Black hole rips apart screaming star: In a distant galaxy, a star orbiting a massive central black hole strays too close to the insatiable giant and is torn apart. But before it can be devoured, the star lets out one last scream in a flare of light that slowly echoes across the galaxy. Astronomers on Earth pick up this faint call and use it to map the nucleus of the galaxy from which it emanated. [msnbc]
How did our planet form?: It’s astonishing what you can achieve with just a bit of gas and dust. Kate Ravilious guides us through the birth of our solar system. [Guardian]
Scars on Mars suggest recent glaciers: Orbiter images show that planet may have gone through many ice ages. [msnbc]
May 7th, 2008 at 9:27 am
This article is filed under Blog, Cosmology.
Most Distant Galaxy Pile-Up Found: Astronomers have announced the discovery of the most distant galactic collisions ever seen: A cluster of early galaxies caught in the act of merging into one giant galaxy when the universe was just a toddler. [Discovery]
Beneath Arctic ice pack, teeming life holds extraterrestrial clues: Deming believes the bacteria and viruses in these channels in polar sea ice could provide clues about possible life on Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa. “When we think astrobiologically, we think of the initial microbes, similar to ones that gained a foothold on Earth 3.8 billion years ago,” she says. “Europa is a very promising situation because all the evidence points to an ocean under the ice cover and heat under the ocean.” Astrobiology is a decades-old scientific discipline bringing together astronomy, biology, and geology. It examines whether microorganisms living in extreme heat and cold on Earth could tell us what kind of life forms might exist on other celestial bodies. [CSM]
April 24th, 2008 at 9:45 am
This article is filed under Blog, Cosmology.
Clay tablet holds clue to asteroid mystery: Now researchers say their translation of symbols on a star map from an ancient civilisation includes notes on a mile-wide asteroid that later hit Earth - which could have caused tens of thousands of deaths. [Telegraph]
‘Revolutionary’ new technique aims to find Earth-like planets: The technique helps to measure subtle shifts in the colour of starlight and the team of physicists and astronomers plans to make the first measurements within weeks from a telescope in Arizona, making the prospect of finding extraterrestrial life much closer than thought. [Telegraph]
‘Tsunami’ sweeps across the Sun: Remarkable images of a “solar tsunami” spreading across the face of the Sun have been captured by a pair of spacecraft. The tsunami of superheated gas, caused by a huge explosion known as a coronal mass ejection, took only 35 minutes to cross almost the entire Sun. [Times]
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 am
This article is filed under Blog, Cosmology.
Birth of a Planet: News of another extrasolar planet hardly grabs headlines anymore, now that scientists have pushed the count far above 200. But yesterday a group of astrophysicists says it may have uncovered evidence of a foreign planet being born. [Popsci]
On Saturn Moon, Life’s Basics: The basic ingredients for life — warmth, water and organic chemicals — are in place on Saturn’s small moon Enceladus, scientists said on Wednesday, detailing the content of huge plumes erupting off its surface. [NYT]
Nonstop “Hurricane” Raging on Saturn’s South Pole: Earth’s hurricane seasons may be dangerous, but at least they’re temporary. On Saturn, the storm apparently never stops. A massive tempest that’s nearly the size of our planet has been howling above Saturn’s south pole since it was first detected in 2003. [National Geographic]
March 28th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
This article is filed under Blog, Cosmology.
Ulysses satellite’s heroic journey comes to an end: The first spacecraft to peer down on the sun, it helped scientists in a vital task to predict solar weather. [CSM]
Kissing the Earth Goodbye in About 7.59 Billion Years: If nature is left to its own devices, about 7.59 billion years from now Earth will be dragged from its orbit by an engorged red Sun and spiral to a rapid vaporous death. [NYT]
The Real-life Death Star: Not to freak you out, but there’s a gamma ray-blasting stellar mass pointed in your direction. [Popsci]
March 13th, 2008 at 9:02 am
This article is filed under Blog, Cosmology.
A dry landslide—not liquid water—is the most likely explanation for at least one of the bright streaks seen recently on Mars, a new study concludes. The streaks first made waves in 2006, when scientists reported them in pictures of Martian gullies taken in 2005. [National Geographic]
For the first time, astronomers have pinpointed the spot where the intense winds of two massive stars in a binary system violently collide and detected the production of high-energy X-rays there. [MSNBC]
March 5th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
This article is filed under Blog, Cosmology.
Enormous supernova explosions, gamma-ray bursts from distant galaxies, the violent birth of stars, and the incredible consequences of collisions between galaxies or black holes: These are some of the most extreme and mysterious events in the universe, yet our largest telescopes and satellites glimpse only their dim afterglow. That’s why astronomers use the world’s largest supercomputers to transform theories and formulas into animated 3-D simulations of explosions, collapses and collisions. The computer simulations help astronomers verify their theories—and they provide us with this gallery of phenomonal images. [Popsci]
Researching the prospects for life beyond our solar system is moving to the next level. Exoplanet hunters are getting instruments that promise to spot Earth-like planets around alien stars. In some cases, they may even yield crude estimates of how life-friendly such a planet may be. [CSM]
Like astrophysical doctors, astronomers have given the Milky Way a galactic check-up - and discovered it’s twice as big as first thought. [Australian]
Warm dust increases chances of alien life [Telegraph].
February 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
This article is filed under Blog, Cosmology.
