News tagged with astrophysics

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 ...

Physics / General Physics

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (49) | comments 125 | with audio podcast report

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 ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (10) | comments 16 | with audio podcast

New look at HD 10180 shows it might have nine planets

(Phys.org) -- Astronomer Mikko Tuomi of the University of Hertfordshire, has found after looking at data regarding the solar system surrounding the star HD 10180, that it likely has nine planets making it ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 09, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

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

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 ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 02, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (25) | comments 87 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 02, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

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.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 23, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (23) | comments 31 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Feb 21, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

IBEX spacecraft measures 'alien' particles from outside solar system

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft, an international team of researchers has measured neutral "alien" particles entering our solar system from interstellar ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 31, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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 ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

Hubble pinpoints furthest protocluster of galaxies ever seen

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered a cluster of galaxies in the initial stages of development, making it the most distant such grouping ever observed in ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 42 | with audio podcast

Fermi shows that Tycho's star shines in gamma rays

(PhysOrg.com) -- In early November 1572, observers on Earth witnessed the appearance of a "new star" in the constellation Cassiopeia, an event now recognized as the brightest naked-eye supernova in more than ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 13, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

In a star's final days, astronomers hunt 'signal of impending doom'

(PhysOrg.com) -- An otherwise nondescript binary star system in the Whirlpool Galaxy has brought astronomers tantalizingly close to their goal of observing a star just before it goes supernova.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 30, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (13) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Astronomers find pristine clouds of primordial gas from the early Universe

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, astronomers have found pristine clouds of the primordial gas that formed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. The composition of the gas matches theoretical predictions, ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 10, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 22 | with audio podcast

Giant planet ejected from the solar system

(PhysOrg.com) -- Just as an expert chess player sacrifices a piece to protect the queen, the solar system may have given up a giant planet and spared the Earth, according to an article recently published in ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 10, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (21) | comments 34 | 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: galaxies , universe