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NASA’s Kepler Mission Finds Three Smallest Exoplanets

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2012Sciencecalifornia institute of technology, caltech, doug hudgins, exoplanets, Galaxy, hawaii, john johnson, jupiter, keck observatory, kepler, kepler 22b, kepler mission, koi 961, mauna kea, milky way galaxy, NASA, palomar observatory, phil muirhead, planet hunters, planetary systems, radius of earth, red dwarfs, san diego, size of mars, smallest planets

PASADENA, Calif. – Astronomers using data from NASA’s Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars.

All three planets are thought to be rocky like Earth but orbit close to their star, making them too hot to be in the habitable zone, which is the region where liquid water could exist. Of the more than 700 planets confirmed to orbit other stars, called exoplanets, only a handful are known to be rocky. (more…)

Stars Pop Onto the Scene in New WISE Image

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 2012Scienceamerican astronomical society, astronomers, bubbles, cosmic clouds, dave leisawitz, gas and dust, milky way galaxy, mosaic, NASA, natal clouds, nebulae, new star birth, newborn stars, public astronomy, radiation, space telescope, specimens, star formation, star forming clouds, triggered star formation, triggered star formation theory, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise, wise mosaic, xavier koenig

PASADENA, Calif. — A new, large mosaic from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) showcases a vast stretch of cosmic clouds bubbling with new star birth. The region — a 1,000-square-degree chunk of our Milky Way galaxy — is home to numerous star-forming clouds, where massive stars have blown out bubbles in the gas and dust.

“Massive stars sweep up and destroy their natal clouds, but they continuously spark new stars to form along the way,” said WISE Mission Scientist Dave Leisawitz of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Leisawitz is co-author of a new paper reporting the results in the Astrophysical Journal. “Occasionally a new, massive star forms, perpetuating the sequence of events and giving rise to the dazzling fireworks display seen in this WISE mosaic.” (more…)

Lifting Space Exploration to New Heights

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2011Sciencealien planets, atmosphere, chris walker, craig kulesa, evolution and architecture of planetary systems, exoplanetary circumstellar environments and disk explorer, explorer, george rieke, glenn schneider, glow of the sky at sundown, habitable zone, high altitude balloon, laird close, large magellanic cloud, michael lesser, milky way galaxy, NASA, olivier guyon, philip hinz, research balloon, roger angel, signposts, space telescope, steward observatory, stratospheric thz observatory, university of arizona, zodiacal light

*A new space telescope designed to peer into the inner reaches of far-away solar systems and a balloon riding the jet stream 120,000 feet above ground are two UA research proposals selected by NASA for further evaluation as potential future science missions.*

A research balloon circling the Earth in the outer fringes of the atmosphere and a space telescope peering through the dust swirls of far-away solar systems in search of alien planets are among the winning proposals selected by NASA for further study as part of NASA’s Explorer Mission program.

Both project proposals, called EXCEDE and GUSSTO, are led by astronomers at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory and are among 11 selected by NASA for evaluation as potential future science missions. (more…)

Twisted Tale of our Galaxy’s Ring

By Guest PostJuly 24, 2011Sciencegiant telescope, herschel observations, milky way galaxy, neighbor galaxy, twisted ring

New observations from the Herschel Space Observatory show a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few portions of the ring, which stretches across more than 600 light-years, were known before. Herschel’s view reveals the entire ring for the first time, and a strange kink that has astronomers scratching their heads. (more…)

Probes Suggest Magnetic Bubbles at Solar System Edge

By Guest PostJune 13, 2011Scienceboston university, boundary region, computer model, earth, energetic particles, galactic cosmic rays, Galaxy, heliophysics system observatory, jim drake, magnetic field, merav opher, milky way galaxy, NASA, north pole, solar system, south pole, Space, turbulent sea of magnetic bubbles, university of maryland, voyager data, voyager spacecraft

PASADENA, Calif. –– Observations from NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, humanity’s farthest deep space sentinels, suggest the edge of our solar system may not be smooth, but filled with a turbulent sea of magnetic bubbles.

While using a new computer model to analyze Voyager data, scientists found the sun’s distant magnetic field is made up of bubbles approximately 100 million miles (160 million kilometers) wide. The bubbles are created when magnetic field lines reorganize. The new model suggests the field lines are broken up into self-contained structures disconnected from the solar magnetic field. The findings are described in the June 9 edition of the Astrophysical Journal. (more…)

Free-Floating Planets May be More Common Than Stars

By Guest PostMay 19, 2011Scienceastronomers, dark of space, david bennett, earth, gaseous bodies, giant wingless, gravitational microlensing events, jupiter, mario perez, microlensing observations in astrophysics, milky way galaxy, moa, NASA, new zealand, nuclear fuel, ogle, optical gravitational lensing experiment, orphan planets, star, star forming clusters, takahiro sumi, telescope in chile, turbulent solar systems

PASADENA, Calif. — Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the dark of space, away from the light of a star. The team believes these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems.

The discovery is based on a joint Japan-New Zealand survey that scanned the center of the Milky Way galaxy during 2006 and 2007, revealing evidence for up to 10 free-floating planets roughly the mass of Jupiter. The isolated orbs, also known as orphan planets, are difficult to spot, and had gone undetected until now. The newfound planets are located at an average approximate distance of 10,000 to 20,000 light-years from Earth. (more…)

Stars Gather in ‘Downtown’ Milky Way

By Guest PostMarch 20, 2011Science120 degree view, astronomers, earth, galactic center, Galaxy, infrared array camera, milky way galaxy, multiband imaging photometer, myriad of stars, NASA, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, spitzer image, spitzer space telescope, starlight

The region around the center of our Milky Way galaxy glows colorfully in this new version of an image taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

The data were previously released as part of a long, 120-degree view of the plane our galaxy (see https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2680-ssc2008-11a-Spitzer-Finds-Clarity-in-the-Inner-Milky-Way). Now, data from the very center of that picture are being presented at a different contrast to better highlight this jam-packed region. In visible-light pictures, it is all but impossible to see the heart of our galaxy, but infrared light penetrates the shroud of dust giving us this unprecedented view. (more…)

Giant Star Goes Supernova — and is Smothered by Its Own Dust

By Guest PostOctober 16, 20105 commentsScience10-meter keck telescope, active galactic nuclei, agn, astronomers, christopher kochanek, deep wide field survey, eta carinae, Galaxy, giant star, hawaii, homunculus nebula, hypernova, krzysztof stanek, light years, Milky Way, milky way galaxy, NASA, ohio state university, spitzer space telescope, star system, super-massive black holes, supernovae, szymon kozlowski, wide field infrared explorer, wise

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A giant star in a faraway galaxy recently ended its life with a dust-shrouded whimper instead of the more typical bang.

Ohio State University researchers suspect that this odd event — the first one of its kind ever viewed by astronomers – was more common early in the universe. (more…)

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