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Fermi Telescope Finds Giant Structure in the Milky Way | Universe Today
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has unveiled a previously unseen structure centered in the Milky Way. The feature spans 50,000 light-years and may be the remnant of an eruption from a supersized black hole at the center of our galaxy.
symmetry breaking » Blog Archive » The strange case of solar flares and radioactive elements
Checking data collected at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island and the Federal Physical and Technical Institute in Germany, they came across something even more surprising: long-term observation of the decay rate of silicon-32 and radium-226 seemed to show a small seasonal variation. The decay rate was ever so slightly faster in winter than in summer.
Astronomers find a 300 solar mass star
The team found several stars with surface temperatures over 40 000 degrees — more than seven times hotter than our Sun — and a few tens of times larger and several million times brighter. Comparisons with models imply that several of these stars were born with masses in excess of 150 solar masses. The star R136a1, found in the R136 cluster, is the most massive star ever found, with a current mass of about 265 solar masses and with a birth mass of as much as 320 times that of the Sun.
Galaxy Zoo: Citizen-Science Research Helps Astronomers - TIME
For some Galaxy Zoo volunteers, the draw is somewhat more philosophical. Contemplating a galaxy that exists at an almost unimaginable distance, in both space and time, and contributing a bit of knowledge about it can be humbling and satisfying. "Every galaxy has a story to tell. They are beautiful, mysterious, and show how amazing our universe is," says Aida Berges, a homemaker in Puerto Rico who has classified 150,000 galaxies — at one point putting in 16-hour days. "It was love at first sight when I started in Galaxy Zoo ... It is a magical place, and it feels like coming home at last.
Some more fiddling with Chaco and AMR data
Hubble IMAX
ESA Science & Technology: New Planck images trace cold dust and reveal large-scale structure in the Milky Way
This image demonstrates how Planck traces this cold dust: reddish tones correspond to temperatures as cold as 12 degrees above absolute zero, and whitish tones to much warmer ones (of order a few tens of degrees) in regions where massive stars are currently forming.
Click through and look at this image. It's breathtaking.
Best Exchange of My Day So Far
John: And it's just getting started.
Futurity.org – Universe’s age: 13.75 billion years
“We’ve known for a long time that lensing is capable of making a physical measurement of Hubble’s constant,” says Phil Marshall of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC). However, gravitational lensing had never before been used in such a precise way.
This measurement provides an equally precise measurement of Hubble’s constant as long-established tools such as observation of supernovae and the cosmic microwave background. “Gravitational lensing has come of age as a competitive tool in the astrophysicist’s toolkit,” Marshall says.
Be sure to watch Phil's video demonstrating how to lens with a wine glass. I've had the opportunity a couple times to see Phil give that demonstration, and it's always really fun.
NASA - Bursting at the Seams
Dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed "tiger stripes" near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The tiger stripes are fissures that spray icy particles, water vapor and organic compounds.
More than 30 individual jets of different sizes can be seen in this image and more than 20 of them had not been identified before. At least one jet spouting prominently in previous images now appears less powerful.
81 meters per pixel in the image. Gorgeous.
