News on Astronomy in 2015
Very high silicon content surprises Mars researchers
17 December 2015
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
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
The 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
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
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
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 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
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 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
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
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.