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Home » Topics » Astronomers

Astronomers find most distant, oldest galaxy ever seen

A view from the Hubble Space Telescope of the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0647.7+7015. (AFP)

Astronomers using a complex system of super telescopes have caught a glimpse of what is likely the most distant, and thus oldest, galaxy ever seen — some 13.3 billion light years from Earth. The star cluster was observed in its infancy — as it looked when the Universe was just…

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Astronomers find galaxy born at dawn of the universe

Hubble telescope via AFP

PARIS — Astronomers in Europe and the United States said on Wednesday they had spotted the farthest and oldest galaxy ever found, a star cluster 13.2 billion light years away. Light reaching Earth today from galaxy MACS 1149-JD is truly ancient, they reported in the British journal Nature. The rays…

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Astronomers use an old trick to open new window on extrasolar planets

Artists rendering of tau bootis b

Astronomers use an old trick to open new window on extrasolar planets A method astronomers have used for nearly 20 years to indirectly find planets orbiting other stars has for the first time been used to take the direct measure of an extrasolar planet itself. The approach not only yields…

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‘Unusually large’ asteroid to race by Earth

NASA image of asteroid via AFP

WASHINGTON — A newly discovered asteroid the size of a city block will zoom past Earth but poses no risk of a collision, astronomers said on Thursday. The “unusually large” asteroid will not be visible to the naked eye, but asteroid enthusiasts may watch it pass by during a live…

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NASA: Asteroid to barely miss earth Monday

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Astronomers have just discovered an asteroid that is expected come close enough to Earth Monday that it will be visible with amateur telescopes. The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research centre (LINEAR) spotted Asteroid 2011 MD on June 22. It has an orbit similar to Earth’s. The asteroid will be visible from…

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Astronomers start search for alien signals from 86 planets

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WASHINGTON — A massive radio telescope in rural West Virginia has begun listening for signs of alien life on 86 possible Earth-like planets, US astronomers said Friday. The giant dish began this week pointing toward each of the 86 planets — culled from a list of 1,235 possible planets identified…

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Astronomers discover new planet from another galaxy‎

A hot, gaseous and fast-spinning planet has been found orbiting a dying star on the edge of the Milky Way, in the first such discovery of a planet from outside our galaxy, scientists said Thursday. Slightly larger than the size of Jupiter, the largest in our solar system, the newly…

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Astronomers may have rare chance to spy on newborn black hole

Astronomers may have lucked into the ultimate in cosmic baby pictures: a voracious black hole fresh from its violent birth. After watching a nearby star that exploded into a supernova in 1979, astronomers now believe the star’s death wasn’t an ordinary one. The star’s explosion was big enough to cause…

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