Ancient star system reveals Earth-sized planets forming near start of universe
A Sun-like star with orbiting planets, dating back to the dawn of the Galaxy, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers.
Jan 27th, 2015
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Gigantic ring system around J1407b much larger, heavier than Saturn's
Astronomers have discovered that the ring system that they see eclipse the very young Sun-like star J1407 is of enormous proportions, much larger and heavier than the ring system of Saturn. The ring system - the first of its kind to be found outside our solar system - was discovered in 2012.
Jan 26th, 2015
Read morePrivate Moon race heats up as five Google Lunar XPRIZE teams take home $5.25 million (w/video)
XPRIZE, the global leader in incentivized prize competition, today announced that five Google Lunar XPRIZE teams have been awarded a combined US$5.25 million in recognition of key technological advancements toward their quest to land a private spacecraft on the surface of the moon.
Jan 26th, 2015
Read moreSwarm of microprobes to head for Jupiter
A swarm of tiny probes each with a different sensor could be fired into the clouds of Jupiter and grab data as they fall before burning up in the gas giant planet's atmosphere. The probes would last an estimated 15 minutes.
Jan 26th, 2015
Read moreYes, black holes exist in gravitational theories with unbounded speeds of propagation
Gravitational theories with broken Lorentz invariance have attracted a great deal of interest as they provide a test-bed of LI and offer a mechanism to improve their ultraviolet behavior, so that the theories may be renormalizable. However in such theories, particles can travel with arbitrary velocities and black holes may not exist at all. In contrast to this expectation, it has been shown that an absolute horizon exists, which traps signals despite infinitely large velocities.
Jan 23rd, 2015
Read moreNew research re-creates planet formation, super-earths and giant planets in the laboratory
New laser-driven compression experiments reproduce the conditions deep inside exotic super-Earths and giant planet cores, and the conditions during the violent birth of Earth-like planets, documenting the material properties that determined planet formation and evolution processes.
Jan 23rd, 2015
Read moreAn exceptionally powerful trio in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Once again, the High Energy Stereoscopic System, H.E.S.S., has demonstrated its excellent capabilities. In the Large Magellanic Cloud, it discovered most luminous very high-energy gamma-ray sources.
Jan 22nd, 2015
Read moreA first peek beneath the surface of a comet
Scientists report early measurements of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's subsurface temperature and production of gas from the surface of its nucleus.
Jan 22nd, 2015
Read moreWatching the birth of a comet magnetosphere
The RPC-ICA instrument onboard the Rosetta spacecraft has been watching the early stages of how a magnetosphere forms around Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it moves closer to the Sun along its orbit and begins to interact with the solar wind.
Jan 22nd, 2015
Read moreBlack hole on a diet creates a 'changing look' quasar
Astronomers have identified the first 'changing look' quasar, a gleaming object in deep space that appears to have its own dimmer switch. The discovery may offer a glimpse into the life story of the universe's great beacons.
Jan 22nd, 2015
Read moreStardust on ocean floor shows gold and uranium alchemy in stars much less frequent than expected
Half the heavy elements in nature are created during stellar explosions such as supernovae or star collisions. Analyzing deep-sea samples of stardust that fell to Earth over millions of years, researchers made a surprising discovery about how frequently far-away stars produce heavy elements like gold and uranium.
Jan 22nd, 2015
Read moreHard disk from space - Hidden magnetic messages in meteorites
Geologists uncover hidden magnetic messages from the early solar system in meteorites. The team of scientists has captured information stored inside tiny magnetic regions in meteorite samples.
Jan 22nd, 2015
Read moreInside the big wormhole (w/video)
Based on the latest evidence and theories our galaxy could be a huge wormhole (or space-time tunnel) and, if that were true, it would be 'stable and navigable'. This is the hypothesis put forward in a new study.
Jan 21st, 2015
Read moreDawn - heading for icy Ceres
Planetary scientists may find a thick ice crust with an ocean underneath when the NASA Dawn spacecraft arrives at Ceres in March 2015.
Jan 20th, 2015
Read moreOcean floor dust gives new insight into supernovae
Extraterrestrial dust from the depths of the ocean could change the way we understand supernovae. Scientists have found the amount of plutonium in the dust is much lower than expected.
Jan 20th, 2015
Read moreMagnetic fields help in formation of massive stars
Astronomers observe polarised dust emission of two dark clouds in the Milky Way.
Jan 20th, 2015
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