EurekAlert! - Space and Planetary Science

Hubble reveals the Ring Nebula's true shape

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The Ring Nebula's distinctive shape makes it a popular illustration for astronomy books. But new observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the glowing gas shroud around an old, dying, sun-like star reveal a new twist.

Yuan Ping receives DOE Early Career Research Program Award

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist Yuan Ping has been selected as a recipient of a Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career Research Program award. These awards provide $2.5 million over five years to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and stimulate research careers in disciplines supported by the DOE Office of Science.

A hidden population of exotic neutron stars

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Chandra X-ray Center) 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.

Bacterium from Canadian High Arctic offers clues to possible life on Mars

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(McGill University) The recent discovery by a McGill University led team of scientists of a bacterium that is able to thrive at -15ºC, the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial growth, is exciting because it offers clues about some of the necessary preconditions for microbial life on Mars.

U Alberta teams with citizen researchers 370 light years from Earth

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Alberta) A University of Alberta physicist brought together back-yard astronomers and professionals to confirm the mysterious behaviour of two stars more than 300 light years from Earth.

ESO's Very Large Telescope celebrates 15 years of success

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(ESO) With this new view of a spectacular stellar nursery ESO is celebrating 15 years of the Very Large Telescope -- the world's most advanced optical instrument. This picture reveals thick clumps of dust silhouetted against the pink glowing gas cloud known to astronomers as IC 2944. These opaque blobs resemble drops of ink floating in a strawberry cocktail, their whimsical shapes sculpted by powerful radiation coming from the nearby brilliant young stars.

Accurate distance measurement resolves major astronomical mystery

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(National Radio Astronomy Observatory) It was the famous double-star system with regular, bright outbursts that the theorists said shouldn't be happening. Getting its distance right, however, meant that its outbursts finally fit the standard model for how such systems work.

Astronomers team up with the public to solve decade old puzzle

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research) An extremely precise measurement of the distance to a star system has finally allowed astronomers to solve a decade-old puzzle, confirming understanding of the way exotic objects like black holes interact with nearby stars.

NASA's SDO observes another mid-level solar flare

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) An image, captured at 11:06 a.m. EDT on May 22, 2013, from the ESA/NASA Solar Heliospheric Observatory shows the conjunction of two coronal mass ejections streaming away from the sun.

NASA's SDO observes mid-level solar flare

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare on the morning of May 22, 2013. The flare peaked at 9:38 a.m. EDT and was classified as an M7. M-class flares are the weakest flares that can still cause some space weather effects near Earth. In the past, they have caused brief radio blackouts at the poles.

NASA's Landsat satellite looks for a cloud-free view

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) For decades, Landsat satellites have documented the desiccation of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Once one of the largest seas in the world, it shrunk to a tenth of its original volume after Russia diverted its feeder rivers in the 1960s. Scientists studying the Aral Sea's changing ecology and retreating shoreline have looked to Landsat -- and a new feature of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission will help ensure they get a clear, cloud-free view.

Researchers explain magnetic field misbehavior in solar flares

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Johns Hopkins University) When a solar flare erupts from the sun, its magnetic fields sometime break a widely accepted rule of physics. Why? Now we know.

The Universe comes to Vancouver, Canada

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of British Columbia) Astronomers from across Canada and around the world converge on the University of British Columbia to share their latest discoveries at the Canadian Astronomical Society annual meeting: May 27, 2013.

DFG establishes 11 new research training groups

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is establishing 11 new Research Training Groups to further support early career researchers in Germany. This decision was made by the relevant Grants Committee in Bonn. Funding of approximately 39 million euros has been awarded to the new programs for an initial period of four and a half years.

The tropical upper atmosphere 'fingerprint' of global warming

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST) The winds of the quasibiennial oscillation in the tropical upper atmosphere have greatly weakened at some altitudes over the last six decades, according to a new study by scientists at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. The finding is consistent with computer model projections of how the upper atmosphere responds to global warming induced by increased greenhouse gas concentrations and is published in the May 23, 2013, issue of Nature.

Fragile mega-galaxy is missing link in history of cosmos

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - Irvine) Two hungry young galaxies that collided 11 billion years ago are rapidly forming a massive galaxy about 10 times the size of the Milky Way, according to UC Irvine-led research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Researchers reveal model of Sun's magnetic field

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Leeds) Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun.

Satellites see storm system that created Moore, Okla., tornado

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) On May 20, 2013, NASA and NOAA satellites observed the system that generated severe weather in the south central United States and spawned the Moore, Okla., tornado.

Comprehensive analysis of impact spherules supports theory of cosmic impact 12,800 years ago

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of California - Santa Barbara) 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 sciences, this climate switch fundamentally -- and remarkably -- occurred in only one year, heralding the onset of the Younger Dryas cool episode.

Fueling fitness on the final frontier

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Michigan State University) Think keeping in shape is an uphill battle? Try staying fit in space, where living quarters are cramped and prolonged weightlessness withers muscle and bone.

Building a better team -- on Mars

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(Michigan State University) Sometime in the next quarter-century, NASA plans to send the first humans to Mars, a mission that will push the boundaries of teamwork for a handful of astronauts who will spend as long as three years together in a tiny capsule. A Michigan State University project aims to arm the crew with innovative devices to monitor interactions and provide instant feedback when conflict or other issues with team cohesion arise.

NASA builds unusual testbed for analyzing X-ray navigation technologies

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Pulsars have a number of unusual qualities. Like zombies, they shine even though they're technically dead, and they rotate rapidly, emitting powerful and regular beams of radiation that are seen as flashes of light, blinking on and off at intervals from seconds to milliseconds. A NASA team has built a first-of-a-kind testbed that simulates these distinctive pulsations.

The mammoth's lament: UC research shows how cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Cincinnati) Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds evidence of a major cosmic event near the end of the Ice Age. The ensuing climate change forced many species to adapt or die.

Sea level influenced tropical climate during the last ice age

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST) The Indo-Pacific warm pool was much dryer during the last ice age than today, because lower sea level exposed the Sunda Shelf. The large landmass, in place of the warm ocean, altered the atmospheric circulation, shifting convection further west into the Indian Ocean. These findings by scientists at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Woods Hole Institute of Oceanography, appear in the May 19, online edition of Nature Geoscience.

NASA's STEREO detects a CME from the sun

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 EDT

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) On 5:24 a.m. EDT on May 17, 2013, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later and affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground.