ScienceDaily: Astronomy News

Cosmic swirly straws: Galaxies fed by funnels of fuel

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:48:48 EDT

Computer simulations of galaxies growing over billions of years have revealed a likely scenario for how they feed: a cosmic version of swirly straws. The results show that cold gas -- fuel for stars -- spirals into the cores of galaxies along filaments, rapidly making its way to their "guts." Once there, the gas is converted into new stars, and the galaxies bulk up in mass.

Detection of the cosmic gamma ray horizon: Measures all the light in the universe since the Big Bang

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:46:46 EDT

Radiation from all galaxies that ever existed suffuses the universe with a diffuse extragalactic background light (EBL). Measuring the EBL is as fundamental to cosmology as measuring heat from the Big Bang (cosmic microwave background) at radio wavelengths. Researchers describe the best measurement yet of the evolution of the EBL over the past 5 billion years, based on observations from radio waves to gamma rays from NASA spacecraft and ground-based telescopes.

Accurate distance measurement resolves major astronomical mystery

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:30:30 EDT

Astronomers have resolved a major problem in their understanding of a class of stars that undergo regular outbursts by accurately measuring the distance to a famous example of the type.

Hubble reveals the Ring Nebula’s true shape

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:32:32 EDT

The Ring Nebula's distinctive shape makes it a popular illustration for astronomy books. But new observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the glowing gas shroud around an old, dying, sun-like star reveal a new twist.

Hidden population of exotic neutron stars

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:25:25 EDT

Magnetars -- the dense remains of dead stars that erupt sporadically with bursts of high-energy radiation -- are some of the most extreme objects known in the Universe. A major campaign using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and several other satellites shows magnetars may be more diverse -- and common -- than previously thought.

Spectacular stellar nursery: ESO's Very Large Telescope celebrates 15 years of success

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:29:29 EDT

With this new view of a spectacular stellar nursery ESO is celebrating 15 years of the Very Large Telescope — the world's most advanced optical instrument. This picture reveals thick clumps of dust silhouetted against the pink glowing gas cloud known to astronomers as IC 2944. These opaque blobs resemble drops of ink floating in a strawberry cocktail, their whimsical shapes sculpted by powerful radiation coming from the nearby brilliant young stars.

Forecast for Saturn's moon Titan: Wild weather could be ahead

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:32:32 EDT

Saturn's moon Titan might be in for some wild weather as it heads into its spring and summer, if two new models are correct. Scientists think that as the seasons change in Titan's northern hemisphere, waves could ripple across the moon's hydrocarbon seas, and hurricanes could begin to swirl over these areas, too. The model predicting waves tries to explain data from the moon obtained so far by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Both models help mission team members plan when and where to look for unusual atmospheric disturbances as Titan summer approaches.

Fragile mega-galaxy is missing link in history of cosmos

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:11:11 EDT

Two hungry young galaxies that collided 11 billion years ago are rapidly forming a massive galaxy about 10 times the size of the Milky Way, according to new research.

Model of Sun's magnetic field created

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:11:11 EDT

Researchers have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun.

NASA's IRIS mission readies for a new challenge

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:43:43 EDT

NASA is getting ready to launch a new mission, a mission to observe a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere that powers its dynamic million-degree outer atmosphere and drives the solar wind. In late June 2013, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. IRIS will advance our understanding of the interface region, a region in the lower atmosphere of the sun where most of the sun's ultraviolet emissions are generated. Such emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.

NASA launching experiment to examine the beginnings of the universe

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:40:40 EDT

When did the first stars and galaxies form in the universe? How brightly did they burn their nuclear fuel? Scientists will seek to gain answers to these questions with the launch of the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRIment (CIBER) on a Black Brant XII suborbital sounding rocket between 11 and 11:59 p.m. EDT, June 4 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Nine-year-old Mars rover passes 40-year-old record

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:09:09 EDT

While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth's moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission's Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.210 statute miles or 35.744 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.

NASA's asteroid sample return mission moves into development

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:59:59 EDT

NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.

Galaxy's 'burning ring of fire' is frenetic region of star formation

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:53:53 EDT

Johnny Cash may have preferred this galaxy's burning ring of fire to the one he sang about falling into in his popular song. The "starburst ring" seen at center of a new image in red and yellow hues is not the product of love, as in the song, but is instead a frenetic region of star formation. The galaxy, a spiral beauty called Messier 94, is located about 17 million light-years away.

Weather on the outer planets only goes so deep

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:56:56 EDT

What is the long-range weather forecast for the giant planets Uranus and Neptune? These planets are home to extreme winds blowing at speeds of over 1000 km/hour, hurricane-like storms as large around as Earth, immense weather systems that last for years and fast-flowing jet streams. Researchers set an upper limit for the thickness of jet streams on Uranus and Neptune.

South Africa's new radio telescope reveals giant outbursts from binary star system

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:52:52 EDT

An international team of astronomers have reported the first scientific results from the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7) in South Africa.

Asteroid 1998 QE2 to sail past Earth is nine times larger than cruise ship

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:53:53 EDT

On May 31, 2013, asteroid 1998 QE2 will sail serenely past Earth, getting no closer than about 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers), or about 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. And while QE2 is not of much interest to those astronomers and scientists on the lookout for hazardous asteroids, it is of interest to those who dabble in radar astronomy and have a 230-foot (70-meter) -- or larger -- radar telescope at their disposal.

NASA completes first part of Webb Telescope's 'eye surgery' operation

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:52:52 EDT

Much like the inside of an operating room, in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., engineers worked meticulously to implant part of the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope. They scrubbed up and suited up to perform one of the most delicate performances of their lives. That part of the eyes, the MIRI, or Mid-Infrared Instrument, will glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before.

New craters abound: Mars camera reveals hundreds of impacts each year

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:50:50 EDT

Taking before and after pictures of the Martian terrain, researchers have identified nearly 250 fresh impact craters on the Red Planet. The results provide scientists with a better yardstick to estimate how frequently craters are blasted on Mars, allowing them to assess recently formed features with greater accuracy.

Scientists shape first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:39:39 EDT

Scientists have created the first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan, giving researchers a valuable tool for learning more about one of the most Earthlike and interesting worlds in the solar system.

Black hole powered jets plow into galaxy

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:14:14 EDT

The intense gravity of a supermassive black hole can be tapped to produce immense power in the form of jets moving at millions of miles per hour.

Entrepreneur giving space shuttle truss new uses

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:11:11 EDT

A truss design devised to help workers process space shuttles continues to find new uses as a space shuttle engineer-turned-entrepreneur adapts it to everything from a solar-powered electric generator to a mobile cellphone tower.

First X-class solar flares of 2013

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:37:37 EDT

On May 13, 2013, the sun emitted an X2.8-class flare, peaking at 12:05 p.m. EDT. This is the the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far, surpassing in strength the X1.7-class flare that occurred 14 hours earlier. It is the 16th X-class flare of the current solar cycle and the third-largest flare of that cycle. The second-strongest was an X5.4 event on March 7, 2012. The strongest was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.

Impacts of strong solar flares

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:35:35 EDT

Given a legitimate need to protect Earth from the most intense forms of space weather -- great bursts of electromagnetic energy and particles that can sometimes stream from the sun -- some people worry that a gigantic "killer solar flare" could hurl enough energy to destroy Earth, but this is not actually possible.

New method of finding planets scores its first discovery

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:28:28 EDT

Detecting alien worlds presents a significant challenge since they are small, faint, and close to their stars. The two most prolific techniques for finding exoplanets are radial velocity (looking for wobbling stars) and transits (looking for dimming stars). Astronomers have just discovered an exoplanet using a new method that relies on Einstein's special theory of relativity.

Hubble tells a tale of galactic collisions

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:53:53 EDT

When we look into the distant cosmos, the great majority of the objects we see are galaxies: immense gatherings of stars, planets, gas, dust, and dark matter, showing up in all kind of shapes. A new Hubble picture registers several, but the galaxy catalogued as 2MASX J05210136-2521450 stands out at a glance due to its interesting shape.

Sifting through atmospheres of far-off worlds

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:28:28 EDT

Gone are the days of being able to count the number of known planets on your fingers. Today, there are more than 800 confirmed exoplanets -- planets that orbit stars beyond our sun -- and more than 2,700 other candidates. What are these exotic planets made of? Unfortunately, you cannot stack them in a jar like marbles and take a closer look. Instead, researchers are coming up with advanced techniques for probing the planets' makeup.

Water on Moon, Earth came from same primitive meteorites

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:21:21 EDT

The water found on the moon, like that on Earth, came from small meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites in the first 100 million years or so after the solar system formed, researchers from have found.

Moon and Earth have common water source

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:20:20 EDT

New research finds that water inside the moon's mantle comes from the same source as water on Earth. The Moon is thought to have formed after a giant impact to a still-forming Earth 4.5 million years ago. These new findings suggest that Earth may have had water at the time of that impact, and some of that water may have been transferred to the moon.

Dead stars 'polluted' with planetary debris: Signs of Earth-like planets found

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:36:36 EDT

Astronomers have found signs of Earth-like planets in an unlikely place: the atmospheres of a pair of burnt-out stars in a nearby star cluster. The white dwarf stars are being polluted by debris from asteroid-like objects falling onto them. This discovery suggests that rocky planet assembly is common in clusters, say researchers.

Astronomers discover surprising clutch of hydrogen clouds lurking among our galactic neighbors

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:17:17 EDT

In a dark, starless patch of intergalactic space, astronomers have discovered a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33). The researchers speculate that these rarefied blobs of gas -- each about as massive as a dwarf galaxy -- condensed out of a vast and as-yet undetected reservoir of hot, ionized gas, which could have accompanied an otherwise invisible band of dark matter.

First biological evidence of a supernova

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:30:30 EDT

In fossil remnants of bacteria, researchers have found a radioactive iron isotope that they trace back to a supernova in our cosmic neighborhood. This is the first proven biological signature of a starburst. An age determination showed that the supernova must have occurred about 2.2 million years ago, roughly around the time when the modern human developed.

Milky Way black hole snacks on hot gas

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:15:15 EDT

The Herschel space observatory has made detailed observations of surprisingly hot gas that may be orbiting or falling towards the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Hubble sees the remains of a star gone supernova

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:16:16 EDT

A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows delicate wisps of gas that make up an object known as SNR B0519-69.0, or SNR 0519 for short. The thin, blood-red shells are actually the remnants from when an unstable progenitor star exploded violently as a supernova around 600 years ago. There are several types of supernovae, but for SNR 0519 the star that exploded is known to have been a white dwarf star -- a Sun-like star in the final stages of its life.

NASA's Spitzer puts planets in a petri dish

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:10:10 EDT

Our galaxy is teeming with a wild variety of planets. In addition to our solar system's eight near-and-dear planets, there are more than 800 so-called exoplanets known to circle stars beyond our sun. One of the first "species" of exoplanets to be discovered is the hot Jupiters, also known as roasters. These are gas giants like Jupiters, but they orbit closely to their stars, blistering under the heat. Thanks to NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers are beginning to dissect this exotic class of planets, revealing raging winds and other aspects of their turbulent nature.

New kind of cosmic flash may reveal birth of a black hole

Fri, 03 May 2013 23:04:04 EDT

According to an astrophysicist, a new kind of cosmic flash may reveal something never seen before: the birth of a black hole.

Hubble sees the remains of a star gone supernova

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:15:15 EDT

These delicate wisps of gas make up an object known as SNR B0519-69.0, or SNR 0519 for short. The thin, blood-red shells are actually the remnants from when an unstable progenitor star exploded violently as a supernova around 600 years ago. There are several types of supernovae, but for SNR 0519 the star that exploded is known to have been a white dwarf star -- a sun-like star in the final stages of its life.

'Shockingly bright' burst of gamma rays from dying star in distant galaxy

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:15:15 EDT

A record-setting blast of gamma rays from a dying star in a distant galaxy has wowed astronomers around the world. The eruption, which is classified as a gamma-ray burst, or GRB, and designated GRB 130427A, produced the highest-energy light ever detected from such an event.

Telling time on Saturn: Undergraduate student shows how planet's magnetosphere changes with the seasons

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:49:49 EDT

An undergraduate student has discovered that a process occurring in Saturn's magnetosphere is linked to the planet's seasons and changes with them, a finding that helps clarify the length of a Saturn day and could alter our understanding of the Earth's magnetosphere.

An anarchic region of star formation

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:22:22 EDT

The Danish 1.54-meter telescope located at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured a striking image of NGC 6559, an object that showcases the anarchy that reigns when stars form inside an interstellar cloud.

Studying meteorites may reveal Mars' secrets of life

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:32:32 EDT

In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists has examined a meteorite that formed on the Red Planet more than a billion years ago.

Colossal hot cloud envelopes colliding galaxies

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:15:15 EDT

Scientists have completed a detailed study of an enormous cloud of hot gas enveloping two large, colliding galaxies. This unusually large reservoir of gas contains as much mass as 10 billion Suns, spans about 300,000 light years, and radiates at a temperature of more than 7 million degrees.

Saturn's youthful appearance explained

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:15:15 EDT

As planets age they become darker and cooler. Saturn, however, is much brighter than expected for a planet of its age -- a question that has puzzled scientists since the late 1960s. New research has revealed how Saturn keeps itself looking young and hot.

Deep, detailed image of distant universe

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:59:59 EDT

Staring at a small patch of sky for more than 50 hours with the ultra-sensitive Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), astronomers have for the first time identified discrete sources that account for nearly all the radio waves coming from distant galaxies. They found that about 63 percent of the background radio emission comes from galaxies with gorging black holes at their cores and the remaining 37 percent comes from galaxies that are rapidly forming stars.

Mars Opportunity rover in standby as commanding moratorium ends

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:27:27 EDT

During a moratorium on commanding this month while Mars passed nearly behind the sun -- a phase called solar conjunction -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity entered a type of standby mode.

Herschel completes its 'cool' journey in space

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:24:24 EDT

The Herschel observatory, a European space telescope for which NASA helped build instruments and process data, has stopped making observations after running out of liquid coolant as expected. The European Space Agency mission, launched almost four years ago, revealed the universe's "coolest" secrets by observing the frigid side of planet, star and galaxy formation.

NASA probe gets close-up views of large hurricane on Saturn

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:14:14 EDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole. In high-resolution pictures and video, scientists see the hurricane's eye is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide, 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth. Thin, bright clouds at the outer edge of the hurricane are traveling 330 mph(150 meters per second). The hurricane swirls inside a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as the hexagon.

Astronomer studies far-off worlds through 'characterization by proxy'

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:46:46 EDT

An astronomer is using Earth's interstellar neighbors to learn the nature of certain stars too far away to be directly measured or observed, and the planets they may host.

NASA probe observes meteors colliding with Saturn's rings

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:46:46 EDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided the first direct evidence of small meteoroids breaking into streams of rubble and crashing into Saturn's rings. These observations make Saturn's rings the only location besides Earth, the moon and Jupiter where scientists and amateur astronomers have been able to observe impacts as they occur. Studying the impact rate of meteoroids from outside the Saturnian system helps scientists understand how different planet systems in our solar system formed.

Einstein's gravity theory passes toughest test yet

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:22:22 EDT

A strange stellar pair nearly 7,000 light-years from Earth has provided physicists with a unique cosmic laboratory for studying the nature of gravity. The extremely strong gravity of a massive neutron star in orbit with a companion white dwarf star puts competing theories of gravity to a test more stringent than any available before.

Entire galaxies feel the heat from newborn stars: Bursts of star birth can curtail future galaxy growth

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:33:33 EDT

Astronomers have shown for the first time that bursts of star formation have a major impact far beyond the boundaries of their host galaxy. These energetic events can affect galactic gas at distances of up to twenty times greater than the visible size of the galaxy -- altering how the galaxy evolves, and how matter and energy is spread throughout the Universe.

TRAPPIST participated in the detection of ten percent of all transiting exoplanets known to date

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:32:32 EDT

Among the many planets detected orbiting other stars (exoplanets) over the last twenty years, a little less than three hundred periodically pass in front of their star. This is what astronomers call a planetary transit. Exoplanets that "transit" their stars are key objects for the study of other planetary systems, because they are the only planets beyond our solar system that can be studied in detail, both in terms of their physical parameters (mass, radius, orbital parameters) and their atmospheric properties (thermal structure, dynamics, composition).

Mysterious hot spots observed in cool red supergiant

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:24:24 EDT

Astronomers have released a new image of the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse – one of the nearest red supergiants to Earth – revealing the detailed structure of the matter being thrown off the star.

Looking for life by the light of dying stars

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:23:23 EDT

Astronomers have now demonstrated that with the advanced technology available in the next decade we should be able to detect biomarkers like oxygen and methane in the planets that orbit dead stars called "white dwarfs" -- and to find new forms of life on those planets.

Galaxy goes green in burning stellar fuel

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:37:37 EDT

Astronomers have spotted the "greenest" of galaxies, one that converts fuel into stars with almost 100-percent efficiency. The findings come from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer in the French Alps.

Hubble captures comet ISON

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:40:40 EDT

When the Hubble picture of ISON was taken on April 10, the comet was slightly closer than Jupiter's orbit at a distance of 386 million miles from the Sun. Hubble photographed a jet blasting dust particles off the sunward-facing side of the comet's nucleus. Preliminary measurements suggest that ISON's nucleus is no larger than three or four miles across.

Jupiter's atmosphere still contains water supplied by the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:23:23 EDT

Researchers are reporting Herschel observations of water in Jupiter's stratosphere. It is a clear remnant of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact on Jupiter nearly 20 years ago.

Universality of circular polarization in star- and planet-forming regions: Implications for the origin of homochirality of life

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:09:09 EDT

A research team in Japan has performed deep imaging linear and circular polarimetry of the 'Cat's Paw Nebula' (NGC 6334) located in the constellation Scorpius, successfully detecting high degrees of circular polarization (CP) of as much as 22% in NGC 6334. The detected CP degree is the highest ever observed.

Using black holes to measure the universe's rate of expansion

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:30:30 EDT

Scientists have developed a method that uses black holes to measure distances of billions of light years with a high degree of accuracy. The ability to measure these distances will allow scientists to see further into the past of the universe than ever before.

Grains of sand from ancient supernova found in meteorites: Supernova may have been the one that triggered the formation of the solar system

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:12:12 EDT

Scientists have discovered two tiny grains of silica (SiO2; the most common constituent of sand) in meteorites that fell to earth in Antarctica. Because of their isotopic composition these two grains are thought to be pure samples from a massive star that exploded before the birth of the solar system, perhaps the supernova whose explosion is thought to have triggered the collapse of a giant molecular cloud, giving birth to the Sun.