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Sizes of 17 new planet candidates, compared to Mars, Earth, and Neptune. The planet in green is KIC 7340288b. Image credit: Michelle Kunimoto.

Astronomers Discover Seventeen New Extrasolar Planets

Mar 2, 2020 by News Staff

Using data gathered by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, a team of astronomers in Canada has discovered 17 new exoplanets, including an Earth-sized world....

This Hubble image shows the central part of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3887. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. It is based on data obtained through three filters. 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 Space Telescope Zooms In on NGC 3887

Mar 2, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an amazing photo of the central region of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 3887. This Hubble image shows...

Evidence for the biggest black hole eruption seen in the Universe comes from a combination of X-ray data from Chandra and XMM-Newton, and the Murchison Widefield Array and Giant Metrewave Telescope, as shown here. The eruption is generated by a black hole located in the central galaxy of the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster, which has blasted out jets and carved a large cavity in the surrounding hot gas. Image credit: NASA / CXC / NRL / S. Giacintucci et al / ESA / XMM-Newton / NCRA / TIFR / GMRT / 2MASS / UMass / IPAC-Caltech / NSF.

Universe’s Most Powerful Black Hole Eruption Spotted

Feb 28, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray space observatories, along with two ground-based radio telescopes in Australia and India,...

This artist’s impression shows planets K2-18b and c and their host star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Kornmesser.

Super-Earth Exoplanet K2-18b Could Have Right Conditions for Life

Feb 27, 2020 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, UK, has found K2-18b, a planet of almost nine Earth masses in orbit...

2020 CD3 is estimated to be only between one and six meters across. Image credit: Jonny Lindner.

Earth Has New, Temporary Moon: 2020 CD3

Feb 27, 2020 by The Conversation

The Minor Planet Centre has just announced that our planet has been orbited by a second moon for the past three years or so. Designated 2020 CD3, the object...

This image, taken by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile, shows the planetary nebula CVMP 1. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory / AURA.

Astronomers Snap Photo of Beautiful Planetary Nebula

Feb 27, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Gemini South telescope on the summit of Cerro Pachon in Chile have taken a picture of CVMP 1, a planetary nebula located some 6,500...

This composite image shows the Orion Molecular Clouds, the target of the VANDAM survey. Yellow dots are the locations of the observed protostars on a blue background image made by ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory. Side panels show nine young protostars imaged by ALMA (blue) and the VLA (orange). Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / J. Tobin / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello / Herschel / ESA.

Astronomers Observe Hundreds of Protoplanetary Disks in Orion Molecular Clouds

Feb 26, 2020 by News Staff

Using NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have captured images of 328...

An artist’s impression of an L dwarf star, a star with so little mass that it is only just above the boundary of actually being a star, caught in the act of emitting an enormous superflare of X-rays, as detected by ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory. Image credit: ESA.

XMM-Newton Detects X-ray Superflare from Ultracool Dwarf

Feb 25, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) onboard ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, astronomers have detected for the first time a...

These images, taken by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, show the asteroid Pallas. Image credit: ESO / M. Marsset et al / MISTRAL algorithm, ONERA & CNRS.

Astronomers Snap New Images of Huge Asteroid Pallas

Feb 24, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) imager, an instrument installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT)...

This Hubble image shows NGC 691, a spiral galaxy located 125 million light-years away in the constellation Aries. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s WFC3 instrument in the 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. Riess et al.

Hubble Space Telescope Views NGC 691

Feb 24, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 691. This Hubble image shows NGC 691, a spiral...

This Hubble image shows Messier 104. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA.

Strikingly Metal-Rich Halo of Messier 104 Suggests Turbulent Past

Feb 21, 2020 by News Staff

Messier 104, a lenticular galaxy located 28 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, now has a new chapter in its story — an extended...

Breakthrough Listen Finds No Alien Signals from Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

Feb 20, 2020 by News Staff

Breakthrough Listen, the largest ever scientific research program aimed at finding evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth, has released data from its...

Range-Doppler radar image (colorized) of the binary near-Earth asteroid 2020 BX12. Image credit: Arecibo Observatory.

Arecibo Observatory Reveals Near-Earth Asteroid 2020 BX12 Has Large Moon

Feb 20, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using a radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory have captured the first images of the recently-discovered near-Earth asteroid 2020 BX12....

This is an artistic impression of a red dwarf star’s magnetic interaction with its exoplanet. Image credit: Danielle Futselaar, Artsource.nl.

Astronomers Find New Way to Study Planets around Red Dwarf Stars

Feb 19, 2020 by News Staff

Using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope, astronomers have observed radio waves that carry the distinct signatures of extraterrestrial aurorae,...

CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia. Image credit: Shaun Amy.

Breakthrough Listen Scientists Release New Data from SETI Survey of Milky Way

Feb 18, 2020 by News Staff

The Breakthrough Listen Initiative, the largest ever scientific research program aimed at finding evidence of alien civilizations, has released data from...

Betelgeuse: VLT Observes Dimming Supergiant Star

Feb 17, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using two instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have captured new images of a red supergiant star called Betelgeuse. The images...

This Hubble image shows the central region of the spiral galaxy NGC 4689. 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). It is based on data obtained through three filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Takes Closer Look at Stunning Spiral Galaxy: NGC 4689

Feb 17, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have photographed the central part of a spiral galaxy called NGC 4689. This Hubble image shows the...

This view of Titan is among the last images NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent to Earth before it plunged into the giant planet’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cosmic Rays from beyond Solar System Affect Atmosphere of Titan

Feb 14, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of Japanese researchers has found that Galactic cosmic rays affect the...

An artist’s rendering of an extrasolar gas giant. Image credit: NASA.

Astronomers Discover Nearest-Known Newborn Gas Giant

Feb 13, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using data from ESA’s Gaia star-mapping satellite have discovered a newborn gaseous exoplanet closer to Earth than any other of similarly...