Cartwheel Coronal Mass Ejection

Science@NASA for May 27, 2008 described an unusual Coronal mass ejection.

Imagine a billion-ton cloud of gas launching itself off the surface of the sun and then ... doing a cartwheel. That's exactly what happened on April 9, 2008, when a coronal mass ejection or "CME" pirouetted over the sun's limb in full view of an international fleet of spacecraft. Even veteran solar physicists were amazed.

Astronomers Search For Orphan Stars Using Newly Upgraded Telescope

An article in ScienceDaily for May 21, 2008 reported on new telescope technology.

While the vast reaches of intergalactic space may appear dark and empty, a new camera installed on the university's Burrell Schmidt telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., will bring into clear view the faint sea of orphan stars strewn throughout the nearby Virgo cluster of galaxies.

Supernova Birth Seen For First Time

ScienceDaily for May 21, 2008 reported on observations made on the birth of a supernova.

Supernovae are the explosions of massive stars--stars more than 8 times the mass of the Sun--whose cores run out of nuclear fuel and collapse in on themselves to form a neutron star or a black hole. In the process they launch a powerful shock wave that blows up the star. Until now, observations of these objects have been of the aftermath, typically several days after the initial explosion, not the first instance of death. Astrophysicists have predicted nearly 4 decades ago that the first sign of a supernova would be an X-ray blast, but none had been witnessed before Soderberg's and Berger's Swift observations.

The World Science article is here.

Missing Matter Of Universe Found; Cosmic Web Discovered

ScienceDaily for May 20, 2008 reported on matter that has been "missing" from the cosmos.

Although the universe contains billions of galaxies, only a small amount of its matter is locked up in these behemoths. Most of the universe's matter that was cooked up during and just after the Big Bang must be found elsewhere.

Mini-black hole is smallest ever but still strong

According to an article in NewsDaily for April 1, 2008

The new black hole has a mass of 3.8 Suns and would be about 15 miles across, they estimate. "This makes the black hole one of the smallest objects ever discovered outside our solar system," Shaposhnikov said.

The National Geographic News article is here.

3 Theories That Might Blow Up the Big Bang

Sub-title: Time may not have a beginning—and it might not exist at all.

Discover for March 25, 2008 reported on three alternate theories to the Big Bang.

Maybe science was finally ready to tackle the mystery of what made the Big Bang go bang. And if so, then maybe science could also address one of the deepest questions of all: What came before the Big Bang?

Astronomers Discover Largest-ever Dark Matter Structures Spanning 270M Light-years

According to ScienceDaily for February 22, 2008

A University of British Columbia astronomer with an international team has discovered the largest structures of dark matter ever seen. Measuring 270 million light-years across, these dark matter structures criss-cross the night sky, each spanning an area that is eight times larger than the full moon.

Saturn's Mingling Moons May Share A Dark Past

ScienceDaily for February 21, 2008 reported on the differences among Saturn's moons.

Despite the incredible diversity of Saturn's icy moons, theirs is a story of great interaction. Some of them are pock-marked, some seemingly dirty, others pristine, one spongy, one two-faced, some still spewing with activity and some seeming to be captured from the far reaches of the solar system. Yet many of them have a common thread -- black "stuff" coating their surfaces.

Photo in the News: Telescopes Spot Early Galaxy Forming

An article in the National Geographic News for February 13, 2008 reported that

A far-off lumpy galaxy just forming 13 billion years ago is among the earliest and most distant cosmic objects ever spotted, new images reveal.

Farthest Galaxy Found, Perhaps

Live Science for February 12, 2008 reported that

Astronomers have glimpsed what may be the farthest galaxy we've ever seen, providing a picture of a baby galaxy born soon after the beginning of the universe.

Touch the Invisible Sky: Exploring the Cosmos in Braille

Science@NASA for January 15, 2008 discusses the problem of showing the cosmos to persons who don't see.

The answer lies between the covers of a new NASA-funded book written in Braille, Touch the Invisible Sky.

Listening For The Cosmic Symphony: Supercomputer Will Help Scientists Listen For Black Holes

An article in Science Daily for February 8, 2008 described attempts that will be made to listen to the sound of black holes.

Scientists hope that a new supercomputer being built by Syracuse University's Department of Physics may help them identify the sound of a celestial black hole. The supercomputer, dubbed SUGAR (SU Gravitational and Relativity Cluster), will soon receive massive amounts of data from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) that was collected over a two-year period at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

A Cosmic Fossil? Brilliant But Fuzzy Galaxy May Be Aftermath Of Multi-Galaxy Collision

An article in Science Daily for February 7, 2008 said that

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a new image of the galaxy NGC 1132 which is, most likely, a cosmic fossil – the aftermath of an enormous multi-galactic pile-up, where the carnage of collision after collision has built up a brilliant but fuzzy giant elliptical galaxy far outshining typical galaxies

A Saturn moon feeds the planet's rings

News Daily for February 6, 2008 reported that

U.S. scientists have determined ice being ejected from geysers on one of Saturn's moons is being captured by one of Saturn's rings.

A NASA article is here.

Cosmic Finger Taps Our Galaxy's Shoulder

Science Live for February 5, 2008 reported that

As if reaching out with a come-hither motion, a giant gas finger emanating from two neighboring galaxies has hooked into the starry disk of the Milky Way and is pulling all three galaxies closer.

Supernova Surprise: Black Holes May Pull Apart, Reignite White Dwarf Stars

According to an article in ScienceDaily for January 31, 2008

A strange and violent fate awaits a white dwarf star that wanders too close to a moderately massive black hole. According to a new study, the black hole's gravitational pull on the white dwarf would cause tidal forces sufficient to disrupt the stellar remnant and reignite nuclear burning in it, giving rise to a supernova explosion with an unusual appearance. Observations of such supernovae could confirm the existence of intermediate-mass black holes, currently the subject of much debate among astronomers.

Chandra Finds Evidence For Swarm Of Black Holes Near The Galactic Center

As reported by ScienceDaily, for January 12, 2008,


A swarm of 10,000 or more black holes may be orbiting the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, according to new results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This would represent the highest concentration of black holes anywhere in the Galaxy.

Earth-Asteroid Collision Formed Moon Later Than Thought

According to an article in National Geographic News for December 19, 2007

The moon was formed from fragments of Earth after a collision with a giant asteroid relatively late in our planet's formation, new tests of moon rocks show.

Moon Formed Volcanoes Early, Rock Study Shows

According to an article in the National Geographic News for December 5, 2007

Magma-spewing volcanoes developed on the moon soon after its formation, according to a new study of a moon rock that fell to Earth.

Could The Universe Be Tied Up With Cosmic String?

Science Daily, for January 21, 2008, reported that

A team of physicists and astronomers from the University of Sussex and Imperial College London have uncovered hints that there may be cosmic strings - lines of pure mass-energy - stretching across the entire Universe.