News tagged with astrophysicist

Nasa receives widespread concepts for future Mars missions

NASA's call to scientists and engineers to help plan a new strategy to explore Mars has resulted in almost double the amount of expected submissions with unique and bold ideas.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 3

Three-telescope interferometry allows astrophysicists to observe how black holes are fueled

(Phys.org) -- By combining the light of three powerful infrared telescopes, an international research team has observed the active accretion phase of a supermassive black hole in the center of a galaxy tens ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 16, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (13) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Penn astrophysicists zero in on gravity theory

(Phys.org) -- Most people take gravity for granted. But for University of Pennsylvania astrophysicist Bhuvnesh Jain, the nature of gravity is the question of a lifetime. As scientists have been able to see ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 11, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (39) | comments 255 | with audio podcast

Space diamonds reveal supernova origins

Space diamonds may now be an astrophysicist's best friend.

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Feb 15, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

How black holes grow: New study indicates they eat binary star partners

A study led by a University of Utah astrophysicist found a new explanation for the growth of supermassive black holes in the center of most galaxies: they repeatedly capture and swallow single stars from pairs ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Our galaxy might hold thousands of ticking 'time bombs'

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the Hollywood blockbuster "Speed," a bomb on a bus is rigged to blow up if the bus slows down below 50 miles per hour. The premise - slow down and you explode - makes for a great action ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 06, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (22) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

Flipping hot Jupiters: Why some planets orbit the wrong way

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the last few years astronomers have observed that in some extrasolar systems the star is spinning one way and the planet, a "hot Jupiter," is orbiting the star in the opposite direction. ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 11, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 23 | with audio podcast

Disaster looms for gas cloud falling into Milky Way's central black hole

The normally quiet neighborhood around the massive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is being invaded by a gas cloud that is destined in just a few years to be ripped, shredded and largely eaten.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 14, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 55 | with audio podcast

Fermi telescope spots 'superflares' in the Crab Nebula (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The famous Crab Nebula supernova remnant has erupted in an enormous flare five times more powerful than any flare previously seen from the object. On April 12, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 12, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 17 | with audio podcast

Hubble observations of supernova reveal composition of 'star guts' pouring out

Observations made with NASA's newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope of a nearby supernova are allowing astronomers to measure the velocity and composition of "star guts" being ejected into space following ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 02, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (17) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Gamma-ray bursts' highest power side unveiled by Fermi telescope

(PhysOrg.com) -- Detectable for only a few seconds but possessing enormous energy, gamma-ray bursts are difficult to capture because their energy does not penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. Now, thanks to an orbiting telescope, ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 19, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 25 | with audio podcast

Runaway planets zoom at a fraction of light speed

Seven years ago, astronomers boggled when they found the first runaway star flying out of our Galaxy at a speed of 1.5 million miles per hour. The discovery intrigued theorists, who wondered: If a star can ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (18) | comments 22 | with audio podcast

Microscopic worms could hold the key to living life on Mars

The astrophysicist Stephen Hawking believes that if humanity is to survive we will have to pull up sticks and colonise space. But is the human body up to the challenge?

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 30, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Backwards Black Holes Might Make Bigger Jets

(PhysOrg.com) -- Going against the grain may turn out to be a powerful move for black holes. New research suggests supermassive black holes that spin backwards might produce more ferocious jets of gas. The ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jun 01, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 20 | with audio podcast

Stars with dusty disks should harbor Earth-like worlds

Stars with disks of debris around them might be good targets to search for Earth-like planets, researchers say.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 09, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Astrophysics

Astrophysics (Greek: Astro - meaning "star", and Greek: physisφύσις - meaning "nature") is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior. Among the objects studied are galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Their emissions are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. The study of cosmology addresses questions of astrophysics at scales much larger than the size of particular gravitationally-bound objects in the universe.

Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists typically apply many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics. In practice, modern astronomical research involves a substantial amount of physics. The name of a university's department ("astrophysics" or "astronomy") often has to do more with the department's history than with the contents of the programs. Astrophysics can be studied at the bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. levels in aerospace engineering, physics, or astronomy departments at many universities.

For more information about Astrophysics, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: stars