Astronomy News

Betelgeuse’s Mysterious Dimming Likely Caused by Huge Outburst

This artist’s impression was generated using an image of Betelgeuse from 2019 taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO / NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Kornmesser.
Aug 13, 2020 by News Staff

The red supergiant Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in the night sky and appears even more luminous because it is so close to Earth, only 650 light-years away. But the star also periodically changes in brightness, which was first noted in the 1830s by the British astronomer John Herschel. Betelgeuse experienced an unexpected dimming during December 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, reaching an historic minimum on February 7-13. This dimming...

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A reconstructed image of SPT-S J041839-4751.9. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Rizzo et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2572-6.

ALMA Finds Young Milky Way-Like Galaxy in Early Universe

Aug 13, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered an extremely distant galaxy that looks surprisingly like our...

An artist’s illustration of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA’s TESS Spacecraft Completes Its Primary Mission

Aug 11, 2020 by News Staff

On July 4, 2020, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) completed its primary mission and is continuing its search for new extrasolar worlds. An...

This composite image shows the Sun with open magnetic field lines (colored) overlapping with regions with enhanced helium abundance. Image credit: NASA.

Helium Structures Spotted in Solar Corona

Aug 11, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s HERSCHEL (Helium Resonance Scattering in the Corona and Heliosphere) sounding rocket have obtained global images of the helium...

This image of Eurybates and its moon (circled) was captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on September 14, 2018. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Noll et al, arXiv: 2008.01858.

Hubble Spots Small Moon Orbiting Trojan Asteroid Eurybates

Aug 10, 2020 by Natali Anderson

The trojan asteroid (3548) Eurybates, one of the targets of NASA’s upcoming Lucy mission, has a tiny moon. This image of Eurybates and its moon (circled)...

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1614. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the near-infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. Four filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Adamo.

Hubble Snaps Image of Distorted Spiral Galaxy: NGC 1614

Aug 10, 2020 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has delivered an unrivalled snapshot of the highly distorted barred spiral galaxy NGC 1614. This Hubble image shows...

An artist’s impression of Hubble observing the total lunar eclipse. Image credit: NASA/ ESA / Hubble / M. Kornmesser.

Hubble Probes Earth’s Atmosphere during Total Lunar Eclipse

Aug 6, 2020 by News Staff

Taking advantage of a total lunar eclipse in January 2019, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have measured the amount of ozone in the...

These pre-explosion (left panel and right top panel) and post-explosion (right bottom panel) images from Hubble show SN 2019ehk and its host galaxy Messier 100. The location of SN 2019ehk is marked by red lines and the alignment uncertainty is indicated by pink ellipses. Image credit: Jacobson-Galán et al, doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab9e66.

Astronomers Catch X-Rays from Calcium-Rich Supernova

Aug 5, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers have for the first time used X-ray imaging to examine a calcium-rich supernova. Their findings, published in the Astrophysical Journal, show...

An artist’s conception of the dwarf star TVLM-513-46546 and its massive planet TVLM 513b. Image credit: Luis A. Curiel Ramirez.

Radio Astronomers Discover Saturn-Sized Exoplanet around Ultracool Dwarf

Aug 5, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NSF’s Very Long Baseline Array, a continentwide system of 10 radio telescope antennas located between Hawaii and Puerto Rico, have...

This ALMA image shows the planet-forming disk around the young star RU Lupi. The inset image (lower left, red disk) shows the DSHARP observation of the dust disk with rings and gaps that hint at the presence of forming planets. The new observation shows a large spiral structure (blue), made out of gas, that spans far beyond the compact dust disk. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / J. Huang and S. Andrews / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello.

ALMA Spots Gaseous Spiral Arms around Young Variable Star

Aug 4, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a giant set of spiral arms around the young variable star RU...

VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL images of (31) Euphrosyne. Image credit: Yang et al, arXiv: 2007.08059.

VLT Measures Main-Belt Asteroid Euphrosyne and Its Moon

Aug 3, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Using the high-angular resolution observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have determined the 3D shape, diameter and density...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4907, a barred spiral galaxy located 284 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. The image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Gregg.

Hubble Snaps Beautiful Image of NGC 4907

Aug 3, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a vivid image of the face-on barred spiral galaxy NGC 4907. This Hubble image shows...

This artist’s impression displays TRAPPIST-1 and its planets reflected in a surface. Image credit: NASA / R. Hurt / T. Pyle.

Extrasolar Planetary Systems Could Have Up to Seven Earth-Like Planets in Their Habitable Zones

Jul 31, 2020 by News Staff

Other stars could have as many as seven Earth-like planets in the absence of farther out giant planets, according to a new study led by the University...

An artist’s illustration of SN 1987A. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / B. Saxton.

ALMA May Have Found Neutron Star in Supernova Remnant SN 1987A

Jul 31, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found new evidence that a very young neutron star is hiding deep inside...

This highly detailed image of the planetary nebula NGC 2899 was captured using the FORS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO.

VLT Looks at Incredibly Beautiful Planetary Nebula: NGC 2899

Jul 30, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the FORS (FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have obtained a stunning image...

An artist’s impression of the thin stream of stars torn from the Phoenix globular cluster, wrapping around the Milky Way (left). Wan et al targeted bright red giant stars (right) to measure the chemical composition of the disrupted Phoenix globular cluster. Image credit: James Josephides, Swinburne Astronomy Productions / S5 Collaboration.

Ancient Globular Cluster Was Tidally Disrupted by Milky Way Two Billion Years Ago

Jul 30, 2020 by News Staff

The Phoenix stellar stream, a thin over-density of stars in the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy originally identified by the Dark Energy Survey, is composed...

An artist’s impression of the magnetar SGR 1935+2154. Image credit: ESA.

Astronomers Detect Short Bursts of Radio Waves from Distant Magnetar

Jul 30, 2020 by News Staff

Using ESA’s International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (Integral), NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and several radio telescopes, astronomers...

RAVE observed a total of 451,783 Milky Way stars. The Sun is located at the center of the coordinate system. The colors represent radial velocities: red are receding stars and stars depicted in blue are approaching. Image credit: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam / K. Riebe / RAVE Collaboration / R. Hurt, SSC / NASA / JPL-Caltech.

RAVE Survey Maps Nearly 452,000 Milky Way Stars

Jul 28, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers from the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) Collaboration have released a database of spectra and associated fundamental stellar parameters...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Study: Universe Might Be 1.2 Billion Years Younger

Jul 27, 2020 by News Staff

The Universe is assumed to be around 13.8 billion years old, but new calculations suggest it could be younger than that. This artist’s impression shows...

This Hubble image shows the open cluster NGC 2203. The image includes optical and near-infrared observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Girardi

Hubble Space Telescope Views NGC 2203

Jul 27, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking photo of the open cluster NGC 2203. This Hubble image shows the open cluster...

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