There has been a debate about the distance to the Pleiades cluster that has been going for decades. Although it appears to have been resolved, well this is the claim of a team of radio astronomers in the US, who concluded that the cluster is approximately as far away as originally estimated. This contradicts analyses
New distance estimate to the Pleiades Read More »
In November 2012, a new distance record breaker has been weighed in with a photometric redshift of z ~ 10.8 which is roughtly 420 million years after the big bang. This is pretty significant. The Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), and the Spitzer/IRAC has measured the photometric redshift and with the help
The most distance object: MACS0647-JD Read More »
* Comet PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) in Cetus * Photo By Humayun Qureshi. Taken from Canberra. Astronomers discovered Comet PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) on June 7, 2011. In early February, the comet reached its southernmost point, but by the end of May it will lie near Polaris (Alpha [α] Ursae Minoris). Comet watchers should target February 21
This is a Digitized Sky Survey image of the oldest star with a well-determined age in our galaxy. The aging star, cataloged as HD 140283, lies 190.1 light-years away. The Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) UK Schmidt telescope photographed the star in blue light. Credit: Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), STScI/AURA, Palomar/Caltech, and UKSTU/AAO A team of astronomers using NASA’s
Hubble Finds the Oldest Star (as of March 2013) Read More »
The selection of the best site for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which was between South Africa and a joint Australian/New Zealand bid, surprised most people. But it makes real sense to utilize the preliminary facilities that both nations have started to contribute. In an earlier article on RelativeCosmos.com I suggested Australia would be best
SKA Split decision – the best solution! Read More »
By Estelle Asmodelle Recent reports on the selection of the site for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) have suggested that South Africa offers the best site and a panel of advisors recommended the SA site over Australia. The argument was put that the SA site was cheaper for construction, yet Australia had lower insurance fees, and primarily
Square Kilometre Array (SKA) may go to South Africa but is it really the best site? Read More »
By Estelle Asmodelle The transit of Venus is happening 5th-6th June 2012. There are plenty of Astronomical Societies who are holding ‘transit parties,’ including two that I do presentations to: The first one, here is a page from the Newcastle Astronomical Society with their ‘transit party’ and they had ABC radio there as well: http://www.nas.org.au/HTML%20Pages/venus_transit_event_2004.htm
THE TRANSIT OF VENUS and also the TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE. Read More »
As NASA prepares to wrap up its shuttle program, leaving open questions about what comes next for U.S. human spaceflight, the next big thing in NASA’s astronomy program has been dealt a blow. The James Webb Space Telescope, a tennis court–size spacecraft that would take up a position in deep space to peer farther than
Threat of James Webb Space Telescope Cancellation Read More »
NEW METHOD OF MAPPING THE UNIVERSE USING QUASARS -BOSS. The biggest 3-D map of the distant universe ever made, using light from 14,000 quasars – supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies billions of light years away – has been constructed by scientists with the third Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III). See the Phyorg
News items for April-May Read More »
If you are interested in Exoplanets – then there are TWO good PDFs for free download from Nature this week – they are both must read documents: Exoplanets on the cheap The search for planets outside our Solar System will always be pricey. But creative solutions are proving that it no longer has to break
Exoplanets & Kepler Read More »