AFP

The cosmic cliffs of a stellar nursery, a quintet of galaxies bound in a celestial dance: the James Webb Space Telescope released its next wave of images Tuesday, heralding a new era of astronomy.

“Every image is a new discovery,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “Each will give humanity a view of the universe that we’ve never seen before.”

Released one by one, the new images demonstrated the full power of the $10 billion observatory, which uses infrared cameras to gaze into the distant universe in unprecedented clarity.

On Monday, Webb revealed the clearest image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion years.

The latest tranche included the “mountains” and “valleys” of a star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula, dubbed the “Cosmic Cliffs,” 7,600 light years away.

“For the first time we’re seeing brand new stars that were previously completely hidden from our view,” said NASA astrophycisist Amber Straughn.

Webb also revealed never before seen details of Stephan’s Quintet, a grouping of five galaxies including four that experience repeated close encounters, which provide insights into how early galaxies formed at the start of the universe.

The telescope dramatically captures shockwaves as one of the galaxies smashes through the center of the cluster.

A dim star at the center of the Southern Ring Nebula was revealed for the first time to be cloaked in dust, as it spews out rings of gas and dust in its death throes.

Understanding the molecules present in such stellar graveyards can help scientists learn more about the process of stellar death.

– Exploring the cosmos –

The telescope also found water vapor in the atmosphere of a faraway gas planet. The spectroscopy — an analysis of light that reveals detailed information — was of planet WASP-96 b, which was discovered in 2014.

Nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, WASP-96 b is about half the mass of Jupiter and zips around its star in just 3.4 days.

“We’ve seen the effect of what happens when a planet and its atmosphere passes in front of the star, and the star light filters through the atmosphere, and you can break that down into wavelengths of light,” said NASA’s Knicole Colon.

“So you’re actually seeing bumps and wiggles that indicate the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of the planet.”

Launched in December 2021 from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket, Webb is orbiting the Sun at a distance of a million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth, in a region of space called the second Lagrange point.

Here, it remains in a fixed position relative to the Earth and Sun, with minimal fuel required for course corrections. 

A wonder of engineering, the total project cost is estimated at $10 billion, making it one of the most expensive scientific platforms ever built, comparable to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Webb’s primary mirror is over 21 feet (6.5 meters) wide and is made up of 18 gold-coated mirror segments. Like a camera held in one’s hand, the structure must remain as stable as possible to achieve the best shots.

After the first images, astronomers around the globe will get shares of time on the telescope, with projects selected competitively through a process in which applicants and selectors don’t know each other’s identities, to minimize bias.

Thanks to an efficient launch, NASA estimates Webb has enough propellant for a 20-year life, as it works in concert with the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to answer fundamental questions about the cosmos.

The euro struck parity with the dollar for the first time in nearly 20 years on Tuesday as a cut in Russian gas supplies to Europe heightened fears of a recession in the eurozone.

The European single currency hit exactly one dollar — its lowest level since December 2002 — before bouncing back to as high as $1.0070.

Oil prices plunged on concerns of a wider recession as central banks hike interest rates to fight decades-high inflation, with both main contracts falling back under $100 per barrel at one point.

While European stocks initially moved lower, they rallied in afternoon trading to finish higher. Wall Street’s main stock indices were also up in late morning trading.

“Rising inflation, stalling economic growth and more recently fears that Russia could cut gas supplies have pulled the euro lower,” said Fiona Cincotta at City Index.

“The nail in the coffin today was dire data showing that economic confidence in Germany fell to a decade low,” she added.

Russian energy giant Gazprom on Monday began 10 days of maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline — with Germany and other European countries watching anxiously to see if the gas comes back on.

“The gas crisis has really spooked markets over the eurozone economy,” Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson told AFP.

With relations between Russia and the West at their lowest in years because of the invasion of Ukraine, Gazprom may not reopen the valves, according to analysts.

“The next few weeks could be challenging for Europe, with possibly maximum uncertainty stretching into August,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.

“Investors increasingly believe that gas may not start to flow through Nord Stream 1 again following the scheduled maintenance on July 11-21, with further ‘temporary’ interruptions seen as likely.”

Worries about a Covid flare-up in China — fuelling fears of more lockdowns — added to the downbeat mood, just as investors prepared for a week of economic data and corporate earnings that could have huge implications for markets.

A forecast-beating US jobs report last week suggested the world’s top economy was coping with higher Federal Reserve rates, but it also gave the central bank more room to continue tightening — leading to concerns it could go too far and cause a contraction.

The European single currency is also under pressure from the Federal Reserve hiking US interest rates more aggressively than the European Central Bank.

The dollar has jumped 14 percent against the euro since the start of the year.

US inflation data due out Wednesday could also solidify the case for the Fed to continue raising interest rates aggressively.

“In anticipation of that, investors have retreated to the safety of the US dollar once more, steering clear of risky assets in favour of haven” assets, said market analyst Craig Erlam at trading platform OANDA.

Central banks have been increasing borrowing costs in a bid to tame inflation, which has been fuelled by soaring energy prices.

Oil and gas prices have rocketed this year after economies reopened from Covid lockdowns and following the invasion of Ukraine by major energy producer Russia, which raised concerns whether supplies will be adequate.

– Key figures at around 1530 GMT –

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0065 from $1.0041 Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1911 from $1.1892 

Euro/pound: UP at 84.57 pence from 84.38 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 136.66 yen from 137.41 yen

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 6.8 percent at $96.99 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 6.3 percent at $100.41 per barrel

New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 31,318.22 points

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,487.05

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 7,209.86 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 12,905.48 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 6,044.20 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 26,336.66 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 20,844.74 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,281.47 (close)

burs-rl/bp

The House committee investigating the 2021 assault on the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump will examine links between associates of the former president and right-wing extremist groups at its seventh hearing on Tuesday.

“We’ll give the American public a more complete understanding of the final phase of president Trump and his supporters’ use of radical measures to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and overturn the 2020 election,” a committee aide said.

The session will focus on ties between members of Trump’s inner circle and two militia groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, the aide said.

“We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying — in government circles — to overturn the election,” Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren of California said.

Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers stormed Congress on January 6, 2021 along with thousands of Trump loyalists in an attempt to prevent the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

Jason Van Tatenhove, a former member of the Oath Keepers, is expected to testify at Tuesday’s televised hearing, which begins at 1:00 pm (1700 GMT) and is expected to last at least two hours.

Stephen Ayres, an Ohio man who drove to Washington and joined the mob which stormed the Capitol, is also expected to appear as a witness.

Five members of the Proud Boys were indicted in June on seditious conspiracy charges and 11 members of the Oath Keepers face the same charges. Three of the Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty.

More than 850 people have been arrested in connection with the storming of Congress by Trump supporters, but only those 16 face seditious conspiracy charges, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The committee is trying to determine whether Trump or his associates had a role in planning or encouraging the violent insurrection and has subpoenaed numerous advisors and aides to the former president.

Excerpts may be played on Tuesday from an eight-hour interview the committee held Friday with former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone.

– ‘Pivotal moment’ –

The assault on the Capitol left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured, and followed a fiery speech by Trump to thousands of his supporters near the White House.

Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House of Representatives after the riot — he was charged with inciting an insurrection — but was acquitted by the Senate.

In a statement Tuesday on the Truth Social platform, Trump denounced the committee as “Political Hacks and Thugs.”

“Have you seen them before?” he asked. “Yes, they are essentially the same lunatics that drove the Country ‘crazy’ with their lies and made up stories, like RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, and all of the others.”

Tuesday’s hearing will be the first since blockbuster testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, an assistant to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Hutchinson testified late last month that she was told Trump had angrily lunged at his Secret Service driver and grabbed at the steering wheel of his limousine in a bid to join the crowd marching on Congress.

The select committee aide said Tuesday’s hearing will focus on a tweet Trump sent in December telling his supporters to come to Washington on January 6 and promising it will be “wild.”

“They immediately started answering his call by zeroing in on that date,” the aide said. “We’ll talk about how that was a pivotal moment that spurred a chain of events.”

The tweet was sent a little more than an hour after Trump met at the White House with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former general Mike Flynn, and Sidney Powell, another attorney, the aide said.

The hearing will also look at attempts by some Republican members of Congress to pressure vice president Mike Pence into blocking certification of the election results.

Kyiv said Tuesday it had launched artillery barrages that a destroyed a Russian arms depot and carried out a “special operation” to free military captives in the Moscow-controlled Kherson region.

The bombardments in the south came as Washington and the EU announced nearly $3 billion combined for Ukraine and Turkey said delegations from Moscow and Kyiv would meet in Istanbul Wednesday to discuss restarting stalled grain deliveries across the Black Sea.

Ukrainian military officials said the strikes had destroyed artillery, armoured vehicles “and a warehouse with ammunition” in the town of Nova Kakhovka.

Russian-backed authorities accused Ukraine, however, of damaging civilian infrastructure and killing at least seven people, a toll that could not be independently verified.

“Warehouses were hit, as were shops, a pharmacy, petrol stations and even a church,” the head of the city’s Moscow-backed administration, Vladimir Leontiev, said on social media.

Ukrainian military intelligence said separately its forces had free five captives in a “special operation” in Kherson, including a military serviceman and former police officer, without specifying when.

The Ukrainian army has for several weeks been waging a counter-offensive to recapture Kherson, which was taken by Russian troops early in the February invasion of Ukraine.

The deputy head of the pro-Russian authorities in Kherson, Ekaterina Gubareva, said Ukraine had used long-range, precision artillery systems supplied by the United States in the strikes in Nova Kakhovka.

– Western financial aid –

Military analysts are crediting newly arrived systems from the West — including HIMARS from the United States — with attacks deeper into Russian-controlled territory across the front line.

EU member states, which have been supplying Ukraine with military support, on Tuesday approved one billion euros ($1 billion) in financial support for Kyiv, billing it as the first instalment of a promised nine-billion-euro rescue package agreed in May.

The United States separately announced $1.7 billion to Ukraine to help fund the country’s recovery from Russia’s invasion.

“This aid will help Ukraine’s democratic government provide essential services for the people of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said of the funds that are part of a $7.5 billion aid package signed by President Joe Biden in May.

Moscow was striking back across Ukraine, with officials in the southern city of Mykolaiv saying Russian forces had bombed two medical facilities and homes, injuring 12 people.

Six people were injured in Russian shelling on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, said regional governor Oleg Synegubov, after strikes the previous day left seven dead across that region.

But the heaviest fighting in recent weeks has centred on the Donbas where Moscow’s forces have slowly advanced under fierce resistance since failing to capture Kyiv after the February 24 invasion.

Ukrainian emergency services said the death toll had risen to 38, two days after Russian bombardment flattened a residential building in the eastern town of Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region of the Donbas.

In Bakhmut — one of the few remaining cities under Ukrainian control in Donbas — AFP journalists could hear nearby artillery fire.

– Toll rises to 38 –

“The front is getting closer,” said municipal official, Dmytro Podkuyidko, estimating that more than one-third of the town’s population of 73,000 have fled.

“If it gets worse, I’ll end up leaving too,” Podkuyidko said.

Turkey announced meanwhile that Russian and Ukrainian delegations had agreed to meet in Turkey Wednesday for talks to break an impasse on allowing Ukrainian grain to leave its southern ports which are mined and blocked by Russian warships. 

The four-way meeting with Turkish officials and the United Nations comes as food prices soar around the world due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the first time since the invasion at talks hosted by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran next Tuesday.

The talks are due to focus on the situation in war-ravaged Syria, but the Kremlin said Putin and Erdogan will hold a separate meeting that is almost certain to focus heavily on Ukraine.

The Kremlin has been working to consolidate its hold over territories it controls like Kherson, both militarily and bureaucratically since the beginning of the conflict.

After Putin on Monday passed a decree fast-tracking Russian passports for all Ukrainians, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was expected Tuesday to open a representative office for separatist authorities in Moscow.

burs-jbr/jm

The James Webb Space Telescope began releasing a new wave of cosmic images on Tuesday, heralding a new era of astronomy.

“Every image is a new discovery,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “Each will give humanity a view of the universe that we’ve never seen before.”

On Monday, Webb revealed the clearest image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion years.

One new image on Tuesday shown water vapor in the atmosphere of a faraway gas planet. The spectroscopy — an analysis of light that reveals detailed information — was of planet WASP-96 b, which was discovered in 2014.

Nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, WASP-96 b is about half the mass of Jupiter and zips around its star in just 3.4 days.

“We’ve seen the effect of what happens when a planet and its atmosphere passes in front of the star, and the star light filters through the atmosphere, and you can break that down into wavelengths of light,” said NASA’s Knicole Colon.

“So you’re actually seeing bumps and wiggles that indicate the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of the planet.”

Other targets that will be released include Carina Nebula, a stellar nursery, famous for its towering pillars that include “Mystic Mountain,” a three-light-year-tall cosmic pinnacle captured in an iconic image by Hubble.

One stunning shot released by the White House on Monday was overflowing with thousands of galaxies and features some of the faintest objects observed.

Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, it shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, which acts as a gravitational lens, bending light from more distant galaxies behind it towards the observatory, in a cosmic magnification effect.

Launched in December 2021 from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket, Webb is orbiting the Sun at a distance of a million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth, in a region of space called the second Lagrange point.

Here, it remains in a fixed position relative to the Earth and Sun, with minimal fuel required for course corrections. 

A wonder of engineering, the total project cost is estimated at $10 billion, making it one of the most expensive scientific platforms ever built, comparable to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Webb’s primary mirror is over 21 feet (6.5 meters) wide and is made up of 18 gold-coated mirror segments. Like a camera held in one’s hand, the structure must remain as stable as possible to achieve the best shots.

After the first images, astronomers around the globe will get shares of time on the telescope, with projects selected competitively through a process in which applicants and selectors don’t know each other’s identities, to minimize bias.

Thanks to an efficient launch, NASA estimates Webb has enough propellant for a 20-year life, as it works in concert with the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to answer fundamental questions about the cosmos.