It’s said that HFLS 3 produces around 3,000 new stars each year, which is over 2,000 times as many as the Milky Way galaxy churns out. The galaxy is about 13 billion light years away, and it existed only about 880 million years after the Big Bang occurred, which makes HFLS 3 the most distant known pure starburst galaxy in the entire known universe.

The galaxy is also unusually bright, and it radiates infrared wavelengths that shine with a power that’s equivalent to 30 trillion suns, according to astronomers. This is most likely the reason why HFLS 3 can product so many stars at such a rapid pace, despite it being close to the edge of the cosmos and being filled with dust.

The light from the galaxy takes around 12.8 billion years to reach Earth, so astronomers studying the galaxy now are looking at what the galaxy looked like in its early years, at a time when the universe was only around 1 billion years old. Eventually, the galaxy will slow down and will only form a handful of stars until it acquires more gas from its environment or by merging with another galaxy.

[via Nat Geo]

The majority of galaxies are not spiral-shaped, but those that are, including our own Milky Way, have been a source of mystery. Scientists have long-speculated that the so-called spiral arms of these galaxies could be a somewhat stable existence, or they could be transient in nature. Using computer simulations, the team responsible for the discovery monitored the motions of stellar particles, which showed that the arms are, in fact, fairly long-lived and stable.

According to a University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor named D’Onghia who was part of the team, “Past theory held the arms would go away with the perturbations removed, but we see that [after formation] the arms self-perpetuate, even when the perturbations are removed. It proves that once the arms are generated through these clouds, they can exist on their own through gravity, even in the extreme when the perturbations are no longer there.”

As it turns out, spiral galaxies are not solely produced by the gravitational pull of other nearby galaxies, but instead are initiated by giant molecular clouds. These molecular clouds, in combination with holes formed by gravitational forces, kick off the formation of spiral galaxies. Using these simulations and others, researchers can continue to study the formation of galaxies, perhaps even one day discovering how the Milky Way came to be.

[via Science Recorder]

A quasar, or a quasi-stellar radio source, is a very bright and powerful celestial object. It is at the center of a galaxy and is surrounding a supermassive black hole. The quasar is powered by the accretion disc around the black hole. The scientists have found that two of the quasars in the triplet are much closer to each other than the third. They believe that those two quasars were the first to create the triplet quasar system, and that the third quasar is part of a much larger structure that’s still undergoing formation.

Michele Fumagalli, an astrophysicist at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution in Pasadena, said, “Honing our observational and modeling skills and finding this rare stellar phenomenon will help us understand how cosmic structures assemble in our universe and the basic processes by which massive galaxies form.” The system is difficult to observe, however, due to their distance. It’s difficult for the scientists to distinguish the quasar triplets from the other different astronomical bodies nearby.

The scientists believe that the three quasars are close enough that their halos of dark matter are touching each other. Fumagalli, Farina, and the team of scientists have published their findings in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. They are currently studying the quasars and trying to figure out how rare a triplet formation is. They are also looking around the universe to see if they can find more quasar triplets.

[via LA Times]

The 3rd belt was discovered with a stroke of luck. Scientists on the Van Allen mission asked that the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) be turned on 3 days in advance. Right before it was turned on, an electron acceleration event was taking place causing the radiation belts around Earth to swell. New particles were trapped in the belt, and to the surprise of the scientists, the particles started their own formation and created a 3rd belt.

John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for Science in Washington, stated, “The fantastic new capabilities and advances in technology in the Van Allen Probes have allowed scientists to see in unprecedented detail how the radiation belts are populated with charged particles and will provide insight on what causes them to change, and how these processes affect the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere”

The discovery of the third belt allowed scientists to study the effect of space weather on Earth. The scientists were able to study the 3rd belt for four weeks before an interplanetary shock wave from the sun destroyed it. The two Van Allen probes are helping the scientists discover more mysteries of Earth’s radiation belt in excruciating detail. They want to figure out whether or not the temporary 3rd ring is a common occurrence or if its rare. The Van Allen probes are on a new mission now to “explore aspects of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society.”

[via NASA]

The researchers used both amateur footage as well as traffic cam videos to figure out the meteor’s path. They then used “Monte Carlo” methods to figure out the meteor’s orbiting behavior, and they came to the conclusion that the meteor belongs to an asteroid group known as the Apollo asteroids. The Apollo asteroids normally cross the Earth’s orbit. The scientists also stated, “Its elliptical, low inclination orbit, indicates a solar system origin, most likely from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.”

The meteor itself has been orbiting space for about 4.5 billion years before it met its end in Russia. It weighed nearly 10,000 tons and it is said to be a “chrondite”, which is one of the most common kinds of rocks near the Earth’s orbit. Scientists so far have gathered up hundreds of meteorite fragments thanks to volunteers who have been scouring the Chelyabinsk region. The biggest meteor fragment discovered weighed about 2.2 pounds.

It’s amazing what the scientists have discovered so far. They’ve renamed the Russian meteor to “Chebarkul meteorite”. They’ve also discovered a variety of strange minerals on the meteor. The most notable ones would be olivine, pyroxene, troilite, kamacite, and taenite. The meteorite is also made up of 10% iron. The scientists are still working long hours to analyze the meteorite. We’ll keep you posted if any new information comes up.

[via Popular Science]

The strange, alien slimes are appearing all over the Somerset nature reserve in grass banks that are located away from the water’s edge. The slimey substances are each about 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter and all of them are translucent. The reserve’s team will continue to analyze the blobs for the next few days.

The local folklore says that previous sightings of the mysterious, alien slime dates all the way back to the 14th century, at least based on their records. Back in the 14th century, the strange slime always appeared shortly after a meteor shower. The locals at the time called the slime “star jelly”, “astral jelly”, or “astromyxin”.

For now, everything is still a mystery. Unlike the 14th century, our technology is much more advanced, and an analysis by scientists could give us a clear, and probably logical, answer to what this substance really is. But until we have those answers, it’s all just a guessing game. What are your theories on what this substance could be?

[via IBT]

But unfortunately, to rain on everyone’s parade, Mike Hankey, Operations Manager for the American Meteor Society at Pennsylvania State University, stated that what the Californian’s saw wasn’t a meteor, but rather just a fireball. He says, “Fireballs happen every single night, all around the world,” downplaying everyone’s enthusiasm. Hankey also states that the excitement from the Russian meteor that happened earlier had people more attentive to the things happening in the sky.

While it’s true that fireballs do occur every night, it’s still exciting to see the “shooting star” that we hear about in fantasies and children’s books. And while Hankey downplays the excitement of the Calfornia Fireball and labels it as commonplace, Jonathan Braidman, Hankey’s colleague, says,”This is a very common occurence. What is uncommon is that it’s so close to where people are living.”.

The people in California should be thankful that the fireball they witnessed wasn’t as dangerous as the meteor in Russia. The meteor, which injured 1200 people, also shattered windows from 4,000 buildings. Mikhail Yurevich, governor of Chelyabinsk, says that the damage amounted to the power of 20 atomic bombs, and also caused about $33 million worth of damage. So California, it looks like you dodge a bullet there.

[via International Business Times]

For those who can’t get outside, don’t want to brave the cold, or are stymied by clouds, NASA is showing the launch online via video on Ustream, which you can view here. This is the first of three missions NASA has for 2013 that involve the use of lithium vapor trails, which are being used to observe space events.

The project’s manager with NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program Office, Libby West, had this to say about the mission. “This launch is a technology test flight for two upcoming missions. We will be testing two different methods for creating the lithium vapor to determine which configuration is best for observing various science phenomena in space.”

The vapor trails will not happen at the same time, with the first one going off at an altitude of about 72 miles, and the second going off at an altitude of about 78 miles. NASA has stated that the vapor does not prose any risk to the public. In the event the project has to be postponed, the backup launch dates are January 30 to February 1.

[via NASA]

The inflatable pod is called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, Beam for short, and is constructed from layered material, including a bullet-resistant fabric called Vectran. Because of how it is designed, Beam will not tear if a hole is introduced into it. Likewise, it softens noise by absorbing it, and can be folded up and stuffed in a small area like a piece of clothing.

For its first run, the Beam module will be inflated but empty while researchers observe its various details, such as temperatures and how it holds up to space debris. When completely expanded, the pod’s dimensions measure in at 13-feet long and 10-feet around, for a total capacity of approximately 560 cubic feet. The module is mounted to the ISS via an air lock.

For now, it is rumored that NASA will use Beam in manned missions, and to build a base on the Moon. At some point, the inflatable pod could also be used to create soft spacecraft, which won’t experience a dangerous explosion from air movement if punctured. Likewise, Bigelow himself wants to use the material to create two large modules that will function as the first ever private space station.

[via New York Times]

The Cosmological Principle states that when the universe is observed at a large enough scale, it will look the same regardless of where it is being observed from. This principle is based on an assumption, which is now being challenged by the LQG. Just how large is it? According to the Royal Astronomical Society, it would take a car 4 billion years to travel across it at the speed of light.

According to the modern theory of cosmology, a structure like this should not be discoverable at over 370 Megaparsecs, with LQGs being capable of exceeding 200 Mpc. The large LQG discovery, however, measures in at 500 Mpc, with its longest dimension clocking in at 1,200 Mpc. According to RAS, this is about 1,600 times bigger than the distance between Andromeda and the Milky Way.

Dr. Roger Clowes, who led the team that made the discovery, had this to say. “While it is difficult to fathom the scale of this LQG, we can say quite definitely it is the largest structure ever seen in the entire universe. This is hugely exciting – not least because it runs counter to our current understanding of the scale of the universe.”

[via RAS]

SpaceX is taking this step as a way to demonstrate that its Dragon and Falcon 9 are safe and ready to carry NASA crew members into space. NASA is likewise enthusiastic about the mission, stating that it wants to know when these companies are ready to fly their own crew at their own risk. Unlike its historic unmanned mission to the ISS, this flight will not dock at the station. Likewise, it is being reported that the vessel will stay in space for a minimum of three days.

When asked if he would be part of the crew that SpaceX sends into orbit, Reisman offered this statement. “I did not come to SpaceX specifically … with the intent of going back to space. What’s important to me is that I can look myself in the mirror … [and say] that the risk is acceptable for me to fly.”

NASA has been pursuing commercial companies, having had to utilize Russia for sending astronauts into space after the space shuttle was retired. Commercial companies will save the U.S. a substantial amount of money, but aren’t quite at the point they need to be yet. By sending a crew into space, SpaceX will demonstrate its abilities while taking a big step towards ushering in a new future of space exploration.

[via Orlando Sentinel]

A new analysis of the data shows that about 17% of stars have an Earth-sized planet in an orbit closer than Mercury — that’s about one in every six star systems. Since the Milky Way has about 100 billion stars, that means there are at least 17 billion Earth-sized orbs out there floating around. However, not all of them are necessarily Earth-like.

It’s important to note that this number only includes those planets which are in close proximity to their respective stars which is a distance that places them outside the solar system’s habitable zone, or orbits that are about 85 days or less. Right now, it’s very difficult to detect small planets further out because of the limitation of current telescopic technologies.

During the investigation, the astronomers surveyed about 2,400 candidate planets spotted by the Kepler satellite over the first 16 months of its operation. Fressin’s figures took into account an obvious effect: the only planets that can be detected are the ones that pass along the same plane as the Earth, which required the astronomers to do some guessing.

A challenge for the astronomers will be to detect Earth-sized and Earth-like planets that sit farther out in space. However, because they orbit less frequently, they are less susceptible to detection by astronomers and scientists. However, it’s a problem that will likely be solved by due diligence and large amounts of patience.

Perhaps easier to remember, the rock is being referred to as Black Beauty, and was given to the University of New Mexico after being acquired in Morocco. It’s not the first rock from Mars to be found in the Sahara desert, and certainly isn’t the oldest, with that title going to a rock estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. Of the 65 or so rocks that have been found in the Sahara, most of them are younger than 600 million years.

A team at the University of New Mexico studied Black Beauty over the course of a year, during which they confirmed its Martian origins via its chemical makeup, and that it formed via a volcanic eruption. Likewise, it released a very small yet significant 6,000 parts per million of water when heated, which trumps the amount from other Martian rocks. The rock itself was relatively uncontaminated, it is being reported, and wasn’t terribly altered by Earth’s weather.

The study’s head at the University of New Mexico Carl Agee offered this statement. “Here we have a piece of Mars that I can hold in my hands. That’s really exciting … Having this sample from 2 billion years ago may give us a little bit of a glimpse of what the surface conditions were like [during the transition period when Mars went from warm and wet to cold and dry].”

[via Associated Press]

The Quad showers have been observed since the early 1800s, and are relatively short lived compared to some meteor showers, starting at about midnight tonight. The shower’s peak takes place from approximately 5AM to 6AM PST. Because that places the shower’s best performance after dawn in the eastern time zone, those beyond the west will have trouble getting a satisfactory viewing of the event.

What makes the Quads shower special? Unlike most meteor showers, the Quadrantids originate from an asteroid dubbed 2003 EH1 instead of a comet. Viewing the shower outside of the peak hours isn’t recommended; unlike some other meteor showers, there won’t be much to see outside of the strongest time of the shower. On average, viewers can expect about 120 stars per hour.

Although the Quads is a major meteor shower, it is also one of the most least viewed, usually having to do with a combination of holiday distractions and an ample amount of cold weather, not to mention the low visibility on the eastern half of the US. Still, if you want to set your alarm clock, those in the mid-to-southwest will have the best weather for viewing the event. Parts of the western north will be cloudy, in addition to cold weather that makes standing outside less than enjoyable.

[via USA Today]

The scientists involved in the project harvested the bacteria from between 40 to 65-feet in the Siberian permafrost. This location was chosen because of its harsh conditions; according to the study, the microbes were harvested from permafrost that had an average temperature of 19 degrees Fahrenheit. Once harvested, they were grown into larger cultures in a lab for the experiment.

Once the larger culture was grown, the scientists exposed them to Mars-like conditions, such as very low-oxygen environment and extremely cold temperatures. The project took place over the course of a month, and out of 10,000 isolates subjected to the Martian conditions, all but six of them died. The six that remained, in an unexpected plot twist, thrived under the conditions.

The surviving Carnobacterium are, alas, not limited to the deep Siberian permafrost, and are instead found across the world, and on common items, such as ready to eat meal packaging. This information turns previously held beliefs upside down, and demonstrates the need for extra diligence in ensuring that humans do not contaminate Mars with Earth microbes.

[via io9]

Thus far, exoplanets that have been discovered, while sharing characteristics with Earth, all possess factors that make them uninhabitable. 51 Pegasi b, for example, is close to its star, and as such, is extremely hot, rendering its landscape a scorched wasteland. Thus far, a legitimate Earth twin planet remains the subject of science fiction.

Multiple scientists and researchers believe that 2013 is the year when the first habitable planet similar in landscape and size to Earth will be found. The University of California, Berkeley’s Geoff Marcy stated: “The first planet with a measured size, orbit and incident stellar flux that is suitable for life is likely to be announced in 2013.”

The Earth twin will likely be discovered by High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, more commonly called HARPS, the same technology that uncovered the exoplanet 51 Pegasi b. Says the University of Hertfordshire’s Mikko Tuomi, “Estimating carefully, there are 200 billion stars that host at least 50 billion planets, if not more. Assuming that 1:10,000 are similar to the Earth would give us 5,000,000 such planets.”

[via Space]

Assuming the viewing conditions are good, star gazers can expect to see between 80 and 120 meteors per hour, with more shooting stars visible the farther away you are from lights. Ben Burress, a California-based astronomer, recommends that those who want to view the meteor shower get as far away from city lights as possible.

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s Planetarium Manager Jim Todd offered this statement. “This shower was first noticed in 1862, and its intensity has been increasing over the past hundred years. Around the year 1900, the peak averaged 15 to 20 meteors per hour, but it is now grown to well over a hundred per hour.”

Researchers think the increase in Geminid meteor shower intensity is due to Earth passing further into an ancient stream of space debris that resulted from a massive space object similar to an asteroid called the Phaethon 3200. Presently, astronomers are uncertain about the Phaeton 3200 is – it could be a comet grasping to its last life threads, or it could be an asteroid. It does not produce a tail, but parts of it do break loose and provide us with the spectacular celestial event known as the Geminid shower.

[via National Geographic]

Senior scientist at John Hopkin’s Applied Physics Laboratory David Lawrence, who is part of the Messenger mission, said, “In these planetary bodies, there are hidden places, as it were, that can have interesting things going on.” He’s referring to the deep craters located near Mercury’s poles, which, due to their position, do not get sunlight. In the absence of sunlight, temperatures plummet, reaching lows as cold as -370F degrees.

While the temperatures reach exceedingly cold temperatures and scientists have speculated that the craters contain ice, it was possible that they were lined with some type of reflective substance, such as sulfur. To verify that it was indeed ice, Messenger scientists used the same method that was used to find ice on Mars and the Moon. Researchers counted neutrons originating from the planet, which decreased as Messenger moved over the icy spots, indicating the presence of frozen water.

The findings were published today in the journal Science‘s website in three different batches. The icy areas have been proposed as possible landing regions for robots in the here and now, and possibly a source of water for future colonies placed in locations on Mercury where the temperatures aren’t so extreme. Said geology professor at UCLA David Paige, “People joke about it, but it’s not so crazy, really.”

[via NY Times]

Because of the way a penumbral eclipse manifests, viewers will not see a defined shape, instead being presented with a shadow that grows dimmer as the planets move. This makes it a bit harder to observe; you’ll have the best chance of seeing it when the eclipse is at its peak, assuming no clouds or fog get in the way.

Both the beginning and the end of a penumbral eclipse are not visible, with the visible eye being able to detect it once the moon is about two-thirds into the Earth’s penumbra. This falls between the PST hours of 6am and 7am. This is the last lunar eclipse of 2012; it has a magnitude of 0.9155, according to Wunderground.com.

If you’re in the mood for a bit of science, NASA has a list of all lunar eclipses in the Saros 145 cycle up on its website, which you can view via the link below. Each Saros cycle is a little over 18 years long, with tomorrow’s eclipse being part of the Saros Series 145. Says NASA: “Lunar eclipses of Saros 145…began with a penumbral eclipse near the southern edge of the penumbra on 1832 Aug 11. The series will end with a penumbral eclipse near the northern edge of the penumbra on 3094 Sep 16.”

[via NASA]

The competition was sponsored by the United Nations’ Space Generation Advisory Council. Paek presented his strategy at the International Astronautical Congress in Italy, where he detailed how firing a mass quantity of paintballs into an asteroid could prevent what would otherwise be an unfortunate collision with our fragile planet. It’s as simple sounding as it is seemingly ingenious; the light-colored paintballs, upon impact, would cause a slight diversion in the asteroid’s course. At this point, the chunk of space rock would then be coated in a reflective substance. The sunlight bouncing off the reflective surface would increase solar radiation pressure and further alter the asteroid’s course, redirecting it out of the danger zone.

This method was detailed in a video using the 900-foot-wide asteroid Apophis as the virtual test subject due to its potential impact with earth in the future. Just how many paintballs would it take to potentially knock the massive asteroid off course? Five tons’ worth. And sadly, while it’s fun to imagine the asteroid careening off-course immediately after a blast of pellets, it would take about two decades for the solar radiation pressure to shove the rock out of its dangerous trajectory. You can check out a video of this in action here.

According to Paek, additional things could be launched into space in addition to the paint pellets, such as pellets with aerosols that would “impart air drag on the incoming asteroid to slow it down. Or, you could just paint the asteroid so you can track it more easily with telescopes on Earth. So there are other uses for this method.” Last year’s winning strategy revolved around the idea of diverting an asteroid via a blast of solid pellets.

[via Space]

Roberto Saito, the lead author of the study, had this to say: “By observing in detail the myriads of stars surrounding the centre of the Milky Way we can learn a lot more about the formation and evolution of not only our galaxy, but also spiral galaxies in general.” Spiral galaxies feature their oldest stars in the center, something astronomers call the galaxy’s bulge. Seeing the Milky Way’s bulge is difficult because of copious amounts of dust.

According to the study’s co-author Dante Minniti, astronomers have to observe infrared light when dust is an issue. To get this image of our galaxy’s middle, the team used VISTA, which stands for Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy. The team used data from VISTA Variable in the Via Lactea program to assemble the mega image.

This is the first time the Milky Way’s bulge has been cataloged like this, containing ten times the number of stars of previous efforts. Said Minniti: Each star occupies a particular spot in this diagram at any moment during its lifetime. Where it falls depends on how bright it is and how hot it is. Since the new data gives us a snapshot of all the stars in one go, we can now make a census of all the stars in this part of the Milky Way.”

[via ESO]

The scientists on the team discovered that a star dubbed KOI-500 has five different planets orbiting around it within a fraction of the distance between Mercury and our sun. The discovery was made by a planetary scientist from the University of Florida at Gainesville named Darin Ragozzine. The planetary system is approximately 1100 light years from the Earth in the direction of the constellation Lyre.

Each of the five planets are slightly larger than the Earth. Interestingly, although the planets are slightly larger than the Earth, they each orbit their parent star at a distance less than the distance between Mercury and the sun. The scientists say that the planet’s orbits are 150 times smaller than that of the Earth.

The planets orbit their parent star so closely, and at such a high speed that a year is only a matter of days here on Earth. Despite orbiting so close to the star, the planets have an orbital resonance that prevents them from colliding together or collapsing into the star. According to Ragozzine, when the planets are ranked based on how long it takes the planets to orbit the parent star, going from the innermost to the outermost, it takes the planets one, 3.1, 4.6, 7.1, and 9.5 Earth days each for a single orbit.

The scientists say that the system has a unique planetary relationship with the four outer planets existing in a type of orbital resonance that returns the planets to a set formation every 191 days. This orbital resonance keeps the planets from being knocked from orbit by each other’s gravitational fields and cast out further into the solar system or into the star. The scientists also say that four planets is the largest number ever discovered existing in resonance with each other. The KOI-500 star system is believed to be quite young, perhaps only 1 billion years old. The star itself has a similar mass as our sun with a diameter only three-quarters of our sun.

[via Wired]

The gas giant orbits a binary star system, and that binary star system has a second stellar pair of stars orbiting around them. That means the planet has four suns. The planet and its unique star system were discovered by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website and confirmed by a team of astronomers from the UK and the US. The planet and its four different stars were also observed using the Keck Observatory.

The planet is slightly less than 5000 light years away from the Earth and has been named PH1. The PH1 name is a hat tip to the Planethunters website. Astronomers say that binary stars aren’t uncommon in themselves. However, there are only a handful of known exoplanets orbiting binary pairs. To make this particular star system even rarer, none of the other known exoplanets have another pair of stars orbiting them.

Despite the fact that the gas giant has gravity from four different starts pulling on it, it remains a stable orbit. The volunteer astronomers who discovered the planet using Planethunters.org are Kian Jek of San Francisco and Robert Gagliano from Cottonwood, Arizona. The pair spotted changes in light caused by the planet passing in front of the parent stars. Once the volunteers discovered the dip in light using the website, the professional astronomers confirm the discovery using the Keck telescopes in Hawaii.

[via BBC]

The massive impact on the surface of Jupiter created a fireball on the planet’s surface so large and bright that Hall was able to see the flash using his telescope on Earth. Hall wasn’t the only amateur astronomer to make note of the giant flash. Another amateur astronomer named Dan Peterson from Racine, Wisconsin first reported the impact.

Peterson was also observing Jupiter using a telescope during the impact. Peterson described the flash, “It was a bright flash that lasted only 1.5-2 seconds.” Peterson was using a 12-inch Meade LX 200 GPS telescope. The bright flash occurred near the southern edge of Jupiter’s northern equatorial belt of clouds according to space.com.

At this time, it’s unclear if a comet strike or an asteroid caused the bright flash. It’s also unclear if the impact was large enough to leave a mark on Jupiter’s heavy cloud cover as the major impacts by comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 did in 1994 when it impacted the planet. The video you see below was recorded by Hall using a 12-inch LX200GPS telescope with a 3X Televue Barlow and Point Grey Flea 3 camera.

[via space.com]

Volunteers participating in the project have found galaxies that resemble every letter of the alphabet from A to Z. Look at the image above, and you can see these letter shaped galaxies in use spelling out our own cosmic message. The Galaxy Zoo project sought help from regular fans of space exploration to classify galaxies by shape and so far, 250,000 people have participated.

Those 250,000 people have sorted through approximately 1,000,000 images freeing scientists up to study other things. Among the rather odd findings of the participants are galaxies shaped like every letter of the alphabet. Another interesting find is a galaxy that was shaped like a penguin, which sounds like a good candidate for a new Linux logo.

If you want to participate in the project, you can hit up galaxyzoo.org and feast your eyes on over 250,000 brand-new images of galaxies added this week. The most amazing part about those 250,000 new images is that most of them have never been seen by human eyes before.

[via Space.com]

The scientists also point out that the term sugar loosely refers to carbohydrates or organic molecules that are comprised of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. Molecules that the team of scientists discovered are called glycoaldehyde, described as the simplest form of sugar. This substance is found on Earth typically in the form of an odorless white powder.

According to the scientists, this form of sugar isn’t used to sweeten foods here on earth, but it is believed to play an important role in the chemical reaction that forms RNA. RNA is ribonucleic acid and is a crucial component of all living cells. The scientists note that they don’t yet know how glycoaldehyde is produced in space.

Scientific observations suggest that the glycoaldehyde molecules form on ice covered grains of dust within the dense, cold parts of interstellar molecular clouds. This is the first time that sugar has been discovered so close to the sun like star. Prior to this discovery, glycoaldehyde had only been found in two other places in space. One was at the center of the cloud of gas and dust in the heart of the Milky Way and the other location was inside of a massive star-forming region 26,000 light years from Earth. The star glycoaldehyde was discovered around is called IRAS 16293-2422 and the discovery was made using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array radio telescope in Chile.

[via National Geographic]

Key features shared with these newly discovered galaxies, and the Milky Way include the fact that the twin galaxies both have their own satellite galaxies. Astronomers say that those satellite galaxies are very similar to our neighboring large and small Magellanic Clouds. The scientists report that only about 3% of the galaxies in the universe that are similar to the Milky Way also have companion galaxies.

That means that spiral galaxies having companion galaxies similar to the Magellanic Clouds are very rare. According to the scientists, only 14 galaxies similar to the Milky Way have been discovered with only these two being nearly identical to our home galaxy. Scientists involved in the project used data from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey that maps out about 340,000 galaxies local to the Milky Way in the grand scale of the universe to make the discovery.

Interestingly, the researchers say that the Magellanic Clouds won’t be around forever. One researcher says our two cloud galaxy companions will only be around for a few billion years more. On a human scale of time, that might as well be forever.

[via Space.com]

A sunspot is a temporary area of relatively cooled plasma on the surface of the sun. The group of sunspots that appeared on Sunday were massive, with four individual zones larger than the Earth itself and a complete length of over 100,000 kilometers. The same region of the sun is currently experiencing major solar flare activity, and stronger than usual flares are expected to hit the Earth between May 9th and May 11th.

Solar flares are usually harmless to people and animals on the ground, but significant solar activity also comes with a magnetic component. These strong and unexpected magnetic fields can interfere with electronic equipment. The radiation from a coronal mass ejection can affect satellites in orbit, and at extreme levels, become attracted to large electrical centers, knocking out power in high population areas.

[via Spaceweather - photo by Alan Friedman]

According to estimates from the European Space Agency, the amount of dust around the star must come from the equivalent of about 2,000 comets, each a kilometer wide, smashing into each other every day. Another possibility is that larger comets of 10 kilometers wide could have twice daily collisions. Either one is “an extremely large number”, according to Bram Acke of the University of Leuven in Belgium. The ring of comets or “Kuiper belt” around our own solar system is nowhere near as dense, as illustrated in Space.com’s image below.

The Fomalhaut star has been known to science for decades, but it was previously believed that the particles in the cloud surrounding it were fairly large. Recent temperature readings from the Herschel space observatory indicate that the particles are in fact tiny, a few millionths of a meter wide. Normally particles this small would dissipate too far to be visible at such great distances after a while, which leads scientists to believe that the ice and dust is constantly replenished by the impacts of comets circling the star beyond its single planet, in the Kuiper belt.

[via Space.com]