New Discoveries #5 - Deep space, galactic, solar system, etc.

Palomar · 2005-12-14 06:49:28

*That's a terrific artists' comparision of Sirius B to Earth, SpaceNut.

New Kuiper Belt Object discovery

"Buffy" is aprox half the size of Pluto and lies twice the distance of Neptune away from Sol. Its orbit is nearly circular, so it never gets any closer to Sol than 50 AU. Average distance from Sol is 58 AU.

It's a large KBO, but apparently half a dozen other known KBO are even larger.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2005-12-14 07:13:54

What is most interesting about Buffy is where its orbit is with respect to other KBO's.

Strange new object found at edge of Solar System

image showing how circular Buffy's orbit is relative to other KBO's

Palomar · 2005-12-15 06:52:35

R 136 of 30 Doradus

*A star cluster in the Tarantula Nebula complex of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Contains some of the hottest, largest and most massive stars yet discovered. Pretty moss-greenish nebulae, too.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-22 08:07:17

Southern majestic

*Superb. Stars and objects I'd like to see some day: Alpha Centauri, the Southern Cross, Coal Sack, Magellanic Clouds and of course the Southern Milky Way. Exquisite stuff.

This photo was taken December 11 at the European Southern Observatory at Paranal, Chile.

Also see the previous day's pick: Nebula Nursery.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-12-23 08:36:31

Holiday gift from Spitzer ST

*The Christmas Tree Cluster. Lovely. It's aprox 3,000 light years distant in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn).

An added bonus:

The Spitzer images reveal a conspicuous and curious new ornament on the "Christmas tree": a collection of bright young protostars spatially arranged in a geometrical configuration that resembles spokes on a wheel or perhaps the pattern of a snowflake ornament. This new ornament is only now, for the first time, rendered visible by Spitzer's unique infrared detectors.
"That was a wonderful holiday surprise for us!"

It's also a power-house stellar nursery:

"Hundreds of new stars and planetary systems have been produced over the past few million years in a prodigious burst of birthing activity within this enormous star-making factory..."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-01-05 15:23:14

N44 Superbubble Complex

*About 325 x 250 light years across. It's BEAUTIFUL. Such blues and purples.

It is likely that the explosive death of one or more of the cluster's most massive and short-lived starsplayed a key role in the formation of the large bubble.

Is estimated to be 10 million years old.

This region is like a giant laboratory providing us with a glimpse into many unique phenomena...Observations from space have even revealed x-ray emitting gas escaping from this superbubble, and while this is expected, this is the only object of its kind where we have actually seen it happening...

It's in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Why am I not surprised? Considering the Tarantula Nebula complex there. What is it about the LMC that it's spawned such HUGE nebular regions?

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-01-10 08:41:09

14 red supergiants to blame

*Terrific photos accompany, including a closeup of the star cluster. This is from Spitzer.

Mystery solved:

Call it the Bermuda Triangle of our Milky Way Galaxy: a tiny patch of sky that has been known for years to be the source of the mysterious blasts of X-rays and gamma rays...The little-known cluster, which has not been catalogued, is about 20 times more massive than typical star clusters in our galaxy, and appears to be the source of the powerful outbursts.

Supporting evidence for the hefty weight of this cluster is the presence of 14 red supergiants, hefty stars that have reached the end of their lives. They bloat up to about 100 times their normal size before exploding as supernovae.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-01-10 09:33:13

Polaris Ab has been photographed...

*...for the first time ever, thanks to Hubble. Yay! Polaris is actually a triple star system.

One of its stellar companions is clearly visible with a telescope, but the other hugs Polaris so tightly that it has never been directly observed until now. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have photographed this close neighbor for the first time, recording its ultraviolet light.

Everything Hubble could muster was needed to obtain this image. Ab is roughly only 2 billion miles from Polaris. Polaris is 431 light years distant from us.

Includes image and also an artist's conception.

The observations have helped researchers refine mass estimate for the main star and the newly photographed companion.
"The companion is a little more massive than the Sun and a little brighter and a little hotter," Evans said.
Early estimates suggest that Polaris is about four times more massive than the Sun, but the researchers hope to refine their estimate with observations about the companion star's orbit.

Terrific! Way to go.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-01-11 08:41:25

New dwarf galaxy discovered IN the Milky Way

*This from Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The dwarf galaxy is located "in" the constellation Virgo. It's roughly 30,000 light years from Earth.

a huge but very faint structure, containing hundreds of thousands of stars spread over an area nearly 5,000 times the size of a full moon, has been discovered and mapped by astronomers

"Some of the stars in this Milky Way companion have been seen with telescopes for centuries" explained Princeton University graduate student Mario Juric, principal author of the findings describing what may well be our closest galactic neighbor. "But because the galaxy is so close, its stars are spread over a huge swath of the sky, and they always used to be lost in the sea of more numerous Milky Way stars. This galaxy is so big, we couldn't see it before."

Mentions making a 3D map of the Milky Way with SDSS data.

"It's like looking at the Milky Way with a pair of 3-d glasses...This structure that used to be lost in the background suddenly snapped into view."

Mentions other known dwarf galaxies, including the Sagittarius dwarf.

With so much irregular structure in the outer Galaxy, it looks as though the Milky Way is still growing, by cannibalizing smaller galaxies that fall into it..."

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-01-11 09:57:41

Milky Way is warped...

*...vibrates like a drum.

Dark matter AND the Magellanic Clouds are thought to be responsible for the warp. Am pressed for time; enjoy the article. And the accompanying illustration is what our Galaxy is believed to look like; what a beauty, huh?

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2006-01-11 11:12:06

It appears that there are a couple of influences to this one being black holes and the other is passing galaxies with there dark matter.

Astronomers may have reason for Milky Way's 'lumpiness'

Analysis by the two astronomers reveals that the nearby galaxies churn up a wake in that dark-matter ring, "plowing through them like a boat," Blitz says. In turn, the gravitational pull of that wake twists the shape of our galaxy.

Palomar · 2006-01-30 11:47:11

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18771

Astronomers...have discovered a huge "superbubble" of hydrogen gas rising nearly 10,000 light-years above the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. They believe the gas may be driven by supernova explosions and the intense stellar winds from an unseen cluster of young stars in one of our Galaxy's spiral arms.
"This giant gas bubble contains about a million times more mass than the Sun and the energy powering its outflow is equal to about 100 supernova explosions,"

It's about 23,000 light years from us and is estimated to be 10 to 30 million years old.

Wow. ::shakes head:: Article mentions the role these superbubbles play in the destruction and creation cycle of stars and planets.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-02-16 07:41:36

This IS a new discovery

An team of astronomers [have] found a new kind of cosmic object - small, compressed 'neutron stars' that show no activity most of the time but once in a while spit out a single burst of radio waves.
The new objects - dubbed Rotating Radio Transients or RRATs - are likely to be related to conventional radio pulsars (small stars that emit regular pulses of radio waves, up to hundreds of times a second). But the new objects probably far outnumber their old cousins, the scientists say.
Eleven RRATs have been found, first detected by the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey and then observed again several times. Their isolated bursts last for between two and 30 milliseconds. In between, for times ranging from four minutes to three hours, they are silent.
"These things were very difficult to pin down...And because these are single bursts, we've had to take great care to distinguish them from terrestrial radio interference."
Because RRATs are 'silent' most of the time, the chance of being able to detect one is low. Many more must lurk unseen in our Galaxy, the astronomers argue - perhaps a few hundred thousand. The number of 'normal' radio pulsars in our Galaxy is estimated to be about 100,000.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-02-16 07:43:47

Violent galaxies found smothered in crushed glass
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has observed a rare population of colliding galaxies whose entangled hearts are wrapped in tiny crystals resembling crushed glass. This is the first time silicate crystals have been detected in a galaxy outside of our own.

The crystals are essentially sand, or silicate, grains that were formed like glass, probably in the stellar equivalent of furnaces.
"We were surprised to find such delicate little crystals in the centers of some of the most violent places in the universe...Crystals like these are easily destroyed, but in this case, they are probably being churned out by massive, dying stars faster than they are disappearing."

"It's as though there's a huge dust storm taking place at the center of merging galaxies...The silicates get kicked up and wrap the galaxies' nuclei in giant, dusty glass blankets."

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0602/15glass/

*Check out post previous to this one as well. Lots of interesting astronomy news rolling in lately.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-02-24 08:28:43

Article

The blast, detected by the satellite on Feb. 18, at first seemed like a gamma-ray burst, but it was located in a galaxy that is relatively near the Milky Way for such phenomena, and it lasted far longer than normal.

It's been named GRB 060218, in a galaxy approx 440 million light-years away, in the direction of the constellation Aries (The Ram).

the length of the outburst has scientists puzzled. It lasted more than 33 minutes, while GRBs typically last less than one minute - and most appear for less than one second.
One hint the event might be a supernova - the explosive death of a massive young star - is astronomers ... have imaged its location in optical light and found it is growing brighter - so bright, in fact, that the team thinks even amateur telescopes will be able to spot it beginning next week.

Article gives coordinates.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-03-01 07:36:41

Article

*Is a binary system approximately 5,000 l/y distant.

Astronomers using ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft have witnessed a collision between a pulsar and a ring of gas around a neighboring star. The rare passage, in which the pulsar plunged into and through its companion's ring, illuminated the sky in gamma-rays and X-rays.
The astronomers think the event could reveal insights into the origin and content of pulsar winds - phenomena whose source has remained mysterious.

"Despite countless observations, the physics of pulsar winds have remained an enigma"..."Here we had the rare opportunity to see pulsar wind clashing with stellar wind. It is analogous to smashing something open to see what's inside."

A pulsar is a fast-spinning core of a collapsed star that was once about 10 to 25 times more massive than the Sun. The dense core contains about a solar mass compacted into a sphere only about 20 kilometers (13 miles) across.
Pulsar wind comprises material flung away from the pulsar. Scientists have engaged in an ongoing debate about how energetic the winds are and whether they consist of protons or electrons.
The team observed PSR B1259-63 orbiting a 'Be' star named SS 2883, which is bright and visible to amateur astronomers. 'Be' stars, named because they exhibit certain spectral characteristics related to the element beryllium, tend to be a few times more massive than the Sun, but they rotate at astonishing speeds - so fast that their equatorial regions bulge and they become flattened spheres. They also consistently fling off gas, which settles into an equatorial ring around the star, giving it an appearance similar to Saturn and its rings.
The pulsar plunges into the Be star's ring twice during its 3.4-year elliptical orbit; but the plunges are only a few months apart, just before and after periastron - the point when the two objects in orbit are closest to each other. The plunges emit X-rays and gamma rays, and XMM-Newton detects the X-rays.
"For most of the 3.4-year orbit, both sources are relatively dim in X-rays and it is not possible to identify characteristics in the pulsar wind," said co-author Andrii Neronov. "As the two objects draw closer together, sparks begin to fly."

--Cindy

Rxke · 2006-03-02 09:55:22

Whoa. Talk about chalking up a big one for XMM, allrighty!

Isn't it great how these things are being built, launched... And then every single time again, they find totally new stuff? Same w/ the rovers, there's just no end in discovery. 8)

Palomar · 2006-03-04 08:06:39

...they find totally new stuff...there's just no end in discovery. 8)

*Yep. It's what I most love about astronomy. Like this gem:

Yipes

*The shock wave is larger than our own Milky Way galaxy! :shock: SQ is aprox 300 million l/y distant, "in" the constellation Pegasus. The shock wave is composed of hot hydrogen gas.

One of the galaxies within the Quintet is moving towards another at a speed in excess of 1 million mph; this is of course producing the colossal shock wave. Astronomers very surprised at the turbulence and its "incredible strength."

--Cindy

Earthfirst · 2006-03-06 12:22:34

Palomar, did you see a smile face in that picture of the shockwave.
That is the best picture of a smile face ever, it's as big as are own galaxy

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2006-03-06 19:15:10

Integral looks at Earth to seek source of cosmic radiation
http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headline … leID=23039
http://www.bnsc.gov.uk/default.aspx?nid=5524
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ … 021306.php
more on ESA's Integral here
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3901

Cosmic space is filled with continuous, diffuse high-energy radiation. To find out how this energy is produced, the scientists behind ESA’s Integral gamma-ray observatory have tried an unusual method: observing Earth from space.

During a four-phase observation campaign started on 24 January this year, continued until 9 February, Integral has been looking at Earth. Needing complex control operations from the ground, the satellite has been kept in a fixed orientation in space, while waiting for Earth to drift through its field of view.

Unusually, the main objective of these observations is not Earth itself, but what can be seen in the background when Earth moves in front of the satellite. This is the origin of the diffuse high-energy radiation known as the ‘cosmic X-ray background’.

Until now with Integral, this was never studied simultaneously with such a broad band of energy coverage since the 1970s, and certainly not with such advanced instruments.

Astronomers believe that the ‘cosmic X-ray background’ is produced by numerous supermassive and accreting black holes, distributed throughout deep space. These powerful monsters attract matter, which is then hugely accelerated and so emit high energy in the form of gamma- and X-rays.

X-ray observatories such as ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra have been able to identify and directly count a large number of individual sources – likely black holes – that already account for more than 80 percent of the measured cosmic diffuse X-ray background.

Palomar · 2006-05-16 12:35:30

*Astronomers find two new Milky Way companions:

Read me

One's been discovered "in" Canes Venatici...

"I was poring over the survey's map of distant stars in the Northern Galactic sky - what we call a Field of Streams -- and noticed an overdensity in Canes Venatici," Zucker said. "Looking further, it proved to be a previously unknown dwarf galaxy."

...the other "in" Bootes. It's aprox 640,000 light years distant -- one of the remotest MW companions and is called "Boo." Cute.

...shows a distorted structure that suggests it is being disrupted by the Milky Way's gravitational tides. "Something really bashed Boo about," he said.
Although the dwarf galaxies are relatively nearby, they nevertheless have been difficult to detect because they are so dim. The new galaxy in Bootes is the faintest galaxy discovered so far, with a total luminosity of only about 100,000 Suns.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-07-08 05:26:07

Mysterious enigma found in supernova's heart

*Is thought to be a neutron star -- but it spins a lot slower than a neutron star: Roughly one revolution every 6.7 hours ... which is tens of thousands of times slower than the usual neutron star spin. It's also odd because this object is a celestial youth; less than 2,000 years old.

Astronomers are puzzling over it. Could it be a magnetar? A neutron star going through a never-before-seen phase? Could a dust disk be slowing its spin?

It's 10,000 light years away in the southern constellation of Norma.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-07-25 06:26:43

Naked white dwarf reveals its dead stellar engine

A curiously naked white dwarf star, devoid of any perceptible atmosphere, is giving astronomers their first clear look at the nuclear engines that keep stars burning bright.
About the size of Earth, the dead star is also the hottest white dwarf ever detected by astronomers -- some 30 times the average temperature of the Sun -- leading them to believe it only recently shut down its nuclear reactor within the last 100 years.

It's considered cosmologically young and has been "doing things within our historical time scale."

Researchers believe the white dwarf, dubbed H1504+65, finished burning its nuclear fuel just a few tens of thousands of years ago, making it the youngest such object on record. The result, they said, is a smoldering stellar relic with a temperature about 200,000 degrees Celsius.

Stars up to eight times as massive as the Sun will end up as white dwarfs - the Sun included - after going through a series of red giant phases, during which they shed most of their outer atmosphere.

But what sets H1504+65 apart is its lack of any hydrogen or helium envelope that normally obscures a white dwarf's nuclear core from astronomers' telescopes. In all other cases to date, at least a thin film of either hydrogen or helium remains to shroud a white dwarf's inner core.
"We're still digesting what some of this means...Usually, that little thin film hides everything."
Because of its lack of atmosphere, H1504+65 allowed researchers to use space-based Chandra X-ray observatory and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) telescope to determine its composition and extrapolate its death throes.
"There's a lot of uncertainty into how long nuclear fusion can carry on transmuting material within stars"

Palomar · 2006-07-31 11:33:39

[URL=http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_060731.html]Quasar known as 3C273[/URL]

The Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes put their eyes together to record this look a quasar known as 3C273, which is spewing a jet of high-energy material that spans some 100,000 light-years. The quasar is about three billion light-years from Earth towards the constellation Virgo.
First discovered in 1963, 3C273 – like all other quasars – is among the most brightest objects in the universe. Hubble visible light observations show up as green, while Spitzer’s infrared look appears in red. They overlap in the yellow regions.

*Three billion light years! When it starts running in the billions is when I cannot comprehend such distances at all. :-\

The highest energy areas of the jet were recorded by Chandra’s X-ray camera, and can be seen in the far left as blue.

Briefly discusses differences in how light forms.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2006-08-02 11:44:33

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 … dwarf.html

a small wannabe star has emerged intact after being engulfed by a neighboring giant star, scientists say.
The victim was a brown dwarf, a failed star too small to sustain the nuclear reactions that ignites regular stars. The purpetrator was a red giant, an ancient star that once resembled our Sun but which puffed up to enormous size after its hydrogen fuel was depleted. The red giant has since expelled most of its gas into space and transformed into a dense, Earth-sized star called a white dwarf.

Previously only red dwarfs, stars with masses about a third that of our sun, have been known to withstand such events.

Called WD 0137-349, the system is located about 300 light-years from Earth. Its two dwarfs are separated by only a few thousandths the distance between Earth and the Sun and the objects rotate around in each other in about 2 hours.

*Cosmic catalyst? --

But there's another reason the brown dwarf survived. Scientists think the failed star sped up its companion's red giant phase, the way enzymes speed up biological reactions while remaining unharmed. When it was engulfed, the brown dwarf amassed matter from the red giant's gas envelope, which it then radiated off into space. By doing so, it shortened its companion's red giant phase dramatically.
"Normal single red giants that don't swallow anything probably last about 100 million years, but in this system, it may have only lasted a few decades..."

Novae predicted from this pair beginning aprox 1.4 billion years from now.

Article includes a Timeline of Demise for Earth.

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#151 2005-12-14 06:49:28

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