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Using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument aboard the newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have recently snapped an amazing, highly detailed image of the galaxy NGC 4710. In its analysis of the images, the team discovered that the structure revealed an X-shaped bulge that was uncharacteri... |
18 November 2009
09:02 GMT |
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Astronomers have known for a long time that the end of stars sees them transforming into a number of structures, including white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes. The thing that results after a star's demise is entirely based on the mass of said celestial body. If the mass is large, then the structure will ... |
13 November 2009
02:27 GMT |
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Our Sun is not by far the only star out there that is capable of hosting planetary systems around their surface. There are at least a couple of hundred stars out there that have exoplanets around them. At least 400 of them have been identified until now, and chances are that thousands more exist. But astronomers have... |
12 November 2009
02:40 GMT |
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By combining a number of scientific images from NASA's three Great Observatories – the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory –, scientists at the American space agency managed to create a stunning view of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The amazing photo, which was release... |
11 November 2009
01:28 GMT |
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One of the basic things any kid knows about planets is that they spin around a star. What goes without saying is that a planet in fact spins around a single star. Apparently, this is not the case with a recently discovered celestial body, which has an orbit so elongated and tilted, that astronomers believe it's ... |
8 October 2009
03:29 GMT |
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Experts have oftentimes wondered how it is that some stars circle their galaxies all alone, without planets or asteroid around them, while others, like our Sun, are perfectly capable of creating a host of accompanying celestial bodies, ranging from planets and meteors, to moons, comets and asteroid belts. In a new sc... |
7 October 2009
06:22 GMT |
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In 1988, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) astrophysicist Jack Hills used the theory of gravity to calculate the existence of a peculiar class of stars, whose members traveled faster than the galactic escape velocity. His calculations were inferred from a theoretical model in which a binary star system passed ver... |
30 September 2009
20:51 GMT |
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When new stars are born, not all material in their precursors gets ignited and consumed. The remains usually start spinning around it, and, over millions of years, new planets are formed. The debris-filled areas around the stars are known as a protoplanetary disk. Astronomers know how long it takes for planets to for... |
24 September 2009
02:44 GMT |
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Three applied mathematicians at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), and two astrophysicists have recently created the first computer simulations of the final hours of white dwarf stars, right before they explode into Type Ia supernovae. The full-star-simulati... |
23 September 2009
05:54 GMT |
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Biologists and other scientists have been studying the origins of life as we know it for a very long time, and, for good or for worse, they have an idea about the chain of events that led to the development of the first organisms, and eventually to the emergence of the more complex species. But now, experts at an Aus... |
18 September 2009
09:01 GMT |
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Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) finally concluded the largest set of HARPIS measurements, and established the mass and density of the smallest and fastest orbiting exoplanet known, CoRoT-7b. The celestial body has a mass five times that of our own planet, and a radius about two times bigger, wh... |
16 September 2009
16:51 GMT |
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The Southern Hemisphere is known for the fact that it offers a more advantageous position for observing the Universe. Stars, galaxies, black holes, pulsars, and everything else in between can be seen more clearly from these regions. In fact, a team of experts from the United States and Australia has announced that it... |
1 September 2009
03:18 GMT |
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It's common knowledge that, once a star forms from a collapsed cloud of cosmic gas and dust, it produces a protoplanetary disk around it. In this disk, large amounts of dust eventually clump together and give birth to meteors, asteroids, comets, moons and planets. But, in some telescope images, stars reveal disk... |
29 August 2009
03:44 GMT |
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Over decades of astronomical observations, experts from around the world have determined that the ratio of small to large stars in the Universe is fixed. They have defined smaller stars as being as large as our Sun or smaller, while larger stars are 20 times or more the mass of the Sun. They have believed that, for e... |
20 August 2009
03:47 GMT |
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In our own solar system, assessing the differences between planets and stars is a fairly easy procedure. We look at the Sun, and then at Jupiter or Saturn (the largest planets), and the difference is immediately obvious. But things are not as simple in the Universe. Astronomers have discovered over the years exoplane... |
17 August 2009
21:01 GMT |
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According to a new complex computer simulation, it would appear that the earliest black holes that where formed after the Big Bang were in fact a lot smaller than the giants they are today. Also, the simulation revealed that older theories, which held that the formations accumulated mass quickly and gobbled up matter... |
15 August 2009
03:04 GMT |
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Just one day after astronomers reported in a scientific journal that they had discovered a planet orbiting backwards around its star, as in spinning opposite of the star's spin, another team published evidence of another such occurrence, in a different place altogether. The new exoplanet was found by Japanese ex... |
14 August 2009
11:01 GMT |
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For a few decades, those believing that the chances for life elsewhere in the Universe are small have made circulate a theory that backs up their claims, known as the anthropic argument. Essentially, it states that the period of time it takes life to evolve is longer than the period in a star's life when it can ... |
13 August 2009
21:01 GMT |
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The stellar explosions that form type 1a supernovas are among the most important events that can happen in space, scientifically speaking. Their steadfast level of luminosity, which is perceived as never-changing, has thus far helped astronomers create maps of distances between the various objects in our surroundings... |
13 August 2009
09:01 GMT |
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Astronomers know that planets and stars form from collapsing clouds of cosmic gas, but the exact factors that trigger this formation have thus far remained elusive. Now, a combined study from two of NASA's Great Observatory is attempting to provide a possible answer to this puzzle. Readings from Chandra and Spit... |
13 August 2009
08:45 GMT |
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Usually, in all star systems thus far discovered that feature exoplanets, all planets, moons and other bodies revolve around the central star in an orbit that has the same orientation as the spin of the star. This was so far believed to be a basic rule of the way the Universe was set up, but this theory was thrown ou... |
12 August 2009
11:16 GMT |
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Astronomers and planetary scientists have for a long time known that various types of stars are very important in determining a planet or moon's chances of ever harboring life. The age of the star is also an immensely-important factor, mostly because young stars generate massive amounts of harmful radiations, wh... |
11 August 2009
09:16 GMT |
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The Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope has recently discovered the heat signatures of a massive impact event that took place within the last thousands of years around a young star. Two large bodies, one at least the size of the Moon, and the other probably as large as Mercury, collided into each other, and the clash re... |
11 August 2009
06:59 GMT |
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A peculiar star system, that astronomers named HD 87643, has recently been imaged as being involved in creating its own nebula. The cosmic formation is believed to be generated by the vast amounts of gas that the star at the center of the system emits, which is trapped in its general vicinity. In charge of the new ob... |
6 August 2009
05:02 GMT |
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Scientists gained the ability to peer way back into the Universe's history some time ago, but some of the discoveries they made were not exactly in tune with some of the theories that were developed to explain astronomical phenomena today. In a recent such find, distant stars, estimated to be about 11 billion li... |
6 August 2009
01:03 GMT |
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In a new research paper, appearing in the latest issue of the journal Meteoritic & Planetary Science, a team of experts from the Monash University, led by Dr. Maria Lugaro, proposes a new explanation for why the chemical composition of the early solar system looks the way it does in geological records. The scientists... |
20 July 2009
20:01 GMT |
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While engineers at NASA's jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, are working with the test rover, trying to find solutions on how to get Spirit out of Troy, the exploration rover is stuck on Mars, with nothing to do. Having collected an impressive number of images of its surroundings, the robo... |
20 July 2009
02:23 GMT |
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In new observations of the distant skies, astronomers managed to identify two supernova explosions that far exceeded any known record of age and distance. The Type IIn bodies were estimated to be approximately 11 billion years old, about two times more so than the previous record-holder, a supernova that exploded som... |
9 July 2009
04:16 GMT |
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The Helix Nebula, or NGC 7293, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful formations in the known Universe. Shaped like a blue eye, it has been compared by many to the Supreme Being, staring down at its creation. It's the result, like many planetary nebulas similar to it, of low-mass stars such as our Sun dying at... |
6 July 2009
03:51 GMT |
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For the first time, astronomers using a French telescope have managed to identify the influence of a magnetic field on the light emanating from the star Vega, in the constellation Lyra, some 25 light-years away from Earth. This star is arguably the most studied in the sky, because it's very close to our planet, ... |
24 June 2009
04:58 GMT |
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It is widely accepted that the Universe exploded into existence some 13.7 billion years ago, when the Big Bang created the first light and the first amounts of matter, which then immediately started expanding. Over millions of years, galaxies and black holes began to differentiate, and, after the reionization stage e... |
18 June 2009
19:01 GMT |
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In their search for life on other planets outside the solar system, astronomers may as well take into account another limiting factor. Even if they find something on an exoplanet that is within its star's habitable zone, they have to ensure that the planet is not tidally locked and that the right amount of volca... |
16 June 2009
03:00 GMT |
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The habitable zone around a star is regularly considered to be the area in which water could exist in liquid form. For example, the Earth is situated dead-square in the middle of the Sun's habitable zone, whereas Venus and Mars are just outside of it. While the former is too hot, the latter is too cold, so they... |
11 June 2009
19:01 GMT |
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Astronomers using the Spitzer Telescope for stellar observations have recently discovered three new stars at the core of the Milky Way, which live in a particularly harsh environment. Outer space, as a whole, is not the friendliest neighborhood to live in, but the conditions that these stellar formations bear are bey... |
11 June 2009
01:40 GMT |
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In a find that could potentially upset the current classification model employed in the astronomical community to identify a supernova explosion, researchers have discovered what appears to be a new class of supernova altogether, one that is dimmer and smaller than previously though possible. Astronomers working with... |
5 June 2009
15:31 GMT |
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In 2006, over the course of 120 days, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope observed the most peculiar object they had ever seen. A mystery flash occurred in the observer's sight, and gradually began to increase in intensity. After reaching peak light, it gradually began to disappear, and was totally gone ... |
1 June 2009
05:42 GMT |
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The National Ignition Facility in California is the largest laser instrument in the world, and it's scheduled to come online later this year. The beginning of scientific experiments at the laboratory will also mean that the first artificial star will be created on the planet, BBC News reports. That is to say, ex... |
24 May 2009
15:01 GMT |
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One of the chemicals that can be found in frozen comets wondering through space has puzzled scientists for quite some time now. While this type of comets is usually born at the edges of solar systems, and mostly contains frozen matter, it also contains tiny crystalline silicate particles, which require enormous tempe... |
15 May 2009
14:21 GMT |
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Designed specifically to peer into the heart of distant star systems inside the Milky Way, the Kepler Space Telescope (KST) has a huge task ahead of it, namely to find Earth-like planets that may be lurking in the deep recesses of space, or which are too small to be identified using existing telescopes. Launched on M... |
15 May 2009
04:14 GMT |
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Ever since the standard model was first created, depicting the interactions between all forms of matter, physicists who created it, and all those who came afterwards, drew attention to one of its major drawbacks, namely that it erased us all from existence. That is to say, it holds that matter and antimatter annihila... |
28 April 2009
08:57 GMT |
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Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered more than 300 exoplanets, orbiting stars either nearby or very far away. Observation techniques have become so sensitive, that they can identify variations in a stars' glow from light-years away and determine if they have been caused by a planet, a moon, an ... |
28 April 2009
02:44 GMT |
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The Orion Nebula is, perhaps, one of the most scrutinized objects in the sky, mainly because it can be seen with the naked eye during bright nights. Located in the Orion Constellation, some 1,270 light-years away from Earth, the giant formation has been recently proven to be the stage for the formation of countless n... |
21 April 2009
19:01 GMT |
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Ever since the beginning of time, people wanted to see more and more, find out what secrets their planet held, and when they finally realized that there were virtually no other major discoveries to be made, they went on exploring the heavens. Since then, many dedicated their lives to uncovering the mysteries of the U... |
16 April 2009
12:41 GMT |
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Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers advise people to turn off the lights in their homes and shops during this year's Earth Hour (EH), scheduled to take place on Saturday, the 28th of March, at 8.30 pm local time, regardless of where they live. More than 1,760 cities worldwide, in 80 countries, ... |
19 March 2009
07:29 GMT |
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Since astronomers first discovered galactic mergers, theorists have argued that one of the results of such a merger would be the creation of a binary black hole system, much similar to a binary star system. Thus far, their quest for one has proven futile, but now an extensive study from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey t... |
5 March 2009
02:16 GMT |
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If the newest NASA launch succeeds, we could see the new Kepler Space Telescope up and running by the end of the week, mission officials have announced. After being pushed back by a day, due to concerns over the safety of the mission, the lift-off procedure has been scheduled for Friday, when the Delta II booster car... |
4 March 2009
02:29 GMT |
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Recreating jets of charged particles in the laboratory is no easy task, but an international team of researchers has announced in a recent issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters that they have managed to do just that. The research has major implications on the way astrophysicists will look at emissions coming fro... |
23 February 2009
03:59 GMT |
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According to some scientists, the Universe could be riddled with ten thousand billion Earth-like, habitable planets, which could have the potential to support life, or at least even harbor liquid water. All of them could be discovered with the aid of NASA's new Kepler Space Telescope (KST), Carnegie Institution ... |
20 February 2009
09:00 GMT |
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Over the last decades, our solar system has been experiencing a massive sand storm, not unlike those that can be found in the desert. All the planets orbited the Sun in a halo of sand particles that is now considerably larger than it was a century ago. The reason for these large amounts of cosmic debris has kept astr... |
10 February 2009
10:02 GMT |
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Planetary scientists at UCLA have discovered a new method of analyzing exactly how convection currents drive the movements of stars, planets, and pretty much everything in between. Convection refers to the heat transfer from one designated location to another, via the movement of gas, liquids, or even slow moving sol... |
21 January 2009
15:01 GMT |
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