Astronomy news
Very high frequency radiation makes dark matter visible
Dec 14, 2006 |
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The stars and gas which are seen in galaxies account for only a few percent of the gravitating material in the Universe. Most of the rest has remained stubbornly invisible and is now thought to be made of a ...
Galactic Colonization Limited By The Inability To Expand Exponentially
Jun 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 50 years, many have taken the so-called Fermi Paradox to indicate that the existence of intelligent alien civilizations is an impossibility. However, a recent re-examination ...
Astronomer Discovers Upper Mass Limit for Black Holes
Sep 05, 2008 |
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There appears to be an upper limit to how big the universe’s most massive black holes can get, according to new research led by a Yale University astrophysicist.
Polarization technique focuses limelight
Dec 26, 2007 |
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The ability to explore remote worlds in space has been enhanced through a polarization technique that allows the first ever detection of light reflected by extrasolar (exoplanet) planets. The study has been ...
'Death Star' Galaxy Black Hole Fires at Neighboring Galaxy
Dec 17, 2007 |
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A powerful jet from a super massive black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy, according to new findings from NASA observatories. This never-before witnessed galactic violence may have a profound effect on planets ...
Scientists Elucidate the Origin of the Darkest Galaxies in the Universe
Feb 14, 2007 |
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Ghostly galaxies composed almost entirely of dark matter speckle the universe. Unlike normal galaxies, these extreme systems contain very few stars and are almost devoid of gas. Most of the luminous matter, ...
Hyperfast Star Proven to be Alien
Jan 28, 2008 |
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A young star is speeding away from the Milky Way so fast that astronomers have been puzzled by where it came from; based on its young age it has traveled too far to have come from our galaxy.
NASA Telescope Sees Black Hole Munch on a Star
Dec 05, 2006 |
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A giant black hole has been caught red-handed dipping into a cosmic cookie jar of stars by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. This is the first time astronomers have seen the whole process of a black hole eating ...
Sweet molecule could lead us to alien life
Nov 25, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have detected an organic sugar molecule that is directly linked to the origin of life, in a region of our galaxy where habitable planets could exist. The discovery, part funded ...
Star crust 10 billion times stronger than steel, physicists find
May 06, 2009 |
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(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.
Massive Gas Cloud Speeding Toward Collision With Milky Way
Jan 11, 2008 |
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A giant cloud of hydrogen gas is speeding toward a collision with our Milky Way Galaxy, and when it hits -- in less than 40 million years -- it may set off a spectacular burst of stellar fireworks.
Astronomers unveil new type of active galaxy
Jul 30, 2007 |
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An international team of astronomers using NASA’s Swift satellite and the Japanese/U.S. Suzaku X-ray observatory has discovered a new class of active galactic nuclei (AGN).
Solar flare surprise
Dec 15, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar flares are the most powerful explosions in the solar system. Packing a punch equal to a hundred million hydrogen bombs, they obliterate everything in their immediate vicinity. Not a ...
Astronomers find first ever gamma ray clock
Nov 27, 2006 |
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Astronomers using the H.E.S.S. telescopes have discovered the first ever modulated signal from space in Very High Energy Gamma Rays – the most energetic such signal ever observed.
Gliese 581: one planet might indeed be habitable
Dec 13, 2007 |
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More than 10 years after the discovery of the first extrasolar planet, astronomers have now discovered more than 250 of these planets. Until a few years ago, most of the newly discovered exoplanets were Jupiter-mass, ...
