November 14, 2008 - National Post, Canada
For the first time, Canadian and American astronomers have obtained photographic evidence of planets that orbit distant stars.
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The Hubble, Keck and Gemini telescopes that produced these photos are not new, but Mr. Marois said a change in the searching method, rather than new technology, made the breakthrough.
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
Pictured: First images of planets outside our solar system as new era in astronomy dawns
November 14, 2008 - Daily Mail, UK
Scientists have taken the first snapshots of another solar system, ushering in a new era in astronomy.
The infrared images show a family of three giant worlds orbiting a young hot star in the constellation of Pegasus, 130 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year - 6trillion miles.
In another development also reported in Science, Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope photographed a single Jupiter-sized planet called Fomalhaut b orbiting a close neighbour of the Sun just 25 light years away.
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Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics and his team used the Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to find the three planets near the star called HR 8799, which is just visible to the naked eye.
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Scientists have taken the first snapshots of another solar system, ushering in a new era in astronomy.
The infrared images show a family of three giant worlds orbiting a young hot star in the constellation of Pegasus, 130 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year - 6trillion miles.
In another development also reported in Science, Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope photographed a single Jupiter-sized planet called Fomalhaut b orbiting a close neighbour of the Sun just 25 light years away.
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Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics and his team used the Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to find the three planets near the star called HR 8799, which is just visible to the naked eye.
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New planets swim into our ken
November 14, 2008 - Sydney Morning Herald
ASTRONOMERS have parted the curtains of space to take the first photographs of planets that orbit stars other than our sun.
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Two teams took part in the milestone. The first, led by Berkeley researchers, used the Hubble space telescope to take a picture of a giant planet orbiting Fomalhaut, a star that is 25 light years from Earth.
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The other effort relied on the giant Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to image three planets surrounding the young star HR8799, 130 light years away.
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ASTRONOMERS have parted the curtains of space to take the first photographs of planets that orbit stars other than our sun.
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Two teams took part in the milestone. The first, led by Berkeley researchers, used the Hubble space telescope to take a picture of a giant planet orbiting Fomalhaut, a star that is 25 light years from Earth.
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The other effort relied on the giant Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to image three planets surrounding the young star HR8799, 130 light years away.
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Astronomers Discover New Exoplanets
November 14, 2008 - NPR
Astronomers are getting their first real glimpses of planets in orbit around distant stars.
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Meanwhile, an international team of astronomers say they've seen not just a single planet, but a small solar system around a star called HR 8799 (The name might sound like a personnel form, because astronomers sometimes can't decide whether to be scientific or romantic.)
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Astronomers are getting their first real glimpses of planets in orbit around distant stars.
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Meanwhile, an international team of astronomers say they've seen not just a single planet, but a small solar system around a star called HR 8799 (The name might sound like a personnel form, because astronomers sometimes can't decide whether to be scientific or romantic.)
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Friday, November 14, 2008
First Direct Images Of A Planetary Family Around A Normal Star
November 13, 2008 - ScienceDaily
Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope and W.M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea have obtained the first-ever direct images identifying a multi-planet system around a normal star.
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Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope and W.M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea have obtained the first-ever direct images identifying a multi-planet system around a normal star.
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First 'bona fide' direct images of exoplanets
November 13, 2008 - PhysicsWorld
Two teams comprising researchers from Canada, the US and the UK have taken what appear to be the first “bona fide” direct images of planets orbiting stars outside the Solar System, an achievement that has long been considered vital in the search for planets like our own.
Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Canada and colleagues have used the ground-based Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, and the Keck telescopes, also in Hawaii, to take infrared images of three giant planets that they claim are orbiting a star about 130 light-years away in the Pegasus constellation (Science Express 10.1126/science.1166585).
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Two teams comprising researchers from Canada, the US and the UK have taken what appear to be the first “bona fide” direct images of planets orbiting stars outside the Solar System, an achievement that has long been considered vital in the search for planets like our own.
Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Canada and colleagues have used the ground-based Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, and the Keck telescopes, also in Hawaii, to take infrared images of three giant planets that they claim are orbiting a star about 130 light-years away in the Pegasus constellation (Science Express 10.1126/science.1166585).
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First images captured of alien solar system
November 13, 2008 - NewScientist
Astronomers have snapped what they say is the best photographic evidence yet of planets orbiting other stars. Two new planetary systems have been imaged in the Milky Way; one offers the first glimpse of a system with multiple planets.
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Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada, and colleagues found a system with three planets in an ongoing survey of 80 young stars surrounded by relatively large amounts of dust.
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The planets, which formed some 60 million years ago, are still glowing with heat from their contraction. Their march across the sky with the star, as well as their counter-clockwise orbit around it, were measured in near-infrared images taken with the Keck and Gemini North telescopes in Hawaii.
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Astronomers have snapped what they say is the best photographic evidence yet of planets orbiting other stars. Two new planetary systems have been imaged in the Milky Way; one offers the first glimpse of a system with multiple planets.
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Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada, and colleagues found a system with three planets in an ongoing survey of 80 young stars surrounded by relatively large amounts of dust.
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The planets, which formed some 60 million years ago, are still glowing with heat from their contraction. Their march across the sky with the star, as well as their counter-clockwise orbit around it, were measured in near-infrared images taken with the Keck and Gemini North telescopes in Hawaii.
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Out of this World Pictures: First Direct Photos of Exoplanets
November 13, 2008 - Scientific American
Two groups of researchers searching for extrasolar planets—planets orbiting stars other than our own sun—laid claim today to an astronomy milestone: photographing extrasolar planets directly, rather than inferring their presence through effects on their parent stars.
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Marois and his team used ground-based infrared detection to seek out exoplanets around nearby, young, massive stars—those whose planets would have wide orbits and emit significant amounts of radiation as they cool from their relatively recent births millions of years ago. After narrowing some 80 candidate stars to 20 "really, really interesting" ones with infrared excess (indicating the presence of orbiting dust), the researchers settled on a particularly appealing star.
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Two groups of researchers searching for extrasolar planets—planets orbiting stars other than our own sun—laid claim today to an astronomy milestone: photographing extrasolar planets directly, rather than inferring their presence through effects on their parent stars.
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Marois and his team used ground-based infrared detection to seek out exoplanets around nearby, young, massive stars—those whose planets would have wide orbits and emit significant amounts of radiation as they cool from their relatively recent births millions of years ago. After narrowing some 80 candidate stars to 20 "really, really interesting" ones with infrared excess (indicating the presence of orbiting dust), the researchers settled on a particularly appealing star.
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Extrasolar planetary system makes pictorial debut
November 13, 2008 - ScienceNews
They’ve got the whole world in their hands. Four worlds, actually.
Two teams of extrasolar planet-hunters report that they have achieved a long-sought milestone: obtaining the first undisputed images of planets orbiting stars beyond the solar system.
One team, using the Hubble Space Telescope, has recorded a single planet around the massive star Fomalhaut, which lies just 25 light-years from Earth. The other team, using two large ground-based telescopes, has taken images of three planets orbiting a star — the first portrait of an entire planetary system outside the solar system. Details of both findings appear online November 13 in separate articles in Science.
One of the teams, led by Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada, used the Gemini North and Keck 2 telescopes atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to image the region around a massive star called HR 8799. Marois was already carrying a tightly held secret when he boarded an airplane in July to Mauna Kea. Images his team had taken with Gemini North nine months earlier had revealed a faint point of light — a possible planet — near HR 8799, which lies about 130 light-years from Earth....
They’ve got the whole world in their hands. Four worlds, actually.
Two teams of extrasolar planet-hunters report that they have achieved a long-sought milestone: obtaining the first undisputed images of planets orbiting stars beyond the solar system.
One team, using the Hubble Space Telescope, has recorded a single planet around the massive star Fomalhaut, which lies just 25 light-years from Earth. The other team, using two large ground-based telescopes, has taken images of three planets orbiting a star — the first portrait of an entire planetary system outside the solar system. Details of both findings appear online November 13 in separate articles in Science.
One of the teams, led by Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada, used the Gemini North and Keck 2 telescopes atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to image the region around a massive star called HR 8799. Marois was already carrying a tightly held secret when he boarded an airplane in July to Mauna Kea. Images his team had taken with Gemini North nine months earlier had revealed a faint point of light — a possible planet — near HR 8799, which lies about 130 light-years from Earth....
Seen, Not Inferred: Exoplanets Galore
November 13, 2008 - Newsweek
While all of us who are rooting for the existence of little green men have been cheered by each discovery of a planet orbiting a star other than our sun—an “exoplanet,” of which there were 322 when I checked the catalog a minute ago—there’s always been a tinge of disappointment. Every validated discovery, starting with the first in 1995, has been indirect. In other words, astronomers didn't actually see the planet beyond our solar system, but instead inferred its existence by, for instance, noticing something funny about how a star moves and realizing, gee, that funny movement must be due to a planet tugging gravitationally on the star. But this afternoon, two separate teams of astronomers, using three different telescopes, are announcing the discovery of exoplanets by, well, looking.
One team, led by Paul Kalas of the University of California, Berkeley, used the Hubble Space Telescope to image a planet they call Fomalhaut b, orbiting the star Fomalhaut, 25 light years away in the constellation Piscis Australis (the Southern Fish). The other team, anchored by Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia, imaged three planets orbiting a star called HR 8799, 128 light years from Earth, using the Keck and Gemini telescopes. Both are being published this afternoon online by the journal Science, at its Science Express website.
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While all of us who are rooting for the existence of little green men have been cheered by each discovery of a planet orbiting a star other than our sun—an “exoplanet,” of which there were 322 when I checked the catalog a minute ago—there’s always been a tinge of disappointment. Every validated discovery, starting with the first in 1995, has been indirect. In other words, astronomers didn't actually see the planet beyond our solar system, but instead inferred its existence by, for instance, noticing something funny about how a star moves and realizing, gee, that funny movement must be due to a planet tugging gravitationally on the star. But this afternoon, two separate teams of astronomers, using three different telescopes, are announcing the discovery of exoplanets by, well, looking.
One team, led by Paul Kalas of the University of California, Berkeley, used the Hubble Space Telescope to image a planet they call Fomalhaut b, orbiting the star Fomalhaut, 25 light years away in the constellation Piscis Australis (the Southern Fish). The other team, anchored by Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia, imaged three planets orbiting a star called HR 8799, 128 light years from Earth, using the Keck and Gemini telescopes. Both are being published this afternoon online by the journal Science, at its Science Express website.
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First Direct Image of Multiple Exoplanets Orbiting a Star
November 13, 2008 - Wired News
For the first time, astronomers have taken a visual image of a multiple-planet solar system beyond our own.
Using the Gemini North telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, researchers observed in infrared light three planets orbiting around a star about 130 light-years away from Earth, called HR 8799. The discovery, published today in Science Express, is a step forward in the hunt for planets, and life, beyond Earth.
The alien system is supersized compared to our own: All three planets are gas giants, weighing roughly 10, 10 and 7 times the mass of Jupiter, circling a parent star 1.5 times the mass of our sun, and 5 times as bright. The giant bodies (two of which are pictured above) are orbiting at roughly 25, 40, and 70 times the distance between Earth and our sun. If there are Earth-sized planets present, they are too small to see with current technology.
"This is the beginning of a capability that is really going to move the search forward," Peter Michaud of Gemini Observatory told Wired.com. "Now we can refine the technologies and continue the exploration process until we perhaps someday find something more similar to the Earth. Those goals are pretty exciting in terms of gaining a perspective on our place in the universe."
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For the first time, astronomers have taken a visual image of a multiple-planet solar system beyond our own.
Using the Gemini North telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, researchers observed in infrared light three planets orbiting around a star about 130 light-years away from Earth, called HR 8799. The discovery, published today in Science Express, is a step forward in the hunt for planets, and life, beyond Earth.
The alien system is supersized compared to our own: All three planets are gas giants, weighing roughly 10, 10 and 7 times the mass of Jupiter, circling a parent star 1.5 times the mass of our sun, and 5 times as bright. The giant bodies (two of which are pictured above) are orbiting at roughly 25, 40, and 70 times the distance between Earth and our sun. If there are Earth-sized planets present, they are too small to see with current technology.
"This is the beginning of a capability that is really going to move the search forward," Peter Michaud of Gemini Observatory told Wired.com. "Now we can refine the technologies and continue the exploration process until we perhaps someday find something more similar to the Earth. Those goals are pretty exciting in terms of gaining a perspective on our place in the universe."
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Family of planets
November 14, 2008 - Honolulu Star Bulletin
A "planet family" has been discovered for the first time around a parent star like the sun by the Gemini and Keck observatories on Mauna Kea.
"To actually see them there is significant to understand better how solar systems like our own formed, and other places in the galaxy," Gemini spokesman Peter Michaud said. "It's a major step forward in understanding how we got here and how other possible planetary systems formed and are forming throughout the universe."
The observatories announced what they called a historic discovery of a planetary "first family" yesterday in Science Express, the online version of the journal Science. The star, called HR 8799, is about 130 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.
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A "planet family" has been discovered for the first time around a parent star like the sun by the Gemini and Keck observatories on Mauna Kea.
"To actually see them there is significant to understand better how solar systems like our own formed, and other places in the galaxy," Gemini spokesman Peter Michaud said. "It's a major step forward in understanding how we got here and how other possible planetary systems formed and are forming throughout the universe."
The observatories announced what they called a historic discovery of a planetary "first family" yesterday in Science Express, the online version of the journal Science. The star, called HR 8799, is about 130 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.
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First photo of planets outside solar system revealed
November 13, 2008 - USA Today
Astronomers reported Thursday that they have the first snapshot of another solar system — one with three planets larger than Jupiter — orbiting a nearby star.
Circling the star HR 8799, the three planets "are a scaled-up version of our own solar system," says study leader Christian Marois of the National Research Council Canada. A large star about 128 light years away (a light year is about 6 trillion miles), HR 8799 resides in the constellation Pegasus, according to the online report released Thursday by the journal, Science.
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Astronomers reported Thursday that they have the first snapshot of another solar system — one with three planets larger than Jupiter — orbiting a nearby star.
Circling the star HR 8799, the three planets "are a scaled-up version of our own solar system," says study leader Christian Marois of the National Research Council Canada. A large star about 128 light years away (a light year is about 6 trillion miles), HR 8799 resides in the constellation Pegasus, according to the online report released Thursday by the journal, Science.
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Images captured of 4 planets outside solar system
November 14, 2008 - Associated Press
Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks of white, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. All are trillions of miles away — three of them orbiting the same star, and the fourth circling a different star.
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Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks of white, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. All are trillions of miles away — three of them orbiting the same star, and the fourth circling a different star.
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In a First, Astronomers Report Viewing Planets of Other Suns
November 14, 2008 - Washington Post
Staring at his computer screen in May, poking through images of the bright star Fomalhaut, astronomer Paul Kalas found himself staring at a tiny white dot. The dot appeared amid a great ring of dust circling the star. From one image to the next, the dot moved.
For four days, through the Memorial Day weekend, Kalas ransacked the possibilities before settling on a stunning conclusion: He was looking at a world, a giant planet circling Fomalhaut.
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Kalas's discovery was one of two announced yesterday that could be breakthroughs in the search for "extrasolar planets," or "exoplanets," those beyond our own solar system. The other, by Canadian astronomer Christian Marois and his colleagues, may be a triumph in triplicate, for the scientists say they have obtained images of three planets -- a scaled-up version of our solar system -- orbiting a distant star called HR 8799.
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Marois, meanwhile, used two telescopes in Hawaii to study HR 8799, which is 128 light-years away, still in our same galactic Zip code. Marois, an astronomer with the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, B.C., saw the first possible planet around HR 8799 this past spring. Then, on July 9, while taking the United flight from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii, he discovered what looked like a second planet lurking in the data on his laptop computer. That suggested he had found a planetary system and not just a single world.
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Staring at his computer screen in May, poking through images of the bright star Fomalhaut, astronomer Paul Kalas found himself staring at a tiny white dot. The dot appeared amid a great ring of dust circling the star. From one image to the next, the dot moved.
For four days, through the Memorial Day weekend, Kalas ransacked the possibilities before settling on a stunning conclusion: He was looking at a world, a giant planet circling Fomalhaut.
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Kalas's discovery was one of two announced yesterday that could be breakthroughs in the search for "extrasolar planets," or "exoplanets," those beyond our own solar system. The other, by Canadian astronomer Christian Marois and his colleagues, may be a triumph in triplicate, for the scientists say they have obtained images of three planets -- a scaled-up version of our solar system -- orbiting a distant star called HR 8799.
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Marois, meanwhile, used two telescopes in Hawaii to study HR 8799, which is 128 light-years away, still in our same galactic Zip code. Marois, an astronomer with the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, B.C., saw the first possible planet around HR 8799 this past spring. Then, on July 9, while taking the United flight from San Francisco to Hilo, Hawaii, he discovered what looked like a second planet lurking in the data on his laptop computer. That suggested he had found a planetary system and not just a single world.
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Astronomers claim first snaps of planets beyond the Solar System
November 13, 2008 - Nature News
Two teams of astronomers are independently claiming to have the first ever images of planets in orbit around a star other than the Sun — with pictures from one team showing three planet-like bodies orbiting a distant star.
Using the Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii, one team took infrared images of three objects, each 5-13 times the mass of Jupiter, in orbit around HR 8799, a star 130 light years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus1.
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Two teams of astronomers are independently claiming to have the first ever images of planets in orbit around a star other than the Sun — with pictures from one team showing three planet-like bodies orbiting a distant star.
Using the Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii, one team took infrared images of three objects, each 5-13 times the mass of Jupiter, in orbit around HR 8799, a star 130 light years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus1.
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Huge Exoplanet News Items: Pictures!!!
November 13, 2008 - Discovermagazine.com
This is incredible: For the first time, ever, astronomers have captured an optical image of a planet orbiting a star like our own.
And that’s not all: we also have a second picture showing TWO planets orbiting a second star!
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That image is the first to directly show two planets orbiting another star! It’s a near-infrared image using the giant Gemini North 8 meter telescope. Like in the Hubble image, the star’s light has been blocked, allowing the two planets to be seen (labeled b and c).
The star is called HR 8799. It’s a bit more massive (1.5 times) and more luminous (5x) than the Sun, and lies about 130 light years from Earth. The planets in this picture orbit it at distances of 6 billion km (3.6 billion miles) and 10.5 billion km (6.3 billion miles). A third planet, not seen in this image but discovered later using the Keck 10 meter telescope, orbits the star closer in at a distance of 3.8 billion km (2.3 billion miles).
So there it is. The first ever family portrait of a planetary system.
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Extrasolar planetary system makes pictorial debut
November 13, 2008 - ScienceNews.org
They’ve got the whole world in their hands. Four worlds, actually.
Two teams of extrasolar planet-hunters report that they have achieved a long-sought milestone: obtaining the first undisputed images of planets orbiting stars beyond the solar system.
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One of the teams, led by Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada, used the Gemini North and Keck 2 telescopes atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to image the region around a massive star called HR 8799. Marois was already carrying a tightly held secret when he boarded an airplane in July to Mauna Kea. Images his team had taken with Gemini North nine months earlier had revealed a faint point of light — a possible planet — near HR 8799, which lies about 130 light-years from Earth.
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They’ve got the whole world in their hands. Four worlds, actually.
Two teams of extrasolar planet-hunters report that they have achieved a long-sought milestone: obtaining the first undisputed images of planets orbiting stars beyond the solar system.
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One of the teams, led by Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada, used the Gemini North and Keck 2 telescopes atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to image the region around a massive star called HR 8799. Marois was already carrying a tightly held secret when he boarded an airplane in July to Mauna Kea. Images his team had taken with Gemini North nine months earlier had revealed a faint point of light — a possible planet — near HR 8799, which lies about 130 light-years from Earth.
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Astronomers capture first images of newly discovered solar system
November 13, 2008 - Astronomy.com
For the first time, astronomers have taken snapshots of a multi-planet solar system, much like ours, orbiting another star.
The new solar system orbits a dusty young star named HR8799, which is 140 light-years away and about 1.5 times the size of our Sun. Three planets, roughly 10, 10, and 7 times the mass of Jupiter, orbit the star. The size of the planets decreases with distance from the parent star, much like the giant planets do in our system.
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The team of researchers included representatives from Livermore; the National Research Council of Canada Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics; Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); and several other institutions. The group used high-contrast, near-infrared adaptive optics observations with the Keck and Gemini Telescopes to capture the image.
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For the first time, astronomers have taken snapshots of a multi-planet solar system, much like ours, orbiting another star.
The new solar system orbits a dusty young star named HR8799, which is 140 light-years away and about 1.5 times the size of our Sun. Three planets, roughly 10, 10, and 7 times the mass of Jupiter, orbit the star. The size of the planets decreases with distance from the parent star, much like the giant planets do in our system.
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The team of researchers included representatives from Livermore; the National Research Council of Canada Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics; Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); and several other institutions. The group used high-contrast, near-infrared adaptive optics observations with the Keck and Gemini Telescopes to capture the image.
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The First True Exoplanet Images…Probably
November 13, 2008 - Sky and Telescope News
For years, astronomers have been racing one another to take the first picture of a planet orbiting another star. Over the past few years, several teams have claimed to have directly imaged an extrasolar planet. But in each case, there were lingering questions about the nature of the purported planet. The objects seem unusually massive for planets, and each orbits much farther from its host star than Pluto orbits the Sun. Many astronomers argue that these objects are more accurately described as failed stars (known as brown dwarfs) rather than true planets, because they probably formed from collapsing gas clouds, like stars.
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The HR 8799 planets were imaged by a team led by Christian Marois (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Canada). This group used the 10-meter Keck II telescope in Hawaii and the 8-meter Gemini telescope in Hawaii to image three pinpricks of infrared light orbiting HR 8799, a magnitude-6 star in the constellation Pegasus. Besides using an occulting mask to blot out the star’s light, the team used adaptive optics to compensate for the blurring effects of Earth’s atmosphere.
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For years, astronomers have been racing one another to take the first picture of a planet orbiting another star. Over the past few years, several teams have claimed to have directly imaged an extrasolar planet. But in each case, there were lingering questions about the nature of the purported planet. The objects seem unusually massive for planets, and each orbits much farther from its host star than Pluto orbits the Sun. Many astronomers argue that these objects are more accurately described as failed stars (known as brown dwarfs) rather than true planets, because they probably formed from collapsing gas clouds, like stars.
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The HR 8799 planets were imaged by a team led by Christian Marois (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Canada). This group used the 10-meter Keck II telescope in Hawaii and the 8-meter Gemini telescope in Hawaii to image three pinpricks of infrared light orbiting HR 8799, a magnitude-6 star in the constellation Pegasus. Besides using an occulting mask to blot out the star’s light, the team used adaptive optics to compensate for the blurring effects of Earth’s atmosphere.
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Now in Sight: Far-Off Planets
November 13, 2008 - New York Times
A little more of the universe has been pried out of the shadows. Two groups of astronomers have taken the first pictures of what they say — and other astronomers agree — are most likely planets going around other stars.
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For their observations, Dr. Marois and his colleagues used the 8-meter in diameter Gemini North and the 10-meter Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, both of which had been fitted with adaptive optics. Then they processed the images with a special computer program, which Dr. Marois described as “a software coronagraph,” for processing the images.
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A little more of the universe has been pried out of the shadows. Two groups of astronomers have taken the first pictures of what they say — and other astronomers agree — are most likely planets going around other stars.
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For their observations, Dr. Marois and his colleagues used the 8-meter in diameter Gemini North and the 10-meter Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, both of which had been fitted with adaptive optics. Then they processed the images with a special computer program, which Dr. Marois described as “a software coronagraph,” for processing the images.
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Scientists take first photos of planets orbiting other stars
November 13, 2008 - Los Angeles Times
Marking a milestone in the search for Earth-like planets elsewhere in the universe, two teams of astronomers have parted the curtains of space to take the first pictures in history of planets orbiting stars other than our sun.
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The first team, led by Berkeley researchers, used the Hubble Space Telescope to take a picture of a giant planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years from Earth.
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The other effort relied on the giant Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to image three planets surrounding the young star HR8799, 130 light-years -- 700 trillion miles -- away. Benjamin Zuckerman, an astronomer at UCLA and a member of the Keck-Gemini team, noted that it's only been about a decade since the first exoplanet -- a planet orbiting another star -- was found. He said he never envisioned being able to take a picture of a planet orbiting another star so soon.
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Marking a milestone in the search for Earth-like planets elsewhere in the universe, two teams of astronomers have parted the curtains of space to take the first pictures in history of planets orbiting stars other than our sun.
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The first team, led by Berkeley researchers, used the Hubble Space Telescope to take a picture of a giant planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years from Earth.
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The other effort relied on the giant Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to image three planets surrounding the young star HR8799, 130 light-years -- 700 trillion miles -- away. Benjamin Zuckerman, an astronomer at UCLA and a member of the Keck-Gemini team, noted that it's only been about a decade since the first exoplanet -- a planet orbiting another star -- was found. He said he never envisioned being able to take a picture of a planet orbiting another star so soon.
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Exoplanets finally come into view
November 13, 2008 - BBC News
The first pictures of planets outside our Solar System have been taken, two groups report in the journal Science.
Visible and infrared images have been snapped of a planet orbiting a star 25 light-years away.
The planet is believed to be the coolest, lowest-mass object ever seen outside our own solar neighbourhood.
In a separate study, an exoplanetary system, comprising three planets, has been directly imaged, circling a star in the constellation Pegasus.
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Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics, Canada, and his team used the Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to look near a star called HR 8799, which is just visible to the naked eye.
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The first pictures of planets outside our Solar System have been taken, two groups report in the journal Science.
Visible and infrared images have been snapped of a planet orbiting a star 25 light-years away.
The planet is believed to be the coolest, lowest-mass object ever seen outside our own solar neighbourhood.
In a separate study, an exoplanetary system, comprising three planets, has been directly imaged, circling a star in the constellation Pegasus.
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Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics, Canada, and his team used the Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to look near a star called HR 8799, which is just visible to the naked eye.
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Planetary "First Family" Discovered by Astronomers using Gemini and Keck Observatories
November 13, 2008 - NSF
Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope and W.M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the Hawaiian chain, have obtained the first-ever direct images identifying a multi-planet system around a normal star.
The Gemini images allowed the international team to make the initial discovery of two of the planets in the confirmed planetary system with data obtained on Oct. 17, 2007. Then, on Oct. 25, 2007, and in the summer of 2008, the team, led by Christian Marois of the National Research Council of Canada's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia, and members from the U.S. and U.K., confirmed this discovery and found a third planet orbiting even closer to the star with images obtained by the Keck II telescope. These historic infrared images of an extra-solar multiple-planet system were made possible by adaptive optics technology used to correct in real time for atmospheric turbulence, the shimmering or blinking of starlight as it passes through the earth's atmosphere.
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Astronomers capture first images of new planets
November 13, 2008 - CNN
The first-ever pictures of planets outside the solar system have been released in two studies.
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A team of American, British and Canadian astronomers and physicists, using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the Mauna Kea mountaintop in Hawaii, observed host star HR8799 to find three of the new planets.
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The first-ever pictures of planets outside the solar system have been released in two studies.
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A team of American, British and Canadian astronomers and physicists, using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes on the Mauna Kea mountaintop in Hawaii, observed host star HR8799 to find three of the new planets.
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Monday, November 3, 2008
State's role in astronomy seen in 3-D
Oct. 27, 2008 - Honolulu Star Bulletin
HILO » Imiloa astronomy center in Hilo, housing the world's first 3-D stereo planetarium, is now showing its first locally produced 3-D video featuring three observatories on Mauna Kea.
The 15-minute video, "Hawaii's Observatories: An Update from Maunakea," offers public showings at 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, featuring the Japanese Subaru telescope, the multinational Gemini telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. Kamaaina admission is $12 and covers all Imiloa exhibits.
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HILO » Imiloa astronomy center in Hilo, housing the world's first 3-D stereo planetarium, is now showing its first locally produced 3-D video featuring three observatories on Mauna Kea.
The 15-minute video, "Hawaii's Observatories: An Update from Maunakea," offers public showings at 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, featuring the Japanese Subaru telescope, the multinational Gemini telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. Kamaaina admission is $12 and covers all Imiloa exhibits.
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Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Blast from the past poses puzzle
September 10, 2008 - ScienceNews
The 1840s outburst of the star Eta Carinae eludes classification.
New observations suggest that the brilliant outburst of a hefty star that first wowed observers in the 1840s could be signs of a new, exotic type of stellar explosion.
For centuries, the star Eta Carinae had appeared to be a run-of-the-mill Milky Way resident. But in late 1837, this sleeping giant awoke. By 1843 it had become the second-brightest object in the night sky. Over the next 13 years, the massive star cast off two billowing, mushroom-shaped clouds of material. The star then faded but, a decade ago, unexpectedly increased in brightness and is now visible to the naked eye.
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The 1840s outburst of the star Eta Carinae eludes classification.
New observations suggest that the brilliant outburst of a hefty star that first wowed observers in the 1840s could be signs of a new, exotic type of stellar explosion.
For centuries, the star Eta Carinae had appeared to be a run-of-the-mill Milky Way resident. But in late 1837, this sleeping giant awoke. By 1843 it had become the second-brightest object in the night sky. Over the next 13 years, the massive star cast off two billowing, mushroom-shaped clouds of material. The star then faded but, a decade ago, unexpectedly increased in brightness and is now visible to the naked eye.
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Mysterious Explosion Caused Massive Star to Brighten
September 10, 2008 - National Geographic News
Stars have onion-like layers that blow off in fiery explosions before a final killing blow—a supernova—turns them into black holes, according to a new theory of star death.
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Using two telescopes at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory in Chile, Smith took another look at both the Homunculus Nebula and another shell of cast-off material, estimated to be a thousand years old.
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Stars have onion-like layers that blow off in fiery explosions before a final killing blow—a supernova—turns them into black holes, according to a new theory of star death.
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Using two telescopes at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory in Chile, Smith took another look at both the Homunculus Nebula and another shell of cast-off material, estimated to be a thousand years old.
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Mysterious Stellar Blast in the 1840s Was a “Supernova Imposter”
September 11, 2008 - Discover.com
A remarkable stellar event that mesmerized astronomers in 1843 may have been a previously unknown kind of explosion, researchers say. That explosion, which made the star Eta Carinae one of the brightest in the Southern sky, could have been the precursor to the star’s expected explosion into a supernova.
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A remarkable stellar event that mesmerized astronomers in 1843 may have been a previously unknown kind of explosion, researchers say. That explosion, which made the star Eta Carinae one of the brightest in the Southern sky, could have been the precursor to the star’s expected explosion into a supernova.
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Eta Carinae: A Supermassive Showoff
September 12, 2008 - SkyandTelescope.com
Oh, how I wish the Hubble Space Telescope had been around in the 1840s. That's when a star in the southern constellation of Carina brightened dramatically and for a time became the second-brightest star in the nighttime sky.
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He tracked the nebula's outflow two ways. A spectrometer attached to the Gemini South 8-meter telescope high in the Chilean Andes recorded the movement of helium atoms, which have a strong infrared emission at 1.08 microns. Then, hopping over to the Blanco 4-meter telescope at nearby Cerro Tololo, he clocked velocities using Doppler shifts at deep-red wavelengths emitted by nitrogen-rich gas.
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Oh, how I wish the Hubble Space Telescope had been around in the 1840s. That's when a star in the southern constellation of Carina brightened dramatically and for a time became the second-brightest star in the nighttime sky.
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He tracked the nebula's outflow two ways. A spectrometer attached to the Gemini South 8-meter telescope high in the Chilean Andes recorded the movement of helium atoms, which have a strong infrared emission at 1.08 microns. Then, hopping over to the Blanco 4-meter telescope at nearby Cerro Tololo, he clocked velocities using Doppler shifts at deep-red wavelengths emitted by nitrogen-rich gas.
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Eta Carinae’s eruptions a multi-stage process
September 11, 2008 - AstronomyNow.com
Scientists have shown that the outbursts of Eta Carinae, the Milky Way’s biggest, brightest and perhaps most studied star after the Sun, could be driven by an entirely new type of stellar explosion that is fainter than a typical supernova.
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Using the international Gemini South 8-metre telescope and the Blanco 4-metre telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, Smith and colleagues studied the enigmatic star and noticed something new: extremely fast filaments of gas speeding away from the star at five times the speed of the debris in the Homunculus nebula.
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Thursday, September 18, 2008
A Maybe Planet, Orbiting Its Maybe Sun
September 18, 2008 - New York Times
Astronomers from the University of Toronto have published a picture of what they say might be the first image of a planet orbiting another Sunlike star.
The planet, according to their observations, is 7 to 12 times as massive as Jupiter and is about 30 billion miles from a star known as 1RXS J160929.1-210524, about 500 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.
The picture was taken last spring by the 270-inch diameter Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, using so-called adaptive optics to reduce atmospheric blurring and thus sharpen the images of both star and planet.
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Astronomers from the University of Toronto have published a picture of what they say might be the first image of a planet orbiting another Sunlike star.
The planet, according to their observations, is 7 to 12 times as massive as Jupiter and is about 30 billion miles from a star known as 1RXS J160929.1-210524, about 500 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.
The picture was taken last spring by the 270-inch diameter Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, using so-called adaptive optics to reduce atmospheric blurring and thus sharpen the images of both star and planet.
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Tuesday, September 16, 2008
First Picture of likely Planet around Sun-Like Star
September 16, 2008 - Astrobiology
Astronomers have unveiled what is likely the first picture of a planet around a normal star similar to the sun.
Three University of Toronto scientists used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 (which lies about 500 light-years from Earth) and a candidate companion of that star. They also obtained spectra to confirm the nature of the companion, which has a mass about eight (8) times that of Jupiter, and lies roughly 330 times the Earth-sun distance away from its star. (For comparison, the most distant planet in our solar system, Neptune, orbits the sun at only about 30 times the Earth-sun distance.) The parent star is similar in mass to the sun, but is much younger.
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Astronomers have unveiled what is likely the first picture of a planet around a normal star similar to the sun.
Three University of Toronto scientists used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 (which lies about 500 light-years from Earth) and a candidate companion of that star. They also obtained spectra to confirm the nature of the companion, which has a mass about eight (8) times that of Jupiter, and lies roughly 330 times the Earth-sun distance away from its star. (For comparison, the most distant planet in our solar system, Neptune, orbits the sun at only about 30 times the Earth-sun distance.) The parent star is similar in mass to the sun, but is much younger.
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Scope finds planet orbiting sunlike star
September 16, 2008 - Honolulu Star Bulletin
For the first time ever, astronomers using the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea have taken a picture of what likely is a planet circling a star similar to our sun.
Discovered by astronomers from the University of Toronto, the planet is nothing like Earth and only moderately like our solar system's Jupiter.
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For the first time ever, astronomers using the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea have taken a picture of what likely is a planet circling a star similar to our sun.
Discovered by astronomers from the University of Toronto, the planet is nothing like Earth and only moderately like our solar system's Jupiter.
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A star set in ice
August 22, 2008 - Nature News
Astronomers have spotted a disk of dust and ice ringing a young Sun-like star 165 light years away. The icy signature of the disk and the collisions between bodies inferred to be taking place there suggest it is similar to the Sun's Kuiper belt, a disk of small icy bodies that extends beyond Neptune.
"The key new word is icy," says Christine Chen, an astronomer at Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland and lead author of the new study. "This is the first time there's evidence for water ice around a main sequence star."
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For their study of HD 181327, in the constellation of Pictor, Chen and her colleagues used several instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini South telescope, an 8-metre ground-based telescope in Chile that is sensitive in the near infrared.
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Astronomers have spotted a disk of dust and ice ringing a young Sun-like star 165 light years away. The icy signature of the disk and the collisions between bodies inferred to be taking place there suggest it is similar to the Sun's Kuiper belt, a disk of small icy bodies that extends beyond Neptune.
"The key new word is icy," says Christine Chen, an astronomer at Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland and lead author of the new study. "This is the first time there's evidence for water ice around a main sequence star."
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For their study of HD 181327, in the constellation of Pictor, Chen and her colleagues used several instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini South telescope, an 8-metre ground-based telescope in Chile that is sensitive in the near infrared.
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Monday, September 15, 2008
First Picture of Likely Planet around a Sun-like Star
September 15, 2008 - SpaceRef
Astronomers have unveiled what is likely the first picture of a planet around a normal star similar to the Sun.
Three University of Toronto scientists used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 (which lies about 500 light-years from Earth) and a candidate companion of that star. They also obtained spectra to confirm the nature of the companion, which has a mass about eight (8) times that of Jupiter, and lies roughly 330 times the Earth-Sun distance away from its star. (For comparison, the most distant planet in our solar system, Neptune, orbits the Sun at only about 30 times the Earth-Sun distance.) The parent star is similar in mass to the Sun, but is much younger.
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Astronomers have unveiled what is likely the first picture of a planet around a normal star similar to the Sun.
Three University of Toronto scientists used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 (which lies about 500 light-years from Earth) and a candidate companion of that star. They also obtained spectra to confirm the nature of the companion, which has a mass about eight (8) times that of Jupiter, and lies roughly 330 times the Earth-Sun distance away from its star. (For comparison, the most distant planet in our solar system, Neptune, orbits the Sun at only about 30 times the Earth-Sun distance.) The parent star is similar in mass to the Sun, but is much younger.
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Astronomers image planet around Sun-like star
September 15, 2008 - New Scientist
Astronomers have snapped a picture of what may turn out to be the first known planet orbiting a star similar to the Sun. If confirmed, it could challenge estimates of how far away planets can form from their host stars.
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In a survey of more than 85 stars using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, the team found one potential planet that is 8 times as massive, 10 times as hot and roughly 30,000 times as bright as Jupiter near a star called 1RXS J160929.1-210524. The star is 85% as massive as the Sun but less than 0.1% its age, at an estimated 5 million years old.
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Astronomers have snapped a picture of what may turn out to be the first known planet orbiting a star similar to the Sun. If confirmed, it could challenge estimates of how far away planets can form from their host stars.
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In a survey of more than 85 stars using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, the team found one potential planet that is 8 times as massive, 10 times as hot and roughly 30,000 times as bright as Jupiter near a star called 1RXS J160929.1-210524. The star is 85% as massive as the Sun but less than 0.1% its age, at an estimated 5 million years old.
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Historic snapshot of a planet beyond the solar system
September 15, 2008 - ScienceNews
The image is possibly the first of an extrasolar planet orbiting a normal star, but some of its features counter current thinking.
After years of searching, astronomers may finally have recorded the first image of a planet orbiting a sunlike star beyond the solar system. The body, about eight times Jupiter’s mass, lies exceptionally far from its presumed parent star — roughly 11 times Neptune’s average distance from the sun.
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He and his colleagues found the new planet earlier this year by using a special optics system on the Gemini North telescope atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea. The team scoured the vicinity of some 85 stars belonging to the Upper Scorpius association. Stars in this grouping lie 500 light-years from Earth and are only about 5 million years old. The sun, by comparison, is 4.56 billion years old.
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The image is possibly the first of an extrasolar planet orbiting a normal star, but some of its features counter current thinking.
After years of searching, astronomers may finally have recorded the first image of a planet orbiting a sunlike star beyond the solar system. The body, about eight times Jupiter’s mass, lies exceptionally far from its presumed parent star — roughly 11 times Neptune’s average distance from the sun.
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He and his colleagues found the new planet earlier this year by using a special optics system on the Gemini North telescope atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea. The team scoured the vicinity of some 85 stars belonging to the Upper Scorpius association. Stars in this grouping lie 500 light-years from Earth and are only about 5 million years old. The sun, by comparison, is 4.56 billion years old.
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Is This a Planet?
September 15, 2008 - Sky and Telescope
Discovering a planet around another star is no big deal these days — dozens of them have been reported in 2008 alone, and the total count now stands at more than 300.
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Now a trio of astronomers from the University of Toronto has found a "planetary-mass candidate" next to a young star that has roughly the Sun's mass. To see it, last April they utilized an adaptive-optics-aided infrared imager attached to the Gemini North telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
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Discovering a planet around another star is no big deal these days — dozens of them have been reported in 2008 alone, and the total count now stands at more than 300.
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Now a trio of astronomers from the University of Toronto has found a "planetary-mass candidate" next to a young star that has roughly the Sun's mass. To see it, last April they utilized an adaptive-optics-aided infrared imager attached to the Gemini North telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
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Gemini North telescope captures first picture of likely planet
September 15, 2008 - Astronomy.com
Three University of Toronto scientists used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 (which lies about 500 light-years from Earth) and a candidate companion of that star. They also obtained spectra to confirm the nature of the companion, which has a mass about 8 times that of Jupiter, and lies roughly 330 times the Earth-Sun distance from its star. For comparison, the most distant planet in our solar system, Neptune, orbits the Sun at only about 30 times the Earth-Sun distance. The parent star is similar in mass to the Sun, but is much younger.
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Three University of Toronto scientists used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 (which lies about 500 light-years from Earth) and a candidate companion of that star. They also obtained spectra to confirm the nature of the companion, which has a mass about 8 times that of Jupiter, and lies roughly 330 times the Earth-Sun distance from its star. For comparison, the most distant planet in our solar system, Neptune, orbits the Sun at only about 30 times the Earth-Sun distance. The parent star is similar in mass to the Sun, but is much younger.
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Exoplanet circles 'normal star'
September 15, 2008 - BBC News
A planet has been pictured outside our Solar System which appears to be circling a star like our own Sun - a first in astronomy.
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hree astronomers from the University of Toronto used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 and the planetary candidate.
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A planet has been pictured outside our Solar System which appears to be circling a star like our own Sun - a first in astronomy.
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hree astronomers from the University of Toronto used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to take images of the young star 1RXS J160929.1-210524 and the planetary candidate.
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Scientists get images of planet with sun-like star
September 15, 2008 - Reuters
Scientists have snapped the first images of a planet outside our solar system that is orbiting a star very much like the sun.
Nearly all of the roughly 300 so-called extrasolar planets discovered to date have been detected using indirect methods such as changes observed in a star when a planet orbits directly in front of it from the perspective of Earth.
But in findings announced on Monday, University of Toronto scientists said they used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to take direct pictures of the planet, which is about the size of Jupiter but with eight times the mass.
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Scientists have snapped the first images of a planet outside our solar system that is orbiting a star very much like the sun.
Nearly all of the roughly 300 so-called extrasolar planets discovered to date have been detected using indirect methods such as changes observed in a star when a planet orbits directly in front of it from the perspective of Earth.
But in findings announced on Monday, University of Toronto scientists said they used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to take direct pictures of the planet, which is about the size of Jupiter but with eight times the mass.
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First Picture of Alien Planet Orbiting Sunlike Star?
September 15, 2008 - National Geographic
An image released today of a distant star and its potential planetary companion could go down in history as the first picture of a planet outside our solar system orbiting a sunlike star.
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Now scientists at the University of Toronto have captured infrared images of a so-called normal star and its potential orbiter using a ground-based telescope at the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii.
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An image released today of a distant star and its potential planetary companion could go down in history as the first picture of a planet outside our solar system orbiting a sunlike star.
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Now scientists at the University of Toronto have captured infrared images of a so-called normal star and its potential orbiter using a ground-based telescope at the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii.
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U of T researchers capture image of planet orbiting distant star
September 15, 2008 - CBC
Planet-hunting astronomers at the University of Toronto say they have taken a picture of a rare sight — a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system.
Astronomers David Lafrenicre, Ray Jayawardhana and Marten van Kerkwijk made their finding after doing a survey of 80 stars taken using the Gemini North telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Their findings, which have been submitted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters, have been posted online on Cornell University's arXiv website.
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
1843 Stellar Eruption May Be New Type Of Star Explosion
September 10, 2008 - ScienceDaily
Eta Carinae, the galaxy's biggest, brightest and perhaps most studied star after the sun, has been keeping a secret: Its giant outbursts appear to be driven by an entirely new type of stellar explosion that is fainter than a typical supernova and does not destroy the star.
Reporting in the Sept. 11 issue of Nature, University of California, Berkeley, astronomer Nathan Smith proposes that Eta Carinae's historic 1843 outburst was, in fact, an explosion that produced a fast blast wave similar to, but less energetic than, a real supernova. This well-documented event in our own Milky Way Galaxy is probably related to a class of faint stellar explosions in other galaxies recognized in recent years by telescopes searching for extragalactic supernovae.
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Smith's recent observations using the international Gemini South 8-meter telescope and the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile reveal something new: Extremely fast filaments of gas moving five times faster than the debris in the Homunculus nebula were propelled away from Eta Carinae in the same event. The amount of mass in the relatively slow-moving Homunculus was already at the edge of plausibility in terms of what an extreme stellar wind could do physically, Smith said. The much faster and more energetic material he discovered poses even harsher difficulties for current theories.
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Brightest Stellar Explosion Heralds New Type Of Long-distance Astronomy
September 10, 2008 - ScienceDaily
A flash of light that blinded even small telescopes six months ago was the brightest astronomical explosion ever observed - visible to the naked eye despite originating halfway across the universe.
The gamma-ray burst, catalogued as GRB 080319B, was the result of a massive star's explosion 7.5 billion years ago that sent a pencil-beam of intense light on a direct collision course for Earth. It is the only known gamma-ray burst to have had a visible component bright enough to see with the naked eye.
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The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) at Lick Observatory also followed the fading afterglow of the burst, as did the Gemini South telescope in Chile. Bloom and his colleagues combined these observations with Swift data and Pi of the Sky images to complete their analysis.
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A flash of light that blinded even small telescopes six months ago was the brightest astronomical explosion ever observed - visible to the naked eye despite originating halfway across the universe.
The gamma-ray burst, catalogued as GRB 080319B, was the result of a massive star's explosion 7.5 billion years ago that sent a pencil-beam of intense light on a direct collision course for Earth. It is the only known gamma-ray burst to have had a visible component bright enough to see with the naked eye.
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The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) at Lick Observatory also followed the fading afterglow of the burst, as did the Gemini South telescope in Chile. Bloom and his colleagues combined these observations with Swift data and Pi of the Sky images to complete their analysis.
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Astronomers Discover Missing Link For Origin Of Comets
September 9, 2008 - ScienceDaily
An international team of scientists that includes University of British Columbia astronomer Brett Gladman has found an unusual object whose backward and tilted orbit around the Sun may clarify the origins of certain comets.
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The international team has been carrying out a targeted search for objects with highly tilted orbits. Their discovery was made using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii, with follow-up observations provided by the MMT telescope in Arizona, the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) four-metre telescope in Chile, and the Gemini South telescope, also in Chile, in which Canada is a partner.
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An international team of scientists that includes University of British Columbia astronomer Brett Gladman has found an unusual object whose backward and tilted orbit around the Sun may clarify the origins of certain comets.
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The international team has been carrying out a targeted search for objects with highly tilted orbits. Their discovery was made using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii, with follow-up observations provided by the MMT telescope in Arizona, the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) four-metre telescope in Chile, and the Gemini South telescope, also in Chile, in which Canada is a partner.
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Thursday, August 7, 2008
'Supernova impostor' begins to dim unexpectedly
August 7, 2008 - NewScientist
Astronomers have detected signs of a clockwork-like dimming of the bright star Eta Carinae months earlier than expected, although they can't yet explain why. They suspect the dimming is caused by a hidden stellar companion that disrupts Eta Carinae whenever it comes near.
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The next event is set to occur at the beginning of January 2009, but astronomers report they have already caught the first glimpse of new activity using the Gemini Observatory in Chile.
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Astronomers have detected signs of a clockwork-like dimming of the bright star Eta Carinae months earlier than expected, although they can't yet explain why. They suspect the dimming is caused by a hidden stellar companion that disrupts Eta Carinae whenever it comes near.
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The next event is set to occur at the beginning of January 2009, but astronomers report they have already caught the first glimpse of new activity using the Gemini Observatory in Chile.
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The Colliding Spiral Galaxies of Arp 271
July 21, 2008 - APoD
Explanation: What will become of these galaxies? Spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are passing dangerously close to each other, but each is likely to survive this collision. Most frequently when galaxies collide, a large galaxy eats a much smaller galaxy. In this case, however, the two galaxies are quite similar, each being a sprawling spiral with expansive arms and a compact core. As the galaxies advance over the next tens of millions of years, their component stars are unlikely to collide, although new stars will form in the bunching of gas caused by gravitational tides. Close inspection of the above image taken by the 8-meter Gemini-South Telescope in Chile shows a bridge of material momentarily connecting the two giants. Known collectively as Arp 271, the interacting pair spans about 130,000 light years and lies about 90 million light-years away toward the constellation of Virgo. Quite possibly, our Milky Way Galaxy will undergo a similar collision with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy in about five billion years.
eGZeLENS — The extensive Galaxy Zoo LENsing Survey
July 12, 2008 - Aprajita's Blog
... Some of you may have had some interaction with me on the GalaxyZoo Forum on the topic of Gravitational Lenses. My name is Aprajita Verma and I am a researcher at the University of Oxford. I primarily work on galaxies at high redshift trying to understand their nature as we see them, how they began their lives and postulating about their fate.
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As an initial attempt, we applied for observing time for IFS observations with the 8m Gemini Telescope in Chile (see www.gemini.edu). This is one of the world’s largest telescope with a twin telescope (hence the name Gemini) in the northern hemisphere on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
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... Some of you may have had some interaction with me on the GalaxyZoo Forum on the topic of Gravitational Lenses. My name is Aprajita Verma and I am a researcher at the University of Oxford. I primarily work on galaxies at high redshift trying to understand their nature as we see them, how they began their lives and postulating about their fate.
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As an initial attempt, we applied for observing time for IFS observations with the 8m Gemini Telescope in Chile (see www.gemini.edu). This is one of the world’s largest telescope with a twin telescope (hence the name Gemini) in the northern hemisphere on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
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Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Siamese Galaxies and Toothy Fish
June 27, 2008 - New York Times
Siamese twin galaxies. Ninety million light-years away from us, these two, almost identical spiral galaxies, NGC5427, left, and NGC 5426, look like they're doing a do-si-do in the Virgo constellation. The image was taken by the Gemini South telescope in Chile. Although they look like they're just passing by each other, the gravitational tugging has already begun to reshape the two galaxies and set off a wave of star formation. In about 100 million years, the two will merge into one elliptical galaxy.
(Editor's Note: A previous version of this slide show referred incorrectly to the position of the galaxies. They are 90 million light-years away from us, not 90 million light-years apart.)
Siamese twin galaxies. Ninety million light-years away from us, these two, almost identical spiral galaxies, NGC5427, left, and NGC 5426, look like they're doing a do-si-do in the Virgo constellation. The image was taken by the Gemini South telescope in Chile. Although they look like they're just passing by each other, the gravitational tugging has already begun to reshape the two galaxies and set off a wave of star formation. In about 100 million years, the two will merge into one elliptical galaxy.
(Editor's Note: A previous version of this slide show referred incorrectly to the position of the galaxies. They are 90 million light-years away from us, not 90 million light-years apart.)
June 22, 2008
June 27, 2008 - MSNBC
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For a different kind of celestial crack-up, check out the Gemini Observatory's picture of a collision between two nearly identical spiral galaxies in the constellation Virgo, 90 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers have charted the gravitational interaction between NGC 5426 and NGC 5427, and say the galactic dance may serve as a preview of our own Milky Way galaxy's encounter with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy billions of years from now.
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For a different kind of celestial crack-up, check out the Gemini Observatory's picture of a collision between two nearly identical spiral galaxies in the constellation Virgo, 90 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers have charted the gravitational interaction between NGC 5426 and NGC 5427, and say the galactic dance may serve as a preview of our own Milky Way galaxy's encounter with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy billions of years from now.
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Siamese Twin Galaxies In A Gravitational Embrace
June 22, 2008 - ScienceDaily
In what appears to be a masterful illusion, astronomers at Gemini Observatory have imaged two nearly identical spiral galaxies in Virgo, 90 million light years distant, in the early stages of a gentle gravitational embrace.
The new image was obtained at the Gemini South telescope in Chile using GMOS, the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph.
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Three new projects aim to capture a first: an image of a planet orbiting a star outside the solar system
June 20, 2008 - Science News
In the 13 years since the first discovery of a planet orbiting a sunlike star outside our solar system, astronomers have found about 300 such “extrasolar” planets, but still have no pictures of any of them.
These 300 orbs have only been detected indirectly: by the wobble of a parent star as an orbiting planet tugs on it, for example, or by minieclipses a planet generates as it passes in front of its star. But none of the current methods allow an astronomer to actually see the planet. With the first optical system devoted to extrasolar imaging set to begin surveying the heavens this summer — and with two other systems scheduled to come online by early 2011 — astronomers could get their first real image of such a planet within the next three years, and perhaps much sooner. “The pace is accelerating,” says Michael Liu of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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Efforts to image a planet beyond the solar system are heating up on two mountaintop observatories in Chile. Early last year, a new instrument arrived at the Gemini South Observatory atop Cerro Pachon. The Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager is the first adaptive optics system designed solely to image planets. “We’ve had general purpose adaptive optics instruments, but NICI is the first built from end to end for this express goal,” Liu say.
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Two successors to NICI are now in development. The Gemini Planet Imager is expected to begin operation at Gemini South by 2011, around the same time that a similar device, called SPHERE, for Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research, is installed at another Chilean observatory, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope atop Paranal.
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In the 13 years since the first discovery of a planet orbiting a sunlike star outside our solar system, astronomers have found about 300 such “extrasolar” planets, but still have no pictures of any of them.
These 300 orbs have only been detected indirectly: by the wobble of a parent star as an orbiting planet tugs on it, for example, or by minieclipses a planet generates as it passes in front of its star. But none of the current methods allow an astronomer to actually see the planet. With the first optical system devoted to extrasolar imaging set to begin surveying the heavens this summer — and with two other systems scheduled to come online by early 2011 — astronomers could get their first real image of such a planet within the next three years, and perhaps much sooner. “The pace is accelerating,” says Michael Liu of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
...
Efforts to image a planet beyond the solar system are heating up on two mountaintop observatories in Chile. Early last year, a new instrument arrived at the Gemini South Observatory atop Cerro Pachon. The Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager is the first adaptive optics system designed solely to image planets. “We’ve had general purpose adaptive optics instruments, but NICI is the first built from end to end for this express goal,” Liu say.
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Two successors to NICI are now in development. The Gemini Planet Imager is expected to begin operation at Gemini South by 2011, around the same time that a similar device, called SPHERE, for Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research, is installed at another Chilean observatory, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope atop Paranal.
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Thursday, May 29, 2008
International Gemini Observatory Captures Birth of a Supernova
May 28, 2008 - National Science Foundation
Astronomers have before observed the aftermath of spectacular stellar explosions known as supernovae. But last week researchers for the first time witnessed a star dying in real time.
While observing supernova 2007uy with the Swift X-ray Telescope, Alicia Soderberg and Edo Berger from Princeton University discovered a mysterious X-ray flash elsewhere in the galaxy NGC 2770 located about 90 million light years away. Within a few hours observatories around the world scrambled to study its light.
In a rapid sequence of events, the Gemini North telescope was able to capture and dissect the object's light in a set of optical spectra that contains the earliest spectrum ever obtained of a massive star ending its life in a supernova explosion outside of our galaxy's neighborhood.
"We were in the right place at the right time with the right telescope on January 9, and witnessed history," said Soderberg. "Thanks to the unique capabilities of the Swift satellite and the rapid response of the Gemini telescope, we were able to observe a star in the act of dying."
The result of this rapid response, following the Jan. 9, 2008 discovery, allowed Gemini to provide time-critical spectroscopic observations of the young supernova and the development of the explosion in a unique sequence of optical spectra using Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
For more information, go to the Gemini Observatory Press Release.
Astronomers have before observed the aftermath of spectacular stellar explosions known as supernovae. But last week researchers for the first time witnessed a star dying in real time.
While observing supernova 2007uy with the Swift X-ray Telescope, Alicia Soderberg and Edo Berger from Princeton University discovered a mysterious X-ray flash elsewhere in the galaxy NGC 2770 located about 90 million light years away. Within a few hours observatories around the world scrambled to study its light.
In a rapid sequence of events, the Gemini North telescope was able to capture and dissect the object's light in a set of optical spectra that contains the earliest spectrum ever obtained of a massive star ending its life in a supernova explosion outside of our galaxy's neighborhood.
"We were in the right place at the right time with the right telescope on January 9, and witnessed history," said Soderberg. "Thanks to the unique capabilities of the Swift satellite and the rapid response of the Gemini telescope, we were able to observe a star in the act of dying."
The result of this rapid response, following the Jan. 9, 2008 discovery, allowed Gemini to provide time-critical spectroscopic observations of the young supernova and the development of the explosion in a unique sequence of optical spectra using Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
For more information, go to the Gemini Observatory Press Release.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Couple make rare find: a supernova ready to flame out
Los Angeles Times - May 22, 2008
A pair of young astronomers have captured for the first time the earliest death throes of a supernova, verifying a decades-old theory about how the giant stars commit stellar suicide.
While scanning a galaxy 90 million light-years away, the soon-to-be-married couple noticed a sudden eruption of X-rays from a spot in the constellation Lynx.
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The discovery was the beginning of a frantic quest to confirm the observation.
First, Soderberg, who received her doctorate in astrophysics from Caltech in 2007 and is also a Carnegie-Princeton fellow, drafted a proposal asking for confirmation from the Gemini Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. She also began writing the scientific paper that will be published today in the journal Nature.
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A pair of young astronomers have captured for the first time the earliest death throes of a supernova, verifying a decades-old theory about how the giant stars commit stellar suicide.
While scanning a galaxy 90 million light-years away, the soon-to-be-married couple noticed a sudden eruption of X-rays from a spot in the constellation Lynx.
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The discovery was the beginning of a frantic quest to confirm the observation.
First, Soderberg, who received her doctorate in astrophysics from Caltech in 2007 and is also a Carnegie-Princeton fellow, drafted a proposal asking for confirmation from the Gemini Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. She also began writing the scientific paper that will be published today in the journal Nature.
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Observation Of X-rays From Birth Of Supernova Leads To All-out Effort To Record Stellar Death
ScienceDaily - May 21, 2008
The lucky capture in January of an X-ray outburst from the very beginning of a supernova allowed astronomers around the world to quickly follow up with ground-based telescopes and collect a wealth of new information on early processes in stellar explosions, according to a paper newly submitted to The Astrophysical Journal.
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Once the supernova was announced widely, astronomers at many observatories turned their telescopes on SN 2008D. Modjaz helped organize observations by the Mt. Hopkins telescope in Arizona and the Gemini South telescope in Chile, while UC Berkeley professor of astronomy Alex Filippenko organized observations at the University of California's Lick Observatory, on Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, where his Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) had independently captured the visible light from the supernova.
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The lucky capture in January of an X-ray outburst from the very beginning of a supernova allowed astronomers around the world to quickly follow up with ground-based telescopes and collect a wealth of new information on early processes in stellar explosions, according to a paper newly submitted to The Astrophysical Journal.
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Once the supernova was announced widely, astronomers at many observatories turned their telescopes on SN 2008D. Modjaz helped organize observations by the Mt. Hopkins telescope in Arizona and the Gemini South telescope in Chile, while UC Berkeley professor of astronomy Alex Filippenko organized observations at the University of California's Lick Observatory, on Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, where his Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) had independently captured the visible light from the supernova.
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Astronomers Witness Supernova's First Moments
Scientific American - May 21, 2008
Astronomers have observed for the first time the thunderclap of x-rays that announces a star has exploded into a supernova. Researchers monitoring spiral galaxy NGC 2770, approximately 88 million light-years away, observed a brief but intense flash of x-rays in early January, followed by a prolonged afterglow of visible and ultraviolet light—the hallmark of a supernova.
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To confirm that it was really a supernova, she and her co-workers followed up two days later with the eight-meter (26-foot) Gemini North Telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The supernova glowed visibly for about 20 days, and the pattern of light indicated that the supernova was a type called IIbc, born from a star rich in helium.
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Astronomers have observed for the first time the thunderclap of x-rays that announces a star has exploded into a supernova. Researchers monitoring spiral galaxy NGC 2770, approximately 88 million light-years away, observed a brief but intense flash of x-rays in early January, followed by a prolonged afterglow of visible and ultraviolet light—the hallmark of a supernova.
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To confirm that it was really a supernova, she and her co-workers followed up two days later with the eight-meter (26-foot) Gemini North Telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The supernova glowed visibly for about 20 days, and the pattern of light indicated that the supernova was a type called IIbc, born from a star rich in helium.
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Strange Spinning Star Stumps Astronomers
ScienceDaily - May 16, 2008
Astronomers have discovered a speedy spinning pulsar in an elongated orbit around an apparent Sun-like star, a combination never seen before, and one that has them puzzled about how the strange system developed.
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Astronomers first detected the pulsar, called J1903+0327, as part of a long-term survey using the National Science Foundation's Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. They made the discovery in 2006 doing data analysis at McGill University, where Champion worked at the time. They followed up the discovery with detailed studies using the Arecibo telescope, the NSF's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, the Westerbork radio telescope in the Netherlands, and the Gemini North optical telescope in Hawaii.
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Astronomers have discovered a speedy spinning pulsar in an elongated orbit around an apparent Sun-like star, a combination never seen before, and one that has them puzzled about how the strange system developed.
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Astronomers first detected the pulsar, called J1903+0327, as part of a long-term survey using the National Science Foundation's Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. They made the discovery in 2006 doing data analysis at McGill University, where Champion worked at the time. They followed up the discovery with detailed studies using the Arecibo telescope, the NSF's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, the Westerbork radio telescope in the Netherlands, and the Gemini North optical telescope in Hawaii.
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Eccentric pulsar system challenges theories of binary formation
PhysOrg.com - May 15, 2008
The discovery is reported today (May 15) in Science Express, the online site for the journal Science, by David Champion of the Australia Telescope.
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Astronomers first detected the JI903+0327 in October 2005 as part of Arecibo's Pulsar ALFA (Arecibo L-band Feed Array) or PALFA Survey, an ongoing sky survey using ALFA -- a system of detectors with seven feeds that enables researchers to image large swaths of sky. Follow-up observations of the pulsar and its companion star used Arecibo, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in the Netherlands and the Gemini North Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii.
The discovery is reported today (May 15) in Science Express, the online site for the journal Science, by David Champion of the Australia Telescope.
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Astronomers first detected the JI903+0327 in October 2005 as part of Arecibo's Pulsar ALFA (Arecibo L-band Feed Array) or PALFA Survey, an ongoing sky survey using ALFA -- a system of detectors with seven feeds that enables researchers to image large swaths of sky. Follow-up observations of the pulsar and its companion star used Arecibo, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in the Netherlands and the Gemini North Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Tiny Young Galaxies "Full of Stars" Discovered
April 30, 2008 - National Geographic
A newly discovered type of young galaxy has astronomers echoing David Bowman's famous last words in the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey: "My God, it's full of stars."
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Using the Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the team was able to measure the sizes of the distant, compact galaxies.
Further observations with the Gemini South Telescope Near-Infrared Spectrograph in Chile showed that even though the galaxies were young, they had already finished the phase of intense star formation.
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A newly discovered type of young galaxy has astronomers echoing David Bowman's famous last words in the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey: "My God, it's full of stars."
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Using the Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the team was able to measure the sizes of the distant, compact galaxies.
Further observations with the Gemini South Telescope Near-Infrared Spectrograph in Chile showed that even though the galaxies were young, they had already finished the phase of intense star formation.
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Young galaxies are a star-packed puzzle
April 29, 2008 - USA Today
Several newfound galaxies seen as they existed when the universe was young are packed with improbable numbers of stars
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Van Dokkum and his colleagues had previously studied the galaxies in 2006 with the Gemini South Telescope to determine their distances, and showed that the stars are a half a billion to a billion years old. The most massive stars had already exploded as supernovae.
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Several newfound galaxies seen as they existed when the universe was young are packed with improbable numbers of stars
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Van Dokkum and his colleagues had previously studied the galaxies in 2006 with the Gemini South Telescope to determine their distances, and showed that the stars are a half a billion to a billion years old. The most massive stars had already exploded as supernovae.
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Ultra-dense Galaxies Found In Early Universe
April 29, 2008 - ScienceDaily
A team of astronomers looking at the universe's distant past found nine young, unusually compact galaxies, each weighing in at 200 billion times the mass of the Sun. These young galaxies are the equivalent of a human baby that is 20 inches long, yet weighs 180 pounds.
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In 2006, the research team also studied the galaxies with the Gemini South Telescope Near-Infrared Spectrograph, on Cerro Pachon in the Chilean Andes. Those observations provided the galaxies' distances and showed that the stars are a half a billion to a billion years old, and that the most massive stars had already exploded as supernovae.
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A team of astronomers looking at the universe's distant past found nine young, unusually compact galaxies, each weighing in at 200 billion times the mass of the Sun. These young galaxies are the equivalent of a human baby that is 20 inches long, yet weighs 180 pounds.
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In 2006, the research team also studied the galaxies with the Gemini South Telescope Near-Infrared Spectrograph, on Cerro Pachon in the Chilean Andes. Those observations provided the galaxies' distances and showed that the stars are a half a billion to a billion years old, and that the most massive stars had already exploded as supernovae.
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Ancient supernova leaves an echo 400 years later
April 21, 2008 - USA Today
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Astronomers recently captured a supernova's blinding flash "echoing" off dust 400 light-years from the detonation site in the Large Magellanic Cloud — which means Earthly observers may have seen the original blast 400 years ago. Because a star's death rattle produced the light, scientists can use the new observations to effectively peer into the past.
"We have a chance here to see the supernova in both the past and the present," said Armin Rest, an astronomer at Harvard University who co-authored one of two new studies on supernovae. "We can see light from the blast bouncing off of dust, and we can also see the supernova remnants. It's kind of like having a time machine."
Rest and other astronomers used NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory, Europe's XMM-Newton observatory and the Gemini observatory to gather their findings, detailed in two studies in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
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Astronomers recently captured a supernova's blinding flash "echoing" off dust 400 light-years from the detonation site in the Large Magellanic Cloud — which means Earthly observers may have seen the original blast 400 years ago. Because a star's death rattle produced the light, scientists can use the new observations to effectively peer into the past.
"We have a chance here to see the supernova in both the past and the present," said Armin Rest, an astronomer at Harvard University who co-authored one of two new studies on supernovae. "We can see light from the blast bouncing off of dust, and we can also see the supernova remnants. It's kind of like having a time machine."
Rest and other astronomers used NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory, Europe's XMM-Newton observatory and the Gemini observatory to gather their findings, detailed in two studies in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Coolest Star Ever Detected
April 11, 2008 - Discovery Channel
A dim, lonely, weakling star with the lowest stellar temperature yet recorded has been found just 40 light-years from Earth.
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For that reason, the astronomers identified and studied CFBDS0059 with near-infrared and infrared instruments of the Canada France Hawaii and Gemini North telescopes in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory's NTT telescope in Chile.
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A dim, lonely, weakling star with the lowest stellar temperature yet recorded has been found just 40 light-years from Earth.
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For that reason, the astronomers identified and studied CFBDS0059 with near-infrared and infrared instruments of the Canada France Hawaii and Gemini North telescopes in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory's NTT telescope in Chile.
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Spitzer Sees Shining Stellar Sphere; Omega Centauri Looks Radiant In Infrared
April 11, 2008 - ScienceDaily
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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Gemini Observatory on Cerro Pachon in Chile recently found evidence that Omega Centauri is home to a medium-sized black hole.
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NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Gemini Observatory on Cerro Pachon in Chile recently found evidence that Omega Centauri is home to a medium-sized black hole.
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
If it's not a planet or a star, what is it?
April 10, 2008 - MSNBC
Brown dwarfs are the oddballs of the cosmos, more massive than planets but not heavy enough to generate the thermonuclear fusion that powers real stars. Now astronomers have found the coldest brown dwarf to date.
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The brown dwarf, named CFBDS J005910.83-011401.3, is about 40 light-years from our solar system. It was found by an international team using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and Gemini North Telescope, both located in Hawaii, and the a European Southern Observatory telescope in Chile.
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Brown dwarfs are the oddballs of the cosmos, more massive than planets but not heavy enough to generate the thermonuclear fusion that powers real stars. Now astronomers have found the coldest brown dwarf to date.
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The brown dwarf, named CFBDS J005910.83-011401.3, is about 40 light-years from our solar system. It was found by an international team using the Canada France Hawaii Telescope and Gemini North Telescope, both located in Hawaii, and the a European Southern Observatory telescope in Chile.
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Coldest Brown Dwarf Ever Observed: Closing The Gap Between Stars And Planets
April 10, 2008 - ScienceDaily
An international team led by French and Canadian astronomers has just discovered the coldest brown dwarf ever observed. Their results will soon be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. This new finding was made possible by the performance of telescopes worldwide: Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and Gemini North Telescope, both located in Hawaii, and the ESO/NTT located in Chile.
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An international team led by French and Canadian astronomers has just discovered the coldest brown dwarf ever observed. Their results will soon be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. This new finding was made possible by the performance of telescopes worldwide: Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and Gemini North Telescope, both located in Hawaii, and the ESO/NTT located in Chile.
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Monday, April 7, 2008
Black Hole Found In Omega Centauri
April 4, 2008 - Science Daily
Omega Centauri has been known as an unusual globular cluster for a long time. A new result obtained by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Observatory reveals that the explanation behind omega Centauri's peculiarities may be a black hole hidden in its centre.
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Omega Centauri has been known as an unusual globular cluster for a long time. A new result obtained by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Observatory reveals that the explanation behind omega Centauri's peculiarities may be a black hole hidden in its centre.
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Astronomers Find Suspected Medium-Size Black Hole in Omega Centauri
April 2, 2008 - HubbleSite
... Astronomers at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany and the University of Texas at Austin have reported on the possible detection of an intermediate-mass black hole in the core of Omega Centauri.
The result is primarily based on spectroscopic measurements obtained with the Gemini South observatory in Chile which suggest the stars are moving around the central core of the cluster at higher than expected velocities. ...
... Astronomers at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany and the University of Texas at Austin have reported on the possible detection of an intermediate-mass black hole in the core of Omega Centauri.
The result is primarily based on spectroscopic measurements obtained with the Gemini South observatory in Chile which suggest the stars are moving around the central core of the cluster at higher than expected velocities. ...
Friday, March 14, 2008
WILDCAT WANDERINGS: District offers adult education this spring
March 8, 2008 - The Weekly Almanac, PA
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The program that caught my eye was Exploring the Universe: Gemini Observatory. Exploring the Universe is a two-hour session that will connect to the Gemini Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii. This observatory consists of twin telescopes located on two of the best sites on Earth for observing space. Together, these telescopes can project the entire night sky to us, live from Hawaii.
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The program that caught my eye was Exploring the Universe: Gemini Observatory. Exploring the Universe is a two-hour session that will connect to the Gemini Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii. This observatory consists of twin telescopes located on two of the best sites on Earth for observing space. Together, these telescopes can project the entire night sky to us, live from Hawaii.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Supernova Outbreak: X rays signal earliest alert
March 8, 2008 - ScienceNews Online
Thanks to a lucky break and an overactive galaxy, astronomers have for the first time caught a massive star in the act of exploding. An X-ray outburst recently recorded by NASA's Swift satellite suggests that researchers began viewing the violent demise of a star in the galaxy NGC 2770 just a few seconds after the first X rays arrived at Earth, and hours before the first visible-light fireworks.
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On Jan. 9, Soderberg and her colleagues were using an X-ray telescope on Swift to study a supernova in NGC 2770 that had been discovered 10 days earlier. Just as Swift began observations of this supernova, it recorded a fresh spike of X rays from another region in the galaxy that lasted for about 7 minutes. On Jan. 11, using the Gemini North telescope on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, Soderberg and her colleagues identified the visible-light fingerprint of the new supernova, now dubbed SN 2008d, in NGC 2770.
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Thanks to a lucky break and an overactive galaxy, astronomers have for the first time caught a massive star in the act of exploding. An X-ray outburst recently recorded by NASA's Swift satellite suggests that researchers began viewing the violent demise of a star in the galaxy NGC 2770 just a few seconds after the first X rays arrived at Earth, and hours before the first visible-light fireworks.
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On Jan. 9, Soderberg and her colleagues were using an X-ray telescope on Swift to study a supernova in NGC 2770 that had been discovered 10 days earlier. Just as Swift began observations of this supernova, it recorded a fresh spike of X rays from another region in the galaxy that lasted for about 7 minutes. On Jan. 11, using the Gemini North telescope on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, Soderberg and her colleagues identified the visible-light fingerprint of the new supernova, now dubbed SN 2008d, in NGC 2770.
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UK scientists keep access to the Gemini telescopes
March 5, 2008 - Nature News
Britain has reached an agreement that will allow UK astronomers continued access to the Gemini Observatory.
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Britain has reached an agreement that will allow UK astronomers continued access to the Gemini Observatory.
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Friday, February 29, 2008
UK astronomers on 'rollercoaster'
February 27, 2008 - BBC News
Britain has been re-instated as a full member of the Gemini Observatory, meaning its astronomers can continue to use two of the world's best telescopes.
(Click the title for more...)
Britain has been re-instated as a full member of the Gemini Observatory, meaning its astronomers can continue to use two of the world's best telescopes.
(Click the title for more...)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
UK Restores Gemini Commitment
Sky & Telescope - February 15, 2008
British professional astronomers are no doubt relieved to learn that the United Kingdom's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has forestalled ending ties with Gemini Observatory, a pair of identical 8-meter optical/infrared telescopes in Chile and Hawaii.
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British professional astronomers are no doubt relieved to learn that the United Kingdom's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has forestalled ending ties with Gemini Observatory, a pair of identical 8-meter optical/infrared telescopes in Chile and Hawaii.
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Prospects look up for UK astronomers
New Scientist - February 12, 2008
Finally, there's some good news for UK astronomers, who have been reeling from recent budget cuts that had threatened to cut off their access to the twin 8-metre Gemini telescopes in Chile and Hawaii. Now, the UK will be allowed to use the telescopes until at least July – and may be able to negotiate access after that, according to a BBC news story.
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Finally, there's some good news for UK astronomers, who have been reeling from recent budget cuts that had threatened to cut off their access to the twin 8-metre Gemini telescopes in Chile and Hawaii. Now, the UK will be allowed to use the telescopes until at least July – and may be able to negotiate access after that, according to a BBC news story.
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Astronomers given Gemini reprieve
BBC News - February 12, 2008
British astronomers have been given a temporary reprieve over their access to two of the world's finest telescopes.
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British astronomers have been given a temporary reprieve over their access to two of the world's finest telescopes.
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Thursday, February 7, 2008
Double Supernova Remnants DEM L316
Astronomy Picture of the Day - Jan. 28, 2008
Are these two supernova shells related? To help find out, the 8-meter Gemini Telescope located high atop a mountain in Chile was pointed at the unusual, huge, double-lobed cloud dubbed DEM L316. The resulting image, shown above, yields tremendous detail.
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Monday, January 28, 2008
UK shut out of Gemini telescope
Nature.com - Jan. 28, 2008
The Gemini Observatory has rejected a bid to allow UK astronomers continued access to one of its two telescopes.
The rejection means the astronomers will be very restricted in their ability to view much of the northern sky, says Michael Rowan-Robinson, president of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. "Obviously, we're very disappointed."
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The Gemini Observatory has rejected a bid to allow UK astronomers continued access to one of its two telescopes.
The rejection means the astronomers will be very restricted in their ability to view much of the northern sky, says Michael Rowan-Robinson, president of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. "Obviously, we're very disappointed."
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Skies dim for British astronomers
BBC News - Jan. 26, 2008
UK astronomers will lose access to two of the world's finest telescopes in February, as administrators look to plug an £80m hole in their finances.
Observation programmes on the 8.1m telescopes of the Gemini organisation will end abruptly because Britain is cancelling its subscription.
It means UK astronomers can no longer view the Northern Hemisphere sky with the largest class of telescope.
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UK astronomers will lose access to two of the world's finest telescopes in February, as administrators look to plug an £80m hole in their finances.
Observation programmes on the 8.1m telescopes of the Gemini organisation will end abruptly because Britain is cancelling its subscription.
It means UK astronomers can no longer view the Northern Hemisphere sky with the largest class of telescope.
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
NASA and Gemini Probe Mysterious Explosion in the Distant Past
Reuters - Jan. 8, 2008
GREENBELT, Md., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 7.4 billion years ago, more than halfway back to the Big Bang.
"This discovery dramatically moves back the time at which we know short GRBs were exploding. The short burst is almost twice as far as the previous confirmed record holder," says John Graham of the Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Md. Graham is presenting his group's discovery on Tuesday in a poster at the American Astronomical Society's 2008 winter meeting in Austin, Texas.
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GREENBELT, Md., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 7.4 billion years ago, more than halfway back to the Big Bang.
"This discovery dramatically moves back the time at which we know short GRBs were exploding. The short burst is almost twice as far as the previous confirmed record holder," says John Graham of the Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Md. Graham is presenting his group's discovery on Tuesday in a poster at the American Astronomical Society's 2008 winter meeting in Austin, Texas.
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Intergalactic 'Shot In The Dark' Shocks Astronomers
ScienceDaily - Dec. 18, 2007
When a shot is fired, one expects to see a person with a gun. In the same way, whenever a giant star explodes, astronomers expect to see a galaxy of stars surrounding the site of the blast. This comes right out of basic astronomy, since almost all stars in our universe belong to galaxies. But a stellar explosion seen last January has shocked astronomers because when they looked for the star’s parent galaxy, they saw nothing at all. The explosion took place in the middle of nowhere, far away from any detectable galaxy...
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Using the team's robotic 60-inch telescope at Palomar Observatory in Calif., the astronomers discovered that the burst had a bright afterglow that was fading fast. They observed the afterglow in detail with two of the world's largest telescopes, the Gemini North telescope and the Keck I telescope, both near the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea.
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When a shot is fired, one expects to see a person with a gun. In the same way, whenever a giant star explodes, astronomers expect to see a galaxy of stars surrounding the site of the blast. This comes right out of basic astronomy, since almost all stars in our universe belong to galaxies. But a stellar explosion seen last January has shocked astronomers because when they looked for the star’s parent galaxy, they saw nothing at all. The explosion took place in the middle of nowhere, far away from any detectable galaxy...
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Using the team's robotic 60-inch telescope at Palomar Observatory in Calif., the astronomers discovered that the burst had a bright afterglow that was fading fast. They observed the afterglow in detail with two of the world's largest telescopes, the Gemini North telescope and the Keck I telescope, both near the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea.
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