Space

Space explorers have found another mystery. The Shrinking Betelgeuse! This red supergiant in the constellation of Orion appears as a bright star to the naked eye observer. It has been found to be shrinking for the last 15 years. By now it has shrunk 15% t ...

Blog Post - Priyanka Dalal - Jun 11 2009 - 7:41am

Caroline's supernova

I've often talked about how amateurs still can make contributions in modern astronomy, making us unique among the sciences. Well, 14-year old Caroline Moore became the youngest person to discover a supernova, through diligence and drive. The story o ...

Blog Post - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Jun 19 2009 - 11:21pm

World Science Festival: Neil DeGrasse Tyson And Lawrence Krauss Get Cosmic

When you go to New York City, to Central Park, to the American Museum of Natural History, to the Hayden Planetarium, to a seminar hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, on the entire cosmos, you might think it would be hard to figure out who 'the star' w ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jun 14 2009 - 7:21pm

Human Presence May Be Increasing The Lifespan Of Earth

Doom and gloom types always want to lament that the presence of people is killing the Earth. Not so, say California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists. At least on a cosmic scale, the presence of life may increase longevity for planets. In tra ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 14 2009 - 2:46pm

Murchison Meteorite: Younger Cosmic Roots Than Previous Theories, Says Study

The interstellar stuff that became incorporated into the planets and life on Earth has younger cosmic roots than theories predict, according to the University of Chicago postdoctoral scholar Philipp Heck and his international team of colleagues. Heck and h ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 15 2009 - 5:09pm

SGR 0501+4516- Outburst May Be Clue To Magnetar Formation

An enormous eruption has found its way to Earth after travelling for many thousands of years across space. Studying this blast with ESA's XMM-Newton and Integral space observatories, astronomers have discovered a dead star belonging to a rare group: t ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 16 2009 - 9:54am

The Daytime Astronomer Probably Shouldn't Talk About Rejection

Not all job rejections are equal. Being turned down from the 'Wally the Whale' fish sandwich stop at age 17, for example, was probably a blessing in disguise. Also humorous, as it was my first 'overqualified' experience-- I'd had 2 ...

Blog Post - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Jun 19 2009 - 7:21pm

Enceladus- Salty Ocean On Saturn's Moon A Lot Like Earth

An enormous plume of water spurts in giant jets from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus and a report published in Nature provides evidence that this magnificent plume is fed by a salty ocean. The Cassini spacecraft made a surprising discovery a ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 24 2009 - 10:00am

NASA, To Boldly Go!

NASA watch seems to have been first in noticing the way-cool Star-Trek Style NASA poster, cheerfully shown here in all its glory. Yes, this is not your parent's NASA... no, wait, it is. Star Trek also dates from the 60s. It's a well-done poster ...

Blog Post - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - Jun 26 2009 - 12:56pm

SpARCS Seeks Galaxies Half The Age Of The Universe

Researchers have completed the largest ever survey for very distant clusters of galaxies. Named the Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey, "SpARCS" detects galaxy clusters using deep ground-based optical observations from the CTI ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 30 2009 - 8:19pm