Astronomy news

'Dropouts' pinpoint earliest galaxies

'Dropouts' pinpoint earliest galaxies

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (10) | comments 13

Astronomers, conducting the broadest survey to date of galaxies from about 800 million years after the Big Bang, have found 22 early galaxies and confirmed the age of one by its characteristic hydrogen signature ...


In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 15

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have published the discovery of the farthest known object in the cosmos: a star that exploded when the universe was only 630 million years old -- only 4.6% of its current age. ...


Starring Intelligent Aliens

Starring Intelligent Aliens

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 5

The most probable place to find intelligent life in the galaxy is around stars very similar to our sun, a new study has found.


New type of supernova explosion reported; predicted by theoretical physicists at UCSB

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

A new class of supernova was discovered by scientists at Berkeley and may be the first example of a new type of exploding star. A team of astrophysicists at UC Santa Barbara had predicted this kind of explosion in their t ...


Rapid supernova could be new class of exploding star

Rapid supernova could be new class of exploding star

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (17) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, possibly from a binary star system where helium flows from one white dwarf ...


Hubble Image Showcases Star Birth in M83, the Southern Pinwheel

Hubble Image Showcases Star Birth in M83, the Southern Pinwheel

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The spectacular new camera installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May has delivered the most detailed view of star birth in the graceful, curving arms of ...


Unsettled Youth: Spitzer Observes a Chaotic Planetary System

Unsettled Youth: Spitzer Observes a Chaotic Planetary System

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Before our planets found their way to the stable orbits they circle in today, they wiggled and jostled about like unsettled children. Now, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a young ...


Carbon atmosphere discovered on neutron star

Carbon Atmosphere Discovered on Neutron Star

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (19) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Evidence for a thin veil of carbon has been found on the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. This discovery, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, resolves a ten-year ...


University of Utah celebrates telescope's 'first light'

University of Utah celebrates telescope's 'first light'

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The University of Utah will celebrate the initial observations or "first light" of its new $860,000 research telescope in southwest Utah during a Wednesday, Nov. 11 symposium and reception ...


Shedding light on the cosmic skeleton

Shedding Light on the Cosmic Skeleton

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (21) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the ...


Fermi telescope detects gamma-ray from 'star factories' in other galaxies

Fermi Telescope Detects Gamma-Ray From 'Star Factories' in Other Galaxies

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Nearby galaxies undergoing a furious pace of star formation also emit lots of gamma rays, say astronomers using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Two so-called "starburst" galaxies, plus a satellite ...


Starburst galaxy sheds light on longstanding cosmic mystery

Starburst galaxy sheds light on longstanding cosmic mystery

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international collaboration that includes scientists from the University of Delaware's Bartol Research Institute in the Department of Physics and Astronomy has discovered very-high-energy ...


High-precision measurements confirm cosmologists' standard view of the universe

Precise picture of early Universe supports 'dark matter' theory

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (16) | comments 9

A detailed picture of the seeds of structures in the universe has been unveiled by an international team co-led by a Cardiff University scientist.


The Ring Nebula

The Ring Nebula

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 2

The diversity of colours, shapes, and sizes of planetary nebulae make them fascinating objects. In this photo release Calar Alto presents a rather unique view combining both optical and near-infrared data ...


Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields

Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar wind generated by the sun is probably driven by a process involving powerful magnetic fields, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers based on the ...