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An artist’s impression of PTFO8-8695 b, which is believed to orbit a star in the constellation Orion every 11 hours. Image credit: A. Passwaters / Rice University.

Young Star Destroys Gas Giant Exoplanet

Jun 9, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers searching for the Milky Way’s youngest exoplanets have uncovered strong evidence for one unlike any other, a so-called ‘hot-Jupiter’...

This wide-field view is centered on the globular star cluster Messier 4 (also known as NGC 6121) in the constellation of Scorpius. It is a color composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). Image credit: ESO / Digitized Sky Survey 2 / Davide De Martin.

Astrophysicists Record ‘Stellar Music’ from Milky Way’s Oldest Stars

Jun 8, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational team of astrophysicists has recorded the ‘sounds’ from some of the oldest stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. This wide-field view is centered...

Abell 2597 BCG. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / Dana Berry / SkyWorks / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ.

Astronomers Observe Feeding Habits of Active Black Hole

Jun 8, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers have witnessed a cosmic weather event that has never been seen before — a cluster of giant gas clouds raining in on the supermassive...

An artist’s impression of the disc of material around Sagittarius A*. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

New Computer Algorithm Could Produce First Black Hole Images

Jun 7, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An MIT-led team of scientists has developed a new algorithm – named the CHIRP (Continuous High-resolution Image Reconstruction using Patch priors) —...

The drizzle of stars scattered across this Hubble image forms a nearby irregular dwarf galaxy known as UGC 4879. Image credit: NASA / ESA.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on Lonely Dwarf Galaxy

Jun 6, 2016 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of UGC 4879, the most isolated dwarf galaxy in the periphery of the Local Group of...

Canarias Einstein ring: the central lensing galaxy is shown in red and the blue Einstein ring is visible all around it. Image credit: M. Bettinelli et al / DECam / CTIO.

Canarias Einstein Ring: Astronomers Capture Rare Image of Lensed Galaxy

Jun 5, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers have spotted an almost complete Einstein ring — an image of a far-off galaxy lensed by gravity — in the vicinity of the Sculptor...

Radio image (top), made with the VLA, and optical image (bottom) made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. The radio image shows the complex upwellings and downwellings of ammonia gas 18-56 miles (30-90 km) below the visible clouds. Image credit: Imke de Pater et al / NRAO / AUI / NSF / NASA / ESA.

VLA Radio Maps Reveal What’s Beneath Jupiter’s Thick Clouds

Jun 3, 2016 by News Staff

Scientists using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory have produced detailed radio maps of Jupiter’s...

Cosmic distance ladder. Image credit: NASA /ESA / A. Field, STScI / A. Riess, STScI & JHU.

Universe is Expanding Faster than Previously Thought

Jun 2, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the Universe is expanding between 5% and 9% faster than previously calculated. Cosmic...

False-color Hubble image of the star-forming spiral galaxy J100054 (center). Image credit: Ximena Fernandez et al.

Astronomers Detect Atomic Hydrogen Emission in Galaxy 5 Billion Light-Years Away

Jun 2, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A group of astronomers led by Dr. Ximena Fernandez from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, has pushed the limits of radio astronomy to detect...

Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: Nick Risinger.

Milky Way Galaxy Has Mass of 700 Billion Suns, Canadian Astronomers Say

Jun 1, 2016 by News Staff

What is the total mass of our Milky Way Galaxy? The short answer, so far, is 7 x 1011 solar masses, says a team of astronomers at McMaster University,...

Emission nebula RCW 120. Image credit: ESA / Herschel / PACS / SPIRE / Hi-GAL Project / G. Li Causi, IAPS / INAF.

Herschel Maps Reveal Star-Forming Hubs across Milky Way’s Galactic Plane

May 31, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers from ESA’s Herschel mission have released a series of stunning maps of star-forming regions in the Milky Way’s Galactic plane. The emission...

Simulated structure of Planet Nine. Image credit: Esther Linder / Christoph Mordasini.

Planet Nine Might be Exoplanet Captured from Another Star’s Planetary System

May 31, 2016 by News Staff

Our Sun, in its youth some 4.5 billion years ago, ‘stole’ Planet Nine from a passing star system, says a team of European astronomers led by Lund University...

This illustration shows a gas giant exoplanet orbiting its parent star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / L. Calcada.

Giant Gaseous Exoplanet Found Orbiting 2 Million-Year-Old Star

May 30, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Rice University astronomer Christopher Johns-Krull has discovered a giant planet orbiting a very young star about 450 light-years...

This image shows the globular cluster NGC 6496, which lies in the southern constellation of Scorpius, about 35,000 light-years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Snaps Beautiful Image of Globular Cluster NGC 6496

May 30, 2016 by News Staff

NASA has released an absolutely outstanding photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of a colorful collection of stars in the constellation of Scorpius. This...

An artist’s rendition of the Akira (right) and Tetsuo (left) galaxies in action. Akira’s gravity pulls Tetsuo’s gas into its central supermassive black hole, fueling winds that have the power to heat Akira’s gas. Because of the action of the black hole winds, Tetsuo’s donated gas is rendered inert, preventing a new cycle of star formation in the Akira galaxy. Image credit: Kavli IPMU.

Intense Winds from Supermassive Black Holes Keep ‘Red Geyser’ Galaxies Turned Off

May 26, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have uncovered a new type of galaxies, dubbed ‘red geysers,’ with supermassive black hole winds so intense and hot that stars can’t form. An...

The collision of two black holes is seen in this still from a computer simulation. Image credit: SXS.

Astrophysicist Suggests Link between Dark Matter, Universe’s First Black Holes

May 25, 2016 by News Staff

All or at least a significant part of dark matter is made up of so-called primordial black holes, according to Dr. Alexander Kashlinsky, an astrophysicist...

Artist’s concept of the active young Sun 4 billion years ago. Its energy may have aided in creating molecules in the atmosphere of early Earth that allowed it to warm up enough to incubate life. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / CIL.

Young Sun’s Superflares May Have Been Key to Life on Early Earth

May 25, 2016 by News Staff

Powerful coronal mass ejection events from the young Sun may have provided the crucial energy needed to warm early Earth, according to a team of researchers...

This artist’s impression shows a possible seed for the formation of a supermassive black hole. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss.

NASA Telescopes Spot Two Black Hole Seeds in Early Universe

May 24, 2016 by News Staff

Using data from three of NASA’s space observatories — the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers...

Color image of MACS J2129.4-0741 taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope: an image of the faint, distant galaxy was split into three by a powerful gravitational lens; by comparing the spectra of the three images (white boxes), astronomers could show they were all the same object 13 billion light-years away. Image credit: Marusa Bradac / Hubble Space Telescope / W. M. Keck Observatory.

Astronomers Detect Faintest Early-Universe Galaxy Ever

May 23, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers have detected and confirmed the faintest early-Universe galaxy ever using the 10-m Keck II telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory, Hawaii. Color...