Astronomy News

ESA’s Gaia Mission Sheds New Light on Past and Future of Our Sun

On August 31, 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The CME traveled at over 900 miles per second. It did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow, causing aurora to appear on the night of September 3. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Aug 12, 2022 by News Staff

With an age of 4.57 billion years, the Sun is currently in its comfortable middle age, fusing hydrogen into helium and generally being rather stable; staid even. That will not always be the case. As the hydrogen fuel runs out in its core, and changes begin in the fusion process, astronomers expect it to swell into a red giant, lowering its surface temperature in the process. Exactly how this happens depends on how much mass a star contains and its...

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An artist’s impression of a Neptune-sized planet around an A-type star. Image credit: Steven Giacalone, University of California, Berkeley.

Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting A-Type Star HD 56414

Aug 12, 2022 by Natali Anderson

With an effective temperature of 8,500 K, the A-type star HD 56414 is one of the hottest stars known to host a planet smaller than Jupiter. An artist’s...

This illustration plots changes in the brightness of Betelgeuse, following the titanic mass ejection of a large piece of its visible surface; the escaping material cooled to form a cloud of dust that temporarily made the star look dimmer, as seen from Earth; this unprecedented stellar convulsion disrupted the monster star’s 400-day-long oscillation period that astronomers had measured for more than 200 years; the interior may now be jiggling like a plate of gelatin dessert. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Elizabeth Wheatley, STScI.

Betelgeuse is Still Recovering from Gigantic Surface Mass Ejection, Astronomers Say

Aug 11, 2022 by News Staff

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star located around 650 light-years away in the constellation of Orion, underwent a historic dimming between December 2019...

In this multiwavelength view, radio emission from SNR G106.3+2.7 is blue and green, while yellow, orange, and red reveal radio waves from a vast cloud of interstellar gas; at center, the pink region shows where protons boosted by the supernova’s shock wave strike the gas, emitting a tell-tale glow of gamma rays. Image credit: Jayanne English, University of Manitoba / NASA / Fermi / Fang et al. / Canadian Galactic Plane Survey / DRAO / FCRAO.

Supernova Remnants are Sources of Extreme PeVatron Particles: Study

Aug 10, 2022 by News Staff

SNR G106.3+2.7, a supernova remnant located about 2,600 light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus, is producing protons with energies 10 times greater...

This image from the Gemini North telescope shows a pair of interacting spiral galaxies: NGC 4568 (bottom) and NGC 4567 (top). Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Astronomers Capture Ongoing Collision of Two Spiral Galaxies

Aug 9, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope, one of the twin telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory, have captured a stunning image of a pair...

This Webb/NIRCam image shows Earendel (center), the most distant star ever detected. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Webb Images Earendel, Farthest Known Star

Aug 9, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Earendel emitted its light approximately 900 million years after the Big Bang. This Webb/NIRCam image shows Earendel (center), the most distant star ever...

Artist’s impression of an infant star still surrounded by a protoplanetary disk in which planets are forming. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

ALMA Spots Circumplanetary Disk around Young Star AS 209

Aug 9, 2022 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected the emission from 13CO — measure of the molecular gas distribution...

A simulated star-forming region where massive stars destroy their parent cloud. Image credit: STARFORGE.

Star Formation is Self-Regulatory Process, New Research Suggests

Aug 8, 2022 by News Staff

Although star formation is one of the most fundamental processes of astrophysics, there is no widely accepted theory of star formation, despite decades...

This Hubble image shows HH 505, a Herbig-Haro object located some 1,000 light-years away in the constellation of Orion. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Bally / M.H. Özsaraç.

Hubble Spots Mysterious Herbig-Haro Object in Orion Nebula

Aug 8, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the Herbig-Haro (HH) object 505. This Hubble image shows HH 505, a...

This image from Webb’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) shows the Maisie’s galaxy, one of the earliest galaxies ever observed; if its estimated redshift of 14.3 is confirmed with future observations, that would mean we’re seeing it as it was just 290 million years after the Big Bang. Image credit: NASA / STScI / CEERS / TACC / S. Finkelstein / M. Bagley / Z. Levay.

Webb Spots Candidate for Most Distant Known Galaxy

Aug 4, 2022 by News Staff

The new Webb images, taken by its two cameras — the Near Infrared Camera and the Mid-Infrared Instrument — as part of the Cosmic Evolution...

This artist’s conception shows the merger between a neutron star and another star (seen as a disk, lower left) which caused an explosion resulting in SGRB 211106A (white jet, middle), and left behind what astronomers now know to be one of the most luminous afterglows on record (semi-spherical shock wave mid-right); while dust in the host galaxy obscured most of the visible light (shown as colors), millimeter light from the event (depicted in green) was able to escape and reach ALMA. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / M. Weiss, NRAO, AUI & NSF.

ALMA Looks at Neutron Star Merger in Millimeter Light

Aug 3, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have for the first time detected the millimeter afterglow of a short-duration...

This image of the Cartwheel Galaxy and its companion galaxies is a composite from Webb’s NIRCam and MIRI instrument. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Webb ERO Production Team.

Webb Captures Incredible Images of Cartwheel Galaxy

Aug 2, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using two instruments aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have produced detailed images of the Cartwheel Galaxy and its two...

This Webb image shows multiply lensed background galaxies around SMACS J0723.3-7327 (cyan indicates already known multiple image systems; green indicates new multiply lensed sources); the insets show enlarged images of a very distant galaxy with some substructure indicated by the green arrows. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.

Webb Spots Extremely Distant, Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy

Aug 2, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and elsewhere have analyzed an image taken by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope of...

This image, taken by the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows Messier 61, a barred spiral galaxy located 52.5 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. The observations were done as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) project. Image credit: ESO / PHANGS.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Focuses on Messier 61

Aug 2, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, astronomers have captured a stunning image...

This Hubble image shows the bulge metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6638. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Cohen.

Hubble Spots Young Globular Cluster in Milky Way Galaxy’s Bulge

Aug 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a very detailed image of the bulge globular cluster NGC 6638. This Hubble image shows the bulge metal-rich...

This artist’s impression illustrates the merger of two neutron stars, which produces the remarkably brief yet intensely powerful event known as a short gamma-ray burst. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva / Spaceengine.

Castaway Gamma-Ray Bursts Occur in Extremely Distant Galaxies, Astronomers Say

Jul 28, 2022 by News Staff

About 30% of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs), which form during the collisions of neutron stars, lack a coincident host galaxy, raising questions about...

This image shows PSR J0952-0607 and its companion. Image credit: W.M. Keck Observatory / Roger W. Romani / Alex Filippenko.

Astronomers Find Heaviest Neutron Star on Record

Jul 27, 2022 by News Staff

PSR J0952-0607, a so-called millisecond pulsar, has shredded and consumed nearly the entire mass of its stellar companion and, in the process, grown into...

Zeta Ophiuchi was once in close orbit with another star, before being ejected when this companion was destroyed in a supernova explosion; infrared data from Spitzer reveal a spectacular shock wave (red and green) that was formed by matter blowing away from the star’s surface and slamming into gas in its path; data from Chandra (blue) show a bubble of X-ray emission located around the star, produced by gas that has been heated by the shock wave to tens of millions of degrees. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Cambridge / Sisk-Reynés et al. / NSF / NRAO / VLA / PanSTARRS.

Chandra Takes New Look at Giant Runaway Star Zeta Ophiuchi

Jul 26, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Zeta Ophiuchi is a very massive, hot, bright blue star that once had a companion that exploded as a supernova. Zeta Ophiuchi was once in close orbit with...

This Hubble image shows three galaxies LEDA 58109, SDSS J162558.14+435746.4, and SDSS J162557.25+435743.5. The color image is composed of infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Victor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Nine filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / W. Keel.

Hubble Sees Group of Galaxies in Hercules

Jul 25, 2022 by News Staff

A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows several spiral and irregular galaxies in the constellation of Hercules. This Hubble image shows...

Images of WISE 1810 from the UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey (left) and NOT ALFOSC (right). The object is indicated by a red arrow. North is up and east left. Each image is about 80 arcsec across. Image credit: Lodieu et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243516.

Astronomers Find Ancient Brown Dwarf in Solar Neighborhood

Jul 22, 2022 by Natali Anderson

WISE 1810055-1010023 (WISE 1810 for short), a metal-poor brown dwarf located 8.9 parsecs (29 light-years) away, is nearly 10 billion years old. Images...

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