New Star Koi-351 Has Something Strangely Familiar Orbiting it

European Astrophysicists have uncovered something unexpected orbiting newly discovered star KOI-351.   This star has 7 planets, which in and of itself in unusual, but even more unexpected was the arrangement of these planets. 

The arrangement of planets around KOI-351 is remarkably similar to our own system with the small rocky planets close in and the gas giants in the outer orbits.

Astrophysicist Juan Cabrera commenting on the importance of the discovery said that it is a big step in the search for a twin to the Solar System (and a step closer) in finding a second Earth. 

Of course the placement of the planets is not completely ideal.  All the planets orbits fit inside of Earth own orbit with the gas giants where Earth's orbit resides in the solar system. 

Check out the Daily Galaxy article here

NASA Mission Finds Earth Candidates in Habitable Zone

NASA Kepler Mission continues to pay dividends. NASA reports that Kepler has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, the region around a star where water could exist on a planet's surface in liquid form. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun. More investigation will be needed to determine if the bodies are indeed planets as well as more data on size and orbit.

Read the complete NASA article HERE

A Black Hole Big Enough to Fit the Solar System

That's right - as hard as it is to imagine the largest black hole ever discovered exsists in the heart of the core of galaxy M87. This monster is so freakishly huge that it could swallow up our solar system with AMPLE room left over. New measurements have it's size at a mind numbing 6.6 billion suns. The scientists who calculated this mass have stated that the black hole's event horizon—the edge from within nothing can escape, not even light—is four times as large as the orbit of Neptune, the outermost planet in our solar system.

Event Horizons, up to this point in history, have been elusive to observe. Obviously with something that doesn't allow light to escape is going to be very difficult indeed to observe directly. However, that may change within 10 years or so, when astronomers hope to succeed in hooking up telescopes from all over the world. Then they may actually detect the silhouette of the black hole's event horizon against the galaxy's background glow.

Science Now article

What is the Difference Between Dark Matter & Dark Energy?

Now there is the 10 thousand dollar question of the day... ain't it. I will admit to being confused by the difference myself. That is what made this article in The Daily Galaxy so very interesting.

As it sits right now, Only 4% of the stuff that makes up the universe is stuff we understand. So what is the other 96%? Well two names keep coming up and what confuses me is the fact that even learnered people use the two labels interchangeably - dark matter and dark energy.

From the article:

• ...astronomers at the University of St Andrews are attempting to “simplify the dark side of the universe”. They say the two most mysterious constituents in the universe are actually the same thing.

Hummm somehow that doesn't seem to clear anything up - but it would seem dark matter and its counterpart dark energy are so closely intertwined that it’s not clear that they’re even two different materials, but instead, two sides so to speak of the same coin.

What really makes the whole argument strange is the 4% we see might in fact be all the matter that there is in the universe. Some scientists say that many of the new findings may instead point to a reinterpretation of the dark component as a modification of the law of gravity rather than particles or energy.

That clear things up for you? No?

Read the complete Daily Galaxy article. It really is indepth and has a wealth of solid information.

Death by Black Hole

I love to listen to Neil DeGrasse Tyson when he speaks about astro-physics. He has an uncanny way of making the the working of the cosmos something even the most jaded person would find interesting and humorous.

Here in this short, Dr. Tyson talks about what it would be like to fall into a black hole. The short is from a much longer talk that takes in many different ways the cosmos is trying to kill us as we speak. Yes, he is that fun to listen to. If you like the short, click on the article title to be directed to the longer piece.



<- via boing boing ->

Dark Energy Is Ripping the Universe Apart

An article in IO9 throws fuel on the 'dark energy' fire. At a recent press conference NASA announced new measurements from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory confirm the existence of "dark energy" that is causing the universe to expand.

Ten years ago, it was discovered that the universe was expanding at an ever increasing rate. To explain this phenomenon astrophysicists proposed the action of a here to fore unknown and undiscovered force they called 'dark energy'. This force was so powerful that not only was it pulling the universe apart but eventually galaxies and eventually every molecule.

Remember Shaun's story 'Curtain Call' well this would be the effect many billions of years in the future when galaxies and eventually stars themselves are so far apart that for all intents there would be nothing to see in the night sky. Sobering thought that.

<- dark energy in IO9 ->