http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/astrophysics/ Astrophysics and space science. From microquasars to dark matter, read all the latest astrophysics news and research here. Full text with images, updated daily, free. en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:05:01 EST Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/astrophysics/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110105404.htm While astronomers have studied lightweight and heavyweight black holes for decades, the evidence for black holes with intermediate masses has been much harder to come by. Now, astronomers find that an X-ray source in galaxy NGC 5408 represents one of the best cases for a middleweight black hole to date. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110105404.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106145252.htm Astronomers, conducting the broadest survey to date of galaxies from about 800 million years after the Big Bang, have found 22 early galaxies and confirmed the age of one by its characteristic hydrogen signature at 787 million years post Big Bang. The finding is the first age-confirmation of a so-called dropout galaxy at that distant time and pinpoints when an era called the reionization epoch likely began. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106145252.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106195056.htm The spectacular new camera installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May has delivered the most detailed view of star birth in the graceful, curving arms of the nearby spiral galaxy M83. Nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel, M83 is undergoing more rapid star formation than our own Milky Way galaxy, especially in its nucleus. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106195056.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143718.htm Astronomers were looking through seven-year-old data when they chanced upon a very strange supernova that flashed and was gone in less than a month, when 3-4 months is typical. The unusually rapid supernova appears to match the predicted behavior of a thermonuclear explosion on a white dwarf that is drawing helium from its binary companion. This mechanism is quite different from the two standard types of supernovae. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143718.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106104413.htm The operations of the CoRoT mission has been extended for three additional years, until 31 March 2013. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106104413.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104132808.htm Evidence for a thin veil of carbon has been found on the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. This discovery resolves a ten-year mystery surrounding this object. In Earth's time frame, the estimated age of the neutron star in Cas A is only several hundred years, making it about ten times younger than other neutron stars with detected surface emission. Therefore, the Cas A neutron star gives a unique window into the early life of a cooling neutron star. Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104132808.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103102244.htm Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world, is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy structure in the distant Universe, providing further insight into the cosmic web and how it formed. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103102244.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121644.htm A detailed picture of the seeds of structures in the universe has been unveiled. These measurements put limits on proposed alternatives to the standard model of cosmology and provide further support for the standard cosmological model, confirming that dark matter and dark energy make up 95 percent of everything in existence. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121644.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171716.htm Nearly 100 years ago, scientists detected the first signs of cosmic rays -- subatomic particles that zip through space at nearly the speed of light. The most energetic cosmic rays hit with the punch of a 98-mph fastball, even though they are smaller than an atom. Astronomers questioned what force could accelerate particles to such a speed. New evidence from the VERITAS telescopes shows that cosmic rays likely are powered by exploding stars and stellar "winds." Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171716.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171724.htm Dust samples collected from the stratosphere have yielded an unexpectedly rich trove of relicts from the ancient cosmos, scientists report. The dust includes presolar grains and material from interstellar molecular clouds. This "ultra-primitive" material likely wafted into the atmosphere after the Earth passed through the trail of an Earth-crossing comet in 2003, giving scientists a rare opportunity to study cometary dust in the laboratory. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171724.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172245.htm Nearby galaxies undergoing a furious pace of star formation also emit lots of gamma rays, say astronomers using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Two so-called "starburst" galaxies, plus a satellite of our own Milky Way galaxy, represent a new category of gamma-ray-emitting objects detected both by Fermi and ground-based observatories. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172245.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012100514.htm New tools and systems developed by European researchers are helping astronomers access data centres from anywhere in the world. From charting new stars to finding new meaning in old stellar objects, the result will be virtual observatories with very real impact. Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012100514.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029102425.htm The combination of images taken by three exceptional telescopes, the ESO Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal, the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at ESO's La Silla observatory and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, has allowed the stunning Jewel Box star cluster to be seen in a whole new light. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029102425.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029134342.htm Many of us have been rescued from unfamiliar territory by directions from a Global Positioning System navigator. GPS satellites send signals to a receiver in your GPS navigator, which calculates your position based on the location of the satellites and your distance from them. The distance is determined by how long it took the signals from various satellites to reach your receiver. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029134342.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112758.htm Cobbling together 3,000 individual photographs, a physicist has made a new high-resolution panoramic image of the full night sky, with the Milky Way galaxy as its centerpiece. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112758.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028142231.htm Astronomers studied the most distant object yet seen in the Universe, a giant stellar blast from more than 13 billion years ago, and learned tantalizing facts about the blast itself and the environment of the star that exploded in the early Universe. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028142231.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028153447.htm A pair of gamma-ray photons -- one possessed of a million times the energy of the other -- arrived at virtually the same instant at NASA's orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, after a 7.3-billion-year race across the universe. Some proponents of alternatives to Einstein's theory of gravity would have predicted that the more energetic would have been much farther behind the less energetic one. They were wrong -- Einstein wins this round. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028153447.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152942.htm A new "Roadrunner Universe" model requires a petascale computer because, like the universe, it's mind-bendingly large. The model's basic unit is a particle with a mass of approximately one billion suns (in order to sample galaxies with masses of about a trillion suns), and it includes 64 billion and more of those particles. The model is one of the largest simulations of the distribution of matter in the universe, and aims to look at galaxy-scale mass concentrations above and beyond quantities seen in state-of-the-art sky surveys. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152942.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022114307.htm The most distant galaxy cluster yet has been discovered by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical and infrared telescopes. The cluster is located about 10.2 billion light years away, and is observed as it was when the universe was only about a quarter of its present age. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022114307.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022154644.htm Astronomers have found an unexpected link between mysterious 'dark matter' and the visible stars and gas in galaxies that could revolutionize our current understanding of gravity. The finding suggests that an unknown force is acting on dark matter. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022154644.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021142925.htm Peering far beyond our solar system, NASA researchers have detected the basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers toward the goal of being able to characterize planets where life could exist. The planet is not habitable but it has the same chemistry that, if found around a rocky planet in the future, could indicate the presence of life. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021142925.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019105304.htm Astronomers are reporting the incredible discovery of some 32 new exoplanets, using the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, better known as HARPS -- the spectrograph of the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-meter telescope. The result increases the number of known low-mass planets by an impressive 30 percent. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019105304.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016101807.htm The solar system, as defined by the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may have a quite different shape than scientists had thought. Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016101807.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016112630.htm Galactic magnetic fields had a far greater impact on Earth's history than previously conceived, and the future of our planet and others may depend, in part, on how the galactic magnetic fields change with time. Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016112630.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015144522.htm NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky Way galaxy. The new view will change the way researchers view and study the interaction between our galaxy and sun. Results include the discovery of a narrow ribbon of bright details or emissions not resembling any of the current theoretical models of the interstellar boundary region. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015144522.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016143059.htm The invisible structures of space are becoming less so, as scientists look out to the far edges of the solar wind bubble that separates our solar system from the interstellar cloud through which it flies. Using the High Energy Neutral Atom Imager, the NASA Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission has sent back data that indicates a "noodle soup" of solar material has accumulated at the outer fringes of the heliosphere bubble. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016143059.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016142056.htm The first all-sky maps developed by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft, the first mission to examine the global interactions occurring at the edge of the solar system, reveal surprising and intense interactions between our home in the galaxy and interstellar space. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016142056.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016141407.htm The first solar system energetic particle maps show an unexpected landmark occurring at the outer edge of the solar wind bubble surrounding the solar system. Scientists have now published these maps, based mostly on data collected from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer satellite. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016141407.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091014102018.htm A stunning new image reveals one of our nearest galactic neighbors, Barnard's Galaxy, also known as NGC 6822. The galaxy contains regions of rich star formation and curious nebulae, such as the bubble clearly visible in the upper left of this remarkable vista. The strange shapes of these cosmic misfits help researchers understand how galaxies interact, evolve and occasionally "cannibalize" each other, leaving behind radiant, star-filled scraps. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091014102018.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013104342.htm A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures what appears to be one very bright and bizarre galaxy, but is actually the result of a pair of spiral galaxies that resemble our own Milky Way smashing together at breakneck speeds. The product of this dramatic collision, called NGC 2623, or Arp 243, is about 250 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013104342.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013110050.htm Pallas is in the gray area between a small asteroid and a planet, researchers report. Pallas lies in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars and is about the size of Arizona. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013110050.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006122336.htm New research based on 3-D simulations explains why dirty stars -- those with a high abundance of heavy elements, or high metallicity -- tend to have accompanying solar systems. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006122336.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093805.htm The H.E.S.S. telescope system detects high-energy rays from the starburst region of a galactic system outside the Milky Way. Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093805.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093801.htm Europe's Herschel space telescope has delivered spectacular vistas of cold gas clouds lying near the plane of the Milky Way, revealing intense, unexpected activity. The dark, cool region is dotted with stellar factories, like pearls on a cosmic string. Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002093801.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001163728.htm BOSS, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, is the most ambitious attempt yet to map the expansion history of the Universe using the technique known as baryon acoustic oscillation. Part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III, BOSS achieved "first light" on the night of Sept. 14-15, when it acquired data with its upgraded spectrographic system across the entire focal plane of the Sloan Foundation telescope at Apache Point Observatory. Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001163728.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930102519.htm A newly released set of Hubble Space Telescope images highlight the ongoing drama in two galaxies in the Virgo Cluster affected by a process known as "ram pressure stripping", which can result in peculiar-looking galaxies. An extremely hot X-ray emitting gas known as the intra-cluster medium lurks between galaxies within clusters. As galaxies move through this intra-cluster medium, strong winds rip through galaxies distorting their shape and even halting star formation. Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930102519.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915174339.htm NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is starting to come together. A major component of the telescope, the Integrated Science Instrument Module structure, recently arrived at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for testing in the Spacecraft Systems Development and Integration Facility. Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915174339.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928095339.htm The third image of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project has just been released online. The latest image follows on from views, released over the last two weeks, of the sky as seen with the unaided eye and through an amateur telescope. This third installment provides another breathtaking vista of an astronomical object, this time a 370-million-pixel view of the Lagoon Nebula of the quality and depth needed by professional astronomers in their quest to understand our Universe. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928095339.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092538.htm A dark red area discovered on the dwarf planet Haumea appears to be richer in minerals and organic compounds than the surrounding icy surface. Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916092538.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090925092650.htm A team of researchers from Spain has developed a "scintillating bolometer" -- a device that the scientists will use in efforts to detect the dark matter of the universe. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090925092650.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922160108.htm The precise conditions inside a white dwarf star in the hours leading up to its explosive end as a Type Ia supernova are one of the mysteries confronting astrophysicists studying these massive stellar explosions. Now astrophysicists and mathematicians have created the first full-star simulation of the hours preceding the largest thermonuclear explosions in the universe. Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922160108.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922112204.htm A dramatic new vista of the center of the Milky Way galaxy from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory exposes new levels of the complexity and intrigue in the Galactic center. The mosaic of 88 Chandra pointings represents a freeze-frame of the spectacle of stellar evolution, from bright young stars to black holes, in a crowded, hostile environment dominated by a central, supermassive black hole. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090922112204.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921093606.htm The second of three images of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project has just been released online. It is a new and wonderful 340-million-pixel vista of the central parts of our home galaxy as seen from ESO's Paranal Observatory with an amateur telescope. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921093606.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921175245.htm To hunt for the "ninjas" of the cosmos -- dim objects that lurk in the vast dark spaces between planets and stars -- scientists are building by far the most sensitive set of wide-angle infrared goggles ever, a space telescope called the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921175245.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090918100015.htm Black holes are invading stars, providing a radical explanation to bright flashes in the universe that are one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy today. Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090918100015.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916223913.htm Studies of features in Jupiter’s spectacular and rapidly changing aurorae have given new insights into the complex electromagnetic interactions between the giant planet and two of its innermost moons. As Ganymede and Io orbit Jupiter, they interact with regions of plasma and generate electromagnetic waves that are projected along Jupiter’s magnetic field lines towards Jupiter’s poles where they cause auroral bright spots. Scientists from the University of Liège in Belgium have used thousands of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in ultraviolet wavelengths to monitor these auroral features in unprecedented detail. Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916223913.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916123519.htm In a break from its usual task of searching for distant cosmic explosions, NASA's Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighboring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet. The galaxy, known as M31 in the constellation Andromeda, is the largest and closest spiral galaxy to our own. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916123519.htm