Astronomy

When a star the mass of our Sun uses up its nuclear fuel, it expels most of its outer layers to leave just a very hot core called a white dwarf. Scientists had speculated that at the bottom of a white dwarf’s 31 mile (50 kilometer)-thick crust was crystallized carbon and oxygen, similar to a [...]

Pictured above is one of the Eagle Nebula’s striking dust pillars that could be imagined as a gigantic fairy. This fairy, however, does not grant wishes; instead, it is ten light-years tall and spews radiation much hotter than common fire. The greater Eagle Nebula, M16, is actually a giant evaporating shell of gas and dust [...]

Astronomers made classification for stars based on its spectra. This aimed to water down the perception and analysis to the stars. In the year 1863, this classification is made for the first time by astronomer Angelo Secchi. Later, his works developed again by a commission from Harvard observatory leaded by Annie J. Cannon. Initially this spectral [...]

This picture taken by MESSENGER spacecraft shortly after its closest approach to Mercury on January 14, 2008. The spacecraft’s Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument acquired this image as part of a mosaic that covers much of the sunlit portion of the hemisphere not viewed by Mariner 10. Images [...]

Seen at a glance with naked eye, all stars in the night sky have the same color. All looked to be like small white dot. Though, if we observe more accurately with the telescope, we can see that each star have its own color. It can be seen red, blue, or even yellow. Bluer star [...]

Since last discovery on this month’s Mars asteroid impact, numerous tracking measurements from four different observatories has been received. Unfortunately (or fortunately to Mars), new data have led to a significant reduction in the position uncertainties during the asteroid’s close approach to Mars on Jan. 30, 2008. As a result, the impact probability has dropped [...]

How do planetary systems form? How common are they? What is their architecture? How many habitable earth-like planets exist in the Milky Way? In the past decade, astronomers have clearly come closer to finding answers to these exciting questions. With the discovery of the first planet orbiting another Sun-like star in 1995, the field of [...]