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Artist’s impression of one of the possible galaxy strangulation mechanisms: star-forming galaxies (fed by gas inflows) are accreted into a massive hot halo, which ‘strangles’ them and leads to their death. Image credit: University of Cambridge.

New Study Reveals What Quenches Star Formation in Galaxies

May 14, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Nature, the primary mechanism for stopping star formation in galaxies is the so-called ‘strangulation,’...

The giant elliptical galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is the closest such galaxy to the Earth, at a distance of about 12 million light-years. Image credit: ESO / ESA / Hubble / NASA / Digitized Sky Survey / Davide de Martin.

Astronomers Discover New Type of Star Cluster

May 14, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in northern Chile has discovered a never-seen-before...

An artist’s conception of the gas giant exoplanet TrES-2b. Image credit: David A. Aguilar / CfA.

Astronomers Prepare Weather Reports for Jupiter-Sized Exoplanets

May 13, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using data collected by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope have found evidence of daily weather cycles on fourteen extrasolar gas giants. An artist’s...

This image shows NGC 3923, one of the most unusual objects in the Malin-Carter catalog of elliptical galaxies with shells. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA / Judy Schmidt.

NGC 3923: Astronomers Capture Beautiful Image of Shell Galaxy

May 11, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have imaged an unusual elliptical galaxy called NGC 3923. This...

This is the core of a Type II supernova at the onset of explosion: neutrinos that are emitted from the protoneutron at the center are absorbed by the gas behind the shock front, heat up this gas, and drive turbulence; eventually an asymmetric explosion develops. Image credit: Christian Ott, California Institute of Technology / Steve Drasco, Cal Poly San Luis Obsipo.

Type II Supernovae Explode in Lopsided Fashion, Astronomers Say

May 8, 2015 by News Staff

New observations of the remnant of Supernova (SN) 1987A from NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) are confirming predictions made at...

The Sun emitted an X2.7-class solar flare, peaking at 6:11 p.m. EDT on May 5, 2015. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / SDO.

NASA’s SDO Captures X2.7-Class Solar Flare

May 8, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured stunning images of a significant solar flare on May 5, 2015. The Sun emitted an X2.7-class...

This diagram shows how scientists determined the size of the halo of the Andromeda Galaxy. Because the gas in the halo is dark, astronomers measured it by using the light from distant quasars. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Field, STScI / N. Lehner & J.C. Howk, University of Notre Dame / B. Wakker, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

NASA’s Hubble Sees Huge Gaseous Halo around Andromeda Galaxy

May 8, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that a nearly invisible halo of hot plasma...

AKARI view of the central regions of Cygnus. Image credit: JAXA.

AKARI Space Observatory Focuses on Cygnus

May 7, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s AKARI Space Observatory have captured a stunning image of the central regions of the Cygnus constellation. AKARI...

EGS-zs8-1: Scientists Discover Farthest Galaxy Ever

May 6, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers led by Dr Pascal Oesch of Yale University has discovered a massive galaxy more than 13 billion years in the past...

55 Cancri e is so close to its host star that it must experience extreme conditions. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada.

European Astronomers Find Evidence of Volcanic Activity on 55 Cancri e

May 5, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK and the University of Liege in Belgium has detected changing temperatures on a terrestrial...

A hypothetical mini-Neptune. Image credit: DLR Institute of Planetary Research.

Astronomers Discover Brightly Illuminated mini-Neptune

May 4, 2015 by News Staff

A group of astronomers led by Benjamin Montet of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, has discovered a highly irradiated mini-Neptune exoplanet...

This image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 949. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA.

Hubble Snaps Best Ever Image of Spiral Galaxy NGC 949

May 4, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured the best image so far of the spiral galaxy NGC...

An image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory of PSR B1509-58. Image credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Discover Strange New Pulsar

May 4, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the 100-meter Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope have discovered an exotic pulsar that has the widest orbit of any around a neutron...

A hypothetical gas giant exoplanet. Image credit: NASA.

HATS-6b: Astronomers Discover Strange Saturn-like Exoplanet

May 1, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers from the United States, Australia, Chile, Germany, and Hungary, has discovered an extrasolar gas giant orbiting very...

This visualization of the 3D structure of the Pillars of Creation is based on new observations of the object using VLT’s MUSE instrument. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

ESO’s VLT Captures Pillars of Creation in 3D

Apr 30, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have created a 3D map of the iconic Pillars of Creation. This image...

Composed of gas and dust, this molecular cloud resides in a stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Carina. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble SM4 ERO Team.

Water Vapor Could Have Been Abundant in Early Universe, Scientists Say

Apr 29, 2015 by News Staff

Water vapor could have been just as abundant in cosmic molecular clouds a billion years after the Big Bang as it is today, says a group of researchers...

The planetary system HD 7924. Image credit: Karen Teramura / Benjamin Fulton / UH IfA.

Two New Super-Earth Exoplanets Discovered around Nearby Star HD 7924

Apr 29, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers using three ground-based telescopes in the United States has discovered two super-Earths around a nearby star known as HD 7924. The...

A slice through the map of nearby galaxy superclusters; the map spans nearly 2 billion light years from side to side. Regions with many galaxies are shown in white or red, whereas regions with fewer galaxies are dark blue. Image credit: University of Waterloo, adapted by Sci-News.com.

Scientists Create 3D Map of Nearby Galaxy Superclusters

Apr 28, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Canada and France has produced a three-dimensional density map of galaxies that spans approximately 2 billion light-years. A...

Images of SN 2012ap and its host galaxy, NGC 1729. Image credit: D. Milisavljevic et al.

SN 2012ap: Astronomers Find ‘Missing Link’ in Supernova Family Tree

Apr 28, 2015 by News Staff

Supernova SN 2012ap is a ‘missing link’ between stellar explosions that generate gamma-ray bursts and those that don’t, says a group of astronomers...