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This illustration depicts IXPE’s measurements of X-ray polarization emitting from 1E 1841-045. Image credit: Michela Rigoselli / Italian National Institute of Astrophysics.

IXPE Measures X-ray Polarization of Magnetar Outburst

Jun 6, 2025 by News Staff

Magnetars are neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields that are about a quadrillion times greater than the magnetic field of Earth. These huge magnetic...

This artist’s concept portrays the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, known as Sagittarius A*. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

New Study Shows How Astrophysicists Can Use Black Holes as Particle Supercolliders

Jun 4, 2025 by News Staff

New research by physicists from the University of Oxford, Johns Hopkins University and the Institute of Astrophysics in Paris shows that collisions between...

An artist’s illustration of TOI-6894b behind its host star. Image credit: Mark Garlick / University of Warwick.

Giant Exoplanet Found Orbiting Low-Mass Star TOI-6894

Jun 4, 2025 by News Staff

The discovery of TOI-6894b — an exoplanet around 86% the size of Jupiter in orbit around a 0.2-solar-mass red dwarf — highlights the need for...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

New Study Finds No Evidence of Tension in Hubble Constant

Jun 3, 2025 by News Staff

As part of the Chicago-Carnegie Hubble Program, astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have performed new measurements of the Hubble...

These images illustrate three possible encounter scenarios between our Milky Way Galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Top left: Messier 81 and Messier 82. Top right: NGC 6786. Bottom: NGC 520. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / DSS / Till Sawala, University of Helsinki / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Our Milky Way Galaxy May Escape Collision with Andromeda, New Research Suggests

Jun 3, 2025 by News Staff

It is commonly believed that our own Milky Way Galaxy is on a collision course with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. As a result of their merger, predicted...

This artistic impression depicts the stage at which WASP-121b accumulated most of its gas, as inferred from the latest results. Image credit: T. Müller, MPIA & HdA.

Webb Detects Silicon Monoxide in Atmosphere of Ultrahot Jupiter WASP-121b

Jun 2, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected water, carbon monoxide, and silicon monoxide in the dayside atmosphere of WASP-121b...

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 685. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). It is based on data obtained through six filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee / F. Belfiore.

Hubble Space Telescope Sees Star-Forming Spiral Galaxy: NGC 685

Jun 2, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

NGC 685 is rich in star-forming nebulae, seen as glowing pink clouds in the new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This Hubble image shows...

A composite of radio, X-ray, and infrared emission of the field of ASKAP J1832-0911. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09077-w.

Radio Wave- and X-Ray-Emitting Star is Unlike Anything Astronomers Have Seen in Our Galaxy

May 30, 2025 by News Staff

ASKAP J1832-0911 — likely a magnetar or an extremely magnetized white dwarf — emits pulses of radio waves and X-rays for two minutes every...

This Webb image shows the massive galaxy cluster Abell S1063. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / H. Atek & M. Zamani, ESA & Webb / R. Endsley.

Webb Focuses on Behemoth Galaxy Cluster: Abell S1063

May 27, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured a remarkable new image of the galaxy cluster Abell S1063. This Webb image shows...

Cutout images of all 19 detections of 2017 OF201. Image credit: Cheng et al., arXiv: 2505.15806.

Astronomers Discover Dwarf Planet Candidate on 25,000-Year Orbit

May 27, 2025 by News Staff

Named 2017 OF201, the newly-discovered trans-Neptunian object is one of the most distant visible objects in our Solar System and is likely large (about...

This image is a snapshot from a 16-minute time-lapse movie showing the formation and collapse of a complexly shaped plasma stream traveling at almost 100 km per seconds in front of a coronal loop system. This is likely the first time such a stream, which the scientists refer to as plasmoid, has been observed, leaving them wondering about the physical explanation of the observed dynamics. This image was taken by the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory using the new coronal adaptive optics system Cona. The image shows the hydrogen-alpha light emitted by the solar plasma. The image is artificially colorized, yet based on the color of hydrogen-alpha light, and darker color is brighter light. Image credit: Schmidt et al. / NJIT / NSO / AURA / NSF.

Solar Astronomers Capture Most Detailed Images and Videos Yet of Sun’s Corona

May 27, 2025 by News Staff

To make these high-resolution images and movies, astronomers from NSF’s National Solar Observatory and New Jersey Institute of Technology developed a...

This Hubble image shows NGC 3507, a barred spiral galaxy located 46 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker.

Hubble Spots Beautiful Spiral Galaxy: NGC 3507

May 26, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking new photo of the face-on barred spiral galaxy NGC 3507. This Hubble image...

An AI impression of a compact binary system. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Newly-Discovered Compact Binary System Formed when Neutron Star Orbited inside Another Star

May 22, 2025 by News Staff

This binary system contains a rapidly spinning millisecond pulsar called PSR J1928+1815 and its helium star companion. An AI impression of a compact binary...

This artist’s impression shows a galactic merger in which the galaxy on the right hosts a quasar at its core; this quasar is powered by a supermassive black hole swallowing up material around it and emitting a powerful cone of radiation, piercing the other galaxy like a lance; as this radiation interacts with the galaxy on the left, it disrupts the clouds of gas and dust within, leaving behind only the smallest and densest regions; these regions are likely rendered incapable of star formation after the process. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Astronomers Witness Violent Collision of Two Galaxies 11 Billion Light-Years Away

May 21, 2025 by News Staff

Intense radiation from a quasar in one of these galaxies alters the gas properties in the other galaxy and dampens its ability to form new stars, according...

This Hubble image shows NGC 3511, an intermediate spiral galaxy some 43 million light-years away in the constellation of Crater. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker.

Hubble Space Telescope Provides New View of NGC 3511

May 19, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has produced a spectacular new image of the intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 3511. This Hubble image shows NGC 3511, an intermediate spiral...

An artist’s illustration of a solar storm. Image credit: NASA.

Radiocarbon Spike 14,350 Years Ago was Caused by Strongest Known Solar Storm, Study Confirms

May 15, 2025 by News Staff

The Sun rarely produced extreme solar particle events, orders of magnitude stronger than everything directly observed. Their enormous power can greatly...

An artist’s impression of a debris disk around the Sun-like star HD 181327. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Webb Detects Crystalline Water Ice in Debris Disk around Young, Sun-Like Star

May 14, 2025 by News Staff

Water ice heavily influences the formation of giant planets and may also be delivered by comets to fully formed rocky planets. Using data from the Near-Infrared...

These images of Titan, taken by Webb on July 11, 2023 (top row), and the Keck II telescope on July 14, 2023 (bottom row), show methane clouds (white arrows) appearing at different altitudes in Titan’s northern hemisphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Keck Observatory.

Weather Report from Saturn’s Moon Titan: Partly Cloudy with Occasional Methane Showers

May 14, 2025 by NASA

Using data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the Keck II telescope, astronomers found evidence of cloud convection in the northern hemisphere...

These observations of Jupiter’s aurorae were captured with Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) on December 25, 2023. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Ricardo Hueso, UPV / Imke de Pater, UC Berkeley / Thierry Fouchet, Observatory of Paris / Leigh Fletcher, University of Leicester / Michael H. Wong, UC Berkeley / Joseph DePasquale, STScI / J. Nichols, University of Leicester / M. Zamani, ESA & Webb.

Webb Observes Dynamic Infrared Aurorae on Jupiter

May 13, 2025 by News Staff

The Jovian aurorae are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth, says a team of astronomers by University of Leicester’s Dr. Jonathan Nichols. These...