Cosmology news, blogs, and links for Science and Physics buffs. Cosmology is the study of the Universe in its totality. Big bang, expanding universe, cosmic radiation. All discussed here.
Most astronomers today believe that one of the most plausible reasons we have yet to detect intelligent life in the universe is due to the deadly effects of local supernova explosions that wipe out all life in a given region of a galaxy. While there is, on average, only one supernova per galaxy per century, there is something on the order of 100 billion galaxies in the observable Universe. Taking 10 billion years for the age of the Universe (it's actually 13.7 billion, but stars didn't form... Read Full Story
Players will help astronomers to find out how galaxies merged Astronomers have devised a game to help uncover the basis of galactic pile-ups. The game, part of the ongoing web-based project Galaxy Zoo, shows players images of colliding galaxies and asks them to match those to simulations. By selecting the closest matching simulation, players can help astronomers to work out how the real galaxies actually merged. The astronomers say that humans are "much better than computers" at spotting the... Read Full Story
A bit of imagination on the part of a measuring instrument wouldn’t be a bad thing. It could help to add data from areas where the instrument is unable to measure. However, it must do so constructively. In order to infer missing data in an astronomical measurement with more than just imagination, physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics have formulated a theory of spatial perception called information field theory. The scientists have developed a series of rules for... Read Full Story
Astronomers in Chile and Japan have for the first time seen part of the "cosmic web" of galaxies that permeates the known universe in a gigantic assembly some seven billion light-years from Earth. Viewed through the world's most powerful telescopes, the discovery "is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy structure in the distant universe, providing further insight into the cosmic web and how it formed," the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said Tuesday in a statement. The... Read Full Story
November 12, 2009 This year, the Leonid meteor shower best viewing will be in the hours before dawn on November 17, according to the editors of StarDate magazine. There is uncertainty on the intensity of this year’s shower. Viewers will definitely see a dozen or more meteors per hour. Some astronomers predict, however, that the rate could be greater than 100. The Moon will not wash out any meteors: It rises after daybreak, and in its almost-new phase will be nearly invisible. Leonid meteors... Read Full Story
Interstellar Highway Patrol take note: MIT astronomers announced that stars of a recently discovered type, tagged ultracool subdwarfs, take some pretty wild rides reaching speeds of one million mph as they orbit around the Milky Way, following paths very different from those of typical stars. One of them may actually be a visitor that originated in another galaxy.
The results of new MIT research clarifies the origins of these peculiar, faint stars, and may provide new details on the... Read Full Story
Interstellar Highway Patrol take note: MIT astronomers announced that stars of a recently discovered type, tagged ultracool subdwarfs, take some pretty wild rides reaching speeds of one million mph as they orbit around the Milky Way, following paths very different from those of typical stars. One of them may actually be a visitor that originated in another galaxy.
The results of new MIT research clarifies the origins of these peculiar, faint stars, and may provide new details on the... Read Full Story
Using ESO's Very Large Telescope and its ability to obtain images as sharp as if taken from space, astronomers have made the first time-lapse movie of a rather unusual shell ejected by a "vampire star," which in November 2000 underwent an outburst after gulping down part of its companion's matter. This enabled astronomers to determine the distance and intrinsic brightness of the outbursting object. It appears that this double star system is a prime candidate to be one of the long-sought... Read Full Story
The Leonid Meteor Shower 2009 is here. The annual spectacle can be seen November 13-20, but the peak of meteoric activity will occur on Tuesday morning, November 17, 2009.
The best time to spot meteors will be after 1:30 a.m. EST and prior to sunrise.
This year, the view should be spectacular as the moon won't be visible from Earth so the skies will be even darker than usual and meteors should be easier to spot.
These meteors begin as tiny bits of debris ejected by... Read Full Story
The Leonid Meteor Shower 2009 is here. The annual spectacle can be seen November 13-20, but the peak of meteoric activity will occur on Tuesday morning, November 17, 2009.
The best time to spot meteors will be after 1:30 a.m. EST and prior to sunrise.
This year, the view should be spectacular as the moon won't be visible from Earth so the skies will be even darker than usual and meteors should be easier to spot.
These meteors begin as tiny bits of debris ejected by... Read Full Story
