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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...

An artist’s impression of a Hycean planet. Image credit: Amanda Smith, University of Cambridge.

Astronomers Identify New Class of Exoplanets: Hycean Worlds

Aug 26, 2021 by News Staff

Hycean worlds are composed of water-rich interiors with massive oceans underlying hydrogen-rich atmospheres; with densities between those of rocky super-Earths...

An artist’s impression of what the surface of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov might look like. Image credit: ESO / M. Kormesser.

Study: Interstellar Visitors Outnumber Solar System Objects in Oort Cloud

Aug 24, 2021 by News Staff

The recent detection of 2I/Borisov, the first known interstellar comet to visit our Solar System, implies that interstellar objects outnumber the non-interstellar...

The asteroid 2021 PH27 was imaged inside Mercury’s orbit and has been colored red and blue to show the two different times where it was imaged on August 13, 2021 -- just three minutes apart. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / DOE / DECam / AURA / S.S. Sheppard, Carnegie Institution of Science.

Astronomers Discover Fastest-Orbiting Asteroid Ever Seen

Aug 24, 2021 by News Staff

The newly-discovered asteroid 2021 PH27 has a diameter of about 1 km (3,280 feet) and orbits the Sun in just 113 days — the shortest known orbital...

Sagittarius B2 is a giant molecular cloud of gas and dust that is located about 390 light-years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Sagittarius B2 is the bright orange-red region to the middle left of the image, which is centered on the Galactic center. Image credit: ESO / APEX / MSX / IPAC / NASA.

Propionamide Detected in Space for First Time

Aug 23, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Propionamide (C2H5CONH2), a complex alkyl amide with twelve atoms, is the largest peptide-like molecule detected in space, according to a new study led...

Dacheng Lin et al discovered a ‘wandering’ black hole in the lenticular galaxy GJ1417+52. The main panel has a wide-field, optical light image from Hubble. The black hole and its host galaxy are located within the box in the upper left. The inset on the left contains Hubble’s close-up view of GJ1417+52. Within this inset the circle shows a point-like source on the northern outskirts of the galaxy that may be associated with XJ1417+52. The inset on the right is Chandra’s X-ray image of XJ1417+52 in purple, covering the same region as the Hubble close-up. Image credit: X-ray – NASA / CXC / UNH / Dacheng Lin et al; optical – NASA / STScI.

Wandering Supermassive Black Holes May Be More Abundant than Previously Thought

Aug 23, 2021 by News Staff

New research led by astronomers from the Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics shows that the current census of supermassive black holes...