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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of massive stars, destined for a short but brilliant life, were born less than a light-year away from the Milky Way's central black hole, one of the most hostile environments in our galaxy, astronomers reported on Thursday. On Earth, this might be a bit like setting up a maternity ward on the side of an active volcano. But researchers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other instruments believe there is a safe zone around black holes, a big dust ring where stars can form. Black holes, including the one at the center of our galaxy, are...

The real fact It's amazing how Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose continues to be in news 60 years after his disputed death. In a way, this has been in defiance of successive Indian governments who would rather the people sidelined him as they did. A recent BBC online poll put named Bose the third greatest-ever leader in South Asia after Jinnha and Gandhi. Strikingly, as per the same poll, the stalwarts like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and the inimitable Atal Bihari Vajpayee don't even blip on the radar anymore. The coming months will see Subhas making a comeback of a sort....

What about the recall race? After serious contemplation, it is clear that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the strongest candidate for governor. All Republicans should unite behind his candidacy to end the Gray Davis-Cruz Bustamante regime.

The early sun produced powerful x-ray emissions that may have helped to ensure the survival of our planet, scientists say. Data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest that violent x-ray flares, which reached temperatures of 100 million kelvins, may have rocked the surrounding disk from which planets formed and prevented Earth from rapidly spiraling into the sun and being destroyed. An international team of astronomers focused Chandra on the Orion Nebula for 13 days, resulting in one of the instrument's deepest observations yet. Located 1,500 light-years from Earth, the Orion Nebula provides a way for scientists to study how our...

LOS ANGELES - Solar flares are infamous for wreaking havoc on electrical power lines and communication signals. But a team of astronomers says bursts emitted by the sun in its youth may have helped planets form. Looking through NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the astronomers focused on a cluster of young stars in the Orion Nebula, 1,500 light years from Earth. Studying 30 sun-like stars over two weeks, they found the young stars erupted in flares more powerful than those produced by the sun. The observation could explain how Earth survived during its formative years, astronomers said. Half the stars in...

On January 18 Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, told a placard-waving anti-war crowd: "The greatest patriots of this country are here today...The president said it'd be a cold day in Washington before this country turns against this war, but it is a cold day in Washington and here we are." Apart from Conyers nasty insinuation people who disagree with his leftwing views about war against the genocidal Saddam are not patriotic, what can we deduce from his presence? Well, for one, Rep. does not like America and prefers the company of totalitarians to that of genuine democrats. And how...

Dark Matter Halo Puzzles Astronomers Summary - (Oct 26, 2004) Astronomers using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have discovered a huge halo of dark matter around an isolated elliptical galaxy; an object that shouldn't have such a halo, according to optical observations. The galaxy, NGC 4555, is unusual that it's a large elliptical galaxy which isn't part of a larger cluster of galaxies. It's surrounded by a cloud of gas, twice the size of the galaxy itself, that's been heated to 10-million-degrees Celsius. This gas could only get that hot if it was being constrained by a halo of dark matter...

Joe S is engaging in fear mongering regarding the deficit. He just said that W took a record surplus (no mention that the surplus was an illusion brought on by the bubble economy) and turned it into record deficits. He is unmistakably trying to drive done W's support with his base. Now he has Buchanan on making the anti-Republican case too. Scarborough is such a nut. One minute he praises reagan (who had larger deficits than Bush does) and then he lights into Bush. This is insane. He is an incoherent jerk.

This image shows Cassiopeia A in the most detailed image ever made of the remains of an exploded star. The colors represent different ranges of X-rays with red, green, and blue representing, low, medium, and higher X-ray energies of the supernova remnant. The one million second image shows a bright outer ring (green) ten light years in diameter that marks the location of a shock wave generated by the supernova explosion. A large jet-like structure that protrudes beyond the shock wave can be seen in the upper left. Chandra was launched July 23, 1999, aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The...

Dark energy. Does it exist, and what are its properties? Using galaxy-cluster images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have applied a powerful, new method for detecting and probing dark energy. The results offer intriguing clues about the nature of dark energy and the fate of the Universe. The Marshall Center manages the Chandra program. Astronomers have detected and probed dark energy by applying a powerful, new method that uses images of galaxy clusters made by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The results trace the transition of the expansion of the Universe from a decelerating to an accelerating phase several billion...

For the second time in three months, scientists confirm that the universe is expanding at an ever faster rate thanks to a mysterious repulsive force called "dark energy" that counters gravity. The findings this time come from observations of the orbiting U.S. Chandra x-ray telescope. The latest batch of findings would probably have made renowned German physicist Albert Einstein exuberant were he still alive. He died in 1955 believing he had made a serious error in devising a concept he called the cosmological constant. He had created the notion in 1917 to explain why the universe did not collapse from...

Condit Sues Over Chandra Levy Articles Saturday December 20, 2003 2:46 AM By JILL BARTON Associated Press Writer WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Former Rep. Gary Condit sued The National Enquirer and other tabloids for $209 million on Friday, alleging they falsely connected him with the 2001 murder of federal intern Chandra Levy. The California Democrat alleges that the Enquirer, Globe and Star Magazine tabloids, along with parent company American Media Inc., maliciously published defamatory statements that Condit ``was involved in deviant and perverted sexual conduct, which directly or indirectly led to the kidnapping and/or murder of Ms. Levy,''...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - For the first time ever, astronomers have detected sound waves coming from a massive black hole in space -- and believe the discovery may help resolve a major mystery, the US space agency said. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the Chandra X-ray Observatory had monitored for 53 hours noise coming from the central region of the Perseus galaxy cluster. The pitch of the sound waves, equivalent to a B-flat -- 57 octaves lower than a middle-C and at a frequency far deeper than the limits of human hearing -- is the deepest note ever detected...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 August 21 X-Rays from M17 Credit: L. Townsley (PSU) et al., CXC, NASA Explanation: About 5,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius and the center of our galaxy, lies the bright star forming region cataloged as M17. In visible light, M17's bowed and hollowed-out appearance has resulted in many popular names like the Horseshoe, Swan, Omega, and Lobster nebula. But what has sculpted this glowing gas cloud?...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 July 12 X-Ray Milky Way Credit: D. Wang (UMass) et al., CXC, NASA Explanation: If you had x-ray vision, the center regions of our Galaxy would not be hidden from view by the immense cosmic dust clouds opaque to visible light. Instead, the Milky Way toward Sagittarius might look something like this stunning mosaic of images from the orbiting Chandra Observatory. Pleasing to look at, the gorgeous...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 July 11 NGC 1068 and the X-Ray Flashlight Credit: X-ray: P. Ogle (UCSB) et al.; Optical: A.Capetti (INAF) et al.; CXO, STScI, NASA Explanation: At night, tilting a flashlight up under your chin hides the glowing bulb from the direct view of your friends. Light from the bulb still reflects from your face though, and can give you a startling appearance. Spiral Galaxy NGC 1068 may be...

<p>Read the death notice posted by Chandra's family or post in the guest book.</p> <p>Chandra Levy's remains were laid to rest at Lakewood Memorial Park on Tuesday, in a private ceremony attended by family and investigators who still hope to solve her murder.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 14 DEM L71: When Small Stars Explode Credit: J. Hughes, P. Ghavamian and C. Rakowski (Rutgers Univ.) et al., CXC, NASA Explanation: Large, massive stars end their furious lives in spectacular supernova explosions -- but small, low mass stars may encounter a similar fate. In fact, instead of simply cooling off and quietly fading away, some white dwarf stars in binary star systems are thought to...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 14 The Heart in NGC 346 Credit: Y.Nazé (Université de Liège) et al., CXC, NASA Explanation: Yes, it's Valentine's Day (!) and looking toward star cluster NGC 346 in our neighboring galaxy the Small Magellanic Cloud, astronomers have noted this heart-shaped cloud of hot, x-ray emitting gas in the cluster's central region. The false-color Chandra Observatory x-ray image also shows a strong x-ray source just above...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 6 X-Rays from M83 Credit: R.Soria & K.Wu (MSSL, UCL) CXC, NASA Explanation: Bright and beautiful spiral galaxy M83 lies a mere twelve million light-years from Earth, toward the headstrong constellation Hydra. Sweeping spiral arms, prominent in visible light images, lend this galaxy its popular moniker -- the Southern Pinwheel. In fact, the spiral arms are still apparent in this Chandra Observatory false-color x-ray image of...