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Pfeifle et al provide the strongest evidence yet for a system of three supermassive black holes. Image credit: NASA / CXC / George Mason University / R. Pfeifle et al / SDSS / NASA / STScI.

Astronomers Find Triple Supermassive Black Hole

Sep 29, 2019 by News Staff

Using data from several space- and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have discovered a system of three supermassive black holes within SDSS J084905.51+111447.2,...

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 Detect Cyanide Gas in Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

Sep 28, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers have for the first time detected cyanide (CN) gas — a common ingredient of solar system comets — in the coma of an interstellar...

When a star strays too close to a black hole, intense tides break it apart into a stream of gas. The tail of the stream escapes the system, while the rest of it swings back around, surrounding the black hole with a disk of debris. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

TESS Spots Its First Tidal Disruption Event

Sep 27, 2019 by News Staff

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) gave astronomers an unexpected glimpse at a black hole violently ripping apart a Sun-sized star....

This Hubble image shows RS Puppis, one of the most luminous in the class of Cepheid variable stars. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / H. Bond, STScI and Pennsylvania State University.

Hubble Catalog of Variable Sources Released

Sep 27, 2019 by News Staff

Using data collected by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have created the deepest ever catalog of variable sources (variable stars in our...

This image highlights and explains various aspects of the black hole visualization. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Jeremy Schnittman.

New Visualization Reveals Warped World of a Black Hole

Sep 26, 2019 by News Staff

A new visualization created by a team of astrophysicists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center illustrates how black hole’s gravity distorts our view,...

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

Do Gamma-Ray Jets Really Achieve Superluminal Speeds?

Sep 26, 2019 by News Staff

High-speed particle jets from gamma-ray bursts may exceed the speed of light in surrounding gas clouds, but do so without violating Einstein’s theory...

Second-Known Interstellar Object Gets Official Name: 2I/Borisov

Sep 25, 2019 by Sergio Prostak

New observations and analysis of the recently-discovered comet C/2019 Q4 have confirmed its hyperbolic orbit and interstellar origin. Experts from the...

This Hubble image shows a galaxy called Messier 86. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the optical part 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 / P. Cote et al.

Hubble Space Telescope Looks at Messier 86

Sep 23, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the galaxy Messier 86, which is found in the constellation of Virgo. This Hubble image shows...

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of the Sun with sunspots in February 2013. The picture combines images from two SDO instruments: the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), which takes pictures in visible light that show sunspots, and the Advanced Imaging Assembly (AIA), which took an image in the 304 angstrom wavelength showing the lower atmosphere of the Sun, which is colorized in red. Image credit: NASA / SDO / AIA / HMI / Goddard Space Flight Center.

New Model for Plasma Flow within Sun Provides Explanations for Sunspots, Other Solar Phenomena

Sep 20, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington proposes a new model of plasma motion that would...

Artist’s illustration showing a massive exoplanet falling into its host star -- one of the possible explanations for the strange dimming of KIC 8462852. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Alfred Vidal-Madjar, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS.

Melting Exomoon May Explain Long-Term Dimming of Milky Way’s ‘Most-Mysterious Star’

Sep 18, 2019 by News Staff

A team of astrophysicists from Columbia University proposes that the strange long-term dimming of the KIC 8462852 star (also known as Tabby’s star or...

Astronomers Find Most Massive Neutron Star Ever Discovered

Sep 17, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using NSF’s Green Bank Telescope have identified a record breaking neutron star with the highest mass yet known. The object, called MSP J0740+6620,...

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...