Science & Technology - Jan 11, 2010 13:49 - 0 Comments

Far-out rocky planet is volcanic wasteland

U. WASHINGTON—When scientists confirmed in October that they had detected the first rocky planet outside our solar system, it advanced the longtime quest to find an Earth-like planet. (more…)

Society & Culture - Dec 30, 2009 17:22 - 0 Comments

Early galaxies as never seen before

U. COLORADO (US)—The Herschel Space Observatory has provided one of the most detailed views yet of space up to 12 billion years back in time. The images reveal thousands of newly discovered galaxies in their early stages of formation, says astrophysicist Jason Glenn. (more…)

Science & Technology - Dec 28, 2009 16:54 - 1 Comment

Star found hiding among Big Dipper friends

U. ROCHESTER (US)—In ancient times, people with exceptional vision discovered that one of the brightest stars in the Big Dipper was, in fact, two stars so close together that most people cannot distinguish them. Now scientists have discovered that the twins are actually sextuplets. (more…)

Science & Technology - Dec 21, 2009 17:14 - 0 Comments

Brown dwarf pair mystifies astronomers

PENN STATE (US)—Two brown dwarf-sized objects orbiting a giant old star show that planets may assemble around stars more quickly and efficiently than anyone thought possible, according to an international team of astronomers. (more…)

Science & Technology - Dec 18, 2009 18:27 - 0 Comments

Fog found on Titan

CALTECH (US)—Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, looks to be the only place in the solar system—aside from our home planet, Earth—with copious quantities of liquid (largely, liquid methane and ethane) sitting on its surface. (more…)

Science & Technology - Nov 18, 2009 12:55 - 2 Comments

Marveling over ‘molecular chicken wire’

VANDERBILT (US)—The hottest, thinnest, toughest new material in physics and nanotechnology is graphene: a remarkably flat molecule made of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal rings much like molecular chicken wire. (more…)

Science & Technology - Nov 2, 2009 23:27 - 0 Comments

Starburst galaxy emits intense gamma rays

IOWA STATE (US)—A galaxy quickly creating new stars is also a source of high energy gamma rays, according to a recent discovery. Gamma rays are high energy electromagnetic radiation. The rays discovered have a trillion times the energy of visible light. (more…)

Science & Technology - Oct 27, 2009 10:37 - 4 Comments

Cosmic ‘weather’ at edge of solar system

U. CHICAGO (US)—Scientists have published the first comprehensive sky maps revealing a surprising ribbon of energetic neutral atoms at the outer edge of the solar wind bubble surrounding the solar system. (more…)

Science & Technology - Oct 21, 2009 17:05 - 3 Comments

Playing hide and seek with exoplanets

U. COLORADO (US)—A precise “laser ruler” is being developed to look for Earth-like planets around other stars. The device will measure tiny changes in infrared light caused by the gravitational wobble of small, cool stars as they are tugged back and forth by their rocky planets. (more…)

Science & Technology - Oct 20, 2009 11:00 - 0 Comments

Cassini reshapes view of solar system

JOHNS HOPKINS (US)—It turns out that the solar system may look more like a basketball than a comet. Images from one of the sensors on NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere—the region of our sun’s influence—may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing models. (more…)

Science & Technology - Oct 5, 2009 12:01 - 0 Comments

Model suggests it’s raining rocks on exoplanet

WASHINGTON-ST. LOUIS (US)—An exoplanet discovered last February by the COROT space telescope is close enough to its star that its “day-face” is hot enough to melt rock. Theoretical models suggest the planet has a gaseous-rock atmosphere and boiling oceans on its surface. (more…)

Science & Technology - Sep 30, 2009 12:41 - 1 Comment

‘Beautiful’ stellar jet recreated in lab

U. ROCHESTER (US)—Certain stars stream vast amounts of matter into space, creating some of the most beautiful—and inexplicable—objects in the universe. Now, astrophysicists have replicated the physics of a stellar jet in a laboratory. (more…)

Science & Technology - Sep 29, 2009 11:52 - 0 Comments

Messenger makes final Mercury flyby

U. COLORADO (US)—NASA’s Messenger spacecraft will zip by Mercury for the third and final time today, September 29, cruising within 142 miles of the planet’s surface at more than 100,000 mph. Messenger will take high-resolution color images of the surface terrain before making a clever gravity-assist maneuver that will steer it into orbit around the rocky planet beginning in March 2011. (more…)

Science & Technology - Sep 23, 2009 4:00 - 1 Comment

Watching glass age in slow motion

U. PENN (US)–Despite thousands of years of household and industrial use, certain aspects of glasses have perplexed physicists. Now researchers have found new clues to why the dynamics of glasses get slower and more sluggish as they age. (more…)

Science & Technology - Aug 7, 2009 4:00 - 1 Comment

Stars in early galaxies zoom, zoom, zoom

YALE (US)—A team of astronomers has measured the motions of stars in a very distant galaxy for the first time and discovered they are whizzing around at astonishingly high speeds—about one million miles per hour, or twice the speed at which the Sun circles our own Milky Way galaxy. (more…)

Science & Technology - Aug 3, 2009 13:51 - 0 Comments

Don’t believe what you hear about Mars

EMORY (US)—“Every year about this time, people say to me, ‘Gee, I hear Mars is going to get really close to the Earth in August, and it will look as big as the moon,’” says astronomer Horace Dale, who has developed a Mars distance calculator that—he hopes—will help “stamp out this rumor.” (more…)

Science & Technology - Jul 31, 2009 15:35 - 0 Comments

Don’t blame comets for Earth’s extinctions

U. WASHINGTON (US)—The huge scar that appeared on Jupiter’s surface on July 19—likely evidence of a comet impact—is a reminder of Earth’s history with comet collisions. While most agree an asteroid strike 65 million years ago did in the dinosaurs, new research indicates it is highly unlikely that comets have been responsible for more than one such extinction event. (more…)

Science & Technology - Jul 29, 2009 14:35 - 0 Comments

Rare ‘Green Pea’ galaxies crank out stars

YALE (US)—A newly discovered group of galaxies known as Green Peas—for their size and color—appear to be growing and forming stars at an incredibly high rate. Astronomers are hopeful the compact galaxies will offer insights into the early universe. (more…)

Posts Tagged ‘astronomy’