STELLAR CHEMISTRY - SKY NIGHTLY

Scientists develop new materials that move in response to light

Jul 25, 2018 (SPX)

In biology, there are many examples where light induces movement or change - think of flowers and leaves turning toward sunlight. The light actuated materials c...

Young galaxy's halo offers clues to its growth and evolution

Jul 25, 2018 (SPX)

In a study published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, lead author Dawn Erb of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her team - for the very first time - us...

Agreement Provides Access for Korea Astronomers to Gemini Observatory

Jul 25, 2018 (SPX)

"After being a part of Gemini for the past four years as a Limited-term Collaborator, the Korean astronomical community is thrilled to become a full partner in ...

Nanocrystals emit light by efficiently 'tunneling' electrons

Jul 24, 2018 (SPX)

The device emits light by a quantum mechanical phenomenon known as inelastic electron tunneling. In this process, electrons move through a solid barrier that th...

CALET makes direct measurements of cosmic-ray electron spectrum

Jul 23, 2018 (SPX)

CALET, a detector optimized to observe high-energy electrons, was installed on the Japanese Experimental Module Kibo on the International Space Station (ISS) on...

NASA's New Mini Satellite Will Study Milky Way's Halo

Jul 19, 2018 (SPX)

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the oldest light in the universe, radiation from when it was 400,000 years old. Calculations based on CMB observations ...

Technicians Ensure James Webb Space Telescope's Sunshield Survives Stresses Experienced During Liftoff

Jul 19, 2018 (SPX)

In this photo, technicians delicately inspect stowed sunshield membranes of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on the forward side of the spacecraft. Acoustic te...

SD mines scientists and students contribute to IceCube breakthrough

Jul 19, 2018 (SPX)

Detecting high-energy cosmic neutrinos requires a massive particle detector, and IceCube is by volume the world's largest. Encompassing a cubic kilometer of dee...

Supersharp Images from New VLT Adaptive Optics

Jul 18, 2018 (SPX)

It is now possible to capture images from the ground at visible wavelengths that are sharper than those from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The combinatio...

UK Delivers Super-Cool Kit to USA for Dark Matter Experiment

Jul 18, 2018 (SPX)

This hunt is important because the nature of dark matter, which physicists describe as the invisible component or 'missing mass' in the universe, has eluded sci...

In search of dark matter

Jul 16, 2018 (SPX)

Dark matter - nonluminous material in space - is understood to constitute 85 percent of the matter in the universe. Unlike normal matter, it does not absorb, re...

Hawaii telescopes help unravel long-standing cosmic mystery

Jul 16, 2018 (SPX)

In a paper published this week in the journal Science, scientists have, for the first time, provided evidence for a known blazar, designated TXS 0506+056, as a ...

MeerKAT Radio Telescope Reveals Clearest View Yet of Center of Milky Way

Jul 13, 2018 (SPX)

"We wanted to show the science capabilities of this new instrument," says Fernando Camilo, chief scientist of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SAR...

IceCube neutrinos point to long-sought cosmic ray accelerator

Jul 13, 2018 (SPX)

The observations, made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and confirmed by telescopes around the globe and in Earth's ...

VERITAS supplies critical piece to neutrino discovery puzzle

Jul 13, 2018 (SPX)

The University of Utah is one of the founding collaborating institutions of the VERITAS observatory. Co-author Dave Kieda, professor of physics and astronomy an...

Hubble and Gaia team up to fuel cosmic conundrum

Jul 13, 2018 (SPX)

The results further fuel the mismatch between measurements for the expansion rate of the nearby universe, and those of the distant, primeval universe - before s...

Colorful celestial landscape

Jul 12, 2018 (SPX)

This cluster contains hundreds of young, hot, massive stars, and lies some 5500 light-years away in the constellation of Vela (The Sails). The central area of R...

Kirigami-inspired technique manipulates light at the nanoscale

Jul 10, 2018 (SPX)

Now, researchers at MIT and in China have for the first time applied this approach to the creation of nanodevices to manipulate light, potentially opening up ne...

Distant quasar providing clues to early-universe conditions

Jul 10, 2018 (SPX)

The scientists studied a quasar called PSO J352.4034-15.3373 (P352-15), an unusually bright emitter of radio waves for an object so distant. The extremely sharp...

Groundbreaking Study Sheds New Light on Galaxy Evolution

Jul 09, 2018 (SPX)

The bulge is thought to form through two distinct routes: Classical bulges consist of ancient stars, older than the disk, because they assembled rapidly more th...