News tagged with astrophysics
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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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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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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Repulsive gravity as an alternative to dark energy (Part 1: In voids)
(PhysOrg.com) -- When scientists discovered in 1998 that the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, the possibility that dark energy could explain the observation was intriguing. But because there ...
Jan 31, 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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A galactic magnetic field in a lab bolsters astrophysical theory
Why is the universe magnetized? It's a question scientists have been asking for decades. Now, an international team of researchers including a University of Michigan professor have demonstrated that it could ...
Jan 25, 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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Researchers say galaxy may swarm with 'nomad planets'
(PhysOrg.com) -- Our galaxy may be awash in homeless planets, wandering through space instead of orbiting a star.
Feb 23, 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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Dark matter core defies explanation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers using data from NASA's Hubble Telescope have observed what appears to be a clump of dark matter left behind from a wreck between massive clusters of galaxies. The result could ...
Mar 02, 2012 |
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Radio telescopes capture best-ever snapshot of black hole jets (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team, including NASA-funded researchers, using radio telescopes located throughout the Southern Hemisphere has produced the most detailed image of particle jets erupting from ...
May 21, 2011 |
4.9 / 5 (28) |
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Chandra finds fastest wind from stellar-mass black hole
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have clocked the fastest wind yet discovered blowing off a disk around a stellar-mass black hole. This result has important implications for understanding ...
Feb 21, 2012 |
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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 ...
Apr 02, 2012 |
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Kepler spacecraft discovers 'invisible world'
Usually, running five minutes late is a bad thing since you might lose your dinner reservation or miss out on tickets to the latest show. But when a planet runs five minutes late, astronomers get excited because ...
Sep 08, 2011 |
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A model burster: Researchers find the first neutron star that bursts as predicted
For the first time, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have detected all phases of thermonuclear burning in a neutron star. The star, located close to the center of the galaxy in the globular cluster Terzan ...
Mar 02, 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.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
