The stars move quickly because they are very close to each other, separated by only about one-fourth the distance from the Earth to the Moon. As a result, they share strong gravitational forces. They were once farther apart but have spiraled closer together over time. Billions of years from now, they will crash together and merge. [...more]
Finding this stellar relic wasn’t easy. It is 60,000 times dimmer than the faintest star visible to the unaided eye. The team also had to distinguish it from many surrounding stars that aren’t so old. Just like an archaeological dig, the hunt succeeded through a combination of patience and clever use of technology. [...more]
The results show mergers of two dense stellar remnants are the likely cause of many of the supernovae that have been used to measure the accelerated expansion of the universe. [...more]
Smithsonian astronomers have just discovered a rare example of a galaxy that appears to have a pair of giant black holes. Now they are trying to determine if those black holes are partners tied together by gravity, or if one of the two has been kicked out in a cosmic breakup. [...more]
For the first time, astronomers have found a supernova explosion with properties similar to a gamma-ray burst, but without seeing any gamma rays from it. [...more]
Koenig and his colleagues examined an area of space called W5, which lies about 6,500 light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia—about 6 trillion miles. Their research indicates the prospects for hypothetical alien life there are disappointing. [...more]
Chi Cygni pulses once every 408 days. At its smallest diameter of 300 million miles, it becomes mottled with brilliant spots as massive plumes of hot plasma roil its surface. As it expands, Chi Cygni cools and dims, growing to a diameter of 480 million miles—large enough to engulf and cook our solar system out to the asteroid belt. [...more]
The newfound world, GJ1214b, is about 6.5 times as massive as the Earth. Its host star, GJ1214, is a small, red type M star about one-fifth the size of the Sun. GJ1214b orbits its star once every 38 hours at a distance of only 1.3 million miles. Astronomers estimate the planet's temperature to be about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Although warm as an oven, it is still cooler than any other known transiting planet because it orbits a very dim star. [...more]
Caught on camera!This short video of an ocelot was taken by Smithsonian scientists during a recent camera-trap survey of these animals in the Peruvian Amazon. [...more] |
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(Courtesy of Joseph Kolowski) |
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