Astronomy News

Astronomers Detect Large-Scale X-Ray Bubbles in Milky Way’s Halo

This image from the eROSITA X-ray telescope shows the energetic Universe. As eROSITA scans the sky, the energy of the collected photons is measured with an accuracy ranging from 2% - 6%. To generate this image, in which the whole sky is projected onto an ellipse (so-called Aitoff projection) with the center of the Milky Way in the middle and the body of our Galaxy running horizontally, photons have been color-coded according to their energy (red for energies 0.3-0.6 keV, green for 0.6-1 keV, blue for 1-2.3 keV). The red diffuse glow away from the galactic plane is the emission of the hot gas in the vicinity of the Solar System (the Local Bubble). Along the plane itself, dust and gas absorb the lowest energy X-ray photons, so that only high-energy emitting sources can be seen, and their color appears blue in the image. The hotter gas close to the Galactic center, shown in green and yellow, carries imprinted the history of the most energetic processes in the life of the Milky Way, such as supernova explosions, driving fountains of gas out of the plane, and, possibly, past outburst from the now dormant supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. Piercing through this turbulent, hot diffuse medium, are hundreds of thousands of X-ray sources, which appear mostly white in the image, and uniformly distributed over the sky. Among them, distant active galactic nuclei are visible as point sources, while clusters of galaxies reveal themselves as extended X-ray nebulosities. In total, about one million X-ray sources have been detected in this image. Image credit: Jeremy Sanders, Hermann Brunner & the eSASS team / Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics / Eugene Churazov & Marat Gilfanov, IKI.
Dec 31, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the eROSITA X-ray telescope onboard the Spektrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) observatory have detected X-ray-emitting bubbles that extend approximately 14,000 parsecs (45,662 light-years) above and below the central region of our Milky Way Galaxy. This image from the eROSITA X-ray telescope shows the energetic Universe. Image credit: Jeremy Sanders, Hermann Brunner & the eSASS team / Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics...

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The first artist’s illustration shows a key part of the process that created this new black hole, as the two neutron stars spin around each other while merging. The purple material depicts debris from the merger. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M.Weiss.

Gravitational Waves May Help Find Universe’s Missing Components

Dec 31, 2020 by News Staff

Whenever two compact objects (black holes or neutron stars) collide elsewhere in the Universe, they create gravitational waves that travel across space,...

The positions and orbits of the newly-discovered high-velocity stars. Image credit: Xiao Kong, China’s National Astronomical Observatories.

Almost Six Hundred New High-Velocity Stars Spotted in Milky Way

Dec 29, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

Using data from the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) and ESA’s star-mapping satellite Gaia, astronomers have discovered...

An artist’s impression of the hot-Jupiter exoplanet HAT-P-68b and its parent star HAT-P-68 (also known as GSC 1925-01046 and 2MASS 07535598+2356176), a K5-type dwarf star with a mass of 0.68 solar masses and a radius of 0.67 solar radii. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Short-Period Hot Jupiter Discovered Circling HAT-P-68

Dec 29, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using data from the HATNet (Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network) survey have discovered a transiting giant planet orbiting the K5-type...

‘Baby universes’ branching off of our Universe shortly after the Big Bang appear to us as black holes. Image credit: Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe.

Is All Dark Matter in Universe Made of Primordial Black Holes?

Dec 28, 2020 by News Staff

In a new paper in the journal Physical Review Letters, an international team of theoretical physicists described a scenario for the formation of primordial...

This Hubble image shows the central region of NGC 2217, a barred spiral galaxy some 83 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. This image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the optical part of the spectrum. It was colorized with data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Dalcanton / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Spots Nearly Face-On Barred Spiral Galaxy: NGC 2217

Dec 28, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) has taken a beautiful image of the central part of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 2217. This Hubble image shows...

VLBA image of PSO J0309+27. Image credit: Spingola et al. / Bill Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Astronomers Observe Bright Relativistic Jet from Distant Blazar

Dec 23, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have observed a bright one-sided jet of material ejected at three-quarters the speed of light from the core of the blazar PSO J030947.49+271757.31...

This image, taken by the LASCO C2 camera on SOHO, shows comet C/2020 X3 in the bottom left-hand corner. Image credit: NASA / ESA / SOHO.

SOHO Observatory Spots Newly-Discovered Sungrazer Comet

Dec 22, 2020 by News Staff

C/2020 X3, spotted by the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), is part of the Kreutz family, a group of comets with related orbits that...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1947, a lenticular galaxy located some 40 million light-years away in the constellation Dorado. The color image of NGC 1947 was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Two 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. Rosario / L. Shatz.

Hubble Observes Unusual Lenticular Galaxy: NGC 1947

Dec 21, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking photo of the lenticular galaxy NGC 1947. This Hubble image shows NGC 1947,...

This image, taken with the Hyper Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope, shows the near-Earth asteroid 1998 KY26. Image credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Subaru Telescope Captures Images of Near-Earth Asteroid 1998 KY26

Dec 18, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope have produced spectacular images of 1998 KY26, a future asteroid target of JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft. This...

This image of Abell 2261, a galaxy cluster located 3 billion light-years away, contain X-ray data from Chandra showing hot gas pervading the cluster as well as optical data from Hubble and the Subaru Telescope that show galaxies in the cluster and in the background. A2261-BCG (center), also known as 2MASX J17222717+3207571, is the most massive and brightest galaxy in the cluster. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Michigan / K. Gültekin / STScI / NAOJ / Subaru / NSF / NOAO / KPNO.

Abell 2261 May Contain Recoiling Supermassive Black Hole

Dec 18, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are searching for signs of a recoiling black hole in the core of A2261-BCG, the most massive and brightest...

Simulation showing the distribution of hot gas (left), compared with the eROSITA X-ray image (right) of the Abell 3391-Abell 3395 system. Image credit: Reiprich et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202039590.

Astronomers Discover Longest Filament of Intergalactic Gas Yet

Dec 17, 2020 by News Staff

Using the eROSITA X-ray telescope onboard the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) space observatory and CSIRO’s Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder...

This image shows the spiral galaxy Messier 63, widely known as the Sunflower Galaxy. The image was taken with Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

New Research Supports ‘Modified Gravity’ Theory

Dec 17, 2020 by News Staff

Dark matter proponents theorize that most of the known Universe is actually made of material that doesn’t interact with light, making it invisible and...

An artist’s impression of the hot-Jupiter exoplanet tau Boötis b. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

LOFAR Detects Radio Emission from Tau Boötis Planetary System

Dec 16, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the LOw Frequency Array (LOFAR), a large radio telescope network located mainly in the Netherlands, have detected circularly polarized...

This Hubble image of the dynamic blue-green planet Neptune reveals a huge dark storm (top center) and the emergence of a smaller dark spot nearby (top right). The giant vortex, which is wider than the Atlantic Ocean, was traveling south toward certain doom by atmospheric forces at the equator when it suddenly made a U-turn and began drifting back northward. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) captured this visible-light image on January 7, 2020, the same time a slightly smaller dark spot mysteriously appeared nearby. That spot then vanished a few months later. The smaller feature may have been a piece of the giant storm that broke off as the larger vortex approached the equator. The large storm is the fourth transient dark spot Hubble has observed since 1993. NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft first imaged two dark features in Neptune’s southern hemisphere in 1989 as Voyager flew by the distant planet. Those storms had disappeared by the time Hubble looked at Neptune in 1994. However, Hubble detected two new dark spots in the planet’s northern hemisphere in 1994 and 1996. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / L.A. Sromovsky & P.M. Fry, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Hubble Monitors Weird Dark Vortex on Neptune

Dec 16, 2020 by News Staff

In 2018, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope spotted a giant dark storm, which is 7,400 km (4,600 miles) across, in the northern hemisphere...

HD 33632Ab detections in 2020 (top panels) and 2018 (bottom panels). Image credit: Currie et al., doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/abc631.

Astronomers Directly Image Brown Dwarf around Nearby Sun-Like Star

Dec 16, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the Subaru Telescope and the Keck II telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory, astronomers have discovered and directly imaged a brown dwarf orbiting...

GN-z11. Image credit: NASA / ESA / P. Oesch, Yale University / G. Brammer, STScI / P. van Dokkum, Yale University / G. Illingworth, University of California, Santa Cruz.

GN-z11 Confirmed as Farthest Galaxy Ever Observed

Dec 15, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

GN-z11, a young but moderately massive galaxy located in the constellation of Ursa Major, is estimated to date from when the Universe was only 420 million...

This Hubble images shows Caldwell 45, a spiral galaxy located 59 million light-years away in the constellation Boötes. Also known as NGC 5248, this galaxy is notable for the ring structure around its nucleus. These nuclear rings are characterized by hot spots of starburst activity. Caldwell 45 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1784. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 10 and can be spotted using a small telescope, though it won’t appear very bright. A larger telescope is needed to make out the galaxy’s spiral arms. The best time of year to observe Caldwell 45 is during the northern hemisphere’s spring and the southern hemisphere’s autumn. This stunning image of Caldwell 45 is a composite of observations made by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light. It captures the glowing red clouds where new stars are forming, scattered along the galaxy’s winding arms. These observations of Caldwell 45 were made to help astronomers learn more about gas in the galaxy’s starburst regions, as well as to better understand the structure of its nuclear rings. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Lee, California Institute of Technology / A. Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley / Gladys Kober, Catholic University of America.

NASA Releases Stunning Images of 30 Caldwell Objects

Dec 15, 2020 by News Staff

NASA has released more than 50 new Hubble images featuring 30 galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae. All of these objects belong to a collection known to...

An artist’s impression of the super-Earth planet TOI-237b. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

TESS Discovers Two Small and Warm Exoplanets

Dec 14, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered two exoplanets transiting inactive red dwarf stars TOI-122...

This Hubble image shows GAL-CLUS-022058-38303, the largest, nearly-complete Einstein ring known. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. Three 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 / Saurabh Jha, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey / L. Shatz.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Enormous Einstein Ring

Dec 14, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking photo of GAL-CLUS-022058-38303, the largest and one of the most complete...

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