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Clumps of molecular gas overlaid on Sagittarius A* circumnuclear disk as seen by ALMA in the CS(7-6) line. Yellow circles are thin clumps that are going to be shredded by the gravitational force of supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Green circles are dense enough to survive the tidal shredding but are not able to form stars. Purple/pink circles have the needed density to form stars, but no star formation has been observed. Image credit: Hsieh et al. / ALMA / EOS / NAOJ / NRAO.

ALMA Spots Quiescent Molecular Clouds and Tides around Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

Sep 16, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found thousands of dense gas clumps but, surprisingly, no star formation,...

ALMA Detects Various Organic Molecules in Five Protoplanetary Disks

Sep 15, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have mapped out 18 organic and inorganic molecules in protoplanetary disks around...

This artist’s impression shows how ULAS J1120+0641, a very distant quasar powered by a black hole with a mass two billion times that of the Sun, may have looked. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Quasars are Standardizable Cosmic Candles, Astronomers Say

Sep 14, 2021 by News Staff

Using spectral data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Chandra Source Catalog 2.0, and the Chandra COSMOS Legacy survey, astronomers have found...

Siraj & Loeb explore the possibility that accretion flares resulting from the tidal disruption of small Oort Cloud bodies by a putative primordial black hole could power an observable optical signal that could be searched for with the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Image credit: Sci-News.com / Zdeněk Bardon / ESO.

Static Black Holes Exert Pressure on Their Environment, Scientists Say

Sep 13, 2021 by News Staff

In 1974, Stephen Hawking made the seminal discovery that black holes emit thermal radiation. Previous to that, black holes were believed to be inert. In...

This Hubble image shows a giant star called AG Carinae. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible region of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). 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 / A. Nota / C. Britt.

Hubble Space Telescope Takes Close Look at AG Carinae

Sep 13, 2021 by News Staff

The new composite images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveal the dual nature of the giant star AG Carinae. This Hubble image shows a giant...

This processed image, based on observations taken in July 2017, shows the two moons of the asteroid Kleopatra and its two moons, AlexHelios and CleoSelene. The moons are difficult to see in the raw images -- which were taken with the SPHERE instrument on VLT -- owing to glare around the asteroid, inherent to this kind of adaptive-optics observations. Image credit: ESO / Vernazza / Marchis et al. / MISTRAL algorithm / ONERA / CNRS.

VLT Observes Asteroid Kleopatra and Its Moons

Sep 9, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have determined the 3D shape and the mass of the asteroid (216) Kleopatra and correct orbits of its...

Location of the observed O- and B- type stars on the Galactic plane. Image credit: De Cia et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03780-0.

Milky Way’s Interstellar Medium Is Not Homogeneous, New Study Shows

Sep 9, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have measured the metallicity of the neutral interstellar medium towards 25 bright stars in our Milky...

This image shows the fall of a blue ultradiffuse galaxy into a galaxy system and its subsequent ejection as a red ultradiffuse galaxy. Image credit: Vanina Rodriguez.

New Research Reveals How Ultradiffuse Galaxies Form

Sep 7, 2021 by News Staff

Ultradiffuse galaxies are dwarf galaxies whose stars are spread out over a vast region, resulting in extremely low brightness, making them very difficult...

This Hubble image shows Messier 13, a globular cluster located 25,000 light-years away in the constellation of Hercules. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / C. Bailyn, Yale University / W. Lewin, MIT / A. Sarajedini, University of Florida / W. van Altena, Yale University.

Hubble Finds Slowly Cooling White Dwarfs in Messier 13

Sep 7, 2021 by News Staff

Using high-resolution observational of two very similar globular clusters, Messier 3 and Messier 13, astronomers have found an unexpected overabundance...

This is an artist's impression of a rocky and water-rich asteroid being torn apart by the strong gravity of the white dwarf star GD 61. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk / University of Warwick / University of Cambridge.

NASA’s Planetary Radar Spots Its 1,000th Near-Earth Asteroid

Sep 6, 2021 by News Staff

2021 PJ1, a near-Earth asteroid between 20 and 30 m (66-98 feet) across, safely flew past Earth on August 14, 2021 at a distance of over 1.7 million km...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6717, a globular cluster located over 23,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. 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 / A. Sarajedini.

Hubble Focuses on Globular Cluster NGC 6717

Sep 6, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of a distant globular cluster called NGC 6717. This Hubble image...

Fast-moving debris from a supernova explosion triggered by a stellar collision in the VT 1210+4956 system crashes into material thrown out earlier, and the shocks cause bright radio emission seen by the VLA. Image credit: Bill Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Compact Object Collision with Companion Star Triggers Supernova Event

Sep 2, 2021 by News Staff

Using data collected by the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS), astronomers have found evidence that a compact object — a black hole or neutron...

This DEC image shows Centaurus A, a giant galaxy located some 13 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / DOE / NSF / AURA / M. Soraisam, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign & NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NOIRLab.

Astronomers Capture Beautiful New Image of Centaurus A

Sep 2, 2021 by News Staff

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

MG B2016+112: the X-ray light from one of the objects on the left (purple) has been warped by the gravity of the intervening galaxy to produce two beams and X-ray sources (A and B) detected in the Chandra image, which is represented by the dashed square on the right; the X-ray light from the fainter object (blue) produces an X-ray source (C) that has been amplified by the galaxy to be as much as 300 times brighter than it would have been without the lensing; the Chandra image is shown in the inset; these two X-ray-emitting objects are likely a pair of growing supermassive black holes or a growing supermassive black hole and a jet. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss / SAO / Schwartz et al.

Chandra Observes Gravitationally-Lensed Supermassive Black Hole System

Sep 1, 2021 by News Staff

By combining gravitational lensing with the capabilities of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have detected two X-ray-emitting objects —...

This is an artist’s impression of a free-floating Y-dwarf. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Enigmatic Ancient Brown Dwarf Spotted in Solar Neighborhood

Sep 1, 2021 by News Staff

WISEA J153429.75-104303.3 (WISE 1534-1043 for short) — nicknamed ‘The Accident’ by its discoverer, citizen scientist Dan Caselden — is...

Zoomed in view of an ALMA (red/orange) and Hubble (optical) composite of NGC 4921; it highlights filament structures resulting from the effects of ram-pressure stripping. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / S. Dagnello, NRAO / NASA / ESA / Hubble / K. Cook, LLNL / L. Shatz.

Astronomers Find Cosmic Boomerang in Coma Cluster Galaxy

Aug 30, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA) and the NASA/ESA Hubble...

An artist’s conception of exoplanets in a dense star cluster. Image credit: Michael Bachofner.

Milky Way Galaxy’s Bulge Could Have Planetary Systems, Too

Aug 30, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Milky Way’s bulge is the ancient and crowded central hub of our Galaxy. It contains about one quarter of the total stellar mass of the Milky Way...

This Hubble image shows a Herbig-Haro object labeled HH 111. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / B. Nisini.

Hubble Observes Enigmatic Herbig-Haro Object

Aug 30, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have imaged HH 111, one of the most well-known Herbig-Haro objects. This Hubble image shows a Herbig-Haro...

An artist’s impression of brown dwarf-like objects around TOI-148, TOI-587, TOI-681, and TOI-746b. Image credit: Roger Thibaut.

Astronomers Find Five Brown Dwarf-Like Objects with Masses near Hydrogen-Burning Limit

Aug 27, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have discovered five transiting companions...