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May 5, 2008Galaxies far more prolific in hinterlands of universe | A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… A report from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson has revealed a hitherto largely unseen stage in galactic evolution. The galaxies observed have quickly expanding black holes at their center and are producing stars more quickly than occurs in present-day galaxies. This discovery will help scientists better understand the evolution of galaxies, including our own. Arizona Daily Star article : : : : : : May 1, 2008Running from the sun | Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona. The stars glimmer in and out of view as a patch of unseen cloud rolls gently overhead. Bundled thickly against the desert wind, we shake our heads at each other in disappointment. Though our run is long—eight nights in total—it takes months, even years to get access to a large telescope like the Mayall, and if you’re foiled by the weather, well, you’re plum out of luck. But the cloud is so completely oblivious to the havoc its innocent meanderings are wreaking on the lofty pursuit of science that it’s impossible to stay angry at it for long. Secretly, I even relish the possibility of getting to bed before the sun rises, though I would never admit it to the others. Let the theoretical astrophysicists sleep; we observers don’t need that kind of pampering. Read the rest of this first person report at the Daily Princetonian. : : : : : : Astronomy Picture of the Day | The Giants of Omega Centauri (note: Visible light part of the image from the Blanco 4-m telescope) : : : : : : April 28, 2008Astronomy Picture of the Day | Star Forming Region NGC 3582 : : : : : : April 23, 2008
Observatory nears 50th year and remains a vital presence | Kitt Peak National Observatory is turning 50. And while it no longer boasts the world's second-largest telescope and has been passed over as the site for a new generation of ever-larger telescopes, it still bristles with more than two dozen telescopes and plays an important role in the exploration of the universe. Arizona Daily Star News Story : : : : : : April 22, 2008
GLOBE at Night 2008 Results a Solid Step Toward IYA 2009 | The international star-hunting activity known as GLOBE at Night inspired 6,838 measurements of night-sky brightness by citizen scientists around the world, including 660 digital measurements using handheld sky-quality meters. The third edition of GLOBE at Night was held from February 25-March 8, with assistance from the educational outreach networks of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) to help spread the campaign to amateur astronomers and science centers. The 2008 campaign received measurements from 62 countries, surpassing last year’s total of 60 countries. Just over 4,800 of the measurements came from the United States (with 48 states and the District of Columbia reporting at least one measurement). Observers in Hungary submitted the most measurements (380) from outside the U.S., followed by Romania, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, and Spain, all with over 100 observations; Canada was next largest, with 95 measurements reported. NOAO Press Release 08-05 Press Mentions:
: : : : : : April 10, 2008
Omega Centauri Looks Radiant in Infrared | Millions of clustered stars glisten like an iridescent opal in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Called Omega Centauri, this sparkling orb of stars is like a miniature galaxy. It is the biggest and brightest of the more than 150 similar objects, called globular clusters, that orbit around the outside of our Milky Way galaxy. Stargazers at southern latitudes can spot the stellar gem with the naked eye in the constellation Centaurus. In the new picture of Omega Centauri, the red- and yellow-colored dots represent the stars revealed by Spitzer. These are the more evolved, larger, dustier stars, called red giants. The stars colored blue are less evolved, like our own sun, and were captured by both Spitzer's infrared eyes and in visible light by the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Some of the red spots in the picture are distant galaxies beyond our own. Spitzer Press Release Press Mentions:
: : : : : : April 8, 2008
Spitzer Spots Ancient Cosmic Urban Sprawl | The universe's first "galactic cities" did not sprout up randomly across space. On the contrary, a new statistical analysis of observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope confirms that these ancient galactic metropolises may have developed much like sprawling cities joining together into a larger urban whole. Across the cosmos, galaxies rarely stand alone. Instead, they are grouped into large, densely populated communities containing thousands of galactic residents, called galaxy clusters. "Previously, we only knew of a handful of galaxy clusters that existed when our universe was in its first few billion years. Now, thanks to Spitzer's superb sensitivity, we've identified over a hundred," says Dr. Mark Brodwin, of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, in Tucson, Ariz. Spitzer Image Release : : : : : : March 31, 2008
Nearby star should harbor detectable, Earth-like planets | A rocky planet similar to Earth may be orbiting one of our nearest stellar neighbors and could be detected using existing techniques, according to a new study led by astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The closest stars to our Sun are in the three-star system called Alpha Centauri, a popular destination for interstellar travel in works of science fiction. UCSC graduate student Javiera Guedes used computer simulations of planet formation to show that terrestrial planets are likely to have formed around the star Alpha Centauri B and to be orbiting in the "habitable zone" where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. The researchers then showed that such planets could be observed using a dedicated telescope. Coauthor Debra Fischer of San Francisco State University is leading an observational program to intensively monitor Alpha Centauri using the 1.5-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The researchers hope to detect real planets similar to the ones that emerged in the computer simulations. UCSC Press Release Press Mentions:
: : : : : : March 25, 2008
AURA Selects David Silva as New Director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory | The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) has selected Dr. David Silva as the new director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), based in Tucson, Arizona. Silva brings a wide variety of experience to this appointment as NOAO director, from his current duties as Observatory Scientist for the Thirty Meter Telescope project in Pasadena, CA, to past responsibilities for data management and user support at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Germany. During a prior tenure at NOAO from 1991 to 1996, Silva served as project manager during the commissioning of the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope on Kitt Peak, and as a staff astronomer in the U.S. office of the Gemini Observatory. NOAO Press Release 08-04 Press Mentions:
: : : : : : March 13, 2008
Astronomers Find Organics and Water Where New Planets May Grow | John Carr of the Naval Research Laboratory and Joan Najita of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory developed a new technique to measure and analyze the chemical composition of the gases within protoplanetary disks using the infrared spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. They discovered large amounts of simple organic gases and water vapor in a possible planet-forming region around the infant star AA Tauri, which they report in the March 14 issue of Science magazine. Spitzer Press Release Press Mentions:
: : : : : : March 5, 2008
Dark-Skies Coverage in Arizona Republic | The Arizona Republic daily newspaper in Phoenix has published several editorials and opinion pieces on the value of dark skies to the state’s economy, its public health environment, and its scientific enterprises, including comments and images from NOAO and Kitt Peak. Here’s a few links: : : : : : : February 18, 2008
GLOBE at Night 2008 Builds Wider Networks as Big Step Toward IYA 2009 | The international star-counting activity known as GLOBE at Night returns for its third edition from February 25-March 8, 2008, with assistance from the educational outreach networks of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) to help spread the campaign more widely to amateur astronomers and science centers. NOAO Press Release 08-03 : : : : : : January 16, 2008
AASTA Report Focuses on Economic Impact of Astronomy, Space Sciences and Planetary Sciences Research in Arizona—Recommends Agenda to Remain World Class and Advance Opportunities for Growth | The Arizona Arts, Sciences and Technology Academy (AASTA) announces the publication of a new economic impact report outlining the importance that Astronomy, Space Sciences and Planetary Sciences (APSS) research plays in Arizona. The report was presented to the Commerce and Economic Development Commission at the Arizona Department of Commerce today. Key Findings
Read the full report and related materials at the AASTA site. : : : : : : January 9, 2008
Dark Matter Discovered in Accretion Disks—Suggests Major Revisions to Concepts of Disk Structure and Luminosity | Observations of the interacting binary star using telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that the disks of hot gas that accumulate around a wide variety of astronomical objects—from degenerate stars in energetic binary systems to supermassive black holes at the hearts of active galaxies—are likely to be much larger than previously believed. NOAO Press Release 08-02 Image Credit: P. Marenfeld and NOAO/AURA/NSF Press Mentions:
: : : : : : Astronomy Picture of the Day | Hidden Galaxy IC 342 from Kitt Peak : : : : : : January 8, 2008
Double-Wide Image of Pickering’s Triangle Shows Vast Beauty of the Cygnus Loop | A new wide-field image of Pickering’s Triangle taken with the National Science Foundation’s Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory is being released today in Austin, Texas, at the 211th meeting of the American Astronomical Society. NOAO Press Release 08-01 Image Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF Press Mentions:
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Douglas Isbell |
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NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. |
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