Astronomy

Saturn Has a New Ring

Cheryl Phillips — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:36:44 -0500

Three astronomers have found a new ring around the planet Saturn and it's said to be the largest of Saturn's rings. According to scientists, the ring is so large, if we could look up and see it, it would occupy a place in the sky four times the size of the full moon. The very faint ring stretches out miles and miles into space.

Orionid Meteor Shower Tonight to Light Up the Evening

Michael Santo — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:06:25 -0500

The Orionid meteor shower tonight should be beautiful. It is the second of two metero showers that occur each year as a result of Earth passing through debris released by Halley's Comet. Tonight the sky will be moonless, providing stargazers with a excellent chance for a good view of the display.

Earth-like planet discovery could happen very soon

Shelby Bateson — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:22:06 -0500

Astronomers have been on a quest to find another planet that can support life ever since space travel became possible, and even before. Last week, astronomers announced that they had found three “super Earths.”

Earth to See Near-Miss From Asteroid Tonight

Michael Santo — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:11:32 -0500

A large asteroid, impacting the world and leading to global catastrophe killed the dinosaurs. Since movies like Armageddon and Deep Impact, as well as documentaries on the Discovery Channel and other networks have been aired, people are more aware of the possibility of a "global killer" ending life on Earth. Tonight, we will experience a near-miss.

Herschel Promises Rich Discoveries For Asrronomers

harminka — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:48:06 -0500

Herschel has carried out the first test observations with all its instruments, with spectacular results. Galaxies, star-forming regions and dying stars comprised the telescope’s first targets. The instruments provided spectacular data on their first attempt, finding water and carbon and revealing dozens of distant galaxies.

Giant Rydberg Atom Molecules Discovered

harminka — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:22:56 -0500

A group of University of Oklahoma researchers led by Dr. James P. Shaffer, Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, have discovered giant Rydberg molecules with a bond as large as a red blood cell. Determining how Rydberg molecules interact is important because Rydberg atoms are a key ingredient in atom based quantum computation schemes.

Comet Lulin Makes Nearest, Single Visit

Armen Hareyan — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:50:55 -0600

The first known and only visit by the flamboyant green comet, Comet Lulin, is a show that the starry heavens have not missed – even if we ourselves have trouble viewing this beauty without optical assistance and at a distance from terrestrial illuminations.

Scientists solve longstanding astronomy mystery

harminka — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:53:13 -0600

Scientists may have solved one of the most longstanding astrophysical mysteries of all times: How massive stars – up to 120 times the mass of our sun – form without blowing away the clouds of gas and dust that feed their growth.

Passage graves from an astronomical perspective

harminka — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:57:45 -0600

Passage graves are mysterious barrows from the Stone Age. New research from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen indicates that the Stone Age graves' orientation in the landscape could have an astronomical explanation.

NASA: Life Possible On Mars

Armen Hareyan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:31:35 -0600

A key question is, how did the ice get there in the first place? The tilt of Mars' spin axis sometimes gets much greater than it is now. Climate modeling tells us ice sheets could cover mid-latitude regions of Mars during those high-tilt periods. The buried glaciers make sense as preserved fragments from an ice age millions of years ago. On Earth, such buried glacial ice in Antarctica preserves the record of traces of ancient organisms and past climate history."

Cosmic ghost discovered by volunteer astronomer

harminka — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:45:57 -0500

When Yale astrophysicist Kevin Schawinski and his colleagues at Oxford University enlisted public support in cataloguing galaxies, they never envisioned the strange object Hanny van Arkel found in archived images of the night sky.

Phoenix Mars Lander Captures Midnight Suns

Armen Hareyan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:54:28 -0500

This panorama mosaic, taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on board NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, documents the passage of the midnight sun over several days.