Posts Tagged ‘astronomy’
Science & Technology - Oct 24, 2011 9:06 - 3 Comments
Comets deliver water to dry planets?
U. MICHIGAN (US) — A sprawling cloud of water vapor discovered around an emerging solar system is cold enough to form comets, which could eventually deliver oceans to dry planets. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 21, 2011 10:49 - 0 Comments
How ‘blue stragglers’ stay forever young
NORTHWESTERN (US) — To maintain their youthful bright appearance, old stars called blue stragglers eat up the outer envelope of giant-star companions, stripping them down to their white dwarf core in a process called mass transfer. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 19, 2011 10:58 - 0 Comments
Did massive stars blow away cosmic fog?
U. MICHIGAN (US) — High-energy light from massive stars may have cleared the dense fog that existed between galaxies in the early universe, new research suggests. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 14, 2011 11:00 - 0 Comments
New proof: Black holes rip apart stars
NYU (US) — Astrophysicists have found evidence of black holes destroying stars, a long-sought phenomenon that provides a new window into general relativity. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 13, 2011 12:08 - 1 Comment
‘Super-Earth’ found orbiting Kepler 18
U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — A “super-Earth” and two Neptune-sized planets have been discovered orbiting Kepler 18, a star that is 10 percent larger than the Sun with 97 percent of the Sun’s mass. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 12, 2011 10:34 - 0 Comments
Gamma rays from pulsar defy explanation
MCGILL U. (CAN) — Astrophysicists have detected pulsed gamma-ray emission from the Crab pulsar at energies far beyond what current theoretical models of pulsars can explain. (more…)
Top Stories - Oct 10, 2011 9:56 - 2 Comments
First comet found with ‘ocean water’
U. MICHIGAN (US) — For the first time, researchers have detected ocean-like water in a comet—new evidence supporting the theory comets delivered a significant portion of Earth’s oceans. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 4, 2011 10:33 - 8 Comments
Solar wind whips up Mercury’s poles
U. MICHIGAN (US) — Sodium and oxygen particles kicked up by a blistering solar wind at Mercury’s poles are the primary components of the planet’s wispy atmosphere, according to data from NASA’s Messenger spacecraft. (more…)
Top Stories - Oct 4, 2011 8:34 - 2 Comments
Gas ‘bullets’ shoot from giant black hole
SOUTHAMPTON (UK) — Astronomers have uncovered some striking features in the gases emitted from the regions close to one of the brightest supermassive black holes known to exist. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 3, 2011 10:30 - 0 Comments
Super rare ‘monster’ star discovered
U. LEEDS (UK) — Astrophysicists have identified one of our galaxy’s largest and rarest stars, a yellow hypergiant, caught in its final throes. (more…)
Science & Technology - Oct 3, 2011 9:54 - 0 Comments
Mercury flooded by volcanic gush
BROWN (US) — Vast plains around Mercury’s north pole were created more than 3.5 billion years ago by lava flows that covered 6 percent of the planet’s surface—an area that would cover nearly 60 percent of the continental U.S. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 26, 2011 8:30 - 0 Comments
Online hunters detect possible exoplanets
YALE (US) — Amateur astronomers working with the online citizen science project Planet Hunters have discovered two potential exoplanets, according to new research. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 22, 2011 13:57 - 2 Comments
Black hole crashes into star: Dark matter?
PRINCETON / NYU (US) — Scientists looking for evidence of dark matter are studying the results of simulated collisions between stars and black holes. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 19, 2011 12:09 - 0 Comments
How the Milky Way got its spiral
U. PITTSBURGH (US) — The Milky Way’s spiral arms began forming after an epic collision with the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy, according to supercomputer simulations. (more…)
Top Stories - Sep 16, 2011 12:04 - 2 Comments
Mars rover finds early rock at crater’s rim
WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US) — The Mars rover Opportunity is poised on the edge of the vast Endeavour Crater, sampling a rock unlike any other examined during its mission. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 12, 2011 11:44 - 0 Comments
Solar flares keep going and going
U. COLORADO-BOULDER (US) — Energy from solar flares is stronger and can last up to five hours longer than previously thought, according to data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. (more…)
Top Stories - Sep 8, 2011 9:46 - 2 Comments
Satellite killers: Meteoroids vs. space junk
STANFORD (US) — Billions of tiny meteoroids do more damage to satellites and other spacecraft than all the space junk orbiting Earth, according to new research. (more…)
Science & Technology - Sep 1, 2011 11:37 - 1 Comment
Hubble movies show galactic traffic jams
RICE (US) — Movies made using images collected by Hubble Space Telescope over 14 years are forcing astronomers to rethink the late stages of star birth. (more…)
