by Elizabeth Lovegrove | Dec 20, 2011 | Daily Paper Summaries
Those watching the sky in August may have heard the news that a new star had appeared: the type Ia supernova PTF11kly (later rechristened SN2011fe) had touched off in M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, a bare 6.4 Mpc away; close enough that for a brief period the supernova was visible to anyone with a good pair of binoculars. As the closest recent type Ia observed, astronomers were able to use it to place the first direct observational constraints on the progenitor of a type Ia supernova.
by Shannon Hall | Dec 19, 2011 | Current Events
On 13 December 2011 CERN announced its results from ATLAS and CMS. Both experiments have made significant process in the search, but not enough to make any conclusive statement on the existence or non-existence of the Higgs boson. A definitive answer will require much more data and is likely by late 2012.
by Kim Phifer | Dec 18, 2011 | Daily Paper Summaries
Nordhaus et al perform simulations to show that normal type II supernovae can produce pulsar kicks which match the observed velocities of neutron stars.
by Astrobites | Dec 16, 2011 | Career Navigation
A new petition encourages astronomy departments to implement family leave policies.
by Susanna Kohler | Dec 16, 2011 | Daily Paper Summaries
Remember that tidal disruption event we talked about earlier this year, where a star got just a little too close to a quiescent black hole? Well, here’s our chance to witness something similar, happening in the center of our very own galaxy!
