NGC 602 and BeyondNear the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy some 200 thousand light-years distant, lies 5 million year young star cluster NGC 602. Surrounded by natal gas and dust, NGC 602 is featured in this stunning Hubble image of the region. Fantastic ridges and swept back shapes strongly suggest that energetic radiation and shock waves from NGC 602's massive young stars have eroded the dusty material and triggered a progression of........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/15/2007 7:12:22 PM)
Research To Solve Aurora MysteryThe aurora is a bright glow observed in the night sky, usually in the polar zone. For this reason some scientists call it a "polar aurora" (or "aurora polaris"). In northern latitudes, it is known as the aurora borealis, which is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. Especially in Europe, it often appears as a reddish glow on the northern horizon, as if the sun were rising from an unusual........Go to the Astronomy-news (Added on 1/11/2007 4:52:07 AM)
Story Of A Star DeathUsing NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, researchers have created a stunning new image of one of the youngest supernova remnants in the galaxy. This new view of the debris of an exploded star helps astronomers solve a long-standing mystery, with implications for understanding how a star's life can end catastrophically and for gauging the expansion of the universe.
Over 400 years ago, sky watchers -- including the famous astronomer Johannes........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/9/2007 9:53:04 PM)
Brightest SupernovaTwenty years ago next month, the closest and brightest supernova in four centuries lit up the southern sky, wowing astronomers and the public alike.
Ongoing observations of the exploded star, called supernova 1987A, provided important tests for theories of how stars die, but it also raised some new questions. Principal among these was how a bizarre, triple-ring nebula surrounding the supernova - ejected by the star a few thousand years........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/9/2007 9:21:22 PM)
Black Hole In Tiny 'Dwarf' GalaxyAstronomers have found evidence of a supermassive black hole at the heart of a dwarf elliptical galaxy about 54 million light years away from the Milky Way galaxy where Earth resides.
It is only the second time a supermassive black hole has been discerned in a dwarf galaxy, and only the third time that astronomers have observed a double nucleus at the heart of a galaxy, said Victor P. Debattista, a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy at the........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/7/2007 8:59:05 PM)
A new way to spin up pulsarsA team of researchers using Oak Ridge National Laboratory supercomputers has discovered the first plausible explanation for a pulsar's spin that fits the observations made by astronomers. Anthony Mezzacappa of the Department of Energy lab's Physics Division and John Blondin of North Carolina State University explain their results in the Jan. 4 issue of the journal Nature. As per three-dimensional simulations they performed at the Leadership........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/7/2007 7:10:15 AM)
Glow of Universe's First ObjectsNew observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope strongly suggest that infrared light detected in a previous study originated from clumps of the very first objects of the universe. The recent data indicate this patchy light is splattered across the entire sky and comes from clusters of bright, monstrous objects more than 13 billion light-years away.
"We are pushing our telescopes to the limit and are tantalizingly close to getting a........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/28/2006 9:54:34 PM)
Stars Can Be StrangeAs per the "Strange Matter Hypothesis," which gained popularity in the paranormal 1980's, nuclear matter, too, can be strange. The hypothesis suggests that small conglomerations of quarks, the infinitesimally tiny particles that attract by a strong nuclear force to form neutrons and protons in atoms, are the true ground state of matter. The theory has captivated particle physicists worldwide, including one of Washington University's own.
........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/18/2006 9:01:08 PM)
Weak Sun Produces Record Solar OutburstA solar outburst, which can play havoc with global positioning systems and cell phone reception, bombarded Earth, Dec. 6, 2006, with a record amount of radio noise, said solar physicist Dale Gary. Gary, who confirmed the news today, is a professor and chair of the department of physics at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). "Reports of significant events worldwide are still coming in as late as yesterday afternoon," said Gary. Due to a........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/18/2006 5:15:40 AM)
Making Dark Matter VisibleAs light travels to us from distant objects its path is bent slightly by the gravitational effects of the things it passes. This effect was first observed in 1919 for the light of distant stars passing close to the surface of the Sun, proving Einstein's theory of gravity to be a better description of reality than Newton's. The bending causes a detectable distortion of the images of distant galaxies analogous to the distortion of a distant scene........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/15/2006 4:55:25 AM)
Moon's Escaping Gasses Expose Fresh SurfaceConventional wisdom suggests that the Earth's moon has seen no widespread volcanic activity for at least the last 3 billion years. Now, a fresh look at existing data points to much more recent release of lunar gasses.
The study, reported in the journal Nature by geologists Peter Schulz and Carle Pieters of Brown University and Matthew Staid of the Planetary Science Institute, uses three distinct lines of evidence to support the assertion........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/12/2006 4:39:04 AM)
Composition of Asteroid ItokawaItokawa, a spud-shaped, near-Earth asteroid, consists mainly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene, a mineral composition similar to a class of stony meteorites that have pelted Earth in the past.
This asteroid ingredient list, published in Science, comes courtesy of Hayabusa, the spacecraft launched in 2003 by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission of Hayabusa is to bring back first-ever samples from an asteroid to........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/10/2006 9:23:52 PM)
Galaxies And Darwinian EvolutionUsing VIMOS on ESO's Very Large Telescope, a team of French and Italian astronomers have shown the strong influence the environment exerts on the way galaxies form and evolve. The researchers have for the first time charted remote parts of the Universe, showing that the distribution of galaxies has considerably evolved with time, depending on the galaxies' immediate surroundings. This surprising discovery poses new challenges for theories of........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 12/6/2006 8:29:25 PM)
Astronomers Study Shape Of Stellar CandlesAstronomers are reporting remarkable new findings that shed light on a decade-long debate about one kind of supernovae, the explosions that mark a star's final demise: does the star die in a slow burn or with a fast bang" From their observations, the researchers find that the matter ejected by the explosion shows significant peripheral asymmetry but a nearly spherical interior, most likely implying that the explosion finally propagates at........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/5/2006 8:51:51 PM)
First ever Gamma Ray ClockAstronomers using the H.E.S.S. telescopes have discovered the first ever modulated signal from space in Very High Energy Gamma Rays - the most energetic such signal ever observed. Regular signals from space have been known since the 1960s, when the first radio pulsar (nicknamed Little Green Men-1 for its regular nature) was discovered. This is the first time a signal has been seen at such high energies - 100,000 times higher than previously........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/28/2006 8:19:02 PM)
Origin Of Appalachian MountainsGeologists have developed a new theory to explain how and when the Appalachian Mountain range was created. Their research redraws the map of the planet from 420 million years ago.
The researchers recently discovered a piece of the Appalachian Mountains in southern Mexico, a location geologists long had assumed was part of the North American Cordillera. The Cordillera is a continuous sequence of mountain ranges that includes the Rocky........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/16/2006 8:45:43 PM)
Eye Of A Monster Storm On SaturnNASA's Cassini spacecraft has seen something never before seen on another planet -- a hurricane-like storm at Saturn's south pole with a well-developed eye, ringed by towering clouds.
The "hurricane" spans a dark area inside a thick, brighter ring of clouds. It is approximately 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) across, or two thirds the diameter of Earth.
"It looks like a hurricane, but it doesn't behave like a hurricane," said Dr. Andrew........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/10/2006 4:52:59 AM)
Monstrous Black Hole Blast in the Core of a Galaxy ClusterThis is a composite image of galaxy cluster MS0735.6+7421, located about 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation Camelopardus. The image represents three views of the region that astronomers have combined into one photograph. The optical view of the galaxy cluster, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys in February 2006, shows dozens of galaxies bound together by gravity.
Diffuse, hot gas with a........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 11/6/2006 9:17:27 PM)
Could You Explain The Origins Of The Universe?Formative Evaluation of the Large Hadron Collider Communications Project.
PPARC has commissioned research that asked adults, teachers and young people about their interest in, knowledge of and concerns about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project. Due to start in late 2007, at CERN, Geneva, it will be one of the largest experiments in the history of science, and will investigate the Origin of the Universe.
Dr Ray Mathias (UK LHC........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/6/2006 9:10:59 PM)
First Sunrise on Hinode's instrumentsThe Hinode (formerly Solar-B) satellite, a joint Japan/NASA/PPARC mission launched on 22nd September 2006, reported its first observations of the Sun with its suite of scientific instruments on 31st October 2006.
The satellite was renamed 'Hinode' which is Japanese for Sunrise, which is most appropriate since Hinode will watch at close hand massively explosive solar flares erupting from the Sun's surface and rising into interstellar space.
........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/1/2006 8:13:29 PM)
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An Astronaut's Endless EndeavorAn astronaut's work, it seems, is never done.
Eileen Collins retired in May, but by October she still hadn't found time to finish cleaning out her office.
"I'm still answering mail from 2005," she said. "I haven't wound down yet. I've been extremely busy."
Of course, that statement could also apply to the past three decades of Collins' life. In 1976, when Collins was a college sophomore, the Air Force announced it would begin training........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/11/2007 6:43:30 PM)
Light Echo From The Milky Way's Black HoleLike cold case investigators, astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to uncover evidence of a powerful outburst from the giant black hole at the Milky Way's center.
A light echo was produced when X-ray light generated by gas falling into the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, known as Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A-star"), was reflected off gas clouds near the black hole. While the primary X-rays from the outburst would have........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/11/2007 4:57:10 AM)
Dust Around Nearby Star Like Powder SnowAstronomers peering into the dust surrounding a nearby red dwarf star have observed that the dust grains have a fluffiness comparable to that of powder snow, the ne plus ultra of skiers and snowboarders.
This is the first definitive measurement of the porosity of dust outside our solar system, and is akin to looking back 4 billion years into the early days of our planetary system, say scientists at the University of California, Berkeley.........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 1/9/2007 9:32:14 PM)
Universe's Oldest ObjectsThe deepest reaches of space are permeated by a cloak of infrared radiation, an uneven energy swath generated by long-dead objects from the early universe.
Now, researchers have teased apart overlapping signals from that cosmic infrared background, building upon an earlier study to show that uneven patches of energy may actually be clusters of the first objects to emerge from the Big Bang.
The astronomers believe the objects are either........Go to the Astronomy-news (Added on 1/9/2007 8:45:46 PM)
New Stars Shed Light On The Pastnew image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows N90, one of the star-forming regions in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The rich populations of infant stars found here enable astronomers to examine star forming processes in an environment that is very different from that in our own Milky Way.
This new image taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope depicts bright blue newly formed stars that are........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 1/8/2007 9:32:18 PM)
A New Class Of SupernovaEvidence for a significant new class of supernova has been found with the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. These results strengthen the case for a population of stars that evolve rapidly and are destroyed by thermonuclear explosions. Such 'prompt' supernovas could be valuable tools for probing the early history of the cosmos.
A team of astronomers uncovered a puzzling situation when they examined X-ray........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 1/7/2007 8:47:14 AM)
Finding a Different Mars UnderneathMars is showing researchers its older, craggier face buried beneath the surface, thanks to a pioneering sounding radar co-sponsored by NASA aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.
Observations by the first project to explore a planet by sounding radar strongly suggest that ancient impact craters lie buried beneath the smooth, low plains of Mars' northern hemisphere. The technique uses echoes of waves that have penetrated........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 12/28/2006 9:59:25 PM)
A Laser Link With An AircraftArtemis, the European Space Agency Advanced Relay and Technology Mission Satellite, successfully relayed optical laser links from an aircraft in early December. These airborne laser links, established over a distance of 40 000 km during two flights at altitudes of 6000 and 10 000 metres, represent a world first.
The relay was set up through six two-way optical links between a Mystère 20 equipped with the airborne laser optical link LOLA........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/18/2006 9:05:20 PM)
The Frozen Secrets Of Comet Wild 2Eleven months ago, NASA's Stardust mission touched down in the Utah desert with the first solid comet samples ever retrieved from space. Since then, nearly 200 researchers from around the globe have studied the minuscule grains, looking for clues to the physical and chemical history of our solar system. Eventhough years of work remain to fully decipher the secrets of comet Wild 2, scientists are sure that it contains some of the most primitive........Go to the Astronomy-news (Added on 12/18/2006 8:56:41 PM)
Tall Mountains on TitanThe infrared-sensitive camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft has photographed the tallest mountains ever seen on Saturn's moon, Titan.
The mountain chain is nearly a mile high (1.5 kilometers), 93 miles long (150 kilometers) and 19 miles wide (30 kilometers). The mountains are topped by bright, white material which may be methane or other organic (carbon-containing) "snow."
"We see a massive mountain range that reminds me of the Sierra........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/13/2006 4:30:09 AM)
Predicted Present Day Distribution Of Elusive First StarsWith the help of enormous computer simulations, astronomers have now shown that the first generation of stars -- which have never been observed by researchers -- should be distributed evenly throughout our galaxy, deepening the long-standing mystery about these missing stellar ancestors. The results are published in this week's issue of the Astrophysical Journal.
The problem is that despite years of looking, no one has ever found any of........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 12/11/2006 9:32:30 PM)
Water Still Flows in Brief Spurts on MarsNASA photographs have revealed bright new deposits seen in two gullies on Mars that suggest water carried sediment through them sometime during the past seven years.
"These observations give the strongest evidence to date that water still flows occasionally on the surface of Mars," said Dr. Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, Washington.
Liquid water, as opposed to the water ice and water vapor known to........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/7/2006 5:01:55 AM)
For Black Holes Size Does Not MatterResearch by UK astronomers, published recently in Nature (7th December 2006) reveals that the processes at work in black holes of all sizes are the same and that supermassive black holes are simply scaled up versions of small Galactic black holes.
An accreting black hole and a binary star.
Credit: R HynesFor a number of years astronomers have been trying to understand the similarities between stellar-mass sized Galactic black hole systems........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 12/7/2006 4:56:09 AM)
Integral Catches A New Erupting Black HoleESA's gamma-ray observatory, Integral, has spotted a rare kind of gamma-ray outburst. The vast explosion of energy allowed astronomers to pinpoint a possible black hole in our Galaxy.
The outburst was discovered on 17 September 2006 by staff at the Integral Science Data Centre (ISDC), Versoix, Switzerland. Inside the ISDC, astronomers constantly monitor the data coming down from Integral because they know the sky at gamma-ray wavelengths can........Go to the Astronomy-news (Added on 11/28/2006 8:25:44 PM)
First Live HDTV Broadcast From SpaceImages from the world's first high definition television (HDTV) broadcast from space flashed across the screen on Nov 15th in Times Square. On Nov. 15, 2006, NASA made history with the first live HDTV broadcasts from space, in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Discovery HD Theater and Japanese broadcast network NHK.
The two HDTV broadcasts featured Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria on the International........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 11/22/2006 4:32:14 AM)
Fascinating Twin Star ExplosionsResearchers using NASA's Swift satellite stumbled upon a rare sight, two supernovas side by side in one galaxy. Large galaxies typically play host to three supernovaccording to century. Galaxy NGC 1316 has had two supernovas in less than five months, and a total of four supernova in 26 years, as far back as the records go. This makes NGC 1316 the most prodigious known producer of supernovas.
The first supernova, still visible on the "right"........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/20/2006 8:32:55 PM)
Relativistic Pinball MachineNew clues about the origins of cosmic rays, mysterious high-energy particles that bombard the Earth, have been revealed using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. An extraordinarily detailed image of the remains of an exploded star provides crucial insight into the generation of cosmic rays.
For the first time, astronomers have mapped the rate of acceleration of cosmic ray electrons in a supernova remnant. The new map shows that the electrons........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/16/2006 4:35:32 AM)
Measuring Natural Airglow In The Upper AtmosphereThe second of five Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI) remote sensing instruments, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, was launched on November 4, 2006 on board the DMSP F-17 satellite. SSULI is the first operational instrument of its kind and provides a new technique for remote sensing of the ionosphere and thermosphere from space. SSULI's measurements will provide scientific data supporting military and civil systems and........Go to the Astronomy-facts (Added on 11/7/2006 4:56:24 AM)
Mercury to Transit the SunOn Nov. 8, 2006, Mercury will pass directly between the sun and the Earth, a transit that will cause the tiny, innermost planet to appear as a small black shadow moving across the bright solar disk.
A special event at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz., will offer the public a unique opportunity to view the transit, which is invisible to the naked eye, in real-time through the observatory's specially filtered, 16-inch,........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 11/1/2006 8:37:05 PM)
Snake on a Galactic Plane!Something scary appears to be slithering across the plane of our Milky Way galaxy in this new Halloween image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The snake-like object is actually the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. In fact, astronomers say its "belly" may be harboring beastly stars in the process of forming.
"The snake is an ideal place to hunt for massive forming stars as they have not had........Go to the Astronomy-blog (Added on 10/31/2006 6:53:20 PM)
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