There is so much great and exciting news around at the moment, and most of you have probably read some of the articles of the most distant object, well for those who haven’t I’ve been reading furiously about many of these latest developments, and have a list of articles and papers and photo that you may like:
MOST DISTANT GALAXY:
The farthest and one of the very earliest galaxies ever seen in the universe appears as a faint red blob in this ultra-deep–field exposure taken with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. This is the deepest infrared image taken of the universe. Based on the object’s color, astronomers believe it is 13.2 billion light-years away. Z~10
I’ve compiled a list of articles about this galaxy and the hype is on. You would have heard about it but have a read and also look at the Hubble images as well:
Astronomers find most distant galaxy candidate yet seen (Physics Org):
http://www.physorg.com/print215269916.html
Oldest galaxy is lone ranger (Nature)
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110126/full/news.2011.47.html
Most Distant Galaxy Candidate Yet Seen: Hubble Sees Farther Back in Time Than Ever Before (Science News)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110126131711.htm
NASA’s Hubble Finds Most Distant Galaxy Candidate Ever Seen in Universe (01/26/2011) – Release Images (Hubble Site)
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2011/05/image/a/
A candidate redshift z ≈ 10 galaxy and rapid changes in that population at an age of 500 Myr (Nature)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v469/n7331/abs/nature09717.html
TELESCOPES:
NuSTAR – X-Ray Observatory:
NASA’s next X-Ray observatory is revolutionary: The NuSTAR satellite will be the first space telescope capable of focusing high-energy x-rays into high-quality imagery–a feat that requires some incredibly intricate optics, A Look inside NASA’s Next X-Ray Observatory [Slide Show]
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nustar-telescope-photos&WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20110126
VLTS (Very large telescopes) Developments:
Brazil ignites telescope race: Deal boosts Europe’s bid to build world’s biggest observatory, as US groups compete for funds. There’s more news and great photos of the ELTs:
Story at Nature:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110126/full/469451a.html
Photos of VLTs at Nature:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110126/full/469451a/box/2.html
LWA (Long Wavelength Array):
An innovative new radio telescope array under construction in central New Mexico will eventually harness the power of more than 13,000 antennas and provide a fresh eye to the sky. The antennas, which resemble droopy ceiling fans, form the Long Wavelength Array, designed to survey the sky from horizon to horizon over a wide range of frequencies.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-027&cid=release_2011-027&msource=11027&tr=y&auid=7679209