NOAO da el visto bueno para que el proyecto BigBoss use 500 noches de observación en el telescopio Mayall, en Arizona, con el objetivo de elaborar el mapa más detallado del firmamento e investigar la historia de la expansión del universo y de la energía oscura

Con una resolución que supera los tres billones de píxeles, la imagen cubre un tercio del cielo nocturno y ha permitido el hallazgo de casi 500 millones de objetos astronómicos.

Entre otros, el satélite aporta nueva información sobre la radiación de microondas emitida por el Big Bang, traza un catálogo de nubes donde se originarán nuevas estrellas e identifica numerosos cúmulos de galaxias

The abundance ratios between key elements such as iron and α-process elements carry a wealth of information on the star formation history (SFH) of galaxies. So far, simple chemical evolution models have linked [α/Fe ] with the SFH time-scale, correlating large abundance ratios with short-lived SFH. The incorporation of full spectral fitting to the analysis of stellar populations allows for a more quantitative constraint between [α/Fe ] and the SFH. In this letter, we provide, for the first time, an empirical correlation between [α/Fe ] (measured from spectral indices) and the SFH (determined

The authors show that the surface structure of the primitive asteroid (65) Cybele is covered by a layer of fine anhydrous silicate grains, mixed with smaller quantities of water ice and complex organics, similar to the nonequilibrium phases coexisting on comet surfaces. The co-existence of water ice and anhydrous silicates on the surface indicates that silicate hydration did not occurred, suggesting that the surface temperatures remained low. The team of researchers is the same that published last April two papers in Nature showing the first evidence of water ice and organic molecules on an

Central starbursts in galaxies are an extreme example of ongoing galaxy evolution. The outer parts of galaxies contain a fossil record ofgalaxy formation and evolution processes in the more distant past. The characterization of resolved stellar populations allows one a detailed study of these topics.In our study we used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the outerparts (up to 8 scale radii) of NGC 1569 and NGC 4449, two of the closest and strongest dwarf starburst galaxies in the local universe, to characterize their stellar density and populations, and obtain new insights into the