Big Dipper, Deep Sky

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The Big Dipper is an easy to recognize, well-known asterism in northern skies, though many see the Plough or Wagon. Famous bright nebulae of the north can also be found along its familiar lines, highlighted in this carefully composed scene with telescopic insets framed in the wider-field skyview. All from Messier's catalog, M101 and M51 are cosmic pinwheel and whirlpool on the left, spiral galaxies far beyond the Milky Way. To the right, M108, a distant edge-on spiral galaxy is seen close to our galaxy's own owl-faced planetary nebula M97. Taken on January 16, the wider-field view seems to include an extra star along the Dipper's handle, though. That's Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) now sweeping through northern nights.

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Researchers use neutrons to gain insight into battery inefficiency

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Lithium ions are depleted as a battery charges and are also lost to the formation of a thin coating on a battery’s anode. Researchers used powerful neutron science facilities to try to understand the dynamics behind this phenomenon.
via Science Daily

Newly discovered star offers opportunity to explore origins of first stars sprung to life in early universe

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A team of researchers has observed the brightest ultra metal-poor star ever discovered. The star is a rare relic from the Milky Way's formative years. As such, it offers astronomers a precious opportunity to explore the origin of the first stars that sprung to life within our galaxy and the universe.
via Science Daily
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