Astronomy News

Astronomers Detect Giant Spots on Extremely Hot Stars in Three Globular Clusters

An artist’s impression of what one of extreme horizontal branch stars, and its giant whitish spot, might look like. The spot is bright, takes up a quarter of the star’s surface and is caused by magnetic fields. As the star rotates, the spot on its surface comes and goes, causing visible changes in brightness. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada, INAF-Padua / S. Zaggia.
Jun 2, 2020 by News Staff

Using several instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, VLT Survey Telescope and the New Technology Telescope, astronomers have discovered giant spots on the surface of extreme horizontal branch stars in three globular clusters: NGC 2808, NGC 6752 and NGC 5139. An artist’s impression of what one of extreme horizontal branch stars, and its giant whitish spot, might look like. The spot is bright, takes up a quarter of the star’s surface and is...

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ASKAP Telescope Traces Four Fast Radio Bursts to Massive Galaxies

Jun 1, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope at CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory have tracked four mysterious blasts...

This Hubble image shows the massive globular cluster NGC 6441. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the ultraviolet and optical parts of the spectrum. Four filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / G. Piotto.

Hubble Snaps Beautiful Image of Globular Cluster NGC 6441

Jun 1, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful new image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of NGC 6441, one of about 150 globular clusters belonging to our Milky Way...

This artist’s impression shows the first interstellar asteroid -- 1I/2017 U1 (’Oumuamua). Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Interstellar Object Oumuamua Could Be Hydrogen Ice-Rich Body

May 31, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers from the University of Chicago and Yale University show that the odd properties...

This Hubble image shows the star cluster Westerlund 2. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / A. Nota / Westerlund 2 Science Team.

Westerlund 2’s Core is No Place to Form Planets, Astronomers Say

May 29, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed young stars in a crowded stellar cluster called Westerlund 2. They’ve found that...

An artist’s impression of Planet Nine. Image credit: Tom Ruen / ESO.

‘Extreme’ Kuiper Belt Objects Cast Doubt on Hypothetical Planet Nine

May 28, 2020 by The Conversation

In 2016, Caltech astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown proposed a strange alignment of icy Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) on the outskirts of the Solar...

An artist’s conception illustrates the phenomena that make up the new class of cosmic explosions called fast blue optical transients. Image credit: Bill Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

New Class of Cosmic Explosions Discovered: Fast Blue Optical Transients

May 28, 2020 by News Staff

Fast blue optical transients (FBOTs) share some characteristics with supernova explosions of massive stars and with explosions that generate gamma-ray...

An artist’s impression of a perturbation in the velocities of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy that was revealed by ESA’s star mapping mission Gaia. Image credit: ESA.

Collision between Milky Way and Its Satellite May Have Triggered Formation of Our Solar System

May 26, 2020 by News Staff

Repeated collisions with the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy may have triggered major star formation episodes in our Milky Way Galaxy, one of which roughly coincided...

An artist’s impression of the collisional ring galaxy R5519. Image credit: James Josephides, Swinburne Astronomy Productions.

Astronomers Find Giant Collisional Ring Galaxy in Early Universe

May 26, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers have spotted a giant galaxy with a massive star-forming ring that existed 10.8 billion years ago. An artist’s impression of the collisional...

This SPHERE image shows TYC 8998-760-1b. Image credit: Bohn et al, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz3462.

Astronomers Directly Image Giant Planet-Like Object around Sun-Like Star

May 25, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Using three instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), an international team of astronomers has discovered and imaged a giant sub-stellar object...

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3895. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Barrows.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 3895

May 25, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this vivid image of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 3895. This Hubble image shows the barred spiral...

This image shows the Jupiter trojan asteroid 2019 LD2. Image credit: ATLAS.

Astronomers Spot First Trojan Asteroid with Comet-Like Tail: 2019 LD2

May 22, 2020 by News Staff

2019 LD2 is the first known Jupiter trojan asteroid to display cometary activity with a visible coma and tail, according to a team of astronomers from...

Cosmic rays. Image credit: Pierre Auger Observatory.

Cosmic Rays May Have Played Key Role in Origin of Life’s Handedness

May 21, 2020 by News Staff

Living organisms comprise a system of molecules organized with specific handedness. Handedness — or chirality — is the geometric property of...

This image from VLT’s SPHERE instrument shows the protoplanetary disk around AB Aurigae. Image credit: ESO / Boccaletti et al.

Astronomers Witness Ongoing Planet Formation in AB Aurigae System

May 21, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed a protoplanetary...

An artist’s impression of DLA0817g (Wolfe Disk), a massive, rotating disk galaxy in the early, dusty Universe. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello.

Massive, Rotating Disk Galaxy Spotted 12.3 Billion Light-Years Away

May 20, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found evidence for the most distant rotationally supported disk galaxy ever...

This image shows protoplanets PDS 70b and PDS 70c (labeled with white arrows) with the circumstellar disk removed. Image credit: J. Wang, Caltech.

Astronomers Capture New Images of Two Protoplanets around PDS 70

May 19, 2020 by News Staff

Using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRC2) on the Keck II telescope at W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaii, astronomers have directly imaged two infant...

Kipping uses Bayesian statistics to shed light on how extraterrestrial life might evolve in the Universe. Image credit: Dina Dee.

Astronomer Uses Bayesian Statistics to Weigh Likelihood of Complex Life and Intelligence beyond Earth

May 19, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study published this week in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. David Kipping of Columbia University and Flatiron Institute...

An artist’s impression of the super-Earth exoplanet HD 164922d. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Hot Super-Earth Discovered Orbiting Ancient Star

May 18, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers has discovered a close-in super-Earth exoplanet in the HD 164922 planetary system. An artist’s impression of the...

This Hubble image shows the isolated dwarf galaxy ESO 461-036. This image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. Four filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / E. Shaya et al.

Hubble Spots Lonely Dwarf Galaxy

May 18, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of a dwarf irregular galaxy called ESO 461-036. This Hubble image shows the isolated...

These two columns show side-by-side comparisons of gravitational lens candidates imaged by the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (color) and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (black and white). Image credit: Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey / NASA / ESA / Hubble / Huang et al.

Astronomers Discover Hundreds of New Strong Gravitational Lenses

May 15, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS), astronomers have discovered 335 new candidate strong lensing systems. These two columns...

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