The Glory of a Nearby Star
Optical Light from a Hot Stellar Corona Detected with the VLT The solar corona is a beautiful sight during total solar eclipses. It is the uppermost region of the extended solar atmosphere and consists of a very hot (over 1 million degrees), tenuous plasma of highly ionised elements that emit strong X-ray radiation. There is also a much weaker... view more... (2001-07-31)
University of Michigan astronomers capture the first image of surface features on a sun-like star
University of Michigan astronomers combined light from four widely separated telescopes to produce the first picture showing surface details on a sun-like star beyond our solar system. view more (2007-06-01)
Sussex University astronomer takes part in NASA mission
When NASA launches its new orbiting observatory this week, a University of Sussex astronomer will be looking at parts of the universe never seen before. Dr Sebastian Oliver is one of just a handful of UK scientists involved in the largest project for NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), which leaves Cape Canaveral on Saturday, August... view more... (2003-08-20)
Astronomers discover missing link for origin of comets
An international team of scientists that includes University of British Columbia astronomer Brett Gladman has found an unusual object whose backward and tilted orbit around the Sun may clarify the origins of certain comets. view more (2008-09-05)
Hubble, Keck images show continued turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere
Increased turbulence and storms first observed on Jupiter more than two years ago are still raging, according to astronomers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, who snapped high-resolution pictures of the planet earlier this month. view more (2008-05-23)
Building a Terabyte Archive at the ESO HQ
This event marks the closing of the data flow loop at the VLT for the first time and the successful culmination of more than 5 years of hard work by ESO engineers and scientists to implement a system for efficient and effective scientific data flow. This was achieved by a cross-organization science operations team involving staff in Chile and... view more... (1999-06-21)
To curious aliens, Earth would stand out as living planet
With powerful instruments scouring the heavens, astronomers have found more than 240 planets in the past two decades, none likely to support Earth-like life. view more (2007-12-26)
Wobbly planets could reveal Earth-like moons
Moons outside our Solar System with the potential to support life have just become much easier to detect, thanks to research by an astronomer at University College London (UCL). view more (2008-12-12)
Getting closer to the Lord of the Rings
This time next year, ESA's Huygens spaceprobe will be descending through the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, becoming the first spacecraft to land on a body in the outer Solar System. Earlier this month, the giant ringed planet Saturn was closer to Earth than it will be for the next thirty years. All the planets orbit the Sun as if on a... view more... (2004-01-16)
Into the Eye of the Helix
The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293, lies about 700 light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius (the Water Bearer). view more (2009-02-25)
Prototype for long wavelength array sees first light
Astronomers at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have produced the first images of the sky from a prototype of the Long Wavelength Array (LWA), a revolutionary new radio telescope to be constructed in southwestern New Mexico. view more (2007-03-30)
New honorary fellows at the Institute of Physics
Professor Hiroshi Kamimura, Professor Sir Martin Rees and Professor Sir Denys Wilkinson have all been made Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Physics for their huge contributions to the world of physics. Professor Hiroshi Kamimura has made remarkable contributions to the theory and understanding of condensed matter physics whilst working at the... view more... (2001-10-26)
Media Invitation - Cosmology Prize to be awarded at IAU General Assembly, Tuesday 15 July
Two thousand astronomers from 65 countries will converge on the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney this coming week for the 25th triennial General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The meeting kicks off on Sunday 13 July and runs for two weeks. It will be officially opened at the Sydney Opera House at 6 pm on... view more... (2003-07-12)
ESO`s VLT Helps ESA`s Rosetta Spacecraft Prepare to Ride on a Cosmic Bullet
New Images of Comet Wirtanen`s Nucleus New images of Comet Wirtanen`s 1-km `dirty snowball` nucleus have been obtained with the ESO Very Large Telescope at Paranal (Chile). They show this object at a distance of approx. 435 million km from the Sun, about the same as when the Rosetta spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA) arrives in 2011.... view more... (2002-02-26)
Binary asteroid in Jupiter's orbit may be icy comets from solar system's infancy
Astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, working with colleagues in France and at the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, have calculated the density of a known binary asteroid system that shares Jupiter's orbit, and concluded that Patroclus and its companion probably are composed mostly of water ice covered by a patina of dirt. view more (2006-02-02)
How to deflect an asteroid
STRANGE as it may seem, averting Armageddon isn`t the top priority for most asteroid hunters. They`d be happy just to know where the rock that could wipe out life on Earth will come from. But an astronomer in Italy thinks he can save the world-with space-based missiles. By the end of the decade,... view more... (2002-02-13)
Astronomers put quasars in their place
A team of UK astronomers, led by postgraduate student Ed Hawkins, has made a decisive step toward resolving an argument that has rumbled on in the astronomical community for decades. The scientists from the University of Nottingham have been investigating the properties of quasars and nearby galaxies. As part of this study, they have overturned... view more... (2002-10-03)
Superbubble of supernova remnants caught in act of forming
A superbubble in space, caught in the act of forming, can help scientists better understand the life and death of massive stars, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. view more (2007-01-10)
For peace and quiet, try the Moon
ASTRONOMERS are taking the search for somewhere quiet to work to new extremes with a plan to put a radio telescope on the far side of the Moon. The advantage of this unusual location is that the Moon would act as a massive shield, protecting the telescope against radio emissions from Earth.... view more... (2002-01-02)
Astronomers detect echoes from ancient supernovae
A team of astronomers has found faint visible "echoes" of three ancient supernovae by detecting centuries-old light reflected by interstellar gas clouds hundreds of light-years removed from the original explosions. view more (2005-12-22)
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