Astronomy and Astrophysics Menu
DIAS Professor elected Vice-President of the new IAU Division in High Energy and Fundamental Physics
Friday, 31 August 2012 00:00
Prof. Felix Aharonian (School of Cosmic Physics) has been elected Vice-President of the new IAU Division D (High Energy and Fundamental Physics) at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union which took place recently in Beijing.
Largest ever Cherenkov telescope sees first light
Thursday, 26 July 2012 13:14
On 26 July 2012, the H.E.S.S. II telescope started operation in Namibia. Dedicated to observing the most violent and extreme phenomena of the Universe in very high energy gamma-rays, H.E.S.S. II is the largest Cherenkov telescope ever built, with its 28-meter-sized mirror.
Read more: Largest ever Cherenkov telescope sees first light
What have Captain Cook, Charles Mason of Mason-Dixon Line fame, and Ireland Got in Common?
Tuesday, 05 June 2012 10:46
On Wednesday morning (June 6th), weather permitting, Ireland will witness a transit of Venus when the planet will cross in front of the Sun. Transits of Venus are very rare and if you don’t see this one, you will have to wait until 2117 for the next and even then you will have to travel to the other side of the World to view it.
First instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is completed and handed over to NASA.
Tuesday, 08 May 2012 11:35
After more than 10 years of work by more than 200 engineers, the Mid Infra-Red Instrument (MIRI) has been declared ready for delivery by the European Space Agency and NASA.
Astrophysics Latest News
Last Updated on Friday, 23 March 2012 10:35
Highest Honour For DIAS Academic
On the 16th March 2012 Professor Felix Aharonian of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) was admitted as a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. The criterion for election to membership is a significant contribution to scholarly or scientific research as shown in the candidate's published academic work. Election to the Royal Irish Academy is the highest academic honour in Ireland.
DIAS astronomer provides explanation for radiation detected from the Crab Pulsar
An explanation for recently detected radiation from the Crab Pulsar - one of the brightest persistent gamma-ray sources in the sky - is proposed in Nature this week. The pulses of very high-energy gamma-ray emission are ascribed to a cold wind originating near to the site of emission.
Pulsars are neutron stars that are thought to eject electron-positron winds. Initially the winds are dominated by electromagnetic energy but as they move away from the pulsar their energy becomes more kinetic. Constraining where this acceleration takes place has been difficult, but Felix Aharonian and colleagues estimate the point where this transition occurs.
They suggest that the recent observations of pulsed, very high-energy gamma-ray emission from the Crab pulsar are produced by this accelerating wind.
DIAS astronomer Dr Emma Whelan speaks on research into the universe's star systems, November 2011
IRCSET INSPIRE Fellow Dr Emma Whelan, speaks on research into the universe's star systems, during science Month, November 2011, hosted by Siliconrepublic.com. Science month with news, reports, interviews and videos covering a wide range of Irish science, research and innovation, was organised to in advance of Dublin City of Science 2012.DIAS astronomer discovers a failed star only 6 times heavier than Jupiter! October 2011
Using the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii and the Very Large Telescope in Chile, DIAS astronomer Aleks Scholz and his team found a failed star known, as a brown dwarf, with a mass similar to a giant planet. How such a puny object formed is a mystery.
http://www.naoj.org/Pressrelease/2011/10/11/index.html