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Radiation Emitted Near Black Holes May Help Measure Distances of Billions of Light Years

A few years ago, researchers revealed that the universe is expanding at a much faster rate than originally believed — a discovery that earned a Nobel Prize in 2011. But measuring the rate of this acceleration over large distances is still challenging and problematic, says Prof. Hagai Netzer of Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy.

23 Apr 2013

Distant Planetary System Hosts Super-Earth-Sized Planets in Habitable Zone

An international team of scientists has discovered a planetary system 1,200 light-years away that hosts two super-Earth-sized planets in its “habitable zone” — a region in which conditions are favorable for a planet’s surface to hold liquid water, and potentially life.

22 Apr 2013

New Hubble Image Shows Infrared View of Horsehead Nebula

This year marks the 23rd year of observing for the Hubble Space Telescope. Alongside cutting-edge science, the orbiting observatory has produced countless stunning astronomical images. Some of the most striking and beautiful subjects of Hubble's images have been nebulae -- vast interstellar clouds of gas and dust.

22 Apr 2013

Global Particle Physics Photowalk Winners Announced

A stark black-and-white photo of an access tunnel 1,500 meters underground at the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics' Gran Sasso National Laboratory and a colorful close-up of a detector at INFN's Frascati National Laboratory that wouldn't be out of place in a building by Antoni Gaudi have won the top prizes in the second Global Particle Physics Photowalk.

20 Apr 2013

Iconic Horsehead Nebula Photographed in a New, Infrared Light

Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.

20 Apr 2013

Novel Synthetic Compound Mimics Complex Quantum Dynamics Observed in Photosynthesis

University of Chicago researchers have created a synthetic compound that mimics the complex quantum dynamics observed in photosynthesis and may enable fundamentally new routes to creating solar-energy technologies. Engineering quantum effects into synthetic light-harvesting devices is not only possible, but also easier than anyone expected, the researchers report in the April 19 edition of Science.

20 Apr 2013

UW Astronomer Discovers Most Earth-Like Planet outside the Solar System

A University of Washington astronomer has discovered perhaps the most Earthlike planet yet found outside the solar system by the Kepler Space Telescope.

19 Apr 2013

Kepler Mission Discovers Two New Planetary Systems

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the "habitable zone," the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water.

19 Apr 2013

Newly Discovered Distant Young Galaxy Furiously Churns Out Stars at Peak Capacity

A Cornell researcher and his team have uncovered an oddity in the early cosmos: A newly discovered distant galaxy, born just after the big bang, is starting to furiously churn out stars at peak capacity – despite its young age.

19 Apr 2013

Blazar’s Emission Spectrum Appears Highly Unusual

Blazars are the brightest of active galactic nuclei, and many emit very high-energy gamma rays. New observations of the blazar known as PKS 1424+240 show that it is the most distant known source of very high-energy gamma rays, but its emission spectrum now appears highly unusual in light of the new data.

19 Apr 2013