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Levin et al suggest that we could have more in common with our extraterrestrial neighbors than initially thought. Image credit: Fernando Ribas.

New Theory Increases Probability of Intelligent Life beyond Earth

Feb 18, 2025 by News Staff

In 1983, the theoretical physicist Brandon Carter concluded that the time it took for humans to evolve on Earth — relative to the total lifespan...

This VST image shows two elliptical galaxies: NGC 3640 and NGC 3641. Image credit: ESO / INAF / Mirabile et al. / Ragusa et al.

VST Traces History of Unusual Elliptical Galaxy

Feb 18, 2025 by Natali Anderson

A giant elliptical galaxy called NGC 3640 has engulfed several smaller galaxies in the past, according to an analysis of data from ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope...

The nebula encasing NGC 2040 resembles a vibrant rose in this image captured by the Gemini South telescope. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF NOIRLab.

Gemini Telescope Spots ‘Cosmic Flower’ in Large Magellanic Cloud

Feb 17, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the Gemini South telescope, astronomers from NSF’s NOIRLab have imaged a beautiful nebula around the young open cluster NGC 2040. The nebula encasing...

This Hubble image shows UGC 5460, a spiral galaxy some 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / W. Jacobson-Galán / A. Filippenko / J. Mauerhan.

Hubble Captures Sparkling Spiral Galaxy Face-On: UGC 5460

Feb 17, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of the spiral galaxy UGC 5460. This Hubble image shows UGC 5460,...

An artist’s impression of a habitable planet orbiting a white dwarf. The ghostly blue ring is a planetary nebula - hydrogen gas the star ejected as it evolved from a red giant to a white dwarf (David A. Aguilar / CfA)

New Research Reveals Surprising Potential for Earth-Like Life around White Dwarf Stars

Feb 13, 2025 by News Staff

White dwarfs may present amenable environments for life on planets formed within or migrated to their habitable zones, generating warmer surface environments...

This VISTA/VIRCAM image shows the super star cluster RCW 38. Image credit: ESO / VVVX Survey.

VISTA Captures Most Detailed Image Ever of RCW 38

Feb 13, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) have created a stunning 80-million-pixel image of the star cluster...

This Chandra image shows the Tarantula Nebula. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Penn State University / Townsley et al.

Chandra Captures Deepest X-ray Image Ever Made of Tarantula Nebula

Feb 12, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Tarantula Nebula is the most important star-forming complex in the Local Group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud,...

In the center of the image, the stars cluster to form a bright and dense green candy floss-colored haze, that is the Large Magellanic Cloud. Scattered across the middle of the image are about 50 small yellow crosses, some of them are so close to one another that they almost overlap. SNR J0624-6948 (orange, higher in the image) and SNR J0614-7251 (blue, lower in the image) are seen in the lower left quarter of the image. Image credit: Eckhard Slawik / ESA / XMM-Newton / Sasaki et al. / F. Zangrandi.

XMM-Newton Spots Two Supernova Remnants in Outskirts of Milky Way’s Satellite Galaxy

Feb 12, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Named SNR J0614-7251 and SNR J0624-6948, the newly-discovered supernova remnants reside in the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the largest satellite...

This gallery contains 74 images of different star systems with exocometary belts taken with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter (ALMA) radio telescope facilities. Image credit: Luca Matrà.

Astronomers Discover Exocometary Belts around 74 Stars

Feb 12, 2025 by News Staff

Astronomers have imaged planetesimal belts in 74 planetary systems as part of the REsolved ALMA and SMA Observations of Nearby Stars (REASONS) survey. This...

An artist’s impression of a super-Neptune exoplanet orbiting a low-mass star near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, Caltech-IPAC.

Astronomers May Have Discovered Fastest-Moving Exoplanet System Ever Seen

Feb 11, 2025 by News Staff

The candidate planetary system, detected with the microlensing method, is thought to move at least 540 km per second (1.2 million mph). An artist’s impression...

Close-up of the Einstein ring around NGC 6505. Image credit: ESA / Euclid / Euclid Consortium / NASA / J.-C. Cuillandre / G. Anselmi / T. Li.

Astronomers Discover Complete Einstein Ring around NGC 6505

Feb 10, 2025 by Natali Anderson

An Einstein ring (also known as an Einstein-Chwolson ring or Chwolson ring) is created as the light from distant objects, like galaxies, pass by an extremely...

This Hubble image shows part of the Tarantula Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Murray.

Hubble Sees Swirling Clouds of Cosmic Gas and Dust in Tarantula Nebula

Feb 10, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking image of a portion of the Tarantula Nebula, which is part of a dwarf galaxy...

This Webb/NIRCam/MIRI shows the Herbig-Haro object HH 30. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Tazaki et al.

Webb Observes Mysterious Herbig-Haro Object in Taurus Molecular Cloud

Feb 6, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have captured...

The J1601+3102 radio jet. Image credit: LOFAR / DECaLS / DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys / LBNL / DOE / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / F. Sweijen, Durham University / M. Zamani, NSF NOIRLab.

Monster Two-Lobed Radio Jet Detected in Early Universe

Feb 6, 2025 by News Staff

The newly-discovered radio jet spans an astonishing 215,000 light-years, and is associated with J1601+3102, an extremely radio-loud quasar that existed...

An artist’s impression of the super-Jupiter exoplanet Gaia-4b. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC / M. Marcussen.

Gaia Discovers Massive Exoplanet and Brown Dwarf around Nearby Low-Mass Stars

Feb 5, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESA’s Gaia star-mapping satellite have discovered two substellar companions — named Gaia-4b and Gaia-5b — orbiting two...

Pasha et al. detected nine rings around LEDA 1313424, a ring galaxy approximately 567 million light-years away in the constellation of Pisces. They also confirmed which galaxy dove through LEDA 1313424, creating these rings: the blue dwarf galaxy that sits to its immediate center-left. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Imad Pasha & Pieter van Dokkum, Yale University.

Astronomers Detect Nine Star-Filled Rings around Giant Galaxy

Feb 4, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) at W.M. Keck Observatory, astronomers have identified nine...

Zhang et al used artificial intelligence to search through radio signals recorded from FRB 121102. Image credit: Breakthrough Listen Initiative.

At What Distance Could Earth’s Radio Signals Be Detected with Modern Technology? Up To 12,000 Light-Years Away, SETI Scientists Say

Feb 4, 2025 by News Staff

The field of SETI searches for technosignatures could provide the first detection of life beyond Earth through the technology that an extraterrestrial...

This artist’s illustration shows WASP-121b, an alien world that is losing magnesium and iron gas from its atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Olmsted, STScI.

WASP-121b May Have Formed Much Closer to Its Parent Star than Previously Believed Possible

Feb 3, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrograph (IGRINS) instrument on the Gemini South telescope have examined the atmosphere of WASP-121b,...

This Hubble image LEDA 132905, a spiral galaxy over 400 million light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R.J. Foley, UC Santa Cruz.

Hubble Captures Type Ia Supernova and Its Host Galaxy

Feb 3, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A type Ia supernova event called SN 2022abvt was discovered two years ago in the spiral galaxy LEDA 132905. This Hubble image LEDA 132905, a spiral galaxy...