http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/stars/ News about Stars. Read science articles and see images on the birth of monstrous stars, brown dwarfs and red giants. Consider stellar evolution and more. en-us Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:05:01 EST Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/stars/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111130944.htm A ground-breaking census of 500 stars, 70 of which are known to host planets, has successfully linked the long-standing "lithium mystery" observed in the Sun to the presence of planetary systems. Using ESO's successful HARPS spectrograph, a team of astronomers has found that sun-like stars that host planets have destroyed their lithium much more efficiently than "planet-free" stars. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111130944.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/2009/11/091106104413.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/2009/11/091102172245.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/2009/10/091028112758.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/2009/07/090709095427.htm Galileo knew he had discovered a new planet in 1613, 234 years before its official discovery date, according to a new theory. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709095427.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/2009/10/091014102018.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/2009/10/091006122336.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/2009/10/091002093801.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/2009/09/090928172534.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/2009/09/090923142121.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/2009/09/090922160108.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/2009/09/090921175245.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/2009/09/090918101720.htm Scientists at a new interdisciplinary research institute in Austria are working to uncover how life might evolve with “exotic” biochemistry and solvents, such as sulphuric acid instead of water. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090918101720.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/2009/09/090917115656.htm A pair of unusual stars known as DI Herculis has confounded astronomers for three decades, but new observations have provided data that they say solve the mystery once and for all. Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917115656.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/2009/09/090914195124.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/2009/09/090909122146.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/2009/09/090903163852.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/2009/09/090903064925.htm Since the launch of the NASA Kepler Mission earlier this year, astronomers have been keenly awaiting the first detection of an Earth-like planet around another star. Now, in an echo of science fiction movies a team of scientists thinks that they may even find habitable ‘exomoons,’ too. Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903064925.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 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090828104137.htm The dust-filled disks where new planets may be forming around other stars occasionally take on some difficult-to-understand shapes. Now astronomers find that a star's motion through interstellar gas can account for many of them. Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090828104137.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827134159.htm A team of scientists has found a new planet which orbits the wrong way around its host star. The planet, named WASP-17, and orbiting a star 1000 light years away, was found by the UK's WASP project in collaboration with Geneva Observatory. The discovery casts new light on how planetary systems form and evolve. Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827134159.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827132901.htm A planet has been discovered with ten times the mass of Jupiter, but which orbits its star in less than one Earth-day. Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827132901.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090826073442.htm A new image of the Trifid Nebula, shows just why it is a firm favorite of astronomers, amateur and professional alike. This massive star factory is so named for the dark dust bands that trisect its glowing heart, and is a rare combination of three nebula types, revealing the fury of freshly formed stars and presaging more star birth. Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090826073442.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819110018.htm New images delve into the heart of a cosmic cloud, called RCW 38, crowded with budding stars and planetary systems. There, young, titanic stars bombard fledgling suns and planets with powerful winds and blazing light, helped in their devastating task by short-lived, massive stars that explode as supernovae. In some cases, this energetic onslaught cooks away the matter that may eventually form new solar systems. Scientists think that our own solar system emerged from such a dramatic environment. Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090819110018.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/2009/08/090819145846.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/2009/08/090814101833.htm A team of astronomers has discovered a new class of object which they call "Super Planetary Nebulae." The new objects are unusually strong radio sources. Whereas the existing population of planetary nebulae is found around small stars comparable in size to our Sun, the new population may be the long predicted class of similar shells around heavier stars. Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814101833.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090812163800.htm A new study from two of NASA's Great Observatories provides fresh insight into how some stars are born, along with a beautiful new image of a stellar nursery in our Galaxy. The research shows that radiation from massive stars may trigger the formation of many more stars than previously thought. Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090812163800.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810162109.htm One of the hottest topics in astronomy involves the study of the conditions favorable for the development and survival of primordial life. New research shows that compared to middle-aged stars like the Sun, newly formed stars spin faster generating strong magnetic fields that result in emission of more intense levels of radiation -- all of which could wreak havoc on budding atmospheres and have a dramatic effect on the development of life forms. Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810162109.htm