Posts in the Astronomy / Astrophysics Category at NetMassimo Blog, Page 49

Complex organic molecules found in meteorites (artist concept NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith)

DNA building blocks found in meteorites

Massimo Luciani August 9, 2011 1

At NASA Goddard Space Flight Center a new research have been carried out on twelve carbon-rich meteorites finding adenine and guanine, two nucleobases which are DNA components, but also nucleobases analogs such as 2,6-diaminopurine and 6,8-diaminopurine.

The asteroid Vesta (photo NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA)

The best photos of the asteroid Vesta ever taken by the space probe Dawn

Massimo Luciani August 2, 2011 0

A few days after the arrival of the Dawn spacecraft in the vicinity of the asteroid Vesta, NASA released the most detailed images ever taken of this celestial body. The study of Vesta will go on for an year then Dawn will leave for dwarf planet Ceres.

Animated sequence shows neutron star devouring material ejected by its blue supergiant companion (image ESA/AOES Medialab)

A neutron star devouring material ejected from its blue supergiant companion was observed

Massimo Luciani June 29, 2011 0

Observing the Supergiant Fast X-Ray Transients (SFXTs) class binary system IGR J18410-0535 he XMM-Newton space telescope oserved a neutron star devouring material ejected from its blue supergiant companion was observed.

Artist concept of a supermassive black hole forming in the young universe (image NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)

Supermassive black holes were already common when the universe was young

Massimo Luciani June 16, 2011 0

Data from NASA’s space telescopes Chandra and Hubble showed supermassive black holes growing at the center of galaxies so far away that the light we see today dates back to a time when the universe was less than a billion years old.

Luis Alvarez celebrate the Nobel Prize for Physics

Luis Alvarez was born 100 years ago

Massimo Luciani June 13, 2011 5

Physicist Luis Walter Alvarez was born on June 13, 1911 in San Francisco, California. His research concerned radioactive elements but also radars. For his dvelopments theoretical and practical concerning research on particles he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968. During the last years of his life he worked with his son Walter Alvarez on the theory of the extinction of the dinosaurs due to an asteroid strike.