Astronomy News

Astronomers Find Two Dust Belts around Proxima Centauri

This artist’s impression shows how the newly-discovered dust belts around Proxima Centauri may look. This sketch is not to scale -- to make Proxima b clearly visible it has been shown further from the star and larger than it is in reality. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.
Nov 5, 2017 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected dust belts around Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our Sun. Full details of the discovery will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (arXiv.org preprint). This artist’s impression shows how the newly-discovered dust belts around Proxima Centauri may look. This sketch is not to scale — to make Proxima b clearly visible it has been shown...

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Chakrabarti et al identify an overlooked region that may prove to be rife with orbiting black holes and the origin of gravitational-wave chirps heard by the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors in the United States and the Virgo detector in Italy. This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / P. Knezek, WIYN.

Merging Black Hole Binaries Might Lurk in Outskirts of Huge Spiral Galaxies

Nov 1, 2017 by News Staff

Conditions favorable for mergers of massive black holes exist in the outer gas disks of massive spiral galaxies, according to a study led by Rochester...

Artist’s impression of the cool red star NGTS-1 above the hot-Jupiter NGTS-1b. Image credit: Mark Garlick, University of Warwick.

Discovery of Hot-Jupiter NGTS-1b Challenges Planet Formation Theories

Nov 1, 2017 by News Staff

Dr. Daniel Bayliss, an astronomer at the University of Warwick, and colleagues has discovered a giant gaseous planet orbiting a small M-dwarf star 600...

This image combines an image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in the optical and observations of the Jovian aurora in the ultraviolet. Image credit: NASA / ESA.

Jupiter’s Northern and Southern X-Ray Auroras Pulse Independently

Oct 31, 2017 by News Staff

High-energy X-ray emissions at Jupiter’s south pole consistently pulse every 11 minutes; meanwhile those at the gas giant’s north pole are erratic:...

Using a combination of the Biblical text and an ancient Egyptian text, Professor Humphreys and Dr. Graeme Waddington were able to refine the dates of the Egyptian pharaohs. Image credit: Pete Linforth.

Annular Solar Eclipse of 1207 BC Helps Date Egyptian Pharaohs

Oct 30, 2017 by News Staff

In a paper published on October 1 in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics, independent scholar and astrophysicist Graeme Waddington and University of...

This Hubble image shows the gigantic galaxy cluster Abell 665. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Sees Rich Galaxy Cluster

Oct 30, 2017 by News Staff

A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows Abell 665, one of the richest galaxy clusters known. This Hubble image shows the gigantic galaxy...

A/2017 U1 (center). Image credit: Paulo Holvorcem & Michael Schwartz, Tenagra Observatories.

Astronomers Spot Interstellar Object in Our Solar System: A/2017 U1

Oct 29, 2017 by News Staff

For the first time, astronomers think they’ve spotted an asteroid (or perhaps a comet) in the Solar System that came from interstellar space. A/2017...

This illustration shows Kepler-13Ab that circles very close to its host star, Kepler-13A. In the background is the star’s binary companion, Kepler-13B, and the third member of the multiple-star system is the orange dwarf star Kepler-13C. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI.

Hubble Discovers Titanium Dioxide Snow Falling on Hot Jupiter Kepler-13Ab

Oct 28, 2017 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has found a blistering hot-Jupiter exoplanet where it ‘snows’ titanium dioxide, the active ingredient in sunscreen....

Artist’s impression of the comet passing a distant star. Image credit: Danielle Futselaar.

Short-Period Exocomets Found around Distant Young Star

Oct 27, 2017 by News Staff

A team of professional and amateur astronomers using data from NASA’s Kepler mission has spotted the dusty tails of six exocomets orbiting KIC 3542116,...

This Hubble image shows the massive galaxy cluster Abell S1063. Image credit: NASA / ESA / J. Lotz, STScI.

Hubble Detects Wobbling Galaxies within Massive Galaxy Clusters

Oct 26, 2017 by News Staff

Galaxy clusters are among the most massive structures in the Universe. Every galaxy cluster contains a galaxy that is brighter than the other members,...

Countless galaxies vie for attention in this VST image of the Fornax Cluster (also known as ACO S 373 and MCL 52), some appearing only as pinpricks of light while others dominate the foreground. One of these is the lenticular galaxy NGC 1316. Image credit: A. Grado & L. Limatola, ESO.

ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope Captures Best View Ever of Fornax Cluster

Oct 25, 2017 by News Staff

One of the largest and most detailed images of the Fornax Cluster ever created has been released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Countless...

Artist’s impression of Zeta Puppis, an O-type star approximately 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. Image credit: Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa.

Huge Bright Spots on Supergiant Star Zeta Puppis Drive Spirals in Its Extremely Strong Stellar Wind

Oct 24, 2017 by News Staff

Zeta Puppis, also known as Naos, is a blue supergiant star, one of the most luminous stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. It is about 60 times more massive than...

This Hubble image shows the massive galaxy cluster WHL J24.3324-8.477. The bright flash in the middle of the image is actually a star lying within our Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Focuses on Massive Galaxy Cluster

Oct 23, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows WHL J24.3324-8.477, a massive galaxy cluster some 7.1 billion light-years away in the...

EPIC 228732031b orbits so close to its parent star that a new year comes every 8.9 hours. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / TESS / MIT / Lincoln Laboratory.

Rocky Ultra-Short-Period Exoplanet Found Orbiting Yellow Dwarf

Oct 23, 2017 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers has discovered a rocky exoplanet with an orbital period of 8.9 hours. EPIC 228732031b orbits so close to its parent...

Merging neutron stars. Image credit: Mark Garlick, University of Warwick.

Astronomers Confirm Origin of Universe’s Heaviest Elements in Neutron Star Mergers

Oct 17, 2017 by News Staff

Origin of Universe’s heavy elements, ranging from gold to uranium, has finally been confirmed, after a gravitational wave source was seen and heard for...

This artist’s impression shows two neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode as a kilonova. Such a very rare event is expected to produce both gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst, both of which were observed on August 17, 2017, by LIGO and Virgo collaborations. Image credit: ESO / L. Calcada / M. Kornmesser.

Space- and Ground-Based Telescopes Catch Light from Gravitational-Wave Event GW170817

Oct 17, 2017 by News Staff

For the first time, astronomers have observed the source of gravitational waves, created by the merger of two neutron stars. The cataclysmic aftermaths...

NGC 2623 is in the late stages of the merging process, with the centers of the original galaxy pair now merged into one nucleus, but stretching out from the center are two tidal tails of young stars, a strong indicator that a merger has taken place. During such a collision, the dramatic exchange of mass and gases initiates star formation, seen here in both the tails. The prominent lower tail is richly populated with bright star clusters. These star clusters may have formed as part of a loop of stretched material associated with the northern tail, or they may have formed from debris falling back onto the nucleus. In addition to this active star-forming region, both galactic arms harbor very young stars in the early stages of their evolutionary journey. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Spots Twisted Cosmic Knot: NGC 2623

Oct 16, 2017 by News Staff

A jaw-dropping new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures what appears to be a strange galaxy with two ‘tails,’ but is actually the...

This artist’s concept depicts a three-planet system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Three-Planet System Found in Hyades Cluster

Oct 16, 2017 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers using data from the NASA Kepler spacecraft’s reborn K2 mission have discovered a planetary system containing at least three exoplanets, orbiting...

This artist’s illustration shows a planet-eating star. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M.Weiss.

Astronomers Spot Planet-Eating Star 326 Light-Years Away

Oct 13, 2017 by News Staff

A research team led by Princeton University astrophysicists has discovered a co-moving pair of bright Sun-like stars, HD 240430 and HD 240429, with a significant...

This artist’s concept depicts Haumea and its ring. Image credit: Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia.

Astronomers Discover Ring around Dwarf Planet Haumea

Oct 13, 2017 by Natali Anderson

An international research team led by astronomers from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) in Spain has discovered a ring around Haumea,...

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