Astronomy News

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

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.
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 of these calendars is the Cairo Calendar dated to 1244 – 1163 BC (Ramesside Period). According to scientists at the University of Helsinki, this papyrus is the oldest preserved historical document of naked eye observations of a variable star, the eclipsing binary star Algol. Text of Cairo...

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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...

This image shows an artist’s impression of the ten hot Jupiter exoplanets studied by the astronomers. The images are to scale with each other. HAT-P-12b, the smallest of them, is approximately the size of Jupiter, while WASP-17b, the largest planet in the sample, is almost twice the size. The planets are also depicted with a variety of different cloud properties. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Astronomers Solve Missing Water Mystery in Comparative Study of Hot Jupiters

Dec 15, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A survey of so-called hot-Jupiters – giant exoplanets that orbit very close to their host stars – conducted with NASA’s Spitzer and the NASA/ESA...

This image from Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 shows the heavily obscured globular cluster Terzan 1. Image credit: ESA / NASA / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Terzan 1: Hubble Snaps Breathtaking Picture of Globular Cluster

Dec 14, 2015 by Natali Anderson

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of the globular cluster Terzan 1. This image from Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary...

The L-type dwarf W1906+40 is a red object in the center of this image. Image credit: SDSS / Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg / SIMBAD.

Astronomers Spot Giant Storm System on L-Type Dwarf

Dec 11, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s flagship space telescopes, Kepler and Spitzer, have discovered a raging, giant storm on a cool Jupiter-size star called W1906+40. The...

This image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows the dwarf galaxy NGC 5291N (center). Image credit: ESO.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Focuses on Young Clumpy Galaxy NGC 5291N

Dec 9, 2015 by News Staff

ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has made the first detailed observations of a rare dwarf galaxy recently formed within the giant collisional ring surrounding...

Visualization of the proto-Great Wall and submillimeter galaxies. Image credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Astronomers Discover Eight Giant Galaxies 11.5 Billion Light-Years Away

Dec 7, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have discovered a cluster of monstrous young galaxies, called submillimeter galaxies,...

This image shows the central regions of the peculiar galaxy NGC 7252. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

NGC 7252: Hubble Captures Image of Atoms for Peace Galaxy

Dec 7, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the inner parts of the distant galaxy NGC 7252. This image shows the central regions...

This image shows the Tayna galaxy, an extremely faint and distant galaxy that existed only 400 million years after the Big Bang. Image credit: NASA / ESA / L. Infante, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.

Tayna Galaxy: Astronomers Spot Faintest Galaxy in Early Universe

Dec 5, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using two orbiting telescopes – the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have found the faintest galaxy...

HD 106906b: Super-Jupiter May Have Been Ejected from Its Birthplace

Dec 4, 2015 by Natali Anderson

HD 106906b, a giant exoplanet discovered last year sitting at a large distance from its parent star, may have been kicked out of its birthplace in a process...

An artist’s impression of FRB 110523 reaching Earth; the colors represent the burst arriving at different radio wavelengths, with long wavelengths (red) arriving seconds after short wavelengths (blue). Image credit: Jingchuan Yu / Beijing Planetarium.

Astronomers Detect Mysterious Burst of Radio Waves 6 Billion Light-Years Away

Dec 3, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have detected a so-called fast radio burst from around 6 billion light-years away, one of less than two dozen such events they’ve discovered...

A close-up view of NGC 2768. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / S. Smartt, Queen’s University Belfast.

Hubble Astronomers Release Image of Elliptical Galaxy NGC 2768

Nov 30, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the dusty structure encircling the center of a distant galaxy known as NGC 2768. This Hubble...

This artist’s impression shows a supermassive black hole consuming a star that has been torn apart by the black hole’s gravity; as a result of this ‘meal’ the black hole begins to launch a powerful jet that astronomers can detect with radio telescopes. Image credit: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center / Swift.

Astronomers Spot Unusual Jet from Supermassive Black Hole in PGC 43234

Nov 26, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A group of scientists, led by Dr Sjoert van Velzen of Johns Hopkins University, has observed a new way for plasma to escape the gravitational pull of a...

This illustration shows KIC 8462852 behind a shattered comet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Unusual Star KIC 8462852 Likely Swarmed by Exocomets, Astronomers Say

Nov 25, 2015 by Natali Anderson

New observations of an unusual star called KIC 8462852 by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that its strange light signals are likely from extrasolar...

In this image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) the red hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris is hidden behind an obscuring disc; the crosses are artifacts due to features in VLT’s SPHERE instrument. Image credit: ESO.

Hypergiant Star Caught in Act of Slimming Down

Nov 25, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

New observations from the Very Large Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile show how enormous size of dust particles surrounding the hypergiant...

This illustration shows Earth surrounded by dark matter hairs. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Earth Might Be Surrounded by Dark Matter ‘Hairs’

Nov 24, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Our planet, Jupiter and other compact bodies are surrounded by ultra-dense filaments of dark matter called ‘hairs,’ suggests Dr Gary Prézeau of NASA’s...

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