Astronomy News

Post-Merger Galaxies’ Supermassive Black Holes Can ‘Eat’ One Star per Year

This illustration shows a glowing stream of material from a star, disrupted as it was being devoured by a supermassive black hole. When a star passes within a certain distance of a black hole -- close enough to be swallowed up -- the stellar material gets stretched and compressed as it is pulled in. A black hole’s destruction of a star, called ‘stellar tidal disruption,’ releases an enormous amount of energy, brightening the surroundings in an event called a flare. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Feb 2, 2018 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by University of Colorado Boulder scientists has discovered a mechanism that explains the persistence of asymmetrical star clusters surrounding supermassive black holes in post-merger galaxies and suggests that during post-merger periods, stars could be flung into the black hole and destroyed at a rate of one per year. This illustration shows a glowing stream of material from a star, disrupted as it was being devoured by...

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ALMA detected methanol, dimethyl ether, and methyl formate in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The far-infrared image on the left shows the full galaxy. The zoom-in image shows the star-forming region observed by ALMA. It is a combination of mid-infrared data from Spitzer and visible (H-alpha) data from the Blanco 4-m telescope. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / Herschel / ESA / NASA / JPL-Caltech / NOAO.

ALMA Detects Complex Organic Molecules in Large Magellanic Cloud

Feb 1, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have uncovered chemical ‘fingerprints’ of three complex organic molecules...

This image of the Lupus 3 star-forming region was created from images taken using ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope and the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope and is the most detailed image taken so far of this region. Image credit: R. Colombari / ESO.

ESO Releases High-Definition Photo of Star-Forming Region Lupus 3

Jan 31, 2018 by News Staff

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) today released the most detailed image taken so far of a star-forming region called Lupus 3. This image of the...

The Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular Galaxy. Image credit: ESO / M. Bellazzini et al.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Captures Image of Little-Known Dwarf Galaxy

Jan 30, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on Monday released a colorful image of a small galaxy in the constellation of Sagittarius. The...

This Hubble/WFC3 image shows the unbarred spiral galaxy NGC 7331. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Milisavljevic, Purdue University.

Hubble Observes Unbarred Spiral Galaxy NGC 7331

Jan 29, 2018 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the spiral galaxy NGC 7331, which is found in the constellation of Pegasus. This Hubble/WFC3...

Artist’s impression of the trio of super-Earth exoplanets. Image credit: ESO.

Found: Three Super-Earths in Orbit around Cool Dwarf Star

Jan 29, 2018 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using data from the NASA Kepler spacecraft’s reborn K2 mission have found a triple system of super-Earth exoplanets around a cool star called...

Future telescopes like the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (right) will observe the atmospheres of distant planets to seek evidence of life. Earth (top left) has several gases in its atmosphere that reveal the presence of life, primarily oxygen and ozone. Krissansen-Totton et al find that for the early Earth (bottom left), the combination of abundant methane and carbon dioxide would provide an alternative sign of life. Image credit: NASA / Wikimedia Commons / Joshua Krissansen-Totton.

Astrobiologists Find New Way to Detect Extraterrestrial Life

Jan 25, 2018 by News Staff

A team of astrobiologists from the Universities of Washington and California has found a simple approach to look for alien life that might be more promising...

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

Astronomer Proposes New Limit on Definition of a Planet

Jan 23, 2018 by News Staff

In a new article published in the Astrophysical Journal (arXiv.org preprint), Johns Hopkins University researcher Kevin Schlaufman sets the upper boundary...

This Hubble image shows the globular cluster NGC 3201. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Sees NGC 3201

Jan 22, 2018 by News Staff

In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of an ancient globular cluster named NGC 3201. This Hubble image shows the...

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the Cartwheel Galaxy. The image is based on earlier Hubble data of the Cartwheel that was reprocessed in 2010, bringing out more detail in the image than seen before. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

NASA Releases Stunning Photo of Cartwheel Galaxy

Jan 21, 2018 by News Staff

NASA has released the sharpest image ever taken of the Cartwheel Galaxy, a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. This image from the NASA/ESA...

This Hubble image shows A1758N, the northern part of the galaxy cluster Abell 1758. The cluster is approximately 3.2 billion light-years from Earth and is part of a larger structure containing two clusters sitting some 2.4 million light-years apart. But A1758N itself is further split into two sub-sections, known as East (A1758NE) and West (A1758NW). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Takes Closer Look at Abell 1758

Jan 18, 2018 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken the most detailed image so far of A1758N, a sub-cluster of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1758. This Hubble...

Artist’s impression of the black hole-star system in NGC 3201, a globular cluster located approximately 16,300 light-years away towards the southern constellation Vela. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada / Spaceengine.org.

Astronomers Detect Lonely Black Hole in Globular Cluster NGC 3201

Jan 18, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of astronomers led by Georg-August-Universität Göttingen researcher Benjamin Giesers has discovered a star in the globular cluster...

Salmon et al were able to detect a hint of light from SPT0615-JD because it was magnified as it passed around the massive galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615-5746 as it traveled towards Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / B. Salmon, STScI.

Gravitational Lens Magnifies and Stretches Image of Distant Galaxy

Jan 17, 2018 by News Staff

Thanks to the presence of a cosmic zoom lens, Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes got a uniquely close-up look at one of the farthest galaxies ever seen. Salmon...

The aromatic molecule benzonitrile was detected by NSF’s Green Bank Telescope in the Taurus Molecular Cloud 1. Image credit: B. McGuire & B. Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Radio Astronomers Detect Organic Molecule Benzonitrile in Interstellar Medium

Jan 16, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers studying a well-known nearby cloud of interstellar gas with radio telescopes have detected the presence of benzonitrile (c-C6H5CN), an intriguing...

Five-Planet System Found: K2-138

Jan 16, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of citizen scientists and professional astronomers has discovered a system of at least five massive exoplanets, orbiting the Sun-like...

This image shows the SDSS J1354+1327 galaxy in a composite image with data from Chandra (purple), and Hubble (red, green and blue). The inset box contains a close-up view of the central region around SDSS J1354+1327’s supermassive black hole. The larger companion galaxy, SDSS J1354+1328, is shown to the north. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Colorado / STScI/ J. Comerford et al.

Astronomers Spot ‘Flickering’ Supermassive Black Hole

Jan 15, 2018 by News Staff

A rapidly growing supermassive black hole — known as an active galactic nucleus — in the center of a distant galaxy appears to have consumed...

This image of the Orion Nebula was obtained from multiple exposures using VLT’s HAWK-I infrared camera. This is the deepest view ever of this region and reveals more very faint planetary-mass objects than expected. Image credit: H. Drass et al / ESO.

Spitzer and Hubble Telescopes Provide 3D Journey through Magnificent Orion Nebula

Jan 15, 2018 by News Staff

By combining the visible and infrared capabilities of NASA’s Spitzer and NASA/ESA Hubble space telescopes, a team of specialists at NASA’s Universe...

This composite image shows the central region of our Milky Way Galaxy. The Galactic center is located within the bright white region to the right of and just below the middle of the image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / SSC / CXC / STScI.

Hubble Space Telescope Probes Archaeology of Milky Way’s Bulge

Jan 12, 2018 by News Staff

Many disc galaxies, including our own Milky Way Galaxy, have a central concentration of stars called a ‘bulge.’ For decades, astronomers had a simple...

This Hubble image shows the Orion Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Robberto, Space Telescope Science Institute & ESA / Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team.

Hubble Finds Three Giant Exoplanets and Several Brown Dwarfs in Orion Nebula

Jan 12, 2018 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to peer deep into the famous Orion Nebula, Space Telescope Institute researcher Massimo Robberto and colleagues...

The globally distributed dishes of the European VLBI Network are linked with each other and the 305-m William E. Gordon Telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Together they have localized FRB121102’s exact position within its host galaxy. Image credit: Danielle Futselaar, www.artsource.nl.

Fast Radio Burst Source Linked to Extreme Magnetic Environment

Jan 11, 2018 by News Staff

Using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, astronomers have gained new insight into the extreme home of...

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