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This mosaic of the northern sky incorporates 208 images taken by TESS during its second year of science operations, completed in July 2020. The mission split the northern sky into 13 sectors, each of which was imaged for nearly a month by the spacecraft’s four cameras. Among the many notable celestial objects visible: the glowing arc and obscuring dust clouds of the Milky Way (left); the Andromeda Galaxy (oval, center left), our nearest large galactic neighbor located 2.5 million light-years away; and the North America Nebula (lower left), part of a stellar factory complex 1,700 light-years away. The prominent dark lines are gaps between the detectors in TESS’ camera system. Image credit: NASA / MIT / TESS / Ethan Kruse, USRA.

TESS Captures Beautiful Panorama of Northern Sky

Oct 6, 2020 by News Staff

Assembled from 208 images captured by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its second year of science operations, this striking...

A 5-light-year-long section of the western wall in the Carina Nebula, as observed with adaptive optics on the Gemini South telescope. This mountainous section of the nebula reveals a number of unusual structures including a long series of parallel ridges that could be produced by a magnetic field, a remarkable almost perfectly smooth wave, and fragments that appear to be in the process of being sheared off the cloud by a strong wind. There is also evidence for a jet of material ejected from a newly-formed star. The exquisite detail seen in the image is in part due to a technology known as adaptive optics, which resulted in a ten-fold improvement in the resolution of the research team’s observations. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Patrick Hartigan, Rice University / Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage / Mahdi Zamani / Davide de Martin.

Astronomers Capture Best Ever Image of Carina Nebula’s Western Wall

Oct 6, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using twin 8.1-m telescopes at Gemini Observatory in Chile have captured the most detailed near-infrared image yet of the Carina Nebula’s...

An artist’s conception of the HR 858 planetary system. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Scientists Identify 24 Potentially ‘Superhabitable’ Exoplanets

Oct 5, 2020 by News Staff

A team of geobiologists and astronomers from the United States and Germany has identified 24 extrasolar planets that may have conditions more suitable...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1365, a double-barred spiral galaxy 55.4 million light-years away in the constellation of Fornax. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. The image was made through five filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Space Telescope Takes Close Look at NGC 1365

Oct 5, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have snapped an incredibly detailed image of the large double-barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365. This...

Visualization of the new gauge developed to test the predictions of modified gravity theories against the measurement of the size of M87*’s shadow. Image credit: D. Psaltis, University of Arizona / EHT Collaboration.

Shadow of Messier 87’s Supermassive Black Hole Puts General Relativity to Test

Oct 2, 2020 by News Staff

The 2017 observations from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) of M87*, a 6.5-billion-solar-mass black hole in the center of the giant elliptical galaxy...

This artist’s impression shows a supermassive black hole in the center of SDSS J1030+0524 and six galaxies -- four Lyman-break galaxies and two Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies -- trapped in its gas web. The large web-like structure extends over 300 times the size of the Milky Way. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

Web of the Giant: Astronomers Spot Six Galaxies around Monster Quasar

Oct 2, 2020 by News Staff

Using the MUSE and FORS2 instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have spotted a group of six galaxies around SDSS J1030+0524, a...

This Chandra/ACIS-S image shows XRSs (colored points) in Messier 51; M51-ULS-1 is the orange source in the center of the blue box; diffuse emission is from hot gas. Image credit: Di Stefano et al., arXiv: 2009.08987.

Chandra Spots Possible Extragalactic Planet in Messier 51

Oct 2, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected an extragalactic candidate planet circling a binary system in Messier 51 (also known...

This Hubble images shows SN 2018gv (a very bright star located on the outer edge of one of the galaxy’s spiral arms in the left portion of the image) in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 2525. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Riess & SH0ES Team / Mahdi Zamani.

Hubble Observes Spectacular Supernova in NGC 2525

Oct 1, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have tracked the fading light of a Type Ia supernova in NGC 2525, a barred spiral galaxy located...

An artist’s impression of the ultrahot Neptune LTT 9779b and its parent star, LTT 9779. Image credit: Ricardo Ramirez, Universidad de Chile.

TESS Discovers First Known Ultrahot Neptune: LTT 9779b

Oct 1, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers have discovered an ultra-short-period Neptune-sized exoplanet orbiting the bright Sun-like star LTT 9779. An artist’s impression of the ultrahot...

Stellar Occultation Reveals Binary Trans-Neptunian Object: 2014 WC510

Sep 30, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A trans-Neptunian object designated 2014 WC510 is, in fact, a close binary system, according to an analysis of data obtained by the Research and Education...

Abdullah et al. determined that matter makes up about 31% of the total amount of matter and energy in the Universe. Image credit: Mohamed Abdullah, University of California Riverside.

Astrophysicists Measure Total Amount of Matter in Universe

Sep 29, 2020 by News Staff

Using data on a sample of 756 galaxy clusters identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), a team of astrophysicists from the United States and Egypt...

An artist’s impression of an ultrahot Jupiter. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

CHEOPS Observes One of Hottest Exoplanets Known to Date: WASP-189b

Sep 29, 2020 by News Staff

Because of its proximity to its parent star, the dayside equilibrium temperature of the ultrahot Jupiter WASP-189b reaches 3,162 degrees Celsius (5,724...

An artist’s impression of BOSS-EUVLG1, a star-forming galaxy located some 12 billion light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: Gabriel Pérez Díaz, SMM / IAC.

Astronomers Discover Most Luminous, Un-Obscured Star-Forming Galaxy Ever Seen

Sep 28, 2020 by Natali Anderson

A young starburst galaxy named BOSS-EUVLG1 is by far the most luminous, almost un-obscured star-forming galaxy known at any redshift. An artist’s impression...

This Hubble image shows NGC 5643, a grand design spiral galaxy some 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Lupus. The color image is composed of infrared and optical observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). It is based on data obtained through four filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Riess et al / Mahdi Zamani.

Hubble Observes Grand Design Spiral Galaxy: NGC 5643

Sep 28, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured an absolutely beautiful image of the spiral galaxy NGC 5643. This Hubble image shows...

An artist’s impression of the massive proto-binary system IRAS 16547-4247. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO.

ALMA Detects Salt, Water, Silicon Compounds and Methyl Cyanide around Two Massive Protostars

Sep 25, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected sodium chloride, silicon compounds, and water vapor in the circumstellar...

(3122) Florence will pass safely by Earth on September 1, at a distance of about 4.4 million miles. Image credit: University of Colorado.

Asteroid 2020 SW Flew Safely Past Earth Today

Sep 24, 2020 by News Staff

A small near-Earth asteroid designated 2020 SW made its closest approach to Earth today at 7:12 a.m. EDT (4:12 a.m. PDT) at a distance of about 22,000...

The EHT Collaboration unveiled the first direct visual evidence of the supermassive black hole in the center of the elliptical galaxy Messier 87 and its shadow. The shadow of a black hole seen here is the closest we can come to an image of the black hole itself, a completely dark object from which light cannot escape. The black hole’s boundary -- the event horizon from which the EHT takes its name -- is around 2.5 times smaller than the shadow it casts and measures just under 25 billion miles (40 billion km) across. Image credit: EHT Collaboration.

Crescent Shadow of Messier 87’s Supermassive Black Hole is Wobbling

Sep 23, 2020 by News Staff

In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) delivered the first resolved images of M87*, the supermassive black hole in the center of the giant elliptical...

This ALMA image shows the stellar wind around R Aquilae. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Decin et al.

ALMA Sees Complex Stellar Winds around Red Giant Stars

Sep 23, 2020 by News Staff

Stars with a mass of less than 8 solar masses end their lives as planetary nebulae, structures of ionized gas thrown off by the star and heated by the...

Antolin et al spotted nanojets in the solar corona. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Scientific Visualization Studio.

IRIS Captures First-Ever Clear Images of Nanojets in Solar Corona

Sep 22, 2020 by News Staff

The solar corona, the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere, is shaped and mysteriously heated to millions of degrees by the magnetic field of our star....