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CO molecule radio emission-line intensities in Orion A, Aquila Rift, and Messeir 17 observed by the Star Formation Project and the Nobeyama 45-m Radio Telescope. Image credit: NAOJ.

Astronomers Map Out Three Nearby Molecular Clouds

Mar 25, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Nobeyama 45-m Radio Telescope in Japan have carried out mapping observations toward three nearby molecular clouds: Orion A, Aquila...

Reynolds et al used Chandra to look for extraordinarily low-mass axion-like particles in the Perseus galaxy cluster, a group of galaxies located 240 million light-years away from Earth. The observation lasting over five days showed no evidence for certain axion-like particles, which some theorists think can explain dark matter. The lack of detection in these Chandra observations helps rule out some versions of string theory, a set of models intended to tie together all known forces, interactions, and particles. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Cambridge / Reynolds et al.

Astrophysicists Perform Test of String Theory

Mar 25, 2020 by News Staff

Astrophysicists using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have looked for signs of an as-yet undetected particle predicted by string theory, a set of models...

The collision of two black holes. Image credit: Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes Project.

Astronomers Propose New Mechanism for Growth of Supermassive Black Hole Seeds

Mar 24, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, a team of astronomers in Italy proposes that heavy seeds of supermassive black holes formed via the...

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4618. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instruments. 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 / I. Karachentsev.

NGC 4618: Hubble Spots Spiral Galaxy with Single Arm

Mar 23, 2020 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an amazing new photo of an unusual spiral galaxy called NGC 4618. This Hubble image shows the barred spiral...

An artist’s impression of a quasar. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Olmsted, STScI.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Quasar Tsunamis

Mar 20, 2020 by News Staff

Quasars are the ultra-bright cores of distant active galaxies. These objects are among the most distant and luminous objects known. Their central engines...

An artist’s impression of a double sunset on a ‘Tatooine’ exoplanet forming in a circumbinary disk that is misaligned with the orbits of its binary stars. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello.

ALMA Observes Protoplanetary Disks around Binary Stars

Mar 19, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of astronomers has found striking orbital geometries in circumbinary protoplanetary...

Time-averaged image of a general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the supermassive black hole in Messier 87. Image credit: Johnson et al, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz1310.

Astronomers Discover Way to Get Sharp Images of Black Hole’s Photon Rings

Mar 19, 2020 by News Staff

In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration released stunning images of the supermassive black hole in Messier 87, a giant elliptical...

This Hubble image shows a region of space called LHA 120-N150. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / I. Stephens.

Hubble Spots Nursery of Massive Stars in Large Magellanic Cloud

Mar 18, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a stunning image of a huge HII region called LHA 120-N 150. This bright pink cloud...

An artist’s impression of two white dwarfs in the process of merging; depending on the combined mass, the system may explode in a thermonuclear supernova, or coalesce into a single heavy white dwarf, as with WD J0551+4135. Image credit: Mark Garlick / University of Warwick.

Astronomers Discover First Pulsating White Dwarf in Eclipsing Binary System

Mar 17, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have spotted a pulsating white dwarf star in the binary stellar system SDSS J115219.99+024814.4 (SDSS J1152+0248 for short). An artist’s...

This Hubble image shows the flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 4237. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. 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 / P. Erwin et al.

Hubble Spots Flocculent Spiral Galaxy: NGC 4237

Mar 16, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a spectacularly detailed image of the central region of the spiral galaxy NGC 4237. This Hubble image...

An artist’s impression of a trans-Neptunian object. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI.

Astronomers Discover 139 New Trans-Neptunian Objects

Mar 12, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers have released a catalog of 316 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) — minor planets located in the far reaches of the Solar System —...

This illustration shows a night-side view of the exoplanet WASP-76b. To the left of the image, we see the evening border of the exoplanet, where it transitions from day to night. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

VLT Spies Iron Raining on Ultrahot Exoplanet WASP-76b

Mar 11, 2020 by News Staff

WASP-76b, a gas-giant exoplanet located some 640 light-years away in the constellation of Pisces, has a day side where temperatures climb above 2,400 degrees...

An artist’s impression of a blazar. Image credit: DESY / Science Communication Lab.

Astronomers Discover Most Distant Blazar Yet

Mar 11, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers using the Large Binocular Telescope have found a blazar 13 billion light-years from Earth, making it officially the most distant blazar ever...

In shaping the Universe, gravity builds a vast cobweb-like structure of filaments tying galaxies and clusters of galaxies together along invisible bridges hundreds of millions of light-years long. This is known as the cosmic web. Image credit: Burchett et al.

Astronomers Use Slime Mold to Reveal Cosmic Web’s Dark Threads

Mar 11, 2020 by News Staff

Physarum polycephalum, a single-cell organism known as slime mold, builds complex web-like filamentary networks in search of food, always finding near-optimal...

TESS Discovers New Class of Pulsating Star

Mar 10, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a team of professional astronomers and citizen scientists has discovered a star...

An artist’s rendering of two brown dwarfs. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa & Sergio Dieterich, Carnegie Institution for Science.

Astronomers Spot Rare Eclipsing Brown-Dwarf Binary System

Mar 10, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using robotic telescopes at ESO’s newest planet-hunting SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars) Observatory in...

An artist’s impression of several moons forming around a young gas-giant planet. Image credit: Nagoya University.

Single-Moon Systems Possible around Gas-Giant Planets

Mar 9, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of astronomers in Japan has demonstrated that systems can form that have only one large moon, such as Titan around Saturn, around a gas giant. An...

This image, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the central part of the spiral galaxy NGC 1589. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 1589

Mar 9, 2020 by Natali Anderson

NASA has released a stunning image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the central region of the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 1589. This image,...

This image from ALMA shows the M2 spectral-type supergiant star Betelgeuse. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / E. O’Gorman / P. Kervella.

Betelgeuse Isn’t Dimming Because It’s About To Explode — It’s Just Dusty

Mar 6, 2020 by News Staff

On February 15, 2020, a team of U.S. astronomers observed Betelgeuse, a dimming red supergiant located approximately 650 light-years away from Earth, using...