Pan-STARRS Archives - Universe Today

Project Lyra, a Mission to Chase Down that Interstellar Asteroid

23 Nov , 2017 by Matt Williams

Members of Project Lyra recently published a study advocating a mission to `Oumuamua, the first interstellar asteroid discovered to date.

Five New Neptunian Trojans Discovered

23 Sep , 2016 by Matt Williams

Using data from the PS1 survey, an international team of researchers has made some interesting discoveries about Neptune’s Trojan asteroids

Did a Galactic Smashup Kick Out a Supermassive Black Hole?

19 Nov , 2014 by Jason Major

Crazy things can happen when galaxies collide, as they sometimes do. Although individual stars rarely impact each other, the gravitational interactions between galaxies can pull enormous amounts of gas and dust into long streamers, spark the formation of new stars, and even kick objects out into intergalactic space altogether. This is what very well may have happened to SDSS1133, […]

‘Freakish’ Asteroid Has Six Tails, Sheds Stuff Into Space

7 Nov , 2013 by Elizabeth Howell

A lawn sprinkler in space. That’s one of the descriptions NASA has for the curious P/2013 P5, which is spewing not one, not two, but six comet-like tails at the same time. “We were literally dumbfounded when we saw it,” stated David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles, who led the research. “Even […]

We’ve Found 10,000 Near-Earth Objects. How To Step Up The Search?

27 Jun , 2013 by Elizabeth Howell

That pale white dot up there? No. 10,000 in a list of near-Earth objects. This rock, 2013 MZ5, was discovered June 18. It is 1,000 feet (300 meters) across and will not come anywhere near to threatening Earth, NASA assures us. But what else is out there? The agency still hasn’t found every asteroid or comet […]

Black Holes are More Like Venus Fly Traps than Vacuum Cleaners

2 May , 2012 by Nancy Atkinson

[/caption] I’m going to try and say this before the Bad Astronomer does: Holy Haleakala! A team of astronomers using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on Mount Haleakala in Hawaii have found evidence of a black hole ripping a star to shreds. While this isn’t the first time this type of activity has been detected, these new […]

New Record: Telescope Finds 19 Near-Earth Asteroids in One Night

25 Feb , 2011 by Nancy Atkinson

[/caption] From a University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy press release: The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui, discovered 19 near-Earth asteroids on the night of January 29, the most asteroids discovered by one telescope on a single night. “This record number of discoveries shows that PS1 is the world’s most powerful telescope for this […]

Fully Functional Pan-STARRS is now Panning for Stars, Asteroids and Comets

16 Jun , 2010 by Nancy Atkinson

[/caption] There’s a new eye on the skies on the lookout for ‘killer’ asteroids and comets. The first Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System) telescope, PS1, is fully operational, ready to map large portions of the sky nightly. It will be sleuthing not just for potential incoming space rocks, but also supernovae and […]

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