News tagged with astronomical observatory

Serious blow to dark matter theories? New study finds mysterious lack of dark matter in Sun's neighborhood

(Phys.org) -- The most accurate study so far of the motions of stars in the Milky Way has found no evidence for dark matter in a large volume around the Sun. According to widely accepted theories, the solar ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (45) | comments 164 | with audio podcast

Backyard astronomer in Ireland finds supernova

(PhysOrg.com) -- An amateur astronomer working from his backyard shed in Ireland was the first in the world to spot a supernova explosion last month. The discovery is the biggest ever in amateur astronomy ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 08, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (26) | comments 13 | with audio podcast report

Galaxy-Sized Observatory for Gravitational Waves

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers are making plans to create a galaxy-sized observatory to look for gravitational waves. The project is part of a joint effort with astronomers from Australia and Europe, who also ...

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 17, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (14) | comments 14 weblog

Astronomers find coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth

The search for the best observatory site in the world has lead to the discovery of what is thought to be the coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth. No human is thought to have ever been there but it is expected to yield ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Aug 31, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (46) | comments 19

World's observatories watching 'cool' star

The Whole Earth Telescope (WET), a worldwide network of observatories coordinated by the University of Delaware, is synchronizing its lenses to provide round-the-clock coverage of a cooling star. As the star ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 15, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (18) | comments 3

Astronomers find most crowded collision of galaxy clusters

The most crowded collision of galaxy clusters has been identified by combining information from three different telescopes. This result gives scientists a chance to learn what happens when some of the largest ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 16, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (26) | comments 7

Spitzer finds galaxy with split personality

(Phys.org) -- While some galaxies are rotund and others are slender disks like our spiral Milky Way, new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show that the Sombrero galaxy is both. The galaxy, ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Japan astronomers find most distant galaxy cluster

Japanese astronomers said Wednesday they had found a cluster of galaxies 12.72 billion light-years away from Earth, which they claim is the most distant cluster ever discovered.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (15) | comments 34

Earth’s other moons

(PhysOrg.com) -- Earth usually has more than one moon, according to a team of astronomers from the University of Helsinki, the Paris Observatory and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 04, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (34) | comments 19 | with audio podcast

Citizen scientists reveal a bubbly Milky Way

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of volunteers has pored over observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and discovered more than 5,000 "bubbles" in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy. Young, hot stars blow these ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 07, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

ALMA early science result reveals starving galaxies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers using the partially completed ALMA observatory have found compelling evidence for how star-forming galaxies evolve into 'red and dead' elliptical galaxies, catching a large group ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 11, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Subaru's sharp eye confirms signs of unseen planets in the dust ring of HR 4796 A

(PhysOrg.com) -- The SEEDS (Strategic Exploration of Exoplanets and Disks with Subaru Telescope/HiCIAO) project, a five-year international collaboration launched in 2009 and led by Motohide Tamura of NAOJ ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Caltech-led team of astronomers finds 18 new planets

Discoveries of new planets just keep coming and coming. Take, for instance, the 18 recently found by a team of astronomers led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 02, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (15) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Listening to the stars

It is almost night on the island of Puerto Rico. Astronomer Joanna Rankin raises her head toward the sky. A few of the brightest stars shine through blue cracks in a ragged dome of gray clouds. To her back, ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Swift finds a gamma-ray burst with a dual personality (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A peculiar cosmic explosion first detected by NASA's Swift observatory on Christmas Day 2010 was caused either by a novel type of supernova located billions of light-years away or an unusual ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 30, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (8) | comments 3 | with audio podcast