ASTRO-NEWS

Astronomy in current news.  DETAILS means you should READ the article for details because
I might ask questions about it.  Otherwise, just knowing the main idea is enough to know what's
going on -- also fair game for quizzes and tests.


BBC Science
CNN Science
New Scientist
space.com
Science Daily

      ASTRO-NEWS FOR SPRING 2009
SWIFT Satellite Discovers Farthest Object Ever Seen in Universe, a Redshift z=8.2 Gamma Ray Burst, BBC, 28 Apr 2009
DETAILS: Life Around A Red Dwarf (Main Sequence) Star Possible But Difficult, space.com, 09 Apr 2009
DETAILS: Merger of Four Galaxy Clusters In Filament Creates Huge Mass of Super-Hot Gas, space.com, 16 Apr 2009
Balloon-Borne Telescope Reveals Far-IR Background to be Distant Galaxies, Paves Way for Herschel Satellite, BBC, 9 Apr 2009
DETAILS: Some Massive Galaxies May Be Relatively New: Discovery Challenges Galaxy Formation Theories, Science Daily, 11 Apr 2009
DETAILS: New Galaxy Survey Finds Void So Big, It Challenges Models for Evolution of Universe, New Scientist, 4 Apr 2009
Pulsar Energizes X-ray-Emitting Nebula, Resembles Hand Reaching for Light (space.com), space.com, 4 Apr 2009
Pulsar Energizes X-ray-Emitting Nebula, Resembles Hand Reaching for Light (Chandra site), Chandra Science Center, 3 Apr 2009
DETAILS: Mars Domes may be "Mud Volcanoes", BBC, 26 Mar 2009
Post-EVA Spacesuits Retain "Smell of Space", space.com, 27 Mar 2009
DETAILS: Liquid Saltwater Likely Present on Mars -- Photos from Phoenix, Science Daily, 20 Mar 2009
Red Supergiants Confirmed as Progenitors of Core-Collapse (Type II) Supernovae, space.com, 19 Mar 2009
DETAILS: $600M Kepler Mission Launched to Hunt Earth-Sized Planets in Cygnus-Lyra, BBC, 7 Mar 2009
More Details on Kepler Mission, space.com, 6 Mar 2009
20-30m Asteroid Makes Near Miss of Earth - a Common Occurrence, Boston Globe, 4 Mar 2009 (with animation; thanks to Marketa Greer)
IMAGES: 20-30m Asteroid Makes Near Miss of Earth - a Common Occurrence, Sky and Telescope, 1 Mar 2009 (with animation; thanks to Marketa Greer)
Gullies Mark Most Recent Water Flow on Mars: 1.25 Myr ago, space.com, 2 Mar 2009
DETAILS: Cassini Maps Global Pattern Of Titan's Dunes, Science Digest, 2 Mar 2009
Comet Lulin at Perigee 24 Feb: Photos and Finding Charts, Sky & Telescope, 23 Feb 2009
DETAILS: Number of Habitable Planets in our Galaxy: Potentially Billions, space.com, 19 Feb 2009
NASA and ESA Plan to Send Probes to Galilean Satellites, BBC, 18 Feb 2009
Fermi Satellite Observes most Powerful Explosion (Gamma Ray Burst) Ever, BBC, 20 Feb 2009 (thanks to Rebecca Donaldson)
Fermi Satellite Observes most Powerful Explosion (Gamma Ray Burst) Ever - yahoo News version, yahoo News, 19 Feb 2009 (thanks to Rebecca Donaldson)
DETAILS: Mars Mineral Deposits May Indicate Ancient Ice Fields, space.com, 16 Feb 2009
First Gravity Map of Moon's Far Side Revealed -- Shows Big Differences, New Scientist, 16 Feb 2009
DETAILS: Mars Craters Reveal Glacier Activity, space.com, 6 Feb 2009
Comet Lulin to Appear in Spring Sky, space.com, 9 Feb 2009
DETAILS: Exoplanet Sees Extreme Heat Waves, space.com, 28 Jan 2009
House-sized Asteroid Hanging Around Earth-Moon Space, space.com, 25 Jan 2009
DETAILS: Annular Eclipse from South Atlantic to Indonesia 26 Jan, space.com, 23 Jan 2009
Photo of Partial Eclipse from Indonesia, Jakarta Post, 27 Jan 2009
Figures, Maps for Annular Eclipse 26 Jan 2009, Fred Espenak's NASA Eclipse site
Englishman Thomas Harriot Observed Moon With Telescope Before Galileo, BBC, 14 Jan 2009
First Ground-based Detection of Exoplanet Atmospheres, yahoo.com, 14 Jan 2009 (thanks to Kenneth Warren)
DETAILS: First Ground-based Detection of Exoplanet Atmospheres, Science Digest, 15 Jan 2009
Largest, Brightest Full Moon of 2009 on Sat 17 Jan, space.com, 9 Jan 2009
DETAILS: Efforts Increase to find Near-Earth Asteroids and Comets, BBC, 12 Jan 2009
DETAILS: Baby Jupiters Grew Fast (in a few Myr), BBC, 6 Jan 2009
Milky Way 50% Bigger Than Thought, BBC, 6 Jan 2009


      ASTRO-NEWS FOR AUTUMN 2008
Astronomers Find Dimmest "Bulbs" (Coolest Stars, 560-630K or 293-360C) Ever, yahoo.com, 15 Dec 2008 (thanks to Anthony Harrison)
Tycho's Supernova (SN 1572) Confirmed as Type Ia, BBC, 4 Dec 2008 (thanks to Stephanie Sidoti)
DETAILS: Mars Wobbles Created (some) Climate Change, space.com, 4 Dec 2008
Experiments: Bacteria Could Survive in Martian Soil, space.com, 4 Dec 2008
Venus, Jupiter and Moon make Rare Conjunction after Sunset, New Scientist, 1 Dec 2008
Solar Wind Rips Chunks out of Martian Atmosphere, Science Daily, 29 Nov 2008
DETAILS: Plumes from Saturn's Moon Enceladus May Contain Liquid Water, space.com, 26 Nov 2008
NASA and DOE Collaborate on Dark Energy Research, Science Daily, 25 Nov 2008
Sugar Found in Star-Forming Region in Milky Way, BBC, 25 Nov 2008
Super-Jupiter Imaged around Beta Pictoris, space.com, 25 Nov 2008
DETAILS: Supermassive Black Holes' Jets Burp Hot Gas in Galaxies, space.com, 24 Nov 2008
DETAILS: Gemini+Keck Observatories Definitively Directly Image First Multi(3)-planet System in near-IR, Gemini Observatory, 13 Nov 2008
DETAILS: Hubble Space Telescope Definitively Directly Images First Exoplanet in Visible Light, hubblesite.org, 13 Nov 2008
First Fuzzy Photos of Planets Outside Solar System, yahoo.com, 13 Nov 2008 (thanks to Laura Nunnelly for the tip)
DETAILS: Pool Of Distant Galaxies: Deepest Ultraviolet Image Of The Universe Yet, European Southern Observatory, 7 Nov 2008
New Flares of Activity Spotted on the Sun: Solar Cycle Minimum Ends, space.com, 7 Nov 2008
DETAILS: Chandra X-ray Observatory maps Fingers, Loops and Bays around Crab Nebula Pulsar Wind, Science Daily, 6 Nov 2008
DETAILS: French COROT Satellite Detects First Starquakes on Another Star, space.com, 23 Oct 2008
Complex Stellar Nursery Contains 2 of Most Massive Stars Known, Science Daily, 21 Oct 2008
Some Planetary Jet Stream Directions Depend on Quantity of Water Vapor, space.com, 17 Oct 2008
DETAILS: Astronomers find Hottest Exoplanet Yet, space.com, 16 Oct 2008
DETAILS: NASA Plans for Getting Hubble Back Online Before Servicing Mission, space.com, 10 Oct 2008
Second Giant Cyclone Discovered on Saturn's Other (North) Pole, space.com, 13 Oct 2008
DETAILS: Saturn Polar Storms Illustrate Convection, Discover Magazine/Bad Astronomy, 13 Oct 2008
DETAILS: Huge, Dense Planet Discovered by COROT, space.com, 6 Oct 2008
Mercury Messenger makes Second Fly-By, space.com, 7 Oct 2008
Snowfall Seen On Mars, space.com, 29 Sep 2008
DETAILS: Earth's Most Ancient Rocks Found: 4.28 Gyr Old, BBC, 26 Sep 2008
Solar Wind Blows at 50 Year Low, BBC, 24 Sep 2008
Mass Confirmed for most Massive Star in Milky Way Galaxy, space.com, 19 Sep 2008
DETAILS: Saturn's Rings May be Ancient, space.com, 22 Sep 2008
New Type of Stellar Explosion Discovered, a "Supernova Imposter", space.com, 10 Sep 2008
DETAILS: Mini-Sub Designed to Explore Sub-Glacial Lakes - and perhaps Other Worlds, space.com, 11 Sep 2008
Dust Devils Photographed in Martian Arctic, space.com, 12 Sep 2008
ESA Satellite Finds an Earth Creature which can Survive in Space, space.com, 8 Sep 2008
DETAILS: Cassini Probe Discovers New Partial Rings around Saturn, space.com, 5 Sep 2008
ESA INTEGRAL (gamma ray) Satellite Discovers Gamma Rays Aligned with Crab Nebula Pulsar, space.com, 28 Aug 2008
How Allen (radio) Telescope Array combines Details with Big Picture, space.com, 26 Aug 2008
DETAILS: Second Galaxy Cluster Found with Dark and Normal Matter Separated, BBC, 30 Aug 2008
DETAILS: Sloan Digital Sky Survey Team Finds Icy Asteroid Beyond Neptune (and others), BBC, 25 Aug 2008
Mars Phoenix Lander Tests All Layers of Surface, space.com, 22 Aug 2008
Teacher Finds New Class of Astronomical Object, BBC, 5 Aug 2008


      ASTRO-NEWS FOR SPRING 2008
NASA Phoenix Probe to Land near Mars' North Pole in May, space.com, 11 Apr 2008
Intelligent Life may be Rare in the Universe , space.com, 10 Apr 2008
Coolest Brown Dwarf Yet Found: 350C, ``Missing Link" between Stars, Planets , space.com, 10 Apr 2008
British Astronomer: Modified Gravitational Law may explain Dwarf Galaxy Motions , BBC, 5 Apr 2008
British Astronomers find Baby Planet undergoing Formation, BBC, 2 Apr 2008
Early Universe has both Old Galaxies and High Star Formation Galaxies, space.com, 1 Apr 2008
Northern Irish Astronomers find 10 Exo-planets via Transit Method with SuperWasp, BBC, 1 Apr 2008
OSU Astronomers find Close Binary "Peanut Stars" forming Rare Yellow Supergiants, space.com, 31 Mar 2008
Titan could have an Ocean, space.com, 20 Mar 2008
Brightest Object Ever: Gamma Ray Burst, 5th mag, 2.5 Gpc away, space.com, 21 Mar 2008
First Discovery of Methane on Exoplanet "Hot Jupiter", BBC, 19 Mar 2008
Potential Gamma Ray Burster 8kpc away could be Harmful to Earth Life, space.com, 10 Mar 2008
Small 2007 Peruvian Crater Made by High Speed, melted Stony Meteorite, space.com, 11 Mar 2008
Shiny-bottomed Craters Discovered on Mercury by Messenger, space.com, 11 Mar 2008
New Data from Wilkinson Microwave Anisotopy Probe Reveal Early Universe Neutrinos, space.com, 7 Mar 2008
Nearest Star System (Alpha Centauri) may have Terrestrial Planets, space.com, 7 Mar 2008
Avalanche photographed on Mars!, space.com, 3 Mar 2008
Venus' Rotation, Lack of Water may be due to early Head-On Collision, space.com, 28 Feb 2008
Mysterious Transient Bright Haze from Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4) Found in Venusian Atmosphere, ESA's Venus Express & space.com, 22 Feb 2008
First Stars May Have Been Made of Dark Matter, BBC, 19 Feb 2008
20-60% of Sun-like Stars in Milky Way: Evidence for Rocky, Earth-like Planets; Kuiper Belt may have Earth-size Planets, BBC, 17 Feb 2008
Early Mars Probably Too Salty for Life, BBC, 15 Feb 2008
Total Lunar Eclipse on Wed 20 Feb 2008, Sky & Telescope, Feb 2008
NASA's Deep Impact Probe starts to look for Exoplanets, space.com, 11 Feb 2008
New Theory says Dark Matter and Dark Energy could be Same Thing, space.com, 11 Feb 2008
Telescope arms race: 30m telescopes planned, space.com, 4 Feb 2008
Messenger: Mercury's Volcanic Past Revealed, new "Spider" Feature Seen, BBC, 30 Jcn 2008
Venus and Jupiter approach rare Conjunction, space.com, 28 Jan 2008
First Image for Approaching 250m diameter Asteroid, space.com, 28 Jan 2008
USAF says UFOs were F16 Jets, CNN, 23 Jan 2008
Texans report UFOs, CNN, 17 Jan 2008
Curious Clouds Seen on Mars by ESA's Mars Express, space.com, 21 Jan 2008
Mercury visited for first time since 1974, Mercury Messenger, 15 Jan 2008
Hubble Peers into Dark Matter Web, BBC, 14 Jan 2008
Wherever Planet Can Form Around Stars, They Do, BBC, 11 Jan 2008
Stars Getting Ripped Apart Produce Anti-matter, space.com, 11 Jan 2008
Spiral Galaxy Arms Orbit Backward, space.com, 11 Jan 2008
Baby Versions of Milky Way observed, space.com, 8 Jan 2008
Hubble Servicing Mission in Aug 2008 (fixes, improvements) described, space.com, 8 Jan 2008
Bill Gates & Charles Simonyi donate $30M to Large Synoptic Survey Telescope project in Chile, space.com, 8 Jan 2008


 ASTRO-NEWS FROM 2006-2007 (STILL INTERESTING!)
Comet Holmes erupts, brights to once-in-century level, MSNBC, 6 Nov 2007