Discovery News

Experts see 'youngest' neutron star

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Astronomers have observed the youngest known neutron star - the super-dense core of a stellar explosion - for the first time.

In 1999, they identified the 12.4 mile-wide object as a powerful X-ray source. Now they have identified it as an infant neutron star 11,000 light years from Earth in the middle of the supernova Cassiopeia A.

Having appeared only 330 years ago, it is the youngest object of its kind to have been discovered. All other known neutron stars are much older.

New Giant Saturn Ring Discovered

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Astronomers have discovered an enormous, previously unknown ring around Saturn using images from the Spitzer space telescope.

Composed of ice and dust particles, the giant ring stretches out more than seven million miles from Saturn and has a vertical height 20 times the planet's diameter.

It completely dwarfs the planet's other known rings and unlike their "flat" appearance it is thick and halo-like. One of Saturn's moons, Phoebe, is believed to supply the ice and dust which make up the ring.

Herschel Gives Stunning Galaxy View

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A spectacular, never-before-seen view of the Milky Way galaxy showing the "very turbulent process" of star formation has been obtained by Europe's Herschel Space Observatory.

It was the first time the UK-led Spire camera was used in combination with Pacs - the satellite's other camera - to capture images showing formation of new stars.

Spire's principal investigator Professor Matt Griffin, from Cardiff University, said: "We had high hopes for this kind of observation with Herschel, using the combined power of the two cameras to see the galaxy as never before.

Earth-like planet's mass studied

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The first clear proof that there exist planets similar to Earth formed from solid rocky material outside the Solar System has been found.

By studying a world located 500 light years away with five times the Earth's mass, astronomers have discovered - by calculating its mass and radius - that its density is similar to the Earth's.

This shows that the planet called COROT-7b is solid rather than mostly gaseous like Jupiter.

Saturn's moon may have liquid water

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An ocean could be lying beneath the icy crust of Saturn's moon Enceladus, according to researchers.

Scientists studying water ice jets on Enceladus have discovered ammonia, methanol and some salts which, on Earth, act as anti-freeze and keep water in liquid state at temperatures of up to minus 100C.

They say it is the strongest sign yet that the icy surface of the volcanic moon may be hiding an ocean or large caverns of liquid water beneath.

Scientists solve cosmic blob puzzle

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Astronomers have unravelled the mystery behind the power source of the gigantic glowing reservoirs of hydrogen gas in space known as cosmic blobs.

The discovery marks a significant step in the understanding of the early universe as these blobs are believed to mark the formation of galaxies.