News tagged with astrophysics
Nomads of the galaxy
A recent study proposes the galaxy is crowded with nomad planets adrift in space. If this is the case, nomad planets may play a dynamic role in the universe.
May 23, 2012 |
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A new way to discover pulsars
(Phys.org) -- The Large Area Telescope (LAT), built by SLAC for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, collects information on high-energy gamma rays from numerous sources in the sky. Among these are small, ...
May 22, 2012 |
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Herschel reveals galaxy-packed filament
(Phys.org) -- A McGill-led research team using the Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a giant, galaxy-packed filament ablaze with billions of new stars. The filament connects two clusters of galaxies ...
May 17, 2012 |
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Astrophysicists discover new heating source in cosmological structure formation
(Phys.org) -- So far, astrophysicists thought that super-massive black holes can only influence their immediate surroundings. A collaboration of scientists at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies ...
May 15, 2012 |
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Free-floating planets in the Milky Way outnumber stars by factors of thousands
A few hundred thousand billion free-floating life-bearing Earth-sized planets may exist in the space between stars in the Milky Way. So argues an international team of scientists led by Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, Director ...
May 10, 2012 |
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Some giant planets in other systems most likely to be alone
In the search for Earth-like planets, it is helpful to look for clues and patterns that can help scientist narrow down the types of systems where potentially habitable planets are likely to be discovered. ...
May 07, 2012 |
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Old star, new trick
The Big Bang produced lots of hydrogen and helium and a smidgen of lithium. All heavier elements found on the periodic table have been produced by stars over the last 13.7 billion years. Astronomers analyze starlight to determine ...
Apr 30, 2012 |
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Finding a new Earth: Holy grail of astronomy
(Phys.org) -- Determining the habitability of rocky, Earth-like planets in the universe will be crucial for us as a species, according to scientists from The Australian National University.
Apr 27, 2012 |
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Wise catches aging star erupting with dust
(Phys.org) -- Images from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) reveal an old star in the throes of a fiery outburst, spraying the cosmos with dust. The findings offer a rare, real-time look at ...
Apr 26, 2012 |
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Astronomers identify three extrasolar planets
(Phys.org) -- It's not little green men, but it could be a step in that direction: Cornell astronomers, using data from the NASA Kepler Mission, have identified three Earthlike planets orbiting their own suns, all of which ...
Apr 26, 2012 |
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Astrophysicists uncover secret origin of brown dwarfs
The origin of brown dwarfs is one of the great unsolved mysteries facing astrophysicists today. In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, Western’s Shantanu Basu and University of Vienna’s Eduard ...
Apr 26, 2012 |
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New research suggests initial mass function for galaxies not universal
(Phys.org) -- Over the past several years there has been debate in the astrophysics community regarding the distribution of stars in galaxies, specifically their mass range. Astronomers use an initial mass ...
Apr 26, 2012 |
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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.
Apr 25, 2012 |
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Astronomers detect coolest radio star
(Phys.org) -- Astronomers using the world's largest radio telescope, at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, have discovered flaring radio emission from an ultra-cool star, not much warmer than the planet Jupiter, shattering the previous ...
Apr 18, 2012 |
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Some stars capture rogue planets
(Phys.org) -- New research suggests that billions of stars in our galaxy have captured rogue planets that once roamed interstellar space. The nomad worlds, which were kicked out of the star systems in which ...
Apr 17, 2012 |
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Astrophysics
Astrophysics (Greek: Astro - meaning "star", and Greek: physis – φύσις - 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.
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