http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/big_bang/ Big Bang theory and the birth of the universe. Science articles on dark matter clumps birthing galaxies, the time before the Big Bang and more. Images. en-us Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:05:01 EST Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/big_bang/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124140953.htm The first large black holes in the universe likely formed and grew deep inside gigantic, starlike cocoons that smothered their powerful X-ray radiation and prevented surrounding gases from being blown away, says a new study. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124140953.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091123114632.htm Information field theory enables astronomers, medical practitioners and geologists to look into places where their measuring instruments are blind. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091123114632.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118072049.htm Just as many people are surprised to find themselves packing on unexplained weight around the middle, astronomers find the evolution of bulges in the centers of spiral galaxies puzzling. A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 4710 is part of a survey that astronomers have conducted to learn more about the formation of bulges, which are a substantial component of most spiral galaxies. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118072049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091113122958.htm Contrary to what the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie would suggest, the world will NOT end on Dec. 21, 2012, according to astronomers. The Mayan calendar was designed to be cyclical, so the fact that the long count comes to an end in December 2012 is really of no consequence. Simply, it is the end of great calendar cycle in Mayan society, much like our modern society celebrated the new Millennium. Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091113122958.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090806112353.htm Scientists in England are constructing highly sensitive detectors as part of an international project to understand the elements that make up the universe. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090806112353.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202849.htm The Universe's infant galaxies enjoyed rapid growth spurts forming stars like our Sun at a rate of up to 50 stars a year, according to scientists. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202849.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/2009/11/091103102244.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/2009/10/091028142231.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/2009/10/091014102018.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/2009/10/091001163728.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/2009/09/090925092650.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/2009/09/090923112613.htm The ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) astronomical observatory has taken another step forward — and upwards. One of its state-of-the-art antennas was carried for the first time to the 5000m plateau of Chajnantor, in the Chilean Andes, on the back of a custom-built giant transporter. The antenna, which weighs about 100 tons and has a diameter of 12 metres, was transported up to the high-altitude Array Operations Site, where the extremely dry and rarefied air is ideal for ALMA’s observations of the Universe. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923112613.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/2009/09/090921175245.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/2009/09/090917111503.htm Planck, the European Space Agency's mission to study the early Universe, started surveying the sky regularly from its vantage point at L2 on August 13. The instruments of ESA's "time machine" were fine-tuned for optimum performance in the period preceding this date. In preparation for routine scientific operations, their long-term stability has been verified by conducting a first trial survey. Sun, 20 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917111503.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915154903.htm Less than two months after they inaugurated the world's largest telescope, astronomers have used one of the world's most advanced telescopic instruments to gather images of the heavens. The handful of "first light" images include a yellow and blue orb-like structure that depicts our Milky Way galaxy, home to thousands of black holes -- including, at its core, a "supermassive" black hole thought to be as massive as 4 million suns put together. Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915154903.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914195124.htm It may sound like science fiction, but freakish galactic events such as ravenous black holes and ripples in the space-time continuum could be happening all around us, according to new research. Astronomers examined 50 regular galaxies to determine their composition and structure, and found that 12 of these galaxies contained a double nucleus -- that is, they had both a super massive black hole and a dense star cluster containing up to ten million stars at their center. Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914195124.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914110955.htm The first of three images of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project -- a new magnificent 800-million-pixel panorama of the entire sky as seen from ESO's observing sites in Chile -- has just been released. The project allows stargazers to explore and experience the Universe as it is seen with the unaided eye from the darkest and best viewing locations in the world. Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914110955.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909122146.htm The simple picture of star formation calls for giant clouds of gas and dust to collapse inward due to gravity, growing denser and hotter until igniting nuclear fusion. In reality, forces other than gravity also influence the birth of stars. New research shows that cosmic magnetic fields play a more important role in star formation than previously thought. Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909122146.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909103507.htm NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, ready to uncover new worlds, peer ever deeper into space, and even map the invisible backbone of the universe. The first snapshots from the refurbished Hubble showcase the 19-year-old telescope's new vision. Topping the list of exciting new views are colorful multi-wavelength pictures of far- flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie "pillar of creation," and a "butterfly" nebula. Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909103507.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902161120.htm A researcher is studying ultra-high temperature and non-equilibrium plasmas to mimic what happens to matter in accretion disks around black holes. The work will enable astrophysicists to better understand what happens around black holes and in active galactic nuclei. Scientists will also better understand the application of high-energy density plasmas to energy production, such as controlled nuclear fusion (produced in the laboratory), and production of X-ray sources for a variety of applications. Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902161120.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903163852.htm The European Space Agency's XMM-Newton orbiting X-ray telescope has uncovered a celestial Rosetta stone: the first close-up of a white dwarf star, circling a companion star, that could explode into a particular kind of supernova in a few million years. These supernovae are used as beacons to measure cosmic distances and ultimately understand the expansion of our Universe. Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903163852.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901202841.htm Astronomers have discovered a giant galaxy surrounding the most distant supermassive black hole ever found. The galaxy, so distant that it is seen as it was 12.8 billion years ago, is as large as the Milky Way galaxy and harbors a supermassive black hole that contains at least a billion times as much matter as our Sun. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901202841.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130804.htm As scientists attempt to learn more about how galaxies evolve, an open question has been whether collisions with our dwarf galactic neighbors will one day tear apart the disk of the Milky Way. That grisly fate is unlikely, a new study now suggests. Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130804.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090807091028.htm Several ways have been proposed to examine dark energy, in hopes of finding out just what it is. One of them, "supernovae" for short, certainly works: it's how dark energy was discovered in the first place. Other independent techniques, such as weak gravitational lensing and baryon acoustic oscillation, also promise great power but are as yet unproven. To measure the expansion history of the universe, the design chosen for the Joint Dark Energy mission will use three techniques -- supernovae, weak lensing, and baryon acoustic oscillation -- but it will emphasize baryon acoustic oscillation. Good science, but many scientists think it can be done better, cheaper, and more dependably from the ground -- by BigBOSS. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090807091028.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805164917.htm NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has taken its first shots of the cosmos since warming up and starting its second career. The infrared telescope ran out of coolant on May 15, 2009, more than five-and-half-years after launch, and has since warmed to a still-frosty 30 Kelvin (about minus 406 Fahrenheit). New images demonstrate that the observatory remains a powerful tool for probing the dusty universe. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805164917.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819135426.htm An investigation by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration has significantly advanced our understanding the early evolution of the universe. Analysis of data taken from 2005 to 2007 has set the most stringent limits yet on the amount of gravitational waves that could have come from the Big Bang in the gravitational wave frequency band where LIGO can observe. The data put new constraints on the details of how the universe looked in its earliest moments. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819135426.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819145846.htm For decades, astronomers have gone about their business of studying the cosmos with the assumption that stars of certain sizes form in certain quantities. Like grocery stores selling melons alone, and blueberries in bags of dozens or more, the universe was thought to create stars in specific bundles. In other words, the proportion of small to big stars was thought to be fixed. This belief, based on years of research, has been tipped on its side with new data from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819145846.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090811143954.htm Astronomers recently observed a mysterious flux of particles in the universe, and the hope was born that this may be the first observation of the remnants of dark matter. But scientists in Sweden have shown that there is another explanation of the flux. Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090811143954.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090812143934.htm The stellar explosions known as type 1a supernovae have long been used as "standard candles," their uniform brightness giving astronomers a way to measure cosmic distances and the expansion of the universe. But a new study reveals sources of variability in type 1a supernovae that will have to be taken into account if astronomers are to use them for more precise measurements in the future. Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090812143934.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090816170917.htm A special three-day symposium focusing on the neutrino, a strange subatomic particle that could help answer some of the universe's most compelling questions, is scheduled for Aug. 16-18 at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C. Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090816170917.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814202536.htm The Planck space telescope has begun to collect light left over from the Big Bang explosion that created our universe. Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814202536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810122135.htm The first black holes in the universe had dramatic effects on their surroundings, according to new supercomputer simulations carried out by physicists. Several popular theories posit that the first black holes gorged themselves on gas clouds and dust, growing into the supersized black holes that lurk in the centers of galaxies today. However, the new results point to a much more complex role for the first black holes. Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810122135.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090807091433.htm Einstein succeeded only partly in explaining the aspects of the universe. Today's scientists are also at a loss about how it all connects. A mathematician in Norway and international fellow scientists have now conceived a grand idea about the universal universe. They have developed a method that may provide answers to universal problems and characterize and describe the universe. Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090807091433.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805193113.htm Looking almost 11 billion years into the past, astronomers have measured the motions of stars for the first time in a very distant galaxy and clocked speeds upwards of one million miles per hour, about twice the speed of our Sun through the Milky Way. Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805193113.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090801122552.htm A team of researchers working with data from ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory has disproved theories that some form of dark matter explains mysterious radiation in the Milky Way. Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090801122552.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090729140927.htm Astronomers offer an explanation for the origin of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The research may settle an outstanding puzzle in understanding galaxy formation. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090729140927.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727135527.htm A team of astronomers has discovered a group of rare galaxies called the "Green Peas" with the help of citizen scientists working through an online project called Galaxy Zoo. The finding could lend unique insights into how galaxies form stars in the early universe. Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727135527.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090723113519.htm Ten years ago, on July 23, 1999, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched aboard the space shuttle Columbia and deployed into orbit. Chandra has doubled its original five-year mission, ushering in an unprecedented decade of discovery for the high-energy universe. Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090723113519.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714124952.htm New simulations reveal that turbulence created by jets of material ejected from the disks of the Universe's largest black holes is responsible for halting star formation. Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714124952.htm