Astronomy News

Astronomers Shed Light on Chemical Composition, Origin of Mysterious Smith Cloud

This composite image shows the size and location of the Smith Cloud on the sky. The cloud is 15 degrees across in angular size - the width of an outstretched hand at arm’s length. The apparent size of the full Moon is added for comparison. The Smith Cloud appears in false-color, radio wavelengths. The visible-light image of the background star field shows the cloud’s location in the direction of the summer constellation Aquila. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Z. Levay, STScI / B. Saxton / F. Lockman / NRAO / AUI / NSF / A. Mellinger.
Jan 29, 2016 by News Staff

Scientists using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have found faint chemical traces of our Milky Way Galaxy lurking inside the Smith Cloud, a gigantic streamer of hydrogen gas that will crash into the Galactic disk in about 27 million years. This composite image shows the size and location of the Smith Cloud on the sky. The cloud is 15 degrees across in angular size – the width of an outstretched hand at arm’s length. The apparent size of...

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BM 34757, one of the Babylonian cuneiform tablets translated by Prof. Ossendrijver. Image credit: Mathieu Ossendrijver, Humboldt University / British Museum.

Babylonian Astronomers Used Geometry to Calculate Jupiter’s Position

Jan 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to Prof. Mathieu Ossendrijver of Humboldt University in Germany, Babylonian astronomers used geometry to calculate the position of Jupiter —...

This Hubble image shows the globular star cluster NGC 1783. It is one of the biggest globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way Galaxy. First observed by the British astronomer John Herschel in 1835, this star cluster is approximately 160,000 light-years from our Solar System, and has a mass around 170,000 times that of the Sun. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, geckzilla.com.

Study Reveals Why Globular Clusters Can Be Home to Different Generations of Stars

Jan 28, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new study published this week in the journal Nature, globular clusters make new stars by adopting stray cosmic gas and dust. This Hubble...

This VLT image shows the irregular dwarf galaxy IC 1613. Image credit: ESO.

VLT Survey Telescope Captures Incredible Image of Nearby Dwarf Galaxy

Jan 27, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope have assembled this colorful image of the small galaxy IC 1613. This VLT image shows the irregular dwarf...

An artist’s impression of the massive exoplanet J2126. Image credit: Neil Cook / University of Hertfordshire.

Astronomers Discover Planet with Largest Orbit Ever

Jan 26, 2016 by News Staff

The planetary-mass object J2126 – previously thought to be a free-floating planet – orbits its parent star in the most distant orbit seen yet,...

Visible in this image are galaxies within the galaxy cluster Abell 428: the jet-producing spiral galaxy LEDA 97372 (left) and the spiral galaxy [LOY2001] J031549.8-190623 (right). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Sees Spirals in Galaxy Cluster Abell 428

Jan 25, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

Two bright objects in this Hubble Space Telescope image are massive spiral galaxies in the galaxy cluster known as Abell 428, in the constellation of Eridanus,...

This image from Hubble shows the Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier 104 or NGC 4594), an unbarred spiral galaxy located about 29 million light-years away. Image credit: NASA / Hubble Heritage Team.

Astrobiologists Say Extraterrestrials May All Be Extinct

Jan 22, 2016 by News Staff

According to Australian National University astrobiologists Charley Lineweaver and Aditya Chopra, life on other planets would likely be brief and become...

This composite image of the star cluster Trumpler 14 was made with data taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Jesús Maíz Apellániz, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Spots Glittering Star Cluster Trumpler 14

Jan 22, 2016 by Natali Anderson

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has obtained a stunning image of a star cluster called Trumpler 14, one of the largest gatherings of hot, massive and bright...

This wide-field image shows the patch of sky around the distant quasar PKS 1939-315 (green cross). Image credit: Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD.

Strangely Shaped Plasma Lenses May Lurk in Milky Way’s Interstellar Medium

Jan 21, 2016 by News Staff

According to a team of astronomers led by Dr. Keith Bannister of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science Division, invisible noodle- or hazelnut-shaped plasma...

Planet Nine: Astronomers Uncover Evidence for mini-Neptune in Outer Solar System

Jan 21, 2016 by News Staff

A team of astronomers at the California Institute of Technology has found strong evidence of a massive gaseous planet – informally named Planet Nine...

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...

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