Astronomers lately have found:
- an early galaxy, a long time ago and far, far away, that indicates star formation began quite early on in the universe’s history.
- a pair of alien worlds in such close orbit that an observer on one would see the other in the sky.
- more evidence in a lunar crater that our moon has ice on its surface.
Closer to home:
- Sunita Williams, who holds the record for the longest spaceflight by a female astronaut will take over as the commander of the International Space Station
- Scientists and others gather this weekend to discuss the search for alien life in California. Er, they’re gathering in California to discuss the search for alien life.
- Some guy claims leprechauns attacked him.
Click for some spectacular video unrelated to any of these stories.
Photographer Chad Blakely captures three years of Northern Lights:
My favorite news of the week is that the NuSTAR X-Ray telescope was successfully launched and even better, its 30 foot mast got extended. Forget about Abe Lincoln, Vampire Hunter; long live Nu Star, Black Hole Hunter. This thing is gonna revolutionize our understanding of black holes, particularly the one at the Center of the Milky Way.
http://www.nustar.caltech.edu/
What? Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, isn’t going to revolutionize our understanding of black holes???
Seriously, thanks for the link!
Titanium-44 is the secret sauce in making black holes from a supernova – and NuStar is designed to map this in supernova debris clouds…..
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/06/titanium-44-the-key-to-predicting-massive-supernova-explosions.html#more