Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and other institutions have found that, on average, the temperature of galaxy clusters today is 4 million degrees Fahrenheit. That is 10 times hotter than 10 billion years ago, and four times hotter than the Sun’s outermost atmosphere called the corona. The findings are published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Recent news from The Johns Hopkins University
This section contains regularly updated highlights of the news from around The Johns Hopkins University. Links to the complete news reports from the nine schools, the Applied Physics Laboratory and other centers and institutes are to the left, as are links to help news media contact the Johns Hopkins communications offices.
Hubble Finds Far-Away Planet Vanishing at Record Speed
The speed and distance at which planets orbit their respective blazing stars can determine each planet’s fate—whether the planet remains a longstanding part of its solar system or evaporates into the universe’s dark graveyard more quickly.
In their quest to learn more about far-away planets beyond our own solar system, astronomers discovered that a medium-sized planet roughly the size of Neptune, GJ 3470b, is evaporating at a rate 100 times faster than a previously discovered planet of similar size, GJ 436b.
Johns Hopkins Astrophysicist Receives 2015 Tomassoni Chisesi Prize
Charles L. Bennett, the Alumni Centennial Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Gilman Scholar in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, will receive the 2015 “Caterina Tomassoni and Felice Pietro Chisesi Prize” in June at the University of Roma “La Sapienz” in Italy.
Johns Hopkins Astrophysicist Shares 2015 Dannie Heineman Prize
Johns Hopkins University’s Marc Kamionkowski is a winner of the 2015 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics, one of the top prizes in the field, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the American Institute of Physics (AIP) announced today. The honor, which is awarded annually to outstanding mid-career scientists, carries a cash prize of $10,000 that will be split between Kamionkowski and his co-recipient, David Spergel of Princeton University.
Map of Mysterious Molecules In Our Galaxy Sheds New Light on Century-Old Puzzle
By analyzing the light of hundreds of thousands of celestial objects, Johns Hopkins astronomers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) have created a unique map of enigmatic molecules in our galaxy that are responsible for puzzling features in the light from stars.The map, which can be viewed at http://is.gd/dibmap , was unveiled Jan. 8 at the 225th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle. “Seeing where these mysterious molecules are located is fascinating,” said Brice Ménard, a professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University.
Johns Hopkins University Astrophysicist Shares $3 Million Breakthrough Prize
Adam Riess, a professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University and a Nobel laureate, has been named a recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for the discovery of the acceleration of the universe. Riess received the award, the most lucrative academic prize in the world, at a ceremony in California on Sunday.
Johns Hopkins Astrophysicist Receives Prestigious Packard Fellowship
Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Brice Ménard has been awarded a 2014 David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering. Ménard plans to use this fellowship to work on a new technique to estimate the distance of galaxies and then explore new directions of research.
Leaky, Star-Forming Galaxies Lead Johns Hopkins Researchers to Better Understand the Universe
By focusing on large, star-forming galaxies in the universe, researchers at Johns Hopkins University were able to measure its radiation leaks in an effort to better understand how the universe evolved as the first stars were formed.
New Milky Way Maps Help Solve Stubborn Interstellar Material Mystery
An international team of sky scholars, including a key researcher from Johns Hopkins, has produced new maps of the material located between the stars in the Milky Way. The results should move astronomers closer to cracking a stardust puzzle that has vexed them for nearly a century.
Johns Hopkins University Hosts 11th Annual Physics Fair
The Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy will host its 11th annual Physics Fair from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26 to coincide with the yearly Spring Fair celebration on Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St. in Baltimore.
JHU Astronomer Awarded $9.5 Million to Create “Virtual Telescope” to Observe Scientific Data
A team of scientists at The Johns Hopkins University has received a grant for $9.5 million over five years to develop, build and maintain large-scale data sets that will allow for greater access and better usability of the information for the science community.
Johns Hopkins Researcher, Colleagues, Solve Mystery of X-ray Light Coming From Black Holes
It is a mystery that has stymied astrophysicists for decades: how do black holes produce so many high-power X-rays? In a new study, astrophysicists from The Johns Hopkins University, NASA and the Rochester Institute of Technology conducted research that bridges the gap between theory and observation by demonstrating that gas spiraling toward a black hole inevitably results in X-ray emissions.
Johns Hopkins Astrophysicists Join Space Mission Aimed at Solving ‘Dark’ Mysteries of the Universe
Johns Hopkins astrophysicists Brice Ménard and Charles L. Bennett have been appointed to the Euclid Consortium, the international team of scientists overseeing an ambitious space telescope project designed to probe the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter. NASA, a partner in the mission, recently announced their selection to the research team for Euclid.
NASA’s Hubble Detects One of the Most Distant Supernovae Yet Observed
A team of Johns Hopkins astrophysicists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has detected a distant Type Ia supernova, the farthest stellar explosion that can be used to measure the expansion rate of the universe. The supernova is the remnant of a star that exploded 9 billion years ago.
JHU Astrophysicist and Team Win $5 Million Stimulus Grant to Build Telescope
A team led by Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Charles L. Bennett has won a $5 million National Science Foundation grant – administered through the stimulus act – to build an instrument designed to probe what happened during the universe’s first trillionth of a second, when it suddenly grew from submicroscopic to astronomical size in far less than time than it takes to blink your eye.