Astronomy news

Kepler Spies Changing Phases on a Distant World

Kepler Detects Atmosphere of Hot World

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Aug 06, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (31) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope's extraordinary scientific capabilities. The discovery ...


Did 'Dark Gulping' Generate Black Holes in Early Universe?

Did 'Dark Gulping' Generate Black Holes in Early Universe?

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 23, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (14) | comments 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- A process called ‘dark gulping’ may solve the mystery of the how supermassive black holes were able to form when the Universe was less than a billion years old.


Milky Way galaxy

Discovery poses challenge to galaxy formation theories

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 10, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (23) | comments 30

A team led by an Indiana University astronomer has found a sample of massive galaxies with properties that suggest that they may have formed relatively recently. This would run counter to the widely-held belief ...


Caltech scientists discover storms in the tropics of Titan

Scientists discover storms in the tropics of Titan

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Aug 12, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (11) | comments 1

For all its similarities to Earth -- clouds that pour rain (albeit liquid methane not liquid water) onto the surface producing lakes and rivers, vast dune fields in desert-like regions, plus a smoggy orange ...


Building Planet Earth

Building Planet Earth

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 1

A new study shows how rocky planets are formed from the manic swirl of gas and dust that surround a young star, and determines what chemical building blocks are used to construct the planets. Understanding ...


Warped debris disks around stars are blowin' in the wind

Warped debris disks around stars are blowin' in the wind (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Aug 28, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The dust-filled disks where new planets may be forming around other stars occasionally take on some difficult-to-understand shapes. Now, a team led by John Debes at NASA's Goddard Space Flight ...


NASA image shows hot blue stars deep inside an elliptical galaxy

Eyes to the skies for the 'Galilean Nights'

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 1

Astronomers around the world are gearing up for three days of intense sky-watching in honour of Galileo, whose observations 400 years ago revolutionised our understanding of the cosmos.


In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 38

(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. ...


Neutron star

Star crust 10 billion times stronger than steel, physicists find

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 06, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (47) | comments 26

(PhysOrg.com) -- Research by a theoretical physicist at Indiana University shows that the crusts of neutron stars are 10 billion times stronger than steel or any other of the earth's strongest metal alloys.


A 3-D View of Remote Galaxies

A 3-D view of remote galaxies

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 10, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (17) | comments 4

For decades, distant galaxies that emitted their light six billion years ago were no more than small specks of light on the sky. With the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in the early 1990s, astronomers ...


China Joins Thirty Meter Telescope Project

China Joins Thirty Meter Telescope Project

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has joined the Thirty Meter Telescope Project (TMT). As an Observer, China will participate in planning the ...


Fermi telescope reveals best-ever view of the gamma-ray sky

Fermi telescope reveals best-ever view of the gamma-ray sky

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 11, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (15) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new map combining nearly three months of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is giving astronomers an unprecedented look at the high-energy cosmos. To Fermi's eyes, the universe ...


Giant supernovae farthest ever detected

11-Billion-Year-Old Giant Supernovae Farthest Ever Detected

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jul 08, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- UC Irvine cosmologists 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.


Astrophysicists solve mystery in Milky Way galaxy

Astrophysicists solve mystery in Milky Way galaxy

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jul 09, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (19) | comments 7

A team of astrophysicists has solved a mystery that led some scientists to speculate that the distribution of certain gamma rays in our Milky Way galaxy was evidence of a form of undetectable "dark matter" ...


Ghost remains after black hole eruption

Ghost remains after black hole eruption

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 28, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 15

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost" lurking around a distant supermassive black hole. This is the first detection of such a high-energy apparition, and scientists think it is evidence ...