Space

Two merging black holes can generate gravitational waves so powerful that the merged hole shoots out of its host galaxy at a speed of up to 2,500 miles per second, according to a new simulation. This research, led by Manuela Campanelli at the Rochester Ins ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2007 - 9:09pm

XO-3b: Supersized Planet Or Oasis In The 'brown Dwarf Desert'?

The latest find from an international planet-hunting team of amateur and professional astronomers is one of the oddest extrasolar planets ever cataloged-- a mammoth orb more than 13 times the mass of Jupiter that orbits its star in less than four days. Res ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2007 - 10:07pm

Using Greek Geometry To Study Dark Matter

An international team of astronomers led by Ohio State University has examined dark matter in the outer reaches of our galaxy in a new way. For the first time, they were able to employ triangulation-- a method rooted in ancient Greek geometry-- to estimate ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2007 - 10:46pm

Galaxy Cluster Takes It To The Extreme

Evidence for an awesome upheaval in a massive galaxy cluster was discovered in an image made by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The origin of a bright arc of ferociously hot gas extending over two million light years requires one of the most energetic ev ...

Article - News Staff - May 30 2007 - 11:00pm

Massive Planet With 31-hour Year Found Around Distant Star

An international team of astronomers with the Trans-atlantic Exoplanet Survey today announce the discovery of their third planet, TrES-3. The new planet was identified by astronomers looking for transiting planets- that is, planets that pass in front of th ...

Article - News Staff - May 31 2007 - 11:25am

Chronicle Of A Dying Star

Using ESO's VLTI on Cerro Paranal and the VLBA facility operated by NRAO, an international team of astronomers has made what is arguably the most detailed study of the environment of a pulsating red giant star. They performed, for the first time, a se ...

Article - News Staff - May 31 2007 - 12:07pm

Brazil From Space

Southeastern Brazil, South America’s largest and most populous country, is highlighted in this 26 May 2007 Envisat image. Brazil consists of one federal district and twenty-six states, four of which comprise the southeastern region – Rio de Janeiro, Minas ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 3 2007 - 9:25pm

Mysterious Radio Waves On Titan

The Huygens Atmosphere Structure Instrument (HASI) scored a first in 2005 by measuring the electrical conductivity of Titan’s atmosphere. The results hint at a new way to investigate the subsurface layers of Titan and could provide insight into whether or ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 4 2007 - 10:09pm

Scientists Gear Up For Mercury Mission Flyby Of Venus

University of Colorado researchers will scan Venus during a spacecraft flyby this week using an $8.7 million instrument they designed and built for NASA's MESSENGER Mission, launched in 2004 and speeding toward Mercury. Built by CU-Boulder's Labo ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 5 2007 - 6:07pm

Legendary Sargassum Seen From Space For First Time

Sargassum seaweed, famous in nautical lore for entangling ships in its dense floating vegetation, has been detected from space for the first time thanks to an instrument aboard ESA’s environmental satellite, Envisat. The ability to monitor Sargassum global ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 6 2007 - 9:23am