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Updated: 1 year 44 weeks ago
Integral Expands Our View Of The Gamma-ray Sky
Integral's latest survey of the gamma-ray universe continues to change the way astronomers think of the high-energy cosmos. With over seventy percent of the sky now observed by Integral, astronomers have been able to construct the largest catalogue yet of individual gamma-ray-emitting celestial objects. And there is no end in sight for the discoveries.
Surprises From The Sun's South Pole
Although very close to the minimum of its 11-year sunspot cycle, the Sun showed that it is still capable of producing a series of remarkably energetic outbursts - ESA-NASA Ulysses mission revealed.
High-Energy 'Relic' Wind Reveals Past Behavior Of Dead Stars
A team of astronomers from France and South Africa announced the first catalog of a new type of gamma-ray source, a dozen clouds of "relic" radiation from dead stars that reveal information about the energetic past of these celestial objects.
First X-Ray Detection Of A Colliding-Wind Binary Beyond Milky Way
Imagine two stars with winds so intense that they eject an Earth's worth of material roughly once every month. Next, imagine those two winds colliding head-on. Such titanic collisions produce multimillion-degree gas, which radiates brilliantly in X-rays. Astronomers have conclusively identified the X-rays from about two-dozen of these systems in our Milky Way. But they have never seen one outside our galaxy -- until now.
Hunting Martian Fossils Best Bet For Locating Mars Life, Says Researcher
Hunting for traces of life on Mars calls for two radically different strategies, says Arizona State University professor Jack Farmer. Of the two, he says, with today's exploration technology we can most easily look for evidence for past life, preserved as fossil "biosignatures" in old rocks.
NASA's THEMIS Mission Launched To Study Geomagnetic Substorms
Taking multitasking to new heights, NASA launched the five THEMIS satellites aboard a single Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Saturday (Feb. 17) at 6:01 p.m. EST. Racing into space on the flaming power of three rocket stages and nine solid rocket motors, the THEMIS satellites will soon disperse around Earth to monitor auroras like the Northern Lights.
Origin Of Darkest Galaxies In The Universe Elucidated
Stelios Kazantzidis, a researcher at Stanford University's Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), and collaborators have developed an elegant explanation for how galaxies come to be dominated by dark matter. They report their findings in the Feb. 15 issue of Nature.
Categories: News
Rosetta Correctly Lined Up For Critical Mars Swingby
ESA mission controllers have confirmed Rosetta is on track for a critical 250-km Mars swingby on 25 February. Engineers have started final preparations for the delicate operation, which includes an eclipse, a signal blackout, precise navigation and complex ground tracking. Rosetta is scheduled to make its closest approach to Mars at 02:57 CET on Sunday, 25 February, using the Red Planet as a gravitational brake to reduce speed and alter trajectory as part of the spacecraft's complex, 10-year, 7.1-thousand-million-kilometre journey to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Chandra Peers Into the Pillars of Creation
A new look at the famous "Pillars of Creation" with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has allowed astronomers to peer inside the dark columns of gas and dust. This penetrating view of the central region of the Eagle Nebula reveals how much star formation is happening inside these iconic structures.
Mars Orbiter Sees Effects Of Ancient Underground Fluids
Liquid or gas flowed through cracks penetrating underground rock on Mars, according to a report based on some of the first observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These fluids may have produced conditions to support possible habitats for microbial life.
Spacecraft Reaches Milestone, Reports Technical Glitches
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft this month is set to surpass the record for the most science data returned by any Mars spacecraft. While the mission continues to produce data at record levels, engineers are examining why two instruments are intermittently not performing entirely as planned. All other spacecraft instruments are operating normally and continue to return science data.
Saturn's Moon Enceladus Is A 'Cosmic Graffiti Artist,' Astronomers Discover
Astronomers from the University of Virginia and other institutions have found that Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, is a "cosmic graffiti artist," pelting the surfaces of at least 11 other moons of Saturn with ice particles sprayed from its spewing surface geysers. This ice sandblasts the other moons, creating a reflective surface that makes them among the brightest bodies in the solar system.
Scientists Find High Energy Systems Hidden In 'Gas Cocoon'
Astronomers have found a new class of objects in space: a neutron star orbiting inside a cocoon of cold gas and/or dust that hides a bloated supergiant star. In a strange twist of fate, these objects may be tremendously luminous, but the enshrouding cocoon absorbs almost all their emission, making them nearly invisible to telescopes on Earth until now.
Categories: News
Students Set To Fly Fire Balls In Space
Fires don't break out very often on board orbiting spacecraft, but when they do, standard fire extinguishers aren't necessarily the best way to put them out. Oddly enough -- after decades of spaceflight and a few fires along the way -- nobody really knows yet what is the best way to put them out.
First Hiking Maps Of Mars
Scientists using data from the HRSC experiment onboard ESA's Mars Express spacecraft have produced the first "hiker's maps" of Mars. Giving detailed height contours and names of geological features in the Iani Chaos region, the maps could become a standard reference for future Martian research.
Cluster: New Insights Into The Electric Circuits Of Polar Lights
Giant electrical circuits power the magical open-air light show of the auroras, forming arcs in high-latitude regions like Scandinavia. New results obtained thanks to ESA's Cluster satellites provide a new insight into the source of the difference between the two types of electrical circuits currently known to be associated to the auroral arcs.
Introducing The 'Coolest' Spacecraft In The Universe
The European Space Agency's Planck mission, which will study the conditions present in our universe shortly after the Big Bang, is reaching an important milestone with the integration of instruments into the satellite at Alcatel Alenia Space in Cannes, France.
NASA's Largest Space Telescope Mirror Will See Deeper Into Space
When scientists are looking into space, the more they can see, the easier it is to piece together the puzzle of the cosmos. The James Webb Space Telescope's mirror blanks have now been constructed. When polished and assembled, together they will form a mirror whose area is over seven times larger than the Hubble Telescope's mirror.
Magnetic Explosions In The Distant Universe
A new theory to explain the high-energy gamma-ray emissions from collapsing stars has been put forward by an international team of researchers. Their results will be published shortly in the Monthly Notices of the RAS.
Astronomer Finds Closest Gravitational Lensing Galaxy
A giant elliptical galaxy seen in an image from the Hubble Space Telescope is the closest gravitational lens yet known, according to information released by the Hubble Heritage Project Feb. 6.
Categories: News
About this image
Courtesy of SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Image has been modified.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System. An uninterrupted view of the Sun is achieved by operating SOHO from a permanent vantage point 1.5 million kilometers sunward of the Earth. SOHO was designed to observe the Sun continuously for at least two years.
- New quasar is the oldest yet
- Closing in on the gamma-ray sky
- Milky Way Black Hole May Be A Colossal 'Particle Accelerator'
- Cosmic Lighthouses: Astrophysicists Explain Differences In Brightness Of Supernova Explosions
- Universe Offers 'Eternal Feast,' Cosmologist Says
- Origin Of Darkest Galaxies In The Universe Elucidated
- Scientists Find High Energy Systems Hidden In 'Gas Cocoon'
- Astronomer Finds Closest Gravitational Lensing Galaxy
- First negatively charged molecule found in space
- Binary star pulsates with high-energy gamma rays
- Active galactic nuclei
- Gamma ray 'clock' found creating antimatter
- Astronomers Find First Ever Gamma Ray Clock
