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| Image credit: Fermilab |
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| New Dark Matter Detectors |
| Nov 12, 2003 - Astronomers don't know what Dark Matter is, but they can see the effect of its gravity on regular matter. One possibility is that it's regular matter, but isn't emitting enough light for us to see. Another idea is that Dark Matter is an exotic form of matter that's much more massive than regular particles, but interact so weakly that they're almost impossible to detect. Researchers with the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search II have set up a series of detectors in an old iron mine in Minnesota that's shielded from cosmic radiation and might sense these particles. |
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| Image credit: NOAO |
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| Pleiades Could Be Three Objects Colliding Together |
| Nov 12, 2003 - The Pleiades star cluster has long been a favorite of astronomers, as it's clearly visible with the naked eye, and looks even better in small telescopes and binoculars. The cluster's wispy appearance comes from the fact that the stars are surrounded by a faint nebula. By tracking the motion of the stars and the cloud, a team of astronomers have discovered that the area is being formed by multiple clouds colliding together in the same region. |
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| Image credit: UA |
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| Nearby Star is Forming a Jupiter-Like Planet |
| Nov 12, 2003 - Astronomers from the University of Arizona have used a new technique called "nulling interferometry" to reveal the planetary disk around a newly-forming star. Incredibly, they discovered a gap in the disk, where a Jupiter-like planet is probably forming. This nulling technique works by combining the light from the central star in such a way that it gets canceled out. This allows fainter objects, such as dust and planets to be observed. The planet is likely several times the mass of Jupiter and orbits its star at about 1.5 billion kilometers. |
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| Image credit: SpaceDev |
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| Spacedev Puts a Satellite Up for Sale on eBay |
| Nov 11, 2003 - Satellite manufacturer SpaceDev announced today that it has put a satellite up for sale on the Internet auction site eBay. The high bidder will win a spacecraft built by SpaceDev, or an interested party can just "Buy it Now" for $9.5 million USD. The auction begins on Monday, November 10 and ends 10 days later. The default satellite will come with an Earth observation camera, but the winning bidder can supply additional payloads, name the satellite, and attend the launch. |
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| Image credit: ESA |
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| Gamma Ray Map of the Milky Way |
| Nov 11, 2003 - The European Space Agency's Integral gamma-ray observatory has produced a new map of the Milky Way in the gamma-ray spectrum. Integral is looking for traces of radioactive aluminum, which gives off gamma rays with a specific wavelength. But the question is, what's producing all this aluminum? Some astronomers believe these could be created by specific objects in the Milky Way, like Red Giant stars or hot blue stars. Another possibility is that it's produced as part of supernova explosions. Integral will help get to the bottom of this mystery. |
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