Some Astronomy Stories of 2005

As reported on http://KenCroswell.com:

January 2005:

The Distance to a Stellar Youngster: For the first time, astronomers have
measured a precise parallax for the young star T Tauri. See
http://KenCroswell.com/TTauri.html .

The Lion's Pumpkin-Shaped Heart: Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the
Lion, isn't round. See http://KenCroswell.com/RegulusIsOblate.html .

The Age of Procyon: The bright nearby star Procyon is 1.7 billion years
old--about a third the age of the Sun. See
http://KenCroswell.com/AgeOfProcyon.html .

The Galaxy's Youngest Globular Cluster? A newfound globular cluster may be
as young as the Sun. See http://KenCroswell.com/YoungestGlobular.html .


February 2005:

Do Brown Dwarfs Pulsate? The smallest stars may pulsate like Cepheids. See
http://KenCroswell.com/PulsatingBrownDwarfs.html .

Pinpointing a Stellar Neighbor: A feisty red dwarf in Antlia is the 28th
closest star system to the Sun. See http://KenCroswell.com/DENIS1048.html .

The First Dark Galaxy? Astronomers have found what may be the first galaxy
ever "seen" without stars. See http://KenCroswell.com/FirstDarkGalaxy.html
..


March 2005:

The Milky Way's Newest Satellite: A diffuse group of stars near the Big
Dipper's bowl is the thirteenth known satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
See http://KenCroswell.com/UrsaMajorDwarf.html .


April 2005:

Andromeda's Vast Starry Disk: The Andromeda Galaxy is a lot bigger than it
looks. See http://KenCroswell.com/AndromedaDisk.html .

The Outer Milky Way's Exotic Origin: Did a collision with another galaxy
create the stars in the Milky Way's outer disk? See
http://KenCroswell.com/MilkyWayOuterDisk.html .


May 2005:

Extrasolar Comets: Astronomers may someday be able to see comets like
Hale-Bopp around other stars. See
http://KenCroswell.com/ExtrasolarComets.html .


June 2005:

Charging Up the Universe: When the universe reionized itself, it should
have left its imprint on the shape of the Milky Way's stellar halo. See
http://KenCroswell.com/ChargingUpTheUniverse.html .


July 2005:

The Life and Times of Sirius B: The white dwarf orbiting Sirius began its
life with five times the Sun's mass. See
http://KenCroswell.com/LifeAndTimesOfSiriusB.html .


August 2005:

A Solar Twin in Serpens? A far-off star may be the Sun's close cousin. See
http://KenCroswell.com/HD143436.html .

100 Billion Brown Dwarfs: Failed stars may rival the number of all normal
stars in the Milky Way. See
http://KenCroswell.com/100BillionBrownDwarfs.html .


September 2005:

A Giant Surprise: Giant stars with planets don't necessarily have high
metallicities. See http://KenCroswell.com/AGiantSurprise.html.


November 2005:

The First Direct Distance to Andromeda: For the first time, astronomers
have measured the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy by using an eclipsing
binary. See http://KenCroswell.com/AndromedaDistance.html .

The First Interstellar Gas in a Globular Cluster? Astronomers find evidence
for hydrogen gas between M15's many stars. See
http://KenCroswell.com/M15Gas.html .

A Flare for Barnard's Star: For the first time, astronomers have discovered
a flare from Barnard's Star, a red dwarf only 6 light-years away. See
http://KenCroswell.com/BarnardsFlare.html .

These and other articles are available at
http://KenCroswell.com/articles.html .

Correct email: MagnificentUniverse "at" yahoo "dot" com.


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