Two groups of astronomers have used data from ESO telescopes to make the best three-dimensional map yet of the central parts of the Milky Way. They have found that the inner regions take on a peanut-like, or X-shaped, appearance ...
Astronomy
Sep 12, 2013
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In 2011 ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) discovered a gas cloud with several times the mass of the Earth accelerating towards the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way (eso1151. This cloud is now making its closest approach ...
Astronomy
Jul 17, 2013
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Until recently, one of the ultimate mysteries of the universe—how many civilizations may exist on planets orbiting other stars in the Milky Way Galaxy—relied on the possibility of detecting intelligent beings by radio ...
Astronomy
May 30, 2013
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(Phys.org) -- Autonomous, self-replicating robots -- exobots -- are the way to explore the universe, find and identify extraterrestrial life and perhaps clean up space debris in the process, according to a Penn State engineer, ...
Space Exploration
Apr 18, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The use of stars, planets and stellar constellations for navigation was of fundamental importance for mankind for thousands of years. Now a group of scientists at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial ...
Astronomy
Apr 2, 2012
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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.
Astronomy
Dec 14, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It is the closest, fastest and smallest object so far seen by Herschel. In fact, such observations were not even foreseen due to technical constraints. The asteroid 2005 YU55 is moving on the sky with a speed ...
Space Exploration
Nov 18, 2011
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The German and Russian partners of the new eROSITA X-ray space observatory have now agreed on how to split the data from the first four years of an all sky survey. This decision was announced today at the first dedicated ...
Astronomy
Oct 20, 2011
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The new observing instrument VIRUS-W, built by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and the University Observatory Munich, saw "first light" on 10th November at the Harlan J. Smith Telescope of the McDonald ...
Astronomy
Jan 26, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- (PhysOrg.com) -- A comet may have hit the planet Neptune about two centuries ago. This is indicated by the distribution of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere of the gas giant that researchers - among them ...
Space Exploration
Jul 16, 2010
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