A wildfire has damaged an astronomical observatory in Australia.
A wildfire has damaged an astronomical observatory in Australia.
The telescopes mostly appear unharmed, though some support facilities and a lot of nearby homes have been destoryed.
Tag: astronomy
The largest known spiral galaxy.
The largest known spiral galaxy. With images.
Measuring tip-to-tip across its two outsized spiral arms, NGC 6872 spans more than 522,000 light-years, making it more than five times the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
For context, the Milky Way and its two Magellanic Clouds could easily fit inside this galaxy, with lots of room to spare.
New radar data of Apophis now indicates that its chances of the asteroid hitting the Earth in 2036 is zero.
The sky is not failing: New radar data of Apophis now indicates that its chances of the asteroid hitting the Earth in 2036 is zero.
This data doesn’t eliminate the chance of a collision, only postpones it much farther into the future.
How to watch the asteroid Apophis as it makes its not-so-close approach to Earth today.
Tracking the orbit of the exoplanet in Fomalhaut’s debris disk
Tracking the orbit of the exoplanet in Fomalhaut’s debris disk.
The Kepler science team today revealed an additional 461 candidate exoplanets, with four being less than twice Earth’s size and in the habitable zone.
Worlds without end: The Kepler science team today revealed an additional 461 candidate exoplanets, with four being less than twice Earth’s size and in the habitable zone.
Since the last Kepler catalog was released in February 2012, the number of candidates discovered in the Kepler data has increased by 20 percent and now totals 2,740 potential planets orbiting 2,036 stars. The most dramatic increases are seen in the number of Earth-size and super Earth-size candidates discovered, which grew by 43 and 21 percent respectively. The new data increases the number of stars discovered to have more than one planet candidate from 365 to 467. Today, 43 percent of Kepler’s planet candidates are observed to have neighbor planets.
Of these candidates, 105 have so far been confirmed to be exoplanets by other methods.
Note that these Kepler planets are in addition to the fifteen new exoplanets noted in my previous post.
Fifteen more exoplanets found orbiting their stars in the habitable zone.
Fifteen more exoplanets have been found, orbiting their stars in the habitable zone.
On Wednesday Apophis will pass the Earth at a distance of 9 million miles, allowing astronomers to gather more data about this asteroid’s orbit and composition.
On Wednesday Apophis will pass the Earth at a distance of 9 million miles, allowing astronomers to gather more data about this asteroid’s orbit and composition.
Having crossed outside Earth’s orbit, Apophis will appear briefly in the night-time sky. Wednesday 9 January will afford astronomers the rare opportunity to bring a battery of telescopes to bear: from optical telescopes to radio telescopes to the European Space Agency’s Infrared Space Observatory Herschel. Two of the biggest unknowns that remain to be established are the asteroid’s mass and the way it is spinning. Both of these affect the asteroid’s orbit and without them, precise calculations cannot be made.
Swift demonstrates what a small 11-inch telescope can do in space with an spectacular gallery of images.
Swift demonstrates what a small 11-inch telescope can do in space with an spectacular gallery of images. The complete gallery can be seen here.
Astronomers have discovered that a large number of dwarf galaxies are orbiting Andromedea in a flat plane, like our solar system, contrary to all predictions.
The uncertainty of science: Astronomers have discovered that a large number of dwarf galaxies are orbiting Andromedea in a flat plane, like our solar system, contrary to all predictions.
The study reveals almost 30 dwarf galaxies orbiting the larger Andromeda galaxy in this regular, solar system-like plane. The astronomers’ expectations were that these smaller galaxies should be buzzing around randomly, like bees around a hive. “This was completely unexpected,” said Geraint Lewis, one of the lead authors on the Nature publication. “The chance of this happening randomly is next to nothing.” The fact that astronomers now see that a majority of these little systems in fact contrive to map out an immensely large – approximately one million light years across – but extremely flattened structure, implies that this understanding is grossly incorrect. Either something about how these galaxies formed, or subsequently evolved, must have led them to trace out this peculiar, coherent, structure.
Using data from a solar system detected by the Kepler space telescope, astronomers now extrapolate that there are at least as many planets as stars in our galaxy.
Billions and billions! Using data from a solar system detected by the Kepler space telescope, astronomers now extrapolate that there are at least as many planets as stars in our galaxy.
New data has confirmed that asteroid 2011 AG5 will not hit the Earth in 2040.
You can relax: New data has confirmed that asteroid 2011 AG5 will not hit the Earth in 2040.