http://newscenter.berkeley.edu News from the University of California, Berkeley Sat, 25 May 2013 00:34:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2013/01/09/scp0401-farthest-yet/ http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2013/01/09/scp0401-farthest-yet/#comments Wed, 09 Jan 2013 19:27:31 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33801 The Supernova Cosmology Project, based at Berkeley Lab and headed by UC Berkeley physicist and Nobel Laureate Saul Perlmutter, has discovered the most distant supernova yet that can be used in cosmological studies. Announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting, it will help answer questions about dark energy and the fate of the universe.]]> http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2013/01/09/scp0401-farthest-yet/feed/ 0 http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/black-holes-objects-of-attraction/ http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/black-holes-objects-of-attraction/#comments Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:10:23 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33075 UC Berkeley astronomer Alex Filippenko joins William Craig and other NuSTAR satellite scientists tonight on the KQED Quest program "Black Holes: Objects of Attraction," airing locally at 7:30 p.m. Filippenko explains the physics of black holes, while Craig and NuSTAR principal investigator Fiona Harrison of Caltech explain how the x-ray satellite will help solve black hole mysteries.]]> http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/black-holes-objects-of-attraction/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2012/08/23/supernovae-of-the-same-brightness/ http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2012/08/23/supernovae-of-the-same-brightness/#comments Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:26:17 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=32748 When UC Berkeley astronomers Alex Filippenko and Joshua Bloom heard about a newly exploded star, they swiveled the Keck Telescope into position to take a picture. This data helped Berkeley Lab's Peter Nugent determine that the "progenitor" star had a companion red giant and had undergone more than one previous nova explosion before it went supernova.]]> http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2012/08/23/supernovae-of-the-same-brightness/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/06/08/x-ray-telescope-to-focus-on-hottest-regions-of-black-holes-supernovas/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/06/08/x-ray-telescope-to-focus-on-hottest-regions-of-black-holes-supernovas/#comments Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:45:48 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=22514 NASA is scheduled to launch an orbiting X-ray satellite on Wednesday, June 13, that will open a new window on the universe, allowing scientists to probe the roiling edges of black holes, exploding stars and the smallest, most frequent flares on the sun. UC Berkeley scientists and engineers helped build the instruments, will operate the satellite, and will analyze the data from supernova explosions.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/06/08/x-ray-telescope-to-focus-on-hottest-regions-of-black-holes-supernovas/feed/ 0 http://alumni.berkeley.edu/news/california-magazine/winter-2011-taste/a-stellar-discovery http://alumni.berkeley.edu/news/california-magazine/winter-2011-taste/a-stellar-discovery#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:09:02 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=22950 It takes more than luck to find a supernova. California magazine offers a behind-the-scenes look at the organized search for these astronomical objects, and the role played by scientists at Berkeley.]]> http://alumni.berkeley.edu/news/california-magazine/winter-2011-taste/a-stellar-discovery/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/15/hubble-images-help-pin-down-identity-of-august-supernova%e2%80%99s-companion-star/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/15/hubble-images-help-pin-down-identity-of-august-supernova%e2%80%99s-companion-star/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:27:33 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=22421 Thanks to images obtained over the past nine years by the Hubble Space Telescope, UC Berkeley astronomers were able to narrow down the identity of the companion star to a supernova first observed in August. It was not a bright red giant or helium star, but probably a more modest star like the sun, a subgiant or even a white dwarf.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/15/hubble-images-help-pin-down-identity-of-august-supernova%e2%80%99s-companion-star/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/13/saul-perlmutter-receives-nobel-prize-in-stockholm/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/13/saul-perlmutter-receives-nobel-prize-in-stockholm/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:49:01 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=22152 Saul Perlmutter, UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab physicist, was feted in Stockholm, Sweden, last week before receiving his Nobel Prize medal on Saturday, Dec. 10, during a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall. Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/13/saul-perlmutter-receives-nobel-prize-in-stockholm/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/perlmutters-excellent-day/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/perlmutters-excellent-day/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:12:36 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=17456 For Berkeley physicist Saul Perlmutter, Tuesday, Oct. 4 began before 3 a.m. with a press call from Sweden, and soon a meaningful moment with his sleepy but excited 8-year-old. Then — quickly and inevitably — came the deluge of phone calls and e-mails, celebratory events and photo ops. And, it goes without saying, a coveted parking pass. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/perlmutters-excellent-day/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/saul-perlmutter-awarded-2011-nobel-prize-in-physics/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/saul-perlmutter-awarded-2011-nobel-prize-in-physics/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:38:59 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=17379 Saul Perlmutter, UC Berkeley professor of physics and LBNL senior scientist, will share the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with two other scientists, including former UC Berkeley postdoc Adam Riess, for their discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. This discovery in 1998 led to the realization that the universe is largely composed of an enigmatic "dark energy."]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/saul-perlmutter-awarded-2011-nobel-prize-in-physics/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/survey-gives-clues-to-origin-of-type-ia-supernovae/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/survey-gives-clues-to-origin-of-type-ia-supernovae/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:48:51 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=17348 One white dwarf or two? That's what astronomers have been asking about Type Ia supernovae, the key to measuring cosmic distance. Is the explosion from one white dwarf grown fat from feeding off another star, or are two white dwarfs merging? A new study suggests the latter.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/04/survey-gives-clues-to-origin-of-type-ia-supernovae/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2011/08/25/supernova/ http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2011/08/25/supernova/#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:30:15 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=15571 Skywatchers should get their binoculars and telescopes ready. Scientists at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab caught a supernova soon after its explosion. The supernova, located in the Big Dipper constellation, is appearing brighter than any other supernova of its type in the last 30 years. Earthlings might even be able to see it with good binoculars in 10 days' time.]]> http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2011/08/25/supernova/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/05/19/supernova2005e/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/05/19/supernova2005e/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 18:24:57 +0000 Robert Sanders http://dev-newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=2853 UC Berkeley astronomers have discovered several examples of an unusual type of exploding star that may be a new class of supernovae spewing calcium into the galaxy, which eventually ends up in all of us. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/05/19/supernova2005e/feed/ 0