Two weeks in pictures: November 10–23, 2012
In the past 14 days, NASA's great observatories found a candidate for the most distant galaxy, astronomers measured the universe's deceleration before dark energy took over, the Kepler space telescope completed its prime mission,
and
more.
Published: Friday, November 23, 2012
NASA/ESA/M. Postman and D. Coe (STScI)/CLASH team
Great observatories find candidate for most distant galaxy
The farthest galaxy offers a peek back into a time when the universe was 3 percent of its present age of 13.7 billion years.
Learn more »Inset X-ray: NASA/CXC/IAA-CSIC/M.Guerrero, et al.; Inset optical: NASA/STScI; Wide-field X-ray: ESA/XMM-Newton; Wide-field Optical: NSF/NOAO/KPNO
X-rays from a reborn planetary nebula
In rare cases, a star’s core can undergo a series of events that creates a secondary planetary nebula inside the original one.
Learn more »Illustration by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger
Astronomers directly image massive star's "super-Jupiter"
Kappa Andromedae b teeters on the dividing line that separates the most massive planets from the lowest-mass brown dwarfs.
Learn more »Illustration by ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger
Dwarf planet Makemake lacks atmosphere
Frigid Makemake’s passage in front of a distant star revealed its secrets for the first time.
Learn more »Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect: ESA Planck Collaboration; Optical: STScI Digitized Sky Survey
Planck spots hot gas bridging galaxy cluster pair
The filament provides evidence that the universe’s early weblike
arrangement of gas ultimately led to galaxy and galaxy cluster
formation.
Learn more »Illustration by Z. Rostomian (LBNL)/N. Ross & BOSS Lyman-alpha team (LBNL)/Springel, et al./Virgo Consortium/Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Astronomers measure the universe's deceleration before dark energy took over
First time, researchers can see how dark energy worked at a time before the universe's current acceleration started.
Learn more »Lost in space: Rogue planet spotted?
This planet’s comparative proximity, and the absence of a bright star
close to it, has allowed the team to study its atmosphere in great
detail.
Learn more »Credit: NASA Ames Research Center/W. Stenzel
Kepler completes prime mission, begins extended mission
With the completion of the prime mission, Kepler now has collected
enough data to begin finding Earth-sized planets with a one-year orbit
around stars similar to the Sun.
Learn more »Herschel: Q. Nguyen Luong & F. Motte/HOBYS Key Program consortium/Herschel SPIRE/PACS/ESA consortia; XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM-Newton
Life and death in a star-forming cloud
W44 is the product of a massive star that has reached the end of its
life, and all that remains of the stellar behemoth is the spinning core
of a neutron star and a supernova remnant.
Learn more »CFHT/Coelum (J. C. Cuillandre & G. Anselmi)
A newly identified separate star cluster in front of the Orion Nebula Cluster
Astronomers identified the massive cluster of young stars NGC 1980 to be
a clearly separate entity from the main cluster of the most-studied
star formation region in the galaxy.
Learn more »Graphic by NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS
Rover providing new weather and radiation data about Mars
The knowledge being gained helps scientists interpret evidence about
environmental changes on the Red Planet that might have led to
conditions favorable for life.
Learn more »Illustration by NASA/JPL-Caltech
Comet collisions every six seconds explain 17-year-old stellar mystery
Scientists propose that the mysterious gas surrounding 49 Ceti comes
from a massive disk-shaped region around the star that is similar to the
Sun's Kuiper Belt.
Learn more »