Astronomy News | Sci.News

This illustration depicts the result of a collision between two large asteroid-sized bodies around a young star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Spots Enormous Debris Cloud around Young Star

Mar 18, 2022 by News Staff

The debris cloud in the terrestrial zone of the 10-million-year-old star HD 166191 was created by a large impact involving objects of several hundred kilometers...

While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb’s optics and NIRCam are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. At this stage of Webb’s mirror alignment, known as fine phasing, each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. This image of a star called 2MASS J17554042+6551277 uses a red filter to optimize visual contrast. Image credit: NASA / STScI.

Webb’s Optics Works Successfully, NASA Says

Mar 16, 2022 by News Staff

Following the completion of mirror alignment steps, the Webb team expects that the telescope’s optical performance will be able to meet or exceed its...

Coelho et al. provide a guide for the search for surface life on icy worlds based on biota from Earth’s icy environments. Image credit: Jack Madden.

Astrobiologists Create Catalog of Icy World Surface Biosignatures

Mar 15, 2022 by News Staff

With thousands of discovered exoplanets and new missions that will explore our Solar System, the search for life in the Universe has entered a new era....

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Early Universe Experienced Phase Transition that Created Supermassive Black Holes, Study Suggests

Mar 15, 2022 by News Staff

The formation of ultrarare supermassive black holes, with masses over one billion solar masses, in the first billion years of the Universe is an open question...

PSR J2030+4415 generated an extremely long beam of matter and antimatter. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Stanford University / M. de Vries / NSF / AURA / Gemini Consortium.

Chandra Spots Huge Filament of Matter and Antimatter from Gamma-Ray Pulsar

Mar 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have observed a remarkable X-ray filament generated by the gamma-ray pulsar PSR J2030+4415. PSR J2030+4415...

This image from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows Messier 99, a spiral galaxy some 42 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Image credit: ESO / PHANGS.

VLT Observes Hidden Depths of Messier 99

Mar 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have produced a spectacularly detailed image of the central...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1097, a barred spiral galaxy some 48 million light-years away in the constellation of Fornax. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. Seven 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 / D. Sand / K. Sheth.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on NGC 1097

Mar 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a finely detailed image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. This Hubble image shows NGC 1097, a barred...

A visualization of the eRosita and Fermi bubbles. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Giant Bubbles Above and Below Milky Way’s Center Caused by Galaxy’s Central Black Hole

Mar 11, 2022 by News Staff

In 2020, the X-ray satellite eROSITA revealed two gigantic bubbles extending to 80° above and below the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The morphology...

X-ray spots on the surface of the magnetar SGR 1830-0645. Image credit: Younes et al., doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac4700.

NICER Observes Merger of X-Ray Spots on Distant Magnetar

Mar 9, 2022 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), astronomers have observed the merging of multimillion-degree X-ray spots on the surface...

Dimethyl Ether Detected in Protoplanetary Disk for First Time

Mar 8, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3), nitric oxide (NO) and methyl formate...

This image, captured in December 2021 by ESO’s New Technology Telescope, shows SN 2021afdx (lower left corner of the right image) in the Cartwheel Galaxy. Image credit: ESO / Inserra et al. / Amram et al.

Astronomers Spot Type II Supernova in Cartwheel Galaxy

Mar 7, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

ESO’s New Technology Telescope has captured a striking photo of SN 2021afdx, a Type II supernova that occurred in the Cartwheel Galaxy. This image, captured...

This Hubble image shows HH 34, an Herbig-Haro object located roughly 1,370 light-years away in the constellation of Orion. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / B. Nisini.

Hubble Observes Energetic Outburst from Distant Protostar

Mar 7, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released an a beautiful new photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of an Herbig-Haro object called HH 34. This Hubble image shows...

An artist’s impression of HR 6819, a close binary consisting of a stripped B-type star (background) and a rapidly rotating Be star (foreground). Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada.

HR 6819 is Binary System with No Black Hole, Astronomers Say

Mar 4, 2022 by News Staff

HR 6819, a highly intriguing object that was recently proposed as a multiple system containing a stellar-mass black hole, is in fact a binary star system...

Chandra Detects ‘Sonic Boom’ from Powerful Kilonova

Mar 3, 2022 by News Staff

The binary neutron-star merger GW170817 was discovered in August 2017. Many telescopes saw different kinds of light after the discovery, but only NASA’s...

During this phase of Webb’s alignment known as image stacking, individual segment images are moved so they fall precisely at the center of the field to produce one unified image instead of 18. Image credit: NASA / STScI.

Webb Continues On Its Path to Becoming Focused Observatory

Mar 2, 2022 by News Staff

Scientists and engineers on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope team have successfully worked through the second and third out of seven total phases...

This image from the Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory shows NGC 1566, a grand-design spiral galaxy some 70 million light-years away in the constellation of Dorado. Image credit: Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani & D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Dark Energy Camera Snaps Breathtaking New Photo of NGC 1566

Mar 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, astronomers have captured...

Noise variations in the two regions covered by the second data release from the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey with the coverage of the 841 individual pointing outlined. The RA-13 (top) and RA-1 (bottom) regions span 4,178 and 1,457 square degrees and have median rms values of 74 μJy beam−1 and 106 μJy beam−1 respectively. Failed facets (white regions) are generally caused by either poor ionospheric conditions or dynamic range issues around bright sources such as 3C 48 and 3C 196. Image credit: Shimwell et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202142484.

LOFAR Radio Telescope Maps More Than Quarter of Northern Sky

Feb 28, 2022 by News Staff

In the second data release from the ongoing LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey, astronomers present radio images covering 27% of the northern...

This Hubble image shows the galaxy pair NGC 4496. The color image is composed of infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Victor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Nine 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 / T. Boeker / B. Holwerda / Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / SDSS / R. Colombari.

Hubble Looks at Galaxy Pair NGC 4496

Feb 28, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced a spectacularly detailed image of a pair of overlapping galaxies called NGC 4496. This...

An artist’s impression of Kepler-16b and its two parent stars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt.

Circumbinary Exoplanet Detected via Radial Velocity Measurements

Feb 23, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Kepler-16b, a rare exoplanet that orbits around two stars, has been detected using the SOPHIE spectrograph at the 1.93-m telescope of the Observatoire...