French observer Stéphane Lamotte Bailey created this animation of the Whirlpool galaxy’s new supernova using images he took with his 8-inch telescope on May 30 and June 2, 2011. / Stéphane Lamotte Bailey For the second time in six years, a star has exploded in the iconic Whirlpool Galaxy (Messier 51), and — good news! […]
Rings produced by a computer model of a stellar merger (left) mimic those of supernova 1987A (right) / Illustration: T Morris/P Podsiadlowski; Image: C Burrows/ESA/STScI/NASA A merger of two stars and the deadly dance that preceded it produced the distinctive triple ring system of supernova 1987A, a new study says. SN 1987A exploded in the […]
Image credit NASA, Caltech, MPIA, and Calar Alto Tycho’s supernova remnant, a real-world example of a Type Ia supernova. An an attempt to peer inside powerful star explosions, scientists recently made a “supernova in a jar” using a chemical reaction in a viscous fluid. Called the iodate-arsenous acid (IAA) system, the experiment involved injecting a […]
On 27 December, COROT is to be launched into space on a unique astronomy mission: its twin goals are to detect exoplanets orbiting around other stars and to probe the mysteries of stellar interiors as never before. . . . While CNES is completing preparations for the launch from Baikonur/Kazakhstan, ESA and a large number […]
Astronomers have proposed a variety of sources over the years for the Christmas star — comets, a supernova or a grouping of planets. The actual astronomical events of the time suggest a solution, according to Griffith Observatory astronomer John Mosley. Mosley’s 1987 book “The Christmas Star” examines the sky during the time frame that historians […]
