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NASA is developing a new type of detector that will provide insight into the formation and structure of the universe. Many of the radiative and mechanical interactions that shape the interstellar medium of galaxies and drive galactic evolution (e.g., shock waves from stellar winds and jets, supernova explosions, etc.) are best observed in the 4.744 terahertz (THz) spectral region for the oxygen line. Observations of this spectral line have rarely been performed, however, because the 4.744-THz frequency is beyond the reach of most existing local oscillators that operate in heterodyne receivers sensitive enough to make such observations. A NASA-sponsored team at Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyRead More →

The completion of NOEMA phase 1, the first phase of the NOEMA project will be officially celebrated this Wednesday, September 19th. IRAM and its partner institutes have completed the first, decisive step towards one of the most important German-French-Spanish initiatives in astronomy: developing the most powerful and most sensitive telescope at millimetre wavelengths in the Northern hemisphere. Four years after the inauguration of the first NOEMA antenna, 10 15-meter dishes currently constitute the observatory and have provided groundbreaking scientific results. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

A new space telescope designed to peer into some of the farthest regions of the universe could finally answer one of the most puzzling questions surrounding Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

Among the TV series Star Trek’s many charms are its rich universe of characters and planets. Now, the Dharma Planet Survey, in a new study led by University of Florida (UF) astronomer Jian Ge and team including Tennessee State University (TSU) astronomers Matthew Muterspaugh and Gregory Henry, has shown that science fiction may be a little less so; the Dharma project has discovered what may be Star Trek’s famed planet Vulcan. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

Galaxies in the early universe are shrouded in a kind of mist: a cloud of hydrogen. With galaxies in the later universe this mist has disappeared. Astronomer Jorryt Matthee has made the first images of this dissipating mist. Ph.D. defence 19 September. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

Two of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way—the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds—may have had a third companion, astronomers believe. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

NASA’s newest planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is now providing valuable data to help scientists discover and study exciting new exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system. Part of the data from TESS’ initial science orbit includes a detailed picture of the southern sky taken with all four of the spacecraft’s wide-field cameras. This “first light” science image captures a wealth of stars and other objects, including systems previously known to have exoplanets. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

Every year throughout its 4.5-billion-year life, ice volcanoes on the dwarf planet Ceres generate enough material on average to fill a movie theater, according to a new study led by the University of Arizona. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

An unusual infrared emission detected by the Hubble Space Telescope from a nearby neutron star could indicate that the pulsar has features never before seen. The observation, by a team of researchers at Penn State, Sabanci University in Turkey, and the University of Arizona, could help astronomers better understand the evolution of neutron stars—the incredibly dense remnants of massive stars after a supernova. A paper describing the research and two possible explanations for the unusual finding appears September 17, 2018 in the Astrophysical Journal. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

The line that separates stars from brown dwarfs may soon be clearer thanks to new work led by Carnegie’s Serge Dieterich. Published by the Astrophysical Journal, his team’s findings demonstrate that brown dwarfs can be more massive than astronomers previously thought. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

In August of 2016, astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet around Proxima Centauri – the closest star to our solar system. In addition, they confirmed that this planet (Proxima b) orbited within its star’s habitable zone. Since then, multiple studies have been conducted to determine if Proxima b could in fact be habitable. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

An international team of astronomers has discovered a new radio pulsar as part of the LOFAR Tied-Array All-Sky Survey (LOTAAS). The newly detected object, designated PSR J0250+5854, turns out to be the slowest-spinning radio pulsar known to date. The finding is reported in a paper published September 4 on arXiv.org. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

Stars frequently form in crowded environments. By combining the resources of multi-wavelength missions like Chandra in the X-ray and Spitzer in the infrared, astronomers are able to resolve ambiguities and assemble a much more complete census of cluster content and the individual properties of the population. A case in point is the development of disks (possibly protoplanetary) around new stars. Disks form along with the new star and then evolve over a few million years before dissipating, perhaps leaving planets behind, and in clustered environments their development can be influenced by interactions with neighbors. Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →