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MAVEN solar wind ion analyzer will look at key player in Mars atmosphere loss
This past November, NASA launched the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission in the hope of understanding how and why the planet has been losing its atmosphere over billions of years.
May 14, 2014 Read more
Magnetar formation mystery solved?
Magnetars are the super-dense remnants of supernova explosions. They are the strongest magnets known in the Universe - millions of times more powerful than the strongest magnets on Earth. A team of astronomers now believe they've found the partner star of a magnetar for the first time. This discovery helps to explain how magnetars form and why this particular star didn't collapse into a black hole as astronomers would expect.
May 14, 2014 Read more
Radiation from early universe found key to answer major questions in physics
Astrophysicists have measured the minute gravitational distortions in polarized radiation from the early universe and discovered that these ancient microwaves can provide an important cosmological test of Einstein's theory of general relativity.
May 13, 2014 Read more
Odd planet, so far from its star...
A gas giant has been added to the short list of exoplanets discovered through direct imaging. It is located around GU Psc, a star three times less massive than the Sun and located in the constellation Pisces.
May 13, 2014 Read more
The first building blocks of the universe
The first galaxies evolved only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. But why do they have such a great variety of shapes and structures? How did the universe evolve as a whole? Two German-Chinese Partner Groups are using observations and simulations to investigate how the early universe evolved
May 13, 2014 Read more
Hidden nurseries in the Milky Way
ATLASGAL is a survey of the Galactic Plane at a wavelength of 0.87 mm. It has revealed an unprecedented number of cold dense clumps of gas and dust as the cradles of massive stars, thus providing a complete view of their birthplaces in the Milky Way.
May 13, 2014 Read more
A turbulent birth for stars in merging galaxies
Using state of the art computer simulations, a team of French astrophysicists have for the first time explained a long standing mystery: why surges of star formation (so called 'starbursts') take place when galaxies collide.
May 12, 2014 Read more
NASA telescopes coordinate best-ever flare observations
On March 29, 2014, an X-class flare erupted from the right side of the sun - and vaulted into history as the best-observed flare of all time. The flare was witnessed by four different NASA spacecraft and one ground-based observatory - three of which had been fortuitously focused in on the correct spot as programmed into their viewing schedule a full day in advance.
May 8, 2014 Read more
Galaxies out of a Supercomputer
A new computer simulation shows the formation of galaxies with unprecedented precision, allowing astrophysicists to indirectly confirm the standard model of cosmology.
May 7, 2014 Read more
Astronomers gain new insights into star cluster formation
Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and infrared telescopes, astronomers have made an important advance in the understanding of how clusters of stars come into being.
May 7, 2014 Read more
A stellar explosion on the outer reaches of the Universe provides clues about black hole formation
On 24 October 2012 observatories across the world were alerted about a huge stellar explosion, the GRB121024A. The data obtained on that explosion, which took place about 11,000 million years ago, have made it possible to reconstruct how a black hole is formed.
May 7, 2014 Read more
Nearest bright 'hypervelocity star' found
Astronomers discovered a 'hypervelocity star' that is the closest, second-brightest and among the largest of 20 found so far. Speeding at more than 1 million mph, the star may provide clues about the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way and the halo of mysterious 'dark matter' surrounding the galaxy.
May 7, 2014 Read more
Neutron star magnetic fields: Not so turbulent, after all?
New findings could help advance understanding of matter at extreme densities.
May 6, 2014 Read more
Planck reveals magnetic fingerprint of our galaxy
An international team of astrophysicists has released an unprecedented map of the entire sky that charts the magnetic field shaping our Milky Way Galaxy. The map reveals magnetic field lines running parallel to the plane of the Galaxy, as well as great loops and whorls associated with nearby clouds of gas and dust.
May 6, 2014 Read more
Are we ready for contact with extraterrestrial intelligence?
The SETI project scientists are known for tracking possible extraterrestrial signals, but now they are also considering sending messages from Earth telling of our position. A researcher questions this idea in view of the results from a survey taken by students, revealing the general level of ignorance about the cosmos and the influence of religion when tackling these matters.
May 6, 2014 Read more
Astronomers harness the galaxy's biggest telescope to make most precise measurement of spinning star (w/video)
An international team of astronomers has made a measurement of a distant neutron star that is one million times more precise than the previous world's best.
May 6, 2014 Read more
Space Station research shows that hardy little space travelers could colonize Mars
Three recent scientific papers examined the risks of interplanetary exchange of organisms using research from the International Space Station.
May 5, 2014 Read more
Astronomers use supernovae to gauge power of cosmic lenses
Distant exploding stars observed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are providing astronomers with a powerful tool to determine the strength of naturally-occurring 'cosmic lenses' that are used to magnify objects in the remote universe.
May 1, 2014 Read more