http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/ Astronomy News. Read the latest astronomy news and articles from around the world. Space and time theory and more. Full-text, images, updated daily. en-us Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:05:01 EDT Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090703142158.htm On July 2 the detectors of Planck's High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273°C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft has also just entered its final orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, L2. Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090703142158.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140839.htm Combining gamma-ray telescopes with the supersharp radio 'vision' of the Very Long Baseline Array showed astronomers the location from which very-high-energy gamma rays are emerging from the core ot the giant galaxy M87. Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140839.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140841.htm New details have emerged about the history of water on Mars, gleaned from the 2008 NASA Phoenix Mars Mission. Scientists found patterns in the ground near the lander, multi-sided shapes about three to ten meters in size. The shapes are created when the surface contracts and the ice cracks. Sand fills in the cracks before the ice expands and buckles the surface to make the distinctive patterns. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140841.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702170135.htm NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera has taken and received its first images of the Moon, kicking off the year-long mapping mission of Earth's nearest celestial neighbor. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702170135.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140851.htm A new class of pulsars detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is solving the mystery of previously unidentified gamma-ray sources and helping scientists understand the mechanisms behind pulsar emissions. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702140851.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630173817.htm Astronomers have completed the largest ever survey designed to find very distant clusters of galaxies. Named the Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey, "SpARCS" detects galaxy clusters using deep ground-based optical observations. SpARCS is designed to find clusters, snapped as they appeared long ago in time, when the universe was 6 billion years old or younger. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630173817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090703091808.htm China is in a very seismically active area and has had many catastrophic earthquakes during its history. A joint European-Chinese team is using satellite radar data to monitor ground deformation across major continental faults in China to understand better the seismic cycle and how faults behave. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090703091808.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701103008.htm Astronomers have found a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by the kind of dust disk that is frequently the precursor of a planetary system. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701103008.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701131301.htm A new class of black hole, more than 500 times the mass of the Sun, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701131301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701122712.htm Astronomers have unveiled an unprecedented new atlas of the inner regions of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, peppered with thousands of previously undiscovered dense knots of cold cosmic dust -- the potential birthplaces of new stars. Made using observations from the APEX telescope in Chile, this survey is the largest map of cold dust so far. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701122712.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630202127.htm Millions of would-be galaxies failed to develop after being exposed to intense heat from the first stars and black holes formed in the early Universe, according to new research. Our Milky Way galaxy only survived because it was already immersed in a large clump of dark matter which trapped gases inside it, scientists have found. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630202127.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630181121.htm For the first time, direct evidence of lightning has been detected on Mars, say researchers who found signs of electrical discharges during dust storms on the Red Planet. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630181121.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090627225541.htm NASA's Mars rover Spirit, lodged in Martian soil that is causing traction trouble, is taking advantage of the situation by learning more about the Red Planet's environmental history. Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090627225541.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140124.htm Upon receipt of the last command from Earth, the transmitter on Ulysses will switch off on 30 June, bringing one of the most successful and longest missions in spaceflight history to an end. Ulysses, which operated for more than 18 years, had charted the unexplored regions of space above the poles of the sun. Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140124.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090628174451.htm Plans for a new international space hotel students have been unveiled by students this month as part of a project for their Masters degree. Students had to grapple with the challenges of designing that could function in a zero gravity environment. Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090628174451.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625141454.htm Astronomers have now solved a long-standing mystery of the Milky Way's particle accelerators. They show that cosmic rays from our galaxy are very efficiently accelerated in the remnants of exploded stars. Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625141454.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140128.htm ESA has informed Argentinean authorities that an area 30 km south of the town of Malargüe in Mendoza province, about 1000 km west of Buenos Aires, has been chosen as the best option to build a new 35-meter antenna in support of its programs. Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140128.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152941.htm The mysterious 1908 Tunguska explosion that leveled 830 square miles of Siberian forest was almost certainly caused by a comet entering the Earth's atmosphere, according to new research. The conclusion is supported by an unlikely source: the exhaust plume from the NASA space shuttle launched a century later. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152941.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152952.htm With the whoosh of compressed gas and the whir of unspooling wire, a team of scientists and engineers tested a new instrument prototype that might be used to detect groundwater deep inside Mars. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152952.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152826.htm The "coming of age" of galaxies and black holes has been pinpointed, thanks to new data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. This discovery helps resolve the true nature of gigantic blobs of gas observed around very young galaxies. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152826.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152815.htm For the first time, scientists working on NASA's Cassini mission have detected sodium salts in ice grains of Saturn's outermost ring. Detecting salty ice indicates that Saturn's moon Enceladus, which primarily replenishes the ring with material from discharging jets, could harbor a reservoir of liquid water -- perhaps an ocean -- beneath its surface. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152815.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152813.htm Water vapor jets that spew from the surface of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus are not really geysers from an underground ocean as initially envisioned by planetary scientists, according to a new study. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624152813.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618125035.htm The next generation of instruments for ground-based telescopes took a leap forward with the development of a new ultra-fast camera that can take 1,500 finely exposed images per second even when observing extremely faint objects. The first 240x240 pixel images with the world's fastest high precision faint light camera were just obtained. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618125035.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235038.htm After a four and a half day journey from the Earth, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the moon. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235038.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235413.htm The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, successfully completed its most significant early mission milestone Tuesday with a lunar swingby and calibration of its science instruments. The satellite will search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623235413.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623234811.htm NASA's long-lived Mars Odyssey spacecraft has completed an eight-month adjustment of its orbit, positioning itself to look down at the day side of the planet in mid-afternoon instead of late afternoon. This change gains sensitivity for infrared mapping of Martian minerals by the orbiter's Thermal Emission Imaging System camera. Orbit design for Odyssey's first seven years of observing Mars used a compromise between what worked best for the infrared mapping and for another onboard instrument. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623234811.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623111947.htm The first detection of a magnetic field on the bright star Vega has been made. Astronomers clearly observe the magnetically-induced effect in the spectrum of Vega, thereby showing that the star possesses a magnetic field, something unknown so far. Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623111947.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090621215329.htm A new lunar topography map with the highest resolution of the moon's rugged south polar region provides new information on some of our natural satellite's darkest inhabitants - permanently shadowed craters. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090621215329.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609133803.htm Techniques and instrumentation initially developed for ExoMars -- Europe's next robotic mission to Mars in 2016, but now due to fly on a NASA mission in 2018 -- could also provide the answers to the globally pressing issue of energy supply. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609133803.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622171516.htm A new orbit at an earlier time of day is increasing the sensitivity and efficiency of ASU's THEMIS multi-band camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622171516.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608131150.htm Gamma-ray bursts are the universe's biggest explosions, capable of producing so much light that ground-based telescopes easily detect it billions of light-years away. Yet, for more than a decade, astronomers have puzzled over the nature of so-called dark bursts, which produce gamma rays and X-rays but little or no visible light. They make up roughly half of the bursts detected by NASA's Swift satellite since its 2004 launch. Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608131150.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090619082301.htm Herschel opened its 'eyes' on 14 June and the Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer obtained images of M51, 'the whirlpool galaxy' for a first test observation. Scientists obtained images in three colors from the observation, which clearly demonstrate the excellence of Herschel, the largest infrared space telescope ever flown. Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090619082301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618131402.htm The sun is in the pits of a century-class solar minimum, and sunspots have been puzzlingly scarce for more than two years. Now, for the first time, solar physicists might understand why. Researchers have discovered that a jet stream deep inside the sun is migrating slower than usual through the star's interior, giving rise to the current lack of sunspots. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618131402.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610133459.htm Championing the modern-day use of solar eclipses to solve a set of modern problems is the goal of a review article written by Jay Pasachoff, visiting associate at the California Institute of Technology and Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College. The review is the cover story of the June 11 issue of Nature, as part of its coverage of the International Year of Astronomy. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610133459.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618230936.htm NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has successfully launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite will relay more information about the lunar environment than any other previous mission to the moon. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618230936.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618235903.htm NASA successfully launched the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, on a mission to search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. The satellite lifted off on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., with a companion mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618235903.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617171821.htm Scientists have discovered the first definitive evidence of shorelines on Mars, an indication of a deep, ancient lake there and a finding with implications for the discovery of past life on the Red Planet. Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617171821.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124948.htm NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has made the first observations of very fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, following decades of speculation and searching for their existence. Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124948.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618093244.htm Planetary scientist Mark Robinson leads a team of college researchers and grad students for this week's scheduled NASA launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. For nearly two years, the team has been preparing their scientific instrument, one of seven from institutions around the nation and globe that will return lunar imagery, topography, temperatures, and more. Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618093244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609220555.htm The red supergiant star Betelgeuse, which is so large it would extend to Jupiter's orbit in our solar system, has steadily shrunk over the past 15 years, according to physicists. Since 1993, its radius has gone down by 15 percent, equivalent to the radius of Venus's orbit. This conclusion comes from unique laser interferometer observations. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609220555.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090616121353.htm NASA's Swift satellite reported multiple blasts of radiation from a rare object known as a soft gamma repeater, or SGR. Astronomers have discovered a dead star belonging to a rare group: the magnetars. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090616121353.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615171722.htm The interstellar stuff that became incorporated into the planets and life on Earth has younger cosmic roots than theories predict, according to researchers. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615171722.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611083746.htm Astronomers have discovered new tidal debris stripped away from colliding galaxies. New debris images are of special interest since they show the full history of galaxy collisions and resultant starburst activities, which are important in 'growing' galaxies in the early Universe. Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611083746.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090614201734.htm A novel bacterium -- trapped three kilometers under glacial ice for over 120,000 years -- may hold clues as to what life forms might exist on other planets. Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090614201734.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609130800.htm A new image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows a supernova remnant with a different look. This object, known as SNR 0104-72.3 (SNR 0104 for short), is in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a small neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way. Astronomers think that SNR 0104 is the remains of a so-called Type Ia supernova caused by the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf. Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609130800.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090612203303.htm Roughly a billion years from now, the ever-increasing radiation from the sun will have heated Earth into inhabitability; the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will disappear; the oceans will evaporate; and all living things will disappear. Or maybe not quite so soon, say researchers who've found a mechanism that doubles the future lifespan of the biosphere -- and increases the chance advanced life will be found elsewhere in the universe. Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090612203303.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611150814.htm Astronomers have at last uncovered newborn stars at the frenzied center of our Milky Way galaxy. The discovery was made using the infrared vision of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611150814.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610133557.htm Astronomers have confirmed an effective way to search the atmospheres of planets for signs of life, vastly improving our chances of finding alien life outside our solar system. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610133557.htm