Saturday, December 4, 2010

Volcanoes outside the Solar System

Volcanoes are prevalent inside the Solar System - and not just on Earth. Venus has them, so do some of the moons of Jupiter, and Mars had them. But can we detect volcanoes outside our Solar System? According to this study, it is possible. Wow.

Friday, December 3, 2010

The Everbrightening Supernova Remnant

Did you think that the light from explosions decreases with time? That makes sense, right? Think again. Recent optical (Hubble), radio, and X-ray images of SN1987a have found that is getting brighter with time. The reason why is that, as the material ejected in this explosion expands, it sweeps up more and more of the surrounding material, heating them up such that they emit light in these wavelengths. In fact, very recently the ejecta collided with dense gas released by the star about 20-30 years before it exploded, causing it to light up. Go here to read more. Enjoy!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Solar Flares and You

Solar flares are pretty much known to cause aurorae, power outages, satellite problems, etc. But they can change how elements decay? Really? Apparently so. Go here to read more. So weird....

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Age of the Solar System

Maybe a little bit higher than previously thought. Go here to read about the latest measurement.