Latest News on Astrophysics and Astronomy

[Maria]

Largest ever yellow hypergiant star spotted

http://www.iflscience.com/space/largest ... ar-spotted

• Scientists and amateur observers have been watching the yellow hypergiant star HR 5171 A for over 60 years. Now, using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer, an international team of researchers have discovered that the yellow hypergiant is even bigger than expected: It’s 1,300 times the diameter of the Sun and about a million times brighter. They thought it was only going to be 400–700 times that of the Sun.

[Maria]

Found: The Fastest-Approaching Object in the Universe

• Most of the universe is rushing away from us. ... Light from distant galaxies travels toward us through this expanding space, which stretches their light to longer, or redder, wavelengths. As a result, the spectra of most galaxies exhibit redshifts.

  Now astronomers have accidentally discovered the greatest blueshift ever seen, in a star cluster that a giant black hole may have catapulted our way.

To read the rest of this article, please visit: http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... R_20140312

[Maria]

Just announced today, March 26, 2014: Two rings have been discovered around one of the smallest planets in our solar system: a large asteroid, Chariklo, located between Saturn and Uranus. Chariklo may even have a moon.

• This episode of the ESOcast presents the recent discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by two dense and narrow rings.

  Telescopes at seven locations in South America, including the 1.54-metre Danish and TRAPPIST telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile were used to make this surprise discovery in the outer Solar System.

Please click the links below for the complete story.

News story: http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann14022/

Accompanying video: http://www.eso.org/public/videos/archiv ... y/esocast/