Unique Carbon-Based Molecule Found in Deep Space May Indicate Origins of Life
Astronomers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, and the University of Cologne found an unusual carbon-based molecule called isopropyl cyanide in a gas cloud some 27,000 light years away. Those involved with the discovery say the finding suggests the type of complex molecules needed for life may have […]
Volunteers, Home Computers Help Identify Gamma Ray Pulsars
A network of 40,000 volunteer researchers, along with 200,000 personal computers worldwide, has helped scientists from the Max Planck Institutes for Gravitational Physics and Radio Astronomy – the Albert Einstein Institute (AEI) discover four gamma-ray pulsars. Pulsars are compact and rapidly rotating neutron stars which are the remains of stars that have exploded. The discoveries […]
Hubble Helps Astronomers Solve 40 Year-Old Mystery
Astronomers finally have been able to solve a 40-year mystery thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope. For over four decades astronomers have been trying to find the origin of the Magellanic Stream, a long ribbon of hydrogen gas clouds that stretch almost halfway around our own Milky Way galaxy. The Magellanic Stream is connected to […]