News tagged with astrophysicists

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Does prebiotic material exist in space?

Spanish and French astrophysicists have identified a band in the infrared range that serves to track the presence of organic material rich in oxygen and nitrogen in the interstellar dust grains. Should any ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 26, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

The origin of supernovae confirmed

Where do supernovae come from? Astronomers have long believed they were exploding stars, but by analysing a series of images, researchers from the Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 19, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (18) | comments 2

Scientists Build Anti-Mosquito Laser

(PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to prevent the spread of malaria, scientists have built a laser that shoots and kills mosquitoes. Malaria, which is caused by a parasite and transmitted by mosquitoes, kills about ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 16, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (42) | comments 21 weblog

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

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

Encounters of another kind: meteorite chunk falls on Oslo

A Norwegian family was flabbergasted to find that what appeared to be a piece of a meteorite had crashed through the roof of their allotment garden hut in the middle of Oslo, media reported Monday.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 12, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 3