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This composite image, obtained by the Gemini North Multi-Object Spectrograph on the 8.2-m Gemini North telescope, shows the interstellar comet C/2019 Q4. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NSF / AURA / Travis Rector.

Astronomers Observe Interstellar Comet C/2019 Q4

Sep 16, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

Using several ground-based telescopes on La Palma and Hawaii, astronomers have observed C/2019 Q4, the first-known interstellar comet and the second-known...

Comet C/2019 Q4. Image credit: G. Borisov.

C/2019 Q4: Second Interstellar Object Spotted in Our Solar System

Sep 16, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers have spotted what they believe is the second object of interstellar origin ever observed in the Solar System. Comet C/2019 Q4. Image credit:...

This Hubble image reveals a detailed view of part of the dwarf elliptical galaxy Messier 110. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). It is based on data obtained through two filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Ferrarese et al.

NASA Releases New Image of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy Messier 110

Sep 16, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this vivid image of Messier 110, one of the satellite galaxies of the famous Andromeda Galaxy. This Hubble...

This remarkable image from ESO’s VISTA telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of our nearest galactic neighbors. Image credit: ESO / VMC Survey.

Astronomers Chart 3D Structure of Magellanic Clouds

Sep 13, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from the VISTA Magellanic Clouds (VMC) Survey, astronomers have explored the morphology of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which are...

Hubble observed Saturn on June 20, 2019 as the planet made its closest approach to Earth this year, at approximately 808 million miles away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / OPAL Team.

Hubble Snaps New Image of Saturn and Its Ring System

Sep 12, 2019 by News Staff

Saturn is so beautiful that astronomers cannot resist using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to take yearly snapshots of the gas giant when it is at...

Radio image of the center of the Milky Way with a portion of the MeerKAT telescope array in the foreground. Image credit: University of Oxford / SARAO.

Astronomers Detect Giant Radio Bubbles in Milky Way’s Center

Sep 12, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using the MeerKAT telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory have spotted a pair of enormous radio-emitting bubbles in the...

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

Astronomers Detect Water in Atmosphere of Habitable-Zone Super-Earth K2-18b

Sep 12, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have detected water vapor in the atmosphere of K2-18b, a planet of eight Earth masses in the habitable...

PG 1610+062. Image credit: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD / SDSS.

One of Milky Way’s Most Extreme Runaway Stars Discovered

Sep 11, 2019 by News Staff

A runaway star called PG 1610+062 was probably ejected from the Milky Way’s Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm at a velocity of 341.8 mi/s (550 km/s) with...

This Hubble image reveals an ancient, glimmering ball of stars called NGC 1466. It is a globular cluster that is slowly moving through space on the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud. NGC 1466 has a mass equivalent to roughly 140,000 Suns and an age of around 13.1 billion years, making it almost as old as the Universe itself. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Observes Five Aging Star Clusters in Large Magellanic Cloud

Sep 10, 2019 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from Italy and Germany has used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to observe five aging star clusters — all born at about...

This Hubble image shows the dwarf galaxy UGC 695. The picture is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) 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 / D. Calzetti.

Hubble Observes Isolated Dwarf Galaxy UGC 695

Sep 9, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a beautiful picture of a galaxy called UGC 695. This Hubble image shows the dwarf galaxy UGC 695. The picture...

This visible-light image of NGC 6946 comes from the Digital Sky Survey, and is overlaid with data from NASA’s NuSTAR observatory (in blue and green). ULX-4 is the green blob near the bottom of the galaxy. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NuSTAR Spots Mysterious Source of Ultraluminous X-Rays in Nearby Spiral Galaxy

Sep 5, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) have found a remarkable source of X-rays in NGC 6946, a spiral galaxy located...

This infrared image taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows a spiral galaxy called Messier 81. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Snaps Beautiful Image of Messier 81

Sep 5, 2019 by News Staff

NASA has released a stunning infrared image snapped by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope of the spiral galaxy Messier 81. This infrared image taken by NASA’s...

The asteroid (6478) Gault is seen with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, showing two narrow, comet-like tails of debris that tell us that the asteroid is slowly undergoing self-destruction. The bright streaks surrounding the asteroid are background stars. Image credit: NASA / ESA / K. Meech & J. Kleyna, University of Hawaii / O. Hainaut, European Southern Observatory.

Astronomers Find Color-Shifting Asteroid

Sep 4, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility have caught an active asteroid called (6478) Gault in the act of changing color — in the near-infrared...

This image, which combines data from ALMA, Hubble and MUSE, shows the barred spiral galaxy Messier 95. Image credit: ESO / R. Leaman / D. Gadotti / K. Sandstrom / D. Calzetti.

Astronomers Observe ‘Stellar Feedback’ in Spiral Galaxy Messier 95

Sep 3, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer...

Trio of Super-Earths Found Orbiting Red Dwarf Gliese 1061

Sep 3, 2019 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers from the Red Dots Collaboration have detected three rocky exoplanets orbiting Gliese 1061, which is the 20th nearest star to the Sun. The outermost...

Gaia’s all-sky view of our Milky Way Galaxy and neighboring galaxies, based on measurements of nearly 1.7 billion stars. Brighter regions indicate denser concentrations of especially bright stars, while darker regions correspond to patches of the sky where fewer bright stars are observed. The color representation is obtained by combining the total amount of light with the amount of blue and red light recorded by Gaia in each patch of the sky. The bright horizontal structure that dominates the image is the Galactic plane, the flattened disc that hosts most of the stars in our home Galaxy. In the middle of the image, the Galactic center appears vivid and teeming with stars. Darker regions across the Galactic plane correspond to foreground clouds of interstellar gas and dust, which absorb the light of stars located further away, behind the clouds. Many of these conceal stellar nurseries where new generations of stars are being born. Sprinkled across the image are also many globular and open clusters -- groupings of stars held together by their mutual gravity, as well as entire galaxies beyond our own. The two bright objects in the lower right of the image are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. In small areas of the image where no color information was available -- to the lower left of the Galactic center, to the upper left of the Small Magellanic Cloud, and in the top portion of the map -- an equivalent grayscale value was assigned. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC.

ESA’s Gaia Space Telescope Traces Milky Way’s Stellar Families

Sep 2, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using data from ESA’s Gaia spacecraft have identified a number of clusters, associations and co-moving groups of stars within about 3,300...

This Hubble image shows the dwarf galaxy UGC 685, which lies in the constellation of Pisces, 15.7 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 Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). 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 / LEGUS Team / B. Tully / D. Calzetti / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Images Dwarf Galaxy UGC 685

Sep 2, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of a dwarf irregular galaxy named UGC 685. This Hubble image shows the dwarf galaxy...

An artist’s impression of an exo-Io undergoing extreme mass loss. The hidden exomoon is enshrouded in an irradiated gas cloud shining in bright orange-yellow, as would be seen with a sodium filter. Patches of sodium clouds are seen to trail the lunar orbit, possibly driven by the gas giant’s magnetosphere. Image credit: Thibaut Roger / University of Bern.

Astronomers Find Evidence for Volcanic Moon Orbiting Jupiter-Like Exoplanet WASP-49b

Aug 30, 2019 by News Staff

A volcanically active rocky exomoon may orbit WASP-49b, a hot gas giant approximately 550 light-years away in the constellation of Lepus. An artist’s...

An artist’s impression of a hot-Jupiter exoplanet. Image credit: C. Carreau / ESA.

Hot Jupiters Have Rocky Clouds on Their Nightsides

Aug 29, 2019 by News Staff

The temperature on the nightsides of short-period gas giants (hot Jupiters) is surprisingly uniform, suggesting the dark sides of these exoplanets have...