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.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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. ...