Astronomy News and Research Archives Page 15

From Sputnik to Sat Nav (10/4/2007)

The launch of the world's first satellite 50 years ago today (THURS OCT 4) kick started a technological revolution which is benefiting life on Earth today, a leading Durham University expert has said. ...> Full Article

Venus, Saturn and Regulus cluster before dawn in October (10/2/2007)

Venus, Saturn and Regulus will dance a pas de trois low in the eastern sky an hour before sunrise during October, with the crescent moon joining them on Oct 7. ...> Full Article

Chance encounter with comet nets surprising results (10/2/2007)

Comets are made of the most primitive stuff in the solar system. As hunks of rock and ice that never coalesced into more planets, they give researchers clues to the evolution of solar systems. ...> Full Article

Gamma Ray Delay May Be Sign of 'New Physics' (10/1/2007)

Delayed gamma rays from deep space may provide the first evidence for physics beyond current theories. ...> Full Article

Mysterious Energy Burst Stuns Astronomers (9/30/2007)

In a shock finding, astronomers using CSIRO's Parkes telescope have detected a huge burst of radio energy from the distant universe that could open up a new field in astrophysics. ...> Full Article

Hinode Views 'Magnetic Trilobite' Sunspot (9/29/2007)

"We've never seen anything quite like it," says solar physicist Lika Guhathakurta from NASA headquarters. ...> Full Article

Oldest Planet Yet Discovered Hints Earth May Survive Our Sun Becoming A Red Giant (9/29/2007)

An international team of astronomers is one step closer to answering the question, "Will the world end with a bang or a whimper?" ...> Full Article

The Frugal Cosmic Ant (9/28/2007)

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer and its unique ability to see small details, astronomers have uncovered a flat, nearly edge-on disc of silicates in the heart of the magnificent Ant Nebula. The disc seems, however, too 'skinny' to explain how the nebula got its intriguing ant-like shape. ...> Full Article

Spinning slowly in the web (9/27/2007)

Astronomers have succeeded in tracing the magnetic web that binds newly forming stars to their surrounding gas and dust. ...> Full Article

Tether could aid asteroid missions (9/27/2007)

Using a tether system devised by MIT researchers, astronauts could one day stroll across the surface of small asteroids, collecting samples and otherwise exploring these rocks in space without floating away. ...> Full Article

SOHO's new catch: its first officially periodic comet (9/26/2007)

It is nothing new for the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to discover another comet - it has already found more than 1350. But the latest is a bit different - SOHO had spotted it twice before. ...> Full Article

Heat-sensing camera finds 'skylights' on Mars (9/26/2007)

A heat-sensitive camera flying on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has led a team of geologists to find seven deep holes on the flanks of Arsia Mons, a giant volcano on Mars. ...> Full Article

Seeking Objects 'Wierder Than Black Holes' (9/25/2007)

Researchers' equations suggest gravitational lensing could lead astronomers to 'naked singularities,' if such entities exist despite being banned by 'cosmic censorship' ...> Full Article

NASA resurrects NuSTAR mission to image massive black holes (9/25/2007)

NASA has announced its intent to restart a small scientific satellite mission it had canceled in 2006 because of funding pressures created in part by the shift in the agency's focus to manned missions to the moon and Mars. ...> Full Article

Dealing with threatening space rocks (9/24/2007)

Every now and then a space rock hits the world's media - sometimes almost literally. Threatening asteroids that zoom past the Earth, fireballs in the sky seen by hundreds of people and mysterious craters which may have been caused by impacting meteorites; all make ESA's studies on the Don Quijote mission look increasingly timely. ...> Full Article

Observations give precise estimate of Mars surface ice (9/22/2007)

Planetary scientists have found that the southern pole of Mars contains the largest deposit of frozen water in the inner solar system, outside of Earth. ...> Full Article

Newborn stars discovered in dramatic galaxy tail (9/22/2007)

A team of astronomers has discovered a number of stars forming in a section of our universe that is not normally conducive to the birth of stars. ...> Full Article

Galaxy 'Hunting' Made Easy (9/22/2007)

Galaxies found under the Glare of Cosmic Flashlights ...> Full Article

Astronomers Pinpoint Origin of Nature's Most Powerful Magnetic Bursts (9/21/2007)

Astronomers have pinpointed the origin of powerful bursts from nature's most magnetic objects. ...> Full Article

Is there life on Mars? (9/20/2007)

Key components of a new approach to discover life on planet Mars were successfully launched into space today as part of a twelve-day low Earth orbit experiment to assess their survivability when exposed to the space radiation environment - a prelude to future journeys to Mars. ...> Full Article

Google Sponsors Lunar X PRIZE To Create A Space Race For A New Generation (9/19/2007)

The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. announced on September 13 the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a $30 million prize purse. ...> Full Article

A Warm South Pole? Yes, on Neptune! (9/19/2007)

Summer season on Neptune creates escape route for methane ...> Full Article

The Magellanic Clouds Are First-Time Visitors (9/18/2007)

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) are two of the Milky Way's closest neighboring galaxies. A stunning sight in the southern hemisphere, they were named after Ferdinand Magellan, who explored those waters in the 16th century. For hundreds of years, these galaxies were considered satellites of the Milky Way, gravitationally bound to our home galaxy. New research by Gurtina Besla (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and her colleagues shows that the Magellanic Clouds are recent arrivals on their first visit to the Milky Way's neighborhood. ...> Full Article

'Missing Dwarf Galaxy' Problem May Be Solved (9/18/2007)

Scientists may have solved a discrepancy between the number of extremely small, faint galaxies predicted to exist near the Milky Way and the number actually observed. ...> Full Article

Rock and antibody blast into space (9/17/2007)

Samples blasted into space to test theories on life being seeded through space on meteorites. ...> Full Article

Russian rocket carries experiment to analyze healthy space travel (9/17/2007)

An experiment that's aimed at healthy space travel and involves Montana State University scientists and students is now orbiting the earth on a Russian space capsule. ...> Full Article

Hubble Captures Stars Going Out In Style (9/17/2007)

The colorful, intricate shapes in these NASA Hubble Space Telescope images reveal how the glowing gas ejected by dying Sun-like stars evolves dramatically over time. ...> Full Article

Large Binocular Telescope Shows That Hercules is Odd, Flat Dwarf Galaxy (9/16/2007)

An international team of astronomers using the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona has discovered that the Hercules Dwarf Galaxy is shaped like a cigar. That makes it an oddball among millions of its peers. ...> Full Article

Saturn's moon Iapetus is the Yin-Yang of the Solar System (9/16/2007)

Cassini scientists are poring through hundreds of images returned from the 10 September fly-by of Saturn's two-toned moon Iapetus. ...> Full Article

Oldest Stars May Shed Light on Dark Matter (9/15/2007)

The universe's earliest stars may hold clues to the nature of dark matter, the mysterious stuff that makes up most of the universe's matter but doesn't interact with light, cosmologists report in the 14 September issue of the journal Science. ...> Full Article