Scientists make major advance in understanding evolution of the universeAugust 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, a team of scientists has achieved a significant advance in the understanding of the early evolution of the universe, by putting new constraints on the details of how the universe looked in its earliest moments. The research was conducted by a team of scientists associated with the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration.
Universe's first black holes kept to a strict dietAugust 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new supercomputer simulation designed to track the fate of the universe's first black holes has found that the mysterious cosmic objects couldn't efficiently gorge themselves on nearby gas, and thus had to keep themselves on a strict diet, starving in the process. "The first stars were much more massive than most stars we see today, upwards of 100 times the mass of our sun," said John Wise, a post-doctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and one of the study's authors.
Stars in early galaxies whizzed around at astonishingly high speedsAugust 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of astronomers has measured the motions of stars in a very distant galaxy for the first time and discovered they are whizzing around at astonishingly high speeds. A team from Yale University, UK, spent an unprecedented 29 hours observing the galaxy with one of the largest telescopes on Earth-the Gemini South Telescope in Chile-to collect enough light to determine how fast its stars are moving.
Astronomers detect hyperactive galaxies by looking back 11 bln yrs into the pastAugust 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have measured the motions of stars for the first time in a very distant galaxy and clocked speeds upwards of one million miles per hour, about twice the speed of our Sun through the Milky Way. The fast-moving stars shed new light on how these distant galaxies, which are a fraction the size of our Milky Way, may have evolved into the full-grown galaxies seen around us today.
Dancing helps galaxies lose weight!July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In an interesting new research, astronomers have determined that dwarf spheroidal galaxies, which contain few stars relative to their total mass, are formed by indulging in a cosmic dance. Dwarf spheroidal galaxies appear to be made mostly of dark matter - a mysterious substance detectable only by its gravitational influence, which outweighs normal matter by a factor of five to one in the universe as a whole.
Astronomers discover rare 'Green Pea' galaxiesJuly 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of astronomers has discovered a group of rare galaxies called the "Green Peas", which could lend unique insights into how galaxies form stars in the early universe. The galaxies were discovered with the help of citizen scientists working through an online project called Galaxy Zoo.
Dying stars shed light on universe formation 11 billion years agoJuly 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Cosmologists at UC (University of California) Irvine have found two supernovae farther away than any previously detected by using a new technique that could help find other dying stars at the edge of the universe, which could shed light on universe formation 11 billion years ago. This method has the potential to allow astronomers to study some of the very first supernovae and will advance the understanding of how galaxies form, how they change over time and how Earth came to be.
Astronomers see death throes of stars from 11 billion years ago, spotting oldest supernovaeJuly 8th, 2009 New technique finds ancient star explosionsWASHINGTON — Astronomers have spotted the most distant and oldest star explosions yet in the universe. Scientists captured the fuzzy death throes of two supernovae (soo-per-noh-vee) that date back nearly 11 billion years.
Oz scientists closer to identify mystery light that lit up universeJune 21st, 2009 SYDNEY - Scientists in Australia are getting closer to identify the mystery light that lit up the universe. The universe was covered in a thick fog of neutral hydrogen gas thirteen billion years ago.
Maths theories may give clues on origins and future of life in UniverseJune 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, a Maths Professor is looking to mathematical theories for clues on origins and future of life in the Universe. Louis Crane, K-State professor of mathematics, is studying new theories about why the universe is the way it is.
Astronomers propose new physical interpretation of a supernovaJune 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astronomers from Queen's University Belfast have proposed a new physical interpretation of a supernova discovered on 7th November 2008. A group of researchers, led by Dr.
Clear images of starburst galaxies reveal new picture of early universeMay 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A telescope designed by a University of Miami physicist and an international team of collaborators has produced the clearest images of starburst galaxies, revealing a new picture of the universe in its early stages. The innovative new telescope, called BLAST (Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimeter Telescope), was built by an international research team, which included Joshua Gundersen, University of Miami professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Astronauts install device on Hubble to study cosmic originsMay 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel installed new equipment Saturday on the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope to help scientists study the origins of the universe. US space agency NASA said that the third of the current shuttle mission's five scheduled spacewalks was completed in six and a half hours.
Herschel and Planck on their way to unlock secrets of the UniverseMay 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Herschel and Planck spacecraft have successfully blasted into space on May 14 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, in a mission to unlock the secrets of the Universe. The European Space Agency (ESA) missions, with significant participation from NASA, hitched a ride together on an Ariane 5 rocket, but now have different journeys before them.
Does cosmic turbulence trigger birth of massive stars?February 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The constellation of Orion the Hunter swaddles a cluster of newborn stars called the Trapezium, each of them as dazzling as 100,000 suns and with 15 to 30 times the sun's mass. Where did the Trapezium stars originate? New data from the Submillimeter Array (SMA), a joint project of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is helping answer this question.
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