Space

Caught: The Mini-Explosion 40 Days Before A Supernova

Before they go all-out supernova, some large stars undergo a sort of mini-explosion- cosmically speaking- which throws massive amounts of material into space. Though several models predict this behavior and evidence from supernovae point in that direction ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 7 2013 - 10:51am

Saturday in Space: Chinese Year of The Snake- in Space 春节: 蛇

The Chinese Spring Festival or Chun Jie starts tomorrow 10th February. In case you are unfamiliar with the annual animals in the Chinese calendar we are now entering the year of the snake- 蛇 She (water version). For most westerners the Spring Festival is k ...

Blog Post - Bente Lilja Bye - Feb 9 2013 - 6:36pm

Doomsday Prophets Excited About Asteroid 2012 DA14, First Apocalypse Of 2013

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Asteroid 2012 DA14 is not going to hit Earth. The bad news is, even if it were going to hit Earth, it wouldn't happen until February 15th so you will still have to buy a Valentine's Day gift. A ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 10 2013 - 3:31pm

W49B: Did An Explosion Create Our Galaxy's Youngest Black Hole?

New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest a highly distorted supernova remnant  called W49B may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. W49B appears to be the product of a rare explosion in which matter is ejec ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 13 2013 - 2:14pm

Nearby black hole, a doorway to getting ripped to shreds, not another universe.

Certain media sources have with the announcement of a possible black hole 26,000 light years away at W49B, mentioned the possibility of a wormhole. (I'm looking at you LA Times.) As a fan of many sci-fi programs which featured some variety of wormhol ...

Blog Post - Hontas Farmer - Feb 14 2013 - 7:03am

SN 1006 And Mysterious 'Seed Particles' Of Cosmic Rays

In the year 1006 a new star was seen in the southern skies and widely recorded around the world. It was many times brighter than the planet Venus and may even have rivaled the brightness of the Moon. It was so bright at maximum that it cast shadows and it ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 15 2013 - 4:30am

Fermi Confirmed: Supernova Remnants Accelerate Cosmic Rays To Incredible Speeds

The expanding debris of exploded stars produces some of the fastest-moving matter in the universe, according to a new paper. Supernova remnants accelerate cosmic rays to incredible speeds. Cosmic rays are subatomic particles that move through space at alm ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 14 2013 - 8:32pm

Meteor Spectacularly Enters Earth's Atmosphere Above Russia

What a spectacular coincidence! A meteor hitting Earth on the day the asteroid 2012 DA14 is passing close by! When I was contemplating what kind of natural disasters I should throw in the scenarios for my Planet Earth: Extreme Beauty- Extreme Danger I was ...

Blog Post - Bente Lilja Bye - Feb 15 2013 - 11:40am

Saturday in Space: Belated Valentine Special

My Heart and Soul is in space. There is not a shred of doubt about that. Since I was a little girl my head has been turned in an upward direction- often both physically and mentally. Come Valentine's Day and my thoughts go straight into space. ...

Blog Post - Bente Lilja Bye - Feb 17 2013 - 7:04am

Paintballs To Deflect The Next Asteroid

The Earth just got a few shots across our bow, what with a giant asteroid hurtling between us and the moon, and another (fortunately much smaller) space rock exploding over Russia, causing a surprising amount of destruction.   So what can we do about the s ...

Article - Robert Cooper - Feb 18 2013 - 9:29pm