Astronomy News

Spitzer Sees Tarantula Nebula in Infrared Light

This image of the Tarantula Nebula combines data from multiple Spitzer observations, most recently in February and September 2019. The image shows the nebula in two wavelengths of infrared light, each represented by a different color. The red color at the heart of the nebula shows the presence of particularly hot gas emitting infrared light at a wavelength of 4.5 micrometers. The blue regions are dust composed of molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Regions emitting both wavelengths appear white. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Jan 28, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, which is set to be retired on January 30, 2020, astronomers have generated a new view of the Tarantula Nebula, which is located in the southern constellation Dorado, about 170,000 light-years away in one of our closest galactic neighbors, the Large Magellanic Cloud. This image of the Tarantula Nebula combines data from multiple Spitzer observations, most recently in February and September 2019. The...

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Artist’s impression of a sunset on the ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b. Image credit: Denis Bajram.

Ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b is So Hot that Even Atmospheric Hydrogen Molecules are ‘Torn to Shreds’

Jan 28, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have found evidence that the heat in the atmosphere of KELT-9b, the hottest known transiting...

This Hubble image shows NGC 7541, a barred spiral galaxy located 103.7 million light-years away in the constellation of Pisces. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Riess et al.

Hubble Space Telescope Spies NGC 7541

Jan 27, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced an outstanding image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7541. This Hubble image shows NGC 7541, a barred...

Astrophysicists One Step Closer to Unlocking Mystery of Superluminous Supernovae

Jan 24, 2020 by News Staff

SN 2006gy, a superluminous supernova discovered in 2006, gained its exceptional brightness when a normal Type Ia explosion smashed into a dense shell of...

This image shows the ancient dwarf star J0815+4729 (center). Image credit: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD / SDSS.

Astronomers Find Huge Amount of Oxygen in Ancient Dwarf Star

Jan 24, 2020 by News Staff

Using high-resolution spectroscopic observations from the High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) on the 10-m Keck I telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory,...

This composite image of the Crab Nebula was assembled by combining data from five telescopes spanning nearly the entire breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum: the VLA (radio) in red; Spitzer (infrared) in yellow; Hubble (visible) in green; XMM-Newton (ultraviolet) in blue; and Chandra (X-ray) in purple. Image credit: NASA / ESA / NRAO / AUI / NSF / G. Dubner, University of Buenos Aires.

Astronomers Create Stunning 3D Visualization of Crab Nebula

Jan 22, 2020 by News Staff

In 1054 CE, Chinese sky watchers witnessed the sudden appearance of a ‘new star’ in the heavens, which they recorded as six times brighter than Venus,...

This illustration shows the surroundings of a black hole feeding on ambient gas as mapped using ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. Image credit: ESA.

Astronomers Map Surroundings of Supermassive Black Hole

Jan 22, 2020 by News Staff

As material spirals towards a black hole, it is heated up and emits X-rays that, in turn, echo and reverberate as they interact with nearby gas. These...

An artist’s conception of a dwarf galaxy, its shape distorted, most likely by a past interaction with another galaxy, and a massive black hole in its outskirts (pullout). The black hole is drawing in material that forms a rotating disk and generates jets of material propelled outward. Image credit: Sophia Dagnello, NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Wandering Massive Black Holes Detected in Nearby Dwarf Galaxies

Jan 21, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory have observed 111 nearby dwarf galaxies within...

This image from the FORS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows the emission nebula Gum 26. Image credit: ESO.

VLT Sees Newborn Stars in Emission Nebula Gum 26

Jan 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released a stunning image snapped by the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS) instrument on...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1022, a face-on barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Cetus, approximately 62 million light-years away. 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 / A. Seth.

Hubble Views Face-On Barred Spiral Galaxy

Jan 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged a beautiful spiral galaxy called NGC 1022. This Hubble image shows NGC 1022, a face-on barred spiral galaxy...

An artist’s rendering shows G-objects, with the reddish centers, orbiting the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. The black hole is represented as a dark sphere inside a white ring (above the middle of the rendering). Image credit: Jack Ciurlo.

Astronomers Spot Four New G-Objects near Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

Jan 17, 2020 by News Staff

At the center of our Milky Way Galaxy lurks Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole that is four million times the mass of the Sun. Recently, two unusual...

No one knows what dark matter is, but this invisible form of matter makes up roughly a quarter of the Universe. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Astrophysicists are Taking Dark Matter’s Temperature

Jan 16, 2020 by News Staff

Astrophysicists have very little idea of what dark matter is and they have yet to detect a dark matter particle. But they do know that the gravity of clumps...

An artist’s impression of the Proxima Centauri system. Image credit: Lorenzo Santinelli.

Proxima c: Possible Second Planet Found around Sun’s Nearest Neighbor

Jan 16, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has detected a candidate super-Earth planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. An artist’s...

This infographic shows the key results from a study that has revealed the interstellar thread of phosphorus. The background of the infographic shows a part of the night sky in the constellation of Auriga, where the star-forming region AFGL 5142 is located. The ALMA image of this object is on the top left of the infographic, and one of the locations where the team found phosphorus-bearing molecules is indicated by a circle. The most common phosphorus-bearing molecule in AFGL 5142 is phosphorus monoxide, represented in orange and red in the diagram on the bottom left. Another molecule found was phosphorus nitride, represented in orange and blue. The astronomers also found phosphorus monoxide on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, shown on the bottom right. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Rivilla et al / L. Calçada / ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / Mario Weigand, www.SkyTrip.de.

Astronomers Trace Journey of Phosphorus from Stellar Nurseries to Solar System Comets

Jan 15, 2020 by News Staff

To understand how molecules containing phosphorus — one of life’s building blocks — are formed in star-forming regions, a team of astronomers...

An artist’s concept of the Gliese 180 planetary system, which is located 39 light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus. Image credit: Robin Dienel, Carnegie Institution for Science.

Astronomers Discover Five New Planets around Nearby Red Dwarfs

Jan 15, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have detected five new planets, eight planet candidates, and confirmed three previously reported planets, around nine nearby M-dwarf (red dwarf)...

NGC 6240 as seen with ALMA. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / E. Treister / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello / NASA / ESA / Hubble.

ALMA Finds Molecular Gas within Sphere of Influence of Binary Supermassive Black Hole

Jan 14, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have mapped the distribution of molecular gas in NGC 6240, a nearby merging galaxy...

This image, taken by the FOcal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows the interacting galaxy pair NGC 470-NGC 474. Image credit: ESO.

VLT Spots Two Interacting Galaxies

Jan 13, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have captured a striking view of two interacting galaxies NGC 470 and NGC 474. This image, taken by the...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1803, a spiral galaxy located 200 million light-years away in the constellation of Pictor. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument in the near-infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. 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 / A. Bellini et al.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 1803

Jan 13, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a beautiful picture of a spiral galaxy called NGC 1803. This Hubble image shows NGC 1803, a spiral galaxy...

An artist’s concept of the hot-Jupiter exoplanet WASP-12b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / C. Haswell, Open University.

Hot Jupiter WASP-12b is Spiraling In Toward Its Star: Study

Jan 12, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

WASP-12b will be completely consumed by its host star in 3.25 million years, according to a new study led by Princeton University astrophysicists. An artist’s...

Each of these Hubble images reveals four distorted images of a background quasar and its host galaxy surrounding the central core of a foreground massive galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Nierenberg, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory / T. Treu, University of California, Los Angeles.

Hubble Uses Quadruple-Image Gravitational Lenses to Capture Small-Scale Clumps of Dark Matter

Jan 10, 2020 by News Staff

According to the widely-accepted ‘cold dark matter’ theory, all galaxies are embedded within clouds of dark matter. Dark matter itself consists of...

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