Space News: Origin of intense light in supermassive black holes and tidal disruption events revealed by study

 

Origin of intense light in supermassive black holes and tidal disruption events revealed by study

The new study by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is a significant “breakthrough” for understanding Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) involving supermassive black holes.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH, Jerusalem Post, JANUARY 17, 2024

https://www.jpost.com/science/article-782605

A star disrupted by a supermassive black hole. As the star wanders past the black hole, the tidal field of the hole rips apart the star. The picture shows the result of the simulation carried out by Steinberg and Stone. (photo credit: Elad Steinberg)

A new study that could be used to measure essential properties of black holes and serve as a litmus test of Albert Einstein’s predictions in extreme gravitational environments has been produced by physicists and astronomers at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU). 

It is a significant “breakthrough” for understanding Tidal Disruption Events (TDEs) involving supermassive black holes. The new simulations, for the first time ever, accurately replicate the entire sequence of a TDE from stellar disruption to the peak luminosity of the resulting flare. 

The study has unveiled a previously unknown type of shockwave within TDEs, settling a longstanding debate about the energy source of the brightest phases in these events. It confirms that shock dissipation powers the brightest weeks of a TDE flare.

This artist's concept shows a supermassive black hole at the center of a remote galaxy digesting the remnants of a star. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The mysteries of supermassive black holes have long captivated astronomers, offering a glimpse into the deepest corners of our universe. Now, a new study led by Dr. Elad Steinberg and Dr. Nicholas C. Stone at HU’s Racah Institute of Physics “sheds new light on these enigmatic cosmic entities,” they said. 

It has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature under the title “Stream-Disk Shocks as the Origins of Peak Light in Tidal Disruption Events.” 

Supermassive black holes, ranging from millions to billions of times the mass of our Sun, have remained elusive despite their key role in shaping galaxies. Their extreme gravitational pull warps spacetime, creating an environment that defies conventional understanding and presents a challenge for observational astronomers.

Disruption of a solar mass star by 10^6 solar mass SMBH.

The dramatic phenomenon called TDE 

Enter TDEs, a dramatic phenomenon that occurs when ill-fated stars venture too close to a black hole's event horizon and are torn apart into thin streams of plasma. As this plasma returns towards the black hole, a series of shockwaves heat it up, leading to an extraordinary display of luminosity – a flare that surpasses the collective brightness of an entire galaxy for weeks or even months.

The study conducted represents a significant leap forward in understanding these cosmic events, said Steinberg and Stone. For the first time, their simulations have recreated a realistic TDE, capturing the complete sequence from the initial star disruption to the peak of the ensuing luminous flare. This was all made possible by pioneering radiation-hydrodynamics simulation software developed by Steinberg at HU.

This research has uncovered a previously unexplored type of shockwave within TDEs, revealing that these events dissipate their energy at a faster rate than previously understood. By clarifying this aspect, the study resolves a long-standing theoretical debate, confirming that the brightest phases of a TDE flare are powered by shock dissipation – a revelation that sets the stage for comprehensive exploration by observational astronomers.

These findings pave the way for translating TDE observations into precise measurements of crucial black hole properties, including mass and spin. 

Steinberg and Stone’s study not only unravels the intricate dynamics of TDEs but also opens a new chapter in our quest to comprehend the fundamental workings of supermassive black holes. Their simulations mark a crucial step towards harnessing these celestial events as invaluable tools for deciphering the cosmic mysteries lurking at the heart of galaxies.

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Space News: Astronomers produce significant star cluster image - and discover mysterious radio signal

 

Astronomers produce significant star cluster image - and discover mysterious radio signal

It took more than 450 hours of observations for astronomers in Australia to produce the image and they've identified two possible causes of the radio signal.

By Sky News, Tuesday 16 January 2024

https://news.sky.com/story/astronomers-produce-significant-star-cluster-image-and-discover-mysterious-radio-signal-13049094

              The image of the dense ball of stars that makes up globular cluster 47 Tucanae

Astronomers have created the most sensitive radio image ever of an ancient star cluster – and discovered a radio signal at the centre of it.

The image, which can be seen above, is of the second brightest globular cluster in the night sky, known as 47 Tucanae.

Astronomers have created the most sensitive radio image ever of an ancient star cluster – and discovered a radio signal at the centre of it.

The image, which can be seen above, is of the second brightest globular cluster in the night sky, known as 47 Tucanae.

Radio waves from celestial objects - such as planets and stars - travel through space as light does, and radio telescopes can intercept them.

Astronomers can then convert these signals into radio images.

The 47 Tucanae cluster was first catalogued in the 1700s and can be seen with the naked eye.

Two possible causes for mysterious radio signal

Seeing it in detail has allowed astronomers to discover the previously undetected faint signal coming from its centre.

There are two possible reasons for the signal, lead author Dr Alessandro Paduano has said.

The first is that the cluster contains a black hole, which would be "be a highly significant discovery" and the second is that there is a pulsar - a rotating neutron star that emits radio waves.

"A pulsar this close to a cluster centre is also a scientifically interesting discovery, as it could be used to search for a central black hole that is yet to be detected," Dr Paduano said.

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Space News: Earth-sized exoplanet discovered in ‘our solar backyard’ by international team

 

Earth-sized exoplanet discovered in ‘our solar backyard’ by international team

“It’s a useful planet because it may be like an early Earth,” says Soares-Furtado.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH, Jerusalem Post, JANUARY 14, 2024 

https://www.jpost.com/science/article-782104

 Young, hot, earth-sized planet HD 63433d sits close to its star in the constellation Ursa Major, while two neighboring, mini-Neptune-sized planets identified in 2020 orbit farther out.

(photo credit: Alyssa Jankowski)

A planet about the size of our Earth that revolves around a sun similar to ours has been discovered by a NASA fellow from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and her international team. Because it’s closer and younger than any other planet of that size that has yet been identified, it is regarded as a unique opportunity to study how planets evolve.

Young terrestrial worlds are critical test beds to constrain prevailing theories of planetary formation and evolution.

The team presented its discovery – the third planet detected in this multiplanet system. The new planet named HD 63433d, which revolves around a star called HD 63433, was described in a new study published this week by The Astronomical Journal.

The publication was entitled “TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets – An Earth-sized Planet Orbiting a Nearby, Solar-like Host in the 400 Myr Ursa Major Moving Group.”

Dr. Melinda Soares-Furtado, who will begin work as an astronomy professor at the university in the fall, and recent UW–Madison graduate Benjamin Capistrant, now a graduate student at the University of Florida, co-led the study with co-authors from around the world. She said that among the population of confirmed exoplanets with precisely measured age estimates, 50 of them are estimated to be younger than 500 million years ago.

"Like an early Earth"

“It’s a useful planet because it may be like an early Earth,” says Soares-Furtado. It’s so close to its star that it completes a trip around it every 4.2 days. “Even though it has a very small orbit, we can use follow-up data to search for evidence of outgassing and atmospheric loss that could be important constraints on how terrestrial worlds evolve,” Soares-Furtado added. “But that’s where the similarities end – and end dramatically.”

The sun as seen by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft in extreme ultraviolet light in this mosaic of 25 individual images taken on March 7, 2023, by the high resolution telescope of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument. (credit: REUTERS/JOE SKIPPER)

Based on its orbit, the astronomers are relatively certain HD 63433d is tidally locked, which means one side is perpetually facing its star.

That side can reach a brutal 1,260 degrees Celsius and may flow with lava, while the opposite side is forever dark.

Although HD 63433 is roughly the same size and star type as our sun, at about 400 million years old, it’s not even one-tenth our sun’s age.

The star is about 73 light years away from our sun and part of the group of stars moving together that make up the constellation Ursa Major which includes the Big Dipper. On a clear night in Madison,” the astronomer noted, “you could see [HD 63433] through a good pair of binoculars.”

The study’s authors are collaborating on a planet-hunting project called THYME. In 2020, they used data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to identify two mini-Neptune-sized planets orbiting HD 63433. Since then, TESS took four more looks at the star, compiling enough data for the researchers to detect HD 63433d crossing between the star and the satellite.

The team said the newly discovered planet is uniquely situated for further study. Its peppy young star is visible from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, increasing the number of instruments like the South African Large Telescope or WIYN Observatory in Arizona that can be trained on the system.

The star is orders of magnitude closer than many Soares-Furtado has studied, possibly affording opportunities to develop new methods to study gases escaping from the planet’s interior or measure its magnetic field.

“This is our solar backyard, and that’s exciting,” Soares-Furtado concluded. The team wants to know what sort of information a star this close and with such a crowded system around it can provide. “How will it help us as we move on to look for planets among the maybe 100 other, similar stars in this young group it’s part of?”      

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Defense News: Israel tests SPYDER air defense system amid rising drone threat

 

Israel tests SPYDER air defense system amid rising drone threat

The new UAV interception capabilities can be added to another recent addition in SPYDER - an upgrade tailored to defend against ballistic missile attacks. 

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, JANUARY 10, 2024

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-781623

RAFAEL & IMoD Complete Live Fire Test of SPYDER ALL IN ONE - Striking UAV

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Defense Ministry successfully completed an experiment in the Rafael-made SPYDER All-in-One air-defense system on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said.

In an experiment carried out in Israel last week, scenarios simulating actual and potential future threats were enacted. The experiment included an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) interception under operationally challenging circumstances, which was hit directly and accurately. 

The defense system is already operational in many militaries around the world and provides air defense solutions for various threats, such as drones, planes, helicopters, and even tactical ballistic missiles (TBM).

According to Rafael, the system includes two types of missiles: the PYTHON-5 and the I-DERBY. The All-in-One SPYDER is the new generation in the defense system, essentially a fusion of the main functions of diverse systems into one 8x8 vehicle. 

Rafael, Maf'at, and the Defense Ministry have successfully completed an experiment in the Rafael-made SPYDER All -in-one air-defense system. January 10, 2024. (credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)

New upgrades reflect potential threats 

The new UAV interception capabilities can be added to another recent addition in SPYDER - an upgrade tailored to defend against ballistic missile attacks. 

Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Air & Missile Defense Systems Division Brig. Gen. (Res.) Pinhas Yungman said that the extension of the defense system to the ballistic missile defense is of prime importance. 

According to the company, "The system provides effective protection of valuable assets and first-class defense for forces located in the combat area. SPYDER’s open architecture allows external components to be easily integrated and flexibly combined, affording different configurations with various ranges and capabilities based on customer needs and priorities.

"Its autonomous capabilities can detect threats while on the move and enable a 360° launch within seconds of the target being declared hostile, in all-weather, multi-launch, and net-centric capabilities. All the SPYDER systems have multiple target engagement capabilities for handling saturation attacks."

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Space News: Supernovae give rise to black holes or neutron stars, finds Israeli-led team

 

Supernovae give rise to black holes or neutron stars, finds Israeli-led team

The connection was long suspected, but the direct link was elusive until now.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH, Jerusalem Post, JANUARY 10, 2024 

https://www.jpost.com/science/article-781625

                 An artistic illustration of a black hole in space. (photo credit: INGIMAGE)

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot who led an international team have found a direct link between the explosive deaths of massive stars called supernovae and the formation of the most compact and enigmatic objects in the Universe – black holes and neutron stars.

Supernovae form when a very massive star (at least 25 times heavier than our Sun) runs out of nuclear fuel. The star then explodes as a supernova. What remains is a black hole, usually only a few times heavier than our Sun since the explosion has blown much of the stellar material away.

A supernova is created during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a “white dwarf” – what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel. Near the end of its nuclear burning stage, this type of star expels most of its outer material, creating a planetary nebula. is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to become a neutron star or a black hole or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula. The peak optical luminosity – the total amount of electromagnetic energy released per unit of time by a star, galaxy, or other astronomical objects – of a supernova can be comparable to that of an entire galaxy before fading over several weeks or months.

The last supernova directly observed in the Milky Way was Kepler's Supernova in 1604, appearing not long after Tycho's Supernova in 1572. Both of them were visible to the naked eye. The remnants of more recent supernovae have been found, and observations of supernovae in other galaxies suggest they occur in the Milky Way on average about three times every century. A supernova in the Milky Way would almost certainly be observable through modern astronomical telescopes. The most recent naked-eye supernova was SN 1987A, which was the explosion of a blue supergiant star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

With the help of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), an international team led by the Weizmann astrophysicists was able to observe the aftermath of a supernova explosion in a nearby galaxy, finding evidence of the mysterious compact object it left behind. The study has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature.

                  Black Hole in a Globular Cluster (Illustration) (credit: NASA/FLICKR)

A missing link found, at long last

“Researchers have long believed that a compact remnant is produced at the center of a massive star explosion,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Ping Chen, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Prof. Avishay Gal-Yam at Weizmann’s particle physics and astrophysics department. “But a direct link between supernova explosions and newly formed compact objects has been elusive. In this work, we establish such a direct link.”

When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they collapse under their own gravity so rapidly that a violent explosion known as a supernova ensues. Astronomers believe that after all the excitement of the explosion, what is left is the ultra-dense core – or compact remnant – of the star. Depending on how massive the star is, the compact remnant will either be a neutron star – an object so dense that a tablespoon of its material would weigh as much as Mount Everest – or a black hole, an even denser object from which nothing, not even light, can escape.   

But while astronomers had found many clues hinting at this chain of events in the past, direct evidence of a supernova leaving behind a compact remnant has been elusive.

The team’s lucky break came in May 2022, when the supernova SN2022jli was discovered in the spiral arm of a nearby galaxy, NGC 157, located 75 million light-years away. By turning their attention to the fallout of this explosion, the scientists were able to find the link connecting a supernova to the compact object it left behind — all thanks to a companion star.

Most massive stars are in orbit with a companion star in what is known as a binary system, and the star that caused SN 2022jli was no exception. Remarkably, the companion star survived the violent death of its partner, so that this star and the left-over compact object kept orbiting each other, an unusual occurrence after such a powerful explosion.

“In this work, we observed a newly formed compact object and its companion,” Chen says. “For the first time, we see how the newly formed neutron star or black hole interplays with its companion.”

This interplay was spotted in the form of periodic movements of hydrogen gas and of regular fluctuations in the system’s visible brightness, with bursts of gamma-rays also detected. The observations were made possible thanks to a fleet of instruments on the ground and in space, including X-shooter on ESO’s VLT in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

Putting these clues together, the team found that when the companion star interacted with the material thrown out during the supernova explosion, its hydrogen-rich atmosphere became puffier than usual. Then, each time the compact object zipped through the companion’s atmosphere on its orbit, it could steal hydrogen gas, forming a hot disc of matter around itself. This periodic stealing of matter, or accretion, produced lots of energy that was picked up as regular changes of brightness in the observations.

Even though the team could not observe the compact object directly, they concluded that this energy stealing could only be due to a neutron star or a black hole sucking up matter from the companion star’s puffy atmosphere. “Our research was like solving a puzzle by gathering all possible evidence,” Chen said. “All these pieces lined up, leading to the truth.” 

With the presence of a black hole or neutron star confirmed, there is still plenty to unravel about this enigmatic system, including the exact nature of the compact object. Next-generation telescopes such as ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, which is scheduled to begin operation later this decade, will help with this, allowing astronomers to reveal unprecedented details of this important binary system.  

The large international research team also included colleagues from Sweden, the US, China, Australia, Denmark, Germany, and the UK.     

 

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Space News: Could life exist on Mercury? Researchers present new evidence

 

Could life exist on Mercury? Researchers present new evidence

Astronomers speculate that beneath the scorching surface of Mercury, the closest dwarf planet to the sun, there could be signs of life. Recent discoveries have led to this intriguing possibility.

By MAARIV, JANUARY 9, 2024 

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-780766

                                        The solar system (photo credit: INGIMAGE)

A groundbreaking study conducted at the Institute for Planetary Research, using data from NASA's MESSENGER mission, presents an intriguing hypothesis: life may exist beneath the surface of the hottest and nearest planet to the sun, Mercury.

Researchers believe that the subsurface briny ice on Mercury, containing volatile substances like water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide, could potentially provide a habitat for life, similar to certain areas on Earth.

"This research prompts us to explore the idea that the subsurface regions of Mercury might hold more secrets than its barren surface suggests," stated Dr. Alexis Rodriguez, the lead researcher of the study, in an interview with The Mirror. By investigating the geology of Mercury's northern hemisphere, the MESSENGER mission uncovered evidence of salt flow in the Raditladi and Eminescu basins.

Unlike regular ice on Earth, these formations consist of salt intertwined with water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Deep layers beneath the surface, created by meteorite impacts, have contributed to the formation of these icy structures.

            The only spacecraft that has ever orbited it, the planet Mercury (credit: REUTERS)

Although the average temperature on a hot planet reaches a scorching 430 degrees Celsius, and the atmopshere is full of volatile substances, the research team managed to pinpoint the original locations of the cryo-volcanoes by comparing them to similar formations on Earth.

"Our models confirm that these cryo-volcanoes were most likely formed by flowing salt, which incorporated volatile substances for over a billion years," explained Dr. Rodriguez.

Finding new locations suitable for life

Dr. Rodriguez added, "The specific salt compositions found on Earth create extreme habitats where they thrive, such as the Atacama Desert in Chile." Prior to this discovery, experts believed that such a hot planetary body was unsuitable for sustaining life due to its extreme temperature fluctuations, lack of atmosphere, and constant solar radiation. However, similar to Earth's habitable "Goldilocks Zone" - the optimal distance from the sun - researchers believe that the existing system at the core of the planet exhibits similar characteristics

                                                  Mercury (credit: INGIMAGE)

"This groundbreaking discovery of cryo-volcanoes on a hot planet expands our understanding of the environmental factors that can support life and provides crucial insights into the field of astrobiology. It also enhances the relevance of exploring the potential for life on exoplanets with hot star-like features," concluded Dr. Rodriguez.     

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Defense News: Sky Dew: The high-stakes game of Israel's advanced spy balloons

 

Sky Dew: The high-stakes game of Israel's advanced spy balloons

After a year and a half on the ground preparing for operational service Sky Dew finally launched on Sunday morning.

By UDI ETZION, Jerusalem Post, JANUARY 7, 2024 

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-781129

                   Sky Dew balloon (photo credit: Israel Defense Ministry Spokesperson’s Office)

When observing surroundings, one may climb a hill, a roof, or an observation tower. This same principle applies to advanced radars, which can see for hundreds of kilometers, if placed high enough, allowing them to observe downwards.

This is the basis for Sky Dew, the Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) advanced observation balloon, which launched Sunday morning after a year and a half on the ground, preparing for operational service.

Developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which provided the radar, and the American balloon manufacturer TCOM, it’s led by the Defense Ministry and funded by the US Department of Defense.

The goal of the spy balloon

Delivered to the Air Force in 2022, its goal is to detect unmanned aircraft and cruise missiles from Iran and Syria, targets that are small and hard to detect.

This system is not new to the IAF. For over 30 years, simpler and smaller balloons have been used in the south, developed after the peace agreement with Egypt, to monitor for surprises from the east. These were developed by IAI and Elta Systems, specializing in radars. According to foreign sources, India has also purchased such balloons.

Israel's new Sky Dew spy balloon, captured here in flight on January 6, 2024 (credit: ELI ASHKENAZI/WALLA!)

Observation balloons’ military use dates back to 1794 at the Battle of Fleurus in Belgium. Without radars or cameras, the French used a human observer in a balloon to gather aerial intelligence, helping them win the battle. However, Napoleon later disbanded the French military balloon corps.

Since the 1950s, the US has operated radar-carrying aircraft for aerial target detection, like the AWACS. This aircraft can detect everything flying in the area and has been key in guiding pilots to hostile targets.

Israel couldn’t purchase the expensive AWACS from the US. In the late 1970s, it bought three smaller and cheaper Hawkeye aircraft for the Air Force, still in use today. The Air Force now also owns the Nachshon aircraft, developed by IAI based on the American Gulfstream business jet.

The radar on these aircraft is more advanced than the AWACS, with better detection capabilities and resistance to jamming. The significant difference is the cost of flight hours, easing the defense budget. This technology has been sold to countries like Italy and South Korea, with each aircraft costing over $200 million.

However, the Nachshon’s existence doesn’t negate the need for a radar-carrying observation balloon. Although it can’t rise to extreme heights or accompany fighter jets to targets like Iran, it has one key advantage: it can remain in surveillance for weeks without the need for fuel or crew replacement.

The Defense Ministry hasn’t officially announced it, but the balloon’s radar is believed to be based on the Arrow system radar, capable of observing at 250 km. and tracking multiple targets. Positioned high, it can detect low-altitude targets and those in valleys, crucial for detecting objects like cruise missiles.

The main advantage of a radar balloon over a radar aircraft is the operating costs. An hour of AWACS flight costs about $40,000, compared to a few thousand for the Nachshon, and even less for a balloon. This cost-effectiveness is significant, with one country reporting savings of $27m. a year by using radar balloons instead of aircraft.

The balloon’s downside is its size. The new balloon’s dimensions are undisclosed, but previous Elta radar balloons are 55 meters long. Their height makes them visible to enemies, and they are also expensive and sensitive to basic faults like air leaks.

It took over a year for the defense system to operationalize the balloon, a sign of the IDF’s readiness issues revealed on October 7. Even simpler observation balloons in the south were grounded due to faults during a critical Hamas attack, highlighting the system’s vulnerabilities.

Iron Dome radars and other IDF ground-based radars can detect UAVs, as seen during the Hezbollah conflict. However, there were incidents of soldiers being harmed by enemy UAVs and false alarms sending communities to shelters unnecessarily.

The operational Sky Dew system could alleviate these issues, providing an additional, prestigious target for Hassan Nasrallah. 

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Saab receives order from NATO for RBS 70 Bolide missiles

28.12.2023

https://www.canadiandefencereview.com/news/saab-receives-order-from-nato-for-rbs-70-bolide-missiles

Saab has received an order for RBS 70 Bolide missiles from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The order value amounts to SEK 350 million and deliveries will take place during 2027.

“Through the order from the NSPA, we see NATO countries continued interest in our missile systems. This order is proof of their trust in our knowledge and in the RBS 70 system,” says Görgen Johansson, head of Saab’s business area Dynamics.

The RBS 70 system has an installed base in more than 19 countries, with 1,600 RBS 70 systems and more than 18,000 missiles delivered. The Bolide missile is the 3rd generation, all-target, short-range air defence missile from Saab. With the Bolide missile, the RBS 70 system targets a complete threat spectrum: from fixed and rotary wing aircraft, down to small targets such as cruise missiles and UAVs, with a range of more than 9 kilometres and with altitude coverage in excess of 5,000 metres.

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Space News: NASA offering chance to send your name to the moon on robot rover mission to south pole

 

NASA offering chance to send your name to the moon on robot rover mission to south pole

Stargazers have little more than two months to send their name to NASA and have it attached to the VIPER for its mission to the moon. It is set to launch in late 2024.

By Sky News, Friday 5 January 2024

https://news.sky.com/story/nasa-offering-chance-to-send-your-name-to-the-moon-on-robot-rover-mission-to-south-pole-13042518

                     The names will be attached to the VIPER rover. Pic: NASA/Daniel Rutter

NASA is offering members of the public the chance to etch their name in the stars as part of its next mission to the moon.

The VIPER, NASA's first robotic moon rover, will touch down on unexplored parts of the moon's south pole in late 2024 to pick apart the mysteries of its water and understand the environment where NASA plans to land astronauts.

Along with an array of scientific instruments, the rover will carry the names of potentially millions of people - all of whom will also be given a souvenir boarding pass to "be part of that risky journey".

"With VIPER, we are going to study and explore parts of the moon's surface no one has ever been to before," said Nicola Fox, an associate administrator at NASA headquarters in Washington.

"Just think: our names will ride along as VIPER navigates across therugged terrain of the lunar south pole and gathers valuable data that will help us better understand the history of the moon."

To make the list, names must be received by the end of 15 March 2024.

It's not clear how the names will be attached to this rover, but a similar mission to Jupiter's moon Europa will see names stencilled with electron beams onto silicon chips roughly the size of a 5p coin - with each line of text just 1/1000th the width of a human hair.

Daniel Andrews, VIPER's project manager, hailed the rover as a "game-changer".

NASA VIPER moon rover prototype rolls down ramp in tests on Earth

It's the first mission of its kind, expanding our understanding of where lunar resources could be harvested to support a long-term human presence on the moon," he said.

Once VIPER - short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover - lands on the moon, it will rely on its solar panels and batteries for its roughly 100-day mission.

It will need to tolerate extreme temperatures and challenging lighting conditions, all while powering a suite of instruments to gather data about the lunar ice and other possible resources.

Developed under its Artemis programme, the rover will also scope out the environment for plans to send the first woman and person of colour to the moon.

NASA is allowing people to submit their names for VIPER mission "boarding passes" on its website.

NASA's VIPER moon rover conquer a lunar 'obstacle course, lunar rover vehicle

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