NASA has found a new planet outside Earth's solar system that is eerily similar to Earth in important aspects.
Scientists say the temperature on the surface of the planet is about 22 Celsius (Just like Earth). Its star is also extremely similar to our Sun, and appears to be nearly identical. It probably has water and land,
and was found in the middle of the habitable zone, making it the best potential target for life.
The discovery was made by NASA's Kepler planet-hunting telescope. This is the first time Kepler confirmed a planet outside Earth's solar system in the habitable zone (not too hot, not too cold).
Twice before astronomers have announced planets found in that zone, but neither was as promising. One was disputed; the other is on the hot edge of the zone. A catalogue of habitable worlds is being compiled by scientists as increasing numbers of "exoplanets" are detected among the stars.
Bibliography:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
In the Heart of Cygnus, NASA's Fermi Reveals a Cosmic-Ray Cocoon
The constellation Cygnus, now visible in the western sky during twilight, hosts one of our galaxy's richest-known stellar construction zones. Astronomers viewing the region at visible wavelengths see only hints of this activity thanks to a veil of dust clouds forming "the Great Rift," a dark lane that splits the Milky Way.
Located in the vicinity of the second-magnitude star Gamma Cygni, the star-forming region was named Cygnus X when it was discovered as a diffuse radio source in the 1950s. Now, a study using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope found that the tumult of star birth and death in Cygnus X has managed to corral fast-moving particles called cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays are subatomic particles (mostly protons) flying through the galaxy at nearly the speed of light, bouncing off electromagnetic fields in their path. However, when cosmic rays collide with interstellar gas, they produce gamma rays (the most energetic and penetrating form of light) that travel to us straight from the source. By tracing gamma-ray signals throughout the galaxy, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) is helping astronomers understand the sources of cosmic rays and how they're accelerated to such high speeds.
Cygnus X is estimated to have the raw materials to produce up to 2 million sun-like stars. This environment holds onto its cosmic rays despite their high energies by entangling them in turbulent magnetic fields created by the combined outflows of the region's numerous high-mass stars. This is providing astronomers with a new look at the early life of cosmic rays, before they long before they diffuse into the galaxy at large.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Located in the vicinity of the second-magnitude star Gamma Cygni, the star-forming region was named Cygnus X when it was discovered as a diffuse radio source in the 1950s. Now, a study using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope found that the tumult of star birth and death in Cygnus X has managed to corral fast-moving particles called cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays are subatomic particles (mostly protons) flying through the galaxy at nearly the speed of light, bouncing off electromagnetic fields in their path. However, when cosmic rays collide with interstellar gas, they produce gamma rays (the most energetic and penetrating form of light) that travel to us straight from the source. By tracing gamma-ray signals throughout the galaxy, Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) is helping astronomers understand the sources of cosmic rays and how they're accelerated to such high speeds.
Cygnus X is estimated to have the raw materials to produce up to 2 million sun-like stars. This environment holds onto its cosmic rays despite their high energies by entangling them in turbulent magnetic fields created by the combined outflows of the region's numerous high-mass stars. This is providing astronomers with a new look at the early life of cosmic rays, before they long before they diffuse into the galaxy at large.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Magnetic Fields Set Stage for Birth of New Stars
Astronomers have measured the alignment of magnetic fields in gigantic clouds of gas and dust in a distant galaxy. Their results suggest that such magnetic fields play a key role in channeling matter to form denser clouds, and thus in setting the stage for the birth of new stars.
Stars and their planets are born when giant clouds of interstellar gas and dust collapse.Astronomers know quite a bit about these so-called molecular clouds: They consist mainly of hydrogen molecules, which is unusual since conditions are rarely right for hydrogen atoms to bond in the cosmos. Astronomers then wondered how these clouds could come into being, and what makes matter congregate in regions a hundred or even a thousand times more dense than the surrounding interstellar gas? One theory suggests that galaxies' magnetic fields guide and direct the condensation of interstellar matter to form denser clouds and facilitate their further collapse. Astronomers Hua-bai Li and Thomas Henning from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy chose the Triangulum galaxy, 3 million light-years from Earth and also known as M 33 to study to try and gain evidence of magnetic field influence. Li and Henning measured specific properties of radiation received from different regions of the galaxy which are correlated with the orientation of these region's magnetic fields. They found that the magnetic fields associated with the galaxy's six most massive giant molecular clouds were orderly, and well aligned with the galaxy's spiral arms. Their findings are a strong indication that magnetic fields do actually play an important role when it comes to the formation of dense molecular clouds; and to setting the stage for the birth of stars and planetary systems like our own.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Stars and their planets are born when giant clouds of interstellar gas and dust collapse.Astronomers know quite a bit about these so-called molecular clouds: They consist mainly of hydrogen molecules, which is unusual since conditions are rarely right for hydrogen atoms to bond in the cosmos. Astronomers then wondered how these clouds could come into being, and what makes matter congregate in regions a hundred or even a thousand times more dense than the surrounding interstellar gas? One theory suggests that galaxies' magnetic fields guide and direct the condensation of interstellar matter to form denser clouds and facilitate their further collapse. Astronomers Hua-bai Li and Thomas Henning from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy chose the Triangulum galaxy, 3 million light-years from Earth and also known as M 33 to study to try and gain evidence of magnetic field influence. Li and Henning measured specific properties of radiation received from different regions of the galaxy which are correlated with the orientation of these region's magnetic fields. They found that the magnetic fields associated with the galaxy's six most massive giant molecular clouds were orderly, and well aligned with the galaxy's spiral arms. Their findings are a strong indication that magnetic fields do actually play an important role when it comes to the formation of dense molecular clouds; and to setting the stage for the birth of stars and planetary systems like our own.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Galaxies Are the Ultimate Recyclers, NASA's Hubble Confirms
Galaxies have been "green" since the universe existed. They continuously recycle immense volumes of hydrogen gas and heavy elements to build successive generations of stars that stretch over billions of years. Their recycling allows them to maintain their star-forming abillity for over 10 billion years. However, galaxies that ignite a rapid firestorm of star birth can blow away their remaining "fuel," essentially turning off further star-creating activity.
This conclusion is based on a series of Hubble Space Telescope observations that flexed the special capabilities of its comparatively new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) to detect otherwise invisible mass in the halo of our Milky Way and a sample of more than 40 other galaxies. Data from large ground-based telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, and Chile also contributed to the studies by measuring the properties of the galaxies.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
This conclusion is based on a series of Hubble Space Telescope observations that flexed the special capabilities of its comparatively new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) to detect otherwise invisible mass in the halo of our Milky Way and a sample of more than 40 other galaxies. Data from large ground-based telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, and Chile also contributed to the studies by measuring the properties of the galaxies.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Blue Supergiant Stars
Blue supergiants are supergiant stars (class I) of spectral type O. They are extremely hot and bright, with surface temperatures of between 20,000 - 50,000 degrees Celsius. The best known example is Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation of Orion. It has a mass of around 20 times that of the Sun and gives out more light than 60,000 suns added together.
Despite their rarity and short lives, blue supergiant stars are heavily represented among the stars visible to the naked eye due to their inherent brightness that trumps their scarcity. Due to core nuclear reactions being slightly slower, the star contracts and since very similar energy is coming from a much smaller area (photosphere) then the star's surface becomes much hotter.
Bibliography:
http://www.sciencedaily.com
Despite their rarity and short lives, blue supergiant stars are heavily represented among the stars visible to the naked eye due to their inherent brightness that trumps their scarcity. Due to core nuclear reactions being slightly slower, the star contracts and since very similar energy is coming from a much smaller area (photosphere) then the star's surface becomes much hotter.
Bibliography:
http://www.sciencedaily.com
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Three New Planets and a Mystery Object Discovered Outside Our Solar System
Three planets each orbiting its own giant, dying star have been discovered by an international research team led by a Penn State University astronomer. Using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, astronomers observed the planets' parent stars (called HD 240237, BD +48 738, and HD 96127) tens of light years away from our solar system. One of the massive, dying stars has an additional mystery object orbiting it, which according to the team, could be another planet, a low-mass star, or possibly even a brown dwarf, (a star-like body that is intermediate in mass between the coolest stars and giant planets).
The new research is expected to shed light on the evolution of planetary systems around dying stars. It also will help astronomers to understand how metal content influences the behavior of dying stars.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replies, "I see millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" Watson ponders a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?" Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent."
The new research is expected to shed light on the evolution of planetary systems around dying stars. It also will help astronomers to understand how metal content influences the behavior of dying stars.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replies, "I see millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" Watson ponders a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?" Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent."
'Pacman' Nebula Gets Some Teeth
To visible-light telescopes, this star-forming cloud appears to be chomping through the cosmos, earning it the nickname the "Pacman" nebula. When viewed in infrared light by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, the Pacman takes on a new appearance. In place of its typical, triangle-shaped mouth is a new set of lower, sharp-looking teeth.
The teeth are actually pillars where new stars may be forming. These structures were formed when radiation and winds from massive stars in a central cluster blew gas and dust away, leaving only the densest of material. The red dots sprinkled throughout the picture are thought to be the youngest stars, still forming in cocoons of dust.
The Pacman nebula, also called NGC 281, is located 9,200 light years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Have you heard about the new restaurant on the moon?
The food is good, but there's just no atmosphere!
The teeth are actually pillars where new stars may be forming. These structures were formed when radiation and winds from massive stars in a central cluster blew gas and dust away, leaving only the densest of material. The red dots sprinkled throughout the picture are thought to be the youngest stars, still forming in cocoons of dust.
The Pacman nebula, also called NGC 281, is located 9,200 light years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.
Bibliography:
www.sciencedaily.com
Have you heard about the new restaurant on the moon?
The food is good, but there's just no atmosphere!
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