Astronomy News

ESA’s Euclid Mission Returns First Science, New Views of Universe

These images were captured by ESA’s Euclid space telescope. Image credit: ESA / Euclid / Euclid Consortium / NASA / J.-C. Cuillandre, CEA Paris-Saclay / G. Anselmi.
May 24, 2024 by News Staff

ESA’s Euclid mission has released five new images that showcase the telescope’s ability to explore two large-scale cosmic mysteries: dark matter and dark energy. The images feature views of varying sizes — the star-forming region Messier 78, the spiral galaxy NGC 6744, galaxy clusters Abell 2390 and Abell 2764, and the Dorado galaxy group — and were taken shortly after Euclid’s launch in July 2023 as part of its early release observations...

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An artist’s impression of Gliese 12b and its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, Caltech-IPAC.

Potentially Habitable Earth-Sized Exoplanet Discovered around Gliese 12

May 23, 2024 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and many other telescopes, two teams of astronomers have discovered a temperate, Earth-sized...

This artist’s concept shows what the exoplanet WASP-107b could look like based on recent data gathered by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope along with previous observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Why is Cotton-Candy Exoplanet WASP-107b So Puffy?

May 20, 2024 by News Staff

A surprisingly low amount of methane and a super-sized core hide within WASP-107b, a super-Neptune exoplanet approximately 212 light-years away in the...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4689, a spiral galaxy located 52 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Snaps Incredible Image of NGC 4689

May 20, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured this vivid image of NGC 4689, a jewel-bright spiral galaxy in the constellation of...

This image shows a region near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy in X-ray and radio light. At the bottom of the image, near the center, is a brilliant, tangled knot of material that resembles a paint splatter. This is the brightest region in the image, and it contains the supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy, known as Sagittarius A*. The lower third of the image resembles an angry firestorm. Streaks of red and orange are scattered in every direction, as if a legion of embers from a fire crackled and popped into the air all at once. Flame-like structures lick toward the center from our right. Much of the image is infused with wispy blue clouds showing X-rays detected by Chandra. At a few points, the wispy blue clouds seem to form into balls of teal colored light and are known as dust halos. They are caused by X-rays from bright X-ray sources reflecting off dust surrounding the sources. These dust halos resemble underwater lights glowing in a cloudy swimming pool at night. Rising up from Sagittarius A* in the center of the image is a pillar of blue light referred to as a chimney. This chimney of hot gas is surrounded by red clouds that are filled with stars, presenting themselves as tiny red flecks. Near the top of the blue pillar is a streak of light blue, outlined by an illustrated, gray box. This streak is referred to as the chimney exhaust vent. Just to our left is another illustrated box that shows the close-up image of the chimney vent as observed by Chandra. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Universe of Chicago / Mackey et al. / NRF / SARAO / MeerKAT / SAO / N. Wolk.

Milky Way’s Center is Venting, Astronomers Say

May 17, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered an ‘exhaust vent’ funneling hot gas away from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive...

HP Tau, a trio of dazzling stars some 550 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus, blaze brilliantly from the hollowed-out cavity of a reflection nebula in the new Hubble image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Duchene, Universite de Grenoble I / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Triple-Star System in Taurus

May 16, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a stunning image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the triple-star star system HP Tau. HP Tau, a trio of dazzling...

The galaxy system ZS7. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Dunlop / D. Magee / P. G. Pérez-González / H. Übler / R. Maiolino.

Webb Detects Ongoing Merger of Two Supermassive Black Holes in Early Universe

May 16, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found evidence for an ongoing merger of two galaxies and their central black holes —...

An artist’s conception of the Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Astronomers Find 12- to 13-Billion-Year-Old Stars in Milky Way’s Halo

May 15, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers at MIT have discovered thee extremely ancient stars in the Milky Way’s halo, a cloud of stars that envelopes the entire main Galactic disk....

An artist’s concept of SPECULOOS-3b and its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Earth-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting Nearby Ultracool Red Dwarf

May 15, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Ultracool dwarf stars are widespread in the solar neighborhood. Nevertheless, their extremely low brightness has left their planetary population largely...

An artist’s impression of a hot-Jupiter exoplanet. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Discover New Cotton-Candy Exoplanet: WASP-193b

May 14, 2024 by News Staff

Gas giant exoplanets around bright nearby stars provide crucial insights into planetary system formation and evolution mechanisms. Most of these planets...

This VLT image shows Gum 46, a nebula located 5,500 light-years away in the constellation of Crux. Image credit: ESO.

Very Large Telescope Spots Pink Nebula: Gum 46

May 13, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have produced this beautiful image of the gas cloud Gum 46. This VLT image shows Gum 46, a nebula...

This Hubble image shows part of NGC 4753, a lenticular galaxy some 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Kelsey.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on Center of NGC 4753

May 13, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

NGC 4753 is featured with a bright white core and surrounding defined dust lanes around its nucleus. This Hubble image shows part of NGC 4753, a lenticular...

An artist’s impression of the early Earth. Image credit: NASA.

Near-Collapse of Geomagnetic Field May Have Contributed to Diversification of Life on Earth

May 10, 2024 by News Staff

An ultra-weak geomagnetic field between 591 and 565 million years ago (Ediacaran period) coincided with a significant increase in the oxygen levels in...

The NASA visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon -- the point of no return -- of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our Galaxy. Image credit: J. Schnittman & B. Powell, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

New NASA Visualization Shows Supermassive Black Hole’s Event Horizon

May 9, 2024 by News Staff

Thanks to a new visualization produced on a NASA supercomputer, you can plunge into the event horizon, a black hole’s point of no return. “People...

This artist’s concept shows the possible locations of iron revealed in XRISM’s X-ray spectrum of NGC 4151. Image credit: Conceptual Image Lab, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

XRISM Detects Iron in Accretion Disk around NGC 4151’s Supermassive Black Hole

May 8, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

NGC 4151 is a spiral galaxy located some 62 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. This artist’s concept shows the...

An artist’s impression of 55 Cancri e. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / R. Crawford, STScI.

Webb Detects Secondary Atmosphere on 55 Cancri e

May 8, 2024 by News Staff

Gas bubbling up from a lava-covered surface on the super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e may feed an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide,...

This DECam image shows CG4, one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / DOE / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin & M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.

DECam Spots Cometary Globule in Gum Nebula

May 7, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on NSF’s Víctor M. Blanco 4-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4951, a spiral galaxy some 49 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Thilker, Johns Hopkins University / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

NGC 4951: Hubble Space Telescope Captures Active Seyfert Galaxy

May 7, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced a spectacular image of NGC 4951, a spiral galaxy with an active galactic center in...

This Hubble image shows UGC 9684, a spiral galaxy located 240 million light-years away in the constellation of Boötes. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Kilpatrick.

Hubble Snaps Striking New Photo of UGC 9684

May 6, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released an incredibly beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the spiral galaxy UGC 9684. This Hubble image shows UGC...

Rendering of the likely view on a Hycean world. Image credit: Shang-Min Tsai / UCR.

Webb Probably Didn’t Detect Biosignature Gas on K2-18b

May 2, 2024 by News Staff

In 2023, astronomers reported a tentative detection of dimethyl sulfide — which is predominately produced by marine microbes on Earth and regarded...

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