A Hampton University professor is shedding new light on night-shining clouds that might be affected by climate change. Jim Russell is the lead scientist for the NASA-funded AIM satellite, the first to study the wispy "noctilucent" clouds, which only appear above Earth's poles. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers have used light echoes from a supernova explosion as a time machine to look again at a historic stellar event first witnessed on Earth more than 400 years ago. The brilliant 'new star' appeared in the sky in 1572 and was so bright it could be seen during the day. It was observed and charted by astronomer Tycho Brahe who discovered it was far away from the moon. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago

Dust has been a nuisance because it has obscured galaxies, and the stars within them, by absorbing the radiation they emit. But more recently dust has started to present opportunities because it emits radiation itself as a consequence of being heated up by nearby stars. Aided by new observing instruments and sophisticated computer software, this radiation enables astronomers to reconstruct what li... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Explosions of small stars, long thought to create stellar dust, actually sweep dust away, scientists discovered. For years, researchers have observed swirling dust clouds around systems called recurring novas, which periodically explode. New images of a distant nova have now overturned astronomers' long-standing assumption that the dust originates in the blasts. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

The clever boffins have finally managed to break the speed of light. A light pulse was so fast that it "exited a specially-prepared chamber before it even finished entering it." picked by TheStep 3 years ago

Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called "Rho Oph" by astronomers, it's one of the closest star-forming regions to our own solar system. Located near the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the nebula is about 407 light years away from Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers say they have found the farthest supernova ever detected, a giant star that ripped apart around 11 billion years ago.
A new technique enabled the cosmologists to make the find, which should help advance knowledge into these rare phenomena and their role in generating other stars picked by Bingo 5 months ago

All aspects of "Dust": Definition, dust control methods, dust in holy books, dust in literature, dusty songs... picked by denzz 3 years ago

As soon as you are born, you are influencing light. From the day of your birth, you can see how many stars that light has reached. Works only on stars up to 50 light years away. picked by Moe 2 years ago

Clouds fill the skies above us and are part of our every day lives, often going unnoticed. However, there are some clouds that are so rare that you will be very lucky to see them in your lifetime. picked by cactushair 9 months ago

The pillars are dense columns within giant clouds of dust and gas where massive stars form. Several theories have been proposed to explain why the pillars develop around the edge of ionized gas bubbles surrounding young, very hot stars. Using computer models, a group of astronomers from the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies has found that partially-shadowed clumps of gas tend to creep towards d... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

Australian scientists say they have achieved the world's most accurate measurement of the fundamental unit of light intensity. Errol Atkinson and colleagues from the National Measurement Institute have refined the measurement of the candela, the basic unit of brightness, to eliminate all but 0.1 per cent of uncertainty. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Detailed images of the birth of cosmic dust were captured for the first time. A star that is about to die after a supernova explosion expels materials like cosmic dust into space, which will be the raw materials for planets and other life. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Astronomers recently captured a supernova's blinding flash "echoing" off dust 400 light-years from the detonation site in the Large Magellanic Cloud — which means Earthly observers may have seen the original blast 400 years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

Research led by the University of Warwick has found a way to use doughnut shaped by-products of quantum dots to slow and even freeze light, opening up a wide range of possibilities from reliable and effective light based computing to the possibility of "slow glass". picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

Mysterious clouds that form at high altitudes over polar regions are to be studied for the first time by a scientific satellite that is specifically designed for the task. picked by AutumnLotus 3 years ago

A glowing plaster that can patch up wounds AND destroy skin cancer cells by zapping them with light, has been unveiled by British scientists.

The strip of bendy plastic is embedded with light-emitting diodes that blast a high-powered of beam of red light onto tumours. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

Clouds over Mars contain less water than previously thought, according to new research using simulated clouds in a lab here on Earth. In the simulation, the cloud particles are larger than expected, and they "fall out of the atmosphere more quickly and, thus, result in less cloud mass and a drier atmosphere." picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

With the sun dappled across these white clouds and a deep blue sky, it appears dawn is about to break.

But this remarkable photograph of an English rural landscape near was taken at midnight and shows the rare phenomenon of 'night shining.' picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

SRON astronomer Floris van der Tak is the first to have observed acidic particulate clouds outside of our own Milky Way galaxy. He did this by focusing the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, located on Hawaii, on two nearby Milky Way galaxies. Astronomers think that acidification inhibits the formation of stars and planets in the dust clouds. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago