ScienceDaily: Star News

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.

Orion's hidden fiery ribbon

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:52:52 EDT

A dramatic new image of cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion reveals what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky. This orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust, at wavelengths too long for human eyes to see.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hubble sees a unique cluster: One of the hidden 15

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:13:13 EDT

Palomar 2 is part of a group of 15 globulars known as the Palomar clusters. These clusters, as the name suggests, were discovered in survey plates from the first Palomar Observatory Sky Survey in the 1950s, a project that involved some of the most well-known astronomers of the day, including Edwin Hubble. They were discovered quite late because they are so faint -- each is either extremely remote, very heavily hidden behind blankets of dust, or has a very small number of remaining stars.

NASA's Hubble sees a horsehead of a different color

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:41:41 EDT

Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light.

Three super-Earth-size planets found in 'habitable zone'

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:29:29 EDT

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the "habitable zone," the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water. The Kepler-62 system has five planets; 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e and 62f. The Kepler-69 system has two planets; 69b and 69c. Kepler-62e, 62f and 69c are the super-Earth-sized planets.

New techniques allow discovery of smallest super-Earth exoplanets

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:24:24 EDT

New research has perhaps the smallest super-earth planet in its host star habitable zone. Kepler 62f is a small, probably rocky planet orbiting a sun-like star in the Lyra constellation. The planet is about 1.4 times the size of Earth, receives about half as much solar flux, or heat and radiation, as Earth and circles its star in 267.3 (Earth) days.

New Earth-like planets found orbiting a Sun-like star

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:09:09 EDT

A team of scientists has discovered two Earth-like planets in the habitable orbit of a Sun-like star. Using observations gathered by NASA's Kepler Mission, the team found five planets orbiting a Sun-like star called Kepler-62. Four of these planets are so-called super-Earths, larger than our own planet, but smaller than even the smallest ice giant planet in our Solar System. These new super-Earths have radii of 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, and 1.9 times that of Earth. In addition, one of the five was a roughly Mars-sized planet, half the size of Earth.

X-ray view of a thousand-year-old cosmic tapestry

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:50:50 EDT

A long Chandra observation reveals the SN 1006 supernova remnant in exquisite detail. By overlapping 10 different pointings of Chandra's field-of-view, astronomers have stitched together a cosmic tapestry of the debris field that was created when a white dwarf star exploded, sending its material hurtling into space as seen from Earth over a millennium ago. In this new Chandra image, low, medium, and higher-energy X-rays are colored red, green, and blue respectively.

Astronomers discover massive star factory in early universe

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:49:49 EDT

A team of astronomers has discovered a dust-filled, massive galaxy churning out stars when the cosmos was a mere 880 million years old -- making it the earliest starburst galaxy ever observed.

SOFIA observations reveal a surprise in massive star formation

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:25:25 EDT

Researchers using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured the most detailed mid-infrared images yet of a massive star condensing within a dense cocoon of dust and gas.

Massive galaxy had intense burst of star formation when universe was only 6 percent of current age

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:18:18 EDT

Astronomers find the most prolific star factory yet seen, in a far-distant galaxy that reveals important information about the cosmic environment in the early history of the Universe.

ALMA telescope pinpoints early galaxies at record speed

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:20:20 EDT

Astronomers have used the new ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescope to pinpoint the locations of over 100 of the most fertile star-forming galaxies in the early Universe.

Dying supergiant stars implicated in hours-long gamma-ray bursts

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EDT

Three unusually long-lasting stellar explosions discovered by NASA's Swift satellite represent a previously unrecognized class of gamma-ray bursts. Two international teams of astronomers studying these events conclude that they likely arose from the catastrophic death of supergiant stars hundreds of times larger than the sun.

Strange new bursts of gamma rays point to a new way to destroy a star

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:47:47 EDT

Scientists have pinpointed a new type of exceptionally powerful and long-lived cosmic explosion, prompting a theory that they arise in the violent death throes of a supergiant star.

Discovery of a blue supergiant star born in the wild

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:42:42 EDT

Astronomers have discovered a blue supergiant star located far beyond our Milky Way Galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Over 55 million years ago, the star emerged in an extremely wild environment, surrounded by intensely hot plasma (a million degrees centigrade) and amidst raging cyclone winds blowing at four million kilometers per hour.

Ghostly green bubble: Detailed image of planetary nebula

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:27:27 EDT

An intriguing new picture shows the glowing green planetary nebula IC 1295 surrounding a dim and dying star located about 3300 light-years away in the constellation of Scutum (The Shield). This is the most detailed picture of this object ever taken.

Retired star found with planets and debris disc

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:12:12 EDT

The European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory has provided the first images of a dust belt -- produced by colliding comets or asteroids -- orbiting a subgiant star known to host a planetary system.

'Post-mortem' yields insight into Kepler's supernova

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:46:46 EDT

An exploding star observed in 1604 by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler held a greater fraction of heavy elements than the sun, according to an analysis of X-ray observations from the Japan-led Suzaku satellite. The findings will help astronomers better understand the diversity of type Ia supernovae, an important class of stellar explosion used in probing the distant universe.

NASA selects Explorer investigations for formulation

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 05:52:52 EDT

NASA's Astrophysics Explorer Program has selected two missions for launch in 2017: a planet-hunting satellite and an International Space Station instrument to observe X-rays from stars.

TESS project will launch telescopes to perform full-sky search for transiting exoplanets

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 05:50:50 EDT

NASA has selected the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) project for a planned launch in 2017. The $200 million project will use an array of wide-field cameras to perform an all-sky survey to discover transiting exoplanets, ranging from Earth-sized planets to gas giants, in orbit around the brightest stars in the sun's neighborhood.

NASA taps the power of zombie stars in two-in-one instrument

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 03:53:53 EDT

Neutron stars have been called the zombies of the cosmos. They shine even though they're technically dead, occasionally feeding on neighboring stars if they venture too close. Interestingly, these unusual objects, born when a massive star extinguishes its fuel and collapses under its own gravity, also may help future space travelers navigate to Mars and other distant destinations. NASA recently selected a new mission called the Neutron-star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) to not only reveal the physics that make neutron stars the densest objects in nature, but also to demonstrate a groundbreaking navigation technology that could revolutionize the agency's ability to travel to the far reaches of the solar system and beyond.

Dead star warps light of companion red star, astronomers say

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:47:47 EDT

Astronomers have observed the effects of a dead star bending the light of its companion red star. The findings are among the first detections of this effect -- a result predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity -- in binary, or double, star systems.

Green Pea galaxies could help astronomers understand early universe

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:14:14 EDT

The rare Green Pea galaxies discovered by the general public in 2007 could help confirm astronomers' understanding of reionization, a pivotal stage in the evolution of the early universe.

Astronomers anticipate 100 billion Earth-like planets

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:13:13 EDT

Researchers have proposed a new method for finding Earth-like planets and they anticipate that the number will be in the order of 100 billion. The strategy uses a technique called gravitational microlensing, currently used by a Japan-New Zealand collaboration.

Taken under the 'wing' of the small magellanic cloud: First detection of X-ray emission from young stars with masses similar to our Sun outside our Milky Way galaxy

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:42:42 EDT

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors. In fact, it was so bright that many navigators used this object to make their way across the oceans. A new composite image shows this galaxy like Ferdinand Magellan, who lends his name to the SMC, could never have imagined. New Chandra data of the SMC have provided the first detection of X-ray emission from young stars with masses similar to our Sun outside our Milky Way galaxy.

Hubble sees J 900 masquerading as a double star

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:19:19 EDT

A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows Jonckheere 900 or J 900, a planetary nebula -- glowing shells of ionized gas pushed out by a dying star. Discovered in the early 1900s by astronomer Robert Jonckheere, the dusty nebula is small but fairly bright, with a relatively evenly spread central region surrounded by soft wispy edges.

Supernova remnant 1987A continues to reveal its secrets

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:28:28 EDT

A team of astronomers has succeeded in observing the death throes of a giant star in unprecedented detail. In February of 1987, astronomers observing the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy, noticed the sudden appearance of what looked like a new star. In fact they weren't watching the beginnings of a star but the end of one and the brightest supernova seen from Earth in the four centuries since the telescope was invented. By the next morning news of the discovery had spread across the globe and southern hemisphere stargazers began watching the aftermath of this enormous stellar explosion, known as a supernova.

Sprial galaxy: Hidden depths of Messier 77 revealed

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:51:51 EDT

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this vivid image of spiral galaxy Messier 77, one of the most famous and well-studied galaxies in the sky. The patches of red across this image highlight pockets of star formation along the pinwheeling arms, with dark dust lanes stretching across the galaxy's energetic center.

Sun block for the 'Big Dog': Astronomers detect titanium oxide and titanium dioxide around the giant star VY Canis Majoris

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:38:38 EDT

Astronomers have successfully identified two titanium oxides in the extended atmosphere around a giant star. The object VY Canis Major is one of the largest stars in the known universe and close to the end of its life. The star ejects large quantities of material which forms a dusty nebula.

Young, hot and blue: Stars in the cluster NGC 2547

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:27:27 EDT

The Universe is an old neighborhood -- roughly 13.8 billion years old. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is also ancient -- some of its stars are more than 13 billion years old (eso0425). Nevertheless, there is still a lot of action: new objects form and others are destroyed. In a new image, you can see some of the newcomers, the young stars forming the cluster NGC 2547.

How to build a very large star

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:23:23 EDT

Stars ten times as massive as the Sun, or more, should not exist: as they grow, they tend to push away the gas they feed on, starving their own growth. Scientists have been struggling to figure out how some stars overcome this hurdle. Now, a group of researchers suggests that baby stars may grow to great mass if they happen to be born within a corral of older stars.

Astronomers discover new kind of supernova

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:33:33 EDT

Supernovae were always thought to occur in two main varieties. But a team of astronomers is reporting the discovery of a new type of supernova called Type Iax. Previously, supernovae were divided into either core-collapse or Type Ia categories. Core-collapse supernovae are the explosion of a star about 10 to 100 times as massive as our sun. Type Ia supernovae are the complete disruption of a tiny white dwarf.

Herschel discovers some of the youngest stars ever seen

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:28:28 EDT

Astronomers have found some of the youngest stars ever seen, thanks to the Herschel space observatory. Dense envelopes of gas and dust surround the fledgling stars known as protostars, making their detection difficult. The 15 newly observed protostars turned up by surprise in a survey of the biggest site of star formation near our solar system, located in the constellation Orion. The discovery gives scientists a peek into one of the earliest and least understood phases of star formation.

Spiral beauty graced by fading supernova

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:52:52 EDT

About 35 million light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Eridanus (The River), lies the spiral galaxy NGC 1637. Back in 1999 the serene appearance of this galaxy was shattered by the appearance of a very bright supernova. Astronomers studying the aftermath of this explosion with ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile have provided us with a stunning view of this relatively nearby galaxy.

Famous supernova reveals clues about crucial cosmic distance markers

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:11:11 EDT

A new study using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory points to the origin of a famous supernova. This supernova, discovered in 1604 by Johannes Kepler, belongs to an important class of objects that are used to measure the rate of expansion of the Universe.

Hubble gazes on one ring to rule them all

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:36:36 EDT

Galaxies can take many forms -- elliptical blobs, swirling spiral arms, bulges, and disks are all known components of the wide range of galaxies we have observed using telescopes like the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. However, some of the more intriguing objects in the sky around us include ring galaxies like the one pictured in a new image -- Zw II 28.

Distant planetary system is a super-sized solar system

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:42:42 EDT

Astronomers have made the most detailed examination yet of the atmosphere of a Jupiter-like planet beyond our Solar System. A spectrum reveals that the carbon to oxygen ratio is consistent with the core accretion scenario, the model thought to explain the formation of our Solar System.

'Monster' starburst galaxies discovered in early universe

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:25:25 EDT

Astronomers have discovered starburst galaxies earlier in the Universe's history than they were previously thought to have existed. These newly discovered galaxies represent what today's most massive galaxies looked like in their energetic, star-forming youth.

Rewriting history of Universe's stellar baby boom: Ancient, highly active galaxies discovered

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:25:25 EDT

New observations show that the most vigorous bursts of star birth in the cosmos took place much earlier than previously thought.