deep space

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Largest Explosion Ever Seen Is an 8B-Year-Old Mystery

Outrageously bright light from distant space suggests black hole ate a big, gassy meal

(Newser) - In 2020, a bright light appeared in the night sky. That light, still visible with advanced telescopes today, represents the largest explosion ever seen. You're forgiven for not noticing as this is all happening some 8 billion light years away, though that wasn't clear initially. The light was...

Traveling in Deep Space Is Bad for Your Heart

Apollo astronauts are much more likely to die of cardiovascular disease

(Newser) - Planning a trip to the moon? You might want to think about heart health first. According to a study published in Scientific Reports , travel in deep space dramatically raises the risk of cardiovascular disease. Florida State University researchers looked at America's Apollo astronauts, who are the only people ever...

Scientists Find Diamond Planet
 Scientists Find Diamond Planet 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 28, 2011 5:54 PM CDT

Scientists Find Diamond Planet

Whirling dead star crystallized carbon into a 12-mile gem

(Newser) - If a diamond is a girl's best friend, then maybe women aren't from Venus, after all: Astronomers combing the southern sky have found a diamond planet, reports Space.com . Dubbed the rather unglamorous PSR J1719-1438, the alien planet is the remnant of a dead star and spins 10,...

Telescope Spots 'Impossible' Star

 Telescope Spots 
 'Impossible' Star 
so big it dwarfs our sun
May 11, 2010 8:40 AM CDT

Telescope Spots 'Impossible' Star

Will become one of biggest and brightest in galaxy

(Newser) - The Herschel telescope has made an "impossible" discovery: a star so large it dwarfs our sun—and it's still growing. The newborn is already eight to 10 times the size of the sun, and will continue to feed off the 2,000 solar masses that surround it. While scientists...

New Hubble Images Dazzle
 New Hubble Images Dazzle 
Slideshow
Sep 9, 2009 1:46 PM CDT

New Hubble Images Dazzle

Refurbished telescope can see further, with more color

(Newser) - NASA released the first shots from the recently upgraded Hubble Space Telescope today, and the results are spectacular. Thanks to the new imagers installed in May, Hubble can now see farther, with greater clarity and a wider color spectrum, reports NPR. Officially, NASA calls it a new beginning for the...

'Big Wave' Theory Challenges 'Dark Energy'

(Newser) - The 'Big Wave,' a new explanation for the universe's mysterious accelerating expansion, is sending ripples through the world of astronomy. According to the theory, the Big Bang set off a wave, or waves, that rippled outward through space-time, making distant galaxies appear to expand away from us. Mathematicians came...

Hubble Gets New Camera
 Hubble Gets New Camera 
May 14, 2009 4:58 PM CDT

Hubble Gets New Camera

(Newser) - The Hubble space telescope got some improved vision today in the form of a new camera. Two Atlantis astronauts completed a seven-hour spacewalk to give the 19-year-old telescope a much-needed upgrade, Space.com reports. "Woo-hoo, it's moving out," said astronaut Andrew Feustel after the old camera refused to...

Scientists Pitch Massive Mirror Sun Shade to Save Earth

Mastermind convinced $350T project will get off ground in some 20 years

(Newser) - Scientists are proposing a stunning rescue project right out of a science fiction movie to save the earth from global warming: a massive 100,000-square-mile mirrored "sun shade." Trillions of tiny mirrors would be blasted by a cannon into space a million miles above earth to deflect the...

Massive Gamma Blast Spotted
 Massive Gamma Blast Spotted 
Feb 20, 2009 1:15 PM CST

Massive Gamma Blast Spotted

Explosion had force of 9,000 supernovas

(Newser) - The strongest-ever gamma ray blast—a burst more powerful than 9,000 exploding stars—has been detected 12.2 billion light years away in deep space, reports the Telegraph. The blast took place in September in the constellation Carina, and produced energy up to 5 billion times that of light....

Scientists Say Black Hole Lies at Center of Galaxy

Stars orbit around central nucleus 4M times heavier than sun

(Newser) - A giant black hole sits at the core of our galaxy, say astronomers who participated in a 16-year German study that monitored the movements of 28 stars circling the center of the Milky Way. “Beyond any reasonable doubt,” the stars orbit a core concentration of mass 4 million...

Missing Tool Bag Spotted in Space

Watchers with telescopes in NJ, Ontario spot gear lost during spacewalk

(Newser) - Look, in the sky: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's … the tool bag that floated away during a spacewalk last week. A few backyard astronomers have spotted the shiny bag that drifted away from an astronaut outside the International Space Station. The $100,000 toolkit will be visible...

Hubble's Back in Action
 Hubble's Back in Action 
Oct 30, 2008 7:15 PM CDT

Hubble's Back in Action

(Newser) - The Hubble has perfect vision again. NASA today released the first photos taken by the space telescope since an instrumental glitch put it out of commission last month, Space.com reports. Engineers fixed the problem this week, then got photos of a pair of galaxies about 400 million light-years from...

Troubled Hubble Gets a Fix
 Troubled Hubble Gets a Fix 
Oct 24, 2008 10:06 AM CDT

Troubled Hubble Gets a Fix

Tech issues shut down telescope for 3 weeks

(Newser) - The malfunctioning Hubble Space Telescope could resume its space photography tomorrow, the Los Angeles Times reports. NASA scientists have reconfigured software that shut down the telescope last week. “There does not appear to be any permanent damage,” said a Hubble manager. “We're ready to resume recovery.”...

NASA Lander Confirms Water on Mars
NASA Lander Confirms
Water on Mars
Jul 31, 2008 8:50 PM CDT

NASA Lander Confirms Water on Mars

'We've now finally touched and tasted it'

(Newser) - The Phoenix spacecraft has tasted Martian water for the first time. By melting icy soil in one of its lab instruments, the robot confirmed the presence of frozen water lurking below the Martian permafrost. Until now, evidence of ice in Mars' north pole region has been largely circumstantial. Scientists popped...

New Planets Yield Hopes of Life Beyond

Rocky, Earth-like orbs appear to be out there; might we indeed have company?

(Newser) - The discovery, announced last week, that rocky, Earth-sized planets appear to be circling sun-sized stars in our own galaxy should thrill the closet Star Trek geek in all of us, Natalie Angier writes in the New York Times. "If planets abound, scientists suspect that life abounds, too, at least...

New Telescope Joins Alien Hunt
 New Telescope Joins Alien Hunt 
Jun 11, 2008 2:47 PM CDT

New Telescope Joins Alien Hunt

Low-frequency array checks for nearby ETs

(Newser) - If ET is within a hop, skip, and a solar system, a shiny new European telescope might just turn him up, Space.com reports. Made up of up to 25,000 antennae scattered throughout Europe, the LOFAR, or Low Frequency Array, will be able to scan light signals overlooked by...

An Other-Worldly Brew on Tap
 An Other-Worldly Brew on Tap 
May 31, 2008 11:40 AM CDT

An Other-Worldly Brew on Tap

Japanese brewery to craft beer whose barley comes from space-traveling seeds

(Newser) - Want to try a heavenly lager? Come November, you might get a chance. Japan's Sapporo Breweries is harvesting barley this weekend from seeds that spent 5 months aboard the International Space Station, the AP reports. It then plans to brew 100 bottles of space beer, though it hasn't figured out...

Houston, We Have a (Potty) Problem

The space station's toilet is broken

(Newser) - The three-member crew aboard the International Space Station has a delicate problem—the toilet's on the fritz. The station's liquid-waste collector—a tricky system involving fans and the lack of gravity—is kaput, the New York Times reports. (The solid-waste collector still works.) Astronauts are working on a backup...

Saturn Moon Rings Detected
Saturn Moon Rings Detected
Mar 7, 2008 4:20 AM CST

Saturn Moon Rings Detected

Rhea could be be the first known moon with rings

(Newser) - Saturn’s second-largest moon, Rhea, could be the first known moon with rings. The spacecraft Cassini detected apparent evidence of rings when it spotted debris around Rhea as it flew by in 2005, reports space.com. The set of rings has not been directly seen, but scientists inferred that the...

Scheme to Plant Telescope on Moon Gathers Steam

MIT, Navy working on far-side plans

(Newser) - The moon may have to start earning its keep if NASA gets its way. With the far side of our lunar satellite a perfect environment for delicate, deep-space measurements, two research teams are furiously plotting ways to deploy astronomy equipment there. If astronauts return to the moon after 2019, they...

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