Astronomy

Recent study, published in the July 17 issue of Nature, shows that vast regions of the ancient highlands of Mars, which cover about half the planet, contain clay minerals, which can form only in the presence of water. Volcanic lavas buried the clay-rich regions during subsequent, drier periods of the planet’s history, but impact craters […]

Popularity: 3%

It is believed that the Moon was formed when a Mars-size body collided with Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. This “giant impact” melted both objects and sent molten debris into orbit around the Earth, some of which coalesced to form the Moon. Under this scenario, the heat from the giant impact would have vaporized […]

Popularity: 6%

Aurora is caused when charged particles stream along the magnetic field of a planet and into its atmosphere. On Earth these charged particles come from the solar wind – a stream of particles that emanates from the Sun. Variations in the Sun control the frequency and intensity of these beautiful displays that can also herald […]

Popularity: 13%

Almost two years after introducing the category of dwarf planets, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly now decided on a name for transneptunian dwarf planets similar to Pluto. The name “plutoid” was proposed by the members of the IAU Committee on Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN), accepted by the Board of Division III, by the […]

Popularity: 13%

According to estabilish concept, our Milky Way galaxy is a spiral structure with four major star-forming arms, called Norma, Scutum-Centaurus, Sagittarius and Perseus. In addition to arms, there are bands of gas and dust in the central part of the galaxy. Our sun lies near a small, partial arm called the Orion Arm, or Orion […]

Popularity: 14%

Most of the matter and energy in the Universe is of unknown nature, so they are called “dark matter” and “dark energy”. Dark energy accounts for 72% of the total energy in the Universe, while some 23% of the total amount of matter/energy is made of this so-called “dark matter”, which is composed of heavy […]

Popularity: 20%

A blazar is a very compact and highly variable energy source associated with a supermassive black hole. It is also characterized by a relativistic jet that is pointing in the general direction of the Earth. Blazars are among the most violent phenomena in the universe and are an important topic in extragalactic astronomy. Now, for […]

Popularity: 21%

An international team led by French and Canadian astronomers has just discovered the coldest brown dwarf ever observed. Their results has been on April 10th issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The brown dwarf is named CFBDS J005910.83-011401.3 (it will be called CFBDS0059 in the following). Its temperature is about 350°C and its mass about 15-30 […]

Popularity: 26%

SOFIA, or the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, doesn’t look much like an observatory, but more likely a 747 aircraft. Mounted in the fuselage of this bird is an infrared telescope nearly 10 feet wide, weighing almost 19 tons.
NASA and the DLR, German Aerospace Center, are working together to create SOFIA. A Boeing 747SP […]

Popularity: 24%

Yet another result from Cassini mission. During a close flyby on March 12, the spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. New heat maps of the surface show higher temperatures than previously known in the south polar region, with hot tracks running the length of giant […]

Popularity: 28%