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An artist’s impression of the LFBOT event AT2023fhn. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / M. Garlick / M. Zamani.

Fast Blue Optical Transients Can Occur in Range of Galactic Environments, Astronomers Say

Oct 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients (LFBOTs) are a rare class of events whose origins are poorly understood. The prototypical example of LFBOTs is AT2018cow,...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4654, a intermediate spiral galaxy some 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee, Space Telescope Science Institute / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on Intermediate Spiral Galaxy

Oct 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of the intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 4654. This Hubble image...

An artist’s illustration of hominins arriving in a multi-biome mosaic landscape. Image credit: Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science.

Homo sapiens Dispersed from Africa into Eurasia via Well-Watered Jordan Rift Valley: Study

Oct 4, 2023 by News Staff

Our species, Homo sapiens, dispersed from Africa into Eurasia multiple times in the Middle and Late Pleistocene. According to new research led by Shantou...

This image from Webb’s NIRCam short-wavelength channel shows the Orion Nebula, its stars, and many other objects in unprecedented high definition in the near infrared. Many of the young stars are surrounded by dense disks of gas and dust which may be forming planets. In other cases, those disks are being destroyed by the intense ultraviolet radiation and strong winds from the most massive stars in the region. Many of these photoevaporating disks are visible if you zoom into the image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / M. McCaughrean / S. Pearson.

Webb Snaps New Pics of Orion Nebula

Oct 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured stunning new images of the Orion Nebula, a diffuse nebula located approximately...

This Hubble image shows NGC 612, a lenticular galaxy some 388 million light-years in the constellation of Sculptor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Barth, University of California, Irvine / B. Boizelle, Brigham Young University / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Takes Close Look at NGC 612

Oct 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the lenticular galaxy NGC 612. This Hubble image shows NGC 612, a lenticular...

This OmegaCAM/VST image shows three nebulae: the red emission nebula IC 1284 and two blue reflection nebulae NGC 6589 and NGC 6590. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Team.

OmegaCAM Sees Three Nebulae in Sagittarius

Oct 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

There are two different types of nebulae in this new image from the OmegaCAM instrument on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at Paranal Observatory in...

This DEC image shows the onion-like layers of NGC 3923, a shell galaxy some 70 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. The image also shows the face-on spiral galaxies LEDA 744285 and ESO 440-11; and near the top of the image is the extremely large gravitational lens around the galaxy cluster PLCK G287.0+32.9. Image credit: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys / LBNL / DOE / KPNO / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage / NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / R. Colombari, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Dark Energy Camera Captures Rare Shell Galaxy

Oct 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

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

This Hubble image shows G35.2-0.7N, a star-forming region some 7,200 light-years away in the constellation of Aquila. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Fedriani / J. Tan.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Massive-Star Forming Region

Oct 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

At least one B-type star — the second most massive type — lurks within a star-forming region called G35.2-0.7N, and a powerful protostellar...

Schematic representation of the tilted accretion disk model. The black hole spin axis is assumed to be straight up and down in this illustration. The jet direction points almost perpendicular to the disk plane. The misalignment between the black hole spin axis and disk rotation axis triggers the precession of the disk and jet. Image credit: Cui et al. / Intouchable Lab@Openverse / Zhejiang Lab.

Messier 87’s Supermassive Black Hole is Indeed Spinning, Astronomers Say

Sep 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Messier 87 is a giant elliptical galaxy located some 53 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. In April 2019, astronomers from the Event...

The TRAPPIST-1 system is remarkable for its seven planets that are similar in size, mass, density, and stellar heating to the rocky planets Venus, Earth, and Mars in our own Solar System. This illustration shows what the rocky planet TRAPPIST-1b could look like based on the new study. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / J. Olmsted, STScI.

Webb Captures Transmission Spectra of TRAPPIST-1b

Sep 27, 2023 by Natali Anderson

TRAPPIST-1 is a nearby system of seven Earth-sized, temperate, rocky exoplanets transiting a Jupiter-sized ultracool red dwarf, ideally suited for in-depth...

Composite images of Eta Carinae. Image credit: NASA / SAO / GSFC / Corcoran et al.

Chandra Discovers New Details about ‘Great Eruption’ of Eta Carinae

Sep 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers are tracking the expansion of the X-ray nebula around Eta Carinae, a luminous binary system...

An artist’s impression of the super-Earth exoplanet HD 164922d. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

New Research Reveals How Magma Oceans May Affect Evolution of Hot Super-Earths

Sep 26, 2023 by News Staff

Lava worlds are a potential emerging population of hot super-Earth exoplanets that are on close-in orbits around their host stars, with likely partially...

An artist’s impression of the Gliese 414 system. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Novel AI Technique Reveals Sample’s Biological or Non-Biological Origin with 90% Accuracy

Sep 26, 2023 by News Staff

The search for definitive biosignatures — unambiguous markers of past or present life — is a central goal of paleobiology and astrobiology....

This Hubble image shows SDSS J103512.07+461412.2, a spiral galaxy some 23 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the near-infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. It is based on data obtained through two filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Tully.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on Little-Known Spiral Galaxy

Sep 25, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured this vivid image of the pithily-named galaxy SDSS J103512.07+461412.2. This Hubble...

Webb identified carbon dioxide on the icy surface of Europa that likely originated in the moon’s subsurface ocean. Image credit: Geronimo Villanueva, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Samantha Trumbo, Cornell University / NASA / ESA / CSA / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

Europa’s Carbon Dioxide Originates from Source within Its Subsurface Ocean, Planetary Scientists Say

Sep 22, 2023 by News Staff

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa has an ocean beneath a crust of water ice. Solid carbon dioxide has previously been observed on the surface, but the source...

Astronomers thought HIP 81208 was a system consisting of a massive central star (A, the central bright spot), a brown dwarf (B) circling around it, and a low-mass star (C) orbiting further away. However, Chomez et al. revealed an object (Cb), approximately 15 times more massive than Jupiter, orbiting around the smaller of the two stars (C). Image credit: ESO / Chomez et al.

Astronomers Directly Image Rare Hierarchical Quadruple System

Sep 19, 2023 by Natali Anderson

HIP 81208 is the first binary stellar system with substellar companions around each stellar component ever found by direct imaging. Astronomers thought...

This Hubble image shows Arp 107, a pair of merging galaxies in the constellation of Leo Minor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Dalcanton.

Hubble Captures Stunning Collision of Two Galaxies

Sep 18, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble astronomers have released an absolutely beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of Arp 107, a pair of galaxies in the midst...

The NASA UAP independent study team recommends that NASA plays a prominent role in the whole-of-government effort to understand UAP by leveraging its extensive expertise to contribute to a comprehensive, evidence-based approach that is rooted in the scientific method. The team members specifically recommend that NASA utilize its existing and planned Earth-observing assets to probe the local environmental conditions associated with UAP that are initially detected by other means. In so doing, NASA can directly probe whether certain environmental factors are coincident with known UAP. They further recommend that NASA explore enhancing collaborations with the U.S. commercial remote-sensing industry, which offer powerful constellations of high-resolution Earth-observing satellites. Image credit: NASA.

NASA’s UAP Study Team Releases Its Final Report

Sep 18, 2023 by News Staff

On September 14, 2023, the NASA Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena independent study team published its final report containing a series of recommendations...

This Webb image shows HH 211, a Herbig-Haro object located 1,000 light-years away in the constellation of Perseus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / T. Ray, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Outflows from Young Protostars are Mostly Molecular, Webb Astronomers Find

Sep 17, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Herbig-Haro (HH) objects are formed when stellar winds or jets of gas spewing from protostars form shock waves colliding with nearby gas and dust at high...