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This graphic illustrates how a star can magnify and brighten the light of a background star when it passes in front of the distant star. If the foreground star has planets, then the planets may also magnify the light of the background star, but for a much shorter period of time than their host star. Astronomers use this method, called gravitational microlensing, to identify planets. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Field, STScI.

Astronomers Confirm Failed-Jupiter Exoplanet around Distant Star

Jul 31, 2015 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, two teams of astronomers have independently confirmed the existence of...

This artist’s impression shows the super-Earth exoplanet HD 219134b. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

HD 219134: Three Super-Earths Found Orbiting Star 21 Light-Years Away

Jul 30, 2015 by News Staff

Using the HARPS-N spectrograph on the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Canary Islands), astronomers have...

Artist’s impression of an auroral display on a brown dwarf. Image credit: Chuck Carter / Gregg Hallinan / Caltech.

Brown Dwarfs Host Powerful Aurora Displays, Astronomers Say

Jul 29, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from the United States and Europe has discovered that brown dwarfs – the so-called failed stars – host powerful auroras...

This image shows Nova Centauri 2013 (brightest star in the center) in July 2015. This was more than eighteen months after the initial explosive outburst. Image credit: ESO.

Astronomers Detect Lithium in Nova for First Time

Jul 29, 2015 by News Staff

Using the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at the La Silla Observatory and the ESO 0.5-m telescope at the Observatory of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de...

This Hubble image shows the planetary nebula NGC 6565. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA / M. Novak.

Hubble Space Telescope Looks at NGC 6565

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

The Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this image of NGC 6565. This Hubble image shows the planetary...

X-ray evidence from NASA’s Chandra Observatory suggests that a clump of stellar material has been jettisoned away from the binary system B1259 at incredibly high speeds. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M.Weiss.

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Zooms in on Violent Binary Star System

Jul 24, 2015 by News Staff

X-rays from NASA’s Chandra Observatory reveal that a fast-moving pulsar in orbit around a massive star punched a hole in a circumstellar disk of material...

Kepler-452b: Astronomers Discover Super-Earth in Habitable Zone of Sun-Like Star

Jul 23, 2015 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a super-Earth exoplanet in the ‘habitable zone’ of a G2-type star called Kepler-452. This...

Astronomers Peer into Internal Structure of ‘Normal’ Galaxies in Early Universe

Jul 22, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers – led by Dr Roberto Maiolino from the University of Cambridge, UK – has detected the most distant clouds of star-forming...

This image shows the dwarf galaxy NGC 1140. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA.

NGC 1140: Astronomers Zero in on Dwarf Irregular Starburst Galaxy

Jul 20, 2015 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have captured an incredible image of the dwarf galaxy NGC 1140. This image shows the dwarf galaxy...

Gaia 14aae: Astronomers Discover Unique Binary Star

Jul 17, 2015 by News Staff

Using ESA’s Gaia satellite, a large multinational group of astronomers has discovered a unique binary star system: the first known such binary where...

An artist’s rendering shows an exoplanet called HIP 11915b around the Sun-like star HIP 11915. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

HIP 11915b: Jupiter Twin Found Orbiting Sun-Like Star

Jul 15, 2015 by News Staff

Using the HARPS planet-hunting instrument on the 3.6-m telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, Chile, astronomers have discovered a Jupiter-mass exoplanet...

This new Hubble image shows a massive open star cluster known as the Quintuplet Cluster in infrared light. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA.

Hubble Sees Quintuplet Cluster in Infrared Light

Jul 13, 2015 by News Staff

The Wide Field Camera 3 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of the Quintuplet Cluster, a very dense cluster of young stars...

This illustration shows a black hole that grew faster than its host galaxy. Image credit: Michael S. Helfenbein / Yale University.

Astronomers Discover Monstrous Black Hole in Early Universe

Jul 13, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational team of astronomers has spotted an oversized black hole in the center of a typical star-forming galaxy, called CID-947. This illustration...

This Hubble image shows the galaxy ESO 381-12. The strikingly uneven structure and the clusters of stars that orbit around the galaxy suggest that ESO 381-12 may have been part of a dramatic collision sometime in its relatively recent past. Image credit: NASA / ESA / P. Goudfrooij, STScI.

Hubble Zooms in on Ghostly Shells of Lenticular Galaxy

Jul 10, 2015 by News Staff

The Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the galaxy ESO 381-12. This Hubble image shows...

This artist’s impression shows a supernova and associated gamma-ray burst driven by a rapidly spinning magnetar. Image credit: ESO.

Ultra-Long Gamma-Ray Bursts are Driven by Magnetars, Astronomers Say

Jul 9, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by Dr Jochen Greiner of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Germany, has demonstrated a link between the bright...

High-energy X-rays from NuSTAR are shown in blue; low-energy X-rays from Hinode are green; and extreme UV light from SDO is yellow and red. All three telescopes captured their solar images around the same time on April 29, 2015. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / GSFC / JAXA.

Space Observatories See Active Sun in UV Light and X-Rays

Jul 8, 2015 by News Staff

Active regions of the Sun are highlighted in this composite image combining observations from a fleet of sun-monitoring satellites: NASA’s NuSTAR (Nuclear...

This Hubble image shows the cluster of galaxies MACS0416.1-2403. Bright yellow ‘elliptical’ galaxies can be seen, surrounded by numerous blue spiral and amorphous galaxies. Gravitational arcs can also be seen. This image forms the test data that the machine learning algorithm is applied to, having not previously seen the image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Geach / A. Hocking.

Astronomers Teach AI to ‘See’ Astronomical Images

Jul 8, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, UK, have taught a machine to automatically recognize and classify galaxies in astronomical...

This image shows the quintuple star system J093010 (center). Image credit: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD.

Astronomers Discover Quintuple Star System

Jul 7, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by Dr Marcus Lohr of the Open University, UK, has discovered the first five star system containing two eclipsing binary stars. This...

NuSTAR Discovers Five Hidden Black Holes

Jul 6, 2015 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) space observatory, astronomers have detected X-rays from five supermassive black holes previously...