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    Category Astronomy/Space

    Cosmic ‘Death Star’ is Destroying a Planet

    October 22, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    In this artist's conception, a Ceres-like asteroid is slowly disintegrating as it orbits a white dwarf star. Astronomers have spotted telltales signs of such an object using data from the Kepler K2 mission. It is the first planetary object detected transiting a white dwarf. Within about a million years the object will be destroyed, leaving a thin dusting of metals on the surface of the white dwarf. Credit: Mark A. Garlick

    In this artist’s conception, a Ceres-like asteroid is slowly disintegrating as it orbits a white dwarf star. Astronomers have spotted telltales signs of such an object using data from the Kepler K2 mission. It is the first planetary object detected transiting a white dwarf. Within about a million years the object will be destroyed, leaving a thin dusting of metals on the surface of the white dwarf. Credit: Mark A. Garlick

    “This is something no human has seen before,” says Andrew Vanderburg of CfA. “We’re watching a solar system get destroyed.” The Death Star of the movie Star Wars may be fictional, but planetary destruction is real. Astronomers announced today that they have spotted a large, rocky object disintegrating in its death spiral around a distant white dwarf star...

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    Astronomers catch a black hole shredding a star to pieces

    October 22, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This illustration of a recently observed tidal disruption, named ASASSN-14li, shows a disk of stellar debris around the black hole at the upper left. A long tail of ejected stellar debris extends to the right, far from the black hole. The X-ray spectrum obtained with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (seen in the inset box) and ESA's XMM-Newton satellite both show clear evidence for dips in X-ray intensity over a narrow range of wavelengths. These dips are shifted toward bluer wavelengths than expected, providing evidence for a wind blowing away from the black hole. Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

    This illustration of a recently observed tidal disruption, named ASASSN-14li, shows a disk of stellar debris around the black hole at the upper left. A long tail of ejected stellar debris extends to the right, far from the black hole. The X-ray spectrum obtained with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (seen in the inset box) and ESA’s XMM-Newton satellite both show clear evidence for dips in X-ray intensity over a narrow range of wavelengths. These dips are shifted toward bluer wavelengths than expected, providing evidence for a wind blowing away from the black hole. Credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

    A team has observed the closest tidal disruption event in a galaxy that lies about 290 million light years from Earth...

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    Final Kiss of 2 Stars Heading for Catastrophe

    October 21, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This artist's impression shows VFTS 352 -- the hottest and most massive double star system to date where the two components are in contact and sharing material. The two stars in this extreme system lie about 160,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This intriguing system could be heading for a dramatic end, either with the formation of a single giant star or as a future binary black hole. Credit: ESO/L. Calcada

    This artist’s impression shows VFTS 352 — the hottest and most massive double star system to date where the two components are in contact and sharing material. The two stars in this extreme system lie about 160,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This intriguing system could be heading for a dramatic end, either with the formation of a single giant star or as a future binary black hole. Credit: ESO/L. Calcada

    Astronomers have found the hottest and most massive double star with components so close that they touch each other. The 2 stars in the extreme system VFTS 352 could be heading for a dramatic end, during which the two stars either coalesce to create a single giant star, or form a binary black hole...

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    Scientists find link between Comet, Asteroid Showers and Mass Extinctions

    October 21, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Environment/Geology

     

    For >30 years, scientists have argued about a controversial hypothesis relating to periodic mass extinctions and impact craters – caused by comet and asteroid showers – on Earth. Now scientists have concluded that mass extinctions occurring over the past 260 million years were likely caused by comet and asteroid showers.

    A graph showing how the rate of cratering has changed on Earth over time

    A graph showing how the rate of cratering has changed on Earth over time. The arrows indicate the dates of mass extinctions. Credit: Michael Rampino / NYU

    Michael Rampino, NYU geologist, and Ken Caldeira, a scientist in the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, offer new support linking the age of these craters with recurring mass extinctions of life, including the demise of the dinosaurs...

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