In a star's final days, astronomers hunt 'signal of impending doom'

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) — An otherwise nondescript binary star system in the Whirlpool Galaxy has brought astronomers tantalizingly close to their goal of observing a star just before it goes supernova.The study, submitted in a paper to the Astrophysical Journal, provides the latest result from an Ohio State University galaxy survey underway with the Large Binocular Telescope, located in Arizona.In the first survey of its kind, the researchers have been scanning 25 nearby galaxies for stars...

Read More

NASA in final preparations for Nov. 8 asteroid flyby

ScienceDaily (Oct. 28, 2011) — NASA scientists will be tracking asteroid 2005 YU55 with antennas of the agency's Deep Space Network at Goldstone, Calif., as the space rock safely flies past Earth slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov. 8. Scientists are treating the flyby of the 1,300-foot-wide (400-meter) asteroid as a science target of opportunity -- allowing instruments on "spacecraft Earth" to scan it during the close pass.Tracking of the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid will begin at...

Read More