astronomy

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Sky-Watchers Relish Total Lunar Eclipse

Moon-lovers revel in 'orangy-red' color

(Newser) - Moon watchers in the western US, Hawaii, and elsewhere across the globe were treated yesterday to a rare celestial phenomenon: a total lunar eclipse. For 51 minutes starting at 6:06 a.m. PST, the Earth's shadow completely blocked the moon. The moon took on a reddish glow, as...

Vast New Black Holes Shatter Record

They're 10 times the size of our solar system

(Newser) - Ready to have your mind boggled by the awe-inspiring scale of cosmological phenomena? Well boggle away: Astronomers have discovered two black holes bigger than any glimpsed before, with one weighing in as much as 21 billion suns, the New York Times reports. The other clocks in at a mere 9....

Scientists Search for Cities in Space

Astronomers looking for bright cities in Kuiper Belt

(Newser) - If there were civilizations on distant planets, how would we know? Sure, we could turn some of our massive telescopes toward those planets, but we're still at least "two or three generations of telescope away" from being able to detect the light of a large city in another...

As Asteroid Zooms Past, NASA Nabs Images

Scientists see mysteries in grainy images

(Newser) - An asteroid passed closer to the Earth than any before it last night—it was just 201,000 miles away, making it closer than the moon —but to your average telescope it was nothing but a brief glimmer in the sky. NASA, however, has some pretty above-average telescopes, like...

Asteroid Swings By Earth Tonight

Want to see it? Good luck...

(Newser) - At 6:28pm Eastern time tonight, an aircraft carrier-sized asteroid will swing by Earth at a distance of 201,000 miles, which is within the moon’s orbit. That’s the closest an asteroid has come to the planet since 1976, but don’t worry: NASA has determined the space...

Small, Heavy, and Shiny— Planetoid Surprises Astronomers

Distant Eris may be more like Mercury than Pluto

(Newser) - It's been six years since distant Eris was discovered, a small planetoid that led to Pluto losing its planetary status. But since it lies three times further from the sun than Pluto, Eris was very difficult to observe and little was known about it—until now. Last year Eris...

NASA Solves 2K-Year-Old Mystery of China Star

Two NASA telescopes used to understand first documented supernova

(Newser) - It's one of astronomy's oldest mysteries—Chinese astronomers in AD 185 discovered a "guest star" that appeared in the sky for about eight months. Modern scientists have for decades believed it to be the first documented sighting of a supernova, but what kind of supernova was it?...

Orionid Meteor Shower Headed This Way

Moon likely to obscure comet dust

(Newser) - The annual Orionid meteor shower will peak just before dawn on Friday and Saturday this week —although the sight won't be as amazing in years past, astronomers say. The meteor shower—caused by Earth passing through a cloud of dust left behind by Halley's comet—will be...

Scientists Back Up Frankenstein Moon Tale

Author Shelley could have been inspired by moonlight, as she said

(Newser) - Literary critics have long doubted Mary Shelley's claim that the idea for Frankenstein came to her one night in a vision of sorts, when she woke up and saw moonlight streaming through her shutters. But now researchers have proven that Shelley was telling the truth—or at least possibly...

Solar System May Have Ejected Mystery Planet: Scientist
 Solar System 
 Kicked Out 
 Extra Planet 
scientist says
Sep 26, 2011 6:09 PM CDT

Solar System Kicked Out Extra Planet

Early ejection may have helped Earth survive

(Newser) - Thank your lucky stars that our solar system was only big enough for eight planets. Apparently a ninth one—and a gas giant, no less—was nudged out billions of years ago and made room for Earth to survive. In computer simulations of our solar system's evolution, Colorado scientist...

Some Catholics Still Say Galileo Was Wrong

Conservatives tie astronomer's ideas to moral decline

(Newser) - Not only did Roman Catholics arrest Galileo for saying the Earth revolves around the sun—a handful of them still insist he was wrong. It's a small movement, but a few conservative Roman Catholics are turning to Church teachings and a dozen Bible verses as proof of a geocentric...

Astronomers Catch Black Hole Swallowing Star

It's the first time they've witnessed the phenomenon as it happens

(Newser) - While scientists have seen the aftermath of stars ripped apart by black holes before, they say they've finally seen the galactic violence in the act for the first time, reports the LA Times . The Earth-orbiting Swift observatory noticed an unusual radiation spike coming from a constellation 4.5 billion...

Giant Camera Will Seek Out Dark Energy

570 megapixel camera can see 7 billion years into past

(Newser) - So you think the 5.0 megapixel camera on your iPhone is pretty cool? Try 570 megapixels. That's the resolution on a new Dark Energy Camera being built by Fermilab just outside of Chicago, reports NPR . Comprised of 74 lenses up to three feet across, the Dark Energy Camera...

Mysterious Exoplanet Darker Than Coal

Jupiter-sized planet reflects less than 1% of light

(Newser) - The mysterious exoplanet TrES-2b is a gas giant the size of Jupiter, but it reflects less than 1% of the light that hits it—making it darker than coal and one of the stranger objects astronomers have yet found, reports Discovery . "TrES-2b is considerably less reflective than black acrylic...

Bus-Sized Asteroid Zips Past Earth

2011 MD comes within 7,500 miles

(Newser) - Astronomers got a treat yesterday when an asteroid roughly the size of a bus passed within 7,500 miles of Earth—closer than many satellites. The space rock, named 2011 MD, was over the south Atlantic near Antarctica at the time of its closest approach, reports the Christian Science Monitor...

Astronomers Searching 86 Planets for Aliens

SETI project collecting data on planets likeliest to harbor life

(Newser) - American astronomers are searching for signs of alien life on 86 possible Earth-like planets deemed the likeliest to harbor life. The massive Green Bank radio telescope in rural West Virginia will home in on each of the 86—chosen from 1,235 possible planets located by NASA's Kepler telescope—...

Images of the 'Supermoon'
 Scenes From the 'Supermoon' 
Mar 20, 2011 11:10 AM CDT

Scenes From the 'Supermoon'

Extra-full moon put on a pretty good show around the world

(Newser) - For those stuck under cloud cover, or those of us who grumpily didn't think it looked that different, last night's "supermoon" yielded some pretty spectacular images from around the world—including moonrise over Libya. Click through the gallery, and for even more images, go to Space.com's gallery .

'Supermoon' Nearest Earth Tomorrow

But contrary to rumor, it had nothing to do with Japan's earthquake

(Newser) - Hope for clear skies: A "supermoon" is due tomorrow. NASA scientist Jim Garvin explains that a supermoon is "when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average"—a situation that’s "most noticeable" when it coincides with a full moon, as...

In the Stars, Astronomers Find Music

By measuring minute changes in light, researchers can 'hear' the stars

(Newser) - The ancients believed in the "music of the spheres"—that the planets and stars moved through the heavens in harmonic ratios. Today's astronomers are also "listening" to the stars, using the powerful Kepler telescope to measure their internal vibrations, a technique they call "astroseismology." So...

New Planet Sought at Edge of Solar System

Planet Tyche explains change in path of comets: researchers

(Newser) - A huge and previously undetected planet lies at the outer edge of the solar system, believe two University of Louisiana astrophysicists. The planet Tyche, a gas giant four times the size of Jupiter, likely lies in the outer Oort cloud—the most remote part of the solar system—and almost...

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