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Our Milky Way Galaxy is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. The Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur. Overlaid is a graphic of galactic longitude in relation to our Sun. Image credit: NASA / Adler / University of Chicago / Wesleyan / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Find Very Old Stars in Solar Neighborhood

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

A research team led by Georgia State University astronomers has discovered some of the oldest stars in our solar neighborhood by determining their locations...

This artist’s impression shows the first interstellar asteroid -- 1I/2017 U1 (’Oumuamua). Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Interstellar Asteroid Oumuamua is Dark Red, Highly-Elongated Rocky or Metallic Object, Astronomers Say

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

In October 2017, astronomers were surprised by an asteroid that came racing into our Solar System from interstellar space. Now, they have determined that...

The ‘Cosmic Snake’ galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Cosmic Snake

Nov 20, 2017 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the ‘Cosmic Snake’ galaxy, an extremely distant galaxy peppered with clumpy regions of intense...

This artist’s impression shows the super-Earth 55 Cancri e orbiting the Sun-like star 55 Cancri A. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Super-Earth 55 Cancri e Could Have Thick, Earth-Like Atmosphere

Nov 20, 2017 by News Staff

A hot, rocky exoplanet called 55 Cancri e likely has an atmosphere thicker than Earth’s, with ingredients that could be similar to those of Earth’s...

Composite image of the Abell 2744 region, with radio, X-Ray, and optical data combined. Image credit: Pearce et al / Bill Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF / Chandra / Subaru / ESO.

Astronomers Capture Stunning Galaxy-Cluster Collision

Nov 19, 2017 by News Staff

A multi-wavelength composite image from several orbiting and ground-based telescopes captures an ongoing cosmic collision between at least four galaxy...

HAWC map for the region around Geminga (about 815 light-years away in the constellation Gemini) and PSR B0656+14 (about 940 light-years away). Image credit: John Pretz.

Nearby Pulsars Shed Light on Origin of Excess Antimatter

Nov 17, 2017 by News Staff

Astrophysicists using the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory in Mexico have detected the extended emission of high-energy gamma...

An artist’s impression of an accretion disk around a black hole. Image credit: XMM-Newton / ESA / NASA.

X-Rays from Accretion Disks around Rotating Black Holes Can Act as Carriers of Quantum Information

Nov 17, 2017 by News Staff

In a paper published in the journal New Astronomy, theoretical physicist Ovidiu Racorean suggests that X-ray photons emitted by accretion disks around...

This illustration shows a stream of material from a star as it is being devoured by a supermassive black hole in a tidal disruption flare. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

New Type of Highly Energetic Cosmic Explosion Discovered

Nov 16, 2017 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have spotted a new type of extremely energetic cosmic explosion they think originates from a very massive star or the environment of a supermassive...

This artist’s impression shows Ross 128b, with its red dwarf parent star in the background. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Ross 128b: Astronomers Find Exo-Earth Orbiting Nearby Red Dwarf

Nov 15, 2017 by Natali Anderson

A rocky exoplanet roughly the same size as Earth has been discovered orbiting a nearby low-mass star, thanks to new data gathered by ESO’s High Accuracy...

Artist’s impression of two starburst (star-forming) galaxies beginning to merge in the early Universe. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF.

ALMA Spots Pair of Extremely Rare Hyper-Luminous Starburst Galaxies

Nov 13, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a pair of astoundingly bright and spectacularly massive galaxies...

This image of the dwarf galaxy NGC 4625 is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. 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.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 4625

Nov 13, 2017 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of a dwarf galaxy called NGC 4625. This image of the dwarf galaxy NGC 4625 is a composite of separate...

SN 2014J. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Y. Yang, Texas A&M University & Weizmann Institute of Science.

Hubble Captures Distant Supernova’s Light Echoes

Nov 10, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has observed an extremely rare cosmic phenomenon, called a ‘light echo,’ in Messier 82, a star-forming galaxy located...

When Comet 96P/Machholz appeared in SOHO’s view in 2012, astronomers discovered two tiny comet fragments some distance ahead of the main body, signaling the comet was actively changing. This time around they have detected a third fragment -- another breadcrumb in the trail that indicates 96P/Machholz is still evolving. Image credit: ESA / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / SOHO / Steele Hill.

ESA and NASA Solar Observatories Snap Sungrazing Comet

Nov 9, 2017 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) have captured amazing photos of...

Artist’s impression of a Type II supernova. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STSci.

Supernova Discovery Challenges Theories of How Certain Stars End Their Lives

Nov 9, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of astronomers led by Las Cumbres Observatory has found a remarkable object in a nearby galaxy: a star that exploded multiple times...

Color composite image of HATLAS J090045.4+004125 (also known as G09 83808): the blue channel represents data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the red channel the data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Image credit: Zavala et al, doi: 10.1038/s41550-017-0297-8.

Astronomers Find One of Universe’s Earliest Galaxies

Nov 7, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers have spotted the second most distant dusty, starburst galaxy ever found in the Universe. The find is reported this week in the journal Nature...

The starburst galaxy NGC 253 and the radio spectra obtained with ALMA. Image credit: ESO / J. Emerson / VISTA / ALMA / NAOJ / NRAO / Ando et al / Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.

ALMA Spots Huge ‘Molecular Reservoir’ in Nearby Starburst Galaxy NGC 253

Nov 7, 2017 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have found eight molecular clouds in the heart of NGC 253, an active starburst...

The spiral galaxy A1689B11 sits behind the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1689 that acts as a lens, producing two magnified images of the spiral galaxy in different positions in the sky. Image credit: James Josephides.

Astronomers Discover Most Ancient Spiral Galaxy

Nov 6, 2017 by News Staff

Using data from the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) on the Gemini North telescope in Hawai’i, astronomers have identified what they...

This image, taken with ACS and WFC3 cameras on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1300. Seven 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.

Hubble Spots Massive Galaxy Cluster: Abell 1300

Nov 6, 2017 by News Staff

NASA has released a stunning image snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxy cluster Abell 1300. This image, taken with ACS and WFC3 cameras...

This artist’s impression shows how the newly-discovered dust belts around Proxima Centauri may look. This sketch is not to scale -- to make Proxima b clearly visible it has been shown further from the star and larger than it is in reality. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Astronomers Find Two Dust Belts around Proxima Centauri

Nov 5, 2017 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected dust belts around Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our Sun....