astronomy

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Scientists Figure Out Russia Meteor's Origin

As biggest piece yet found in Ural Mountains

(Newser) - Turns out there is a cool use for trigonometry: Scientists in Colombia have been able to calculate the trajectory of the meteor that injured 1,000 in Russia this month using data gleaned from local camera footage and a lake landing spot. Once they had determined the meteor's path...

'Vulcan' Wins Pluto's Moon Naming Contest

'Captain Kirk' hails win as Cerberus comes 2nd

(Newser) - The contest to pick Hades-related names for Pluto's fourth and fifth moons is over and the winner will be familiar to Star Trek fans: Vulcan was the runaway winner of the poll at plutorocks.com , taking 174,000 votes out of 475,000 cast for 21 candidates. Vulcan is...

Scientists Spot Smallest Planet Ever Seen

Exoplanet Kepler-37b is the size of our moon

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered the smallest known planet, just a third of the size of the Earth. Mercury, the smallest in our solar system, is two-fifths Earth's size, the AP notes; the new discovery, Kepler-37b, is a far-off exoplanet. "This research shows for the first time that other stellar...

Moon May Once Have Hosted Water
 Moon May 
 Once Have 
 Hosted Water 
study says
Feb 18, 2013 12:08 PM CST

Moon May Once Have Hosted Water

Study undermines theories of its creation

(Newser) - Scientists' theories on how the moon developed may not hold water—because it seems that the moon itself once did. That's what researchers are saying after new analysis of Apollo mission moon rocks, the Los Angeles Times reports. The widely-accepted story is that the moon is the result of...

Asteroid Buzzes By, World Spins On

It came within a relative whisker of 17K miles

(Newser) - The world is safe: That 150-foot cosmic rock astronomers were watching hurtled safely past Earth about 2:30pm Eastern. It was the closest known flyby for a rock of its size, passing within 17,500 miles, closer than some satellites. The asteroid was invisible to astronomers in the US at...

Scientists Spot 'Precursor to Life' in Deep Space

Milky Way chemical could help seed planetary life

(Newser) - Astronomers have spotted hints of a precursor to chemical to life about 1,000 light-years away, LiveScience reports. Detected in a star-forming region of the Milky Way, the chemical—called hydroxylamine—is theoretically able to mix with other compounds, form amino acids, and seed other planets with life. "It'...

Astronomers Find Biggest Thing in the Universe
Astronomers Find Biggest Thing in the Universe
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 13, 2013 7:53 AM CST

Astronomers Find Biggest Thing in the Universe

Quasar cluster is 4 billion light-years wide

(Newser) - Scientists have found a structure so large that it undermines their understanding of the universe. It's a collection of quasars that measures a difficult-to-imagine 4 billion light-years across, Space.com reports. To put that in perspective, the entire Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years wide. Known as a...

Earth-Like Planet Spotted
 Earth-Like Planet Spotted 
Jan 10, 2013 2:20 PM CST

Earth-Like Planet Spotted

KOI 172.02 orbits star like our sun

(Newser) - Less than two weeks after astronomers predicted they would find an Earth-like planet some time in 2013, the feat may have already been accomplished. Scientists this week announced at the 221st meeting of American Astronomical Society that the Kepler telescope has found a "super-Earth" whose radius is 1.5...

'Doomsday Asteroid' Even Bigger Than Thought

And there's still a chance it could hit us in 2036

(Newser) - The asteroid Apophis , whose reported threat to our planet has attracted widespread attention, is even larger than scientists believed, according to new images. Europe's Herschel Space Observatory says the asteroid is some 1,066 feet feet wide, some 20% wider than previously thought. That "translates into a 75%...

Milky Way Has 17B Planets the Size of Ours

And that's a conservative estimate

(Newser) - Before we start feeling too special about our home planet, scientists have a message: There are at least 17 billion planets the size of Earth in the Milky Way alone, Space.com reports. About 17% of our galaxy's stars have Earth-size exoplanets closely orbiting them—so 100 billion stars...

Prediction: We'll Discover 1st 'Earth Twin' in 2013

With 50B planets in Milky Way, astronomers think big discovery looms

(Newser) - With more than 800 exoplanets identified since 1995, many astronomers are predicting that 2013 will be the year that the first truly Earth-like planet is spotted, reports Space . Scientists have gotten ever closer to finding an alien Earth in recent years, identifying several in the right temperature range and others...

Tonight: 2 Meteor Showers?
 Tonight: 2 Meteor Showers? 
Dec 13, 2012 4:57 AM CST

Tonight: 2 Meteor Showers?

Geminid is one of year's biggest

(Newser) - Tonight's Geminid meteor shower—one of the year's two biggest—could bring 100 shooting stars per hour, and that's just the beginning. Tonight's sky may actually host two meteor showers, the second spawned by the comet Wirtanen, USA Today reports. That second shower hasn't yet...

'Homeless' Planet Seen Adrift in Deep Space

It's cold, young, and doesn't orbit a star

(Newser) - Astronomers have identified a "homeless" planet for the first time and given it a rather un-catchy label: CFBDSIR2149. This young and very cold planet is drifting about 100 light-years away with a group of roughly 30 stars, but isn't orbiting any of them—which makes its blue light...

Meteor Shower Tonight
 Meteor Shower Tonight 
Nov 16, 2012 3:24 PM CST

Meteor Shower Tonight

Leonids peak overnight

(Newser) - The Leonid meteor shower is making its annual November visit, and it peaks overnight tonight, reports ABC News . The Leonids generally aren't the most spectacular of shows, but patient sky-watchers will likely be rewarded given the young moon. If you can't get outside, NASA plans a live feed...

Astronomers Spot Oldest Galaxy Yet

It's 13.3 billion years old, nearly as old as the universe

(Newser) - Our universe is a mind-boggling 13.7 billion years old, and now astronomers say they have found a galaxy that has been around since the universe was a spry 420 million years old, reports LiveScience . Called MACS0647-JD, the 13.3-billion-year-old galaxy is tiny, cosmically speaking, just 600 light years wide...

Astrophysicist &#39;Finds&#39; Superman&#39;s Planet Krypton
 Astrophysicist 
 'Finds' Superman's 
 Planet Krypton 
in case you missed it
Nov 10, 2012 7:22 AM CST

Astrophysicist 'Finds' Superman's Planet Krypton

Neil deGrasse Tyson gives DC Comics a hand

(Newser) - OK, the planet Krypton still isn't real—but now we know where it would be if it existed. Using data from DC Comics, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has found a spot in space for Superman's home planet, the New York Post reports. "One of our staffers reached...

Scientists Glimpse Universe's First Stars

The glow is almost as old as time itself

(Newser) - Star light, star bright, the first stars have actually been glimpsed—or at least their light has, reports Space.com . Astronomers in California studied massive black holes, called blazars, that give off huge amounts of light while swallowing up matter—and were able to separate out a glow from what...

Now We Know the Distance Between Stars

Measurement of cosmic 'fog' reveals it to be 4,150 light-years

(Newser) - Here's an astronomer's quote to try to wrap your head around, courtesy of PhysOrg : "The optical and ultraviolet light from stars continues to travel throughout the universe even after the stars cease to shine, and this creates a fossil radiation field we can explore using gamma rays...

Planet Spotted in Solar System Next-Door

But Earth-sized Alpha Centauri planet is too hot for life

(Newser) - Excited astronomers have spotted an Earth-sized planet as close as it is possible to find one outside our solar system. The rocky planet discovered by a European team circles one of the three stars in the Alpha Centauri system, the sun's nearest neighbor at just 4.4 light years...

'Tatooine-Like' Planet Found With 4 Suns

Astronomers discover world about 5K light-years away

(Newser) - Luke Skywalker would not consider this a big deal, but some of us earthlings are getting excited. Astronomers have discovered a Tatooine-like planet that orbits two suns and is also orbited by two other stars, Space.com reports. Called PH1, the gas giant is about six times bigger than Earth...

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