Astronomy News

Chandra Spots Two Pairs of Supermassive Black Holes on Collision Courses

Two dwarf-dwarf galaxy mergers in galaxy clusters Abell 133 (left) and Abell 1758S (right) are shown in X-rays from Chandra and optical light from the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. The merger on the left is in a late stage and was given the single name of Mirabilis. The other merger is in the early stages and the two dwarf galaxies are named Elstir (bottom) and Vinteuil (top). Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Alabama / Micic et al. / International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA.
Feb 23, 2023 by News Staff

According to observations and cosmological simulations, dwarf galaxies are the most abundant type of galaxies in the early Universe and the galaxy merger rate is dominated by dwarfs. However, these mergers are generally too distant to be directly observed, and dwarf-dwarf galaxy merger-related pairs of supermassive black holes are notoriously hard to find. In a new paper in the Astrophysical Journal, astronomers from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa...

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This candidate massive galaxy could contain as many stars as our present-day Milky Way. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / I. Labbe, Swinburne University of Technology / G. Brammer, Niels Bohr Institute’s Cosmic Dawn Center, University of Copenhagen.

Webb Discovers Impossibly Massive Galaxies in Early Universe

Feb 22, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have observed six candidate galaxies with stellar masses as high as 1011 solar masses about...

This artist’s conception shows two supermassive black holes, similar to those observed by Bansal et al, orbiting one another more than 750 million light years from Earth. Image credit: Josh Valenzuela, University of New Mexico.

Novel Model Paves Way for Deeper Understanding of Structure of Merging Black Holes

Feb 22, 2023 by News Staff

In 2015, astrophysicists for the first time detected gravitational waves, ripples in space-time that occur when neutron star or black hole mergers disrupt...

This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

New Study Sheds Light on Origin and Evolution of Ceres-Like Asteroids

Feb 21, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory have captured and analyzed visible and near-infrared reflectance...

This Hubble image shows a large cluster of galaxies, SPT-CL J0019-2026, surrounded by various stars and smaller galaxies on a dark background. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). 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 / H. Ebeling.

Hubble Spots Gravitationally-Lensing Galaxy Cluster

Feb 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

SPT-CL J0019-2026, a huge cluster of galaxies located 4.6 billion light-years away in the constellation of Cetus, has so much mass that it acts as a gravitational...

This collage shows six planetary radar observations of 2011 AG5 a day after the asteroid made its close approach to Earth on February 3, 2022. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Very Oblong Asteroid Safely Flew Past Earth This Month

Feb 17, 2023 by News Staff

Stunning radar images of the near-Earth asteroid 2011 AG5 were obtained from January 29 to February 4, 2022, by the powerful 70-m (230-foot) Goldstone...

This Webb image shows NGC 7496, a barred spiral galaxy some 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Grus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Judy Schmidt.

Webb Focuses on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Nearby Galaxies

Feb 16, 2023 by News Staff

Webb observations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission provide some of the deepest and highest resolution views of the cold interstellar medium...

This Webb image shows Abell 2744, a huge galaxy cluster some 4 billion light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / I. Labbe, Swinburne University of Technology / R. Bezanson, University of Pittsburgh / A. Pagan, STScI.

Webb Reveals Never-Before-Seen Details of Abell 2744

Feb 16, 2023 by News Staff

Webb astronomers estimate 50,000 near-infrared sources are represented in the new image of the huge galaxy megacluster Abell 2744. This Webb image shows...

An artist’s impression of a supermassive black hole. Image credit: University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.

Astrophysicists Uncover First Observational Evidence of Cosmological Coupling

Feb 15, 2023 by News Staff

Cosmological coupling — a newly-predicted phenomenon in Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity — allows black holes to grow in mass without...

An artist’s impression of the four classes of planetary system architecture. Image credit: Tobias Stierli / NCCR PlanetS.

Astronomers Identify Four Classes of Planetary System Architecture

Feb 14, 2023 by News Staff

Dr. Lokesh Mishra and his colleagues from the University of Bern and Geneva Observatory propose that the space of planetary system architectures be partitioned...

This Hubble image shows SDSSCGB 10189, a trio of merging galaxies located in the constellation of Boötes. Further to the left is an unconnected, dimmer spiral galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Sun.

Hubble Spots Trio of Colliding Star-Forming Galaxies

Feb 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of a trio of merging galaxies called SDSSCGB 10189. This Hubble...

This Hubble image heralds the start of Saturn’s ‘spoke season’ with the appearance of two smudgy spokes in the B ring, on the left in the image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Amy Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

Hubble Detects Start of New Saturn Ring Spoke Season

Feb 9, 2023 by News Staff

Saturn is known for its iconic, pristine rings. However, the main B ring can have splotches and streaks of darker or lighter material, known as spokes,...

An artist’s impression of the dwarf planet Quaoar and its ring. Quaoar’s moon Weywot is shown on the left. Image credit: ESA / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Astronomers Discover Ring around Trans-Neptunian Object Quaoar

Feb 9, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The newly-detected ring orbits at 7.4 radii from Quaoar — much further away from the object than the rings around Saturn. An artist’s impression...

Dey et al. uncovered striking new evidence for a mass migration of stars into the Andromeda galaxy. Image credit: KPNO / NOIRLab / AURA / NSF / Local Group Survey Team / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage / D. de Martin / M. Zamani.

Galactic Immigration Event Occurred in Andromeda Galaxy 1-2 Billion Years Ago

Feb 8, 2023 by News Staff

The Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31), which is located 2.5 million light-years away, is the Milky Way’s nearest large galactic neighbor. By measuring the...

An artist’s conception of the surface of the Earth-mass exoplanet Wolf 1069b. Image credit: NASA’s Ames Research Center / Daniel Rutter.

Astronomers Discover Earth-Mass Exoplanet in Habitable Zone of Wolf 1069

Feb 8, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Wolf 1069b is the sixth closest Earth-mass exoplanet situated in the conservative habitable zone of its parent star, after Proxima Centauri b, Gliese 1061d,...

An artist’s impression of an irregularly-shaped asteroid. Image credit: N. Bartmann, ESA & Webb / ESO / M. Kornmesser / S. Brunier / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

Webb Discovers New Asteroid in Solar System’s Main Belt

Feb 7, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-discovered asteroid is less than 230 m (755 feet) across, and orbits within the main asteroid belt, which is located between Mars and Jupiter. An...

This composite image shows Messier 61, a spiral galaxy located 52.5 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: ESO / ALMA / NAOJ / NRAO / PHANGS.

ESO Releases Stunning New Image of Messier 61

Feb 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The new image of Messier 61, a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Virgo, combines data taken at radio and visible wavelengths and is helping...

An artist’s impression of our Milky Way Galaxy in its youth. The Sparkler galaxy provides a snap-shot of an infant Milky Way as it accretes mass over cosmic time. Image credit: James Josephides, Swinburne University.

Astornomers Spot Progenitor of Milky Way-Like Galaxy in Early Universe

Feb 6, 2023 by News Staff

We are seeing the ‘Sparkler’ galaxy from 9.1 billion years ago, some 4 billion years after the Big Bang. An artist’s impression of our Milky Way...

This Hubble image shows Donatiello II (center), an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy some 11.4 million light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / B. Mutlu-Pakdil / G. Donatiello.

Hubble Observes Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Donatiello II

Feb 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image taken with NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows Donatiello II, a recently-discovered dwarf galaxy associated with the nearby spiral galaxy...

This image shows how microlensing was used to measure the mass of the white dwarf LAWD 37. The inset box plots how the dwarf passed in front of a background star in 2019. The wavy blue line traces the dwarf’s apparent motion across the sky as seen from Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Peter McGill, UC Santa Cruz, IoA / Kailash Sahu, STScI / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Astronomers Directly Measure Mass of Isolated White Dwarf

Feb 2, 2023 by News Staff

In November 2019, the nearby single, isolated white dwarf LAWD 37 aligned closely with a distant background source and caused a so-called microlensing...

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