This is Puppis A, the remnants of a violent supernova that exploded 3,700 years ago, glowing red as its shockwaves still heat up the dust around it. But Puppis A is really special because it hides the “Cosmic Cannonball.” More »
Fully functional LightSabre aside, a tractor beam has to be high on most geek wish-lists; lucky for you NASA has started working on one. Before you drop your sandwich (or whatever that object in your left hand is), this won’t be for sucking up star cruisers, but the more modest task of sample and space dust collection. The basic concept has already been proven, but now NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist has given boffins $100,000 to make the dream a reality. Three potential methods are already on the table, which in lay-terms resemble laser tweezers, a light vortex and a conceptual rippling beam. Once developed, it could signal the end of traditional mechanical sample collecting — and just plain luck — consigning robotic arms to the history books. Check the video after the break for science-tastic mock up of how it might work.
Continue reading NASA developing tractor beams, no plans for Death Star… yet (video)
NASA developing tractor beams, no plans for Death Star… yet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue reading Scientists capture birth of new planet on camera, mother and child doing just fine
Scientists capture birth of new planet on camera, mother and child doing just fine originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Over 500 planets are known to exist orbiting other stars, and there are many more we know about that are waiting to be verified. However, it’s rare to actually have direct images of the planets since stars are billions of times brighter than planets. And, since planets happen to always be close to the star […]
A baby book for our cosmos? That’d be a happy by-product of the massive insight star-gazing scientists are set to glean from Alma — the telescope responsible for ushering in a “new golden age of astronomy.” The Atacama large millimeter/submillimeter array (as it’s known in long form), located 3,000 meters above sea level on a Chilean plateau, goes beyond the voyeuristic powers of current optical telescopes, delivering detailed imagery of the dense gas clouds that birth baby stars. Why is this significant? Well, using the complex 20-antenna strong array (a total of 66 are planned), astronomers from North America, Europe and Japan will get a first-hand glimpse of the gaseous mix that was our universe a few hundred million years post-Big Bang. Consider the research a time-traveling peek back into the formative years of existence. Heady stuff, yes, but the array won’t have its multiple, celestial-focused eyes trained solely on star nurseries; scientists from around the globe already plan on getting an up close look at the Sagittarius A black hole. When these “Pyramids of the 21st Century” finish construction in 2013, we’ll be just one step closer to viewing the limits of our cosmic fishbowl.
Alma observatory captures stars being born, reports back on universe’s awkward teenage years originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Proving it’s not all about edu-mah-cation, a group of casual star-gazers has stumbled upon what might well be a pair of new planets. Following on from gamers’ success with complicated medical puzzles, an army of 40,000 online volunteer astronomy nerds signed up to the Planet Hunters project to help mine through NASA data. One of the possible planets they discovered is roughly two and a half times the size of Earth, while the other a whopping eight times bigger than this revolving ball of blue and green we call home. The project uses data from NASA’s Keppler telescope, which registers fluctuations in brightness as objects pass in front of distant stars — a setup that’s helped scientists discover 1,235 potential alien planets in its first four months. Obviously, though, the technology isn’t perfect, which is where the project’s muggle volunteers (assisted by Oxford and University of Chicago researchers) come in. They’ve been combing through NASA’s readings and are now sifting through the next 90 days of Keppler observations.
[Image credit: NASA]
Volunteer scientists discover two possible planets, tell NASA it missed a spot originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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NASA’s getting back in the swing of manned space exploration, but chances are it won’t be your butt strapped to the newly-unveiled Space Launch System whenever it takes off. So how’s a spacefan nerdboy to get his to-boldly-go fix? More »
When I first saw these never-before-seen time-lapse videos—captured over the course of 14 years by the Hubble Space Telescope—I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Hubble photos can be beautiful, but these videos just left me speechless. More »
If you thought Kim Kardashian’s engagement ring was a ridiculous rock, you haven’t seen the ludicrously large diamond planet, J1719-1438. Scientists at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne recently spotted this celestial body that’s so dense, it’s believed to be crystalline carbon — i.e. a ginormous diamond similar in size to Jupiter. Since the ’60s, astrophysicists like Marc Kuchner have theorized that carbon-heavy stars can burn out, crystallize and form diamonds under the right pressure. Supporting the idea, a white dwarf star spotted in 1992, BPM 37093, had cooled and crystallized over the course of 12 years — even copping the nickname “Lucy” after the Beatles jam. Although astronomers in Australia, Britain and Hawaii have all identified the newly spotted precious planet J1719-1438, they are still unsure if the crystallized carbon rock will be all sparkly mountains up close — dashing the hopes and dreams of material girls everywhere.
Iced-out diamond planet catches astronomers’ eyes originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Back in late March, NASA’s Swift satellite detected a strange and unusual energy explosion in the constellation Draco. NASA now knows what it was: “the awakening of a distant galaxy’s dormant black hole as it shredded and consumed a star.” More »
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