In The News: Department of Physics and Astronomy
In late November, citing potential disruption to aviation radar, mining claims, and natural vistas, the Bureau of Land Management turned down a Swedish company’s offer to build a 200-turbine wind farm outside of Searchlight. Nearby residents and bird advocates hated the plan, too.
It’s known as the final frontier, and there are still so many questions. 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ researchers are hoping to unlock the answer to how planets form and are now one step closer after finding a group of young planets in distant solar systems.
As you wait in line to ship Christmas presents to far-flung family, mulling over questions of whether the FedEx insurance is a good value, and if fake or real Christmas trees are better for the environment, you might find yourself wondering, is any of this worth it? Why am I here? What happens if I die? What is the meaning of life?
Researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas say the 20 nearby protoplanetary disks observed in the study suggest there may be a greater number of large, young planets in our galaxy than previously expected.
Astronomers used the powerful ALMA telescope to discover that in other parts of the Milky Way Galaxy there is potentially a large population of young planets -- similar in mass to Neptune or Jupiter -- at wide-orbit that are not detectable by other current planet searching techniques.
Considering how many people willingly wait in long lines, it’s surprising how much they hate it.
The Kepler telescope has run out of fuel and officially entered retirement. Luckily, there is a replacement on the way to continue our observation of the stars.
Astronomers expect TESS to find thousands more planetary systems.
Rogue planets are the drifters of the galaxy, wandering interstellar space alone. Now it turns out they could have company in the form of moons — and perhaps even sustain life that hitched a ride on them.
A gamma ray burst — the blast when a star collapses — is the most powerful thing in the universe known to humans. The explosion destroys matter.
We all know that the worst part of going on holiday is waiting to get on the plane. Don't deny it.
Astronomers strive to observe the universe via ever more advanced techniques. Whenever researchers invent a new method, unprecedented information is collected and people’s understanding of the cosmos deepens.
