News tagged with gravitational pull

Related topics: dark matter , nasa , galaxies , solar system

Scientists watch black hole feast on unlucky star

Scientists have witnessed the rare spectacle of a supermassive black hole devouring a star that had ventured too close -- an event that occurs about once in 10,000 years, they reported on Wednesday.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 02, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (20) | comments 75

Hubble sees Messier 70: Tight and bright

(Phys.org) -- In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of the compact center of Messier 70, a globular cluster. Quarters are always tight in globular clusters, where the ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Apr 13, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2

Mystery deepens around dark core in cosmic collision

Five years ago, San Francisco State researcher Andisheh Mahdavi and his colleagues observed an unexpected dark core at the center of Abell 520, a cosmic "train wreck" of galaxy clusters. With new space-based telescope observations, ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Mar 02, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (12) | comments 17 | with audio podcast

Tidal forces could squeeze out planetary water

Alien planets might experience tidal forces powerful enough to remove all their water, leaving behind hot, dry worlds like Venus, researchers said.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Swiss duo win award for spotting distant planets

A pair of Swiss astrophysicists who were the first to discover a planet from beyond our solar system were honoured Tuesday with a major Spanish science award.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

World timekeepers split on scrapping leap second

Timekeepers meeting in Geneva failed to agree Thursday on a proposal to abolish a 40-year-old practice of adding the occasional second to world time.

Technology / Telecom

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 9

'Leap second' under the gun at Geneva time talks

Timekeepers gathered in Geneva on Thursday to thrash out a contested proposal to abolish a 40-year-old practice of adding the occasional second to world time.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3

Using Loch Ness to track the tilt of the world

That the rise and fall of the tide is primarily driven by the gravitational pull of the moon and the Sun is common knowledge, but not all tides are controlled by such a standard mechanism.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jan 02, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Spiral arms hint at the presence of planets

A new image of the disk of gas and dust around a sun-like star has spiral-arm-like structures. These features may provide clues to the presence of embedded but as-yet-unseen planets.

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 19, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 2

Dark matter mystery deepens

(PhysOrg.com) -- Like all galaxies, our Milky Way is home to a strange substance called dark matter. Dark matter is invisible, betraying its presence only through its gravitational pull. Without dark matter ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (22) | comments 30 | with audio podcast

Hubble survey carries out a dark matter census

(PhysOrg.com) -- The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been used to make an image of galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847. The apparently distorted shapes of distant galaxies in the background is caused by an ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 13, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Japan test fires Venus probe engine

Japan said it had successfully test-fired the engine of its "Akatsuki" space probe in preparation for a renewed attempt to get it into orbit around Venus in 2015.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Sep 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 4

NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Enters Orbit Around Asteroid Vesta

NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Saturday became the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jul 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (10) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Evolved stars locked in fatalistic dance

White dwarfs are the burned-out cores of stars like our Sun. Astronomers have discovered a pair of white dwarfs spiraling into one another at breakneck speeds. Today, these white dwarfs are so near they make ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jul 13, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

NASA probe aims to unlock Mercury's secrets (Update)

NASA scientists pored Wednesday over stunning new images of Mercury as their MESSENGER probe began a year-long mission to map the surface of the solar system's least-understood planet.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Mar 30, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (12) | comments 14