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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: astronomy

astronomy stories: 68 news summaries

21 - 40 of 68 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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Scientists Say Black Hole
Lies at Center of Galaxy

Stars orbit around central nucleus 4M times heavier than sun

Dec 11, 08 5:22 PM CST
(Newser) - A giant black hole sits at the core of our galaxy, say astronomers who participated in a 16-year German study that monitored the movements of 28 stars circling the center of the Milky Way. “Beyond any reasonable doubt,” the stars orbit a core concentration of mass 4 million... More »

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astronomy • deep space • black hole • galaxy

 Jupiter, Venus, Moon 
 Converge in 
 Rare Reunion 

Spectacular planetary 'huddle' to start tonight

Nov 27, 08 12:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Americans looking at the night sky this weekend will be able to see the three brightest celestial bodies come together for a Thanksgiving reunion, the AP reports. Jupiter and Venus will move closer and appear to be just a finger's width apart by Sunday. By Monday, the crescent moon will... More »

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astronomy • Jupiter • moon • Venus • night sky

Scientists Identify Body
of Copernicus

DNA proves elderly man buried in Poland is father of astronomy

Nov 20, 08 6:20 PM CST
(Newser) - More than 400 years after Copernicus determined man's place in the universe, scientists returned the favor by pinpointing his grave in an old Polish cathedral. Using DNA from a tooth and a bone, scientists identified a 70-year-old man buried in an unmarked grave as the astronomer who determined that the... More »

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astronomy • Copernicus

 Scientists Snap First  
 Images of New Planets 

Three-planet, one-planet systems caught on camera

Nov 13, 08 3:55 PM CST
(Newser) - Scientists have photographed planets outside our solar system for the first time, Space.com reports. One team captured images of a three-planet system orbiting a star in the Pegasus constellation, while another group snapped a planet rotating around the star Fomalhaut. The planets can't support life or little green men,... More »

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astronomy • science • space • extrasolar planets

(Newser) - A nearby solar system looks a lot like ours, complete with newly identified asteroid belts, gas giants, and a similarly sized sun, Space.com reports. The star at the center of the system is visible without magnification, and scientists say they can infer the presence of planets in a zone... More »

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astronomy • planet • space • star • Spitzer orbiting telescope • exoplanet • asteroid belt • Epsilon Eridani

 3-D Map Adds Light Years 
 to Concept of Universe 

Survey used red shift to find relative distances of heavenly bodies

Oct 15, 08 5:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Telescope photographs of the night sky are compelling, but it’s hard to get a feel for the heavens when you’re Earthbound. The recently completed Sloan Digital Sky Survey can help: It is a 3-D map of the area within 2 billion light years of Earth that allows the... More »

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astronomy • space • telescope • digital photography • Milky Way • map • galaxy

Ancient Ritual Blends Faith, Technology

Muslim holy month starts on sighting of crescent moon

Aug 31, 08 6:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Telescopes are tilted skyward throughout the Muslim world tonight, hunting for the first glimpse of a crescent moon that signals the start of Ramadan. In an age-old mix of science and religion, astronomers and clerics gather each year to monitor the moon and announce the beginning of Islam’s holiest... More »

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Islam • astronomy • Muslims • moon • Ramadan • Prophet Muhammed • religious rites

Vatican Debates Paying Tribute
to Galileo

Heretic remains a touchy subject in Catholic Church

Aug 28, 08 12:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Galileo Galilei is riling the Catholic church yet again, the Wall Street Journal reports, as an anonymous donor has offered to pay to erect a statue in the Vatican of Catholicism’s most famous heretic. But though the church has come around on science, Galileo remains a touchy subject. He’... More »

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astronomy • Pope Benedict XVI • Catholic Church • science • Vatican • Galileo • Pope John Paul II

 Eclipse Draws 15K to Siberia 

Thousands flock to Russia for rare solar spectacle despite threat of rain

Jul 31, 08 11:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Prospects of rare total solar eclipse have drawn thousands of sky-watchers to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, where the moon’s passage between the earth and sun will create 140 seconds of darkness at 5:45 pm local time today. Hotels in the city—Russia’s third-largest—are fully booked,... More »

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China • Russia • astronomy • Canada • Siberia • Mongolia • solar eclipse • Novosibirsk

 Scientists Explain
 Northern Lights

Finding could help scientists predict storms that take out satellites

Jul 24, 08 7:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists say they have solved the mystery of what causes the dazzling northern lights to seemingly dance across the sky, Wired reports. The light show, also known as aurora borealis, is triggered by explosions of magnetic energy about 80,000 miles away. The findings—drawn from five NASA satellites... More »

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astronomy • northern lights • aurora borealis • night sky

 Dwarf Planet Gets a Name 

Smaller than Pluto, Makemake is covered in frozen methane

Jul 22, 08 10:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - The neighborhood of the solar system beyond Neptune has a new resident—or rather, an old resident with a new name. The dwarf planet originally dubbed Easterbunny will now be known as Makemake (pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh), reports USA Today. More »

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astronomy • planet • outer space • Makemake • dwarf planet


 How to Take
 a Solar Eclipse
 Road Trip 

Hit the right spot and see 93M miles into the distance

Jul 12, 08 9:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Thousands of people will trek to the hinterlands on August 1 just to stand in the dark for three minutes. The reason: a total solar eclipse is set to sweep over a path spanning from China to Canada. Wired clues would-be eclipse chasers in on ways to maximize each sunless... More »

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astronomy • travel • tourism • sun • road trip ideas • eclipse • travel tips • solar eclipse

OPINION

 New Planets Yield 
 Hopes of Life 
 Beyond  

Rocky, Earth-like orbs appear to be out there; might we indeed have company?

Jun 24, 08 1:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - The discovery, announced last week, that rocky, Earth-sized planets appear to be circling sun-sized stars in our own galaxy should thrill the closet Star Trek geek in all of us, Natalie Angier writes in the New York Times. "If planets abound, scientists suspect that life abounds, too, at... More »

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astronomy • space exploration • planet • deep space • extraterrestrial life • Milky Way • galaxy • Kepler spacecraft

Astronomers Trace Homer's Wandering Hero

Experts tie Odysseus' return to Ithaca with
real eclipse in 1178

Jun 24, 08 9:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Homer's Odyssey is 2,700 years old, and the events it describes happened centuries earlier. But two scientists claim in a new paper that they've traced one line in the epic poem—a possible reference to an eclipse—to a real astronomical event. Classicists might take issue, writes the New ... More »

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astronomy • Greece • poetry • eclipse • ancient Greece • Homer • solar eclipse

 There's a Huge Moon 
 on the Rise 

Solstice makes heavenly body look bigger tonight, tomorrow—but it's an illusion

Jun 17, 08 4:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Northern Hemisphere residents, check out the night sky tomorrow for an extra-large-looking moon. The moon illusion—a trick our brain plays on us—is enhanced by the summer solstice, and when Earth's satellite rises close to the horizon, conditions are perfect, LiveScience notes. More »

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astronomy • space • Earth • solar system • moon • illusion • Northern Hemisphere

Odds of Cataclysmic Space-Rock Crash: 1 in 10

Despite danger, NASA doing little to protect planet

May 25, 08 6:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chicken Little may have been smarter than we thought. A growing body of evidence reveals that the sky is falling, or at least gigantic space rocks are—and the Earth is at far greater risk of a catastrophic strike than previously thought, reports Atlantic. Despite the danger—an impact could... More »

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NASA • astronomy • extinction • comet • asteroid • crater • space program • armageddon

 Stargazers Witness
 Birth of Supernova 

Astronomers first ever to see star's explosive death throes

May 22, 08 3:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - A  pair of Princeton astronomers have become the first people ever to witness the explosive death of a star, Space.com reports. The pair were observing another supernova in its later stages when they happened to spot a huge burst of X-rays 90 million light years away. Astronomers believe their... More »

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NASA • astronomy • star • supernova • galaxy

 Youngest
 Supernova Discovered 

Exploding star found in Milky Way

May 15, 08 3:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the remains of the youngest exploding star, or supernova, ever seen in the Milky Way, shedding new light on the life cycles of stars. The baby supernova G1.9+0.3 is a mere 140 years old, reports National Geographic. Supernovas are a vital component of galaxy development... More »

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astronomy • star • Milky Way • astrophysics • galaxy • supernovas • SNRs • Large Magellanic Cloud • Cassiopeia A

 Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens 

If God wants to create aliens, 'we can't limit his freedom,' says astronomer

May 14, 08 10:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Believing in God doesn’t mean you can’t believe in aliens, the Vatican’s chief astronomer told L’Osservatore Romano. God may well have created other creatures, including intelligent ones. “We cannot place limits on God’s creative freedom,” he noted. More »

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astronomy • Christianity • religion • Vatican • extraterrestrial life • aliens

 Microsoft Puts Universe
 on Your Desktop 

Astronomers swoon over internet stargazing program

May 13, 08 2:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stargazers got a new toy today, when Microsoft unveiled WorldWide Telescope, a free new program that gives armchair astronomers an unprecedented look at the stars. The program brings Internet space programs to new heights, rendering complete 3D models of thousands of galactic destinations, the New York Times reports. More »

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astronomy • Google • Microsoft • space • telescope

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