Astronomy News and Research Archives Page 25

Hinode helps unravel long-standing solar mysteries (8/24/2007)

A year after launch, scientists working with Hinode, a Japanese mission with ESA participation, are meeting at Trinity College, Dublin, to discuss latest findings on solar mysteries - including new insights on solar flares and coronal heating. ...> Full Article

In Search Of Interstellar Dragon Fire (8/23/2007)

Ancient explorers set sail expecting to encounter dragons on the world's unknown oceans. NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft are searching for dragons of a different sort as they enter the boundary of our solar system â€" cosmic "dragons" that breathe a strange fire of high-speed atomic fragments called cosmic rays. ...> Full Article

Total Lunar Eclipse Draws Attention Back to the Moon (8/23/2007)

As August draws to an end, watchers of the night sky will be in for a treat. In the early morning hours of August 28, sky watchers across much of the world can look on as the Moon crosses in to the shadow of the Earth, becoming completely immersed for one-hour and 30 minutes, a period of time much longer than most typical lunar eclipses. In fact, this eclipse will be the deepest and longest in 7 years. ...> Full Article

Google brings the cosmos down to Earth (8/23/2007)

Imagine cruising the heavens from your desktop and seeing all the spectacular images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Exploding stars and faraway galaxies are just a mouse click away today through 'Sky in Google Earth'. ...> Full Article

Scientists Confirm Long-held Theory On Source Of Sunshine (8/22/2007)

An international team of researchers has detected low-energy solar neutrinos--subatomic particles produced in the core of the sun--and measured in real-time the rate the particles hit our planet. ...> Full Article

Possible closest neutron star to Earth found (8/21/2007)

Using NASA's Swift satellite, McGill University and Penn State astronomers have identified an object that is likely one of the closest neutron stars to Earth -- and possibly the closest. ...> Full Article

Moving to the rhythm of the Sun (8/20/2007)

Scientists from the Ulysses mission have proven that sounds generated deep inside the Sun cause the Earth to shake and vibrate in sympathy. They have found that Earth's magnetic field, atmosphere and terrestrial systems, all take part in this cosmic sing-along. ...> Full Article

Polluted Dead Star Indicates Planets Like Earth May Have Formed Around Other Stars (8/19/2007)

The chemical fingerprint of a burned-out star indicates that Earth-like planets may not be rare in the universe and could give clues to what our solar system will look like when our sun dies and becomes a white dwarf star some five billion years from now. ...> Full Article

Dark Matter Mystery Deepens in Cosmic (8/18/2007)

Astronomers have discovered a chaotic scene unlike any witnessed before in a cosmic "train wreck" between giant galaxy clusters. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical telescopes revealed a dark matter core that was mostly devoid of galaxies, which may pose problems for current theories of dark matter behavior. ...> Full Article

Physicists Discover Inorganic Dust With Life-like Qualities (8/17/2007)

Could extraterrestrial life be made of corkscrew-shaped particles of interstellar dust? Intriguing new evidence of life-like structures that form from inorganic substances in space are revealed today in the New Journal of Physics. The findings hint at the possibility that life beyond earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks. They also point to a possible new explanation for the origin of life on earth. ...> Full Article

NASA's Mars-Bound Phoenix Adjusts Course Successfully (8/16/2007)

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander accomplished on Aug. 10 the first and largest of six course corrections planned during the spacecraft's flight from Earth to Mars. ...> Full Article

Researchers Duplicating Conditions Of Supernovas (8/16/2007)

How is matter created? What happens when stars die? Is the universe shrinking, or is it expanding? For decades, scientists have been looking for answers to such "big picture" questions. ...> Full Article

Presence of Essential Molecule in Space Could Support Life on Other Planets (8/16/2007)

Some of the elements necessary to support life on Earth are widely known - oxygen, carbon and water, to name a few. Just as important in the existence of life as any other component is the presence of adenine, an essential organic molecule. Without it, the basic building blocks of life would not come together. Scientists have been trying to find the origin of Earth's adenine and where else it might exist in the solar system. University of Missouri-Columbia researcher Rainer Glaser may have the answer. ...> Full Article

First glimpses from the Perseid meteor shower (8/15/2007)

Enthusiastic observers were rewarded by a nice display of the Perseid meteor shower that was visible at its best in the night between 12 and 13 August 2007. We present glimpses of the spectacle and the scientific rewards of staying up all night. ...> Full Article

Phoenix Mars Lander To Try And Answer: Is there life on Mars? (8/15/2007)

As NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander hurtles toward the "Red Planet," Tufts' Sam Kounaves and his research team await the chance to answer the big question: Is there life on Mars? ...> Full Article

Frigid Enceladus: An Unlikely Harbor For Life (8/15/2007)

A new model of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus may quell hopes of finding life there. Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, the model explains the most salient observations on Enceladus without requiring the presence of liquid water. ...> Full Article

Life in Space - New Theory (8/14/2007)

Recent probes inside comets show it is overwhelmingly likely that life began in space, according to a new research paper by Cardiff scientists. ...> Full Article

Bright Galaxies Hidden In Distant Universe Unveiled (8/14/2007)

By combining the capabilities of several telescopes, teams of scientists, including University of Massachusetts Amherst astronomers, have spotted extremely bright galaxies hiding in the distant, young universe. They are the most luminous and prolific galaxies seen at that great distance, churning out stars at a rate 1,000 times greater than that of the Milky Way. ...> Full Article

What Makes Mars Magnetic? (8/13/2007)

Earth's surface is a very active place; its plates are forever jiggling around, rearranging themselves into new configurations. Continents collide and mountains arise, oceans slide beneath continents and volcanoes spew. As far as we know Earth's restless surface is unique to the planets in our solar system. So what is it that keeps Earth's plates oiled and on the move? ...> Full Article

First Light for World's Largest 'Thermometer Camera' (8/12/2007)

The world's largest bolometer camera for submillimetre astronomy is now in service at the 12-m APEX telescope, located on the 5100m high Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes. LABOCA was specifically designed for the study of extremely cold astronomical objects and, with its large field of view and very high sensitivity, will open new vistas in our knowledge of how stars form and how the first galaxies emerged from the Big Bang. ...> Full Article

The Planet, the Galaxy and the Laser (8/11/2007)

On the night of 21 July, ESO astronomer Yuri Beletsky took images of the night sky above Paranal, the 2600m high mountain in the Chilean Atacama Desert home to ESO's Very Large Telescope. The amazing images bear witness to the unique quality of the sky, revealing not only the Milky Way in all its splendour but also the planet Jupiter and the laser beam used at Yepun, one of the 8.2-m telescopes that make up this extraordinary facility. ...> Full Article

Star Caught Smoking (8/10/2007)

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, astronomers from France and Brazil have detected a huge cloud of dust around a star. This observation is further evidence for the theory that such stellar puffs are the cause of the repeated extreme dimming of the star. ...> Full Article

Natural Fireworks, Courtesy Of The Perseid Meteor Shower (8/9/2007)

As the Perseid meteor shower becomes visible in all its glory on 13 August, natural fireworks will fill the sky. ...> Full Article

Largest Transiting Extrasolar Planet Found Around A Distant Star (8/8/2007)

An international team of astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey announce today the discovery of TrES-4, a new extrasolar planet in the constellation of Hercules. The new planet was identified by astronomers looking for transiting planets - that is, planets that pass in front of their home star - using a network of small automated telescopes in Arizona, California, and the Canary Islands. TrES-4 was discovered less than half a degree (about the size of the full Moon) from the team's third planet, TrES-3. ...> Full Article

Mars Express Orbiter will keep an eye on Phoenix Lander (8/7/2007)

ESA's Mars Express will keep an eye on NASA's Phoenix lander as it makes its way to the Martian surface, setting an example for international cooperation and interplanetary networking. ...> Full Article

Monster Galaxy Pileup Sighted (8/7/2007)

Four galaxies are slamming into each other and kicking up billions of stars in one of the largest cosmic smash-ups ever observed. ...> Full Article

NASA Spacecraft Heads For Polar Region Of Mars (8/6/2007)

NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission blasted off Saturday, aiming for a May 25, 2008, arrival at the Red Planet and a close-up examination of the surface of the northern polar region. ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Clues To Early Solar System (8/6/2007)

Crystals on meteorite hold a key to understanding building blocks of planets ...> Full Article

Planet Orbiting Giant Red Star Discovered (8/6/2007)

A planet orbiting a giant red star has been discovered by an astronomy team led by Penn State's Alex Wolszczan, who in 1992 discovered the first planets ever found outside this solar system. The new discovery is helping astronomers to understand what will happen to the planets in this solar system when the sun becomes a red-giant star, expanding so much that its surface will reach as far as Earth's orbit. ...> Full Article

Transgenic Tomatoes Destined for International Space Station (8/5/2007)

Transgenic tomatoes that have been genetically modified so that they grow better in micro-gravity environments, are on there way to the International Space Station ...> Full Article