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An artist’s concept of the SN 2016iet pair-instability supernova. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NSF / AURA / Joy Pollard.

New Type of Supernova Totally Annihilates Its Parent Star

Aug 22, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers have announced the discovery of the most massive star ever known to be destroyed by a supernova explosion. Dubbed SN 2016iet, the explosive...

Two giant planets, Beta Pictoris b and c, orbit the nearby, young star Beta Pictoris. Image credit: P. Rubini / A.-M. Lagrange.

Second Planet Found Hiding in Beta Pictoris System

Aug 21, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from ESO’s High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) instrument, a multinational team of astronomers has uncovered evidence for...

An artist’s conception of the Earth-sized exoplanet LHS 3844b which orbits a small star 49 light-years from Earth. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, IPAC.

Earth-Sized Exoplanet LHS 3844b is Similar to Mercury, Astronomers Say

Aug 20, 2019 by News Staff

LHS 3844b, a 1.3-Earth-radii terrestrial world in an 11-hour orbit around the small nearby star LHS 3844, very likely has little to no atmosphere and could...

The Kohnen Station in Antarctica. Image credit: Sepp Kipfstuhl.

Scientists Find Interstellar Iron in Antarctic Snow

Aug 20, 2019 by Natali Anderson

A team of researchers from Germany, Austria and Australia has found traces of the radioactive isotope iron-60 — the tell-tale signature of a supernova...

This image shows the planetary nebula NGC 2371/2. The picture was snapped by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). The color composite was assembled from images taken in visible and infrared light. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Wade et al.

Hubble Spots Bipolar Planetary Nebula

Aug 19, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has delivered an unrivalled snapshot of the bipolar (two-lobed) planetary nebula NGC 2371/2. This image shows the planetary...

Massive and dusty star-forming galaxies are visible to ALMA (right), but invisible to Hubble (left). Image credit: Wang et al.

Astronomers Spot Massive Star-Forming Galaxies in Early Universe

Aug 16, 2019 by News Staff

Using data from multiple space- and ground-based telescopes, an international team of astronomers has discovered 39 massive star-forming galaxies at a...

An artist’s impression of a flare erupting from the star Proxima Centauri and the glowing exoplanet Proxima b. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa, Carnegie Institution for Science / NASA / SDO / JPL / Sci-News.com.

Biofluorescence Could Expose Hidden Alien Life on Exoplanets around Red Dwarfs

Aug 14, 2019 by News Staff

Powerful flares from M-type stars (red dwarfs) — once thought to destroy life on their planets — might help uncover hidden biospheres; their...

Glitch in Vela Pulsar Provides Unique Opportunity to Study Neutron Star’s Interior

Aug 13, 2019 by News Staff

Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars observed to have pulses of radiation at very regular intervals that typically range from milliseconds to seconds....

This Spitzer image shows the edge-on lenticular galaxy NGC 5866. The colors represent three infrared wavelengths captured by Spitzer’s Infrared Array Camera. Blue light corresponds to Spitzer’s observations at a wavelength of 3.6 microns, produced mainly by stars; green corresponds to 4.5 microns; and red corresponds to 8 microns. In this image, the blue haze is produced by stars that make up most of the mass of NGC 5866. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Spots Perfect Edge-On Galaxy: NGC 5866

Aug 13, 2019 by News Staff

NASA has released a stunning infrared image taken by the agency’s Spitzer Space Telescope of a lenticular galaxy called NGC 5866. This Spitzer image...

VERITAS is located at the basecamp of the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona. Image credit: K. Gibbs & N. Galente, Whipple Observatory.

VERITAS to Search for Nanosecond Laser Beams from Extraterrestrial Civilizations

Aug 12, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers from the Breakthrough Listen, a scientific program in search for signs of intelligent life in the Universe, and the VERITAS (Very Energetic...

This image, taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), shows the planetary nebula NGC 2022. The color composite was assembled from images taken in visible and infrared light. Two 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 / R. Wade.

Hubble Captures Beautiful Planetary Nebula Image

Aug 12, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a stunning image of NGC 2022, a vast orb of gas in space, cast off by an aging star. This image, taken...

This new Hubble image of Jupiter, taken on June 27, 2019, reveals the giant planet’s Great Red Spot, and a more intense color palette in the clouds swirling in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere than seen in previous years. The colors, and their changes, provide important clues to ongoing processes in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The bands are created by differences in the thickness and height of the ammonia ice clouds. The colorful bands, which flow in opposite directions at various latitudes, result from different atmospheric pressures. Lighter bands rise higher and have thicker clouds than the darker bands. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley.

Hubble Snaps Super-Sharp Image of Jupiter

Aug 9, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained a detailed image of Jupiter on June 27, 2019, when the gas giant was approximately 400 million miles (644...

ALMA made the most precise measurements of cold gas swirling around a supermassive black hole -- the cosmic behemoth at the center of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 3258. The multi-color ellipse reflects the motion of the gas orbiting the black hole, with blue indicating motion toward us and red motion away from us. The inset box represents how the orbital velocity changes with distance from the black hole. The material was found to rotate faster the closer in the astronomers observed to the black hole, enabling them to accurately calculate its mass: a whopping 2.25 billion times the mass of our Sun. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / B. Boizelle / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello / Hubble Space Telescope / NASA / ESA / Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey.

ALMA Determines Mass of Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 3258

Aug 8, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have observed the dynamical sphere of influence of a supermassive black hole...

Colorful and wispy Sharpless 2-296 forms the ‘wings ‘ of an area of sky known as the Seagull Nebula -- named for its resemblance to a gull in flight. This celestial bird contains a fascinating mix of intriguing astronomical objects. Glowing clouds weave amid dark dust lanes and bright stars. The Seagull Nebula -- made up of dust, hydrogen, helium and traces of heavier elements -- is the hot and energetic birthplace of new stars. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Team / N.J. Wright, Keele University.

ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope Observes Seagull Nebula

Aug 8, 2019 by News Staff

The VLT Survey Telescope (VST), a large telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, has taken a brilliant picture of the Seagull Nebula, which lies along...

This image (colorized), taken by the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), shows the near-Earth asteroid 2019 OK. Image credit: S. Schmalz / ISON.

Astronomers Snap Images of Near-Earth Asteroid 2019 OK

Aug 7, 2019 by News Staff

Using several telescopes of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), astronomers have captured a series of images of the recently-discovered...

This image shows HIP 52181 (blue star in the center), a pulsating subdwarf O-star. Image credit: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD / SDSS.

New Class of Pulsating Stars Discovered

Aug 6, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of astronomers from the United States, Germany and Israel has discovered a new class of pulsators that vary in brightness every 5...

Supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies blast radiation and ultra-fast winds outward, as illustrated in this artist’s conception. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ultramassive Black Hole Found in Elliptical Galaxy Holmberg 15A

Aug 5, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered an enormous black hole at the center of Holmberg 15A, a supergiant elliptical galaxy...

Two interacting galaxies UGC 2369N and UGC 2369S were imaged using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Two 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 / A. Evans.

Hubble Watches Graceful Dance of Interacting Galaxies: UGC 2369

Aug 5, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking view of UGC 2369, a pair of interacting galaxies. Two interacting galaxies UGC 2369N and UGC...

This image shows the ultra-metal-poor star SMSS J160540.18-144323.1. Image credit: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD / PanSTARRS.

Astronomers Discover Milky Way’s Most Iron-Poor Star

Aug 2, 2019 by News Staff

SMSS J160540.18-144323.1, an ultra-metal-poor red giant star located in the halo of the Milky Way, on the other side of the Galaxy about 35,000 light-years...