SPACE
& SCIENCE NEWS: January 2008
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Middleweight black holes roam the galaxy
undetected
(Jan 11, 2008)
Hundreds of middleweight black
holes may rove unseen through the galaxy after being evicted from
their homes in star clusters, according to calculations. The black
holes would be almost impossible to spot, explaining why they have
proven so elusive to find.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Fix will give Hubble major boost
(Jan 11, 2008)
NASA has announced details of a challenging mission to "rescue" the
Hubble Space Telescope.
Without the mission, the multi-billion dollar orbiting observatory
is likely to fail in 2010 or 2011. The upgrade will provide a massive
boost to Hubble's capabilities, giving it greater sensitivity and
a larger field of view.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Risk of Mars impact drops to 1 in 10,000
(Jan 10, 2008)
The risk that an asteroid will hit Mars
on 30 January has dropped to 1 in 10,000, essentially ruling out an
impact, NASA researchers say. The asteroid, called 2007 WD5, was discovered
on 20 November 2007 and initial calculations suggested the 50-metre
space rock had a 1 in 75 chance of striking Mars on 30 January.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Biggest black hole in the cosmos discovered
(Jan 10, 2008)
The most massive known black
hole in the universe has been discovered, weighing in with the
mass of 18 billion Suns. Observing the orbit of a smaller black hole
around this monster has allowed astronomers to test Einstein's theory
of general relativity
with stronger gravitational fields than ever before.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Planets form twice for old stars
(Jan 10, 2008)
Two old stars may be undergoing a second episode of planet formation,
long after their initial window of opportunity. Astronomers believe
the stars once had orbiting companions, but that these were engulfed
when the stars expanded. This caused matter to be ejected from the
stars, forming a disc of gas and dust from which planets can form.
[Image: BP Piscium]
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Planet collision could explain alien world's
heat
(Jan 10, 2008)
A colossal clash of planets may explain why an alien planet 170 light
years from Earth is piping hot. Called 2M1207B,
the planet was photographed in 2004 orbiting a brown
dwarf, an object that is not quite heavy enough to be a normal
star, but too heavy to be considered a planet.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Milky Way 'ancestors' discovered
(Jan 9, 2008)
Astronomers probing the distant Universe have found the building blocks
of spiral galaxies
like our Milky Way. They discovered ancient galaxies, about one-tenth
the size of the Milky Way, which were among the first to form in the
Universe. Over billions of years, galaxies like these merged to form
much bigger spiral galaxies such as our own.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Galaxy's spiral arms point in opposite
directions
(Jan 9, 2008)
Astronomers are puzzling over a spiral
galaxy whose spiral arms are wrapped in opposing directions. The
unusual structure may be a lingering scar from a tussle with a smaller
galaxy that was ultimately swallowed. Before astronomers had studied
this unusual spiral galaxy, called NGC
4622, they thought the spiral arms of galaxies were always oriented
the same way relative to the galaxy's direction of rotation.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
'Maverick' sunspot heralds new solar cycle
(Jan 8, 2008)
A new 11-year solar
cycle has officially begun, now that a sunspot
has been found with a magnetic field pointing in the opposite direction
from those in the previous cycle. But researchers are still divided
over how active – and potentially damaging to Earth's satellites
and power grids – the new cycle will be.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Red dust in planet-forming disk may harbor
precursors to life
(Jan 7, 2008)
Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution have found the first indications
of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red dust surrounding
a distant star. The eight-million-year-old star, known as HR
4796A, is inferred to be in the late stages of planet formation,
suggesting that the basic building blocks of life may be common in
planetary systems.
Read
more. Source: Carnegie Institution |
Hot cyclones churn at both ends of Saturn
(Jan 5, 2008)
Despite more than a decade of winter darkness, Saturn's
north pole is home to an unexpected hot spot remarkably similar to
one at the planet's sunny south pole. The source of its heat is a
mystery. Now, the first detailed views of the gas giant's high latitudes
from the Cassini spacecraft
reveal a matched set of hot cyclonic vortices, one at each pole.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
10,000 Earths' worth of fresh dust found
near star explosion
(Jan 5, 2008)
Astronomers have at last found definitive evidence that the universe's
first dust –
the celestial stuff that seeded future generations of stars and planets
– was forged in the explosions of massive stars. The findings,
made with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, are the most significant
clue yet in the longstanding mystery of where the dust in our very
young universe came from.
Read
more. Source: NASA/JPL |
Possible Mars impact highlights risk to
Earth
(Jan 4, 2008)
An asteroid
hurtling towards Mars
has a 1 in 28 chance of walloping the Red Planet on 30 January, according
to the latest calculations. The rock's discovery just a couple of
months before a possible impact begs the question of what would happen
if it were instead headed for Earth. With so little warning, the only
option would be to evacuate any inhabited areas it might hit, astronomers
say.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Airborne astronomers to track intense
meteor shower
(Jan 3, 2008)
The most intense meteor
shower of the year hits Earth tonight. If the skies are clear
and you live at high northern latitudes, then you could see dozens
of Quadrantid meteors streaking over the pole. Or you might spot a
plane full of astronomers racing northward, trying to find out how
this unusual meteor shower was created, and whether it is the shrapnel
of a celestial explosion witnessed in the 15th century.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
First planet discovered around a youthful
star
(Jan 2, 2008)
A planet has been found within a disc of dust and gas around a young
star for the first time, a new study reports. The research confirms
predictions that planets can coalesce within 10 million years, but
it does not settle the debate over just how that formation proceeds.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
Second thoughts on life, the universe
and everything by world's best brains
(Jan 1, 2008)
They are the intellectual elite, the brains the rest of us rely on
to make sense of the universe and answer the big questions. But in
a refreshing show of new year humility, the world's best thinkers
have admitted that from time to time even they are forced to change
their minds.
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
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