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  Magnificent Space Images from Global Telescopes                                                   Source:  NASA Cosmic Delight Through Advanced Technology NASA has released a spectacular display of cosmic images from highly advanced telescopes positioned around the world and in space.  This is the universe seen through the prism of the latest technology - gamma rays, radio waves and infrared. The image above is that of the Cartwheel Galaxy.  It shows a small galaxy passing through a "bulls-eye" galaxy stretching more than 150,000 light years.  It was caught on tape by X-ray imaging from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Messier 82                                                       Source:  NASA This is another spectacular image.  The Messier 82 galaxy is pictured in X-rays and optical light using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra.  The galaxy is immense, spanning 20,000 light years.  Its formation is the result of repeated supernova explosions. Dancing

International Scientists Confirm 13.8 Billion Years Old Source:  NASA Universe Source:  ACT Research Major Space Benchmark An international team of astrophysicists has just published new research concluding that the universe is about 13.8 billion years old.  They calculated the universe's age by measuring its oldest light.  In recent years, other scientific measurements have suggested that it could be hundreds of millions of years younger.  The light measured by the international team of scientists is the afterglow from the Big Bang. Cosmic Microwave Background The light is called cosmic microwave background.  The light goes back 380,000 years after the birth of the universe when atoms started to form from proteins and electrons.  The picture (above/bottom) is called by the scientists a "baby photo" of the universe and of its oldest light.  According to Stony Brook University astrophysicists who co-authored the report, the photo helps scientists to bett

Astronomers Find It in Deep Space Source:  ALMA The Wolfe Disk Astronomers have discovered a massive disk galaxy deep in the universe.  It is almost as old as the universe itself at 12.5 billion years old.  The universe is believed to be 13.8 billion years.  It's called the Wolfe Disk and is yet another wonder in space just unveiled by astronomers, who are baffled by its very existence.   The Galaxy That Shouldn't Be What's intriguing is that astronomers say the Wolfe Disk shouldn't exist and shouldn't be where it is in deep space.  Those statements are based on astronomers' current understanding of galaxies.  Their key question is: how did such a well formed rotating disk galaxy  form at a time of chaos in space?  A time when galaxies formed during violent collisions and chaotic mergers.  Created in a Different Way The astronomers believe the Wolfe Disk was created and grew in a very different way.  They theorize that it grew through the steady

Circling Stars Gave It Away to Astronomers Source:  European Space Agency A Black Hole "In Our Neighborhood" European astronomers have found the closest black hole to Earth ever discovered.  It is so close that two stars circling it can be seen with the naked eye.  The black hole is called the HR 6819 triple system.  It was created by the death of a fleeting young star.  Two remaining super hot stars continue to orbit it. Trillions of Miles From Earth It is the closest black hole discovered but it is still 1,000 light years away.  Every light year equals 5.9 trillion miles.  It was discovered by astronomers using the European Space Agency's massively powerful telescope at the European Southern Observatory in northern Chile.  Lead astronomer Thomas Rivinius says the black hole "is in our neighborhood".  He adds there may be 100 million to one billion of these relatively small but hugely dense objects in the Milky Way. Black Holes Where Nothing Escapes

Subatomic Particle 14 Billion Years Old Source:  European Space Agency/Hubble Big Bang Subatomic Particle May Provide Answers on Dark Matter Researchers believe that they have identified a subatomic particle that may have formed the Universe's dark matter right after the Big Bang, nearly 14 billion years ago.  They say this is one of the strongest pieces of evidence of the very existence of dark matter.  Dark matter can be seen in the picture (above) floating like a ring in the galaxy cluster ZwC10024+1652.  The team of astronomers, studying images obtained from the Hubble telescope, believe that dark matter was produced by a collision between two huge space clusters. Dark Matter Scientists have estimated that 27% of the matter in the Universe could be dark matter.  There has been very little substantive understanding of what dark matter is until now.  A team of nuclear physicists think that dark matter could be made from the newly identified particle - the

Bigger Than Big Bang Source:  NASA Huge Explosion in Universe From Light Years Ago Just Detected By Global Team Astronomers using data from the most advanced NASA, European Space Agency, India and Australia telescopes have just discovered the biggest explosion that the universe has ever experienced since the Big Bang.  It happened in a galaxy 390 million light years away from the Earth.  And incredibly it took place in slow motion over hundreds of millions of years.  The science to discover this phenomena is remarkable and the details emerging on events going back into space from such a distance and time are amazing, innovative scientific discoveries. Supermassive Black Hole in the Ophiuchus Galaxy Cluster The global team of astronomers say the explosion they detected released five times more energy than ever detected before.  The explosion came from a supermassive black hold in a galaxy called the Ophiuchus Galaxy Cluster nearly 400 million light years from the Earth.   Th

New Stars Discovered by Astronomers Source:  NASA  Star Discovered May Be Older Than Time A very old star just discovered by astronomers is presenting an intergalactic cosmic riddle.  Astronomers have found a star that they think may be older than the universe.  Best estimates by astronomers is that the universe is 13.8 billion years old.  But they have found a star close to earth that is estimated to be 14.5 billion years old, based on its very low metal content.  The star is HD 140283, nicknamed the Methuselah Star. It's raising a lot of fascinating questions.  Is that beautiful twinkling star older than time and the universe itself? The Methuselah Star The questions come from many including a top physicist at the UK's Royal Astronomical Society Dr. Robert Mathews.  He calls it a riddle of cosmic proportions. How can the universe contain stars older than itself?  This question sparks questions about how accurate calculations are about the age of the universe.