Given that our Solar System sits inside the Milky Way Galaxy, getting a clear picture of what it looks like as a whole can be quite tricky. In fact, it was not until 1852 that astronomer Stephen Alexander first postulated ...
Astronomy
Jan 14, 2015
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(Phys.org)—A team of researchers working in France has detected the presence of aldehydes in ice samples in their lab which were created to simulate material found in interstellar molecular clouds. In their paper published ...
While the pastel tones and fine texture of this image may bring to mind brush strokes on an artist's canvas, they are in fact a visualisation of data from ESA's Planck satellite. The image portrays the interaction between ...
Astronomy
Dec 16, 2014
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(Phys.org) —A group of organic chemicals that are considered carcinogens and pollutants today on Earth, but are also thought to be the building blocks for the origins of life, may hold clues to how carbon-rich chemicals ...
Astronomy
Jun 23, 2014
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(Phys.org) —Massive stars end their lives with a bang: exploding as spectacular supernovas, they release huge amounts of mass and energy into space. These explosions sweep up any surrounding material, creating bubble remnants ...
Astronomy
Jun 2, 2014
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A new star is formed by gravitational contraction of an interstellar molecular cloud consisting of gas and dust. In the course of this process, a gas disk (protoplanetary disk), whose size is on the order of 100 AU, forms ...
Astronomy
Feb 13, 2014
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(Phys.org) —For astrophysicists, the interplay of hydrogen—the most common molecule in the universe—and the vast clouds of dust that fill the voids of interstellar space has been an intractable puzzle of stellar evolution.
Astronomy
Sep 26, 2013
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A UNSW-led team of astronomers has begun to map the location of the most massive and mysterious objects in our galaxy – the giant gas clouds where new stars are born.
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2013
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Scientists, including University of New Hampshire astrophysicists involved in NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission, have discovered that the particles streaming into the solar system from interstellar space ...
Space Exploration
Sep 5, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Stars form as gravity coalesces the gas and dust in an interstellar cloud until the material develops clumps dense enough to become stars. Even after a star begins to burn its nuclear fuel it continues to grow ...
Astronomy
Jul 1, 2013
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