The Cosmic Continuation

Today’s the next-to-last full day of the AAS meeting, and the news just keeps rollin’ out! Here are the cosmic stories making the press release headlines today:

• The National Radio Astronomy Observatory released a new radio image of the spiral galaxy M81 and its satellite M82, taken with the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank telescope. The new image shows clouds of hydrogen gas discovered streaming among the members of the M81 galaxy group. Also from NRAO, a new set of radio images of galaxies some 6 to 50 million light-years away. These are expected yield new insights into many aspects of star birth, motions of gas within galaxies, and the relationship of normal to dark matter in and around galaxies.
• While we’re talking about places in New Mexico (well, we weren’t, but VLA is in Socorro, NM), there are two new state-of-the-art telescopes coming on line in New Mexico at the Magdalena Ridge Observatory.
• Speaking of new equipment, the McDonald Observatory is upgrading its telescopes and instruments to help astronomers delve more deeply into studies of the mysteries of “dark energy.”
• Hubble Space Telescope is in the news this week with several releases: first, it found a double Einstein ring (a gravitational lens caused visual artifact). Second, astronomers are using HST to dissect galaxies to probe the effects of dark matter on galaxy actions. Third, researchers studying a newly discovered dust disk around a young star called HD 61005 (called “the Moth”) are learning about new aspects of the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
• The Sloan Digital Survey is beginning a new set of surveys to study the distant universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and giant planets around other stars.
• Spitzer Space Telescope has detected what astronomers are calling “plump” black holes in skinny galaxies. For the skinny on that one (and a cool artist’s concept of what this might look like) go to the Spitzer Space Telescope site.
• Finally, astronomers at NaSA Goddard Space Flight Center are studying a bizarre side effect of black holes: light echoes.

I just got back from an overview of the state of the art in radio astronomy, preceded by a code-writing workshop using GoogleSky. The Google folks are here in force, helping astronomers make use of Google tools on their web pages and in the classroom. Now… I’m headed down to the exhibit hall! I’ll have more thoughts and stories later on.