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Dark Energy Alternatives to Einstein Are Running Out of Room

Research by the UA's Rodger Thompson finds that a popular alternative to Albert Einstein’s theory for the acceleration of the expansion of the universe does not fit newly obtained data on a fundamental constant, the proton to electron mass ratio. His findings, reported at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Long Beach, Calif., impact our understanding of the universe and point to a new direction for the further study of its accelerating expansion.

Scientists Peer Into a Brown Dwarf, Find Stormy Atmosphere

A University of Arizona-led team of astronomers for the first time has used...

http://uanews.org/story/scientists-peer-brown-dwarf-find-stormy-atmosphere
Asteroid Belt Found Around Vega
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Asteroid Belt Found Around Vega

Vega, the second brightest star in northern night skies, has an asteroid belt much like our sun, discovered by a University of Arizona-lead team of astronomers. A wide gap between the dust belts in nearby bright stars is a strong hint of yet-undiscovered planets orbiting the stars.

The findings from the Infrared Space Telescopes are the first to show an asteroid-like belt ringing Vega. The discovery of an asteroid belt around Vega makes it more similar to its twin, a star called Fomalhaut, than previously known. Both stars now are known to have inner, warm asteroid belts and outer, comet-filled belts, similar in architecture to the asteroid and Kuiper belts in our own solar system.

“Finding an asteroid belt similar to the one in our solar system and other nearby bright stars is exciting,” said Kate Su, an astronomer at Steward Observatory at the UA. Su is lead author of a paper on the findings accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.

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Asteroid Belt Found Around Vega

A UA-led team of astronomers has discovered inner asteroid belts and outer comet-filled belts similar to the arrangement found in our solar system around nearby stars Vega and Fomalhaut. A wide gap between the inner and outer belts strongly hints at the existence of yet undiscovered planets circling the bright stars.

Scientists Peer Into a Brown Dwarf, Find Stormy Atmosphere

Pointing the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes simultaneously at a brown dwarf, a UA-led team of astronomers has obtained detailed images of the stormy atmosphere that enshrouds these strange objects, which are not quite planets and not quite stars. The forecast shows planet-sized storm systems and showers of sandy and iron rain.

Testing Einstein's E=mc2 in Outer Space

UA physics professor Andrei Lebed has stirred the physics community by suggesting that Albert Einstein's iconic equation, E=mc2, may not hold up in certain circumstances. To test his finding, Lebed has proposed an experiment using a space probe carrying hydrogen atoms away from Earth while a detector records "jumping" electrons.

Wildlife Monitoring Cameras Click Jaguar and Ocelot Photos

Automated trail cameras set up by a UA research team have snapped pictures of a male jaguar and a male ocelot roaming the rugged Southern Arizona landscape. The purpose of the research project is to establish a non-invasive, hands-off system for detecting and monitoring jaguars and ocelots, which will help researchers and managers understand distribution and activities of other wildlife as well.

Bright Stars to Black Holes: UA Astronomer Awarded for Her Research

Feryal Ozel, a UA associate professor of astronomy, has won the 2013 American Physical Society's Maria Goeppert Mayer Award for her cutting-edge research on neutron stars. In addition, Ozel is a 2012-13 fellow at the prestigious Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, where she is studying neutron stars and black holes.

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