Black hole bonanza possible as immense gas cloud passes. 31 May 2013 Last updated at 05:04 ET By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News The cloud will approach Sagittarius A* on an elliptical orbit, passing close but not getting entirely sucked in A vast and hidden field of small black holes predicted to be near the centre of our galaxy could be revealed as a giant gas cloud passes by. The G2 cloud is as large as our Solar System, and bound for a "supermassive" black hole at the Milky Way's core. On the way, it should encounter many black holes just tens of km across. A report in Physical Review Letters suggests they will spin and heat the gas, which will emit a spray of X-ray light that telescopes could see. The cloud of gas - three times larger than Pluto's orbit but with a total mass just three times that of the Earth - was first spotted on its course toward the galaxy's centre in 2011. Researchers have been gearing up for the cloud's approach to the galaxy's enormous central black hole, with its closest approach in September.
Did life exist BEFORE Earth? Researchers calculate we may have existed. Geneticists applied Moore's law of computer power to life - and found it adds weight to the theory life originated away from Earth Results suggest life first appeared about 10 billion years ago, far older than the Earth's projected age of 4.5 billion years By Mark Prigg Published: 16:47 GMT, 19 April 2013 | Updated: 07:54 GMT, 20 April 2013 Life existed before Earth, and may have originated outside out solar system, researchers have claimed. Geneticists have used a theory that usually governs the speed increases of computers - and applied it to life. The results suggest life first appeared about 10 billion years ago - long before Earth, which is believed to be 4.5 billion years old. The start of life on Earth? Geneticists have used a theory that usually governs the speed increases of computers - and applied it to life. Panspermia is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe and is spread by meteoroids, asteroids and planetoids.
Kepler telescope spies 'most Earth-like' worlds to date. 18 April 2013Last updated at 21:26 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News Artist's impression: The outermost pair are the smallest exoplanets yet found in a host star’s habitable zone The search for a far-off twin of Earth has turned up two of the most intriguing candidates yet. Scientists say these new worlds are the right size and distance from their parent star, so that you might expect to find liquid water on their surface. It is impossible to know for sure. But researchers tell Science magazine, they are an exciting discovery.
"They are the best candidates found to date for habitable planets," stated Bill Borucki, who leads the team working on the US space agency Nasa's orbiting Kepler telescope. The prolific observatory has so far confirmed the existence of more than 100 new worlds beyond our Solar System since its launch in 2009. The two planets go by the names Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f Its two outermost worlds go by the names Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f. Many assumptions. Is dark matter hiding a 'mirror world'? Researchers believe mysterious material could form its own world - complete with shadow Milky Way. Researchers say dark matter could 'open the door to a whole new world'Predictions of a 'mirror world' that could even contain copies of our own Universe By Mark Prigg Published: 08:30 GMT, 12 April 2013 | Updated: 10:39 GMT, 12 April 2013 Researchers have so far failed to prove the existence of 'dark matter', the Universe building blocks.
Despite a £1.3 billion ($2bn) experiment on the International Space Station finding glimpses of dark matter, it has never been directly observed. However, a dramatic new theory claims it could be hiding a 'mirror world' that would rewrite our understanding of the Universe. Scroll down for video The AMS - a kind of particle accelerator and nicknamed the 'space LHC' in reference to the Large Hadron Collider here on Earth. Dark matter accounts for most of the mass in the Universe. It surrounds galaxies across the universe, and is invisible because it does not reflect light. 'That does not mean that the room around you does not exist. The first pictures from the £1bn 'time machine' telescope reveal faraway galaxy forming starburst.
First images from groundbreaking ALMA telescope in Chile shows an ancient galaxy forming stars at a breathtaking rateRed arcs in the image represent a distant galaxy rapidly creating stars around 12billion years ago – the light generated has only just reached us on earth By Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent In Chile Published: 18:00 GMT, 13 March 2013 | Updated: 18:16 GMT, 13 March 2013 A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, billions of stars were born. This picture - one of the first to be taken by ALMA – the world’s newest and most powerful telescope – shows an ancient galaxy forming stars at a breathtaking rate.
During such ‘starbursts’, hundreds or thousands of stars are born a year. The first image from the ALMA telescope: This montage combines data from ALMA with images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, for five distant galaxies. When complete, ALMA will be even more sensitive, and will be able to detect even fainter galaxies. How the ALMA telescope works. Team of astronomers discover largest known spiral galaxy - that's five times the size of the Milky Way - by accident - Science - News. The spectacular spiral galaxy, NGC 6872, is the biggest yet seen. Astronomers earmarked the galaxy using archival data taken from Nasa's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) satellite. NGC 6872 ranked among the biggest stellar systems for decades, but the new analysis has now crowned it the largest known spiral.
The discovery indicates that the galaxy is five time the size of the Milky Way galaxy. The team of astronomers say that a comparatively recent collision with another galaxy could be causing one of the outer arms of the spiral to spawn fresh stars that may eventually create a new galaxy. The team of astronomers from Brazil, Chile and the US were led by lead scientist Rafael Eufrasio who presented the findings on Thursday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Long Beach, California. "It's been known to be among the largest for two decades, but it's much larger than we thought," explained Mr Eufrasio. The two galaxies are located around 212 million light-years from Earth. Kepler telescope: Earth-sized planets 'number 17bn' 8 January 2013Last updated at 02:16 ET By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Long Beach, California This artist's rendering shows the different types of planets in the Milky Way detected by Nasa's Kepler spacecraft Astronomers say that one in six stars hosts an Earth-sized planet in a close orbit - suggesting a total of 17 billion such planets in our galaxy.
The result comes from an analysis of planet candidates gathered by Nasa's Kepler space observatory. The Kepler scientists also announced 461 new planet candidates, bringing the satellites' total haul to 2,740. Their findings were announced at the 221st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in California. Transit Since its launch into orbit in 2009, Kepler has stared at a fixed part of the sky, peering at more than 150,000 stars in its field of view. It detects the minute dip in light coming from a star if a planet passes in front of it, in what is called a transit. In the zone. Deathbed dream puzzles of renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa finally solved - 100 years after he died. Theory came to Srinivasa Ramanujan in a dream on his deathbed in 1920 - but has never been provedDiscovery could now be used to explain the behaviour of parts of a black hole By Mark Prigg Published: 20:21 GMT, 28 December 2012 | Updated: 21:23 GMT, 30 December 2012 Srinivasa Ramanujan, described as a 'natural genius', has finally had the mathematical functions he came up with on his deathbed proved correct Researchers have finally solved the cryptic deathbed puzzle renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan claimed came to him in dreams.
While on his death-bed in 1920, Ramanujan wrote a letter to his mentor, English mathematician G. Decades years later, researchers say they've proved he was right - and that the formula could explain the behaviour of black holes. 'We've solved the problems from his last mysterious letters,' Emory University mathematician Ken Ono said. 'For people who work in this area of math, the problem has been open for 90 years,' Scroll down for video. Seven Milky Way worlds could harbour life, say astronomers. Habitable Exoplanets Catalog says first year has exceeded expectationsIt was launched in December 2011 with just two entries in its databaseFinds expected to accelerate as methods become more sophisticated By Damien Gayle Published: 12:19 GMT, 10 December 2012 | Updated: 13:02 GMT, 10 December 2012 Seven planets in the Milky Way outside our solar system could potentially harbour life, researchers from an ambitious project to catalogue all habitable worlds have announced.
The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog (HEC) celebrated its first anniversary with the announcement that it had exceeded expectations in its search for possible new Earths. Lead researcher Abel Mendez, director of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo's Planetary Habitability Laboratory, said the team had hoped to add perhaps one or two planets in the project's first year. Scroll down for video The addition of five possibly habitable planets over the two already known totally exceeded anyone's expectations, he said. Economists calculate the cost of building a Death Star. Giant black hole in tiny galaxy confounds astronomers. 29 November 2012Last updated at 04:42 ET By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News Lurking in this image is a black hole that could revamp theories of galactic evolution Astronomers have spotted an enormous black hole - the second most massive ever - but it resides in a tiny galaxy.
The galaxy NGC 1277, just a quarter the size of our own Milky Way, hosts a black hole 4,000 times larger than the one at the Milky Way's centre. A report in Nature shows it has a mass some 17 billion times that of our Sun. The surprise finding is hard to reconcile with existing models of black hole growth, which hold that they evolve in tandem with host galaxies.
Getting to grips with just how large black holes are is a tricky business - after all, since they swallow light in their vicinities, they cannot be seen. Instead, astronomers measure the black holes' "sphere of influence" - the gravitational effects they have on surrounding gas and stars. 'Big jigsaw' Astronomers discover supermassive black hole with a mass 17 billion times that of our Sun in 'oddball' tiny galaxy - Science - News. The black hole, which has a mass some 17 billion times that of our Sun, is all the more surprising as it has been found residing in a tiny galaxy. It therefore defies the traditional model of black hole growth that dictates they evolve in tandem with their host galaxies. It lies at the heart of a small lens-shaped galaxy called NGC1277, which is 220 million light years away in the constellation Perseus.
The black hole makes up an enormous 14 per cent of the galaxy's mass. Other black holes found at the centres of galaxies account for only about 0.1 per cent. Dr Karl Gebhardt, the lead scientist from the University of Texas at Austin, said: "This is a really oddball galaxy. Scientists have been searching for the Universe's largest black hole using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which is based in Texas. They undertook a survey of nearly 900 host galaxies. Black holes are formed from matter collapsing to the point where normal laws of physics break down. The furthest object ever seen: Record breaking image shows galaxy 13.3 BILLION light-years from Earth. Galaxy was observed 420 million years after the Big Bangfound by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and one of nature’s own natural 'zoom lenses' in space.
Published: 11:09 GMT, 16 November 2012 | Updated: 12:11 GMT, 16 November 2012 Researcher have identified the furthest ever galaxy discovered in space - a staggering 13.3 billion light-years from Earth. The galaxy was observed around 420 million years after the Big Bang when the universe was just 3 per cent of its current age. Astronomers have calculated the galaxy is a 13.3 billion light-years from Earth with a single light-year representing 5,878,625 million miles. Scroll down for video The newly discovered galaxy, named MACS0647-JD, is very young and only a tiny fraction of the size of our Milky Way.
The object is so small it may be in the first stages of galaxy formation, with analysis showing the galaxy is less than 600 light-years across. For comparison the Milky Way is 150 000 light-years across. New planet with four suns identified by 'armchair astronomers' Newly discovered 'super-Earth' is made of diamonds, say scientists - Science - News. The diamond planet is one of five "exoplanets" orbiting a distant star called 55 Cancri, some 40 light years away from our own Solar System but still visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Cancer. Scientists said that an analysis of the chemical composition of the planet based on measurements of its mass and radius, combined with computer modelling, suggests its outer crust is largely composed of solid carbon crystals.
"This is the first glimpse of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry from Earth. The surface of this planet is likely covered in graphite and diamond rather than water and granite," said Nikku Madhusudhan of Yale University. The planet's radius is twice that of Earth's, but its mass it eight times greater, making it a "superearth". It orbits its own star at hyper speed, with a year lasting just 18 hours, and surface temperatures reaching a blistering 2,150C with no possibility of liquid water and therefore life. Nasa breakthrough suggests Star Trek's 'warp drives' may not only be possible - but practical. NASA suggests new model which could reduce energy requirements for warp-speed travel from planet-sized to car-sized'Humble experiments' in laboratory could lead to faster-than-light travel By Eddie Wrenn Published: 09:13 GMT, 18 September 2012 | Updated: 12:27 GMT, 18 September 2012 As we take our virgin steps into space, there is one thing that could always put a cap on our ambitions.
Despite our desire to explore the stars, we are limited by travelling at less than light speed - and even if we managed to match that pace, we would still be listing our voyages from star to star in years, centuries or millenia. But, in what could be a huge breakthrough, theorists from Nasa say there is 'hope' that we can achieve faster-than-light travel, after physicists found a theoretical possibility for warp speed travel. Space time mapped out: Teams at NASA are exploring ways to warp the universe to enable faster than light travel. Supermassive black holes and hot galaxies in giant haul.
30 August 2012Last updated at 06:14 ET Wise has been able to see objects not visible to past science instruments A space telescope has added to its list of spectacular finds, spotting millions of supermassive black holes and blisteringly hot, "extreme" galaxies. The finds, by US space agency Nasa's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (Wise), once lay obscured behind dust. But Wise can see in wavelengths correlated with heat, seeing for the first time some of the brightest objects in the Universe. The haul will help astronomers work out how galaxies and black holes form. It is known that most large galaxies host black holes at their centres, sometimes feeding on nearby gas, dust and stars and sometimes spraying out enough energy to halt star formation altogether.
How the two evolve together has remained a mystery, and the Wise data are already yielding some surprises. Among its other discoveries, in 2011 Wise spotted in a "Trojan" asteroid ahead of the Earth in its orbit. Meet the family: Astronomers find pair of galaxies that are identical to our own. A home from home: Five planets that could host life. Star is caught devouring planet. Scientists solve 'the biggest mystery in the universe' after finding 'impossible' stars which are 300 times the size of our sun. Black Widow Pulsar at the Top of Freaky Phenomena in the Universe? | Digg Topnews.
Could aliens have created life on Earth? | Digg Topnews. Nasa joins race to build successor to Corncorde capable of flying from London to Sydney in FOUR HOURS. 'It looks crazy': NASA scientists describe 'Seven minutes of terror' when $2.5billion Curiosity Mars rover lands ITSELF on Red Planet. Particles point way for Nasa's Voyager. 'Oldest galaxy' discovered using Hawaii telescope | Science. Milky Way on collision course with foreign galaxy.
The outer limits: Nasa probe sees the 'edge' of our solar system for first time - and it's completely different from what we thought. We’ve seen the light: Nasa spots light being emitted from “super-Earth” planet. The Earth is trapped in a bubble, as scientists explain our galactic neighbourhood. Astronomers find new planet capable of supporting life.
Anglo-German team hopes for breakthrough in search for gravitational waves | Science | The Observer. Space Pictures of the Week: "UFO Galaxy," Triple Sunset, More. Monster Black Holes Gobble Binary Stars to Grow? Picture captures a billion stars. WebStars: Astrophysics in Cyberspace. NASA Images. NASA. World Space Agencies. Survey gets a grip on dark energy. Solar tornado 5 times the size of Earth pictured on sun's surface. Einstein proved correct on view of the universe. What will happen when the Sun dies? What happened before the Big Bang? New 'life in space' hope after billions of 'habitable planets' found in Milky Way.