Black Holes

Perseus Black Hole

Photograph courtesy NASA/CXC/IoA/A. Fabian et al.

A view of the central region of the Perseus galaxy cluster, one of the most massive objects in the universe, shows the effects that a relatively small but supermassive black hole can have millions of miles beyond its core. Astronomers studying this photo, taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, determined that sound waves emitted by explosive venting around the black hole are heating the surrounding area and inhibiting star growth some 300,000 light-years away. "In relative terms, it is as if a heat source the size of a fingernail affects the behavior of a region the size of Earth," said Andrew Fabian of Cambridge University.

Black Hole Wind

Photograph courtesy NASA/CXC/MIT/UCSB/P. Ogle et al./STScI/A. Capetti et al.

A composite x-ray/optical image of the active NGC 1068 galaxy reveals an enormous plume of hot gas emanating from the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center. Scientists think the shape and speed of the plume, which moves at about 1 million miles an hour (1.6 million kilometers an hour), are caused by the funneling effect of a doughnut-shaped ring of cooler gas and dust that surrounds the black hole.

Unexpected X-Rays

Photograph courtesy NASA/CXC/OCIW/P. Martini et al.

In 2000, astronomers studying the A2104 galaxy cluster (in blue) discovered powerful x-rays emanating from several black holes in regions previously thought too old and devoid of gas to create such radiation. They had expected to find perhaps one such x-ray source in the area, but instead found six. The discovery, made using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, changed many of the assumptions scientists had made about the life cycles of galaxies and black holes.

Intermediate-Mass Black Hole

Photograph courtesy NASA/CXC/U. of Michigan/J. Liu et al./ NOAO/AURA/NSF/T. Boroson

Astronomers think the object shown in this Chandra X-ray Observatory image (in box) may be an elusive intermediate-mass black hole. Located about 32 million light-years from Earth in the Messier 74 galaxy (M74), this object emits periodic bursts of x-rays at a rate that suggests it is much larger than a stellar-mass black hole but significantly smaller than the supermassive black holes found at the centers of galaxies. Few such middling black holes have been discovered, and scientists aren't sure how they form.

X-Ray Jet

Illustration courtesy NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

An artist's rendering, made using data collected by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, shows a quasar galaxy with a jet of high-energy particles extending more than 100,000 light-years from the supermassive black hole at its center. The object, located 12 billion light-years from Earth, is the most distant such jet ever detected. These quasar jets are formed when electrons emitted from a black hole impact with cosmic background radiation left by the big bang, giving astronomers clues about the conditions in the early universe.

Nebulae Photo Gallery

Helix Nebula

Photograph courtesy NASA/ESA/C. R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University)

The familiar eyeball shape of the Helix Nebula shows only two dimensions of this complex celestial body. But new observations suggest it may actually be composed of two gaseous disks nearly perpendicular to each other.

Henize 206 Nebula

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

This false-color infrared image captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Henize 206 Nebula, a massive cloud of gas and dust in which hundreds and possibly thousands of new stars have formed over the last ten million years. The nebula, located just outside the Milky Way in a galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, offers astrophysicists a celestial ringside seat on the death and rebirth of stars.


 

Eskimo Nebula

Photograph courtesy NASA/Andrew Fruchter (STScI)

The Eskimo Nebula got its name because the astronomer who discovered it in 1787 thought it looked like a person's head surrounded by a parka hood. This highly detailed image taken in 2000 by the Hubble Space Telescope, however, reveals a much more complex structure, one which astrophysicists are still trying to explain.

 

Rosette Nebula

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

An infrared image of the Rosette Nebula shows super-hot O stars (blue dots inside spheres) amid a torrent of gas and dust (green and red). This star-forming nebula, which lies 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros, is named for its rosebud-like shape when seen using only optical light.

 

Orion Nebula

Photograph courtesy NASA/C. R. O'Dell (Rice University)

This true-color mosaic captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a small portion of the Orion Nebula. The image provides unprecedented detail of the nebula, revealing elongated objects oriented on the region's brightest stars, rapidly expanding plumes of material around young stars, and protoplanetary disks.

Eagle Nebula Gas Pillars

Photograph courtesy NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)

This dark column of cool molecular hydrogen gas and dust is part of the Eagle Nebula, a star-forming region 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. In this image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, new stars can been seen inside fingerlike protrusions extending from the top of the nebula. Each "fingertip" is slightly larger than our entire solar system.

Cat's Eye Nebula

Photograph courtesy J.P. Harrington and K.J. Borkowski (University of Maryland) and NASA

The Cat's Eye Nebula contains some of the most complex gas formations astronomers have ever seen, including concentric shells, high-speed jets, and unusual shock-induced knots. Some scientists think the nebula's intricate structures suggest it is a double-star system.

Iran Launches Another Satellite

On Friday, Iran launched an observation satellite into Earth orbit -- its third since 2009 -- the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The Navid satellite was launched successfully.... It will be placed into an orbit (at an altitude) between 250 and 370 kilometres," IRNA quoted the head of Iran's Space Organisation, Hamid Fazeli, as saying.

The launch comes as Iran is marking the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic revolution -- and as tensions are heating up over Iran's nuclear program.

NEWS: Iran Space Monkey Launch Attempt Fails

The 50-kilogram (110-pound) satellite is meant to stay in orbit for 18 months, sending back images to Iran as it completes a revolution of Earth every 90 minutes. It was unveiled two years ago and its launch had long been expected.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led the launch ceremony, media said.

"It's the beginning of an immense labor... which holds the promise of friendship for all mankind," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

Iran's defense minister, Ahmad Vahidi, said the Navid satellite would beam its images to several ground stations across the country, according to media.

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"The telemetric and command stations give and receive data and control the satellite," Vahidi said.

Iran's space program deeply unsettles Western nations, which fear it could be used to develop ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads they suspect are being developed in secret.It was the third domestically made satellite Iran has put above the planet using its Safir rockets. The other two observation platforms, launched in February 2009 and July 2011, stayed in orbit for two to three months.

There is increasing speculation that Israel is considering air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities -- an action that could possibly spark a broader conflict drawing in the United States.

ANALYSIS: Iran's Military Hacks U.S. Stealth Drone

Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, says its space ambitions include launching seven other satellites in coming years -- and putting an Iranian astronaut into orbit by 2020.

An attempt to put a monkey into a 20-minute orbital flight mid-2011 ended in failure.

Tags: Fear, Islam, Military, Nuclear Science, Rockets

Space Station Astronaut to Observe Earth Hour

Space station flight engineer Andre Kuipers will be in a unique position to observe Earth Hour, a public awareness project that asks people to turn off their lights for one hour at an appointed day and time.

Kuipers, a European Space Agency astronaut currently serving aboard the orbiting outpost, will share photos and live commentary about Earth Hour from his vantage point 240 miles above the planet.

The goal of the project is to raise awareness of the need for people to be conscious of and to mitigate their impacts on the environment.

Earth Hour, which grew out of a 2007 event in Sydney, Australia, last year had participants from 135 countries. This year the designated hour is 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. -- whatever time zone you're in -- on March 31.

For more information, visit earthhour.org

North Korea Prepares Rocket for Satellite Launch

North Korea is counting down to the 100th anniversary of its founder's birth, with top-level meetings and a controversial rocket launch scheduled in coming days to bolster his grandson's credentials.

The secretive state, in an unprecedented move, on Sunday invited foreign journalists to its rocket launch site to try to persuade the world of its peaceful intentions.

The United States and other nations said the satellite launch will be a pretext for a ballistic missile test, in defiance of United Nations resolutions and a US-North Korean deal.

ANALYSIS: How North Korea Got the Bomb

A South Korean official said the North appeared to be preparing to follow up the launch, which is scheduled for sometime between April 12 and 16, with a third nuclear weapons test.

But Jang Myong-Jin, head of North Korea's Tongchang-ri space center in the far northwest, said it was "really nonsense" to call the upcoming launch a disguised missile test.

"This launch was planned long ago, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of (founding) president Kim Il-Sung. We are not doing it for provocative purposes," he told journalists Sunday.

The rocket, painted white with sky-blue lettering, is 30 meters (99 feet) high with a diameter of 2.5 meters.

Reporters also saw close-up what officials said was the satellite: a 100-kilogram (220 pound) box with five antennae, covered by solar panels to supply it with electricity.

The Kwangmyongsong-3 (Shining Star) satellite will collect data on forests and natural resources in impoverished but nuclear-armed North Korea, officials said.

A successful mission would burnish the credentials of the young and untested Kim Jong-Un as a strong leader.

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In the country's second dynastic succession, Jong-Un took over from his father and longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il, who died last December. He has so far formally taken over just one of his father's posts, head of the 1.2 million-strong military.

The ruling party will Wednesday hold a rare special meeting expected to appoint Jong-Un as party general secretary in place of his late father.

On Friday the legislature will convene. It could appoint Jong-Un chairman of the all-powerful National Defence Commission or bestow some new title.

On Sunday's centenary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung -- who died in 1994 and bequeathed power to his son Kim Jong-Il -- hundreds of thousands are expected to take to the streets of the showpiece capital Pyongyang.

Thousands have been rehearsing for the celebrations or visiting the founding president's birthplace in the village of Mangyongdae just outside the capital.

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"We are very happy to have Comrade Kim Jong-Un as the new supreme leader of our people and country," Mangyongdae visitor Ryu Jin, 48, told AFP.

"We will advance united around Comrade Kim Jong-Un, as we have always done."

The rocket launch has, however, sparked regional alarm including from China, North Korea's diplomatic and economic patron. On Saturday Japan deployed missile batteries in central Tokyo (pictured).

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has given the green light to shoot down the rocket if it threatens Japan's territory and South Korea promises similar action if necessary.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, in a meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on Sunday, said Beijing was "worried" by the rocket launch, according to a foreign ministry statement.

The North says it can destroy the rocket remotely if it veers off course.

It insists the launch will not breach a February deal, under which it agreed a partial nuclear freeze and a missile and nuclear test moratorium in return for 240,000 tonnes of US food aid.

The US has suspended its planned shipments to the North, where severe food shortages have persisted since a 1990s famine. A pro-Pyongyang newspaper last week hinted there could be another nuclear test in response.

The North, believed to have enough plutonium for six to eight bombs, tested atomic weapons in October 2006 and May 2009. Both were held one to three months after missile tests.

Preparations are under way in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri, where the two previous nuclear tests were carried out, a South Korean official in Seoul told AFP Sunday on condition of anonymity.

"Recent satellite images led us to conclude the North has been secretly digging a new underground tunnel in the nuclear test site... besides two others where the previous tests were conducted," said the source.

Tags: Bombs, Military, Nuclear Science, Nuclear Weapons, Rockets

Daredevil Makes Test Jump at 71,581 Feet

The plunge from 71,581 feet was a success. Next up: 120,000 feet.

Daredevil adventurer Felix Baumgartner's plans to plunge 23 miles from the edge of space back to Earth -- a Red Bull-sponsored stunt that would be the world's highest freefall -- and on Thursday, his team announced the completion of a key test flight over Roswell, N.M.

"The height of Felix's test flight was significant, as it was the first time he passed the Armstrong Line of approximately 63,000 feet, where the atmospheric pressure truly tests Felix's custom-made space suit," his team said in a news release.

NEWS: Space Skydiver Suit Revealed

It may not have reached the level of a space plunge, but what a fall it was. Baumgartner is said to have reached about 365 mph and fell for three minutes and 43 seconds before he opened his parachute at 7,890 feet.

Perviously, Baumgartner's highest freefall was from a paltry 30,000 feet.

The launch window for the 120,000 jump starts in July in New Mexico, Baumgartner told FoxNews.com last month. 

With air temperatures of -70 F degrees, his very blood would boil if exposed to the air. So what could compel a man to make such a dangerous attempt?

NEWS: Daredevil to Plunge From Extreme Altitude

"I like the challenge," Baumgartner said. "I have a passion for aviation, and I love working on things that start from scratch," he explained. 

To do it at all required a custom supersonic spacesuit, designed by the David Clark Company, which made the first such pressurized suits to protect World War II fighters during high-speed maneuvers.

In the process of his leap, Baumgartner hopes to become the first parachutist to break the sound barrier, plummeting toward the ground at 760 miles per hour.

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Ancient Egyptians Tracked Eclipsing Binary Star Algol

Turn your telescope to the constellation of Perseus and you might note an unusual star called Algol, dubbed the "Demon Star" or the "Raging One." You wouldn't notice anything much different at first, unless you happened to be looking during a window of a few hours -- every 2.867 days -- when Algol's brightness visibly dims.

This unusual feature was first noticed back in 1667 by an astronomer named Geminiano Montanari, and later confirmed -- with a proposed possible mechanism -- in 1783 by John Goodricke, who precisely measured the period of variability: it dims every 2.867 days.

But a new paper by researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, claims that the ancient Egyptians may have recorded Algol's periodic variability 3000 years ago, based on their statistical analysis of a bit of papyrus known as the Cairo Calendar.

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This isn't the first time people have hypothesized that Algol's variable nature was known prior to its discovery in the 17th century. Certainly it was a familiar object, prominent in mythology and lore. In the second century, Ptolemy referred to Algol as the "Gorgon of Perseus," and associated it with death by decapitation. (In Greek mythology, the hero Perseus slays the snake-headed Gorgon, Medusa, by chopping off her head.)

Other cultures also associated the star with violence and bad fortune. It's no coincidence that H.P. Lovecraft marked the onset of his final battle in the 1919 short story, "Beyond the Wall of Sleep," with the appearance of a nova near Algol.

But the Helsinki researchers go beyond mythology and conjecture and provide a solid statistical analysis, based on historical documentation.

Goodricke proposed that Algol's periodic variability was due to an eclipsing factor: namely, an orbiting dark body occasionally passed in front of the star, dimming its brightness temporarily.

Alternatively, he suggested that Algol itself had a darker side that turned toward the Earth every 2.687 days.

ANALYSIS: New Class of Variable Star Discovered

His hypothesis wouldn't be confirmed until 1881, when Edward Charles Pickering discovered that Algol is actually a binary star system: there were two stars circling together, Algol A and Algol B.

Even more intriguing: it was an "eclipsing binary," i.e., one in which the dimmer star in the system occasionally passes in front of its brighter sibling, dimming the latter according to predictable periods. Goodricke's hypothesis was correct.

Actually, astronomers now know that Algol is atriple-star system, with a third star, Algol C, located a bit further out from the main pair, with a larger orbit.

All of this is necessary background for understanding the conclusions of the Helsinki scientists. The whole point of tracking the heavens so meticulously, for the Egyptians, was to make predictions about the future, dividing the calendar into "lucky" and "unlucky" days. The Cairo Calendar, while badly damaged, nonetheless contains a complete list of such days over a full year, circa 1200 B.C.

How did the Egyptians decide how to rate specific days? That's a mystery. But the Finnish team took the raw data and reassembled it into a tie series, then used statistical techniques to determine the cycles within it. There were two significant periodic cycles. One was 29.6 days, very close to current estimates of a lunar month (29.53059 days).

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The second periodic cycle was 2.85 days. Lead author Lauri Jetsu and her colleagues argue that this corresponds to Argol's variable period. It's suspiciously close to the 2.867 period Goodricke measured back in 1783.

Close, yes, but it's not a precise match, which is problematic. The Egyptians weren't known to be sloppy in their astronomical calculations. They should have been able to pinpoint a value much closer to Goodricke's -- unless, say, Algol's period changes over time.

There is some evidence that this might be the case, possibly due to the presence of the third star in the Algol system. Calculating the behavior of a two-body system is one thing; grappling with the dreaded "three-body problem" is quite another, particularly since astronomers are only working with roughly 300 years of data. Algol looks like it's living up to its "Demon Star" moniker.

That's where Jetsu et al's paper might prove to be more than just an intriguing historical oddity. It provides some missing data from 3000 years ago, which could help astronomers further constrain their models for Algol's variable behavior.

Images: (top) Canes Venatici constellation from Urnahographia by Johannes Hevelius. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. (bottom) Figure from paper by L. Jetsu et al.

Tags: Astronomy, History, Stars