The universe unveiled Space probes, ground-based telescopes and observatories in orbit around the Earth work together to scan the skies. A potentially habitable planet and the oldest star ever discovered are just two of the wonders observed in 2011. First ALMA antennae scan the heavens Now operational at 30% of its maximum capacity, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is already the most effective millimeter telescope ever built. The result of an international partnership, this powerful astronomical tool, whose construction will be completed in 2013, has already provided its first images. ALMA is the first telescope The Antennae galaxies as observed by ALMA. able to perform such detailed observations of interstellar structures within interacting galaxies where new generations of stars are formed. Potentially habitable planet a few light-years from Earth Measurement of distances Orbiting a dwarf star 20 light-years away from our solar system, in the universe more accurate the rocky exoplanet Gliese 581d was considered too cold to possess liquid water. However, on the basis of a numerical model capable In astrophysics, the luminosity of supernovae is used as a yardstick of simulating a wide range of climate conditions on exoplanets, for the measurement of large distances and thus for the precise scientists have now come to a different conclusion. In the highly likely determination of the expansion of the universe. Until now, the case that Gliese 581d has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere, its accuracy of such measurements was limited because it was thought climate would be warm enough to allow the formation of oceans, that the color variations of supernovae were due to the absorption clouds and rainfall. of light by a different type of dust to that observed in the Milky Way. The spectroscopic analysis of 76 supernovae carried out by the The Astrophysical Journal Letters May 2011 international team SNF (Nearby Supernova Factory) shows that this is not so. This finding will improve the determination of distances in the universe out to a distance of 10 billion light-years. Astronomy & Astrophysics April 2011 48 A year at CNRS 2011
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