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February 14, 2013

Extremely bright supernovae may break the Chandrasekhar limit
London, UK (SPX) Feb 14, 2013
White dwarfs forming in extreme magnetic fields could be stabilized, allowing them to get bigger before they explode, leading to a brighter bang when they finally do, according to a team of researchers in India. Type Ia supernovae, caused by exploding white dwarfs, are often used by astronomers as "standard candles" to calculate the distance to a point in space because they are extremely bright and usually have similar luminosity. But some anomalously bright type Ia supernovae that scientists could not ... read more

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Euclid Could Solve The Dark Mysteries Of The Universe Johns Hopkins astrophysicists Brice Menard and Charles L. Bennett have been appointed to the Euclid Consortium, the international team of scientists overseeing an ambitious space telescope project d ... more		Black Holes Growing Faster Than Expected Lurking at the centers of most galaxies are black holes that can weigh anywhere from one million to one billion times as much as the Sun. New research, published in the Astrophysical Journal, shows ... more		Getting the Right Spin on a Close-Passing Asteroid The record-setting close approach of an asteroid on Feb. 15 is an exciting opportunity for scientists, and a research team will use National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and NASA telescopes to ... more
				No asteroid risk in foreseeable future Despite the approach of an asteroid set to make a close flyby of Earth this week, an actual impact is unlikely for the foreseeable future, astronomers say. ... more		Public to vote on names for Pluto moons The U.S.-led team that discovered two new moons of the dwarf planet Pluto says they're asking the public to vote on potential names for the distant worlds. ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

NASA Telescopes Discover Strobe-Like Flashes in Young Stars Two of NASA's great observatories, the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, have teamed up to uncover a mysterious infant star that behaves like a strobe light. Every 25.34 days, the object, d ... more		Planet color may suggest alien life The light signatures of lichens and algae reflected in a distant planet's distinctive coloring could be evidence of alien life, German researchers say. ... more		EU 'must respond' to Russia's 'hybrid warfare': von der Leyen Russia says missile strike kills three in Belgorod region: governor Trump unlikely to win Nobel Peace Prize, but who will?		Observed: The outburst before the blast Before they go all-out supernova, certain large stars undergo a sort of "mini-explosion," throwing a good-sized chunk of their material off into space. Though several models predict this behavior an ... more
				The Sun Produces Two CMEs In the evening of Feb. 5, 2013, the sun erupted with two coronal mass ejections or CMEs that may glance near-Earth space. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from the Solar Terr ... more		Hubble captures strobe flashes from a young star The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a time-lapse movie of a mysterious protostar that behaves like a flashing light. Every 25.34 days, the object, designated LRLL 54361, unleashes a bur ... more

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