Earl's Astro Site » 2017

Researchers Propose Low-Mass Supernova Triggered Formation of Solar System

By Earl on 29 Nov 2017 No Comments

So what caused the formation of the Solar System? One possibility is the shock from a low mass Supernova explosion.

A research team led by University of Minnesota School of Physics and Astronomy Professor Yong-Zhong Qian uses new models and evidence from meteorites to show that a low-mass supernova triggered the formation of our solar system. The findings are published in the most recent issue of Nature Communications, a leading scientific journal.

Source: www.astrowatch.net/2016/11/researchers-propose-low-mass-supernova.html

The Hooker 100-Inch Telescope turns 100

By Earl on 23 Nov 2017 No Comments

The wonderful Hooker 100″ telescope on Mt Wilson has turned 100!

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Astronomers are celebrating the centennial of the 100-inch (2,540-millimeter) Hooker Telescope at Southern California‘s Mount Wilson Observatory .

The reflector telescope’s first observations occurred in 1917 on the night of Nov. 1 and into the morning of Nov. 2.

At the time it was the world’s most advanced telescope and was used by astronomer Edwin Hubble to prove that the universe is expanding.

The telescope is named for businessman John D. Hooker, who funded the instrument when it was proposed by astronomer George Ellery Hale.

Creating the massive, 100-inch-diameter glass disk for the telescope’s mirror took years before it went into use on Mount Wilson, a peak at an elevation of more than 5,700 feet (1,737 meters) in the San Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena.