Friday, 25 May, 2012

Five billion years ago small, short-lived galaxies played games of galactic bumper cars with each other, leaving debris in their aftermath. As the Milky Way began to form, it gathered some of the wayward fragments, which are now the ancient stars that roam its stellar halo, a new study by Durham University claims. By running [...]

“We don’t know,” says Ed Churchwell, professor of astronomy. “We know it’s a very large number.” It’s in the hundreds of billions, Churchwell says. In contrast, there are but 4 billion stars in our own galaxy, the Milky Way — and the number will keep growing for some time before we run out of galaxies [...]

A planet newly found in the southern sky is perilously close to its star, orbiting in less than 1 Earth day. Within 10 years, this planet may force a new understanding of star-guts.

Lunar eclipses are fleeting events, but their history goes deep. And what’s what with that reddish hue?