27
Aug 15

The wings of the butterfly

Source: ESA/Hubble Photo Release heic1518

heic1518aThe Twin Jet Nebula.
image credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

The shimmering colours visible in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image show off the remarkable complexity of the Twin Jet Nebula. The new image highlights the nebula’s shells and its knots of expanding gas in striking detail. Two iridescent lobes of material stretch outwards from a central star system. Within these lobes two huge jets of gas are streaming from the star system at speeds in excess of one million kilometres per hour. (read more)

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19
Aug 15

Sibling Stars

Source: ESO Photo Release eso1534

eso1534aThe rich star cluster IC 4651
Image credits: ESO

Open star clusters like the one seen here are not just perfect subjects for pretty pictures. Most stars form within clusters and these clusters can be used by astronomers as laboratories to study how stars evolve and die. The cluster captured here by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO’s La Silla Observatory is known as IC 4651, and the stars born within it now display a wide variety of characteristics. (read more)

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16
Aug 15

Eratosthenes measurements of September 2015 coming up

Presentation_Img0 Presentation_Img2 Presentation_Img3

logo_afa EratostenesBrasil

As in 2014, the EAAE has associated to the Physics Department José Juan Gambiagi, of Buenos Aires, IAU, the Asociación Física Argentina and the Projeto Eratostenes Brasil to perform a worldwide Eratostenes Experiment using data from schools all around the world.

To allow the simultaneous participation of schools from northern and southern hemispheres that have different school calendars, the experiment shall be reproduced on the autumn equinox that will occur on September 23rd , 2015.

On a window of dates between September 14th and September 25th, 2015 the schools must measure the shadow of the Sun as it passes the local meridian, as explained on the links on the left side of the webpage.

EAAE has performed this Experiment in the past with students all around Europe in 1997 and in 2010, and this year's event marks the beginning of the annual basis of the project in EAAE's strategy. The Physics Department José Juan Gambiagi, of Buenos Aires, that has been performing this experiment in South America in the last years (learn more at http://df.uba.ar/eratostenes) and will be responsible for the database of all measurements.

To make your registration plese visit http://www.eaae-astronomy.org/eratosthenes/ and use the links on the left side for registration in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Registrations will be available until September 1st 2015.

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11
Aug 15

Perseid Meteor Shower

Source: NASA Science News

This week, Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Forecasters say the show could be especially good because the Moon is nearly new when the shower peaks on Aug. 12-13.

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10
Aug 15

Charting the Slow Death of the Universe

Source: ESO Organisation Release eso1533

This composite picture shows how a typical galaxy appears at different wavelengths in the GAMA survey. This huge project has measured the energy output of more than 200 000 galaxies and represents the most comprehensive assessment of the energy output of the nearby Universe. The results confirm that the energy produced in a section of the Universe today is only about half what it was two billion years ago and find that this fading is occurring across all wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared.

                This composite picture shows how a typical galaxy appears at different wavelengths in the GAMA survey.             Image credits: ICRAR/GAMA and ESO

An international team of astronomers studying more than 200 000 galaxies has measured the energy generated within a large portion of space more precisely than ever before. This represents the most comprehensive assessment of the energy output of the nearby Universe. They confirm that the energy produced in a section of the Universe today is only about half what it was two billion years ago and find that this fading is occurring across all wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared. The Universe is slowly dying. (learn more)

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6
Aug 15

The Ghost of a Dying Star

Source: Photo Release eso1532

eso1532aThe planetary nebula ESO 378-1.Image credits: ESO.

This extraordinary bubble, glowing like the ghost of a star in the haunting darkness of space, may appear supernatural and mysterious, but it is a familiar astronomical object: a planetary nebula, the remnants of a dying star. This is the best view of the little-known object ESO 378-1 yet obtained and was captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope in northern Chile. (learn more).

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2
Aug 15

Stormy seas in Sagittarius

Source: ESA/Hubble heic1517

heic1517aNew Hubble view of the Lagoon Nebula.
Image credits: NASA, ESA, J. Trauger (Jet Propulson Laboratory).

Some of the most breathtaking views in the Universe are created by nebulae — hot, glowing clouds of gas. This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the centre of the Lagoon Nebula, an object with a deceptively tranquil name. The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust. (learn more)

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