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Hot Topic
Deep Space
Cosmic Evolution
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| The Violent Origin of the Solar System |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
06/21/07 |
| We know that our solar system has at least one planet with life – Earth. Perhaps solar systems that formed in ways similar to our own also will have the potential for life. But how normal was the formation of our solar system? In Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition, Thierry Montmerle suggests our solar system had an unusually violent origin. |
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| Checking Out the Stellar Neighborhood |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
01/15/07 |
| A recent study found 20 new star systems in the sun´s local neighborhood. Most of the new discoveries are red dwarfs, much smaller and dimmer than the sun. Yet scientists are growing more confident that these stars could host habitable planets. |
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| SETI Sets its Sights on M Dwarfs |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
11/17/05 |
| More than half the stars in our galaxy are small, dim M dwarfs. Until recently, scientists believed these stars put out too little light to support life on any planets that orbited them. But at a recent workshop held at the SETI Institute targets in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. |
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| Building Life from Star-Stuff |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
09/05/05 |
| If a planet or moon has only a slight rotational tilt, a tall mountain or crater rim can be forever bathed in sunlight. In 1994, NASA's Clementine mission found candidates for such "peaks of eternal light" on the moon's north and south poles. |
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| Early Black Holes Grew Up Quickly |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
06/28/05 |
| Which came first, galaxies or the supermassive black holes at their centre? Most cosmologists now think the two are inextricably linked, each depending on the other. |
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| The Stuff Stars are Made of |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
06/26/05 |
| Named after Harvard University astronomer Bart Bok, Bok globules may not be the most romantic sounding phrase in astronomy, but they are widely accepted as an important step in the formation of new stars. Now a team of astronomers reports examining ten globules to determine how many of them are stars in the making. |
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| Stopping the Suicide Spiral |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
05/11/05 |
| Young stars in the Orion Nebula have quite a temper, flashing powerful X-rays every few days. Scientists wonder if such X-ray flares could rough up the calm sea of a proto-planetary disk, and thereby rescue burgeoning planets from certain oblivion. Does a temperamental youth ensure the existence of future planets? |
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| Decoding Dusty Disks |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
12/13/04 |
| Looking at sun-like stars known to harbor planets, the Spitzer Space Telescope has found evidence of dusty rings similar to the Kuiper Belt in our own solar system. Beautiful new images from Hubble show how such systems might appear, looking from the outside in. |
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| Worlds in Collision |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
10/19/04 |
| Planet-building is a violent, messy process. Observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope indicate this process may last much longer than previously thought. |
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| Choices in The Quantum Universe |
| Topic: Cosmic Evolution |
08/31/04 |
| Asking questions about the quantum universe is a fool's game: one cannot get a single answer, only a probability. A committee of particle physicists bounced this concept around a table to pose the top nine questions, and a probable path to answering them. |
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