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Artist’s impression of the clouds scattered by an intermediate mass black hole. Image credit: Tomoharu Oka / Keio University.

Japanese Astronomers Detect Signs of Milky Way’s Second-Largest Black Hole

Jan 19, 2016 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from Japan, led by Keio University scientist Prof. Tomoharu Oka, has detected signs of an intermediate-mass black hole in the central...

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the irregular galaxy NGC 5408, which is located 17.4 million light-years from Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

NGC 5408: Hubble Snaps Image of Little-Known Irregular Galaxy

Jan 18, 2016 by Natali Anderson

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an incredible image of the nearby galaxy NGC 5408. This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope...

This is an artist’s impression of the hot, dust-obscured galaxy W2246-0526. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / Dana Berry / SkyWorks / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ.

Universe’s Most Luminous Galaxy is Tearing Itself Apart

Jan 15, 2016 by Natali Anderson

The galaxy W2246-0526 – the most luminous known galaxy in the Universe – is so turbulent that it is in the process of ejecting its entire supply...

ASASSN-15lh: Astronomers Discover Most Luminous Supernova Ever Seen

Jan 15, 2016 by News Staff

A large international team of astronomers has spotted an extremely luminous supernova in a massive galaxy 3.82 billion light-years away. An artist’s...

This Hubble image shows the green pea galaxy J0925+1403. Image credit: NASA.

Green Pea Galaxies Reionized Early Universe, Astronomers Say

Jan 14, 2016 by News Staff

According to a multinational team of astronomers, led by Dr Yuri Izotov from the Main Astronomical Observatory in Ukraine, so-called ‘green pea’ galaxies...

The binary star system HR 5171 is the bright object just below the center of this wide-field image. Image credit: Digitized Sky Survey 2 / ESO.

European Astronomers Solve Mystery of Hypergiant Star HR 5171A

Jan 12, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers from Belgium and the Netherlands believe they have discovered the origin of mysterious blue light coming from the hypergiant star HR 5171A. The...

This Hubble image shows the young merging galaxy NGC 3597. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

NGC 3597: Hubble Captures Young Merging Galaxy

Jan 11, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers have released an absolutely beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of NGC 3597. This Hubble image shows the young merging...

Eta Carinae’s great eruption in the 1840s created the billowing Homunculus Nebula, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble SM4 ERO Team.

Astronomers Find Five Supergiant Stars Far Beyond Milky Way Galaxy

Jan 11, 2016 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble and NASA’s Spitzer space telescopes, astronomers have discovered five very luminous and massive stellar systems in the star-forming...

Messier 51 (M51) system of galaxies: the main panel shows M51 in visible light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (red, green, and blue); the box at the top outlines the field of view by Chandra in the latest study, which focuses on the smaller component of M51, NGC 5195; the inset to the right shows the details of the Chandra data (blue) of this region. Dr Schlegel and co-authors found a pair of arcs in X-ray emission close to the center of NGC 5195, which they interpret as two outbursts from the galaxy’s supermassive black. They estimate that it took about one to three million years for the inner arc to reach its current position, and three to six million years for the outer arc. Image credit: X-ray – NASA / CXC / University of Texas / E.Schlegel et al; optical – NASA / STScI.

Chandra Spots Very Active Supermassive Black Hole 26 Million Light-Years Away

Jan 8, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

One of the nearest supermassive black holes to Earth with active powerful outbursts has been discovered by a team of astronomers using NASA’s Chandra...

This composite image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory shows the galaxy SDSS J112659.54+294442.8. The arrow points to the black hole that lost most of its stars due to gravitational stripping processes. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Team / Chandra Team / Julia M. Comerford et al.

Astronomers Find Unusual Pair of Black Holes in Distant Galaxy

Jan 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by Dr Julia Comerford of the University of Colorado, Boulder, has spotted a rare pair of black holes in a distant galaxy known...

This image from Hubble’s WFPC2 camera shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4845. The galaxy’s orientation clearly reveals the galaxy’s striking spiral structure: a flat and dust-mottled disc surrounding a bright galactic bulge. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / S. Smartt, Queen's University Belfast.

NGC 4845: Hubble Space Telescope Sees Large Spiral Galaxy

Jan 4, 2016 by Natali Anderson

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has taken an incredible picture of the large spiral galaxy NGC 4845. This image from Hubble’s WFPC2 camera shows the...

This image from Hubble shows the interacting star-forming galaxy system NGC 6052, which is located 228 million light-years from Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

NASA’s Hubble Captures Interacting Star-Forming Galaxy System

Dec 28, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a gorgeous photo of the interacting starburst galaxy system NGC 6052. This image from Hubble shows the...

Saturn’s small moon Phoebe, depicted in this image, seems likely to be a centaur that was captured by the gas giant’s gravity at some time in the past. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Outer Solar System’s Massive Comets Could Pose Hazard to Civilization, Scientists Say

Dec 23, 2015 by News Staff

The discovery of hundreds of huge comets in the outer Solar System over the last 20 years means that these ancient objects pose a real hazard to our civilization,...

Text of Cairo Calendar page rto VIII; inside the superimposed rectangle is the hieratic writing for the word Horus. A passage in this document dates it to the reign of Ramses II in the Nineteenth Dynasty. Image credit: Jetsu L. / Porceddu S., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144140.s001.

3,200-Year-Old Papyrus Contains Astrophysical Information about Variable Star Algol

Dec 23, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

Ancient Egyptians wrote Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days that assigned astronomically influenced prognoses for each day of the year. The best preserved...

The two streams crossing the image are jets of hot gas, ejected from the poles of a protostar. If the jets collide with the surrounding gas and dust they can clear vast spaces, and create curved shock waves, seen as knotted clumps called Herbig-Haro objects. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Padgett, GSFC / T. Megeath, University of Toledo / B. Reipurth, University of Hawaii.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Cosmic Double-Bladed Lightsaber

Dec 21, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A pair of jets of very hot gas protrude outwards in perfect symmetry in this striking image of the Herbig-Haro (HH) object HH 24, taken by the NASA/ESA...

This composite image shows the young Herbig-Haro object HH 34. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Captures Spectacular Herbig-Haro Object HH 34

Dec 21, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

HH 34, a curious object in the constellation of Orion, is captured in this amazing image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. This composite image shows...

This artist’s concept depicts a super-Earth. Image credit: NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech.

Wolf 1061c: Potentially Habitable Super-Earth Spotted 14 Light-Years Away

Dec 17, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of astronomers has spotted three exoplanets orbiting around the same star – Wolf 1061 – one of which is in the habitable zone. This...

Artist’s impression of a transitional disc around a young star. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / M. Kornmesser.

ALMA Spots Infant Exoplanets in Discs around Four Young Stars

Dec 16, 2015 by News Staff

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has found strong evidence that massive planets have recently formed around four very young stars,...

Blazars are the most common sources detected by NASA’s Fermi telescope. As matter falls toward a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center, some of it is accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light along jets pointed in opposite directions. When one of the jets happens to be aimed in the direction of Earth, as illustrated here, the galaxy appears especially bright and is classified as a blazar. Image credit: M. Weiss / CfA.

Astronomers Detect High-Energy Gamma Rays from Blazar 7.6 Billion Light-Years Away

Dec 16, 2015 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) in Arizona, and other telescopes, astronomers...