Astronomy News

Astrophysicists are Taking Dark Matter’s Temperature

No one knows what dark matter is, but this invisible form of matter makes up roughly a quarter of the Universe. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Jan 16, 2020 by News Staff

Astrophysicists have very little idea of what dark matter is and they have yet to detect a dark matter particle. But they do know that the gravity of clumps of dark matter can distort light from distant objects. An international team of astrophysicists is using this distortion — called strong gravitational lensing — to learn more about the properties of the mysterious substance. No one knows what dark matter is, but this invisible form...

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An artist’s impression of the Proxima Centauri system. Image credit: Lorenzo Santinelli.

Proxima c: Possible Second Planet Found around Sun’s Nearest Neighbor

Jan 16, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has detected a candidate super-Earth planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. An artist’s...

This infographic shows the key results from a study that has revealed the interstellar thread of phosphorus. The background of the infographic shows a part of the night sky in the constellation of Auriga, where the star-forming region AFGL 5142 is located. The ALMA image of this object is on the top left of the infographic, and one of the locations where the team found phosphorus-bearing molecules is indicated by a circle. The most common phosphorus-bearing molecule in AFGL 5142 is phosphorus monoxide, represented in orange and red in the diagram on the bottom left. Another molecule found was phosphorus nitride, represented in orange and blue. The astronomers also found phosphorus monoxide on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, shown on the bottom right. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Rivilla et al / L. Calçada / ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM / Mario Weigand, www.SkyTrip.de.

Astronomers Trace Journey of Phosphorus from Stellar Nurseries to Solar System Comets

Jan 15, 2020 by News Staff

To understand how molecules containing phosphorus — one of life’s building blocks — are formed in star-forming regions, a team of astronomers...

An artist’s concept of the Gliese 180 planetary system, which is located 39 light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus. Image credit: Robin Dienel, Carnegie Institution for Science.

Astronomers Discover Five New Planets around Nearby Red Dwarfs

Jan 15, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have detected five new planets, eight planet candidates, and confirmed three previously reported planets, around nine nearby M-dwarf (red dwarf)...

NGC 6240 as seen with ALMA. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / E. Treister / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello / NASA / ESA / Hubble.

ALMA Finds Molecular Gas within Sphere of Influence of Binary Supermassive Black Hole

Jan 14, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have mapped the distribution of molecular gas in NGC 6240, a nearby merging galaxy...

This image, taken by the FOcal Reducer/low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows the interacting galaxy pair NGC 470-NGC 474. Image credit: ESO.

VLT Spots Two Interacting Galaxies

Jan 13, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have captured a striking view of two interacting galaxies NGC 470 and NGC 474. This image, taken by the...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1803, a spiral galaxy located 200 million light-years away in the constellation of Pictor. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) instrument in the near-infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. 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 / A. Bellini et al.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 1803

Jan 13, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a beautiful picture of a spiral galaxy called NGC 1803. This Hubble image shows NGC 1803, a spiral galaxy...

An artist’s concept of the hot-Jupiter exoplanet WASP-12b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / C. Haswell, Open University.

Hot Jupiter WASP-12b is Spiraling In Toward Its Star: Study

Jan 12, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

WASP-12b will be completely consumed by its host star in 3.25 million years, according to a new study led by Princeton University astrophysicists. An artist’s...

Each of these Hubble images reveals four distorted images of a background quasar and its host galaxy surrounding the central core of a foreground massive galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Nierenberg, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory / T. Treu, University of California, Los Angeles.

Hubble Uses Quadruple-Image Gravitational Lenses to Capture Small-Scale Clumps of Dark Matter

Jan 10, 2020 by News Staff

According to the widely-accepted ‘cold dark matter’ theory, all galaxies are embedded within clouds of dark matter. Dark matter itself consists of...

Alpha Draconis (circled). Image credit: NASA / MIT / TESS.

Alpha Draconis is Eclipsing Binary System, TESS Data Show

Jan 9, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A well-studied binary system called Alpha Draconis exhibits primary and secondary eclipses, according to an analysis of data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet...

This image from the 8-m Gemini North telescope shows SDSS J015800.28+654253.0 (center), the host galaxy of FRB 180916 (green circle). Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory / AURA.

Repeating Fast Radio Burst Localized to Massive Spiral Galaxy

Jan 9, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers have pinpointed the source galaxy of the fast radio burst known as FRB 180916.J0158+65 (FRB 180916 for short) — making it the closest...

Visualization of the Radcliffe Wave. Image credit: Alyssa Goodman / Harvard University.

Astronomers Find 9,000-Light-Year-Long Wave-Shaped Structure in Milky Way

Jan 9, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from ESA’s Gaia star-mapping spacecraft, a team of astronomers from Austria and the United States has discovered a wave-shaped arrangement...

This composite image shows dense swirls of gas and dust in the central region of our Milky Way Galaxy. The image spans 600 light-years across and is helping astronomers learn how many massive stars are forming in the Galactic center. New data from SOFIA taken at 25 and 37 microns, shown in blue and green, are combined with data from ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory, shown in red (70 microns), and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, shown in white (8 microns). Image credit: NASA / SOFIA / JPL-Caltech / ESA / Herschel.

SOFIA Maps Most Energetic Portion of Milky Way

Jan 8, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Faint Object Infrared Camera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST) instrument onboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared...

An artist’s impression of TOI-700d, c, and b planets and their host star. Image credit: Sci-News.com / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Earth-Sized Exoplanet Found in Habitable Zone around Red Dwarf

Jan 8, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, the agency’s Spitzer Space Telescope and other facilities, astronomers have discovered a compact...

An artist’s impression of TOI-1338b and its two host stars. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith.

TESS Discovers Its First Circumbinary Planet: TOI-1338b

Jan 8, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered a massive exoplanet orbiting two stars in the TOI-1338 system. An...

An artist’s impression of a water-rich exoplanet with an oxygen-rich atmosphere orbiting a red dwarf star. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Friedlander-Griswold.

Astronomers Have New Way to Spot Oxygen in Atmospheres of Exoplanets

Jan 7, 2020 by News Staff

Since exoplanets are so far away, astronomers cannot look for signs of extraterrestrial life by visiting these distant worlds. Instead, they must use a...

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy UGC 2885. Image credit: NASA / ESA / B. Holwerda, University of Louisville.

Hubble Reveals What May Be Largest Spiral Galaxy Ever Seen

Jan 6, 2020 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a stunning new image of UGC 2885, a barred spiral galaxy located some 232 million light-years away in the...

An artist’s impression of a superflaring star. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / S. Wiessinger / Swift.

TESS Catches Superflares from 400 Solar-Type Stars

Jan 6, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have detected 1,216 superflare events on 400 solar-type stars. One of these stars,...

This Hubble image shows NGC 2770, a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Lynx, 83.8 million light-years away. 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). It is based on data obtained through four filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Filippenko.

Hubble Snaps Stunning Image of NGC 2770

Jan 6, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an amazing photo of a spiral galaxy called NGC 2770. This Hubble image shows NGC 2770, a spiral galaxy...

New Study Looks at Why Neptune-Sized and Larger Exoplanets are Rare

Jan 3, 2020 by News Staff

Sub-Neptunes — extrasolar planets with radii between 2.7 and 3 times that of Earth — are much more numerous than Neptune-sized and larger planets....

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