Astronomy News and Research - April 2009 Archives

Missing planets attest to destructive power of stars' tides (4/30/2009)

Astronomers have found hundreds of extrasolar planets in the last two decades, and new research indicates they might have found even more except for one thing -- some planets have fallen into their stars and simply no longer exist. ...> Full Article

New gamma-ray burst smashes cosmic distance record (4/29/2009)

NASA's Swift satellite and an international team of astronomers have found a gamma-ray burst from a star that died when the universe was only 630 million years old, or less than five percent of its present age. The event, dubbed GRB 090423, is the most distant cosmic explosion ever seen. ...> Full Article

NASA's Swift satellite comet tally highlighted (4/29/2009)

A montage of comet images made using NASA's Swift spacecraft illustrates just how different three comets can be. The images, including a never-released image of Comet 8P/Tuttle, were shown during a webcast called "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" Organized by the European Southern Observatory headquartered in Garching, Germany. ...> Full Article

Active galaxies flare and fade in Fermi telescope all-sky movie (4/28/2009)

The gamma-ray sky comes alive in a movie made from data acquired by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope during its first three months of operations. Gamma rays from sources near and far turn the sky into a hypnotic froth. The sun arcs serenely across the northern sky as active galaxies called blazars flare up and fade out. ...> Full Article

Largest collection of anomalous white dwarfs observed in new Hubble images (4/27/2009)

Twenty-four unusual stars, 18 of them newly discovered, have been observed in new Hubble telescope images. The stars are white dwarfs, a common type of dead star, but they are odd because they are made of helium rather than the usual carbon and oxygen. A study, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, suggests that these helium-core white dwarfs have had their lives cut short because of their orbital dance around a partner star. ...> Full Article

Solar wind tans young asteroids (4/26/2009)

A new study published in Nature this week reveals that asteroid surfaces age and redden much faster than previously thought -- in less than a million years, the blink of an eye for an asteroid. This study has finally confirmed that the solar wind is the most likely cause of very rapid space weathering in asteroids. This fundamental result will help astronomers relate the appearance of an asteroid to its actual history and identify any after effects of a catastrophic impact with another asteroid. ...> Full Article

Continent-sized radio telescope takes close-ups of Fermi active galaxies (4/25/2009)

An international team of astronomers has used the world's biggest radio telescope to look deep into the brightest galaxies that NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope can see. The study solidifies the link between an active galaxy's gamma-ray emissions and its powerful radio-emitting jets. ...> Full Article

Telescope upgrade turns data stream into a torrent (4/24/2009)

A major upgrade of CSIRO's radio telescope near Narrabri in NSW, which will turn the instrument's data stream into a torrent, is almost completed. ...> Full Article

Mysterious space blob discovered at cosmic dawn (4/24/2009)

A team of astronomers, led by Carnegie's Masami Ouchi, have discovered a mysterious, giant object that existed when the universe was only 800 million years old. Dubbed an extended "Lyman-Alpha blob," it is a huge body of gas. It is named Himiko for a legendary Japanese queen and stretches for 55 thousand light years, a record for that early point in time. Its length is comparable to the radius of the Milky Way's disk. ...> Full Article

Researchers 'clear away the dust,' get better look at youngest supernova remnant (4/24/2009)

Researchers at North Carolina State University have used a mathematical model that allows them to get a clearer picture of the galaxy's youngest supernova remnant by correcting for the distortions caused by cosmic dust. Their new data provides evidence that this remnant is from a type Ia supernova -- the explosion of a white dwarf star -- and raises questions about the ways in which magnetic fields affect the generation of the remnant's cosmic ray particles. ...> Full Article

Lightest exoplanet yet discovered (4/23/2009)

Exoplanet researcher Michel Mayor announces the discovery of the lightest exoplanet found so far. The planet, "e," in the system Gliese 581, is only about twice the mass of our Earth. The team also refined the orbit of the planet Gliese 581-d, first discovered in 2007, placing it well within the habitable zone, where liquid water oceans could exist. These amazing discoveries are the outcome of observations using the HARPS spectrograph attached to the 3.6m ESO telescope at La Silla, Chile. ...> Full Article

Discovered after 40 years: Moon dust hazard influenced by Sun's elevation (4/22/2009)

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Apollo Moon Program struggled with a minuscule, yet formidable enemy: sticky lunar dust. Four decades later, a new study reveals that forces compelling lunar dust to cling to surfaces -- ruining scientific experiments and endangering astronauts' health -- change during the lunar day with the elevation of the sun. ...> Full Article

Research team helps NASA improve navigation systems for lunar exploration (4/21/2009)

Adaptability is the key to keeping track of explorers and vehicles and giving them good directions, investigators say ...> Full Article

Cosmic heavyweights in free-for-all (4/20/2009)

The most crowded collision of galaxy clusters has been identified by combining information from three different telescopes. This result gives scientists a chance to learn what happens when some of the largest objects in the Universe go at each other in a cosmic free-for-all. ...> Full Article

Control of hypersonic vehicles for planetary capture and entry missions (4/20/2009)

Global Aerospace Corp. begins development of a Hypersonic Control Modeling and Simulation Tool to be used for control studies for planetary atmospheric entry and descent, aerodynamic orbital capture and aerodynamic gravity assist ...> Full Article

How to deflect asteroids and save the Earth (4/19/2009)

You may want to thank David French in advance. Because, in the event that a comet or asteroid comes hurtling toward Earth, he may be the guy responsible for saving the planet. French, a doctoral candidate in aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University, has determined a way to effectively divert asteroids and other threatening objects from impacting Earth by attaching a long tether and ballast to the incoming object. ...> Full Article

Features of early Martian environment and presence of water drive search for life forms (4/18/2009)

Solar energy and winds, collisions with asteroids and comets, and changing magnetic fields have all altered the environment of Mars, a planet that may have been able to support life during its history, as documented in a special collection of papers published in the current issue of Astrobiology. ...> Full Article

Physicists see the cosmos in a coffee cup (4/17/2009)

A Duke University professor and his graduate student have discovered a universal principle that unites the curious interplay of light and shadow on the surface of your morning coffee with the way gravity magnifies and distorts light from distant galaxies. ...> Full Article

NASA spacecraft show three dimensional anatomy of a solar storm (4/16/2009)

Twin NASA spacecraft have provided scientists with their first view of the speed, trajectory, and three-dimensional shape of powerful explosions from the sun known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. This new capability will dramatically enhance scientists' ability to predict if and how these solar tsunamis could affect Earth. ...> Full Article

Autonomous Antarctic observatories gather space weather data (4/15/2009)

Keeping an unsleeping eye on the phenomena that cause the aurora ...> Full Article

Astronomer's discovery poses challenge to galaxy formation theories (4/14/2009)

A team led by an Indiana University astronomer has found a sample of massive galaxies with properties that suggest that they may have formed relatively recently. This would run counter to the widely-held belief that massive, luminous galaxies (like our own Milky Way Galaxy) began their formation and evolution shortly after the Big Bang, some 13 billion years ago. ...> Full Article

Scientists pinpoint the 'edge of space' (4/14/2009)

Where does Earth stop and space begin? 118-kilometres above the ground, according to University of Calgary scientists who created an new instrument that is able to pinpoint the so-called "edge of space." ...> Full Article

James Webb Space Telescope first flight mirror completes cryogenic testing (4/13/2009)

The first mirror segment that will fly on the James Webb Space Telescope, built by Northrop Grumman Corporation, has completed its first series of cryogenic temperature tests in the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. ...> Full Article

First results from Penn's balloon-borne telescope BLAST (4/13/2009)

Extragalactic survey reveals half the universe's starlight ...> Full Article

Team helps solve mystery of starlight's origins (4/12/2009)

Scientists from the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia have helped unveil the birthplaces of ancient stars using a two-ton telescope carried by a balloon the size of a 33-storey building. ...> Full Article

Earthshine reflects Earth's oceans and continents from the dark side of the moon (4/11/2009)

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Princeton University have shown for the first time that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth's land masses and oceans can be seen on the dark side of the moon, a phenomenon known as earthshine. ...> Full Article

NASA twin spacecraft may reveal secret of Moon's origin (4/11/2009)

Two identical NASA spacecraft are preparing to enter a point in the universe that may eventually answer the question of how our moon was born. ...> Full Article

Journey to the Martian arctic with space explorer April 16 (4/10/2009)

Peter Smith, principal investigator of NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission, will highlight the novel spacecraft's discoveries in the "The Journey of the Phoenix," on Thursday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Delaware. The probe confirmed the presence of frozen water just below Mars' surface, found minerals that form in liquid water, identified potential nutrients in the soil, and observed snow in the atmosphere. The presentation will be Webcast live and simulcast to UD Second Life. ...> Full Article

Dramatically backlit dust in giant galaxy (4/10/2009)

A new Hubble image highlights striking swirling dust lanes and glittering globular clusters in oddball galaxy NGC 7049. ...> Full Article

GOCE's electric ion propulsion engine switched on (4/9/2009)

GOCE's sophisticated electric ion propulsion system has been switched on, and confirmed to be operating normally, marking another crucial milestone in the satellite's post-launch commissioning phase. ...> Full Article

Titan may have subsurface ocean of hydrocarbons (4/8/2009)

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, may have a subterranean ocean of hydrocarbons and some topsy-turvy topography in which the summits of its mountains lie lower than its average surface elevation, according to new research. Titan is also more squashed in its overall shape -- like a rubber ball pressed down by a foot -- than researchers had expected, said Howard Zebker, a Stanford geophysicist and electrical engineer involved in the work. ...> Full Article

A young pulsar shows its hand (4/7/2009)

A small, dense object only twelve miles in diameter is responsible for this beautiful X-ray nebula that spans 150 light years. At the center of this image made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a very young and powerful pulsar, known as PSR B1509-58, or B1509 for short. This image is being unveiled as part of the "Around the World in 80 Telescopes" webcast as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. ...> Full Article

Dissecting a stellar explosion (4/6/2009)

Integral has captured one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts ever seen. A meticulous analysis of the data has allowed astronomers to investigate the initial phases of this giant stellar explosion, which led to the ejection of matter at velocities close to the speed of light. In particular, the astronomers believe that the explosion lifted a piece of the central engine's magnetic field into space. ...> Full Article

High-resolution image of the brightest Orion Trapezium star (4/5/2009)

Astronomy & Astrophysics is publishing the sharpest image of the young binary star Theta1 Orionis C in the Orion Trapezium cluster. In the new image, obtained using the ESO/VLT interferometer, one clearly distinguishes the two young, massive stars of the system. This binary system is the most massive star in the nearest region where high-mass stars are forming. ...> Full Article

Astronauts may need more intense workouts to maintain muscle fitness in space (4/4/2009)

A new study in the The Journal of Applied Physiology, suggests that astronauts need to modify their workouts to avoid extensive muscle loss during missions onboard the International Space Station. ...> Full Article

Deep Sky project provides a portal into data universe (4/3/2009)

Every night approximately 3,000 astronomical files flow to the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center from automated sky scanning systems all over the world for archiving. Now, a multidisciplinary team from NERSC is developing a user-friendly database system and interface to instantly serve up high-resolution cosmic reference images to astronomers around the globe. Called the Deep Sky project, this database could eventually help other scientific disciplines share massive datasets as well. ...> Full Article

A new X-ray spectroscopic tool for probing the interstellar medium (4/2/2009)

Astronomy & Astrophysics is publishing the first clear detection of signatures long sought in the spectra of X-ray astronomical sources, the so-called EXAFS signatures, standing for "Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure." EXAFS is a powerful tool for studying the structure of grains in the interstellar medium. It gives a more detailed picture of the composition and structure of amorphous grains in the ISM. ...> Full Article