Astronomy News

Astronomers Spot Huge Lava Lake at Volcano Loki on Io

This global view of Io was obtained by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft on 19 September 1997 at a range of more than 500,000 km (310,000 miles). In this image, deposits of sulfur dioxide frost appear in white and grey hues while yellowish and brownish hues are probably due to other sulfurous materials. Bright red materials and ‘black’ spots with low brightness mark areas of recent volcanic activity and are usually associated with high temperatures and surface changes. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.
May 26, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists analyzing high-resolution images from the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory in Arizona have discovered an enormous lava lake on Io, the fifth of Jupiter’s moons and the third largest. This global view of Io was obtained by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft on 19 September 1997 at a range of more than 500,000 km (310,000 miles). In this image, deposits of sulfur dioxide frost appear in white and grey hues while yellowish and brownish hues...

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This image of the Arches Cluster of young, massive stars was obtained with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA.

Hubble Zooms in on Arches Cluster

May 25, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Wide Field Camera 3 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a new image of the Arches Cluster, the densest known cluster...

This illustration reveals a vast disk of gas surrounding the Wolf-Rayet star Nasty 1, shown at center. A close companion star is pulling gas from the star, shown by the bridge of bright material connecting the two stars. This act of celestial cannibalism exposes the massive star’s hot, helium core. Some of the material, however, is escaping into space, forming the huge disk. This disk structure has never been seen before around a Wolf-Rayet star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI.

Nasty 1: Hubble Uncovers Surprising New Clues about Unique Wolf-Rayet Star

May 22, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Wide Field Camera 3 on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a pancake-shaped disk of gas around an extremely bright star...

This artist’s concept depicts the extremely luminous infrared galaxy WISE J2246-0526. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Astronomers Discover Universe’s Most Luminous Galaxy

May 21, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have discovered the most luminous galaxy ever found. This artist’s concept depicts...

An image from a simulation in which a Type Ia supernova explodes, as shown in brown. The supernova material is ejected outward at a velocity of about 10,000 km per second and slams into its companion star, as shown in light blue. The collision produces an UV pulse, which is emitted from the conical hole carved out by the companion star. Image credit: Dan Kasen, University of California Berkeley.

Astronomers Observe Supernova Smash into Companion Star

May 21, 2015 by News Staff

A group of astronomers from the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) has witnessed a supernova smashing into a nearby white dwarf, shocking it,...

This image uses data from the FORS instrument on the Very Large Telescope. The stellar core of the Medusa Nebula is not the bright star in the center of this image - this is a foreground star called TYC 776-1339-1. Medusa’s central star is a dimmer, bluish star lying just off-center of the crescent shape and in the right-hand part of this image. Image credit: ESO.

ESO’s VLT Sees Beautiful Medusa Nebula

May 20, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile have managed to obtain the most detailed image ever taken of the Medusa Nebula. This image...

Astronomers Discover Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies

May 19, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Dragonfly Telephoto Array and the 10m telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi, have discovered 47 so-called...

This image shows NGC 6240. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage / STScI / AURA / Hubble Collaboration / A. Evans, University of Virginia / NRAO / Stony Brook University.

Hubble Space Telescope Zooms in on NGC 6240

May 18, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured an image of a titanic...

The giant globular star cluster 47 Tucanae. Image credit: NASA / ESA / H. Richer & J. Heyl, University of British Columbia / J. Mack, STScI / G. Piotto, University of Padova.

Astronomers Trace Migration of White Dwarf Stars in Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae

May 15, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have captured snapshots of fledging white dwarfs beginning their slow-paced, 40-million-year migration...

This image shows the quadruple quasar SDSS J0841+3921 (quasars are indicated by arrows). Image credit: Joseph Hennawi / Fabrizio Arrigoni-Battaia.

Astronomers Discover First Quadruple Quasar

May 15, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using two 10-m optical/infrared telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory have discovered the first quadruple quasar, catalogued as SDSS J0841+3921. This...

Artist’s impression of one of the possible galaxy strangulation mechanisms: star-forming galaxies (fed by gas inflows) are accreted into a massive hot halo, which ‘strangles’ them and leads to their death. Image credit: University of Cambridge.

New Study Reveals What Quenches Star Formation in Galaxies

May 14, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Nature, the primary mechanism for stopping star formation in galaxies is the so-called ‘strangulation,’...

The giant elliptical galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is the closest such galaxy to the Earth, at a distance of about 12 million light-years. Image credit: ESO / ESA / Hubble / NASA / Digitized Sky Survey / Davide de Martin.

Astronomers Discover New Type of Star Cluster

May 14, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in northern Chile has discovered a never-seen-before...

An artist’s conception of the gas giant exoplanet TrES-2b. Image credit: David A. Aguilar / CfA.

Astronomers Prepare Weather Reports for Jupiter-Sized Exoplanets

May 13, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using data collected by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope have found evidence of daily weather cycles on fourteen extrasolar gas giants. An artist’s...

This image shows NGC 3923, one of the most unusual objects in the Malin-Carter catalog of elliptical galaxies with shells. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA / Judy Schmidt.

NGC 3923: Astronomers Capture Beautiful Image of Shell Galaxy

May 11, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have imaged an unusual elliptical galaxy called NGC 3923. This...

This is the core of a Type II supernova at the onset of explosion: neutrinos that are emitted from the protoneutron at the center are absorbed by the gas behind the shock front, heat up this gas, and drive turbulence; eventually an asymmetric explosion develops. Image credit: Christian Ott, California Institute of Technology / Steve Drasco, Cal Poly San Luis Obsipo.

Type II Supernovae Explode in Lopsided Fashion, Astronomers Say

May 8, 2015 by News Staff

New observations of the remnant of Supernova (SN) 1987A from NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) are confirming predictions made at...

The Sun emitted an X2.7-class solar flare, peaking at 6:11 p.m. EDT on May 5, 2015. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / SDO.

NASA’s SDO Captures X2.7-Class Solar Flare

May 8, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured stunning images of a significant solar flare on May 5, 2015. The Sun emitted an X2.7-class...

This diagram shows how scientists determined the size of the halo of the Andromeda Galaxy. Because the gas in the halo is dark, astronomers measured it by using the light from distant quasars. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Field, STScI / N. Lehner & J.C. Howk, University of Notre Dame / B. Wakker, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

NASA’s Hubble Sees Huge Gaseous Halo around Andromeda Galaxy

May 8, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that a nearly invisible halo of hot plasma...

AKARI view of the central regions of Cygnus. Image credit: JAXA.

AKARI Space Observatory Focuses on Cygnus

May 7, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s AKARI Space Observatory have captured a stunning image of the central regions of the Cygnus constellation. AKARI...

EGS-zs8-1: Scientists Discover Farthest Galaxy Ever

May 6, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers led by Dr Pascal Oesch of Yale University has discovered a massive galaxy more than 13 billion years in the past...

55 Cancri e is so close to its host star that it must experience extreme conditions. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada.

European Astronomers Find Evidence of Volcanic Activity on 55 Cancri e

May 5, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK and the University of Liege in Belgium has detected changing temperatures on a terrestrial...

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