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Diamond Dust Shimmering around Distant Stars
Nanoscale gemstones source of mysterious cosmic microwave light Some of the tiniest diamonds in the universe – bits of crystalline carbon hundreds of thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand – have been detected swirling around three infant star systems in the Milky Way. These microscopic gemstones are neither rare nor precious; they…
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New Technology Offers to Broaden Vision for Radio Astronomy
Innovation Advances ‘Phased Array Feed’ Imaging System
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Astronomers solve cosmic “whodunit” with interstellar forensics
Summary: By comparing new Hubble observations with data from the Green Bank Telescope, astronomers have discovered the origin of a huge cloud of gas bridging the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud, two dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. In a cosmic version of tug-of-war, the Large Magellanic Cloud is using its…
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Pulsar Watchers Close In On Galaxy Merger History
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The Green Bank Telescope Discovering Interstellar Organic Molecules
Summary: Astronomers using the Green Bank Telescope have made the first definitive interstellar detection of benzonitrile, an intriguing organic molecule that helps to chemically link simple carbon-based molecules and truly massive ones known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This discovery is a vital clue in a 30-year-old mystery: identifying the source of a faint infrared glow…
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Swarm of Hydrogen Clouds Flying Away from Center of our Galaxy
A team of astronomers has discovered what appears to be a grand exodus of more than 100 hydrogen clouds streaming away from the center of the Milky Way and heading into intergalactic space.
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Astronomers peer into the lair of a mysterious source of cosmic radio bursts
Artist concept of fast radio burst. Image Credit: Design: Danielle Futselaar; photo usage: shutterstock.com Green Bank, January 10, 2018 – Using two of the world’s largest radio telescopes, an international team of astronomers have gained new insight into the extreme home of a mysterious source of cosmic radio bursts. The discovery suggests that the source…
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Pulsar Jackpot Reveals Globular Cluster’s Inner Structure
The Milky Way is chock-full of star clusters. Some contain just a few tens-to-hundreds of young stars. Others, known as globular clusters, are among the oldest objects in the Universe and contain up to a million ancient stars. Some globular clusters are thought to be fragments of our galaxy, chiseled off when the Milky Way…