http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/space_telescopes/ Space Telescopes. Astronomy articles and pictures from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Telescope and many other leading astronomy institutes from around the world. en-us Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:05:01 EST Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/space_telescopes/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111123608.htm The SUNRISE telescope delivers spectacular pictures of the sun's surface. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111123608.htm 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 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110105404.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 at Durham University. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 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/2009/11/091108214924.htm Before our planets found their way to the stable orbits they circle in today, they wiggled and jostled about like unsettled children. Now, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a young star with evidence for the same kind of orbital hyperactivity. Young planets circling the star are thought to be disturbing smaller comet-like bodies, causing them to collide and kick up a huge halo of dust. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091108214924.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/2009/11/091103102244.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/2009/11/091102171716.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/2009/11/091102172245.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/2009/10/091029102425.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/2009/10/091028142231.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/2009/10/091021142925.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/2009/10/091013104342.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/2009/10/091007171926.htm Using updated information, NASA scientists have recalculated the path of a large asteroid. The refined path indicates a significantly reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter with Earth in 2036. Initially, Apophis was thought to have a 2.7 percent chance of impacting Earth in 2029. Additional observations of the asteriod ruled out any possibility of an impact in 2029. However, the asteroid is expected to make a record-setting -- but harmless -- close approach to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, when it comes no closer than 29,450 kilometers (18,300 miles) above Earth's surface. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007171926.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006205610.htm NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn -- by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings. Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006205610.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/2009/09/090930102519.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/2009/09/090929133125.htm Physicists have developed the world's most sensitive astronomical camera. Marketed by Photon etc., a young Quebec firm, the camera will be used by the Mont-Megantic Observatory and NASA, which purchased the first unit. Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133125.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/2009/09/090928172534.htm This summer, astronomers in Florida inaugurated the world's largest optical telescope on a nearly 8,000-foot mountaintop 3,480 miles away. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928172534.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924163528.htm Astronomers using the twin 10-meter telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii have explored one of the most compact dust disks ever resolved around another star. If placed in our own solar system, the disk would span about four times Earth's distance from the sun, reaching nearly to Jupiter's orbit. The compact inner disk is accompanied by an outer disk that extends hundreds of times farther. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090924163528.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/2009/09/090923142121.htm Astronomers have witnessed odd behavior around a young star. Something, perhaps another star or a planet, appears to be pushing a clump of planet-forming material around. The observations, made with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, offer a rare look into the early stages of planet formation. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923142121.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923102333.htm The first Swiss satellite in history -- extremely small and 100 percent student designed and built -- has been successfully launched from the Sriharikota space station in India. Constructed by the EPFL, with many institutional partners, the SwissCube has gone into orbit. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090923102333.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/2009/09/090916123519.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 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/2009/09/090916090318.htm The longest set of HARPS measurements ever made has firmly established the nature of the smallest and fastest-orbiting exoplanet known, CoRoT-7b, revealing its mass as five times that of Earth's. Combined with CoRoT-7b's known radius, less than twice Earth's, this tells us that the exoplanet's density is quite similar to the Earth's, suggesting a solid, rocky world. The extensive dataset also reveals the presence of another so-called super-Earth in this alien solar system. Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916090318.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090911210539.htm An unprecedented measuring campaign has succeeded in precisely defining the place of origin of high-energy gamma radiation in the galaxy Messier 87. This radiation can only be produced by accelerating elementary particles to very high energies in enormous cosmic objects. Now the underlying extreme physical processes and inherent implications can be investigated in more detail. Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090911210539.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909103006.htm Scientists have positively identified cosmic sources of gamma-ray emissions through the discovery of 16 pulsating neutron stars. Using the Large Area Telescope, the primary instrument on NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope satellite, the discoveries were made by conducting blind frequency searches on the sparse photon data provided by the LAT. Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090909103006.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/2009/09/090908134111.htm NASA recently confirmed that the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, mission will launch in August 2011. NuSTAR will carry the first high-energy X-ray focusing telescopes into orbit, providing a much deeper, clearer view of energetic phenomena such as black holes and supernova explosions than any previous instrument has provided in this region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090908134111.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902112111.htm Astronomers have taken a striking new image of a nearby galaxy that many astronomers think closely resembles our own Milky Way. Though the galaxy is seen edge-on, observations of NGC 4945 suggest that this hive of stars is a spiral galaxy much like our own, with swirling, luminous arms and a bar-shaped central region. These resemblances aside, NGC 4945 has a brighter center that likely harbors a supermassive black hole, which is devouring reams of matter and blasting energy out into space. Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902112111.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/2009/09/090901132806.htm Scientists using a continent-wide array of radio telescopes have made an extremely precise measurement of the curvature of space caused by the Sun's gravity, and their technique promises a major contribution to a frontier area of basic physics. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901132806.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130655.htm The search for the best observatory site in the world has lead to the discovery of what is thought to be the coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth. No human is thought to have ever been there but it is expected to yield images of the heavens three times sharper than any ever taken from the ground. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130655.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130817.htm Since its discovery 45 years ago, Cygnus X-1 has been one of the most intensively studied cosmic X-ray sources. About a decade after its discovery, Cygnus X-1 secured a place in the history of astronomy when a combination of X-ray and optical observations led to the conclusion that it was a black hole, the first such identification. Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827101237.htm Astronomers have debunked one of astronomy's long held beliefs about how stars are formed, using a set of galaxies found with CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope. When a cloud of interstellar gas collapses to form stars, the stars range from massive to minute. Since the 1950s astronomers have thought that in a family of new-born stars the ratio of massive stars to lighter ones was always pretty much the same — for instance, that for every star 20 times more massive than the Sun or larger, you’d get 500 stars the mass of the Sun or less. Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827101237.htm