Strange new 'species' of ultra-red galaxy discovered

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) — In the distant reaches of the universe, almost 13 billion light-years from Earth, a strange species of galaxy lay hidden. Cloaked in dust and dimmed by the intervening distance, even the Hubble Space Telescope couldn't spy it. It took the revealing power of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to uncover not one, but four remarkably red galaxies. And while astronomers can describe the members of this new "species," they can't explain what makes them so ruddy."We've had to...

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Three new planets and a mystery object discovered outside our solar system

ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2011) — Three planets -- each orbiting its own giant, dying star -- have been discovered by an international research team led by a Penn State University astronomer.Using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, astronomers observed the planets' parent stars -- called HD 240237, BD +48 738, and HD 96127 -- tens of light years away from our solar system. One of the massive, dying stars has an additional mystery object orbiting it, according to team leader Alex Wolszczan, an Evan Pugh Professor...

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