Finally, the 'planet' in planetary nebulae? New studies may vindicate 300-year-old astronomical 'mistake'

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The Rochester teams model of the spiral shock waves caused by a planet orbiting a dying star. Credit: University of Rochester
The Rochester team's model of the spiral shock waves caused by a planet orbiting a dying star. Credit: University of Rochester

Astronomers at the University of Rochester, home to one of the world’s largest groups of planetary nebulae specialists, have announced that low-mass stars and possibly even super-Jupiter-sized planets may be responsible for creating some of the most breathtaking objects in the sky.


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All News summaries for March 10, 2008

Trench on Mars Ready for Next Sampling by NASA Lander

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has groomed the bottom of a shallow trench to prepare for collecting a sample to be analyzed from a hard subsurface layer where the soil may contain frozen water. ...

Arctic 'holds 90bln barrels of oil, mostly offshore'

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Within the Arctic circle there are 90 billion barrels of oil and vast quantities of natural gas waiting to be tapped, most of it offshore, the government-run US Geological Survey said.

Russian scientists begin trial exploration of world's deepest lake

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Russian scientists leading a submarine expedition to probe the world's deepest lake on Thursday carried out test dives ahead of the start of the operation next week, reports said.

Scientists solve 30-year-old aurora borealis mystery

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
UCLA space scientists and colleagues have identified the mechanism that triggers substorms in space; wreaks havoc on satellites, power grids and communications systems; and leads to the explosive release of ...

The Quiet Explosion: Object intermediate between normal supernovae and gamma-ray bursts found

Jul 24, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
A European-led team of astronomers are providing hints that a recent supernova may not be as normal as initially thought. Instead, the star that exploded is now understood to have collapsed into a black hole, producing a ...