Astronomy
Chandra Finds a Bull's Eye Pulsar
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| Image credit: Chandra |
The newest image taken with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory is of distant supernova remnant SNR G54.1+0.3. The object contains a ring of high-energy particles which is created by a rapidly spinning central neutron star. Because it spins 7 times a second, the neutron star has created an enormous electric field which accelerates particles near the star and produces jets which blast away from the poles.
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Jun 27, 2002, 4:31pm
Astronomy
Young Stars in an Old Galaxy
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| Image credit: Hubble |
Astronomers have spotted a number of young stellar clusters dotted around a very old elliptical galaxy - this disputes the established theory that old galaxies contain only older stars. The team used the Hubble Space Telescope and the ESO Very Large Telescope to take a series of images of galaxy NGC 4365, and they were able to identify star clusters that were only a few billion years old, while the majority were over 12 billion years old. Why the galaxy contains such a combination of young and old stars is still a mystery.
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Jun 27, 2002, 4:17pm
Space Flight
Progress Cargo Ship Launches
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| Image credit: NASA |
A Progress supply ship lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday to deliver fuel, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. The Progress 8 spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the station early Saturday. The docking port that the Progress will use was vacated on Tuesday by the station's previous Progress cargo ship, now filled with garbage. It was de-orbited and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere.
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Jun 26, 2002, 10:46pm
Space Flight
NASA Finds Tiny Cracks in Shuttle Fuel Lines
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| Image credit: NASA |
NASA controllers decided to ground the shuttle fleet this week when they discovered tiny fuel line cracks. The first crack was uncovered during a routine examination of Atlantis, so the other shuttles were analyzed and additional cracks were found in Discovery as well. Industry experts applaud NASA's decision to ground the fleet; since the Challenger disaster in 1986, NASA has put a greater emphasis on safety.
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Jun 26, 2002, 10:33pm
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