Space and astronomy news
This could be the ultimate galactic GPS system: using pulsars as an interstellar navigation tool. Rapidly spinning neutron stars emit focused beams of X-rays into space and many, with accuracy as good as an atomic clock, have been mapped by astronomers. Now these pulsars may have a very important practical use. These interstellar beacons may …
Continue reading “Navigation for Spaceships Using X-ray Pulsars: Introducing XNAV”
Do you think you’re seeing a Hubble Image? Then think again. Just revealed at last weekend’s NEAF gathering at Rockland College in Suffern, New York, this incredible image of IC 2944 was taken by Ken Crawford at Macedon Ranges Observatory and shows so much more than just pretty sky scenery. In this edition of the …
Continue reading “IC 2944 – Astrophotography by Ken Crawford”
Omega Centauri is a strange thing. It’s been classified as a star, then a nebula, then a globular cluster and now it’s thought to be a dwarf galaxy missing its outer stars. Why is it in such a mess? How can this oddball galaxy be explained? New research suggests it has an intermediate-black hole living …
Continue reading “A Black Hole Observed in the Heart of Mysterious Omega Centauri”
While normally our friends in the Southern Hemisphere get left out of most major meteor showers, now is the time to keep alert for the Alpha Centaurids which are active during the entire month of February. While the Alpha Centaurids are considered a minor meteor shower, they do create some interesting viewing during the summer …
Continue reading “Centaurid Meteor Shower Delights Southern Hemisphere…”
This picture is too gorgeous not to share it. A new Chandra X-ray telescope image shows a beautiful, dense region of massive stars in the Centaurus constellation. It almost appears as though someone threw a handful of colored candies out into space. Known as Westerlund 2, this star cluster has been a mysterious region of …
As galaxies rotate, their spiral arms usually sweep back, trailing behind the rotation of the galaxy. But astronomers have found a galaxy that defies this convention, with its arms opening outward in the same direction as the rotation of the galaxy’s disk. The galaxy, known as NGC 4622, lies 200 million light years away in …
Organic molecules are thought by scientists to be instrumental in kickstarting life as we know it on Earth. Within our Solar System they can be found in comets, and they cause the redness of the clouds of Saturn’s moon Titan. New observations of a planet-forming disk around a star 220 light-years from Earth reveal for …
Continue reading “Organic Molecules Found Outside our Solar System”
Monday, September 24 – In 1970, the first unmanned, automated return of lunar material to the Earth occurred on this day when the Soviet’s Luna 16 returned with three ounces of the Moon. Its landing site was eastern Mare Fecunditatis. Look just west of the bright patch of Langrenus. Tonight our primary lunar study is …
Continue reading “What’s Up this Week: September 24 – September 30, 2007”
Monday, September 17 – Today in 1789, William Herschel discovered Saturn’s moon Mimas. Tonight we’ll discover our own Moon as we have a look at one of the last lunar challenges that occur during the first few days of the Moon’s appearance – Piccolomini. You’ll find it to the southwest of the shallow ring of …
Continue reading “What’s Up this Week: September 10 – September 16, 2007”
Monday, June 25 – Today celebrates the birth of Hermann Oberth – who has often been considered the father of modern rocketry. Born in Transylvania in 1894, Oberth was a visionary who was convinced space travel would one day be possible. Inspired by the works of Jules Verne, Oberth studied rockets and wrote many books …
Continue reading “What’s Up this Week: June 25 – July 1, 2007”