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This illustration shows a gas giant exoplanet orbiting its parent star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / L. Calcada.

Giant Gaseous Exoplanet Found Orbiting 2 Million-Year-Old Star

May 30, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Rice University astronomer Christopher Johns-Krull has discovered a giant planet orbiting a very young star about 450 light-years...

This image shows the globular cluster NGC 6496, which lies in the southern constellation of Scorpius, about 35,000 light-years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Snaps Beautiful Image of Globular Cluster NGC 6496

May 30, 2016 by News Staff

NASA has released an absolutely outstanding photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of a colorful collection of stars in the constellation of Scorpius. This...

An artist’s rendition of the Akira (right) and Tetsuo (left) galaxies in action. Akira’s gravity pulls Tetsuo’s gas into its central supermassive black hole, fueling winds that have the power to heat Akira’s gas. Because of the action of the black hole winds, Tetsuo’s donated gas is rendered inert, preventing a new cycle of star formation in the Akira galaxy. Image credit: Kavli IPMU.

Intense Winds from Supermassive Black Holes Keep ‘Red Geyser’ Galaxies Turned Off

May 26, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have uncovered a new type of galaxies, dubbed ‘red geysers,’ with supermassive black hole winds so intense and hot that stars can’t form. An...

The collision of two black holes is seen in this still from a computer simulation. Image credit: SXS.

Astrophysicist Suggests Link between Dark Matter, Universe’s First Black Holes

May 25, 2016 by News Staff

All or at least a significant part of dark matter is made up of so-called primordial black holes, according to Dr. Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist...

Artist’s concept of the active young Sun 4 billion years ago. Its energy may have aided in creating molecules in the atmosphere of early Earth that allowed it to warm up enough to incubate life. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / CIL.

Young Sun’s Superflares May Have Been Key to Life on Early Earth

May 25, 2016 by News Staff

Powerful coronal mass ejection events from the young Sun may have provided the crucial energy needed to warm early Earth, according to a team of researchers...

This artist’s impression shows a possible seed for the formation of a supermassive black hole. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss.

NASA Telescopes Spot Two Black Hole Seeds in Early Universe

May 24, 2016 by News Staff

Using data from three of NASA’s space observatories — the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers...

Color image of MACS J2129.4-0741 taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope: an image of the faint, distant galaxy was split into three by a powerful gravitational lens; by comparing the spectra of the three images (white boxes), astronomers could show they were all the same object 13 billion light-years away. Image credit: Marusa Bradac / Hubble Space Telescope / W. M. Keck Observatory.

Astronomers Detect Faintest Early-Universe Galaxy Ever

May 23, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers have detected and confirmed the faintest early-Universe galaxy ever using the 10-m Keck II telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory, Hawaii. Color...

This Hubble image shows a giant group of galaxies in the constellation of Leo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Spots Giant Group of Galaxies in Leo

May 23, 2016 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of an enormous group of galaxies in the constellation of Leo. This Hubble image shows...

Emission nebula LHA 120-N55. Image credit: ESO.

Very Large Telescope Spies on Colorful Nebula in Neighboring Galaxy

May 20, 2016 by News Staff

This new image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, shows the strikingly colorful gas cloud LHA 120-N55 (N55 for...

Hubble photo of Mars taken when the planet was 50 million miles (80 million km) from Earth on May 12. The photo reveals details as small as 20 - 30 miles (32.2 - 48.3 km) across. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / J. Bell, ASU / M. Wolff, Space Science Institute.

Hubble Team Releases Stunning New Image of Mars

May 20, 2016 by News Staff

On May 12, 2016, the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured this incredible photo of Mars, when the planet...

Illustration of the debris disk surrounding the Sun-like star HD 181327. Image credit: Amanda Smith / University of Cambridge.

Astronomers Find Evidence for Comets in Debris Disk around Sun-Like Star

May 18, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) have detected very low levels of carbon monoxide gas in the debris disk around the nearby star...

This graphic shows where a planet can be habitable and warm around our Sun, as it ages over billions of years. Image credit: Cornell University.

Astronomers: Red Giant Stars Could Host Habitable Exoplanets

May 17, 2016 by News Staff

In a study published in the Astrophysical Journal (arXiv.org preprint), a team of astronomers at Cornell University has modeled the locations of the habitable...

This Hubble image shows the lenticular galaxy NGC 5308. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

NGC 5308: NASA’s Hubble Spots ‘Needle’ Galaxy

May 16, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the lenticular galaxy NGC 5308. This Hubble image shows the lenticular galaxy NGC...

Astronomers Report Most Metal-Poor Galaxy Ever Observed: Leoncino Dwarf

May 13, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers report that they have observed the most metal-poor galaxy ever seen in the Local Universe, a region of space within about one billion light-years...

Artist’s impression of the dwarf planet and trans-Neptunian object (225088) 2007 OR10. Image credit: NASA.

2007 OR10 is Third-Largest Dwarf Planet, Astronomers Say

May 13, 2016 by News Staff

According to observations from ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory and NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope-K2 extended mission, the dwarf planet and trans-Neptunian...

This Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet 252P/LINEAR was photographed at 20:56 GMT on April 4, when the comet was 8.6 million miles from Earth. The visit was one of the closest encounters between this comet and our planet. This image was originally black and white and recorded only overall brightness. These brightness values were translated into a range of bluish hues. Such color ‘maps’ can be useful in helping to distinguish subtly varying brightness in an image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J.-Y. Li, Planetary Science Institute.

Hubble Space Telescope Sees Comet 252P LINEAR

May 13, 2016 by News Staff

The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has snapped photos of a periodic comet called 252P/LINEAR. This Hubble Space...

This artist’s concept shows a multi-planet system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Kepler-223: Astronomers Find System with Four Giant Planets Trapped in Resonance

May 11, 2016 by News Staff

The Kepler-223 multi-planet system is trapped in an orbital configuration that the Solar System’s four gas giants may have broken from in its early history,...

This artist’s concept depicts select exoplanetary discoveries made to date by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / W. Stenzel.

Astronomers Confirm 1,284 New Kepler Exoplanets

May 11, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

A team of astronomers from NASA and Princeton University has confirmed that 1,284 extrasolar objects by NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft are indeed...

This illustration shows KIC 8462852 behind a shattered comet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

KIC 8462852: New Study Supports Natural Causes to Explain Behavior of Unusual Star

May 10, 2016 by News Staff

Results of a new study in the Astrophysical Journal (arXiv.org preprint) make it far less likely that KIC 8462852 is the home star of an advanced alien...