Saturday, January 10, 2015

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News


Map of mysterious molecules in our galaxy sheds new light on century-old puzzle

Posted: 09 Jan 2015 06:35 AM PST

Astronomers have created a unique map of enigmatic molecules in our galaxy that are responsible for puzzling features in the light from stars.

ScienceDaily: Nebulae News

ScienceDaily: Nebulae News


Map of mysterious molecules in our galaxy sheds new light on century-old puzzle

Posted: 09 Jan 2015 06:35 AM PST

Astronomers have created a unique map of enigmatic molecules in our galaxy that are responsible for puzzling features in the light from stars.

Friday, January 9, 2015

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News


Study of Andromeda's stellar disk indicates more violent history than Milky Way

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 03:43 PM PST

A detailed study of the motions of different stellar populations in the disk of the Andromeda galaxy has found striking differences from our own Milky Way, suggesting a more violent history of mergers with smaller galaxies in Andromeda's recent past.

ScienceDaily: Black Holes News

ScienceDaily: Black Holes News


Unusual light signal yields clues about elusive black hole merger

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 06:44 AM PST

Scientists have found what appear to be two supermassive black holes in the final stages of a merger, a rare event never seen before. The discovery could help shed light on a long-standing conundrum in astrophysics called the "final parsec problem," which refers to the failure of theoretical models to predict what the final stages of a black hole merger look like or even how long the process might take.

ScienceDaily: Stars News

ScienceDaily: Stars News


Astronomers use vanishing neutron star to measure space-time warp

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 10:19 AM PST

In an interstellar race against time, astronomers have measured the space-time warp in the gravity of a binary star and determined the mass of a neutron star--just before it vanished from view.

Novel vision of the death of massive stars

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 08:36 AM PST

Scientists have published a compendium of data obtained after the simultaneous research of three supernovas and of their corresponding Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB). The research enabled contrasting statistically that the supernovas associated with GRB emit greater quantities of nickel compared to those not linked to GRB.

Researchers succeed in measuring the temperature at the heart of stars

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 05:44 AM PST

Researchers have succeeded, for the first time, in measuring the temperature at the heart of certain stars, as well as dating them. In 1926, astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington wrote in his work The internal constitution of the stars: "At first sight it would seem that the deep interior of the Sun and stars is less accessible to scientific investigation than any other region of the universe. What appliance can pierce through the outer layers of a star and test the conditions within?" Nearly 90 years later, this question has now gained an answer, thanks to the work of a team of six astrophysicists who have managed to measure the temperature at the heart of specific stars and to estimate their age.

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News


Novel vision of the death of massive stars

Posted: 08 Jan 2015 08:36 AM PST

Scientists have published a compendium of data obtained after the simultaneous research of three supernovas and of their corresponding Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB). The research enabled contrasting statistically that the supernovas associated with GRB emit greater quantities of nickel compared to those not linked to GRB.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

ScienceDaily: Stars News

ScienceDaily: Stars News


Observatories take an unprecedented look into superstar Eta Carinae

Posted: 07 Jan 2015 01:23 PM PST

New findings include Hubble Space Telescope images that show decade-old shells of ionized gas racing away from the Superstar Eta Carinae at a million miles an hour, and new 3-D models that reveal never-before-seen features of the stars' interactions.

Where did all the stars go? Dark cloud obscures hundreds of background stars

Posted: 07 Jan 2015 05:16 AM PST

Some of the stars appear to be missing in this intriguing new image. But the black gap in this glitteringly beautiful starfield is not really a gap, but rather a region of space clogged with gas and dust. This dark cloud is called LDN 483 -- for Lynds Dark Nebula 483. Such clouds are the birthplaces of future stars.

ScienceDaily: Dark Matter News

ScienceDaily: Dark Matter News


Where did all the stars go? Dark cloud obscures hundreds of background stars

Posted: 07 Jan 2015 05:16 AM PST

Some of the stars appear to be missing in this intriguing new image. But the black gap in this glitteringly beautiful starfield is not really a gap, but rather a region of space clogged with gas and dust. This dark cloud is called LDN 483 -- for Lynds Dark Nebula 483. Such clouds are the birthplaces of future stars.

ScienceDaily: Nebulae News

ScienceDaily: Nebulae News


Where did all the stars go? Dark cloud obscures hundreds of background stars

Posted: 07 Jan 2015 05:16 AM PST

Some of the stars appear to be missing in this intriguing new image. But the black gap in this glitteringly beautiful starfield is not really a gap, but rather a region of space clogged with gas and dust. This dark cloud is called LDN 483 -- for Lynds Dark Nebula 483. Such clouds are the birthplaces of future stars.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News


Planet-hunting satellite observes supermassive black hole

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:51 AM PST

Astrophysicists combined ground observations with those from NASA's planet-hunting satellite. The study looked at a black hole more than 100 million light years away. They estimate KA 1858 to have 8 million times the mass of our sun.

ScienceDaily: Black Holes News

ScienceDaily: Black Holes News


Planet-hunting satellite observes supermassive black hole

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:51 AM PST

Astrophysicists combined ground observations with those from NASA's planet-hunting satellite. The study looked at a black hole more than 100 million light years away. They estimate KA 1858 to have 8 million times the mass of our sun.

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News


Gemini Planet Imager produces stunning observations in its first year

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 11:48 AM PST

The Gemini Planet Imager GPI is an advanced instrument designed to observe the environments close to bright stars to detect and study Jupiter-like exoplanets (planets around other stars) and see protostellar material (disk, rings) that might be lurking next to the star.

Eight new planets found in 'Goldilocks' zone: Two are most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:46 AM PST

Astronomers announced today that they have found eight new planets in the 'Goldilocks' zone of their stars, orbiting at a distance where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. This doubles the number of small planets (less than twice the diameter of Earth) believed to be in the habitable zone of their parent stars. Among these eight, the team identified two that are the most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets to date.

ScienceDaily: Stars News

ScienceDaily: Stars News


Gemini Planet Imager produces stunning observations in its first year

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 11:48 AM PST

The Gemini Planet Imager GPI is an advanced instrument designed to observe the environments close to bright stars to detect and study Jupiter-like exoplanets (planets around other stars) and see protostellar material (disk, rings) that might be lurking next to the star.

Eight new planets found in 'Goldilocks' zone: Two are most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:46 AM PST

Astronomers announced today that they have found eight new planets in the 'Goldilocks' zone of their stars, orbiting at a distance where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. This doubles the number of small planets (less than twice the diameter of Earth) believed to be in the habitable zone of their parent stars. Among these eight, the team identified two that are the most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets to date.

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News


Study casts doubt on mammoth-killing cosmic impact

Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:05 AM PST

Rock soil droplets formed by heating most likely came from Stone Age house fires and not from a disastrous cosmic impact 12,900 years ago, according to new research. The study, of soil from Syria, is the latest to discredit the controversial theory that a cosmic impact triggered the Younger Dryas cold period.

ScienceDaily: Nebulae News

ScienceDaily: Nebulae News


Hubble goes high def to revisit the iconic ‘Pillars of Creation'

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has revisited the famous "Pillars of Creation" region of the Eagle Nebula (M16), providing astronomers with a sharper and wider view. As a bonus, the pillars have been photographed in near-infrared light, as well as visible light.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News

ScienceDaily: Extrasolar Planets News


New instrument reveals recipe for other Earths

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 11:16 AM PST

How do you make an Earth-like planet? The 'test kitchen' of Earth has given us a detailed recipe, but it wasn't clear whether other planetary systems would follow the same formula. Now, astronomers have found evidence that the recipe for Earth also applies to terrestrial exoplanets orbiting distant stars.

Super-Earths have long-lasting oceans

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 11:16 AM PST

For life as we know it to develop on other planets, those planets would need liquid water, or oceans. Geologic evidence suggests that Earth's oceans have existed for nearly the entire history of our world. But would that be true of other planets, particularly super-Earths? New research suggests the answer is yes and that oceans on super-Earths, once established, can last for billions of years.

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News

ScienceDaily: Galaxies News


Milky Way core drives wind at 2 million miles per hour

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

At a time when our earliest human ancestors had recently mastered walking upright, the heart of our Milky Way galaxy underwent a titanic eruption, driving gases and other material outward at 2 million miles per hour. Now, at least 2 million years later, astronomers are witnessing the aftermath of the explosion: billowing clouds of gas towering about 30,000 light-years above and below the plane of our galaxy.

Hubble's high-definition panoramic view of Andromeda galaxy

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

The largest NASA Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled, this sweeping view of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is the sharpest large composite image ever taken of our galactic neighbor. Though the galaxy is over 2 million light-years away, the Hubble telescope is powerful enough to resolve individual stars in a 61,000-light-year-long section of the galaxy's pancake-shaped disk.

ScienceDaily: Black Holes News

ScienceDaily: Black Holes News


Record-breaking black hole outburst detected

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

Last September, after years of watching, astronomers observed and recorded the largest-ever flare in X-rays from a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Milky Way core drives wind at 2 million miles per hour

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

At a time when our earliest human ancestors had recently mastered walking upright, the heart of our Milky Way galaxy underwent a titanic eruption, driving gases and other material outward at 2 million miles per hour. Now, at least 2 million years later, astronomers are witnessing the aftermath of the explosion: billowing clouds of gas towering about 30,000 light-years above and below the plane of our galaxy.

ScienceDaily: Stars News

ScienceDaily: Stars News


Milky Way core drives wind at 2 million miles per hour

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

At a time when our earliest human ancestors had recently mastered walking upright, the heart of our Milky Way galaxy underwent a titanic eruption, driving gases and other material outward at 2 million miles per hour. Now, at least 2 million years later, astronomers are witnessing the aftermath of the explosion: billowing clouds of gas towering about 30,000 light-years above and below the plane of our galaxy.

Hubble's high-definition panoramic view of Andromeda galaxy

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

The largest NASA Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled, this sweeping view of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is the sharpest large composite image ever taken of our galactic neighbor. Though the galaxy is over 2 million light-years away, the Hubble telescope is powerful enough to resolve individual stars in a 61,000-light-year-long section of the galaxy's pancake-shaped disk.

Hubble goes high def to revisit the iconic ‘Pillars of Creation'

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has revisited the famous "Pillars of Creation" region of the Eagle Nebula (M16), providing astronomers with a sharper and wider view. As a bonus, the pillars have been photographed in near-infrared light, as well as visible light.

Stars' spins reveal their ages

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 11:16 AM PST

When you're a kid every birthday is cause for celebration, but as you get older they become a little less exciting. You might not want to admit just how old you are. And you might notice yourself slowing down over the years. You're not alone -- the same is true of stars. They slow down as they age, and their ages are well-kept secrets. Astronomers are taking advantage of the first fact to tackle the second and tease out stellar ages.

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News

ScienceDaily: Cosmic Rays News


Record-breaking black hole outburst detected

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

Last September, after years of watching, astronomers observed and recorded the largest-ever flare in X-rays from a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Milky Way core drives wind at 2 million miles per hour

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

At a time when our earliest human ancestors had recently mastered walking upright, the heart of our Milky Way galaxy underwent a titanic eruption, driving gases and other material outward at 2 million miles per hour. Now, at least 2 million years later, astronomers are witnessing the aftermath of the explosion: billowing clouds of gas towering about 30,000 light-years above and below the plane of our galaxy.

Hubble goes high def to revisit the iconic ‘Pillars of Creation'

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has revisited the famous "Pillars of Creation" region of the Eagle Nebula (M16), providing astronomers with a sharper and wider view. As a bonus, the pillars have been photographed in near-infrared light, as well as visible light.

Electromagnetic waves linked to particle fallout in Earth's atmosphere, new study finds

Posted: 05 Jan 2015 09:59 AM PST

In a new study that sheds light on space weather's impact on Earth, researchers show for the first time that plasma waves buffeting the planet's radiation belts are responsible for scattering charged particles into the atmosphere.