Telescopes find evidence for asteroid belt around Vega

(Phys.org)—Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a large asteroid belt around the star Vega, the second brightest star in northern night skies. The scientists used data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the ...

The quantum secret to alcohol reactions in space

Chemists have discovered that an 'impossible' reaction at cold temperatures actually occurs with vigour, which could change our understanding of how alcohols are formed and destroyed in space.

ALMA discovers cold dust around nearest star

The ALMA Observatory has detected dust around Proxima Centauri. These observations reveal the glow coming from cold dust in a region between one to four times as far from Proxima Centauri as the Earth is from the Sun. The ...

Exploring the dusty prehistory of the solar system

The solar system as we know it formed about 4.6 billion years ago as fields of interstellar dust orbiting the sun aggregated into planets and smaller objects. Presolar dust particles no longer exist in the inner solar system, ...

Herschel and Spitzer see nearby galaxies' stardust

(PhysOrg.com) -- The cold dust that builds blazing stars is revealed in new images that combine observations from the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency-led mission with important NASA contributions; and ...

Orion's hidden fiery ribbon

(Phys.org) —This dramatic new image of cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion reveals what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky. This orange glow represents faint light coming from grains of cold interstellar dust, ...

The JCMT celebrates 25 years on top of the world

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, is celebrating its 25th birthday this week. It first turned its dish to the heavens this week in 1987, and now, a quarter of a century later, the JCMT continues ...

NASA survey seen as steppingstone for astronomy

Imagine trying to see a firefly next to a distant spotlight, where the beams from the spotlight all but drown out the faint glow from the firefly. Add fog, and both lights are dimmed. Is the glow from the firefly still visible ...

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