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This ALMA image shows the planet-forming disc around TW Hydrae. The inset image zooms in on the gap nearest to the star, which is at the same distance as the Earth is from the Sun, suggesting an infant version of an Earth-like exoplanet could be emerging from the dust and gas. The additional concentric light and dark features represent other planet-forming regions farther out in the disc. Image credit: S. Andrews, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO.

ALMA Captures Detailed Images of Planet-Forming Disk around Sun-Like Star TW Hydrae

Apr 1, 2016 by News Staff

New images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal finest details in the protoplanetary disk around the young, Sun-like star...

Artist’s impression of the super-Earth 55 Cancri e orbiting its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Create Thermal Map of Super-Earth 55 Cancri e

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have mapped how conditions on 55 Cancri e – a ‘nearby’ super-Earth exoplanet –...

Scientist Links Earth’s Periodic Mass Extinctions to Planet Nine

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

According to Prof. Daniel P. Whitmire from the University of Arkansas, the suspected Planet Nine triggers comet showers linked to mass extinctions on Earth...

HD 80606b: Weird Gaseous Exoplanet Raises Questions about Origins of hot Jupiters

Mar 29, 2016 by News Staff

New observations of HD 80606b raise questions about origins of so-called hot Jupiters, a class of short-period gas giants with a mass similar to Jupiter’s,...

This image, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, shows an irregular dwarf galaxy known as UGC 4459, lying about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Sees Beautiful Dwarf Galaxy

Mar 28, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of UGC 4459, a type of galaxy known as an irregular dwarf galaxy. This image, taken by...

In an artist’s conception, heated galactic wind shown in the hazy portion of the picture emanates from the bright quasar at the edge of a black hole, scattering dust and gas. If allowed to cool, that dust and gas would begin to form stars. Image credit: Johns Hopkins University.

Ancient Quasars Slowed Star Formation 11 Billion Years Ago, Scientists Say

Mar 24, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers appear to have an explanation for a longstanding question in astrophysics: why did the pace of star formation in the Universe slow down 11...

Researchers Find What Causes Jupiter’s X-ray Aurora

Mar 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

According to a study led by University College London researcher William Dunn, the solar wind is causing intense X-ray bursts over Jupiter’s polar regions. Solar...

This image shows the dwarf irregular galaxy Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte. Image credit: ESO / VST / Omegacam Local Group Survey.

Astronomers Snap Breathtaking Picture of Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte Galaxy

Mar 23, 2016 by News Staff

Using the OmegaCAM wide-field imager, a large camera mounted on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope, astronomers have captured this vivid image of a small galaxy...

This false color image shows Cassiopeia A, a remnant of a Type IIb supernova. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Catch Two Supernovae in Act of Exploding

Mar 22, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international group of astronomers, led by Prof. Peter Garnavich from the University of Notre Dame, has caught two Type II supernovae at the moment...

HD 20782b. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

HD 20782b: Astronomers Discover Exoplanet with Highly Eccentric Orbit

Mar 21, 2016 by News Staff

HD 20782b’s orbit closely resembles that of a comet, making it the most eccentric planet ever known. This artist’s rendering shows HD 20782b, the most...

This image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416 combines data from three telescopes - Hubble (showing the galaxies and stars), Chandra (diffuse emission in blue), and the Jansky Very Large Array (diffuse emission in pink). MACS J0416 acts as a powerful natural lens by bending and magnifying the light of far-more-distant objects behind it. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CXC / NRAO / AUI / NSF / STScI / G. Ogrean, Stanford University / J. Lotz, STScI / HFF Team.

Astronomers Snap Image of Huge Cluster of Galaxies

Mar 21, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers have taken a stunning photo of a very massive cluster of galaxies, MACS J0416.1-2403. This image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416 combines...

This galaxy, named SDSS J094700.08+254045.7, is one of the biggest and brightest super spirals; its starry disk and spiral arms stretch about 320,000 light-years across, or more than three times the breadth of our Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: SDSS.

Astronomers Discover Monstrous ‘Super Spirals’

Mar 18, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr. Patrick Ogle from the California Institute of Technology has discovered a new type of galaxy called a super spiral. Images...

Artist’s impression of the giant molecular clouds surrounding the Milky Way’s center, bombarded by very high energy protons accelerated in the vicinity of Sagittarius A*. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick / H.E.S.S. Collaboration.

PeVatron: Source of Very-High-Energy Cosmic Rays Discovered at Milky Way’s Center

Mar 17, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the H.E.S.S. (High Energy Stereoscopic System) Observatory, a system of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in Namibia, astronomers have...

In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of R136, a young star cluster in 30 Doradus. The image is composed of observations from both Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Paul Crowther, University of Sheffield.

Hubble Discovers Nine Extremely Massive Stars in R136

Mar 17, 2016 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have identified nine extremely massive stars in the young star cluster R136. In this image, the...

SDO image of the solar corona in UV light (yellow lines represent the magnetic field on the surface of the Sun). Image credit: NASA / SDO / AIA / LMSAL.

NASA Solar Researchers Create Magnetic Map of Sun

Mar 16, 2016 by News Staff

This illustration lays a depiction of the Sun’s magnetic fields over an image obtained by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on March 12. SDO...

This artist’s impression shows the very bright patches of material in the crater Occator and elsewhere. Image credit: ESO / L.Calçada / NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / Steve Albers / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

HARPS Discovers Surprising Changes of Ceres’ Bright Spots

Mar 16, 2016 by News Staff

New observations using the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph – a high-precision instrument on the 3.6-m telescope at...

Artist’s impression of a black hole feasting on matter from its companion star in a binary system. Image credit: ESA / ATG medialab.

Astronomers Spot Flashes of Red Light from V404 Cygni

Mar 15, 2016 by News Staff

Violent red flashes have been observed during the 2015 outburst of the nearby black-hole V404 Cygni. An artist’s impression of a black hole, similar...

This composite image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0717 was made by combining data from NASA’s Chandra and Hubble space telescopes, and NRAO’s Jansky Very Large Array. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CXC / NRAO / AUI / NSF / STScI / R. van Weeren, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics / J. Lotz, STScI / HFF Team.

Three Telescopes Capture Image of Extremely Distant Galaxy Cluster

Mar 14, 2016 by Natali Anderson

NRAO’s Karl J. Jansky Very Large Array and two of NASA’s space telescopes — Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble — have captured a stunning...

VLTI Captures Best-Ever View of Old Star’s Dusty Disc

Mar 9, 2016 by News Staff

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at Paranal Observatory, Chile, has taken the sharpest image ever seen of the disc of gas and dust around...