12.06.10: Refurbished Hubble Catches Interstellar Speedster.

 
     New instruments installed aboard the Hubble Space Telescope on the final repair mission are now starting to really show their stuff. Recently, astronomers revealed a new find; a massive star speeding away from the Tarantula Nebula. Located 170,000 light years distant in the Large Magellanic Cloud, this nebula is also sometimes referred to as 30 [...]

21.04.10-The Puzzle of Blue Stragglers.

 
 Blue Stragglers as seen by Hubble in the cluster NGC6397.
   Astronomers may have recently solved a half a century long mystery of stellar evolution. Since the 1950’s a type of star known as  a blue straggler has stubbornly refused to fit the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram mold. These older stars should be approaching seniority, but instead burn brightly [...]

02.04.10- Cassiopeia A: A Quark Star?

   
   The supernova remnant Cassiopeia A holds a compelling astrophysical mystery. Located about 10,000 light years away, this strong radio source was identified in 1947 and remains the most recent galactic supernova known. One slightly odd fact revolves around Cas A; despite its having burst about 325 years ago as seen from Earth, no reliable [...]

20.03.10: Spying a Black Hole Welterweight.

  
   Astronomers now have observational evidence for a missing class of black hole. Stellar mass black holes, those up to about 10 solar masses, are well known as the remnants of supernovae. Likewise for supermassive black holes of 10,000 solar masses or greater known to reside in the hearts of galaxies like our own. The [...]

Astro-Challenge:When will T Pyxidis Finally Pop?

 
   Earlier this year, the astronomical community was wowed by the eruption of the star U Scorpii. As reported last year in this space, U Sco is a recurrent nova, a flare star that undergoes outburst at irregular intervals. Less than 10 recurrent novae have been identified. The initial action was caught by two Florida [...]

06.11.09:A New Type of Supernova?

Astronomers at  the University of California at Berkley may have added a new type of supernova to the list. Typical type I supernovae consist of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf accreting matter from a companion star until a runaway reaction occurs, while type II supernovae involve a collapse of a star perhaps nine times as massive [...]

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