Venus Has a Moon?
Venus has a Moon?
Venus has a Moon?
Tag: astronomy
Venus Has a Moon?
First carbon-rich exoplanet discovered
The first carbon-rich exoplanet discovered.
The first carbon-rich exoplanet discovered.
The Crab Nebula burps!
Build a warning system for asteroids
Astronomers are proposing that an early-warning system be built to warn us a week in advance should an asteroid be heading our way.
Astronomers are proposing that an early-warning system be built to warn us a week in advance should an asteroid be heading our way.
Airplane telescope flies its first observation mission
The telescope in an airplane flew its first observation mission today.
The telescope in an airplane flew its first observation mission today.
Three times more stars exist than previously thought
There are more stars in heaven and earth than have been dreamt of by scientists, three times more it turns out. And they are all dwarves!
There are more stars in heaven and earth than have been dreamt of by scientists, three times more it turns out. And they are all dwarves!
A Steamy Super-Earth?
Cassini Finds Warm Cracks on Enceladus
Cassini pinpoints the hot spots in the cracks on Enceladus.
Cassini pinpoints the hot spots in the cracks on Enceladus.
How One Astronomer Became the Unofficial Exoplanet Record Keeper
How one astronomer became the unofficial exoplanet record keeper.
How one astronomer became the unofficial exoplanet record keeper.
Jupiter’s stripe is coming back.
Jupiter’s south equatorial stripe appears to be reappearing.
Jupiter’s south equatorial stripe appears to be reappearing.
Brian Marsden, 1937-2010
Saving NASA’s astrophysics budget and Webb
The struggle to find $1.5 billion to save NASA’s astrophysics budget as well as the overbudget James Webb Space Telescope. Note that this article once again allows a variety of NASA managers and scientists push the false story that Webb is a replacement for Hubble. It is not. Hubble looks at the universe mostly in optical wavelengths, as our eyes do. Webb will be an infrared telescope. It will do wonderful things, but different things than Hubble.
The struggle to find $1.5 billion to save NASA’s astrophysics budget as well as the overbudget James Webb Space Telescope. Note that this article once again allows a variety of NASA managers and scientists push the false story that Webb is a replacement for Hubble. It is not. Hubble looks at the universe mostly in optical wavelengths, as our eyes do. Webb will be an infrared telescope. It will do wonderful things, but different things than Hubble.
500th exoplanet found
The numbering ain’t really that precise, but today scientists announced the discovery of the 500th extrasolar planet.
The numbering ain’t really that precise, but today scientists announced the discovery of the 500th extrasolar planet.
Pluto a planet?
Scientists are once again debating whether Pluto really is a planet.
Scientists are once again debating whether Pluto really is a planet.
A glimpse at the universe before the Big Bang?
A glimpse at the universe before the Big Bang?
A glimpse at the universe before the Big Bang?
It came from another galaxy
It came from another galaxy.
It came from another galaxy.
Brian Marsden dies
Astronomer and comet/asteroid tracker Brian Marsden has died. Marsden was the kind of gentleman that makes writing astronomy articles so much fun. Even when I was a newby science writer back in the early 90s he was always willing to answer any of my questions, and give me blunt and honest answers to boot. R.I.P.
Astronomer and comet/asteroid tracker Brian Marsden has died. Marsden was the kind of gentleman that makes writing astronomy articles so much fun. Even when I was a newby science writer back in the early 90s he was always willing to answer any of my questions, and give me blunt and honest answers to boot. R.I.P.
The dying stars that look like jellyfish
The dying stars that look like jellyfish.
The dying stars that look like jellyfish.
Stars merging
Astronomers have identified a dozen new binary star systems, where the two stars are tiny white dwarfs. Of even more interest is that a half dozen are spiraling into each other and will eventually merge, the ensuing collision likely producing a supernova explorsion.
Astronomers have identified a dozen new binary star systems, where the two stars are tiny white dwarfs. Of even more interest is that a half dozen are spiraling into each other and will eventually merge, the ensuing collision likely producing a supernova explorsion.
Allan Sandage, 1926-2010
Tycho Brahe’s body exhumed
Scientists have exhumed the body of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in order to do a new autopsy.
Scientists have exhumed the body of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in order to do a new autopsy.
James Webb Space Telescope in trouble, again
The James Webb Space Telescope is in trouble again, requiring an addition $1.5 billion and an additional year to get finished.
The James Webb Space Telescope is in trouble again, requiring an addition $1.5 billion and an additional year to get finished.
Pluto might be larger than Eris after all
The uncertainty of science! Eris, the distant planet in the Kuiper belt, had been thought to be larger than Pluto. Now astronomers have doubts.
The uncertainty of science! Eris, the distant planet in the Kuiper belt, had been thought to be larger than Pluto. Now astronomers have doubts.
Gliese 581g does exist, according to another scientist
The superEarth orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581 in its habitable zone does exist, according to a preprint paper published today on the Los Alamos astro-ph website.
The superEarth orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581 in its habitable zone does exist, according to a preprint paper published today on the Los Alamos astro-ph website.
The telescope that ate astronomy
The telescope that ate astronomy. My just finished Sky & Telescope article (expected out early next year) covers some of the same ground, describing how the cost overruns on the James Webb Space Telescope has badly damaged much of NASA’s space astronomy budget, for this and possibly the next two decades.
The telescope that ate astronomy. My just finished Sky & Telescope article (expected out early next year) covers some of the same ground, describing how the cost overruns on the James Webb Space Telescope has badly damaged much of NASA’s space astronomy budget, for this and possibly the next two decades.
The most massive neutron star ever discovered
Astronomers have discovered the most massive neutron star ever, twice the mass of the Sun and far heavier than any theory had ever predicted.
Astronomers have discovered the most massive neutron star ever, twice the mass of the Sun and far heavier than any theory had ever predicted.
Buckyballs discovered in another galaxy
Buckyballs, or carbon molecules called fullerenes, have been discovered all throughout the Milky Way as well as in another galaxy.
Buckyballs, or carbon molecules called fullerenes, have been discovered all throughout the Milky Way as well as in another galaxy.
New Kepler results!
Scientists released additional Kepler results [pdf] today, this time describing what they are learning about the stars being observed rather than any planets that might be orbiting them. In studying each star’s minute variations of light, the astronomers can track how the star itself is oscillating like a bell ringing. From this they can do a kind of stellar seismology, finding out a great deal about what is going on inside the star. The data has thus:
- produced the most precise measurements of the size and age of another star beside the Sun. KIC 11026764 has a radius 2.05 times the size of the Sun, and is now believed to be 5.94 billion years old, slightly older than the Sun’s 4.57 billion years. Though larger than the Sun, this star is a G-type star like the Sun. So far, Kepler has observed about 1500 solar-type stars. The astronomers are still analyzing this data, with results to follow.
- measured the oscillations of a thousand red giant stars, ranging from slightly larger to dozens of times larger than the Sun. The larger the star, the faster the oscillation and the larger the amplitude, which in turn has confirmed the theories about how the nuclear processes in the core of stars evolve over time, shifting from burning hydrogen to helium. Since these red giants are what our Sun will be like when it reaches old age, we are thus learning something about the Sun’s future.
- and provided the most precise measurements ever of RR Lyrae stars, a class of unusual variable stars that have puzzled astronomers for more than a century. From this data the astronomers hope to find out exactly why these stars fluctuate as they do.
Hubble Data Used to Look 10,000 Years into the Future
Hubble data used to look 10,000 years into the future.
Hubble data used to look 10,000 years into the future.
Most distant galaxy ever seen
Using a deep field image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers at the European Southern Observatory have identified one galaxy in that image as the most distant ever seen, with a record-setting redshift of 8.6 and thus an rough distance of about 13 billion light years, only about 600 million years after the Big Bang.
Whoops! Last sentence corrected, thanks to my readers.
Using a deep field image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers at the European Southern Observatory have identified one galaxy in that image as the most distant ever seen, with a record-setting redshift of 8.6 and thus an rough distance of about 13 billion light years, only about 600 million years after the Big Bang.
Whoops! Last sentence corrected, thanks to my readers.