Astronomy News

Astronomers Capture Galactic Fireworks in Nearby Spiral Galaxy

This composite image shows the Milky Way-like spiral galaxy Messier 106: X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in blue, radio data from the NSF’s Karl Jansky Very Large Array are shown in purple, optical data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope are shown in yellow and infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope are shown in red. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Caltech / P. Ogle et al / STScI / JPL-Caltech / NSF / NRAO / VLA.
Jan 1, 2020 by News Staff

This impressive fireworks display, which involves a supermassive black hole, enormous shock waves and vast reservoirs of gas, is taking place in an intermediate spiral galaxy called Messier 106. This composite image shows the Milky Way-like spiral galaxy Messier 106: X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in blue, radio data from the NSF’s Karl Jansky Very Large Array are shown in purple, optical data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space...

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An artist’s impression of the giant exoplanet DMPP-2b and its parent star DMPP-2. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick.

Astronomers Discover Three Compact Planetary Systems

Dec 31, 2019 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers from the Dispersed Matter Planet Project (DMPP) have discovered three new planetary systems — designated DMPP-1, 2 and 3 — hosting...

An artist’s impression of a terraformed Mars. Image credit: Daein Ballard / CC BY-SA 3.0.

High-Oxygen Exoplanetary Atmospheres More Common than Thought, Study Suggests

Dec 30, 2019 by The Conversation

The existence of habitable alien worlds has been a mainstay of popular culture for more than a century. In the 19th century, astronomers believed that...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4455, a barred spiral galaxy located some 22 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / I. Karachentsev et al.

Hubble Scores Stunning Close-Up View of NGC 4455

Dec 30, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a beautiful photo of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 4455. This Hubble image shows NGC 4455, a barred...

An artist’s impression of a hot-Jupiter exoplanet. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

TESS Discovers Two New Hot Jupiters

Dec 27, 2019 by Natali Anderson

Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and several ground-based telescopes, astronomers have observed the transits of two hot-Jupiter...

HabEx, a space telescope with ultraviolet (UV), optical, and near-infrared (near-IR) imaging and spectroscopic capabilities, will have three primary science goals: (I) seek out nearby worlds and explore their habitability; (ii) map out nearby planetary systems and understand the diversity of the worlds they contain; (iii) enable new explorations of astrophysical systems from our own Solar System to galaxies and the Universe by extending our reach in the UV through near-IR. Image credit: Gaudi et al.

HabEx: New Mission Proposed to Search for Second Earth

Dec 26, 2019 by News Staff

The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) would use a telescope with a mirror larger than Hubble’s, and would employ origami techniques to utilize...

Phosphine Could Signal Existence of Alien Anaerobic Life on Rocky Planets

Dec 26, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers at MIT has found that phosphine, which is among the stinkiest, most toxic gases on Earth, cannot be produced in any other way except...

An artist’s impression of HD 213885b and its host star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Hot Super-Earth and Exo-Neptune Found Orbiting Sun-Like Star

Dec 26, 2019 by Natali Anderson

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and three ground-based spectrographs, astronomers have discovered an ultra-short-period...

This composite image shows thousands of star-forming galaxies in radio light and the MeerKAT radio telescope array in the South African Karoo semidesert. The brightest spots are luminous radio galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. The myriad faint dots are distant star-forming galaxies like our own Milky Way, too faint to have been detected before now. Because radio waves travel at the speed of light, this image is a time machine that samples the star formation history of the Universe. Image credit: SARAO / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

MeerKAT Radio Telescope Spots Thousands of Star-Forming Galaxies

Dec 25, 2019 by News Staff

A new radio image from the MeerKAT telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory in Cape Town, South Africa, presents a wide portrait of the...

Giant cavities in the X-ray emitting intracluster medium (shown in blue, as observed by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory) have been carved out by a black hole outburst. X-ray data are overlaid on top of optical data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (in red/orange), where the central galaxy that is likely hosting the culprit supermassive black hole is also visible. Image credit: Calzadilla et al.

Astronomers Witness Extremely Powerful Black Hole Outburst in Distant Galaxy Cluster

Dec 25, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have spotted an unusual outburst activity in the center of SPT-CLJ0528-5300 (SPT-0528 for short),...

This image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows NGC 2264. The newly-revealed protostars appear as pink and red specks toward the center of the image. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / P.S. Teixeira, Center for Astrophysics.

Spitzer Space Telescope Sees Protostars in NGC 2264

Dec 24, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a photo taken by its Spitzer Space Telescope that shows numerous newborn stars, or protostars, in NGC 2264. This image from NASA’s...

An artist’s impression of the gas-rich debris disk around 49 Ceti. Image credit: NAOJ.

ALMA Finds Rare Carbon Isotope in 49 Ceti’s Debris Disk

Dec 24, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected radio emission from two carbon isotopes (12C and 13C) in a huge...

A faint gamma-ray glow around the Geminga pulsar. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M. Di Mauro.

Fermi Finds Enormous Gamma-Ray Halo around Nearby Pulsar

Dec 23, 2019 by News Staff

Using data from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a gamma-ray glow around Geminga,...

An artist’s impression of the warm Jupiter TOI-677b and its host star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

TESS Discovers New Warm Jupiter

Dec 23, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has discovered a warm giant exoplanet orbiting the bright star TOI-677. An artist’s impression of the warm Jupiter...

This Hubble image shows ESO 021-G004, a spiral galaxy located approximately 130 million light-years away in the constellation Chamaeleon. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with 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 / D. Rosario et al.

Hubble Space Telescope Looks at Active Spiral Galaxy

Dec 23, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a beautiful image of a spiral galaxy called ESO 021-G004. This Hubble image shows ESO 021-G004, a spiral...

This image, taken by Spitzer’s Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) instrument, shows the Perseus molecular cloud. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Observes Perseus Molecular Cloud

Dec 20, 2019 by News Staff

NASA has released a stunning image of the Perseus molecular cloud, a giant stellar nursery about 600 light-years away in the northern constellation of...

This illustration depicts Kepler-51 and its three giant planets. Image credit: NASA / ESA / L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player & F. Summers, STScI.

Kepler-51 is Home to Three Super-Puff Exoplanets

Dec 20, 2019 by Natali Anderson

Kepler-51 is a 500-million-year-old G-type star located 2,615 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. New observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble...

This illustration depicts a gas halo surrounding a quasar in the early Universe. The quasar, in orange, has two powerful jets and a supermassive black hole at its center, which is surrounded by a dusty disk. The halo of glowing hydrogen is represented in blue. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

VLT Spots Huge Halos of Cool Hydrogen around Active Galaxies in Early Universe

Dec 20, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have spotted enormous hydrogen halos around 12 quasars — a type of active galaxy which shines...

ESA’s Cheops spacecraft lifts off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Image credit: ESA.

ESA Launches Exoplanet-Studying Satellite Cheops

Dec 19, 2019 by News Staff

The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (Cheops) — the first mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) dedicated to the study of exoplanets —...

This composite image of the galaxy group-galaxy group merger NGC 6338 contains X-ray data from Chandra (displayed in red) that shows hot gas with temperatures upward of about 20 million degrees Celsius, as well as cooler gas detected with Chandra and XMM (shown in blue) that also emits X-rays. The image contains optical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Image credit: Chandra / NASA / CXC / SAO / E. O’Sullivan / ESA / XMM / SDSS.

NGC 6338: Two Galaxy Groups are Colliding at Incredible Speed

Dec 19, 2019 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, and the Apache Point Observatory, astronomers...

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