Astronomy News and Research - February 2009 Archives

Turbulence may promote the birth of massive stars (2/28/2009)

When it comes to the theory of how massive stars form, the devil is in the details. We know the basics: a cloud of cosmic gas draws itself together, growing denser and hotter until nuclear fusion ignites. But how does massive star formation begin? What determines how many stars form from a single cloud? New data from the Submillimeter Array, a joint project of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is helping to answer these questions. ...> Full Article

Origin of galactic comic rays focus of NASA grant (2/27/2009)

Astrophysicists at Washington University in St. Louis have received a five-year, $3,225,740 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to design and build Super-TIGER -- a Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder -- and then fly it aboard a high-altitude balloon over Antarctica to collect rare atomic particles called galactic cosmic rays.Super-TIGER's first flight in search of the origin of cosmic rays is planned for December 2012. ...> Full Article

The colors of quasars reveal a dusty universe (2/27/2009)

The vast expanses of intergalactic space appear to be filled with a haze of tiny, smoke-like "dust" particles that dim the light from distant objects and subtly change their colors, according to a team of astronomers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Knowledge of this dust will help astronomers understand galaxies, but could complicate future measurements of supernovae. ...> Full Article

Cosmological simulations key to understanding the universe (2/26/2009)

Tiziana Di Matteo, associate professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University is harnessing the power of supercomputing to recreate how galaxies are born, how they develop over time and, ultimately, how they collapse. ...> Full Article

NASA's Swift spies Comet Lulin (2/25/2009)

While waiting for high-energy outbursts and cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift Gamma-ray Explorer satellite is monitoring Comet Lulin as it closes on Earth. For the first time, astronomers are seeing simultaneous ultraviolet and X-ray images of a comet. ...> Full Article

100 m virtual telescope captures unique detailed color image (2/24/2009)

A team of French astronomers has captured one of the sharpest color images ever made. They observed the star T Leporis, which appears, on the sky, as small as a two-storey house on the moon. The image was taken with ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), emulating a virtual telescope about 100 m across and reveals a spherical molecular shell around an aged star. ...> Full Article

Astronomers gravitate toward Einstein's telescope (2/23/2009)

Scientists are harnessing the cosmos as a scientific "instrument" in their quest to determine the makeup of the universe. The University of Chicago's Evalyn Gates calls the instrument "Einstein's telescope." The instrument is actually the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, which acts as a sort of natural telescope. Gates's new book, "Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe," explains how it works. ...> Full Article

Sandia's diamond-like films on board NASA satellite (2/23/2009)

Diamond-like carbon films created at Sandia National Laboratories are helping probe the far boundaries of the solar system as part of a NASA mission to study how the sun's solar wind interacts with the interstellar medium -- the matter that exists between the stars within a galaxy. ...> Full Article

New recipe for dwarf galaxies: Start with leftover gas (2/23/2009)

There is more than one way to make a dwarf galaxy, and NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has found a new recipe. It has identified dwarf galaxies forming out of nothing more than pristine gas likely leftover from the early universe. ...> Full Article

NASA's Fermi telescope sees most extreme gamma-ray blast yet (2/23/2009)

The first gamma-ray burst to be seen in high-resolution from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is one for the record books. The blast had the greatest total energy, the fastest motions and the highest-energy initial emissions ever seen. ...> Full Article

New stars from old gas surprise astronomers (2/22/2009)

Evidence of star birth within a cloud of primordial gas has given astronomers a glimpse of a previously unknown mode of galaxy formation. The cloud, known as the Leo Ring, appears to lack the dark matter and heavy elements normally found in galaxies today. The unexpected discovery comes thanks to instruments aboard NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer spacecraft which are sensitive to the ultraviolet radiation emitted by newly formed stars. ...> Full Article

Cosmologists aim to observe first moments of universe (2/21/2009)

South Pole Telescope team to search for gravity waves ...> Full Article

Clemson astronomers study mysterious antimatter in the Milky Way (2/20/2009)

NASA has awarded Clemson astronomers $244,000 to use data from several space-based gamma-ray telescopes to study a mysterious emission coming from the central regions of the Milky Way galaxy. ...> Full Article

NASA and ESA prioritize outer planet missions (2/20/2009)

At a meeting in Washington last week, NASA and ESA officials decided to first pursue a mission to study Jupiter and its four largest moons, and plan for another mission to visit Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and Enceladus. ...> Full Article

ESA extends missions studying Mars, Venus and Earth's magnetosphere (2/19/2009)

ESA's Science Programme Committee has extended the operations of ESA's Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster missions until Dec. 31, 2009. ...> Full Article

Exploring planets in distant space and deep interiors (2/18/2009)

In recent years researchers have found hundreds of new planets beyond our solar system, raising questions about the origins and properties of these exotic worlds -- not to mention the possible presence of life. Speaking at a symposium titled "The Origin and Evolution of Planets" held at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, two Carnegie Institution scientists will present their perspectives on the new era of planetary exploration. ...> Full Article

The remarkable story of research on Jupiter's Moon 'Europa' (2/17/2009)

With insights on how 'big science' gets done today ...> Full Article

Astronomers unveiling life's cosmic origins (2/17/2009)

New insights on star and planet formation, interstellar chemistry ...> Full Article

New high-res map suggests little water inside moon (2/16/2009)

The most detailed map of the Moon ever created has revealed never-before-seen craters at the lunar poles. The map is also revealing secrets about the Moon's interior -- and hinting about Mars's interior as well. C.K. Shum, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, is part of the international research team that published the map in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Science. ...> Full Article

Strong winds over the keel (2/15/2009)

The latest ESO image reveals amazing detail in the intricate structures of one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky, the Carina Nebula, where strong winds and powerful radiation from an armada of massive stars are creating havoc in the large cloud of dust and gas from which the stars were born. ...> Full Article

Evidence of ancient hot springs on Mars (2/14/2009)

Data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest the discovery of ancient springs in the Vernal Crater, sites where life forms may have evolved on Mars, according to a report in Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. ...> Full Article

Cosmologists 'see' the cosmic dawn (2/13/2009)

Scientists have used a computer simulation to predict what the very early universe would have appeared like 500 million years after the "Big Bang." ...> Full Article

First laboratory experiment to accurately model stellar jets explains mysterious 'knots' (2/12/2009)

Some of the most breathtaking objects in the cosmos are the jets of matter streaming out of stars, but astrophysicists have long been at a loss to explain how these jets achieve their varied shapes. Now, laboratory research detailed in the current issue of Astrophysical Review Letters shows how magnetic forces shape these stellar jets. ...> Full Article

James Webb space telescope's actual 'spine' now being built (2/11/2009)

Scientists and engineers who have been working on the James Webb Space Telescope mission for years are getting very excited, because some of the actual pieces that will fly aboard the Webb telescope are now being built. One of the pieces, called the backplane, is like a "spine" to the telescope. The backplane is now being assembled by Alliant Techsystems at its Magna, Utah facility. ...> Full Article

NASA's Swift, Fermi probe fireworks from a flaring gamma-ray star (2/11/2009)

Astronomers using NASA's Swift satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are seeing frequent blasts from a stellar remnant 30,000 light-years away. The high-energy fireworks arise from a rare type of neutron star known as a soft-gamma-ray repeater. Such objects unpredictably send out a series of X-ray and gamma-ray flares. ...> Full Article

The countdown for Planck has started (2/10/2009)

The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics completes ten years of work on the software for the European satellite mission. ...> Full Article

Exceptionally deep view of strange galaxy (2/10/2009)

A spectacular new image of an unusual spiral galaxy in the Coma Galaxy Cluster has been created from data taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It reveals fine details of the galaxy, NGC 4921, as well as an extraordinary rich background of more remote galaxies stretching back to the early universe. ...> Full Article

First North American antenna enables the ALMA Observatory to do its thing (2/10/2009)

ALMA is on its way to developing observational capabilities with resonance 10 times that of the current state of the art ...> Full Article

Infant galaxies - small and hyperactive (2/9/2009)

When galaxies are born, do their stars form everywhere at once, or only within a small core region? Recent measurements of an international team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy provide the first concrete evidence that star-forming regions in infant galaxies are indeed small -- but also hyperactive, producing stars at astonishingly high rates. ...> Full Article

Powerful new technique to measure asteroids' sizes and shapes (2/8/2009)

A team of French and Italian astronomers have devised a new method for measuring the size and shape of asteroids that are too small or too far away for traditional techniques, increasing the number of asteroids that can be measured by a factor of several hundred. This method takes advantage of the unique capabilities of ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer. ...> Full Article

Ethereal images of the Milky Way showcased in new book (2/7/2009)

Astronomers throughout history have always marveled at the Milky Way and its dusky gaping voids. Astronomy and photography aficionados alike will therefore be captivated by the early photographs taken by masters Isaac Roberts and Edward Barnard in Springer's latest release, "Shrouds of the Night: Masks of the Milky Way and Our Awesome New View of Galaxies." ...> Full Article

NASA's SkyView delivers the multiwavelength cosmos (2/6/2009)

Some three million times a year, researchers, educators, and amateur astronomers all over the world ask NASA's SkyView virtual observatory to serve up images of some interesting corner of the cosmos. SkyView's most recently added survey -- the fourth data release from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite -- is available in WWT starting today. ...> Full Article

European team finds smallest transiting extrasolar planet ever (2/5/2009)

The CoRoT satellite has discovered a planet only twice as large as the Earth orbiting a star slightly smaller than the Sun. It is the smallest extrasolar planet (planet outside our solar system) whose radius has ever been measured. ...> Full Article

Astronomers discover link between supermassive black holes and galaxy formation (2/4/2009)

A pair of astronomers from Texas and Germany have used a telescope at The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory together with Hubble Space Telescope and many other telescopes around the world to uncover new evidence that the largest, most massive galaxies in the universe and the supermassive black holes at their hearts grew together over time. ...> Full Article

Two rockets fly through auroral arc (2/3/2009)

Second mission a success in 2009 rocket campaign at Poker Flat Research Range ...> Full Article

Black hole outflows from Centaurus A detected with APEX (2/2/2009)

Astronomers have a new insight into the active galaxy Centaurus A, as the jets and lobes emanating from the central black hole have been imaged at submillimeter wavelengths for the first time. The new data, from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope in Chile, which is operated by ESO, have been combined with visible and X-ray wavelengths to produce this striking new image. ...> Full Article

Virginia Tech engineers study space weather conditions that affect our lives (2/1/2009)

New radars will enhance the ability to continuously track the impacts of disturbances in Earth's near-space environment, such as global warming, geomagnetic storms, and solar wind. ...> Full Article