News on Astronomy in 2015

Very high silicon content surprises Mars researchers

17 December 2015

Very high silicon content surprises Mars researchers New results from the Mars rover Curosity show that some rocks in Gale Crater have a high content of the element silicon. Since the accumulation of silica typically require a combination of both heat and water, this place might once

Astronomy archaeology – finding 120-year-old observations

8 December 2015

Astronomy archaeology – finding 120-year-old observations In the basement under the Niels Bohr Institute building on Juliane Maries Vej in Copenhagen they have found astronomical observations that go more than 120 years back in time. The observations were recorded on thin photographic

Swift satellite detects 1000th gamma-ray burst

6 November 2015

Swift satellite detects 1000th gamma-ray burstThe NASA satellite, Swift, has now detected its 1000th gamma-ray burst. Since the launch of the satellite in 2004, it has revolutionised research into gamma-ray bursts.
 

KU students win gold in the United States for Mars moss project

5 October 2015

KU students win gold in the United States for Mars moss project Can we develop a moss that can survive and grow on Mars? A group of students from the Center for Synthetic Biology and the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen decided to try.

Super-bright supernova with extreme burst of gamma radiation

8 July 2015

Super-bright supernova with extreme burst of gamma radiation Astronomers from NBI have observed a super-bright supernova association with a very unusual long lasting gamma-ray burst. Gamma-ray bursts are in rare cases observed in connection with supernovae, which are the

Mars might have liquid water

13 April 2015

Mars might have liquid water Researchers have long known that there was water in the form of ice on Mars. Now, new research from NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity shows that it is possible that there is liquid water close to the surface of Mars.

Mars has belts of glaciers consisting of frozen water

7 April 2015

Mars has belts of glaciers consisting of frozen water Mars has distinct polar ice caps, but Mars also has belts of glaciers at its central latitudes in both the southern and northern hemispheres. A thick layer of dust covers the glaciers, so they appear as surface of the ground, but radar

Planets in the habitable zone around most stars, calculate researchers

18 March 2015

Planets in the habitable zone around most stars, calculate researchers Astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets in our galaxy, the Milky Way. By analysing these planetary systems, researchers from the Australian National University and the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen have calculated

Astronomers observe four images of the same supernova using a cosmic lens

5 March 2015

Astronomers observe four images of the same supernova using a cosmic lensAstronomers have for the first time observed a supernova multiply-imaged due to gravitational lensing. The light from the supernova is seen in four different images due to a cosmic phenomenon that causes light to be deflected by the

Astronomers find dust in the early universe

2 March 2015

Astronomers find dust in the early universe Dust plays an extremely important role in the universe – both in the formation of planets and new stars. But the earliest galaxies had no dust, only gas. Now an international team of astronomers, led by researchers from the Niels

Snapshot of cosmic burst of radio waves

19 January 2015

Snapshot of cosmic burst of radio waves A strange phenomenon has been observed by astronomers right as it was happening – a ‘fast radio burst’. The eruption is described as an extremely short, sharp flash of radio waves from an unknown source in the universe.