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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Astronomers Probe Swirling Particles in Halo of Sarburst galaxy

    March 29, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    These images show the spiral galaxy NGC 253. Credit: Jay Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Alan Watson (Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ) and NASA/ESA/HST.

    Spiral galaxy NGC 253. The core reveals violent star formation within a region 1, 000 light-years across. A starburst galaxy has an exceptionally high rate of star birth, first identified by its excess of infrared radiation from warm dust. Credit: Carnegie Institution of Washington.Credit: Jay Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Alan Watson (Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ) and NASA/ESA/HST.

    Astronomers have used a radio telescope in outback Western Australia to see the halo of a nearby starburst galaxy in unprecedented detail. A starburst galaxy is a galaxy experiencing a period of intense star formation and this one, NGC 253 or the Sculptor Galaxy, is ~11.5 million light-years from Earth.

    “The Sculptor Galaxy is currently forming stars at a rate of 5 solar masses each year, wh...

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    The Electric Sands of Titan

    March 28, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    An artist's rendering of the surface of Titan, a moon of Saturn. Courtesy: iPhoto Stock, manjik. Inset: This composite image shows an infrared view of Saturn's moon Titan from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, acquired during the mission's "T-114" flyby on Nov. 13, 2015. Credit: NASA/JPL

    An artist’s rendering of the surface of Titan, a moon of Saturn. Courtesy: iPhoto Stock, manjik. Inset: This composite image shows an infrared view of Saturn’s moon Titan from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, acquired during the mission’s “T-114” flyby on Nov. 13, 2015.
    Credit: NASA/JPL

    The grains that cover Saturn’s moon act like clingy packing peanuts. Experiments led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggest the particles that cover the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, are “electrically charged.” When the wind blows hard enough (~15 mph), Titan’s non-silicate granules get kicked up and start to hop in a motion referred to as saltation...

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    Planetary Waves, first found on Earth, are discovered on Sun

    March 28, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Coronal BP detection at three distinct vantage points in space. BP detections by the STEREO and SDO spacecraft taken around 00:00 UT on 2 February 2011 when the entire solar corona could first be seen by all three spacecraft. The top row (a–c) shows coronal images from a plasma formed around 1.5 MK. The small bright concentrations seen in these images are BPs. The bottom row (d–f) shows the same images with respective BP detections15 shown in red (STEREO-Behind), white (SDO) and blue (STEREO-Ahead).

    Coronal BP detection at three distinct vantage points in space. BP detections by the STEREO and SDO spacecraft taken around 00:00 UT on 2 February 2011 when the entire solar corona could first be seen by all three spacecraft. The top row (a–c) shows coronal images from a plasma formed around 1.5 MK. The small bright concentrations seen in these images are BPs. The bottom row (d–f) shows the same images with respective BP detections15 shown in red (STEREO-Behind), white (SDO) and blue (STEREO-Ahead).

    Waves may influence space weather, offer a source of predictability...

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    Astronomers investigate the curious case of PDS 11 Binary system

    March 27, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    BV R color composite of PDS 11, with North up and East to the left. This 4′×4′ composite image is constructed from our observations with the HCT and is color coded as blue, green and red in B, V , R, respectively. The image is centered on PDS 11 binary system, with the northeastern component being PDS 11A. Credit: Mathew et al., 2017.

    BV R color composite of PDS 11, with North up and East to the left. This 4′×4′ composite image is constructed from our observations with the HCT and is color coded as blue, green and red in B, V , R, respectively. The image is centered on PDS 11 binary system, with the northeastern component being PDS 11A. Credit: Mathew et al., 2017.

    A team of Indian astronomers has recently studied a peculiar binary system, revealing new insights into the nature of its stars. The findings allowed the researchers to reclassify PDS 11 as an old, dusty, wide binary classical T Tauri system in which both components are actively accreting...

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