Hubble sees a horsehead of a different color
Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.
Posted: Apr 19th, 2013
Read moreFocus on growing threat of space debris
The continuing growth in space debris poses an increasing threat to economically vital orbital regions. Next week, hundreds of top experts from across the globe will meet at Europe's largest-ever debris forum to share their latest research findings and discuss potential solutions.
Posted: Apr 19th, 2013
Read moreDistant blazar is a high-energy astrophysics puzzle
Blazar PKS 1424+240 is the most distant known source of very high-energy gamma rays, but emission spectrum deviates from expectations.
Posted: Apr 18th, 2013
Read moreDespite young age, galaxy births billions of stars
A Cornell researcher and his team have uncovered an oddity in the early cosmos: A newly discovered distant galaxy, born just after the big bang, is starting to furiously churn out stars at peak capacity - despite its young age. The unique galaxy is forming 2,000 times the number of stars as our own Milky Way.
Posted: Apr 18th, 2013
Read moreAstronomers discover five-planet system with most Earthlike exoplanet yet
A University of Washington astronomer has discovered perhaps the most Earthlike planet yet found outside the solar system by the Kepler Space Telescope.
Posted: Apr 18th, 2013
Read moreX-ray view of a thousand-year-old cosmic tapestry
A long Chandra observation reveals the SN 1006 supernova remnant in exquisite detail. By overlapping 10 different pointings of Chandra's field-of-view, astronomers have stitched together a cosmic tapestry of the debris field that was created when a white dwarf star exploded, sending its material hurtling into space as seen from Earth over a millennium ago.
Posted: Apr 17th, 2013
Read moreMassive star factory churned in universe's youth
Astronomers find the most prolific star factory yet seen, in a far-distant galaxy that reveals important information about the cosmic environment in the early history of the Universe.
Posted: Apr 17th, 2013
Read more90 million laser shots bring Wind satellite back on track
Developing new ways of monitoring Earth is always demanding, but ESA's Aeolus mission has faced some particularly difficult technical challenges. However, with the success of intense high-energy tests on its novel laser there is now light at the end of the tunnel for this unique mission.
Posted: Apr 17th, 2013
Read morePinpointing the most fertile galaxies in the universe
Using the compound telescope ALMA, a team of researchers has pinpointed the positions of more than 100 of the most fertile star-forming galaxies. The precise position measurements clear up a mystery about the observed productivity of these objects. They also show that previous studies of these objects have often suffered from mis-identifications, and how precise measurements like these new results avoid this kind of error.
Posted: Apr 17th, 2013
Read moreSofia observations reveal a surprise in massive star formation
Researchers using the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have captured the most detailed mid-infrared images yet of a massive star condensing within a dense cocoon of dust and gas.
Posted: Apr 16th, 2013
Read moreNASA's Wind mission encounters 'SLAMS' waves
To tease out what happens at the boundary of the magnetosphere and to better understand how radiation and energy from the sun can cross it and move closer to Earth, NASA launches spacecraft into this region to observe the changing conditions.
Posted: Apr 16th, 2013
Read moreStrange new bursts of gamma rays point to a new way to destroy a star
A team led by the University of Warwick has pinpointed a new type of exceptionally powerful and long-lived cosmic explosion, prompting a theory that they arise in the violent death throes of a supergiant star.
Posted: Apr 16th, 2013
Read moreFor the very first time, 2 spacecraft will fly in formation with millimeter precision
Spanish industry is leading the Proba-3 mission, a world first in precise formation flying. This European Space Agency (ESA) project aims to demonstrate that two satellites can move as one single object with sub-millimetre precision. This configuration will enable the creation of enormous space telescopes with the lens and detector hundreds of metres apart.
Posted: Apr 16th, 2013
Read moreSpeeding up research into the evolution of the solar system
In an attempt to obtain a comprehensive picture of the solar system's evolution in a much shorter time, mathematicians at the Computing Faculty of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) have developed new numerical methods which enable simulation calculations to be done faster and more accurately.
Posted: Apr 16th, 2013
Read moreUnderstanding how space turbulence works
Researcher conducts supercomputer simulations to learn impacts on Earth's magnetic field
Posted: Apr 16th, 2013
Read moreHawaii approves construction of the most powerful optical telescope on Earth
Friday marked another important step forward for the future of astronomical discovery and economic opportunity on Hawaii Island. The Hawaiian Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) announced that it has granted a permit to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project to build and operate the next-generation observatory near the summit of Mauna Kea.
Posted: Apr 15th, 2013
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