Search: Centaurus

Cosmic Explosion Left Imprint in Fossil Record

April 16, 2013

Ancient iron-loving bacteria may have scooped up evidence of a nearby supernova explosion 2.2 million years ago, leaving an extraterrestrial iron signature in the fossil record, according to German researchers presenting their findings at a recent meeting of the American Physical Society. In 2004, German scientists reported finding an isotope of iron in a core [...]

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12 Star Party Secret Weapons

March 8, 2013

We’ve all been there. Well OK, all public star party telescope operators have been there. You’re set up and you’ve got a stunning view of Saturn centered in the field of view. But then the first member of the viewing public takes a quick glance and steps back from the eyepiece, stating “yeah, I saw that through the [...]

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New Online Astronomy Course from CosmoQuest

November 21, 2012

For those of you who’d like to brush up on your Astronomy knowledge, or never took Astronomy 102, CosmoQuest has a new online course offering for you! Following the success of the initial 101-level course (CQX 001: Solar System Science), the newest course offering is “CQX 003: Galaxies and Galaxy Clusters”. Just like the previous [...]

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A Primer on Cosmic Sprinklers

November 12, 2012

The planetary nebula Fleming 1, as seen with ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Credit: ESO/H. Boffin The neat thing about planetary nebulae is that they are like snowflakes: no two are quite the same. Some look like pools of hot water, some look like glowing eyes in the night and others, like this image of Fleming [...]

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Here There Be Planets: Stellar Disk Gap May Reveal Newborn Worlds

November 12, 2012

HiCIAO near-infrared image of the protoplanetary disk around PDS 70. The circular mask hides the star itself, as well as a smaller internal disk structure. (Credit: NAOJ) Over the past couple of decades astronomers have figured out several methods for finding planets around other stars in our galaxy. Some have revealed their presence by the [...]

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