Herschel telescope sees deep-space pearls on a cosmic stringOctober 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Herschel telescope has captured images of cold gas clouds lying near the plane of the Milky Way, a region that is dotted with stellar factories, like pearls on a cosmic string. On September 3, Herschel aimed its telescope at a reservoir of cold gas in the constellation of the Southern Cross near the Galactic Plane.
Astrophysicists detect gamma rays emitting from heart of distant galaxyOctober 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astrophysicists have used the H.E.S.S. telescopes to detect gamma rays emitting from the heart of the NGC 253 galaxy.
Computer code gives scientists first full simulation of star's final hoursSeptember 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has created the first full simulation of a star's final hours. The team of researchers composed of three applied mathematicians at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and two astrophysicists, who created the first full-star simulation of the hours preceding the largest thermonuclear explosions in the universe.
Catalina Sky Survey finds 700 "optical transients" and 177 supernovaeAugust 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astronomers, using astronomical data from the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, have found more than 700 unique "optical transients," or objects that change brightness on time scales of minutes to years, as well as 177 supernovae. Their discoveries include the most energetic supernova ever seen, and a nearby stellar explosion in the Antennae galaxy that is helping astronomers refine the cosmic distance scale.
Astronomers capture most high-resolution images of dying giant starAugust 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An international team of astronomers has made the most high-resolution images of a dying giant star to date. Led by Keiichi Ohnaka at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn, the astronomers, for the first time showed how the gas is moving in different areas over the surface of a distant star known as Betelgeuse.
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.
Interstellar stuff that breathed life into Earth has younger cosmic roots than predictedJune 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An international team of scientists has analyzed 22 interstellar meteorite grains to suggest the stuff that became incorporated into the planets and life on Earth has younger cosmic roots than theories predict. The analysis was done by University of Chicago postdoctoral scholar Philipp Heck and his international team of colleagues.
New York teen discovers weakest supernova ever seenJune 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Observations have determined that a peculiar, junior-sized supernova discovered by a New York teenager in 2008, might be the weakest supernova ever seen. The supernova, called SN 2008ha, was discovered in November 2008 by Caroline Moore a 14-year-old student from upstate New York, making her the youngest person ever to do so.
Mysterious supernova remnant puzzles astronomersJune 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Astronomers have been puzzled about the origin of a supernova remnant in space, which has a very different look. This object, known as SNR 0104-72.3 (SNR 0104 for short), is in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a small neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way, and was found by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Mystery stellar explosion may have marked unusual death of carbon-rich starJune 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research by astrophysicists at the University of Warwick, UK, has discovered that a mystery stellar explosion recorded in 2006 may have marked the unusual death of an equally unusually carbon-rich star. The strange object, known as SCP 06F6, was first noted in 2006 by supernovae researchers in the US taking images with the Hubble Space Telescope, seeing it appearing out of nowhere, and fading again into oblivion, over the course of 120 days.
Rare radio supernova in nearby galaxy is nearest supernova in 5 yearsMay 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A rare radio supernova found by astronomers last month has been estimated to be the nearest supernova in five years, which underscores the promise of new, more sensitive radio surveys to find supernovas hidden by gas and dust. The radio supernova was discovered on April 8 in M82, a small irregular galaxy located nearly 12 million light years from Earth in the M81 galaxy group, by the Very Large Array, a New Mexico facility operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).
New technique standardizes brightness of cosmology's best standard candlesMay 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found a new technique that establishes the intrinsic brightness of Type Ia supernovae, which are considered the best standard candles for measuring cosmic distances, more accurately than ever before. The technique has been found by members of the international Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), a collaboration between the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a consortium of French laboratories, and Yale University.
Antarctic dust helps scientists unravel details of past climate changeMarch 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, dust trapped deep in Antarctic ice sheets is helping scientists unravel details of past climate change. The study, carried out by the Universities of Edinburgh, Stirling and Lille, has found that the very coldest periods of the last ice age correspond with the dustiest periods in Antarctica's past, thus establishing a link between the two.
Supernovae originate from dying red supergiant starsMarch 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has confirmed the origin of supernovae as being produced from dying red supergiant stars. The scientists are from the Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen and from Queens University, Belfast.
Cosmic dust inteferes with astronomical observationsFebruary 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Space dust interferes with the observation of distant stars and annoys astronomers just as much as the household variety does. 'We not only do not know what the stuff is, but we do not know where it is made or how it gets into space,' said Donald York, professor in astronomy at the University of Chicago.
Loading ...