Astronomy News | Sci.News

Using NASA/ESA Hubble and ESA’s Gaia space telescopes, Riess et al have made the most precise measurements to date of the Universe’s expansion rate. This is calculated by gauging the distances between nearby galaxies using special types of stars called Cepheid variables as cosmic yardsticks. By comparing their intrinsic brightness as measured by Hubble, with their apparent brightness as seen from Earth, scientists can calculate their distances. Gaia further refines this yardstick by geometrically measuring the distances to Cepheid variables within the Milky Way Galaxy. This allowed astronomers to more precisely calibrate the distances to Cepheids that are seen in outside galaxies. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Field, STScI.

Universe’s Expansion Measured with Greatest Precision Yet

Jul 16, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESA’s Gaia space observatory to make the most precise measurements of the expansion rate...

This image, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the galaxy cluster SDSS J1336-0331. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Catches Enormous Cluster of Galaxies

Jul 16, 2018 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of a massive galaxy cluster called SDSS J1336-0331. This image, taken with the Wide...

A bi-static radar image of the binary asteroid 2017 YE5 from the Arecibo Observatory and the Green Bank Observatory on June 25, 2018. Image credit: Arecibo / GBO / NSF / NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Spot Rare Binary Asteroid: 2017 YE5

Jul 13, 2018 by News Staff

New observations by NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar in California, Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia...

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

Astronomers Pinpoint Source of High-Energy Neutrinos for First Time

Jul 13, 2018 by News Staff

A large multinational team of astronomers has found the first evidence of a source of super-energetic neutrino particles: a distant blazar — the...

This image from the HAWK-I/GRAAL system on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows the super star cluster RCW 38. Image credit: K. Muzic / ESO.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Takes Closer Look at RCW 38

Jul 11, 2018 by Natali Anderson

The High Acuity Wide field K-band Imager (HAWK-I) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile has taken the most detailed infrared image so far of a...

This artist’s impression shows Ross 128b, with the red dwarf star Ross 128 in the background. This system is located in the constellation of Virgo, about 11 light-years away. Ross 128b is 20 times closer to the star than the Earth is to the Sun, and takes just 9.9 days to circle it. The planet’s equilibrium temperature is estimated to be 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Exoplanet Ross 128b Likely Has Temperate Climate: Study

Jul 11, 2018 by News Staff

Understanding which chemical elements are present in a star in what abundances can help astronomers estimate the makeup of planets that orbit them, which...

An artist’s conception of PSO J352.4034-15.3373, with disk of material orbiting the black hole and jet of fast-moving particles ejected into space. Image credit: Robin Dienel / Carnegie Institution for Science.

Radio-Bright Quasar May Provide Clues about Physical Processes in Early Universe’s Galaxies

Jul 10, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using NSF’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) have found a quasar with the brightest radio emission ever observed in the early Universe. An...

This Hubble image shows the irregular galaxy UGC 12682. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Snaps Stunning Irregular Galaxy Image

Jul 9, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of a little known galaxy called UGC 12682. This Hubble image shows the irregular galaxy UGC 12682....

An artist’s impression of the triple star system PSR J0337+1715, which is located about 4,200 light-years from Earth. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello.

Scientists Test Einstein’s Theory of Gravity on Unique Triple-Star System

Jul 5, 2018 by News Staff

In a new test of Einstein’s theory of gravity, a group of astronomers from the Netherlands, the United States, Australia and Canada has demonstrated...

An impression of the encounter between the Milky Way and the Sausage dwarf galaxy. Image credit: V. Belokurov / Juan Carlos Muñoz / ESO.

‘Sausage’ Galaxy Crashed into Milky Way 8-10 Billion Years Ago

Jul 5, 2018 by News Staff

An unknown dwarf galaxy, dubbed ‘Sausage’ galaxy, smashed into our own Milky Way Galaxy around 8 to 10 billion years ago, a team of astronomers suggests....

Eta Carinae’s great eruption in the 1840s created the Homunculus Nebula, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Now about a light-year long, the expanding cloud contains enough material to make at least 10 copies of our Sun. Astronomers cannot yet explain what caused this eruption. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble SM4 ERO Team.

NuSTAR Detects High-Energy Cosmic Rays from Eta Carinae System

Jul 4, 2018 by News Staff

Eta Carinae — a binary star system approximately 7,500 light-years away in the constellation Carina — is accelerating particles to high energies,...

Camargo 1102. Image credit: Denilso Camargo, doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/aacc68.

Astronomer Discovers Five New Globular Clusters

Jul 4, 2018 by Sergio Prostak

Using images from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Dr. Denilso Camargo of the Colégio Militar de Porto Alegre, Brazil, has discovered...

This image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of an exoplanet caught in the very act of formation. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. Image credit: ESO / A. Müller et al.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Directly Images Newborn Exoplanet

Jul 3, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have found an infant gas giant orbiting the young dwarf star PDS 70. Not only have...

This Hubble image shows the giant galaxy cluster RXC J2211.7-0350. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / RELICS.

Hubble Spots Cluster of Diverse Galaxies

Jul 2, 2018 by News Staff

An incredible new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the diverse collection of galaxies in RXC J2211.7-0350, a massive galaxy cluster...

This is an artist's impression of the SN 1987A remnant. The image is based on real data and reveals the cold, inner regions of the remnant, in red, where tremendous amounts of dust were detected and imaged by ALMA. This inner region is contrasted with the outer shell, lacy white and blue circles, where the blast wave from the supernova is colliding with the envelope of gas ejected from the star prior to its powerful detonation. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Alexandra Angelich, NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Researchers Observe Magnetic Field Generated by Supernova Remnant 1987A

Jun 29, 2018 by News Staff

The detection of a radial magnetic field across the inner ring of SNR 1987A, the remnant of a supernova first witnessed three decades ago, provides insight...

This artistic concept shows Kepler-186f. Image credit: NASA Ames / SETI Institute / JPL-CalTech.

Study: Habitable Zone Exoplanets Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f Have Stable Climate, Regular Seasons

Jun 29, 2018 by News Staff

New research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggests that exoplanets Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f...

This artist’s impression shows ‘Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in our Solar System. Recent observations show that the object is moving faster than predicted while leaving the Solar System. Astronomers assume that venting material from its surface due to solar heating is responsible for this behavior. This outgassing can be seen in this artist’s impression as a subtle cloud being ejected from the side of the object facing the Sun. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Oumuamua Turns Out to Be Interstellar Comet After All

Jun 28, 2018 by News Staff

1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua — the first known object of extrasolar origin discovered within the Solar System — has been the subject of intense scrutiny...

An illustration of the structure of a greasy carbon molecule, set against an image of the Milky Way’s center, where this material has been detected; carbon is represented as gray spheres and hydrogen as white spheres. Image credit: D. Young.

Milky Way is Rich in Greasy Carbon Molecules, Researchers Say

Jun 27, 2018 by News Staff

Organic matter of different kinds contains carbon, an element considered essential for life. There is though real uncertainty over its abundance, and only...

Exoplanet Biosignatures: Will We Be Able to Recognize Extraterrestrial Life If We See It?

Jun 26, 2018 by News Staff

A team of leading astronomers, biologists and geologists have come together under the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), a NASA research coordination...