VARIOUS INTERNATIONAL MEDIA: Astronomers discover diamond dust shimmering around distant stars

    Press/Media: Research

    Description

    An international team of astronomers have detected some of the tiniest diamonds in the universe swirling around three infant star systems in the Milky Way.

    Known as nanodiamonds they are bits of crystalline carbon hundreds of thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand. The research was published in Nature Astronomy.

    http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/astronomers-discover-diamond-dust-shimmering-around-distant-stars/

    Period11 Jun 2018 → 12 Jun 2018

    Media coverage

    2

    Media coverage

    • TitleNanodiamonds are behind mysterious Milky Way microwaves
      Media name/outletSky News
      Media typeWeb
      Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
      Date12/06/18
      DescriptionScientists have discovered the source of a mysterious microwave light emanating from a number of regions across the Milky Way galaxy.

      The radiation is known as anomalous microwave emission (AME) and its source was unknown for decades, although it was believed to be caused by "spinning dust".
      URLhttps://news.sky.com/story/nanodiamonds-are-behind-mysterious-milky-way-microwaves-11402230
      PersonsAnna Scaife
    • TitleAstronomers find source of stars' mysterious microwaves
      Media name/outletThe Guardian
      Media typeWeb
      Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
      Date11/06/18
      DescriptionMysterious streams of microwaves that come from far across the galaxy have been traced to immense clouds of spinning diamonds that swirl around newly-born stars.

      Astronomers have been stumped by the strange waves since they were first spotted more than 20 years ago, but now appear to have solved the puzzle after training US and Australian telescopes on rings of dust that circle stars about 500 light years from Earth.
      URLwww.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/astronomers-discover-diamond-dust-shimmering-around-distant-stars/
      PersonsAnna Scaife
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    Media contributions

    1

    Media contributions

    • TitleGlittering Diamond Dust in Space Might Solve a 20-Year-Old Mystery
      Media name/outletScientific American
      Media typeWeb
      Country/TerritoryUnited States
      Date11/06/18
      DescriptionWhen astronomers first peered at the cosmos in microwave light, they knew they had stumbled on a window into the universe’s earliest moments. After all, the cosmic microwave background—that hazy afterglow of the big bang released when the universe was a mere 380,000 years old—has allowed scientists to answer fundamental questions about where we came from. But microwave light has also raised an intriguing mystery closer to home. In 1996 astronomers noticed an inexplicable excess of microwaves emanating from our own galaxy. For over 20 years, this so-called anomalous microwave emission has remained an enigma—until today. A new study published in Nature Astronomy suggests spinning nano-diamonds might be the culprit.
      URLhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/glittering-diamond-dust-in-space-might-solve-a-20-year-old-mystery/
      PersonsAnna Scaife
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    Keywords

    • astronomy
    • astrophysics