Astronomy
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Astronomy
Sharpening a Heavenly Image: Clear view of globular cluster’s crowded core
Using innovative optics to take the twinkle out of starlight, the Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii's Mauna Kea has recorded the sharpest infrared images ever of a crowded grouping of Milky Way stars.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Lucky shot
To protect its sensitive optics, the Hubble Space Telescope had to turn its back on last November’s Leonid meteor storm, and that fortuitously put the luminous Helix nebula directly in the telescope’s sightline.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Galactic RAVE
A new study of thousands of Milky Way stars and their motion toward and away from Earth should provide new clues about how our galaxy formed.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Finding a nearby star
Astronomers have discovered a star that may be among the very closest known to us.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Satellite begins its ultraviolet survey
NASA last month released the first images taken by the recently launched Galaxy Evolution Explorer satellite.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Red Team, Blue Team: Galaxy survey shows that color matters
Using the largest survey of galaxies ever compiled, astronomers have found that the cosmos divides sharply along color lines.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Gorgeous Gas
Beyond their undeniable beauty, images of nearby, starlit clouds of gas and dust, known as HeII nebulae, may reveal properties of the very first stars in the universe.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
A black hole that goes the distance
Astronomers have measured the mass of the most distant black hole known.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Supernovas, gamma-ray bursts: Two of a kind?
Astronomers have uncovered direct evidence that gamma-ray bursts are linked to supernovas.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Starry View: Image reveals galaxy’s violent past
The most detailed visible-light picture ever taken of the heavens reveals that the nearby Andromeda galaxy has had a much more violent history than our own Milky Way has.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Fast-track planet
Astronomers have found a planet that's the closest yet known to its parent star, whipping around the star every 28.5 hours.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Chemistry of the Cosmos: Quasars illuminate the young universe
Measuring the composition of some of the earliest structures in the universe, two teams of astronomers have unveiled new findings about star formation in the young cosmos.
By Ron Cowen