Spitzer infra-red space telescope discoveries

[Rick]

First galaxies arrived early, and overweight

Galaxies might have started to form far earlier than scientists had previously thought, according to new results from teams working on the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/06/early_galaxies/

[Rick]

The Spitzer telescope has detected what looks to be an asteroid belt around a star some 41 light-years from Earth.

US astronomers say that if confirmed it would be the first such band of rocky material found around a star of similar age and size to our own Sun.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4465329.stm

[Rick]

Stunning new infrared pictures of star forming regions in the Casseopeia constellation have been sent back by the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The images reveal stars forming inside towering pillars of dust - more than ten times larger than the famous "Pillars of Creation" pictures Hubble took of the Eagle Nebula. The largest of the towers houses several embryonic stars than have never been seen before.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/10/spitzer_snaps_stars/

[Mike]

Also ...... http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2005-23/release.shtml

[Rick]

The dual suns that rise and set over Luke Skywalker's homeworld in the film Star Wars may be more than just fantasy, according to data from Nasa.

In a classic scene from the 1977 movie, the hero gazes into the distance as two yellow suns set on the horizon.

Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope has found that planetary systems are as common around double stars as they are around single stars, like our own Sun.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6506081.stm

[Rick]

Gorgeous new pictures from the Spitzer space telescope show newborn stars "hatching" from the head of the Orion constellation.

NASA says it is likely that the wave of star formation we are witnessing here was triggered by a shockwave from a star that exploded more than three million years ago.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/18/stars_pretty_picture/

[Rick]

What do you get if you take four galaxies and set them on a collision course? The biggest cosmic pile-up we earthlings have ever seen. Come back in a few million years and they will have formed a giant galaxy, roughly ten times the size of our puny Milky Way

The star-wreck was spotted by astronomers using NASA's Spitzer space telescope and the WIYN telescope. (WIYN, a ground based imaging scope capable of capturing extremely high resolution images, is jointly run by the universities of Wisconsin, Indiana, Yale and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.)

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/07/galactic_smash_up/

[mickw]

One of our closest galactic neighbors is M33, also known as the Triangulum Galaxy. It is a member of what's known as the Local Group of galaxies.

A new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals the colorful M33 to be surprisingly large -- bigger than its visible-light appearance would suggest, astronomers said in a recent statement.

With its ability to detect cold, dark dust, Spitzer sees emission from cooler material well beyond the visible range of M33's disk. Exactly how this cold material moved outward from the galaxy is still a mystery, but winds from giant stars or supernovas may be responsible, Spitzer astronomers said.

More:  http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090407-m33-galaxy.html

[mickw]

At least one in every 100 white dwarf stars may be orbited by asteroids and rocky planets, new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggest. The finding could mean that these now dead stars once hosted solar systems similar to our own.

Also, the work could help scientists determine whether other rocky, Earth-like planets are orbiting around other stars.

More:   http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090420-mm-solar-system.html

[Rick]

 A survey of dead stars has found that many are probably surrounded by the rocky remains of asteroids and planets.

The discovery comes from a Spitzer space-telescope study of white dwarfs - the fading embers of burnt-out stars.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8008340.stm

[mickw]

A coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center harbors a hidden black hole surrounded by a storm of star formation.

The galaxy, called NGC 1097, is located 50 million light-years from Earth. It is spiral-shaped like our own Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars.

The "eye" at the center of the galaxy is caused by a monstrous black hole, which can't be seen but is surrounded by a ring of stars and rampant star birth. In a new color-coded infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the area around the invisible black hole is blue and the ring of stars, white.

More:   http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090723-spitzer-galaxy.html

[mickw]

A class of cosmic oddballs exists that doesn't fit in with either stars or planets, instead occupying a murky middle ground.

Known as brown dwarfs, these misfits fall somewhere between planets and stars in terms of their temperature and mass. They are cooler and more lightweight than stars and more massive (and normally warmer) than planets.

This has generated a debate among astronomers: Do brown dwarfs form like planets or like stars?

Scientists now have an additional clue – a baby brown dwarf was discovered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope – that suggests brown dwarfs develop like light-weight stars

More:   http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/091130-mm-baby-brown-dwarf.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spaceheadlines+%28SPACE.com+Headline+Feed%29

[Mike]

A class of cosmic oddballs exists.....

That's most of the OAS Membership isn't it?

[Ian]

cosmic...

Mick, we need that avatar of yours again mate.

[mickw]

Stars at all stages of development, from dusty little tots to young adults, are on display in a new image from Spitzer.
This cosmic community is called the North American nebula. In visible light, the region resembles the North American continent, with the most striking resemblance being the Gulf of Mexico. But in Spitzer's infrared view, the continent disappears. Instead, a swirling landscape of dust and young stars comes into view.

More:   7000