This week in pictures: September 29–October 5, 2012
In the past seven days, astronomers discovered two stellar-mass black holes in globular cluster M22, researchers spied a surprisingly cold region high in the Venus' atmosphere, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope narrowed down the rate of the universe's expansion,
and
more.
Published: Friday, October 5, 2012
Mars Curiosity rover prepares to study martian soil
Mineral analysis can reveal past environmental conditions while chemical analysis can check for ingredients necessary for life.
Learn more »Astronomers discover star racing around black hole at center of our galaxy
The finding could help scientists prove Albert Einstein’s theory of how black holes warp space and time.
Learn more »Illustration by NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA's infrared observatory measures expansion of universe
The Spitzer Space Telescope data brings down the uncertainty of the expansion rate to just 3 percent.
Learn more »Comet crystals found in a nearby planetary system
For the first time, researchers have determined the composition of the dust in the cold outskirts of the Beta Pictoris system.
Learn more »ASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
Mars rover Opportunity working at Matijevic Hill
Opportunity has begun investigating the site’s concentration of small
spherical objects reminiscent of, but different from, the iron-rich
spheres nicknamed “blueberries” at the rover’s landing site.
Learn more »Illustration by Benjamin de Bivort; Strader, et al.; NRAO/AUI/NSF
Surprising black-hole discovery changes picture of globular star clusters
The scientists didn’t find the intermediate-mass black hole they were
looking for, but instead found something very surprising — two smaller
black holes in the cluster.
Learn more »Illustration by Kavli IPMU/Aya Tsuboi
The first evidence that a yellow supergiant became a supernova
The nature and diversity of the progenitor star or progenitor system of
core-collapse supernovae is an important and open question in the field
of astrophysics.
Learn more »ESA/MPS, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
A curious cold layer in the atmosphere of Venus
The region high in the planet’s atmosphere is frostier than any part of Earth’s, despite Venus being much closer to the Sun.
Learn more »Illustration by NASA/CXC/M. Weiss, Nahks Tr'Ehnl, Nurten Filiz Ak
Quasar gas clouds gone with the wind
Scientists know that many quasars have structures of fast-moving gas
caught up in quasar winds, and now they know that those structures can
regularly disappear from view.
Learn more »ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Where is Deimos?
In order to improve the orbital models for the martian moon, researchers
have developed a new technique that compares images taken by Mars
Express.
Learn more »