Astronomy News

White Dwarfs Really are White, But Few are Green, Pink or Vivid Blue

The cool white dwarf WD J1330+6435 has accreted sodium-rich rocky material from its planetary system into its atmosphere; the immense atmospheric density causes the sodium to absorb light over broad range of yellow, orange, and red wavelengths, giving the WD J1330+6435 a ghostly green appearance. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick / University of Warwick.
Oct 15, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of astronomers led by University of Warwick’s Dr. Mark Hollands has converted white dwarf spectra into the colors a human eye would perceive. The cool white dwarf WD J1330+6435 has accreted sodium-rich rocky material from its planetary system into its atmosphere; the immense atmospheric density causes the sodium to absorb light over broad range of yellow, orange, and red wavelengths, giving the WD J1330+6435 a ghostly green appearance. Image...

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This Webb image shows the host galaxy of FRB 20240304B (shown by the white cross). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Themiya Nanayakkara, USYD / Joseph DePasquale, STScI.

Record-Breaking Fast Radio Burst from Early Universe Traced to Tiny, Star-Forming Galaxy

Oct 12, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

This fast radio burst, designated FRB 20240304B, is the most distant ever detected, having traveled more than 10 billion years across the cosmos to reach...

This ALMA image shows the barred spiral galaxy Messier 83. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Koda et al.

Messier 83 Hints At How Star-Forming Gas Behaves in Barred Spirals Like Our Own

Oct 12, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

The life cycle of molecular gas in the barred spiral galaxy Messier 83 appears to be driven mainly by the galaxy’s large-scale structure and rotation,...

This artist's conception shows W0855, the coldest known brown dwarf. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Penn State University.

Webb Finds Signs of Patchy Water Clouds on Coldest Known Brown Dwarf

Oct 9, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured the first time-resolved, medium-resolution spectra of WISE J085510.83-071442.5,...

An artist’s impression of the planet HS 0209+0832b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Leah Hustak, STScI.

Astronomers Spot Possible Second-Generation Planet around Young White Dwarf

Oct 7, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Planets are supposed to form alongside their stars, but new research suggests that planets may also be born later, from the debris of a dying star, and...

The spatial distribution of cyanogen around 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: Cochran et al., doi: 10.3847/PSJ/aea086.

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS is Spewing Gas Surprisingly Slowly, New Observations Show

Oct 5, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Using spectral data from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas, astronomers have traced gas from the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third object of...

The types of collisions within young stellar systems known as extreme debris disks are relevant to scientists’ understanding of our own Solar System, which is thought to have undergone similar impact events that created our Moon and shaped Earth’s initial state. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Joseph Olmsted, STScI.

Strange Dusty Disks around Young Stars May Be Wreckage of Moon- and Mars-Sized Collisions

Oct 2, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

New observations of 21 extreme debris disks suggest the dust comes from violent impacts between planet-building bodies, and could even flag star systems...

This artist’s impression shows how the gas giant exoplanet inside the disc of Beta Pictoris may look. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

Astronomers Detect Radio Signal from Beta Pictoris b

Sep 28, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

For the first time, astronomers have directly detected radio emission from a planet beyond our Solar System. This artist’s impression shows how the gas...

An artist’s concept depicting Elias 2-24b, the youngest exoplanet detected to date, still growing within the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young host star. Image credit: W.M. Keck Observatory / Adam Makarenko.

Astronomers Confirm Youngest Exoplanet Ever Found

Sep 23, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Named Elias 2-24b, the newly confirmed exoplanet is estimated to be less than 1 million years old — so young it is likely still gaining mass from...

This composite image shows the locations of hypersoft X-ray sources in the face-on spiral galaxy Messier 101. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Univ. of Alabama / Muhibullah et al. / ESA / STScI / SAO / N. Wolk.

Astronomers Discover New Class of X-Ray Objects

Sep 22, 2026 by News Staff

Named ‘hypersoft X-ray sources,’ these objects give off very low-energy X-rays that are difficult to detect. This composite image shows the locations...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4698, a barred spiral galaxy some 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker, MAUVE-HST Team.

Hubble Spots Spiral Galaxy Rotating Out of Sync with Itself

Sep 21, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A barred spiral galaxy called NGC 4698 has a bizarre structure in which its central stars and gas rotate perpendicular to the galaxy’s main disk, possibly...

This image from ESO’s VISTA telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud. Image credit: ESO / Cioni et al.

VISTA Focuses on Inner Regions of Magellanic Clouds

Sep 16, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) have observed the densest, most crowded regions at the centers of...

The distribution of dust (blue), gas (green) and ions (red) in the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Image credit: Lea Ferellec.

Study: Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Formed in Cold, Nitrogen-Rich Environment

Sep 14, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have found new evidence that 3I/ATLAS, only the third confirmed interstellar object ever detected entering the Solar System from beyond, formed...

This artist’s concept depicts a trans-Neptunian object. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Leah Hustak, STScI.

Hubble and Webb Team Up to Spy Tiny Frozen Worlds beyond Neptune

Sep 9, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

For the first time, astronomers combined Hubble and Webb space telescopes to hunt down some of the smallest, faintest objects ever spotted in the outer...

Meteoroids bombarded the Earth-Moon system 800 million years ago. Image credit: Murayama, Osaka University.

Could Scoop of Moon Dust Reveal Alien Technology?

Sep 8, 2026 by Sergio Prostak

A cubic meter of lunar soil might be one of our best bets for finding physical proof that another advanced civilization once existed somewhere in the Milky...

This is an artist’s concept of a Type Ia supernova exploding in the intergalactic space between galaxies within a galactic cluster. Image credit: Alex Parker / NASA / SDSS.

Dark Energy May Not Be Constant After All, New Supernova Survey Suggests

Sep 8, 2026 by News Staff

Astronomers have combined 2,884 Type Ia supernovae — which are used to measure cosmic distances — with cosmic microwave background and galaxy-mapping...

Palomino Ylla et al. found a way to check for black hole hair using changes in ringdown waves. Image credit: Nagoya University.

Physicists Devise New Way to Listen for ‘Hairy’ Black Holes

Sep 7, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

When two black holes merge, the resulting object rings like a struck bell, radiating gravitational waves that fade in a distinctive pattern called ringdown....

This Hubble image shows the emission nebula LHA 120-N44. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Gouliermis.

Hubble Spots ‘Superbubble’ in Large Magellanic Cloud

Sep 7, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals LHA 120-N44, a striking nebula located roughly 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic...

These Hubble images show Saturn and the gas giant’s southern pole with its 10-sided atmospheric wave. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / Agustin Sánchez-Lavega, UPV / Amy Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Michael Wong, UC Berkeley / Alyssa Pagan.

Astronomers Discover Decagonal Wave circling Saturn’s South Pole

Sep 2, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

For almost five decades, Saturn’s north pole has been famous for hosting a bizarre, six-sided jet stream known as the hexagon, a feature first spotted...

This image of NGC 7253 was captured by the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, one half of the International Gemini Observatory. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin & M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Gemini North Telescope Captures Stunning Portrait of Merging Spiral Galaxies

Sep 2, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image from the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea in Hawai’i offers the sharpest look yet at a striking pair of interacting spiral galaxies, cataloged...

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