Massive galaxy cluster spawns more than 700 stars a year A newly discovered cluster of galaxies, more than 5 billion light years from Earth…is among the most massive clusters of galaxies in the universe, and produces X-rays at a rate faster than any other known cluster. It also creates new stars at an “unmatched” pace of more …
Tag Archives: star
Crowdsource the launch of a nano-satellite into space – Kickstarter
We are developing a nano-satellite, and mobile apps to go with it, as the focus for a global education and public outreach campaign. The satellite, called SkyCube, is a 10x10x10 cm “1U” CubeSat intended for launch as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2013. Orbiting more than 300 miles up, on a …
Continue reading “Crowdsource the launch of a nano-satellite into space – Kickstarter”
Photos – parachutist breaks speed of sound in free-fall, planets in the sky, glaciers
Astronomers discover a close new planet – covered in oceans of magma
In a surprise find, astronomers have discovered a planet possibly covered with oceans of magma “right around the corner.” Thirty-three light years away, “we have a sub-Earth-sized planet that’s slightly larger than Mars and essentially right around the corner, at least on a cosmic scale,” said Kevin Stevenson, a planetary scientist now at the University of Chicago UCF-1.01 …
Continue reading “Astronomers discover a close new planet – covered in oceans of magma”
Researchers discover our twin solar system, GJ676A – where everything is 4x larger
Astronomers have detected our “grotesque” twin: A planetary system arranged much like our own solar system, a new study says. Dubbed GJ676A, the system has two rocky planets orbiting close to its host star, and two gas giants orbiting far away. This means the system is arranged like our system—though in GJ676A, everything is much …
So long Andy Griffith – a memoir from Ron Howard
A memoir of Andy Griffith from Ron Howard: Early in the second season of “The Andy Griffith Show,” I ventured a suggestion for a line change to make it sound more “like the way a kid would say it.” I was just 7 years old. But my idea was accepted and I remember standing frozen, …
Continue reading “So long Andy Griffith – a memoir from Ron Howard”
All 786 known planets, to scale
All 786 known planets, to scale. “This” (tiny gray box) is our solar system. The rest of these orbit other stars and were only discovered recently. Most of them are huge because these are the kind we learned to detect first, but now we’re finding that small ones are actually more common. We know nothing …
Scientists watch a black hole devour a star
Back when single-celled organisms ruled Earth, a gigantic black hole lurking quietly at the center of a distant galaxy dismantled and devoured a star. On Wednesday, astronomers reported that they watched the whole thing unfold over a period of 15 months starting in 2010, the first time such an event had been witnessed in great …
Continue reading “Scientists watch a black hole devour a star”
#HappyStarWarsDay – Darth Vader vs. the security guard
// Thx – Linda Dee
May the 4th be with you – #HappyStarWarsDay
May 4 is considered a holiday by Star Wars fans to celebrate Star Wars culture and honor the films. May 4 is called Star Wars Day because of the popularity of a common pun spoken on this day. Since the phrase “May the Force be with you” is a famous quote often spoken in the …
Continue reading “May the 4th be with you – #HappyStarWarsDay”