universe observation

Coordinating international observatories in white-dwarf watch

harminka — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:31:12 -0500

Judi Provencal is star-struck, but not so much by the glitz and glam of Hollywood.

Voyager 2 proves solar system is squashed

harminka — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:53:59 -0600

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has followed its twin Voyager 1 into the solar system's final frontier, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars.

Engineers develop software solution for complex space missions

harminka — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:15:14 -0600

Sending an unmanned spacecraft to the outer fringes of the solar system requires extensive planning.

Hubble, Spitzer Space Telescopes find 'Lego-block' galaxies in early universe

harminka — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 07:13:10 -0500

The conventional model for galaxy evolution predicts that small galaxies in the early Universe evolved into the massive galaxies of today by coalescing. Nine Lego-like “building block” galaxies initially detected by Hubble likely contributed to the construction of the Universe as we know it.

New Wide Field Near-Infrared Imager for ESO's Very Large Telescope

harminka — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:37:22 -0500

Europe's flagship ground-based astronomical facility, the ESO VLT, has been equipped with a new 'eye' to study the Universe. Working in the near-infrared, the new instrument - dubbed HAWK-I - covers about 1/10th the area of the Full Moon in a single exposure. It is uniquely suited to the discovery and study of faint objects, such as distant galaxies or small stars and planets.

Scientists conduct most detailed cosmological simulation to date

harminka — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 09:33:48 -0500

By incorporating the physics of black holes into a highly sophisticated model running on a powerful supercomputing system, an international team of scientists has produced an unprecedented simulation of cosmic evolution that verifies and deepens our understanding of relationships between black holes and the galaxies in which they reside.

Neutron stars join the black hole jet set

harminka — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:18:47 -0500

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed an X-ray jet blasting away from a neutron star in a binary system. This discovery may help astronomers understand how neutron stars as well as black holes can generate powerful beams of relativistic particles.

COROT discovers its first exoplanet and catches scientists by surprise

harminka — Mon, 07 May 2007 08:52:05 -0500

COROT has provided its first image of a giant planet orbiting another star and the first bit of 'seismic' information on a far away, Sun-like star- with unexpected accuracy.

X-ray satellites catch magnetar

harminka — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:03:21 -0500

Astronomers using data from several X-ray satellites have caught a magnetar - the remnant of a massive star with an incredibly strong magnetic field - in a sort of giant cosmic blench.

Reaching parts - with Herschel and SPIRE

harminka — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 08:12:14 -0500

A UK-led instrument which will study a previously unexplored part of the Universe leaves the UK this week to be installed on the European Space Agency's Herschel spacecraft in Germany.

Supernova Imposter Goes Supernova

harminka — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 12:09:27 -0500

In a galaxy far, far away, a massive star suffered a nasty double whammy. On Oct. 20, 2004, Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki saw the star let loose an outburst so bright that it was initially mistaken for a supernova. The star survived, but for only two years. On Oct. 11, 2006, professional and amateur astronomers witnessed the star actually blowing itself to smithereens as Supernova 2006jc.