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A radio telescope once used to track ballistic missiles has helped astronomers determine how the magnetic field structure and rotation of the young and rapidly rotating Crab pulsar evolves with time.
Nov 1st, 2013
Read moreDoom may be averted for the Smith Cloud, a gigantic streamer of hydrogen gas that is on a collision course with the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers using the VLA and GBT have discovered a magnetic field deep in the cloud's interior, which may protect it during its meteoric plunge into the disk of our galaxy.
Oct 31st, 2013
Read moreNew research suggests that gravitational unloading significantly impairs the function of endothelial cells, as evidenced by gene expression studies conducted in space.
Oct 31st, 2013
Read moreAstronomers have calculated the odds that, sometime during the next 50 years, a supernova occurring in our home galaxy will be visible from Earth.
Oct 31st, 2013
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Most of the universe's heavy elements, including the iron central to life itself, formed early in cosmic history and spread throughout the universe, according to a new study of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster using Japan's Suzaku satellite.
Oct 31st, 2013
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By detecting an even distribution of iron throughout a massive galaxy cluster, astrophysicists can tell the 10-billion-year-old story of how exploding stars and black holes sowed the early cosmos with heavy elements.
Oct 30th, 2013
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At the South Pole Telescope, scientists measure cosmic radiation still traveling across space from the early days of the universe.
Oct 30th, 2013
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While too hot to support life, Kepler 78b is roughly the size of the Earth.
Oct 30th, 2013
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A Mars sample-return mission is one of the most challenging space ventures possible for robotic exploration.
Oct 29th, 2013
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A NASA spacecraft that will examine the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail is undergoing final preparations for a scheduled 1:28 p.m. EST Monday, Nov. 18 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Oct 28th, 2013
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The new HITS research group 'Astroinformatics' will develop methods and software for astronomers and help facilitating the analysis and processing of the rapidly growing amount of data in astronomy.
Oct 28th, 2013
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Planets rich in carbon, including so-called diamond planets, may lack oceans, according to NASA-funded theoretical research.
Read more: http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/space/newsid=32939.php#ixzz2ivkRS7Qk
Oct 27th, 2013
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At a cosmologically crisp one degree Kelvin (minus 458 degrees Fahrenheit), the Boomerang Nebula is the coldest known object in the Universe - colder than the faint afterglow of the Big Bang, which is the natural background temperature of space. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope have taken a new look at this intriguing object to learn more about its frigid properties and to determine its true shape, which has an eerily ghost-like appearance.
Oct 24th, 2013
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In an ambitious collaborative program, called The Frontier Fields, NASA's Great Observatories are teaming up to look deeper into the universe than ever before. With a boost from natural 'zoom lenses' found in space, they should be able to uncover galaxies that are as much as 100 times fainter than what the Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra space telescopes can typically see.
Oct 24th, 2013
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Just 13 days in space may be enough to cause profound changes in eye structure and gene expression, report researchers. Their study is the first to examine eye-related gene expression and cell behavior after spaceflight.
Oct 24th, 2013
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Planets are formed in disks of gas and dust around nascent stars. Now, observations have produced a rare view of a planetary construction site in an intermediate state of evolution: Contrary to expectations, the disk around the star HD 21997 appears to contain both primordial gas left over from the formation of the star itself and dust that appears to have been produced in collisions between planetesimals.
Oct 24th, 2013
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Astronomers have detected the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy ever found - one created within 700 million years after the Big Bang.
Oct 23rd, 2013
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3D printing is getting ready to revolutionise space travel. ESA is paving the way for 3D-printed metals to build high-quality, intricate shapes with massive cost savings.
Oct 23rd, 2013
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