Astronomy News and Research Archives Page 1

Telescope helps give astronomers insights into blazars (4/24/2008)

For the first time, astronomers have observed a blazar in action, substantiating a prevailing theory about how these luminous and energetic galactic cores work. ...> Full Article

Could There Be Life On Saturn's Moon Enceladus? (4/22/2008)

Could microbial life exist inside Enceladus, where no sunlight reaches, photosynthesis is impossible and no oxygen is available? To answer that question, we need look no farther than our own planet to find examples of the types of exotic ecosystems that could make life possible on Saturn's geyser moon. The answer appears to be, yes, it could be possible. ...> Full Article

The Moon and the Magnetotail (4/21/2008)

Earth's magnetotail discharges plasma to charge the Moon. ...> Full Article

Mars radar opens up a planet's third dimension (4/20/2008)

Radar sounding is opening up a planet's third dimension ...> Full Article

Solar flares set the Sun quaking (4/19/2008)

Satellite data shows clearly that powerful starquakes ripple around the Sun in the wake of mighty solar flares that explode above its surface. The observations give solar physicists new insight into a long-running solar mystery and may even provide a way of studying other stars. ...> Full Article

NASA extends Cassini's grand tour of Saturn (4/18/2008)

NASA is extending the international Cassini-Huygens mission by two years ...> Full Article

Black hole sheds light on a galaxy (4/18/2008)

Light echo of a high-energy flash from a black hole first observed in detail ...> Full Article

The Drifting Star (4/17/2008)

By studying in great detail the 'ringing' of a planet-harbouring star, a team of astronomers using ESO's 3.6-m telescope have shown that it must have drifted away from the metal-rich Hyades cluster ...> Full Article

Stellar Birth in the Galactic Wilderness (4/17/2008)

A new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows baby stars sprouting in the backwoods of a galaxy -- a relatively desolate region of space more than 100,000 light-years from the galaxy's bustling center. ...> Full Article

Researchers view microorganisms from space (4/16/2008)

When enough tiny unicellular organisms come together in the ocean, they become visible from space ...> Full Article

Milky Way's Giant Black Hole Awoke from Slumber 300 Years Ago (4/16/2008)

Astronomers have discovered that our galaxy's central black hole let loose a powerful flare three centuries ago ...> Full Article

Hubble Pinpoints Visible Glow of Brightest Gamma Ray Burst (4/15/2008)

Record breaking explosion continues to astound astronomers ...> Full Article

Academics shed new light on the Sun (4/14/2008)

New insights into solar activity have been revealed thanks to research from a group of Cambridge academics ...> Full Article

HIRISE Sees Phobos in Color and Stereo (4/14/2008)

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment has produced a new color stereo view of Phobos, the larger and inner of Mars' two tiny moons. ...> Full Article

Asymmetric accretion disk causes X-ray flux variations in bright supersoft nova (4/13/2008)

When a white dwarf accretes matter from his larger companion star and after reaching a critical mass ejects it in an explosion a nova occurs. Soft X-rays from classical novae are especially interesting for astronomers: They reveal ongoing residual hydrogen burning after the explosion and so give evidence that some of the accreted material is left on the white dwarf surface after the ejection. In this way the long-term evolution of the white dwarf in a binary system can be studied, for example to answer the question if the nova will later transform into a type Ia supernova, the most luminous supernova type. ...> Full Article

Milky Way seen to be a galactic cannibal (4/13/2008)

A stream of debris across the sky is the result of intergalactic cannibalism ...> Full Article

Cosmic engines surprise XMM-Newton (4/12/2008)

XMM-Newton has been surprised by a rare type of galaxy, from which it has detected a higher number of X-rays than thought possible. The observation gives new insight into the powerful processes shaping galaxies during their formation and evolution. ...> Full Article

Quasars Quash Star Formation In Active Galactic Nuclei (4/12/2008)

An ambitious study of active and inactive galaxies has given new insights into the complex interaction between super-massive black holes at the heart of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and star formation in the surrounding galaxy ...> Full Article

Magnetic Substorms From Ground And Space (4/11/2008)

One of the most dynamic events in the interaction between the Sun and the Earth is a 'substorm', an explosive reshaping of the Earth's outer magnetic field. To better understand substorms, scientists in Europe and North America are studying them from space using the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) satellites launched by NASA in 2007 and from the ground using a network of all-sky cameras. ...> Full Article

The coldest brown dwarf ever (4/11/2008)

An international team of astronomers has discovered the coldest brown dwarf star ever observed ...> Full Article

Venus Express reboots the search for active volcanoes on Venus (4/10/2008)

Venus Express has measured a highly variable quantity of the volcanic gas sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus ...> Full Article

New rocky planet found in constellation Leo (4/10/2008)

Scientists have discovered a possible terrestrial-type planet orbiting a star in the constellation of Leo ...> Full Article

Old galaxies stick together in the young universe (4/9/2008)

Astronomers have developed the most sensitive infrared map of the distant universe ever produced, revealing the origins of the most massive galaxies in the cosmos ...> Full Article

Spectacular Star Cluster May Host Black Hole Missing Link (4/9/2008)

The well-known naked-eye star cluster Omega Centauri may be home to an elusive intermediate-mass black hole ...> Full Article

The most advanced gravity measurement satellite prepares for launch (4/8/2008)

A new satellite that will measure the Earth's global gravity field considerably more accurately than is currently achievable by other satellite and terrestrial means is being prepared for launch in Russia at the end of May ...> Full Article

World's largest digital camera to change view of the Universe (4/8/2008)

Our view of the Universe is about to be changed by the largest and most detailed 'map' of the heavens ever produced ...> Full Article

Laser precision added to search for new Earths (4/7/2008)

Measuring ability leaps with new instrument ...> Full Article

Planet Finder Catches A Comet (4/7/2008)

Telescope was in the right place at the right time to capture the first images of once-in-a-lifetime event ...> Full Article

Catching planets in the making (4/7/2008)

Team sees first signs of formation's middle stages ...> Full Article

Scientists learn how sun transfers heat to the outer reachers of its atmosphere (4/6/2008)

As a result of intensive collaboration with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington, astronomers at Queen's University Belfast have announced an exciting discovery that could pave the way to solving a problem which has been baffling solar physicists for years. ...> Full Article