Latest The Universe Stories

A giant star in a faraway galaxy recently ended its life with a dust-shrouded whimper instead of the more typical bang.Ohio State University researchers suspect that this odd event -- the first one of its kind ever viewed by astronomers "“ was more common early in the universe.It also hints at what we would see if the brightest star system in our galaxy became a supernova.In a paper published online in the Astrophysical Journal, Christopher Kochanek, a professor of astronomy at Ohio State,...

 Although WISE has 'warmed up,' NASA has decided the mission will still continue. WISE will now focus on our nearest neighbors -- the asteroids and comets traveling together with our solar system's planets around the sun."Two of our four infrared detectors still work even at warmer temperatures, so we can use those bands to continue our hunt for asteroids and comets," said Amy Mainzer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Mainzer is the principal investigator of...

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Two of the most influential men in science history shared the view that a powerful reasoning God Created the universe. The Hubble telescope now confirms their views by the discoveries it has made over the past two decades while photographing an Awe-Inspiring Drama of Creation as it reveals an incomprehensible power. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100928/FL72150 ) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100928/FL72150 ) "That deep...

Britain has officially opened the first station in a new global radio astronomy antenna network.  Dubbed LOFAR (Low Frequency Array), the European project will employ new digital techniques to simultaneously survey large portions of space.The new station in Britain joins similar installations in Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Scientists hope the new network will enable them to explore the formation of the very first stars in the universe."In traditional arrays, you have...

What can scientists hope to learn in the coming decade about the most basic questions about the cosmos and our place in it "“ from extraterrestrial life to the evolution of the Universe "“ while keeping to an earthbound budget?That's the question at the heart of Astro2010, the new decadal survey of astronomy and astrophysics sponsored by the National Research Council that provides direction for federal funding of research in these fields for the next ten years. Shortly after the survey...

Cluster has spent a decade revealing previously hidden interactions between the Sun and Earth. Its studies have uncovered secrets of the aurora, solar storms, and given us insight into fundamental processes that occur across the Universe. And there is more work to do. The aurora, those dancing lights in the polar skies, are but the visible manifestation of an invisible battle taking place above our heads. Supersonic particles from the Sun collide with our planet's magnetic field every day....

Astronomers believe they have discovered the origin of our universe's first super-massive black holes, which formed some 13 billion years ago.The discovery fills in a missing chapter of our universe's early history, and could help write the next chapter -- in which scientists better understand how gravity and dark matter formed the universe as we know it.In the journal Nature, Ohio State University astronomer Stelios Kazantzidis and colleagues describe computer simulations in which they...

It's not easy to get to a galaxy far, far away using engines powered by just liquid hydrogen and oxygen. So, NASA should develop a hyperdrive that would power astronauts through the cosmos at light speed, "Star Wars" makers and fans advised agency representatives Aug. 13 during the movie franchise's Celebration V in Orlando, Fla."The ultimate would be being able to travel faster than the speed of light and the whole hyperspace business that science fiction writers have been writing about...

The chemical breakdown of minerals that may be lurking in space dust soon will be available to scientists around the world.Because space dust contains the basic ingredients that form planets, the University of Central Florida physicists' analysis could provide important clues about how the solar system formed and how life emerged.For decades, astrophysicists have been studying these clouds of dust, which contain ices, silicate minerals and iron compounds. But until the UCF team started...

"˜Benford beacons' concept could refocus search for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial lifeFor 50 years, humans have scanned the skies with radio telescopes for distant electronic signals indicating the existence of intelligent alien life. The search "” centered at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. "” has tapped into our collective fascination with the concept that we may not be alone in the universe.But the effort has so far proved fruitless, and the scientific community...