Astronomy News

Hubble Snaps Image of Surviving Binary Companion to Type IIb Supernova

Ryder et al used Hubble to get the first image of a surviving companion to a supernova; this is the most compelling evidence that some supernova explosions originate in binary star systems. Image credit: NASA / ESA / S. Ryder, Australian Astronomical Observatory / O. Fox, STScI.
Apr 27, 2018 by News Staff

On December 10, 2001 Australian amateur astronomer Robert Evans discovered a supernova in the outer edge of NGC 7424, a spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation Grus, about 40 million light-years away. Shortly after, professional astronomers photographed the supernova, named SN 2001ig, with ESO’s Very Large Telescope in 2002. Two years later, they followed up with the Gemini South Observatory, which hinted at the presence of a surviving...

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Gaia’s all-sky view of our Milky Way Galaxy and neighboring galaxies, based on measurements of nearly 1.7 billion stars. Brighter regions indicate denser concentrations of especially bright stars, while darker regions correspond to patches of the sky where fewer bright stars are observed. The color representation is obtained by combining the total amount of light with the amount of blue and red light recorded by Gaia in each patch of the sky. The bright horizontal structure that dominates the image is the Galactic plane, the flattened disc that hosts most of the stars in our home Galaxy. In the middle of the image, the Galactic center appears vivid and teeming with stars. Darker regions across the Galactic plane correspond to foreground clouds of interstellar gas and dust, which absorb the light of stars located further away, behind the clouds. Many of these conceal stellar nurseries where new generations of stars are being born. Sprinkled across the image are also many globular and open clusters -- groupings of stars held together by their mutual gravity, as well as entire galaxies beyond our own. The two bright objects in the lower right of the image are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. In small areas of the image where no color information was available -- to the lower left of the Galactic center, to the upper left of the Small Magellanic Cloud, and in the top portion of the map -- an equivalent grayscale value was assigned. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC.

ESA’s Gaia Mission Releases Catalog of Nearly 1.7 Billion Stars

Apr 26, 2018 by News Staff

ESA’s Gaia mission has released the largest catalogue ever of Milky Way stars. It includes the positions on the sky for approximately 1.7 billion stars,...

This artist’s impression of SPT2349-56 shows a group of interacting and merging galaxies in the early Universe. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Astronomers Discover Two Massive Protoclusters of Young Galaxies in Early Universe

Apr 26, 2018 by News Staff

Peering deep into space — an astounding 90% of the way across the observable Universe — two groups of astronomers led by University of Edinburgh’s...

Artist’s impression of a massive black hole. Image credit: Alain Riazuelo / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Milky Way Galaxy May Have Several ‘Wandering’ Supermassive Black Holes

Apr 25, 2018 by News Staff

In a new study, a team of astronomers from Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics, the University of Washington, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris,...

Astronomers Detect Hydrogen Sulfide in Uranus’ Upper Atmosphere

Apr 24, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea have detected hydrogen sulfide, the gas that gives rotten eggs their distinctive odor,...

This Hubble image shows the lenticular galaxy NGC 2655. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Fillipenko.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 2655

Apr 23, 2018 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has delivered an unrivalled snapshot of the lenticular galaxy NGC 2655. This Hubble image shows the lenticular galaxy...

Spectacular Lagoon Nebula Glows in Hubble’s 28th Birthday Photos

Apr 20, 2018 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit by a space shuttle on April 24, 1990. It was the first space telescope of its kind, and has...

NGC 6240. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / STScI-ESA.

Binary Supermassive Black Hole Stops Star Formation in NGC 6240

Apr 19, 2018 by News Staff

NGC 6240 is a pair of merging galaxies approximately 400 million light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. It spans 300,000 light-years and has...

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Heads for Final Science Orbit after Successful Launch

Apr 19, 2018 by News Staff

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was delivered to space Wednesday, April 18, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off from...

This Hubble image shows the distant and massive galaxy cluster that is officially known as PSZ2 G138.61-10.84. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / RELICS.

Hubble Views Distant and Massive Galaxy Cluster

Apr 16, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows PSZ2 G138.61-10.84, a colossal galaxy cluster located approximately 6 billion light-years away...

This artist’s concept shows a hypothetical exoplanet around the binary star system of Kepler-35A and B. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Short-Period Double Stars Can Eject Their Planets, Study Suggests

Apr 13, 2018 by News Staff

So-called circumbinary planets — those planets that orbit around a binary star, like the fictional Tatooine from the Star Wars — can be ejected...

A snapshot of a simulation showing a binary black hole formed in the center of a globular cluster. Image credit: Northwestern Visualization / Carl Rodriguez.

Globular Star Clusters May Foster Repeated Merging of Multiple Black Holes

Apr 12, 2018 by News Staff

Stellar-mass black holes that reside in globular clusters — small regions of space, usually at the edges of a galaxy, that are packed with hundreds...

New SPHERE images are revealing the dusty disks surrounding nearby young stars in greater detail than previously achieved; they show a bizarre variety of shapes, sizes and structures, including the likely effects of planets still in the process of forming. Image credit: ESO / H. Avenhaus et al / E. Sissa et al / DARTT-S & SHINE collaborations.

ESO’s SPHERE Instrument Sees Weird and Wonderful Dusty Disks around Young Stars

Apr 11, 2018 by News Staff

A series of images from the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile shows dusty...

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

Radio Astronomers Check Interstellar Asteroid Oumuamua for FM Band Signals

Apr 10, 2018 by News Staff

A highly-elongated metallic or rocky object — known as 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua — came from another star system, prompting speculation it could...

Composite image of an erupting solar prominence observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on August 31, 2012. Image credit: NASA / SDO / GSFC.

Gigantic Solar ‘Tornadoes’ Don’t Rotate After All

Apr 10, 2018 by News Staff

A new study indicates that solar tornadoes may have been misnamed because scientists have so far only been able to observe them using 2D images. Composite...

This is a mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by Hubble of the Crab Nebula, a 6-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star’s supernova explosion. Japanese and Chinese astronomers recorded this violent event nearly 1,000 years ago in 1054, as did, almost certainly, Native Americans. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Hester / A. Loll, Arizona State University.

Phosphorus May Be More Rare in Universe than Previously Thought

Apr 9, 2018 by News Staff

A new study from Cardiff University suggests there may be a cosmic lack of phosphorus, a crucial ingredient for life. This is a mosaic image, one of the...

This Hubble image shows PLCK G308.3-20.2, a massive galaxy cluster that lies 5 billion light-years away from Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / RELICS.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Massive Galaxy Cluster

Apr 9, 2018 by News Staff

This spectacular view from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope peers into the distant Universe to reveal a massive galaxy cluster called PLCK G308.3-20.2. This...

Astronomers Find Isolated Neutron Star in Small Magellanic Cloud

Apr 6, 2018 by News Staff

New images from the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have revealed a ring-shaped structure in the young supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219...

This image shows the nearby globular cluster NGC 6397, located at a distance of 7,800 light-years in the southern constellation Ara. Image credit: NASA / ESA / T. Brown & S. Casertano, STScI / J. Anderson, STScI.

Astronomers Make First Precise Distance Measurement to Ancient Globular Cluster

Apr 5, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have for the first time precisely measured the distance to one of the oldest objects in the Universe...

10,000 Stellar-Mass Black Holes Exist in Milky Way’s Central Region, Astronomers Say

Apr 5, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered what they believe are 12 stellar-mass black holes gathered around Sagittarius A*,...

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