Magnetars — the dense remains of dead stars that erupt sporadically with bursts of high-energy radiation — are some of the most extreme objects known in the Universe. A major campaign using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and several other satellites shows magnetars may be more diverse — and common — than previously thought. This [continue reading]
May 24, 2013 NGC 5395 and 5394, interacting galaxies in Canes Venatici Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona (http://skycenter.arizona.edu/gallery/Galaxies/NGC5394) NGC 5395 and 5394, together known as Arp 84 or the Heron Galaxy, are two interacting galaxies located just over 160 million light-years away from Earth in the small northern constellation of [continue reading]
A rare encounter between two gas-rich galaxies spotted by ESA’s Herschel space observatory indicates a solution to an outstanding problem: how did massive, passive galaxies form in the early Universe? Several telescopes have teamed up to discover a rare and massive merging of two galaxies that took place when the Universe was just 3 [continue reading]
May 23, 2013 PSR B1509-58, a pulsar in Circinus Image Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/P.Slane, et al. PSR B1509-58 (B1509 for short) is a 1700 years old pulsar that lies about 17,000 light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Circinus (the Compass). It is surrounded by an X-ray nebula that spans about 150 light-years, and is [continue reading]
About 12,800 years ago when the Earth was warming and emerging from the last Ice Age, a dramatic and anomalous event occurred that abruptly reversed climatic conditions back to near-glacial state. According to James Kennett, UC Santa Barbara emeritus professor in earth science, this climate switch fundamentally –– and remarkably –– occurred in only [continue reading]
May 22, 2013 Henize 3-1475, a protoplanetary nebula in Sagittarius Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Henize 3-1475 (Hen 3-1475 for short, and also known as IRAS 17423-1755) is a bipolar protoplanetary nebula located around 18,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer). The nebula – nicknamed the Garden-sprinkler Nebula – is [continue reading]