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An artist’s illustration of a protoplanetary disk; the insert displays carbon monoxide molecules in the ice phase. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics.

Astronomers Solve Mystery of Missing Gaseous Carbon Monoxide in Protoplanetary Disks

Aug 23, 2022 by News Staff

Carbon monoxide is ultra-bright and extremely common in protoplanetary disks, making it a prime target for astronomers. But a huge chunk of carbon monoxide...

This Webb image shows members of the SMACS0723_PC protocluster: the red circles show the position of the two spectroscopically confirmed galaxies and the green circles are at the position of the six other protocluster members candidates. Image credit: Laporte et al., arXiv: 2208.04930.

Webb Finds Protocluster of Galaxies in Early Universe

Aug 22, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers from the University of Cambridge and elsewhere have analyzed the spectroscopic and photometric data from three instruments (NIRSpec, NIRISS...

This image, taken with the Zorro imager on the 8.1-m Gemini South telescope, shows R136a1, the largest star yet discovered. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Gemini South Telescope Captures Best Ever Images of Most Massive Known Star

Aug 22, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

R136a1 has a mass between 170 and 230 solar masses, according to an analysis of optical data from the speckle imager Zorro mounted on the 8.1-m Gemini...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1156, a dwarf irregular galaxy located 25 million light-years away in the constellation of Aries. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). It is based on data obtained through five filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R.B. Tully / R. Jansen / R. Windhorst.

Hubble Observes Magellanic-Type Dwarf Irregular Galaxy

Aug 22, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a spectacularly detailed image of an isolated dwarf irregular galaxy called NGC 1156. This Hubble image...

GLASS-JWST-BD1. Image credit: Nonino et al., arXiv: 2207.14802.

Webb Detects Cold Brown Dwarf Roughly 2,000 Light-Years Away

Aug 19, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted a faint, distant, and cold brown dwarf in the images of the massive galaxy cluster...

The main panel of this image shows a wide-field view of NGC 4424 in optical light from Hubble. The image is about 45,000 light-years wide. The inset features a close-up view of NGC 4424 that shows Chandra X-ray data (blue) plus a version of the optical data (red) that has had light from a model of NGC 4424 subtracted from the image to show other faint features. This inset image is about 1,700 light-years across. The Nikhuli star cluster is the elongated red object. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Swinburne University of Technology / Graham et al. / ESA / STScI.

Astronomers Witness ‘Black Hole Delivery System’ in Action

Aug 18, 2022 by Natali Anderson

A rare intermediate-mass black hole may have been delivered to the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4424 by another, smaller galaxy, according to an analysis of...

The emission from M87* has been resolved into a bright, thin ring (orange colormap), arising from the infinite sequence of additional images of the emission region, and the more diffuse primary image, produced by the photons that come directly toward Earth (in blue contours); when viewed at the imaging resolution of the Event Horizon Telescope, the two components blur together; however, by separately searching for the thin ring, it is possible to sharpen the view of M87*, isolating the fingerprint of strong gravity. Image credit: Broderick et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac7c1d.

Astrophysicists Produce Image of Supermassive Black Hole’s Photon Ring

Aug 17, 2022 by News Staff

In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration released stunning images of M87*, a supermassive black hole in the center of Messier 87,...

An artist’s impression of the asteroid Polymele. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Trojan Asteroid Polymele Has Small Moon

Aug 17, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Jupiter trojan asteroid 15094 Polymele and its small satellite are among the targets of NASA’s Lucy mission, which will approach the asteroid system...

This image of NGC 7727 was captured by the FORS2 instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO.

VLT Sees Spectacular Cosmic Collision: NGC 7727

Aug 16, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have taken a picture of...

The NameExoWorlds 2022 competition offers the opportunity to name 20 exoplanets and their host stars. Image credit: IAU OAO / NARIT.

NameExoWorlds 2022: Here’s Your Chance to Name One of Webb’s Exoplanet Targets

Aug 16, 2022 by News Staff

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has announced a contest to name extrasolar planetary systems to be observed by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space...

Color image of the Sparkler galaxy made by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Image credit: Mowla et al., arXiv: 2208.02233.

Webb Spots Ancient Globular Clusters in Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy

Aug 15, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted ancient globular clusters around a remarkable galaxy that is strongly gravitationally...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6540, a bulge globular cluster some 17,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Cohen.

Hubble Space Telescope Zooms in on NGC 6540

Aug 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of the bulge globular cluster NGC 6540. This Hubble image shows...

On August 31, 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The CME traveled at over 900 miles per second. It did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow, causing aurora to appear on the night of September 3. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

ESA’s Gaia Mission Sheds New Light on Past and Future of Our Sun

Aug 12, 2022 by News Staff

With an age of 4.57 billion years, the Sun is currently in its comfortable middle age, fusing hydrogen into helium and generally being rather stable; staid...

An artist’s impression of a Neptune-sized planet around an A-type star. Image credit: Steven Giacalone, University of California, Berkeley.

Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting A-Type Star HD 56414

Aug 12, 2022 by Natali Anderson

With an effective temperature of 8,500 K, the A-type star HD 56414 is one of the hottest stars known to host a planet smaller than Jupiter. An artist’s...

This illustration plots changes in the brightness of Betelgeuse, following the titanic mass ejection of a large piece of its visible surface; the escaping material cooled to form a cloud of dust that temporarily made the star look dimmer, as seen from Earth; this unprecedented stellar convulsion disrupted the monster star’s 400-day-long oscillation period that astronomers had measured for more than 200 years; the interior may now be jiggling like a plate of gelatin dessert. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Elizabeth Wheatley, STScI.

Betelgeuse is Still Recovering from Gigantic Surface Mass Ejection, Astronomers Say

Aug 11, 2022 by News Staff

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star located around 650 light-years away in the constellation of Orion, underwent a historic dimming between December 2019...

In this multiwavelength view, radio emission from SNR G106.3+2.7 is blue and green, while yellow, orange, and red reveal radio waves from a vast cloud of interstellar gas; at center, the pink region shows where protons boosted by the supernova’s shock wave strike the gas, emitting a tell-tale glow of gamma rays. Image credit: Jayanne English, University of Manitoba / NASA / Fermi / Fang et al. / Canadian Galactic Plane Survey / DRAO / FCRAO.

Supernova Remnants are Sources of Extreme PeVatron Particles: Study

Aug 10, 2022 by News Staff

SNR G106.3+2.7, a supernova remnant located about 2,600 light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus, is producing protons with energies 10 times greater...

This image from the Gemini North telescope shows a pair of interacting spiral galaxies: NGC 4568 (bottom) and NGC 4567 (top). Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Astronomers Capture Ongoing Collision of Two Spiral Galaxies

Aug 9, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope, one of the twin telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory, have captured a stunning image of a pair...

This Webb/NIRCam image shows Earendel (center), the most distant star ever detected. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Webb Images Earendel, Farthest Known Star

Aug 9, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Earendel emitted its light approximately 900 million years after the Big Bang. This Webb/NIRCam image shows Earendel (center), the most distant star ever...

Artist’s impression of an infant star still surrounded by a protoplanetary disk in which planets are forming. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

ALMA Spots Circumplanetary Disk around Young Star AS 209

Aug 9, 2022 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected the emission from 13CO — measure of the molecular gas distribution...