shortly after the king's death. “He was a fantastic king with a wicked sense of humour, but also a very good man… with a real focus on bringing New Zealanders together.”

New Zealand’s prime minister Christoper Luxon praised King Tuheitia as a leader "whose commitment to Māori and all New Zealanders has been felt right across the country".

However, Mr Luxon – whose policies have been accused by some indigenous New Zealanders of being anti-Māori – is on an official trip to South Korea and has not attended the funeral.

Last year thousands of protesters across New Zealand rallied against the government's plans to reverse policies which boosted Indigenous rights, including plans to close the Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora, set up during Jacinda Ardern's Labour government and to switch the names of some departments from Māori to English.

King Tuheitia’s official period of mourning was extended from the usual three days to seven days, in order to accommodate the huge delegations that came to pay tribute to the king.

“I have never experienced anything like this,” Mereana Hond, a Māori journalist told BBC Newsday.

“It is no small thing to lose a king, but he was just really starting to rise to prominence, leading all tribes of Altara and New Zealand at a time when we're under a lot of political and social pressure under this coalition.”

The king was born Tūheitia Paki in 1955. He was crowned in 2006 following the death of his mother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.

Like his mother, King Tuheitia was seen as a great unifying figure - recently calling on Māori to stand together in the face of policies targeting them.

The Māori monarchy dates back to 1858, when the Māori people decided to create a unifying figure similar to that of a European monarch in order to try and prevent the widespread loss of land to New Zealand's British colonisers and to preserve Māori culture. The role is largely ceremonial.