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Press Releases from 2003

Einstein Makes Extra Dimensions Toe the Line


Has ESA's XMM-Newton Cast Doubt Over Dark Energy?


Astronomers Discover Most Distant Galaxy Showing Key Evidence For Furious Star Formation


Trail of Black Holes and Neutron Stars Points to Ancient Collision


Pulsar Find Boosts Hope for Gravity-Wave Hunters
  • read the press release: December 3, 2003
  • read the Jodrell Bank Observatory press release concerning these findings here
  • view a jpeg image representation of a binary pulsar system orbiting each other (the ripples in the green-mesh represent gravitational waves in the fabric of space-time) and then colliding (resulting in large gravitational waves rocking the fabric of spacetime)
  • read a news article about these findings from Space.com and MSNBC [PDF files]



An Universe Comes Undone, Electrons Cling More Tightly To Protons
  • read the press release: November 24, 2003
  • read a little more about dark energy and quintessence in this Science News article from April 7, 2001
  • read another article (with accompanying related stories) from Nature from July 2003



Galactic Winds Blow Away Idea of 'Island Universe'


Most Distant X-Ray Jet Yet Discovered Provides Clues to Big Bang


Observing a GRB with Sunglasses: Unique 5-Week VLT Study of the Polarization of a Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow


Gamma-Ray Bursts, X-Ray Flashes, Supernovae Not As Different As They Appear


Quest Begins To Unmask Dark Matter, And Perhaps Supersymmetry


ESA's new view of the Milky Way - in gamma rays!
  • read the press release: November 11, 2003
  • learn more about the Integral mission
  • click here for high-resolution JPEG and TIFF images associated with this release
  • What are gamma rays? What are gamma-ray bursts (one of the phenomena INTEGRAL is to study)?
  • click here for a recent Integral image taken in "hard X-ray" light of the central region of the Milky Way Galaxy; included in the image is a "hiccup" in X-ray light coming from the "Sagitarrius A*" (abbreviated Sgr A*) supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy as a result of it gobbling up material that wandered too close



UCB: Dark Matter Forms 'Ghost Universe'
  • read the press release: November 5, 2003
  • visit Dr. Ma's web page for additional information in dark matter, including a movie animation (avi format) of the evolution of dark matter
  • read an April 2003 article in The Economist concerning Dr. Ma's dark matter findings



ESA's Integral Discovers Hidden Black Holes


Expansion of Universe Was Once Sluggish, Now Speeding Up: Astronomers Report Cosmic Growth Spurts


Distant Star Bursts Provide Key to the Origin of Galaxies


First Supernovae Quickly Seeded Universe With Stuff of Life


"Iron-Clad" Evidence for a Spinning Black Hole
  • read the press release: September 17, 2003
  • see illustrated images accompanying this release comparing a non-spinning black hole to a spinning black hole!
  • visit the Chandra X-ray Observatory's black hole questions and answers web page for profound answers to all those baffling black hole questions that have been hovering at the event horizon of human imagination (a very good resource)



Homing In On Dark Energy With Supernova Studies in Space


The 2003 Gamma-Ray Burst Conference: 30 Years of Discovery
read some press releases and news articles about conference presentations:


Chandra "Hears" a Black Hole


Cannonball Pulsar Imaged Flying Through Space at Mach 20


UCLA Astronomers Detect Unexpectedly Violent Conditions in Hot Plasma Being Consumed by Massive Black Hole at Center of Milky Way


Horseshoe Nebula Flows With "X-Ray Champagne"


Data-Taking Begins at MINOS Neutrino Detector, Half a Mile Underground


Biggest Cosmic Explosions May Also Propel Fastest Objects in the Universe


Amateur astronomer locates powerful stellar explosion before the pros


Many gamma-ray bursts go undetected, MIT mathematician estimates


The VLT Measures the Shape of a Type Ia Supernova


World's Largest Robotic Telescope Ready for Action!


Close Encounters of the Stellar Kind


Some findings from the 25th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Sydney, Australia


Giant Gas Cloud Made of Atoms Formed in First Stars Revealed in Universe's Most Distant Quasar


A Pancake, Not a Doughnut, Shapes Distant Galactic Center


Dark Energy's Shadow: Sloan Digital Sky Survey detects physical evidence for dark energy


A Detailed Map of Dark Matter in a Galactic Cluster Reveals How Giant Cosmic Structures Formed


Nearest Cosmic Mirage: Discovery of quadruply lensed quasar wtih Einstein ring


Astronomers Reveal the First Detailed Maps of Galaxy Distribution in the Early Universe


DON'T PANIC - More supernovae on the way!


New Fast Lane Towards Discoveries of Clusters of Galaxies Inaugurated


Link Between Black Holes and Galaxies Discovered In Our Own Backyard


Icebound Antarctic Telescope Delivers First Neutrino Sky Map


Einstein's Gravitational Waves May Set Speed Limit for Pulsar Spin


Firehose-Like Jet Discovered in Action


A First Look at the Doughnut Around a Giant Black Hole


The Secret Lives of Galaxies Unveiled in Deep Survey


Historic Gamma-Ray Burst Discovery


Cosmological Gamma-Ray Bursts and Hypernovae Conclusively Linked: Clearest-Ever Evidence from VLT Spectra of Powerful Event


Rosetta Stone Decodes Gamma-Ray Burst Mystery
  • read the press release: June 18, 2003
  • read the New York Times [PDF file] and view a JPG image showing how a dying star may unleash a gamma-ray burst
  • What are gamma-ray bursts? What is the collapsar model of the gamma-ray burst?Click here to download an overview with glossary [PDF] (This overview was written for a gamma-ray burst on October 4, 2002, another long-duration burst.)
  • visit the HETE mission home page
  • visit the Paranal Observatory home page and click here for a panoramic view of the mountain-top observatory in Chile's desolate Atacama desert



"RAVE" To Reveal Galaxy's History


New Technique Narrows Hunt for Gamma-Ray Blazars


Closest Gamma-Ray Burst Providing Scientists With Crucial Test for Burst Physics
  • read the press release: May 28, 2003
  • read a news article:New York Times, Sky & Telescope, Space.com [PDF files] (Note: these articles also incorporate the May 28-released RHESSI findings)



RHESSI uncovers secret to cataclysmic explosions known as gamma-ray bursts
  • read the press release: May 28, 2003
  • read a news article:Science, New York Times [PDF files] (Note: the New York Times article incorporates the May 28-released VLBA findings listed above)



Some Gamma-Ray Bursts, Once Turned Off, Blast Back Into Action


VLBA Reveals Dust-Enshrouded "Supernova Factory"


Do We Live In A "Stop And Go" Universe?


Chandra Finds Rich Oxygen Supply Inside Glowing Ring


Chandra Adds to Story of the Way We Were
  • read the press release: May 26, 2003
  • read a news article: Space.com [PDF file]
  • read a Jan. 5, 2001 article in Science by the same researcher on planetary formation in the Orion nebula [PDF file]



Major survey suggests finding intermediate-mass black holes will be a challenge


Sloan Digital Sky Survey Study Confirms Dark Matter


Chandra Provides New View of Biggest Construction Sites in Universe


Stephan's Quintet: Intruder Galaxy Shocks Tightly-Knit Group


90 Percent of the Universe Is Missing! The Search for the Missing Mass of the Universe


Press Welcome to Attend Gravitational Wave Meeting, April 24 - 26 at Univ. of Maryland


NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer Looks Back in Time


X-Rays Found From a Lightweight Brown Dwarf
  • read the press release: April 14, 2003
  • read a news article: Astronomy and UPI (scroll down to bottom of page) [PDF files]
  • read a May 2000 Scientific American background article on brown dwarfs [PDF file]
  • visit the Univ. of Calif., Berkeley Astronomy Dept. web site for more information on brown dwarfs



Skinny Galaxy Has Supermassive Black Hole, Just Like Bulging Galaxies
  • read the press release: April 10, 2003
  • see the press release as it appeared in: Spaceflight Now and Science Daily [PDF files]
  • read a June 2000 Space.com background article on the relationship between central black hole mass and galactic bulge luminosity and between central black hole mass and galactic bulge velocity dispersion [PDF file]
  • view a JPEG image showing central black hole mass - galactic bulge mass relationship



The Big Burst -- Gamma-ray Burst GRB 030329


News from the UK/Ireland National Astronomy Meeting, April 2003


New X-ray source catalogue "most comprehensive ever"


Black Holes Really Are Holes, Say Astronomers


Chandra Sees Shape of Universe During Formative, Adolescent Years


Doomed Matter Near Black Hole Gets Second Lease on Life


New Satellite Awash in Gamma-ray Burst Bonanza


Cosmic Forensics Confirms Gamma-Ray Burst and Supernova Connection


New Class of Hot-Tempered Black Holes Bucks Trend


Cool X-Ray Disk Points To New Type Of Black Hole


Weighing a Black Hole at the Edge of the Universe


Race to Gamma-Ray Burst Reveals Gigantic Explosion, Death and Birth


Pulsar Bursts Coming From Beachball-Sized Structures


CXC: Chandra Image Reveals Supernova Origin


Pushing Back the Frontiers to the Era of the First Stars


CfA: Twin Bursts Provide Several Firsts


AAS HEAD: Shramm Prize Awarded To Journalists Ron Cowen and Robert Irion


A Cocoon Found Inside the Black Widow's Web


Australian-Based "CANGAROO" Telescope Finds Halo of Gamma Rays


Short and Long Gamma-Ray Bursts Different to the Core


Missing Mass Exists As Warm Intergalactic Fog


Case for Massive Black Hole at Center of Milky Way Strengthened, Alternatives Excluded, UCLA Astronomer Andrea Ghez Reported at AAAS


Neutron Star Neutrinos Detectable at South Pole


NASA Releases Stunning Image of Our Infant Universe


NASA Names Satellite In Honor of Pioneer Researcher


UC Davis To Host Cosmic Inflation Meeting


High Energy Astrophysics Division's 7th Meeting: First Media Advisory


Astronomers Trace Microquasar's Path Back in Time


Top High-Energy Astronomy Prize Awarded for Ultra-Magnetic Star Discovery


Astronomers Glimpse Feeding of Galactic Dragon


Earth Likely Spared From One Form of Cosmic Doom


Famed Eta Carinae, Awash in X rays, Might Be Two Stars, Not One


Milky Way Monster Stars in Cosmic Reality Show


Physicists Set Lower Age of Universe at 11.2 Billion Years









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