Emission Impossible?: Is Dark Matter Behind the Hazy Radiation at the Milky Way's Center? Nov 4, 2009
There are only a handful of processes that yield microwaves in the interstellar medium, Finkbeiner explains, and when he subtracted templates for those processes from the WMAP data, something curious remained. "If our model [for microwave production] were correct, we would have random noise left over," Finkbeiner says. (Scientific American)
GALAXY PICTURE: Cosmic Ray Mystery Solved? Nov 3, 2009
"We believe [the] gamma rays are coming from cosmic rays interacting with the interstellar medium," team member Keith Bechtol, of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology in Stanford, California, said today during a press briefing. As expected, the VERITAS team found higher amounts of gamma rays coming from the starburst galaxy M82 (pictured), about 12 million light-years from Earth. (National Geographic)
IBEX maps edge of Solar System Oct 20, 2009
Energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) are produced in the boundary between the heliosphere and the local interstellar medium, and IBEX has measured these traveling at speeds of roughly half a million to two and a half million miles per hour. For around a year, IBEX has been monitoring the global interaction of particles at the interstellar boundary. (Astronomy Now Online)
IBEX discovers that galactic magnetic fields may control the boundaries of our solar system Oct 17, 2009
These ENAs are produced from the solar wind and pick-up ions in the boundary region between the heliosphere and the local interstellar medium. The IBEX mission just completed the first global maps of these protective layers called the heliosphere through a new technique that uses neutral atoms like light to image the interactions between electrically charged and neutral atoms at the distant reaches of our Sun's influence, far beyond the most distant planets. (EurekAlert!)
Cassini Helps Redraw Shape Of Solar System Oct 17, 2009
As the solar wind flows from the sun, it carves out a bubble in the interstellar medium. Models of the boundary region between the heliosphere and interstellar medium have been based on the assumption that the relative flow of the interstellar medium and its collision with the solar wind dominate the interaction ... The INCA images suggest that the solar wind s interaction with the interstellar medium is instead more significantly controlled by particle pressure and magnetic field energy... (Science Daily)
IBEX satellite finds ribbon-like structure at edge of heliosphere Oct 16, 2009
As the solar wind streams out far beyond Pluto, racing a million miles per hour, it reaches the edge of our bubble and collides with the material between the stars, the interstellar medium. A shock wave forms at that intersection point. (EurekAlert!)
Interstellar Wind Probe Finds Ribbon Structure Oct 16, 2009
The new map reveals the region that separates the nearest reaches of our galaxy, called the local interstellar medium, from our heliosphere -- a protective bubble that shields and protects our solar system from most of the dangerous cosmic radiation traveling through space ... Its science objective was to discover the nature of the interactions between the solar wind and the interstellar medium at the edge of our solar system ... The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission science team has... (Science Daily)
Mystery emissions found at solar system's edge Oct 16, 2009
"We're just now getting a handle on the interaction of the surrounding interstellar medium with the heliosphere, and that's providing us with the big picture," said mission co-investigator Eberhard Mbius of the University of New Hampshire. The mission scientists said they were surprised to discover the striking band in IBEX's sky maps, because no models had predicted such a pattern beforehand. (MSNBC -- Technology)
An unfamiliar neighbourhood Sep 30, 2009
The speeding particles suddenly slow down after colliding with particles from the interstellar medium - mostly hydrogen and helium which permeate the space between the stars. This is known as the Termination Shock, experienced only by two man-made spaceships - Voyager 1 and 2. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Refurbished Hubble gets off to a flying start Sep 12, 2009
COS, scanning in ultraviolet light, identified pristine carbon and oxygen gas that has not yet become polluted with the dirty, dusty gas of the interstellar medium that resides between the stars. COS was also able to detect carbon, magnesium and silicon, and is the first instrument that Hubble has ever had that has been able to distinguish between pristine gas and the gas that has begun to be mixed into the interstellar medium. (Astronomy Now Online)
Component Of Mothballs Is Present In Deep-space Clouds Sep 3, 2009
20, 2008) Scientists have succeeded in identifying naphthalene, one of the most complex molecules yet discovered in the interstellar medium. The detection of this molecule suggests that a large number of the. (Science Daily)
Unveiling the true face of Betelgeuse Aug 1, 2009
"We know relatively well how much mass supergiants loose, and how it ends up in the interstellar medium as planetary nebulae," Pierre Kervella of the Paris Observatory tells Astronomy Now. "However, the mechanism of this mass loss is currently poorly understood, i.e. how physically the material escapes the gravitational field of the star.". (Astronomy Now Online)
New portrait of the Omega Nebula Jul 14, 2009
Massive stars play a key role, with their powerful radiation fields, strong stellar winds and dramatic final interaction with the interstellar medium through supernova explosions that dominate the energetics of normal galaxies. The Omega Nebula is one of the youngest and most massive star-forming regions in the Milky Way. (Astronomy Now Online)
Herschel Images Promise Bright Future Jul 13, 2009
Dying stars create spectacular nebulae, enriching the interstellar medium with heavy chemical elements. But how does an initially spherical star produce such a complex nebula. (Science Daily)
Herschel Space Telescope's SPIRE instrument package makes first-light observations Jul 11, 2009
The SPIRE team will study the physical and chemical processes that take place in the interstellar medium to learn more about how stars are formed from molecular clouds, Glenn said. . (EurekAlert!)
Where Tomorrow's Stars Will Be Born (SPACE.com) Jul 7, 2009
The interstellar medium -- the material between the stars -- is composed of gas and grains of cosmic dust, rather like fine sand or soot ... In addition, ATLASGAL has captured images of beautiful filamentary structures and bubbles in the interstellar medium, blown by exploded stars and the winds of bright stars. (Yahoo News)
Dense Knots Of Cold Cosmic Dust -- Potential Birthplaces Of New Stars -- Discovered In Inner Regions Of The Milky Way Jul 2, 2009
The interstellar medium the material between the stars is composed of gas and grains of cosmic dust, rather like fine sand or soot ... In addition, ATLASGAL has captured images of beautiful filamentary structures and bubbles in the interstellar medium, blown by supernovae and the winds of bright stars ... Some striking highlights of the map include the centre of the Milky Way, the nearby massive and dense cloud of molecular gas called Sagittarius B2, and a bubble of expanding gas called RCW120,... (Science Daily)
> read more Jun 26, 2009
When a star explodes, says Vink, the supernova ejecta material goes at a speed much larger than the speed of sound (pressure waves) in the surrounding interstellar medium ... They compared the energy brought into the interstellar medium by the shock wave with the energy currently left over as heat, and found a mismatch. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Strong Freestanding Nanoparticle Films Created Without Fillers Jun 20, 2009
19, 2009) Diamond-like carbon films are helping probe the far boundaries of the solar system as part of a NASA mission to study how the sun's solar wind interacts with the interstellar medium -- the matter. (Oct. (Science Daily)
Rare radio supernova in nearby galaxy is nearest supernova in five years May 28, 2009
On the other hand, supernovas in very active star-forming regions, like the center of M82, should produce copious radio emissions because of the density of gas and dust in the interstellar medium ... The team also looked at the complete data from the VLBA and detected a ring structure indicative of a shock wave plunging through the interstellar medium, bolstering its conclusion that it is a supernova. (EurekAlert!)
Far UV detector built by UC Berkeley is part of new instrument to be installed on Hubble May 8, 2009
Other astronomers, like Welsh, hope to use COS to explore the origin of stellar and planetary systems and the cold interstellar medium. The Space Sciences Laboratory was subcontracted to build the far UV detector in 1998, with research physicist Oswald H.W. Siegmund as lead scientist. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Thieving dwarves cause supernovae Apr 14, 2009
"A significant population of young Type Ia supernovae may have an effect on models of galactic chemical evolution, since they would return large amounts of iron to the interstellar medium much earlier than previously thought," Dr Chen added. "It may also have an impact on cosmology, as they are used as cosmological distance indicators.". (BBC News -- Science)
Two Dying Red Supergiants Make A Supernovae Mar 20, 2009
The nebula is still expanding into the surrounding interstellar medium with velocities of several thousand kilometers per second. In the middle of the nebula there is a neutron star, which is the collapsed central, dead core of the exploded star. (Science Daily)
Galactic Dust Bunnies Contain Carbon After All Mar 17, 2009
"With the help of Spitzer spectra, we can easily determine whether the material returned by the stars to the interstellar medium is oxygen-rich or carbon-rich.". The team of scientists analyzed the light emitted from 40 planetary nebulae blobs of dust and gas surrounding stars -- using Spitzer's infrared spectrograph. (Science Daily)
Diamond-like Films Help In Study Of Solar Winds Feb 20, 2009
19, 2009) Diamond-like carbon films created at Sandia National Laboratories are helping probe the far boundaries of the solar system as part of a NASA mission to study how the sun s solar wind interacts with the interstellar medium the matter that exists between the stars within a galaxy ... (July 8, 2008) The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft have traveled beyond the edges of the bubble in space where the sun's constant outward wind of particles and radiation slams into the interstellar medium that... (Science Daily)
