Astronomy posts
- November 23, 2011
- 10:08 AM
- 234 views
Signal received from the lost Russian Phobos-Grunt Mars probe
by Olga Vovk in Milchstraße
... Read more »
Harvey, Brian. (2007) The rebirth of the Russian space program 50 years after Sputnik, new frontiers . Springer-Praxis books in space exploration. info:other/
- November 22, 2011
- 01:00 AM
- 416 views
Neutron star research points to different classes of supernovae
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Classifying things is the starting point for almost all scientific fields – from flowers to fundamental particles. Once one has classes the next step is to find subclasses, and then sub-subclasses. Finding correlations between different classification schemes, then, often leads to significant understandings. Neutron stars are not stars in the normal sense. They are remnants [...]... Read more »
Knigge, C., Coe, M., & Podsiadlowski, P. (2011) Two populations of X-ray pulsars produced by two types of supernova. Nature, 479(7373), 372-375. DOI: 10.1038/nature10529
- November 17, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 835 views
Milky Way Questions: Bok Globules and Herbig-Haro Objects
by Sarah in One Small Step
ResearchBlogging.orgThe Milky Way Project science team are currently busy laying what we hope is the final hand on our first publication. In this paper, we’ll describe the project and why we decided to take the citizen science approach for the task of identifying bubble structures in the Galaxy. We will also present our first results from the hundreds of thousands of classifications we’ve logged on the site, and how our new bubble catalog might be useful for further studies of star f........ Read more »
Reipurth, B., & Bally, J. (2001) Herbig-Haro Flows: Probes of Early Stellar Evolution . Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 39(1), 403-455. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.astro.39.1.403
- November 16, 2011
- 03:50 PM
- 937 views
Be/X-ray binaries and 2 types of supernovae
by Olga Vovk in Universe at a glance
two subpopulations of Be/Xray binaries can associated with the two types of Type II supernovae providing different mechanisms for neutron star formation where electron-capture supernovae are responsible for low-mass neutron stars in X-ray binaries with short spin periods, short orbital periods and low eccentricities, while iron-core-collapse supernovae produce high-eccentricity binaries containing high-mass neutron stars, with longer spin periods.... Read more »
Christian Knigge, Malcolm Coe, & Philipp Podsiadlowski. (2011) Two Populations of X-ray Pulsars Produced by Two Types of Supernovae. Nature. arXiv: 1111.2051v1
- November 15, 2011
- 03:28 PM
- 533 views
How to (hopefully) not drown in data
by Emma in we are all in the gutter
More is better, right? Bigger telescopes and bigger surveys are both undoubtedly good things, but to make the best use of these advances we need to be able to handle the corresponding increase in data flow, and subsequent pressure on the astronomical archives which are going to have to cope with it. This is a [...]... Read more »
G. Bruce Berriman, & Steven L. Groom. (2011) How Will Astronomy Archives Survive The Data Tsunami?. ACM Queue. arXiv: 1111.0075v1
- November 14, 2011
- 07:54 AM
- 486 views
The earliest astronomers?
The short version of this post is that Astronomy in the Upper Palaeolithic? by Hayden & Villeneuve is a great paper. If you’re interested in astronomy in hunter-gatherer societies you should read it. I’m going to disagree with some parts of the paper below, but if Hayden & Villeneuve are wrong about some things, then [...]... Read more »
Hayden, B., & Villeneuve, S. (2011) Astronomy in the Upper Palaeolithic?. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 21(03), 331-355. DOI: 10.1017/S0959774311000400
- November 14, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 819 views
Scientists have found a recipe for cooking the solar system from scratch
by United Academics in United Academics
You take a cold cloud of gas, and set it 15 light-years from an exploding supernova. Stun the cloud with the supernova’s shockwave. Incubate, and watch as the solar system begins to take shape.... Read more »
M. Gritschneder, D. N. C. Lin, S. D. Murray, Q. -Z. Yin, & M. -N. Gong. (2011) The Supernova Triggered Formation and Enrichment of Our Solar System. Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1111.0012v1
- November 11, 2011
- 11:00 PM
- 474 views
Galaxy interactions accelerate the growth of supermassive black holes
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
It’s now well-known that there’s a rough correlation between a galaxy’s size and the size of its central supermassive black hole (SMBH). The correlation is even better (for spiral galaxies) between the black hole size and the size of the central bulge of the galaxy. It’s been found that the mass of a SMBH is [...]... Read more »
J. D. Silverman, P. Kampczyk, K. Jahnke, R. Andrae, S. Lilly, M. Elvis, F. Civano, V. Mainieri, C. Vignali, G. Zamorani.... (2011) The impact of galaxy interactions on AGN activity in zCOSMOS. Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1109.1292v1
- November 8, 2011
- 11:30 PM
- 404 views
Hubble directly observes the disk around a black hole
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Quasars are the brightest persistent objects in the universe. They represent the brightest examples of a somewhat more common object: an active galactic nucleus (AGN). As the name implies, an AGN exists at the center of some galaxies. Most quasars, and even most AGN, are not found in the nearby universe, since they are especially [...]... Read more »
Muñoz, J., Mediavilla, E., Kochanek, C., Falco, E., & Mosquera, A. (2011) A STUDY OF GRAVITATIONAL LENS CHROMATICITY WITH THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE . The Astrophysical Journal, 742(2), 67. DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/742/2/67
- November 5, 2011
- 12:43 AM
- 431 views
Record-breaking gamma-ray emissions from a millisecond pulsar
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Breaking old records for some statistic or another generally makes for catchy headlines, at least. If nothing else, the fact that the statistic is being tracked (whether or not by Guinness) suggests it’s a matter of more than passing interest. Now astrophysicists have come up with a new find that breaks three records at the [...]... Read more »
, ., Freire, P., Abdo, A., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R.... (2011) Fermi Detection of a Luminous γ-Ray Pulsar in a Globular Cluster. Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.1207141
- October 31, 2011
- 12:35 PM
- 1,035 views
Could The First Stars In The Universe Really Be Annihilating Dark Matter?
by Joseph Smidt in The Eternal Universe
Stars today burn bright through the interactions of elements like hydrogen and helium. But was that the same story for the first stars in the universe, or was their light dominated by the annihilation of dark matter? Recently, Ili et al. took up the challenge of finding out what astronomers should be looking for if this is the cas.
Some background: If dark matter really is a weakly interacting particle, then shortly after the big bang, when the un........ Read more »
Cosmin Ilie, Katherine Freese, Monica Valluri, Ilian T. Iliev, & Paul Shapiro. (2011) Observing Dark Stars with JWST. e-print. arXiv: 1110.6202v1
- October 30, 2011
- 04:39 AM
- 435 views
Astronomers Pin Down Galaxy Collision Rate
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Galaxies have been growing over most of the 13.7 billion year history of the universe. Some of the growth is due to intergalactic gas gradually swept up by an existing galaxy and then driving star formation in the galaxy. But another growth mechanism is the merger of two (and sometimes more) existing galaxies into one. [...]... Read more »
Jennifer M. Lotz, Patrik Jonsson, T. J. Cox, Darren Croton, Joel R. Primack, Rachel S. Somerville, & Kyle Stewart. (2011) The Major and Minor Galaxy Merger Rates at z . Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1108.2508v1
- October 28, 2011
- 08:39 AM
- 16,265 views
Blue stragglers formed by engulfing red giants
by Kelly Oakes in Basic Space
Unusual stars known as blue stragglers have been causing trouble for astronomers since they were first seen in 1953: they are hotter and brighter than they should be, and much younger too. Now, they are causing mischief again for astronomers that are trying to work out where they come from.... Read more »
Geller AM, & Mathieu RD. (2011) A mass transfer origin for blue stragglers in NGC 188 as revealed by half-solar-mass companions. Nature, 478(7369), 356-9. PMID: 22012393
- October 26, 2011
- 04:24 PM
- 530 views
Dipping into the Royal Society’s archive
by Emma in we are all in the gutter
I’m not supposed to be blogging tonight but I’ve allowed myself half an hour to advertise the announcement from the Royal Society today that they’re making their entire journal archive permanently available online for free. The society was founded in 1660 with the aim of bringing together eminent scientists to discuss their research and promote [...]... Read more »
Herschel, W. (1785) On the Construction of the Heavens. By William Herschel, Esq. F. R. S. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 213-266. DOI: 10.1098/rstl.1785.0012
Herschel, W. (1785) Catalogue of Double Stars. By William Herschel, Esq. F. R. S. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 40-126. DOI: 10.1098/rstl.1785.0006
- October 24, 2011
- 07:38 AM
- 628 views
Scientists release most accurate simulation of the universe to date
by United Academics in United Academics
The Bolshoi supercomputer simulation, is the most accurate and detailed large cosmological simulation run to date (“bolshoi” is the Russian word for “great” or “grand”), giving physicists and astronomers a powerful new tool for understanding such cosmic mysteries as galaxy formation, dark matter, and dark energy.... Read more »
A. Klypin, S. Trujillo-Gomez, & J. Primack. (2010) Halos and galaxies in the standard cosmological model: results from the Bolshoi simulation. Xavi.org. arXiv: 1002.3660v4
Sebastian Trujillo-Gomez, Anatoly Klypin, Joel Primack, & Aaron J. Romanowsky. (2010) Galaxies in LCDM with Halo Abundance Matching: luminosity-velocity relation, baryonic mass-velocity relation, velocity function and clustering. Arxiv.org. arXiv: 1005.1289v3
- October 24, 2011
- 07:31 AM
- 558 views
Scientists release most accurate simulation of the universe to date
by Gijs van der Klei in UA
The Bolshoi supercomputer simulation, is the most accurate and detailed large cosmological simulation run to date (“bolshoi” is the Russian word for “great” or “grand”), giving physicists and astronomers a powerful new tool for understanding such cosmic mysteries as galaxy formation, dark matter, and dark energy. The simulation traces the evolution of the large-scale structure [...]... Read more »
A. Klypin, S. Trujillo-Gomez, & J. Primack. (2010) Halos and galaxies in the standard cosmological model: results from the Bolshoi simulation. Xavi.org. arXiv: 1002.3660v4
Sebastian Trujillo-Gomez, Anatoly Klypin, Joel Primack, & Aaron J. Romanowsky. (2010) Galaxies in LCDM with Halo Abundance Matching: luminosity-velocity relation, baryonic mass-velocity relation, velocity function and clustering. Arxiv.org. arXiv: 1005.1289v3
- October 21, 2011
- 09:05 AM
- 872 views
In Praise of the Comet
by thesoftanonymous in the.soft.anonymous
Comets get a lot of bad press. Before science came along, they were usually seen as bad omens from the gods – “tokens of impending doom” in the words of one Roman astrologer. Even now that we know comets to be lumps of ice and rock flying through space, countless movies portray them as harbingers of doom and destroyers of mankind.
But comets also deserve some praise, because we probably wouldn’t be here without them. Here's why...... Read more »
Hartogh P, Lis DC, Bockelée-Morvan D, de Val-Borro M, Biver N, Küppers M, Emprechtinger M, Bergin EA, Crovisier J, Rengel M.... (2011) Ocean-like water in the Jupiter-family comet 103P/Hartley 2. Nature, 478(7368), 218-20. PMID: 21976024
Michiel R. Hogerheijde, Edwin A. Bergin, Christian Brinch, L. Ilsedore Cleeves, Jeffrey K. J. Fogel, Geoffrey A. Blake, Carsten Dominik, Dariusz C. Lis, Gary Melnick, David Neufeld.... (2011) Detection of the Water Reservoir in a Forming Planetary System. Science 6054 (2011), 338. arXiv: 1110.4600v1
- October 20, 2011
- 06:30 PM
- 408 views
Distant Galaxies Reveal The Clearing of the Cosmic Fog
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
The first billion years after the big bang (out of about 13.7 billion years total since then) were among the most interesting in terms of giving birth to the kind of objects that still dominate the scene today. Mostly that means stars and galaxies, plus a few exotica such as quasars. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult [...]... Read more »
L. Pentericci, A. Fontana, E. Vanzella, M. Castellano, A. Grazian, M. Dijkstra, K. Boutsia, S. Cristiani, M. Dickinson, E. Giallongo.... (2011) Spectroscopic confirmation of z~7 LBGs: probing the earliest galaxies and the epoch of reionization. Astrophysical Journal. arXiv: 1107.1376v1
- October 19, 2011
- 05:20 PM
- 666 views
Space cleaner wanted: must have own laser
by Emma in we are all in the gutter
Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957 we’ve launched tonnes of stuff (literally) into space. We’ve not kept things very tidy up there either, so we now have hundreds of thousands of pieces of junk orbiting around us, threatening to crash into important things like the International Space Station. Or the satellite that handles your [...]... Read more »
Claude R. Phipps, Kevin L. Baker, Brian Bradford, E. Victor George, Stephen B. Libby, Duane A. Liedahl, Bogdan Marcovici, Scot S. Olivier, Lyn D. Pleasance, James P. Reilly.... (2011) Removing Orbital Debris with Lasers. Advances in Space Research. arXiv: 1110.3835v1
- October 17, 2011
- 05:25 PM
- 444 views
Universe’s “Standard Candles” Are White Dwarf Mergers
by Charles Daney in Today's Science
Supernovae are spectacular but fairly rare events, at least on the human time scale. In our own galaxy, only 5 have been seen (necessarily by the naked eye, before telescopes were invented in 1608) in the last 2000 years. Since there have been none in our galaxy when any telescopes were available to study them, [...]... Read more »
Graur, O., Poznanski, D., Maoz, D., Yasuda, N., Totani, T., Fukugita, M., Filippenko, A., Foley, R., Silverman, J., Gal-Yam, A.... (2011) Supernovae in the Subaru Deep Field: the rate and delay-time distribution of Type Ia supernovae out to redshift 2. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 417(2), 916-940. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19287.x
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