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Illustration depicting one interpretation of the exoplanet GJ 357d. Image credit: Chris Smith / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Giant Exoplanets Are Potential ‘Agents of Chaos’ in Multiplanet Systems, Astronomers Say

Oct 31, 2023 by News Staff

Two new papers in the Astronomical Journal show that in some multiplanet systems, giant planets tend to kick their smaller neighbors out of orbit and wreak...

This composite image, taken by Webb’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments, shows the famous Crab Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / STScI / Tea Temim, Princeton University.

Webb Reveals Never-Before-Seen Details in Crab Nebula

Oct 30, 2023 by News Staff

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

This Hubble image shows NGC 1566, a spiral galaxy some 70 million light-years away in the constellation of Dorado. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). It is based on data obtained through six filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Calzetti / LEGUS Team / R. Chandar.

Hubble Zooms in on Spiral Galaxy NGC 1566

Oct 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released an incredibly beautiful close-up shot of the intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1566, which is located in the constellation of...

An artistic representation of how Uranus’ northern infrared aurora (marked in red) would have looked like in 2006. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Showalter, SETI Institute / Hubble Space Telescope.

Infrared Aurora Detected on Uranus

Oct 27, 2023 by News Staff

While the ultraviolet aurora of Uranus has been observed since 1986, no confirmation of the infrared aurora had been observed until now. An artistic representation...

This image from the Gemini South telescope shows NGC 7727, a spiral galaxy located approximately 69 million light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / J. Miller, International Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Gemini South Telescope Captures Tangled Spiral Arms of NGC 7727

Oct 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A stunning new image from the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, shows NGC 7727 —...

This image from Webb’s NIRCam instrument highlights GRB 230307A’s kilonova and its former home galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / A. Levan, IMAPP, Warw / A. Pagan, STScI.

Neutron Star Merger Observed Creating Tellurium and Other Heavy Elements

Oct 26, 2023 by News Staff

Using an array of ground and space-based telescopes, including the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and...

The I-LOFAR radio telescope. Image credit: I-LOFAR.

Astronomers Use Multi-Telescope Technique to Scan Milky Way for Alien Technosignatures

Oct 25, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers from Trinity College Dublin, the Breakthrough Listen project and Onsala Space Observatory have demonstrated the effectiveness of using multisite...

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

New Study Sets Clearer Bounds on Search for Technosignatures from Extraterrestrial Intelligences

Oct 24, 2023 by News Staff

A stable-frequency transmitter with relative radial acceleration to a receiver will show a change in received frequency over time, known as a ‘drift...

This Hubble image shows Arp-Madore 2339-661, a group of three interacting galaxies some 500 million light-years away in the constellation of Tucana. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Four 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 / J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / L. Shatz.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes Trio of Interacting Galaxies

Oct 23, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxy group Arp-Madore 2339-661, so named because they belong...

This artist’s impression illustrates the path of FRB 20220610A, from a group of distant galaxies where it originated all the way to Earth, in one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Astronomers Discover Farthest Fast Radio Burst Yet

Oct 20, 2023 by News Staff

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration pulses of radio emission originating from extragalactic sources. An international team of astronomers...

This Webb image of Jupiter shows stunning details of the majestic planet in infrared light. In this image, brightness indicates high altitude. The numerous bright white ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms. Aurorae, appearing in red in this image, extend to higher altitudes above both the northern and southern poles of the planet. By contrast, dark ribbons north of the equatorial region have little cloud cover. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Ricardo Hueso, UPV / Imke de Pater, UC Berkeley / Thierry Fouchet, Observatory of Paris / Leigh Fletcher, University of Leicester / Michael H. Wong, UC Berkeley / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Webb Spots High-Speed Equatorial Jet in Jupiter’s Stratosphere

Oct 19, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-discovered intense (140 m/s) jet is confined to ±3° of Jupiter’s equator, is approximately 4,800 km wide, and is located in the gas giant’s...

Masses, sizes, and relative densities of objects in our Universe. Image credit: Charles H. Lineweaver & Vihan M. Patel, doi: 10.1119/5.0150209.

Astrophysicists Put All Objects in Universe into One Pedagogical Plot

Oct 19, 2023 by News Staff

In a new paper, astrophysicists from Australian National University present an overview of the thermal history of our Universe and the sequence of objects...

Optical mosaics of 42 galaxies from the SGA-2020 sorted by increasing angular diameter from the top-left to the bottom-right. Galaxies are chosen randomly from a uniform (flat) probability distribution in angular diameter. The horizontal white bar in the lower-left corner of each panel represents 1 arcminute and the mosaic cutouts range from 3.2 to 13.4 arcminutes. This figure illustrates the tremendous range of types, sizes, colors and surface brightness profiles, internal structure, and environments of the galaxies in the SGA. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / DOE / NSF / AURA / J. Moustakas.

Astronomers Create Detailed Atlas of Over 380,000 Galaxies

Oct 19, 2023 by News Staff

The Siena Galaxy Atlas (SGA) is a compilation of data from three surveys completed between 2014 and 2017 known as the DESI Legacy Surveys, which were carried...

An artist’s impression of the giant exoplanet Kepler-1704b. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Jupiter-Like Exoplanets May Be More Common than Previously Found

Oct 18, 2023 by News Staff

Young moving stellar groups are the best targets for direct imaging of exoplanets and four massive Jupiter-like planets have been already discovered in...

An artist’s impression of the hot-Jupiter WASP-17b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Webb Detects Quartz Clouds in Atmosphere of WASP-17b

Oct 16, 2023 by News Staff

A transmission spectrum of WASP-17b — a hot-Jupiter exopanet around 1,300 light-years away — captured by the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)...

This Hubble image shows IC 5332, a spiral galaxy some 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. It is based on data obtained through six filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Chandar / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Space Telescope Views Intermediate Spiral Galaxy IC 5332

Oct 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of the face-on spiral galaxy IC 5332. This Hubble image shows IC 5332, a spiral galaxy...

From a great distance, our Milky Way Galaxy would look like a thin disk of stars that orbits once every few hundred million years around its central region, where hundreds of billions of stars provide the gravitational ‘glue’ to hold it all together. But this pull of gravity is much weaker in the Galaxy’s far outer disk. There, the hydrogen atoms making up most of the Milky Way’s gas disk are no longer confined to a thin plane, instead they give the disk an S-like, or warped, appearance. Image credit: Xiaodian Chen.

Milky Way is Embedded in Tilted Dark Matter Halo, Research Suggests

Oct 12, 2023 by News Staff

The outer disk of our Milky Way Galaxy is warped and flared. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain these phenomena, but none have reproduced...

An artist’s impression of a magnetar eruption. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Seismic Activity in Crust of Neutron Stars Could Explain Repeating Fast Radio Bursts

Oct 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fast radio bursts are extragalactic transient phenomena that shine in radio wavelengths for short durations lasting only 1-10 milliseconds. Some sources...

A visualization of the huge, glowing planetary body produced by the ASASSN-21qj planetary collision. Image credit: Mark Garlick.

Astronomers Detect Afterglow of Collision between Two Ice-Giant Exoplanets

Oct 11, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The collision between two exoplanets of several to tens of Earth masses occurred at a distance of 2-16 AU (astronomical units) from the young solar-like...