Astronomy News

Apr 12, 2022 by News Staff

The estimated diameter of the nucleus of comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is approximately 137 km (85 miles) across, making it the largest nucleus ever seen in a comet by astronomers. The previous record holder is comet C/2002 VQ94, with a nucleus estimated to be 100 km (60 miles) across. This image, taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 on January 8, 2022, shows comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein). Image credit: NASA / ESA...

Apr 11, 2022 by News Staff

Using data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the Subaru Telescope, the Keck Telescope, the Gemini South and North...

Apr 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a stunning image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 91. This Hubble image shows Messier...

Apr 8, 2022 by News Staff

LADUMA J033046.20-275518.1 is the most distant megamaser of its kind ever detected. The three-color optical image of the host galaxy of the LADUMA J033046.20-275518.1...

Apr 8, 2022 by News Staff

The newly-discovered galaxy, named HD1, existed when the Universe was just 330 million years old. HD1 (red object). Image credit: Harikane et al., arXiv:...

Apr 6, 2022 by News Staff

It’s raining vaporized rock on WASP-178b, and KELT-20b has its upper atmosphere getting hotter rather than cooler because it is being sunburned by intense...

Apr 5, 2022 by News Staff

Our Milky Way Galaxy hosts an inner ring-like structure that is rich in metals (elements heavier than hydrogen and helium) and intermediately aged, according...

Apr 5, 2022 by News Staff

Using the Subaru Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have found evidence for a Jupiter-like protoplanet around the young star...

Apr 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a detailed image of a spectacular part of the spiral galaxy called NGC 5921. This image shows NGC 5921, a...

Apr 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured images of M- and X-class solar flares on March 30 and 31, 2022, respectively. SDO captured this image...

Mar 31, 2022 by News Staff

Designated WHL0137-LS and nicknamed Earendel, the newly-detected star emitted its light around 900 million years after the Big Bang. Earendel (arrow) is...

Mar 30, 2022 by News Staff

The discovery probability of long-period comets passing near the Sun is highest during their first passage and then declines, or fades, during subsequent...

Mar 30, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) have spotted a mysterious circular ring between the Milky Way’s plane and...

Mar 30, 2022 by News Staff

The case for methane as a biosignature stems from its instability in the planet’s atmosphere. Because photochemical reactions destroy atmospheric methane,...

Mar 29, 2022 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Wave Array (ALMA), astronomers have observed the carbon-rich star V Hydrae that is apparently transitioning...

Mar 28, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of the spiral galaxy NGC 7172. This Hubble image shows NGC 7172, an active...

Mar 25, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have detected 97 disks of gas and dust around...

Mar 23, 2022 by News Staff

The formation of our Milky Way Galaxy can be split up qualitatively into different assembly phases that resulted in its structurally different stellar...

Mar 23, 2022 by News Staff

According to NASA astronomers, the 5,000-plus exoplanets confirmed so far include small, rocky worlds like Earth, gas giants many times larger than Jupiter,...

Mar 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope have captured this vivid image of the strangely lopsided spiral galaxy NGC 772. The overdeveloped spiral arm...