Astronomy news

ALMA telescope takes another step forwards -- and upwards

ALMA telescope reaches new heights

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 23, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

The ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) astronomical observatory took another step forward and upward, as one of its state-of-the-art antennas was carried for the first time to Chile's 16,500-foot-high ...


High-School Student Discovers Strange Astronomical Object

High-School Student Discovers Strange Astronomical Object

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 22, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- A West Virginia high-school student analyzing data from a giant radio telescope has discovered a new astronomical object -- a strange type of neutron star called a rotating radio transient.


Fermi Large Area Telescope Reveals Pulsing Gamma-Ray Sources

Fermi Large Area Telescope Reveals Pulsing Gamma-Ray Sources

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 22, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory Space Science Division and a team of international researchers have positively identified cosmic sources of gamma-ray emissions through the discovery ...


Computer code gives astrophysicists first full simulation of star's final hours

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 22, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (11) | comments 2

The precise conditions inside a white dwarf star in the hours leading up to its explosive end as a Type Ia supernova are one of the mysteries confronting astrophysicists studying these massive stellar explosions. But now, ...


New vista of Milky Way center unveiled

New Vista of Milky Way Center Unveiled

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 22, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A dramatic new vista of the center of the Milky Way galaxy from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory exposes new levels of the complexity and intrigue in the Galactic center. The mosaic of ...


Zooming to the centre of the Milky Way -- GigaGalaxy Zoom phase 2

Zooming to the centre of the Milky Way -- GigaGalaxy Zoom phase 2

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 21, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (16) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The second of three images of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project has just been released online. It is a new and wonderful 340-million-pixel vista of the central parts of our home galaxy as seen ...


Watching a Supernova Come and Go

Watching a Supernova Come and Go

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 18, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Supernovae, the explosive deaths of massive stars, disburse into space all of the chemical elements that were spawned inside the progenitor stars.


Ganymede makes big impression on Jupiter's auroral lightshows

Ganymede makes big impression on Jupiter's auroral lightshows (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Studies of features in Jupiter’s spectacular and rapidly changing aurorae have given new insights into the complex electromagnetic interactions between the giant planet and two of its innermost ...


Invading black holes explain cosmic flashes

Invading black holes explain cosmic flashes

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 18, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (25) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Black holes are invading stars, providing a radical explanation to bright flashes in the universe that are one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy today.


New observations solve longstanding mystery of tipped stars

Oddball stars explained

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 17, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (9) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- New observations solve longstanding mystery of tipped rotation. In addition to shedding light on how binary stars form, the explanation knocks down a possible challenge to Einstein's theory ...


In Search of Dark Asteroids (and Other Sneaky Things)

In Search of Dark Asteroids (and Other Sneaky Things)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (5) | comments 1

Ninjas knew how to be stealthy: Be dark. Emit very little light. Move in the shadows between bright places.


Swift makes best-ever ultraviolet portrait of Andromeda Galaxy

Swift makes best-ever ultraviolet portrait of Andromeda Galaxy

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 1

In a break from its usual task of searching for distant cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighboring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet. The ...


Spot discovered on dwarf planet Haumea shows up red and rich with organics

Spot discovered on dwarf planet Haumea shows up red and rich with organics

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (16) | comments 2

A dark red area discovered on dwarf planet Haumea appears to be richer in minerals and organic compounds than the surrounding icy surface. The discovery will be presented at the European Planetary Science ...


First Solid Evidence for a Rocky Exoplanet

First Solid Evidence for a Rocky Exoplanet (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- The longest set of HARPS measurements ever made has firmly established the nature of the smallest and fastest-orbiting exoplanet known, CoRoT-7b, revealing its mass as five times that of Earth's. ...


Sophisticated telescope camera debuts with peek at nest of black holes

Sophisticated telescope camera debuts with peek at nest of black holes

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 15, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 0

Less than two months after they inaugurated the world's largest telescope, University of Florida astronomers have used one of the world's most advanced telescopic instruments to gather images of the heavens.