New supernova appears in nearby galaxy

A new supernova suddenly appeared in a nearby galaxy this week, at least 12 million light-years away.

This is the closest star explosion to be spotted from Earth in at least 20 years, and it has captured the attention of stargazers.

Professional astronomers and amateur sky watchers have captured images of the brilliant star explosion, which was discovered by students at the University College London.

You can watch a video of the explosion here.

Astronomers spot Neptune-sized exo-planet

Astronomers have spotted a new exo-planet, the size of Neptune, with the help of a bright star, which is expected to help researchers understand this double star system better.

The double star system in question is about 425 light-years from Earth. Astronomers first spotted the planet by studying the star around which the planet revolves. Named Kepler 410A b, the planet was well-studied due to the brightness of the star. In fact, the star itself can be seen if binoculars are used.

The planet orbits one star of what appears to be a binary star. The orbit itself isn't circular, but is instead slightly eccentric. With a period of around 18 days, the planet is much closer to its star than Earth is to our sun. This means that it's highly unlikely that the planet would be suitable for life due to its high temperature.

Currently, there are about 1,000 known exo-planets. Yet what makes Kepler-410A b unusual is that it can be studied in detailed. It's been observed for four years with the Kepler space telescope.

The findings reveal a little bit more about this star system, and pave the way for future studies. Astronomers currently believe there's another planet in the system, but they haven't yet spotted it.

Click here to read more.

Astronomers find water vapor around planet Ceres

The Herschel space observatory has found water vapor around Ceres, the first definitive discovery of water vapor around an object in the asteroid belt, according to the European Space Agency.

Ceres is the biggest object in the asteroid belt positioned between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Nearly spherical, Ceres belongs to the category of “dwarf planets,” which also includes Pluto among its members.

Ceres is said to be layered, likely with a rocky core and an icy outer mantle. This is significant given that the water-ice content of the asteroid belt has major ramifications. Water in the asteroid belt has been foreshadowed by the observation of comet-like activity around some asteroids, but no definitive detection of water vapor has ever been made.

Now, utilizing Herschel to examine Ceres, astronomers have gathered data that suggest water vapor being discharged from the icy world’s surface. According to lead author Michael Küppers of ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre, this is the first time water has been detected in the asteroid belt. This provides proof that Ceres has an icy surface and an atmosphere, he said.

The astronomers determined the distribution of water sources on the surface by observing differences in the water signal during the dwarf planet’s 9-hour rotation period. Nearly all of the water vapor was observed to be originating from just two locations on the surface.

One possibility is that water vapor is being generated through sublimation, by which ice is warmed and changes directly into gas, pulling the surface dust with it, and consequently revealing fresh ice underneath to keep the process going. The other possibility is that icy volcanoes play a role in Ceres’ activity.

Read more about the findings here.