You'd Prefer an Astronaut: Recent Episodes
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Volcanoes are prevalent inside the Solar System - and not just on Earth. Venus has them, so do some of the moons of Jupiter, and Mars had them. But can we detect volcanoes outside our Solar System? According to this study, it is possible. Wow.
Did you think that the light from explosions decreases with time? That makes sense, right? Think again. Recent optical (Hubble), radio, and X-ray images of SN1987a have found that is getting brighter with time. The reason why is that, as the material ejected in this explosion expands, it sweeps up more and more of the surrounding material, heating them up such that they emit light in these wavelengths. In fact, very recently the ejecta collided with dense gas released by the star about 20-30 years before it exploded, causing it to light up. Go here to read more. Enjoy!
Solar flares are pretty much known to cause aurorae, power outages, satellite problems, etc. But they can change how elements decay? Really? Apparently so. Go here to read more. So weird....
Maybe a little bit higher than previously thought. Go here to read about the latest measurement.
At least according to this book. I'm not too sure of this, but it is an interesting argument.
Please don't shine it at my telescope, it hurts. Go here to read about the latest problem regarding light pollution.
Apparently, the recipe is:
Step 1 - Crash two galaxies together
Step 2 - Wait for the two smaller black holes at the center of these galaxies to merge together, during which time lots of gas falls into them.
Step 3 - Go to Step 1.
Figuring this out was not as simple as it looks. Go here,
here, and here, and here to learn more.
Well, at least a picture taken by the WISE satellite. Go here to see the very pretty picture. Enjoy!
Hit by another asteroid. Well, I guess that is the downside of being the most massive planet in the Solar System. Go here to read about it and see the damage.
Pulsars are the most common type of neutron stars, objects more massive than the Sun but about the size of your favorite major city. The Solar System is well, our Solar System. How can you use one to study the other? Gravity. Go here to read how.
To a baby asteroid, of course. Mainly by budding - i.e. spinning so rapidly some rocks shoot off and orbit the parent. So cute! Go here and here and here to learn more.
Well, I posted a link to an editorial essentially blasting NASA's SOFIA project. Here is an article describing all the pretty impressive science it will hopefully accomplish. Enjoy!
Not surprisingly, activity of the Sun has a large impact on the properties of the Earth. The most prominent example are solar flares, which cause aurorae and can significantly damage satellites. A less prominent, but just as important example, is the uppermost atmosphere, which is ionized by UV radiation from the Sun. Not surprisingly, as UV radiation from the Sun drops, so does the thickness of this layer. To learn more, go here. Enjoy!
Kepler recently discovered not one but two transiting planets orbiting the same star. Now, this isn't that surprising - many stars with multiple planets have long been identified (e.g. our Sun and Solar System), and since transiting planets are a result of favorable geometry (the planets happen to pass between us and their central star) and most planets orbit a star in the plane on the sky (one important reason why Pluto is no longer considering a planet by most astronomers). one would even expect this to happen. It is cool, never the less. Read more about it here and
here and here and here and here, with an audio report (courtesy of NASA) here.
Now, while that is far from a provocative statement, it is always nice to get confirmation that other stars are truly like the Sun. Go here to read about how this is the case.
.. where life could have possibly maybe might have existed on Mars way back when. Go here for more information.
Well it is. Very slowly. Because it is still cooling from its formation. Go here and here to read why astronomers think this is the case.
Go here to read how galaxies in some of the earliest known galaxy clusters in the universe are producing stars at a much higher rate than now. Interesting...
Literally. NASA's Dawn satellite will hopefully land on the asteroid Vesta soon. Go here to read more, or listen to it here. Enjoy!
Astronomers have used many different methods to try and figure out the nature of dark energy: the mysterious substance comprising roughly 70% of the total energy in the universe and responsible for accelerating its expansion. These including measuring the distance to Type Ia supernovae, measuring the mass of galaxy clusters, the clumping of galaxies, and not strong lensing of more distant galaxies by nearby galaxy clusters. Read more about it here and here and here. Hopefully all these methods keep on agreeing.