Space

Gemini And Swift Examine The Mysterious Explosion Of GRB 070714B

Using the powerful one-two combo of NASA’s Swift satellite and the Gemini Observatory, astronomers have detected a mysterious type of cosmic explosion farther back in time than ever before. The explosion, known as a short gamma-ray burst (GRB), took place ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 8 2008 - 3:31pm

Planets 2.0: Old Stars Piscium And Tycho Give New Births

Hundreds of millions — or even billions — of years after planets would have initially formed around two unusual stars, a second wave of planetesimal and planet formation appears to be taking place, UCLA astronomers and colleagues believe. "This is a n ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 9 2008 - 5:59pm

Antimatter Cloud Traced To Binary Stars

Four years of observations from the European Space Agency’s Integral (INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) satellite may have cleared up one of the most vexing mysteries in our Milky Way: the origin of a giant cloud of antimatter surrounding th ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 12 2008 - 9:30am

Astronomers Present First Detailed Map Of Dark Matter In Abell 901/902

For the first time astronomers are able to see indirect evidence of dark matter and how this invisible force impacts on the crowded and violent lives of galaxies. University of British Columbia researcher Catherine Heymans has produced the highest resoluti ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 10 2008 - 11:45am

New Theories On Neutron Stars And Black Holes

Neutron stars can be considerably more massive than previously believed and it is more difficult to form black holes, according to new research developed by using the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Paulo Freire, an astronomer from the observa ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 15 2008 - 9:30am

MESSENGER Video Of Mercury Flyby

On January 14, 2008, more than three decades after the third Mariner 10 flyby, the last spacecraft visit of Mercury, MESSENGER passed 200 kilometers above Mercury's surface. Extensive scientific observations were executed during this flyby encounter, ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 16 2008 - 11:12pm

Arizona's $250 Million Space Science Pay Day At Risk

A new report by the Arizona Arts, Sciences, and Technology Academy (AASTA) found that research in astronomy, planetary sciences, and space sciences (APSS) pumped over $250 million into Arizona’s economy in 2006 alone. That's real money but it's n ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 9 2009 - 11:57am

Ophiuchus Galaxy Cluster Is A Giant Particle Accelerator In The Sky

ESA’s orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral, has made the first unambiguous discovery of highly energetic X-rays coming from a galaxy cluster. The find has shown the cluster to be a giant particle accelerator. The Ophiuchus galaxy cluster is one of brig ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 24 2008 - 2:31pm

Wild 2 Surprises As Comet Dust Show Asteroid Belt Characteristics

When the Stardust mission returned to Earth with samples from the comet Wild 2 in 2006, scientists knew the material would provide new clues about the formation of our solar system, but they didn’t know exactly how. Contrary to expectations for a small icy ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 24 2008 - 4:24pm

Watching Out For 2007 TU-24

The newly discovered asteroid 2007 TU24 is passing within 1.4 lunar distances, or 334,000 miles, of Earth today. The asteroid, estimated at between 150 and 600 meters in diameter, was discovered by the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey in October ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 27 2008 - 12:41pm