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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Possible Formation Site of Icy Giant Planet Spotted

    October 16, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist's impression of the dust disk and a forming planet around TW Hydrae. Credit: NAOJ

    Artist’s impression of the dust disk and a forming planet around TW Hydrae. Credit: NAOJ

    A number of extrasolar planets have been found in the past two decades and now researchers agree that planets can have a wide variety of characteristics. However, it is still unclear how this diversity emerges. Especially, there is still debate about how the icy giant planets, such as Uranus and Neptune, form. To take a close look at the planet formation site, a research team led by Takashi Tsukagoshi at Ibaraki University, Japan, observed the young star TW Hydrae. This star, estimated to be 10 million years old, is one of the closest young stars to the Earth...

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    Observable Universe contains 2 trillion Galaxies, 10X more than previously thought

    October 15, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This Hubble Space Telescope view reveals thousands of galaxies stretching back into time across billions of light-years of space. The image covers a portion of a large galaxy census called the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS). Besides the myriad of galaxies visible in this image, only 10 percent of the total number of galaxies in the universe are observable for the current generation of telescopes, according to a new analysis of the GOODS and other Hubble deep-field surveys. The study's researchers concluded that at least 10 times more galaxies exist in the observable universe than previously thought. The analysis places the universe's estimated population at, minimally, 2 trillion galaxies. According to the research, about 90 percent of galaxies in the observable universe are too faint and too far away to be seen with present-day telescopes. Credit: NASA, ESA, the GOODS Team, and M. Giavialisco (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

    This Hubble Space Telescope view reveals thousands of galaxies stretching back into time across billions of light-years of space. The image covers a portion of a large galaxy census called the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS). Besides the myriad of galaxies visible in this image, only 10 percent of the total number of galaxies in the universe are observable for the current generation of telescopes, according to a new analysis of the GOODS and other Hubble deep-field surveys. The study’s researchers concluded that at least 10 times more galaxies exist in the observable universe than previously thought. The analysis places the universe’s estimated population at, minimally, 2 trillion galaxies...

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    Cosmological mystery solved by largest ever map of voids and superclusters

    October 12, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

    The cosmic microwave background over the whole sky, with the unusual 'Cold Spot' feature circled at the lower right. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Portsmouth

    The cosmic microwave background over the whole sky, with the unusual ‘Cold Spot’ feature circled at the lower right. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Portsmouth

    The map of cosmic void positions – large empty spaces with relatively few galaxies – and superclusters – huge regions with many more galaxies than normal – can be used to measure the effect of dark energy ‘stretching’ the universe. The results confirm the predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity. Lead author Dr Seshadri Nadathur from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation said: “We used a new technique to make a very precise measurement of the effect that these structures have on photons from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) – light left over from shortly after the Big Bang – passing through them...

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    Chaos in cosmos: System of 2 stars with 3 Planet-forming Discs of Gas

    October 12, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Observations with the ALMA telescopes of the gas around the two stars called IRS 43. The colours are shown as an illustration. The gas moves in orbit around the stars, which are highlighted in yellow. The gas that is moving away from us is represented by red, while the gas moving towards us is shown in blue. The positions of the discs are indicated by the dotted lines. (Credit: Christian Brinch, NBI, KU)

    Observations with the ALMA telescopes of the gas around the two stars called IRS 43. The colours are shown as an illustration. The gas moves in orbit around the stars, which are highlighted in yellow. The gas that is moving away from us is represented by red, while the gas moving towards us is shown in blue. The positions of the discs are indicated by the dotted lines. (Credit: Christian Brinch, NBI, KU)

    Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute have discovered a system consisting of 2 stars with 3 rotating planet-forming accretion discs around them. It is a binary star where each star has its own planet-forming disc and in addition, there is one large shared disc. All 3 planet-forming discs are misaligned in relation to one another.

    A solar system is formed by a large cloud of gas and dus...

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