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 6 months ago

The origin of the microscopic meteorites that make up cosmic dust has been revealed for the first time in new research. picked by AutumnLotus 1 month 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 9 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 1 year ago

The most energetic particles in the universe likely come from enormous black holes nestled in the restless hearts of traumatized galaxies, scientists say. Where these cosmic "bullets" originated has been a source of much speculation, with scientists proposing everything from gamma ray bursts to decaying dark matter. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

Astronomers are now able to predict when a certain type of star will let loose a powerful eruption. The explosions occur on a neutron star, a city-sized remnant of a giant star that exploded in a supernova long ago and collapsed into a hyperdense ember. It now siphons material from a companion star while the two objects orbit each other every 3.8 hours. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Dust littered the early universe and seeded the formation of rocky planets such as the Earth. Astronomers have found 10,000 Earth masses worth of dust surrounding Cassiopeia A, the remnants of a supernova about 11,000 light-years away from our planet. The NASA Spitzer Space Telescope observations show silicates, carbon, iron oxide, aluminum oxide and other dust-forming chemicals around the blown-o... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 10 months 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 6 months ago

Galaxies tend to give birth to their stars on the road, while travelling down intergalactic highways towards cosmic cities called galaxy clusters, new Spitzer Space Telescope observations reveal. Galaxies in relatively empty regions of the universe flock towards densely populated galaxy clusters, attracted there by the clusters' gravity. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

All aspects of "Dust": Definition, dust control methods, dust in holy books, dust in literature, dusty songs... picked by denzz 1 year ago

Astronomers have taken a baby step in trying to answer the cosmic question of where we come from. Planets and much on them, including humans, come from dust — mostly from dying stars. But where did the dust that helped form those early stars come from? A NASA telescope may have spotted one of the answers. It's in the wind bursting out of super-massive black holes. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Astronomers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research have discovered a new cluster of galaxies, hidden behind a previously identified cluster of galaxies. The recently exposed cosmic giant is apparently just as bright as the first group, but is six times further away. The astronomers made the discovery as part of an international team using the space telescope XMM-Newton. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

A team of physicists and astronomers at the University of Sussex and Imperial College London have uncovered hints that there may be cosmic strings - lines of pure mass-energy - stretching across the entire Universe. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months 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 8 months ago

An enormous plume of dust and water spurts violently into space from the south pole of Enceladus, Saturn's sixth-largest moon. This raging eruption has intrigued scientists ever since the Cassini spacecraft provided dramatic images of the phenomenon. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

The sun bounces up and down as it roams the Milky Way, and such wavering might have hurled showers of comets Earth's way that caused mass extinctions, including the one that killed the dinosaurs, a new study claims.

Such cosmic impacts might also have spread life to alien worlds, scientists speculate. picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Last September, a supernova burst into a cosmic flame 100 times more intense than any event on record—and left scientists scratching their heads. Now, two new studies attempt to explain the remarkable explosion. One sets up the explosion with a cannibalistic star, while the other describes how colliding layers of jettisoned gas could outshine all other supernovae. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months ago

Once upon a time, time was different. Supernova explosions in the early universe appear to age more slowly than today's supernovae, as if time itself was running slower back then, according to a recent series of astronomical observations. This cosmic time warp is exactly what should be produced by the expansion of the universe, confirming conventional big bang theory. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Antimatter, which annihilates matter upon contact, seems to be rare in the universe. Still, for decades, scientists had clues that a vast cloud of antimatter lurked in space, but they did not know where it came from. The mysterious source of this antimatter has now been discovered -- stars getting ripped apart by neutron stars and black holes. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

Scientists has identified a new likely source of a spike in atmospheric methane coming out of the North during the end of the last ice age. Methane bubbling from arctic lakes could have been responsible for up to 87 percent of that methane spike. The findings could help scientists understand how current warming might affect atmospheric levels of methane, a gas that is thought to contribute to clim... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago