Jupiter with four Moons!!!

I have taken this photo with my canon 4 megapixel 4x zoom digcam without using any exposure settings! taken from vangani with 8" telescope. I like it coz thefour moons are clearly visible!!

Baby galaxies sighted at dawn of universe

Astronomers have spotted the most distant galaxies known, from an era when the universe was just 4% its present age. Objects like these could be responsible for lifting the veil on the so-called cosmic 'dark ages', by making the universe transparent to light.
Because it takes light from distant galaxies billions of years to reach us, we see them as they were long ago, when the universe was much younger.

Previously, the most distant galaxy known had been found at a redshift of 7 – corresponding to a time when the universe was about 750 million years old (see First generation of galaxies glimpsed forming).
Now, astronomers led by Daniel Stark of Caltech in Pasadena, California, US, have found several galaxies at a redshift of about 9. A redshift of 9 corresponds to an era just 500 million years after the big bang – 4% the universe's present age of 13.7 billion years.

The team used the Keck II Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, US, to look for distant galaxies. They were able to improve the sensitivity of their search by taking advantage of a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, where the gravity of nearby objects bends and focuses light from more distant objects.
The team searched parts of the sky surrounding nearby galaxy clusters, where this lensing effect is most pronounced. They spotted two objects that appear to be at redshift 9, called Abell 68 c1 and Abell 2219 c1.
Their light appears to be that of excited hydrogen gas, redshifted by the expansion of the universe. But this alone is not enough for a firm identification, because excited oxygen from a closer object would shine at the same wavelength.
The astronomers were able to rule out the nearby object scenario because excited oxygen should also shine at a second wavelength, which these objects do not appear to do.

Since the astronomers only searched a minute fraction of the sky, even if only two of the objects are truly distant galaxies, this would suggest that these tiny galaxies were abundant in the early universe.
Rough calculations suggest that they would be abundant enough to play a significant part in lifting the veil on the cosmic dark ages. For most of the first few hundred million years of the universe's history, the universe was largely opaque to light because hydrogen atoms absorbed it everywhere.
Radiation from unknown sources later ripped electrons from the hydrogen atoms – a process called reionisation – so that it no longer absorbed light, making the universe transparent.

Previously, astronomers suspected that galaxies were rare 500 million years after the big bang, and that reionisation was largely carried out by objects at redshift 6, which corresponds to about 900 million years after the big bang (see Hubble heats debate over ionised universe).
But the detection of these objects suggests that these earlier objects may have a played a bigger role than previously believed

Scientists have reported the first conclusive evidence of water vapour in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet. Before we load up the spaceships to search for life, however, consider the fact that this planet, HD 189733b, is larger than Jupiter, and orbits its parent star in just 2.2 days. That's hot hot water.
The discovery was made using the mighty Spitzer space telescope. The astronomers pointed Spitzer at the parent star, and measured the chemical consistency of its light as the planet passed in front - aka, transited. As the starlight dimmed - blocked by the planet - the chemical constituents of the star changed to show a distinctive pattern. Astronomers know that only water can absorb these specific wavelengths of infrared radiation.

This planet is certainly a "hot Jupiter". It contains 1.15 the mass of Jupiter (and 1.25 the diameter), but it orbits its parent star at a distance of only 4.5 million km. In comparison, our own Mercury is a distant 70 million km from the Sun.
It's close, so it's hot. Its atmospheric temperature is about 1000 Kelvin (more than 700 C). With this heat, all the water vapour in its atmosphere can't condense, rain or form clouds.
It's also tidally locked to its parent star, only showing one face to the star at all times (like the Moon and the Earth). This constant facing probably generates fierce winds that sweep around the planet from the day side to the night side.
Not the best place to find life, but still, an amazing discovery

No Stars found in this Dark Galaxy!!!??!!

An international team of astronomers have conclusive new evidence that a recently discovered "dark galaxy" is, in fact, an object the size of a galaxy, made entirely of dark matter. Although the object, named VIRGOHI21, has been observed since 2000, astronomers have been slowly ruling out every alternative explanation. In a new research paper, entitled 21-cm synthesis observations of VIRGOHI 21 – a possible dark galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, researchers provide updated evidence about this mysterious galaxy. They have now performed a high resolution observations of VIRGOHI21 using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), to better pin down the quantities of neutral hydrogen gas. They also did followup observations with the Hubble Space Telescope, looking for any evidence of stars.Astronomers first suspected there was an invisible galaxy out there when they spied galaxy NGC 4254. This unusual-looking galaxy appears to be one partner in a cosmic collision. All the normal evidence is there: gas is being siphoned away into a tenuous stream, and one of its spiral arms is being stretched out. But the other partner in this collision is nowhere to be seen.The researchers' calculated that an object with 100 billion solar masses must have careened past NGC 4254 within the last 100 million years, creating the gas stream, and tearing at one of its arms. This was the clue that an invisible dark matter galaxy might be lurking nearby. A detailed search turned up a mysterious object called VIRGOHI21, located about 50 million light-years from Earth. Were it a normal galaxy, you would be able to see it in a powerful amateur telescope. But there's nothing there. Even in the Hubble Space Telescope, not a single star is shining from this massive region of space.It was only visible in radio telescopes, which could detect the radio emissions from neutral hydrogen gas located in the cloud. When they first published their research a few years ago, the astronomy community was understandably skeptical, and proposed several alternative theories to explain the mysterious object.For example, there could be additional mass associated with VIRGOHI21, and not just dark matter. The discovery of red giant stars in the region would give some indication that this was a more normal interaction. But Hubble turned up nothing.It's possible that VIRGOHI21 has always been this way, formed from primordial dark matter and neutral hydrogen after the Big Bang. It's been cruising the Universe ever since, disrupting galaxies as it goes.However, there do seem to be ways that galaxies and their dark matter can be separated. Only a few months ago, a ring of dark matter was found surrounding a group of colliding galaxy clusters by the Hubble Space Telescope. Perhaps VIRGOHI21 is the wreckage from one of these cluster collisions; a shred of dark matter hurled out into space.It could be that there are many of these dark galaxies out there. A new sky survey, carried out with the 305-metre (1000-foot) Aricebo radio telescope in Puerto Rico should tease out more of these objects in the future. The survey is called the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey (AGES).

This is one of my favorite pics of moon! I have taken this with my canon digcam 4megapixel 4x zoom. And this photo is special coz Suresh Mohan expert ameteur photographer of Bangalore gave compliments to this photo!!

One of the biggest news stories of the year was an Earth-sized planet orbiting Gliese 581. Even more importantly, this terrestrial planet is orbiting within the star's habitable zone, where any water will likely be in liquid form. But it takes more than just water to encourage life, you need a nice, stable star. And according to a new survey, Gliese 581 fits the bill there too. The survey was done by Canada's MOST telescope, nicknamed the Humble Space Telescope. MOST focused on Gliese 581 for 6 weeks, watching for any flareups, or drops in light. According to University of British Columbia researcher, Jaymie Matthews, the brightness of the star only changed a few tenths of a percent during their observations. That means its radiation output remains very stable over time. So, Gliese 581c has the possibility of liquid water and stable warming from the star. Good news for potential life on this distant planet.

Moon craters!!
Details: Canon digcam 4 megapixel 4x zoom
5' refelctor telescope by A-focal method