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| Astronomy articles |
Tycho's remnant provides shocking evidence for cosmic rays
Astronomers have found compelling evidence that a supernova shock wave has produced a large amount of cosmic rays, particles of mysterious origin that constantly bombard the Earth. This discovery, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, supports theoretical arguments that shock waves from stellar explosions may be a primary source of cosmic rays.
Meteorites offer glimpse of the early Earth
Important clues to the environment in which the early Earth formed may be emerging from Purdue University scientists' recent study of a particular class of meteorites.
Flashes shed light on cosmic clashes
An international team of astronomers led by Danish astronomer Jens Hjorth has for the first time observed the visible light from a short gamma-ray burst (GRB). Using the 1.5m Danish telescope at La Silla (Chile), they showed that these short, intense bursts of gamma-ray emission most likely originate from the violent collision of two merging neutron stars.
A space station view on giant lightning
Do giant flashes of lightning striking upwards from thunder clouds merely pose an extraordinarily spectacular view? Or do they actually alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere, playing a role in ozone depletion and the climate on Earth? This is the key question that may be answered by specially designed cameras, which ESA proposes to place on board the International Space Station.
Evidence for more dust than ice in comets
Observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 made by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft after the Deep Impact collision suggest that comets are 'icy dirtballs', rather than 'dirty snowballs' as previously believed.
Even 'failed stars' form planets
An international team of astronomers shows that even brown dwarfs start to form planets. Thus, the process of building planets is more universal and robust than had previously been assumed.
'First light' for the large binocular telescope
The largest and most modern single telescope in the world has provided its first images of the heavens.
Star on the run
Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have recorded a massive star moving at more than 2.6 million kilometres per hour. Stars are not born with such large velocities. Its position in the sky leads to the suggestion that the star was kicked out from the Large Magellanic Cloud, providing indirect evidence for a massive black hole in the Milky Way's closest neighbour.
Astrophysicists put kibosh on alternative theory of star formation
Astrophysicists at the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have exploded one of two competing theories about how stars form inside immense clouds of interstellar gas.
Einstein's dark energy accelerates the Universe
The genius of Albert Einstein, who added a "cosmological constant" to his equation for the expansion of the universe but later retracted it, may be vindicated by new research published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
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The dwarf that carries a world
A team of French and Swiss astronomers have discovered one of the lightest exoplanets ever found using the HARPS instrument on ESO's 3.6-m telescope at La Silla (Chile). The new planet orbits a star belonging to the class of red dwarfs. As these stars are very common, this discovery proves crucial in the census of other planetary systems.
When worlds collide
When galaxies collide (as our galaxy, the Milky Way, eventually will with the nearby Andromeda galaxy), what happens to matter that gets spun off in the collision's wake?
Hundreds of auroras detected on Mars
Auroras similar to Earth's Northern Lights appear to be common on Mars, according to physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, who have analyzed six years' worth of data from the Mars Global Surveyor.
Astronomers use laser to take clearest images of the center of the Milky Way
UCLA astronomers and colleagues have taken the first clear picture of the center of our Milky Way galaxy, including the area surrounding the supermassive black hole, using a new laser virtual star at the W.M. Keck observatory in Hawaii.
Geologists suggest Mars features are result of meteorite strikes, not evaporated lakes
Geologic features at the Opportunity landing site on Mars were formed not by a lake that evaporated but by constant strikes from meteorites, say two Arizona State University geologists.
Scientists discover 'light echoes' of ancient supernovae
Astronomers have found "light echoes" from three ancient supernovae by detecting their faint, centuries-old light reflected in the clouds of interstellar dust. The finding means astronomers will, for the first time, be able to study these important but rare events that appeared hundreds to thousands of years ago.
Chandra looks back at the Earth
In an unusual observation, a team of scientists has scanned the northern polar region of Earth with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The results show that the aurora borealis, or "northern lights," also dance in X-ray light, creating changing bright arcs of X-ray energy above the Earth's surface.
Measuring the size of a small, frost world
Observing a very rare occultation of a star by Pluto's satellite Charon from three different sites, including Paranal, home of the VLT, astronomers were able to determine with great accuracy the radius and density of the satellite to the farthest planet.
A picture of radioactivity from the inner part of our galaxy
Our environment is composed of "stardust", the chemical elements formed long ago in stellar interiors and supernovae. This process of nuclear fusion leads to the emission of gamma rays, which easily reach us from all regions of the Milky Way Galaxy. An international team of researchers led by Roland Diehl of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany now has been using ESA's INTEGRAL satellite to determine that gamma rays from radioactive aluminium (26Al) originate from the central regions of the Galaxy.
Milky Way galaxy is warped and vibrating like a drum
The most prominent of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies - a pair of galaxies called the Magellanic Clouds - appears to be interacting with the Milky Way's ghostly dark matter to create a mysterious warp in the galactic disk that has puzzled astronomers for half a century.
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| Quotes | By convention!
cussed Tom airily.
Cmon Scully... Itll be a nice trip through the woods-Fox Mulder
But what ... is it good for?
Engineer at IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
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