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Simulated structure of Planet Nine. Image credit: Esther Linder / Christoph Mordasini.

Planet Nine: Ice Giant Roughly Four Times Bigger than Earth?

Apr 8, 2016 by News Staff

A duo of scientists at the University of Bern has estimated that the suspected Planet Nine is a smaller version of Uranus and Neptune with a surface temperature...

The elliptical galaxy NGC 1600, approximately 200 million light-years away - shown in the center of the Hubble image and highlighted in the box - hosts in its centre one of the biggest supermassive black holes known. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Digital Sky Survey 2.

Astronomers Find Extremely Massive Black Hole in NGC 1600

Apr 7, 2016 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole with a mass of 17 billion Suns in the center of the relatively...

This artist’s concept depicts a super-Earth. Image credit: NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech.

Salt Levels of Oceans on Earth-Like Exoplanets Could Have Major Effect on Their Climates

Apr 4, 2016 by News Staff

A new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that the circulation in fresh water or salty oceans on terrestrial...

This artist’s impression shows the view from a terrestrial exoplanet towards the planet’s host star in a triple stellar system. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

KELT-4Ab: Hot Jupiter Exoplanet Found in Triple Stellar System

Apr 4, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has announced the discovery of a transiting hot Jupiter in a rare triple-star system. This artist’s impression shows...

This infrared image from Hubble shows Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster, the densest and most massive star cluster in our Galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / T. Do & A. Ghez, UCLA / V. Bajaj, STScI.

Hubble Focuses on Milky Way’s Nuclear Star Cluster

Apr 2, 2016 by News Staff

The infrared vision of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope pierced the dusty heart of our Milky Way Galaxy to reveal more than half a million stars at...

SDSS J1240+6710 (arrow). Image credit: S.O. Kepler et al / Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Astronomers Discover White Dwarf Star with Oxygen Atmosphere

Apr 1, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A team of astronomers led by Dr. Souza Oliveira Kepler from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, is reporting the discovery of a white...

This ALMA image shows the planet-forming disc around TW Hydrae. The inset image zooms in on the gap nearest to the star, which is at the same distance as the Earth is from the Sun, suggesting an infant version of an Earth-like exoplanet could be emerging from the dust and gas. The additional concentric light and dark features represent other planet-forming regions farther out in the disc. Image credit: S. Andrews, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO.

ALMA Captures Detailed Images of Planet-Forming Disk around Sun-Like Star TW Hydrae

Apr 1, 2016 by News Staff

New images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reveal finest details in the protoplanetary disk around the young, Sun-like star...

Artist’s impression of the super-Earth 55 Cancri e orbiting its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Create Thermal Map of Super-Earth 55 Cancri e

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have mapped how conditions on 55 Cancri e – a ‘nearby’ super-Earth exoplanet –...

Scientist Links Earth’s Periodic Mass Extinctions to Planet Nine

Mar 31, 2016 by News Staff

According to Prof. Daniel P. Whitmire from the University of Arkansas, the suspected Planet Nine triggers comet showers linked to mass extinctions on Earth...

HD 80606b: Weird Gaseous Exoplanet Raises Questions about Origins of hot Jupiters

Mar 29, 2016 by News Staff

New observations of HD 80606b raise questions about origins of so-called hot Jupiters, a class of short-period gas giants with a mass similar to Jupiter’s,...

This image, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, shows an irregular dwarf galaxy known as UGC 4459, lying about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Sees Beautiful Dwarf Galaxy

Mar 28, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of UGC 4459, a type of galaxy known as an irregular dwarf galaxy. This image, taken by...

In an artist’s conception, heated galactic wind shown in the hazy portion of the picture emanates from the bright quasar at the edge of a black hole, scattering dust and gas. If allowed to cool, that dust and gas would begin to form stars. Image credit: Johns Hopkins University.

Ancient Quasars Slowed Star Formation 11 Billion Years Ago, Scientists Say

Mar 24, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers appear to have an explanation for a longstanding question in astrophysics: why did the pace of star formation in the Universe slow down 11...

Researchers Find What Causes Jupiter’s X-ray Aurora

Mar 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

According to a study led by University College London researcher William Dunn, the solar wind is causing intense X-ray bursts over Jupiter’s polar regions. Solar...

This image shows the dwarf irregular galaxy Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte. Image credit: ESO / VST / Omegacam Local Group Survey.

Astronomers Snap Breathtaking Picture of Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte Galaxy

Mar 23, 2016 by News Staff

Using the OmegaCAM wide-field imager, a large camera mounted on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope, astronomers have captured this vivid image of a small galaxy...

This false color image shows Cassiopeia A, a remnant of a Type IIb supernova. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Catch Two Supernovae in Act of Exploding

Mar 22, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international group of astronomers, led by Prof. Peter Garnavich from the University of Notre Dame, has caught two Type II supernovae at the moment...

HD 20782b. Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

HD 20782b: Astronomers Discover Exoplanet with Highly Eccentric Orbit

Mar 21, 2016 by News Staff

HD 20782b’s orbit closely resembles that of a comet, making it the most eccentric planet ever known. This artist’s rendering shows HD 20782b, the most...

This image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416 combines data from three telescopes - Hubble (showing the galaxies and stars), Chandra (diffuse emission in blue), and the Jansky Very Large Array (diffuse emission in pink). MACS J0416 acts as a powerful natural lens by bending and magnifying the light of far-more-distant objects behind it. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CXC / NRAO / AUI / NSF / STScI / G. Ogrean, Stanford University / J. Lotz, STScI / HFF Team.

Astronomers Snap Image of Huge Cluster of Galaxies

Mar 21, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers have taken a stunning photo of a very massive cluster of galaxies, MACS J0416.1-2403. This image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416 combines...

This galaxy, named SDSS J094700.08+254045.7, is one of the biggest and brightest super spirals; its starry disk and spiral arms stretch about 320,000 light-years across, or more than three times the breadth of our Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: SDSS.

Astronomers Discover Monstrous ‘Super Spirals’

Mar 18, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr. Patrick Ogle from the California Institute of Technology has discovered a new type of galaxy called a super spiral. Images...

Artist’s impression of the giant molecular clouds surrounding the Milky Way’s center, bombarded by very high energy protons accelerated in the vicinity of Sagittarius A*. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick / H.E.S.S. Collaboration.

PeVatron: Source of Very-High-Energy Cosmic Rays Discovered at Milky Way’s Center

Mar 17, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the H.E.S.S. (High Energy Stereoscopic System) Observatory, a system of four imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes in Namibia, astronomers have...