Death of a star in 3D

( PhysOrg.com ) -- Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching have for the first time managed to reproduce the asymmetries and fast-moving iron clumps of observed supernovae by complex computer simulations in all three dimensions. To this end they successfully followed the outburst in their models consistently from milliseconds after the onset of the blast to the demise of the star several hours later. ( Astrophysical Journal, May 10th, 2010 ).

La mayor tormenta solar en 500 días inquieta a los científicos

Una vez más, y esta vez con más fuerza y de forma totalmente inesperada, el Sol ha dado muestras de que ha despertado de su letargo. El telescopio espacial 'Tesis' registró el lunes la mayor tormenta geomagnética desde octubre de 2008, según informa el Instituto ruso de Física 'Lebedev'. La tormenta solar alcanzó el nivel 7 en una escala de 10, el máximo histórico del último año y medio. Su fase activa se prolongó de las 10.00 a las 19.00 horas. "No se han producido fluctuaciones de tal magnitud durante 540 días, desde el 11 de octubre de 2008", aseguran los técnicos. Una gran actividad solar no presagia nada bueno en un mundo absolutamente dependiente de la tecnología.

Once again, this time harder and quite unexpectedly, the Sun has shown that he has awakened from its slumber. The Hubble Space 'thesis' posted on Monday, the largest geomagnetic storm of October 2008, according to the Russian Institute of Physics 'Lebedev'. The solar storm reached level 7 on a scale of 10, the record high last year and a half. Active phase lasted from 10.00 to 19.00. "There have been no fluctuations of such magnitude for 540 days, from October 11, 2008", say the technicians. A high solar activity does not bode well in a world utterly dependent on technology.

First Solid Evidence for a Rocky Exoplanet

Mass and density of smallest exoplanet finally measured.

The longest set of HARPS measurements ever made has firmly established the nature of the smallest and fastest-orbiting exoplanet known, CoRoT-7b, revealing its mass as five times that of Earth's. Combined with CoRoT-7b's known radius, which is less than twice that of our terrestrial home, this tells us that the exoplanet's density is quite similar to the Earth's, suggesting a solid, rocky world. The extensive dataset also reveals the presence of another so-called super-Earth in this alien solar system.

The $150 Space Camera: MIT Students Beat NASA On Beer-Money Budget

The two students ( from MIT, of course ) put together a low-budget rig to fly a camera high enough to photograph the curvature of the Earth. Instead of rockets, boosters and expensive control systems, they filled a weather balloon with helium and hung a styrofoam beer cooler underneath to carry a cheap Canon A470 compact camera. Instant hand warmers kept things from freezing up and made sure the batteries stayed warm enough to work.

El agujero negro más lejano tiene una galaxia enorme a su alrededor

El agujero negro más lejano que se conoce, un objeto supermasivo situado a 12.800 millones de años luz de la Tierra, tiene alrededor una galaxia tan grande como nuestra Vía Láctea, algo sorprendente en el universo primitivo tan joven ( sólo 840 millones de años después del Big Bang ), dicen los científicos.  La galaxia y el agujero negro, que tiene al menos mil millones de veces más materia que el Sol, debieron formarse muy rápidamente en el cosmos primitivo , dice Tomotsugu Goto ( Universidad de Hawai ), líder de esta investigación, en la que participan, además, cuatro astrofísicos de instituciones japonesas. De hecho, las observaciones se realizaron en agosto del año pasado con el gran telescopio nipón Subaru, ubicado en el observatorio de Mauna Kea ( Hawai ), sobre todo para probar un nuevo sensor ( CCD ) avanzado instalado en una de sus cámaras.

Evidence found of lake, catastrophic flood on Mars

Geologists at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum have discovered a large former lake in the highlands of Mars that would cover an area the size of Texas and New Mexico combined, and which overflowed to carve one of that planet's largest valleys. The findings appear in the June 21 issue of the journal Science.

First large superconducting magnet to be launched in space

The recently completed superconducting magnet for the space borne Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was designed, modelled and detailed using Solid Edge and supported by Cutting Edge Solutions. The 2tonne magnet has a 3m diameter and was produced by Oxford based Scientific Magnetics. It is the first, large superconducting magnet to be launched into space, where it will reside on the main truss of the International Space Station from 2010.

Experience WorldWide Telescope

Immerse yourself in a seamless beautiful environment. WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world. Experience narrated guided tours from astronomers and educators featuring interesting places in the sky.

Search for Life in the Solar System

“It is critical to know what to look for in the search for life in the solar system. The search so far has focused on Earth-like life because that’s all we know, but life that may have originated elsewhere could be unrecognizable compared with life here. Advances throughout the last decade in biology and biochemistry show that the basic requirements for life might not be as concrete as we thought.” John Baross - Professor of Oceanography and the Astrobiology Program at the University of Washington and lead author U.S. National Research Council report: “The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems”

Teens capture images of space with £56 camera and balloon

Proving that you don't need Google's billions or the BBC weather centre's resources, the four Spanish students managed to send a camera-operated weather balloon into the stratosphere. Taking atmospheric readings and photographs 20 miles above the ground, the Meteotek team of IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia completed their incredible experiment at the end of February this year. Building the electronic sensor components from scratch, Gerard Marull Paretas, Sergi Saballs Vila, Marta­ Gasull Morcillo and Jaume Puigmiquel Casamort managed to send their heavy duty £43 latex balloon to the edge of space and take readings of its ascent.

Close Encounter: Earth-Asteroid Near Miss

The asteroid - about the size of a 10-storey building - flew past the Earth at roughly twice the distance of the highest Earth-orbiting satellites, according to website space.com. It is similar in size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908, flattening 80 million trees across an 800 square mile area. The impact had the force of a thousand atomic bombs, astronomers say. Asteroid 2009 DD45

was closest to the earth on Monday at around 8.30am, at just under 45,000 miles above the surface of the planet.

Astronomers knew it was coming after it was spotted last Saturday as a faint dot showing up in pictures at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. There was never any risk of collision, experts said, but anything flying within 50,000 miles of the Earth is taken very seriously.

Perseverance Is Paying Off for a Test of Relativity in Space

For 46 years, Francis Everitt, a Stanford University physicist, has promoted the often perilous fortunes of Gravity Probe B, perhaps the most exotic, “Star Trek”-ish experiment ever undertaken in space. Finally, with emergency financial help from a pair of unusual sources, success is at hand. Conceived in the late 1950s, financed by $750 million from NASA and launched into orbit in 2004, the Gravity Probe B spacecraft has sought to prove two tenets of Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The first, called the geodetic effect, holds that a large celestial body like Earth will warp time the way a rubber sheet stretches when a bowling ball is placed on it. The second, known as frame-dragging, occurs when the rotation of a large body “twists” nearby space and time; turn the resting bowling ball, and the rubber sheet twists.

Galaxy has 'billions of Earths'

There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy, a US conference has heard. Dr Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Science said many of these worlds could be inhabited by simple lifeforms. He was speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. So far, telescopes have been able to detect just over 300 planets outside our Solar System. Very few of these would be capable of supporting life, however. Most are gas giants like our Jupiter; and many orbit so close to their parent stars that any microbes would have to survive roasting temperatures.

A 'Theory of Everything' Is Just an Illusion

Nobody knows what "time" is, how to define it, so how can people speak of the beginning of the universe, of the beginning of time, and of the end of the universe. Such talk is completely futile, maybe there is no beginning and no end of time, nobody knows.

40,000 planets could be home to aliens

Researchers have calculated that up to 37,964 worlds in our galaxy are hospitable enough to be home to creatures at least as intelligent as ourselves.

Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger, hero of US Airways Flight 1549, breaks silence about emergency landing

"It was very quiet as we worked, my co-pilot and I. We were a team," Sullenberger told ESPN's Rick Reilly. "But to have zero thrust coming out of those engines was shocking - the silence."

Extraterrestrial Essentials For Life Confirmed

If you want to see the offspring of extraterrestrial interference in Earth evolution, you don't have to break into the X-files or start watching late night crazy-person public access. You could be looking at one in the mirror. Read more..