Moon mission to give global footing to Indian scientists Aug 8, 2008
Such missions also gives inspiration to scientists besides students, teachers and other people who have lot of interest in space science and astronomy and astrophysics, he said. The Moon mission is also promoting international cooperation in a big way enabling production and integration of all types of instrumentations and systems, Moon mission to give global footing to Indian scientists. (Hindu)
Jupiter, Saturn Full Of Liquid Metal Helium Aug 7, 2008
2, 2002) An accepted assumption in astrophysics holds that it takes more than 1 million years for gas giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn to form from the cosmic debris circling a young star. But new. (Science Daily)
Hubble Spies Thousands Of Globular Clusters Aug 6, 2008
Our study shows that the efficiency of star cluster formation depends on the environment , said Patrick Cote of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, Canada. Dwarf galaxies closest to Virgo's crowded centre contained more globular clusters than those farther away. (Science Daily)
Mbeki woos Windhoek Aug 5, 2008
Both countries had agreed to continue cooperating in capacity building in the area of astronomy and astrophysics. "In this regard, the National Laser Centre in South Africa is working closely with the Faculty of Science at the University of Namibia in developing a laser and photo laboratory.". (iAfrica.com)
NASA sticks to budget with do-it-yourself storage Aug 5, 2008
Even rocket scientists have to tighten their belts, especially when it comes to supporting astrophysics equipment that sucks up most of the budget for new projects ... Even rocket scientists have to tighten their belts, especially when it comes to supporting astrophysics equipment that sucks up most of the budget for new projects. (Search Storage)
> read more Aug 4, 2008
com - Homepage News - Eta Carinae Prepares for X-ray Crash. Contributor Guidelines. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
GLAST Sees a Dozen Bursts Aug 2, 2008
The GLAST mission is an astrophysics and particle physics partnership, developed in collaboration with scientists in France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden. A service of YellowBrix, Inc.. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Big Bang Ripples Formed Universe's First Stars Aug 1, 2008
"If we want to understand how things came about and why they look the way they do now, we have to go back in time and understand how stars looked when they first began to form," said study co-author Lars Hernquist of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). Simple Recipe. (National Geographic)
U of T to announce the sale of the place that helped prove black holes Jul 29, 2008
The sale of the lands and the buildings has triggered controversy, even though the university will reinvest the proceeds in the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics. In mid-July, opponents of the sale filed a court motion to try to stop the university from removing the contents of buildings on the site after the university announced that it had found a buyer, but the name of the purchaser and the details of the sale were being withheld until the deal closed, which it did last week. (Globe and Mail)
Metrus Announces Purchase of Dunlap Lands from the University of Toronto Jul 28, 2008
Pledges to "protect and respect" heritage; will seek proposals to keep observatory operating; U of T to invest funds in new astronomy and astrophysics institute RICHMOND HILL, ON, July 28 /CNW/ - Metrus Development is pleased to announce the purchase of the 190 acre David Dunlap lands in Richmond Hill from the University of Toronto ... The University of Toronto's proceeds from the sale will be endowed in perpetuity to support the recently established Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and... (Canada Newswire)
Supernova? The Quiet Explosion Jul 25, 2008
Researchers at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), and at various other institutions have observed the supernova at great length. The team is led by Paolo Mazzali of INAF's Padova Observatory and MPA.. (Science Daily)
Watch A 'New Star' Make The Universe Dusty Jul 25, 2008
Astronomy and Astrophysics, July 24, 2008 DOI. Adapted from materials provided by. (Science Daily)
Marblehead native earns prestigious NASA fellowship Jul 23, 2008
Marblehead native Elysse Voyer, a graduate student in astrophysics at Catholic University, has been awarded a prestigious NASA/Graduate Student Researcher s Program fellowship ... These are not very easy to get, and only the best students in the country are awarded the fellowships, said Duilia de Mello, research associate professor at CUA s Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences and Voyer s adviser ... Voyer has been researching the evolution of galaxies at NASA Goddard since last... (Marblehead Reporter, MA)
Spitzer Reveals 'No Organics' Zone Around Pinwheel Galaxy Jul 23, 2008
The instrument's principal investigator is Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Spitzer's infrared spectrograph was built by Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Its development was led by Jim Houck of Cornell. (Science Daily)
MIT: Optical lithography good to 12 nanometers Jul 23, 2008
Research funding was provided by the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory, the Kavli Institute of Astrophysics and Space Research, NASA and the National Science Foundation. Free Subscription to EE Times. (EETimes)
Author, author Jul 22, 2008
Now, post-Darwin, post-Einstein, post-Hawking, the questions multiply like cells and come from every direction: relativity theory, quantum mechanics, neuroscience, genetics, astrophysics. The "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar" of religion continues and science is, for many, the main entrance to the universe. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Sun Could Cause 15% To 20% Of Effects Of Climate Change, Researcher Says Jul 19, 2008
ScienceDaily (July 18, 2008) Global warming is mainly caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities; however, current climatic variations may be affected around 15% or 20% by solar activity, according to Manuel V;zquez, a researcher from the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute (IAC) who spoke at the Sun and Climate Change conference, organised as part of the El Escorial summer courses by Madrid's Complutense University. See also. (Science Daily)
Astronomers identify second-brightest star in Milky Way Jul 19, 2008
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Xinhua) -- A contender for the title of the brightest star in our Milky Way has been unearthed in the dusty metropolis of the galaxy's center, according to a new study in an upcoming issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Nicknamed the "Peony nebula star," the bright stellar bulb was revealed by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and other ground-based telescopes. (Xinhuanet, China)
Eckhardts $20 million gift aninvestment in future of science Jul 18, 2008
The Center will house the Computation Institute, the Enrico Fermi Institute, the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics and part of the James Franck Institute, along with the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Department of Computer Science. The tremendous generosity of Bill Eckhardt will make a major impact on the great science done at the University, said Robert Fefferman, Dean of the Physical Sciences Division. (Univeristy of Chicago Chronicle, IL)
Are Jupiters Hard to Come By? Jul 18, 2008
Exoplanet research hit paydirt this week when a team of astronomers from Caltech, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced its survey of the dense star-forming Orion Nebula. The researchers revealed that fewer than 10 of stars there have enough material in their protoplanetary disks to create Jupiter-size planets. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Nasa telescope shines a new light into the galaxy Jul 17, 2008
Details of the discovery will be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The brightest star visible in the night sky is Sirius. (Times Online)
Brightest Star In The Galaxy Has New Competition Jul 16, 2008
"There are probably other stars just as bright if not brighter in our galaxy that remain hidden from view." Oskinova is principal investigator for the research and second author of a paper appearing in a future issue of the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. Scientists already knew about the Peony nebula star, but because of its sheltered location in the dusty central hub of our galaxy, its extreme luminosity was not revealed until now. (Science Daily)
Nano-sized Electronic Circuit Promises Bright View Of Early Universe Jul 16, 2008
Jian Wei et al. Ultrasensitive hot-electron nanobolometers for terahertz astrophysics. Nature Nanotechnology, 6 July 2008 DOI. (Science Daily)
Orbiting Gamma-ray Observatory Begins Search For Odd Space Objects Jul 15, 2008
"I've been watching space projects for 30 years or so and I've never seen one go as smoothly as this one," said Roger Blandford, the director of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, which is housed both on the main Stanford campus and at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) ... At Stanford, project members come from SLAC, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory; the Physics Department; the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory; and the Kavli Institute for... (Science Daily)
Funding secured for observatory Jul 13, 2008
"There is a funding package that goes beyond that and we're still just finalising the details on that; but it's all very positive for the observatory," said Professor Phil Diamond, director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. "There will be another of these Programmatic Reviews in two years' time and hopefully it won't be so traumatic as this one; but by then eMerlin will be up and running and we will be in a much stronger position to be looking at full funding. We have to show we are... (BBC News -- Science)
Nanoscale Lithographic Technology: Finer Lines For Microchips Jul 13, 2008
The MIT team includes Mark Schattenburg and Ralf Heilmann of the MIT Kavli Institute of Astrophysics and Space Research and graduate students Chih-Hao Chang and Yong Zhao of the Department of Mechanical Engineering ... The MIT team performed the research in the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory of the MIT Kavli Institute of Astrophysics and Space Research, with financial support from NASA and NSF.. (Science Daily)
Universe Is More Transparent To High-energy Radiation Than Previously Assumed Jul 13, 2008
According to calculations by the scientists, the density of the background radiation in the universe corresponds approximately to the expected radiation intensity of all the heavenly bodies known from astrophysics. This finding could disprove the theory that the universe also contains light from objects that are still entirely unknown and which could have existed in the early universe. (Science Daily)
Science First acquisition taking 'starring role' Jul 8, 2008
Learning Technologies was founded 30 years ago by Phil Sadler, director of the science education department at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Jane Sadler, owner, will remain involved on a consulting basis, as well. (Buffalo Business First, NY)
Unique pulsars prove Einstein was right Jul 5, 2008
"Einstein's theory predicted that, in such a field, an object's spin axis should slowly change direction as the pulsar orbits around its companion," said Victoria Kaspi, Lorne Trottier Chair in Astrophysics and Cosmology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Using the beams of radio waves to determine the pulsars' movements, the researchers found that one of the two pulsars was indeed precessing, as Einstein predicted in 1915. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Einstein Was Right, Astrophysicists Say Jul 4, 2008
This new test of Einstein's theory was led by McGill astrophysics PhD candidate Ren; Breton and Dr. Victoria Kaspi, leader of the McGill University Pulsar Group ... "Binary pulsars are the best place to test general relativity in a strong gravitational field," agreed Kaspi, McGill's Lorne Trottier Chair in Astrophysics and Cosmology and Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics ... " Breton, Kaspi and colleagues in Canada, the United Kingdom, the U.S., France and Italy studied the... (Science Daily)
* Taiwanese team observes galaxy eating neighbor Jun 26, 2008
The team, led by Jeremy Lim (L}), an associate research fellow at Academia Sinicas Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, published its finding in this months issue of The Astrophysical Journal. In their paper, the researchers said that with the Very Large Array radio telescope at the US-based National Science Foundation, they were able to determine that atomic hydrogen gas was being sucked into the center of a Seyfert galaxy named AKN 539. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Planetary discoveries fuel hopes of astronomers and alien-life seekers Jun 26, 2008
"Suppose you have a tribe, and the most noticeable members are the warriors, because they're adventuresome, they roam around, they're the first to be spotted," said Douglas N. C. Lin, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "But you know that for every warrior, there's a family behind the warrior.". (International Herald Tribune)
Radio Telescopes Reveal Unseen Galactic Cannibalism Jun 24, 2008
"This comparison clearly shows a connection between close galactic encounters and the black-hole-powered activity in the cores," said Ya-Wen Tang, who began this work at the Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA), in Taiwan and now is a graduate student at the National Taiwan University ... Kuo, Tang and Lim worked with Paul Ho, of ASIAA and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. (Science Daily)
NASA Selects Explorer Mission of Opportunity Investigations Jun 21, 2008
NASA's Explorer Program is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space for heliophysics and astrophysics missions with small to mid-sized spacecraft. The program is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (PR Newswire)
Slimmer Milky Way Galaxy Revealed By New Measurements Jun 20, 2008
(Credit: Axel Quetz, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (Heidelberg), SDSS-II Collaboration). Related Stories. (Science Daily)
Newly Born Twin Stars, Very Different Jun 19, 2008
The research is part of the Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-Intensive Astrophysics and was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Research Corporation. Adapted from materials provided by. (Science Daily)
Trio of 'super-Earths' discovered Jun 17, 2008
"The mass of the smallest planet is one hundred thousand times smaller than that of the star," said co-author Francois Bouchy, from the Astrophysics Institute of Paris, France. Chances are. (BBC News -- Science)
Trio Of Super-Earths: Harvest Of Low-mass Exoplanets Discovered With HARPS Jun 17, 2008
Two papers on these discoveries have also been submitted to the research journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The team is composed of Michel Mayor, St;phane Udry, Didier Queloz, Christophe Lovis, and Francesco Pepe (Geneva Observatory, Geneva University, Switzerland), Fran;ois Bouchy (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France), Willy Benz and Christophe Mordasini (Physikalisches Institut, Bern University, Switzerland), and Jean-Loup Bertaux (Service d'a;ronomie du CNRS, Universit; de Versailles... (Science Daily)
NASA Plans To Visit The Sun Jun 17, 2008
By the time the mission ends 7 years later, planners believe Solar Probe+ will solve two great mysteries of astrophysics and make many new discoveries along the way. The probe is still in its early design phase, called "pre-phase A" at NASA headquarters, says Guhathakurta. (Science Daily)
Astronomers discover clutch of 'super-Earths' Jun 17, 2008
"The mass of the smallest planets is 100,000 times smaller than that of the star, and only the high sensitivity of HARPS made it possible to detect them," says co-author Francois Bouchy, from the Astrophysics Institute of Paris. All of the exoplanets unveiled Monday have masses four to 30 times greater than Earth's, and orbits at least seven times shorter. (Yahoo News -- Top Stories)
U.S. medal hopeful's gym made unusable by flood Jun 14, 2008
Dr. Eric Mamajek of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. proposed the idea to Tim Spahr, who had discovered the object. (San Diego Union-Tribune -- Sports)
Double yoi! Out-of-this-world honor for Myron Cope Jun 14, 2008
The name, proposed in March by Dr. Eric Mamajek of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. became official late last month after approval by the International Astronomical Union. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA -- Sports)
University to confer five honorary doctorates at Convocation Jun 13, 2008
Joshua Frieman, Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics and the College, will introduce Davis at the Convocation. John McDowell, the university professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. (Univeristy of Chicago Chronicle, IL)
GLAST Gamma-Ray Satellite Blasts Off Jun 12, 2008
Get ready for extreme astrophysics. By JR Minkel. (Scientific American)
The Milky Way Remapped Jun 12, 2008
Now Tom Dame and Patrick Thaddeus (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) find evidence for its far-side counterpart. The new "Far 3-kpc Arm" seems to be a twin of the near one. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
GLAST Lifts Off Jun 12, 2008
NASA partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy, and many institutions and agencies in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Sweden in the astrophysics and particle physics project. A service of YellowBrix, Inc.. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
GLAST Lifts Off On Gamma Ray Mission Jun 12, 2008
The mission is an astrophysics and particle physics partnership, developed by NASA in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, along with important contributions from academic institutions and partners in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the U.S.. Adapted from materials provided by. (Science Daily)
Gilbert-built GLAST observatory blasts off for deep space Jun 12, 2008
"GLAST represents another close collaboration between NASA and General Dynamics and continues our contribution to ground-breaking astrophysics," said Dave Shingledecker, vice president and general manager of integrated space systems, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, in a statement. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is a business unit of Virginia-based General Dynamics (NYSE:GD). (Phoenix Business Journal, AZ)
GLAST ready to go! Jun 11, 2008
Tumbiolo repeated his forecast during the GLAST pre-launch press conference held at 1 p.m. on June 9 at Kennedy Space Center, carried live on NASA-TV. He was part of a panel of six that included Dr. Jon Morse, Director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters; Omar Baez, NASA Launch Director/Launch Manager, Kennedy Space Center; Kris Walsh, Director of Delta NASA and Commercial Programs, United Launch Alliance; Kevin Grady, GLAST Project Manager, Goddard Space Flight Center; and Dr. Steven... (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
How to find faraway moons Jun 11, 2008
Szatmry, Diveki and Simon in a paper published in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2005. They conclude that the Kepler mission should identify a few extrasolar moons using this method of detection. (USA Today -- Tech)
How to find mysterious extrasolar moons Jun 10, 2008
A similar conclusion is reached by Szab, Szatmry, Diveki and Simon in a paper published in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2005. They conclude that the Kepler mission should identify a few extrasolar moons using this method of detection. (MSNBC -- Technology)
NASA ties up with universities to develop planet-searching satellite Jun 9, 2008
Mumbai: The NASA Ames Research Center will develop the first of the planet-searching satellites along with scientists from MIT, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, as part of the six proposed spacecraft concepts that NASA has picked for its Small Explorer (SMEX) satellite programme ... Plans for TESS are being led by senior research scientist George R. Ricker, at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, as principal investigator, along with research scientist... (domain-B)
Astronomers Weigh Coldest Brown Dwarfs Jun 8, 2008
This finding, to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, is a new step toward filling the gap. (Apr. (Science Daily)
> read more Jun 6, 2008
Crooker, along with Steven Cranmer of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, concluded that the solar wind can originate from any part of the turbulence and waves that exist all over the Sun's surface. Cranmer has also shown that the "slow" wind can arise near the edges of coronal holes even though its composition differs from what comes out of the holes themselves. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Where mathematics and astrophysics meet Jun 6, 2008
In their article "From the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra to Astrophysics: A `Harmonious' Path", which appears today in the Notices of the AMS, mathematicians Dmitry Khavinson (University of South Florida) and Genevra Neumann (University of Northern Iowa) describe the mathematical work that surprisingly led them to questions in astrophysics ... "Literally, a week later we received a congratulatory e-mail from Jeffrey Rabin of UCSD kindly telling us that our theorem resolves a conjecture of Sun... (EurekAlert!)
New Method Developed To Weigh, Resolve Distant Black Holes Jun 5, 2008
D. in astrophysics at John Moores University in Liverpool, teaches Introduction to Astronomy at UALR as well as performing research in the structure, dynamics and star formation in spiral galaxies, and the nature of intracluster light in clusters of galaxies. Since my thesis I have been interested in the overall structure, morphology and dynamics of nearby galaxies, especially disk galaxies, Seigar said. (Science Daily)
Milky Way loses two (major) arms Jun 4, 2008
For instance, other results presented here by Thomas Dame of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) this week suggest a completely new arm of stars wraps around one side of the galactic center. This new arm is a virtual twin of a known arm on the near side of the galactic center. (USA Today -- Tech)
NASA Selects Small Explorer Investigations for Concept Studies Jun 3, 2008
Joint Astrophysics Nascent Universe Satellite (JANUS), Principal Investigator Peter W.A. Roming, Pennsylvania State University, University Park - JANUS will use a gamma-ray burst monitor to point its infrared telescope at the most distant galaxies to measure the star-formation history of the universe ... The Explorer program is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space for heliophysics and astrophysics missions with small to mid-sized spacecraft. (Science Daily)
Culture Is the Key to Math Gender Gap May 31, 2008
Urry chairs the department of physics and directs the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. "People make a big deal about the gender gap in mathematics, but the fact is Japanese women are better at mah than American men," she says. (CBS News)
7 scientists share $1 million prizes in astronomy, neuroscience and study of tiny structures May 29, 2008
Three prizes worth $1 million ( 640,000) apiece were awarded Wednesday to seven scientists for their discoveries in neuroscience, astrophysics and the study of vanishingly small structures ... The astrophysics prize was split by Donald Lynden-Bell of Cambridge University and Maarten Schmidt of the California Institute of Technology, for their work in understanding the nature of distant objects called quasars. (International Herald Tribune)
Seven Scientists Win First $1 Mln Kavli Prizes May 29, 2008
OSLO - Norwegian-born philanthropist Fred Kavli awarded seven scientists his first batch of $1 million prizes for astrophysics, neuroscience and nanotechnology on Wednesday ... The astrophysics prize was shared by Maarten Schmidt of the California Institute of Technology and Donald Lynden-Bell of Cambridge University for work on quasars, or active, bright centres of galaxies far away. (Planet Ark, United States)
Massive Star In Nearby Galaxy Has Mammoth Belt May 28, 2008
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 484, 371. doi. (Science Daily)
Ernst Stuhlinger's career May 28, 2008
His work at the university primarily concerned environmental engineering and the teaching of astrophysics. In 1984, he joined Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville as a senior research associate. (AL.com)
Just one question May 27, 2008
If I may, I will borrow his conclusion: "Any view of the world which does not premise the existence of something supernatural is a philosophy, or a theory or, at worst, an ideology. If it is either of the first two, at its best it proportions what it accepts to the evidence for accepting it, knows what would refute it, and stands ready to revise itself in the light of new evidence. This is the essence of science. It comes as no surprise that no wars have been fought, pogroms carried out or... (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Interesting Effects Of Light On Small Molecules On Earth And In Space May 26, 2008
The interaction between light and matter is vitally important for a wide range of applications, such as the modelling of chemical processes in the Earth's atmosphere, research into combustion processes and the measurement and modelling of processes in astrophysics. Under the influence of light, molecules can vibrate, rotate, disintegrate or even be formed out of individual atoms. (Science Daily)
