Astronomy News

Astronomers Detect Mysterious X-ray Signal in Andromeda Galaxy, 74 Galaxy Clusters

X-ray image of the Perseus galaxy cluster: a new study of the cluster has revealed a mysterious X-ray signal; this signal is represented in the circled data points in the inset, which is a plot of X-ray intensity as a function of X-ray energy. Image credit: Chandra / NASA / CXC / SAO / XMM / ESA / E. Bulbul et al.
Jun 26, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatories have detected an unidentified X-ray emission line – a spike of intensity at a very specific wavelength of X-ray light – in the Andromeda galaxy, the Perseus galaxy cluster and 73 other galaxy clusters. One intriguing possibility is that these X-rays are produced by the decay of sterile neutrinos, a type of particle that has been proposed as a candidate for...

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Radio images of the triple supermassive black holes system J1502P/SE/SW in the galaxy SDSS J150243.09+1111557.3 and its binary component. Image credit: R.P.Deane et al.

Astronomers Discover Rare Triple Supermassive Black Hole System

Jun 26, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr Roger Deane from the University of Cape Town in South Africa has discovered a system of three supermassive black holes –...

This image shows the position of the PSR J2222 system. Image credit: David L. Kaplan et al.

Astronomers Discover White Dwarf Star Made of Diamond

Jun 24, 2014 by Enrico de Lazaro

A newly discovered white dwarf, which is a companion to the nearby pulsar PSR J2222-0137, is so cool that its carbon has crystallized, forming a giant...

This mosaic reveals evidence of a large-scale coronal rain shower pouring relentlessly into the dark sunspot at the surface of the Sun. The coronal rain appears as the labeled giant arching water-fall-like flow. At the top left, the Earth is depicted on the same scale. Image credit: E. Scullion / SST.

Researchers Explain Physics of (Plasma) Rains on Sun

Jun 23, 2014 by News Staff

According to a team of researchers led by Dr Eamon Scullion of Trinity College Dublin, rains on the Sun are made of plasma and fall at about 200,000 km...

This image shows the archetypal Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA / Davide de Martin.

Astronomers Zoom in on Strange Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 5548

Jun 20, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers have detected a clumpy gas stream flowing quickly outward and blocking 90 percent of the X-rays emitted by the supermassive black hole at the...

This image shows a region of space containing distant dwarf galaxies. Image credit: NASA / ESA / GOODS Team / M. Giavalisco, STScI, University of Massachusetts / H. Atek, EPFL / J-P. Kneib, EPFL.

Hubble Observations Shed New Light on Star Formation in Early Universe

Jun 19, 2014 by News Staff

Starbursts in dwarf galaxies played a bigger role than expected in the early Universe, according to new data from the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), onboard...

This artistic concept shows Kepler-186f. Image credit: NASA Ames / SETI Institute / JPL-CalTech.

New Methane-Hunting Tool May Advance Search for Alien Life

Jun 17, 2014 by News Staff

UK and Australian astronomers have developed a powerful new tool that could help detect chemical signs of alien life on planets outside of the Solar System. The...

This image shows the Tadpole galaxy (Arp 188), a disrupted barred spiral galaxy located 420 million light-years from our planet. Material stripped from the galaxy during its collision with a smaller galaxy (seen in the upper left corner of the larger interaction partner) forms a long tidal tail. Young blue stars, star clusters and tidal dwarf galaxies are born in the tidal debris. These objects move in a common direction within a plane defined by the orientation and motion of their tidal tail. A similar galaxy interaction might have occurred in the Local Group in the past, which could explain the distribution of dwarf galaxies in co-rotating planes. Image credit: H. Ford, JHU / M. Clampin, STScI / G. Hartig, STScI / G. Illingworth, UCO, Lick / ACS Science Team / ESA / NASA.

Nearby Dwarf Galaxies Don’t Fit Standard Model of Cosmology, Study Says

Jun 11, 2014 by News Staff

According to a study led by Dr Marcel Pawlowski of Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, dwarf galaxies that orbit our Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda...

This image shows the giant, variable star HV 2112. Image credit: Digital Sky Survey / Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg.

First Thorne-Zytkow Object Found 200,000 Light-Years Away

Jun 5, 2014 by News Staff

HV 2112 – a giant, variable star in a nearby galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud – represents a long-sought class of stars called Thorne-Zytkow...

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014. Image credit: NASA / ESA / H. Teplitz, M. Rafelski, IPAC, Caltech / A. Koekemoer, STScI / R. Windhorst, Arizona State University / Z. Levay, STScI.

Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014

Jun 4, 2014 by News Staff

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014 – the most colorful and comprehensive picture ever assembled of the evolving Universe – has been captured...

This artistic representation shows the potentially habitable exoplanet Kapteyn b and the globular cluster Omega Centauri in the background. It is believed that this cluster is the remaining core of a dwarf galaxy that merged with our own Milky Way Galaxy billions of years ago bringing Kapteyn's star along. Image credit: PHL / UPR Arecibo / Aladin Sky Atlas.

Kapteyn b and c: Two Exoplanets Found Orbiting Kapteyn’s Star

Jun 3, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers led Dr Guillem Anglada-Escude from Queen Mary University of London, UK, have announced the discovery of two exoplanets circling a very old...

This artist's conception shows a terrestrial exoplanet, a gas giant and a mid-sized gas dwarf. Image credit: J. Jauch.

Gas Dwarfs: Astronomers Identify New Type of Extrasolar Planets

Jun 3, 2014 by News Staff

Extrasolar planets can be divided into three types: terrestrials, gas giants, and mid-sized gas dwarfs – planets between about one and four times...

This artist's conception depicts the Kepler-10 star system. Image credit: NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech.

Kepler-10c: Astronomers Find Mega-Earth

Jun 2, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers using the HARPS-North instrument on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in the Canary Islands have found that the extrasolar planet Kepler-10c,...

This image shows a star forming region in a nearby galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud. Image credit: ESA / Hubble.

Universe is Not Expanding After All, Controversial Study Suggests

May 23, 2014 by News Staff

According to a team of astrophysicists led by Eric Lerner from Lawrenceville Plasma Physics, the Universe is not expanding at all. This image shows a star...

This image from the 1.5-m robotic telescope at Palomar Observatory shows SN 2013cu in the galaxy UGC 9379. Image credit: Avishay Gal-Yam et al.

Wolf-Rayet Star Linked to Supernova SN 2013cu

May 22, 2014 by News Staff

A group of astronomers led by Dr Avishay Gal-Yam from Weizmann Institute of Science has identified a mysterious Wolf-Rayet star as the likely progenitor...

This image shows the open star cluster NGC 3590. Image credit: ESO / G. Beccari.

Astronomers Capture Stunning New Image of Star Cluster NGC 3590

May 21, 2014 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers using the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile has captured a new image of NGC 3590. This...

Gemini Planet Imager captured this first light image of Beta Pictoris b, a planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The star, Beta Pictoris, is blocked in this image by a mask. Image credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Gemini Planet Imager Zooms in on Exoplanet Beta Pictoris b

May 16, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers using Gemini Planet Imager have captured an amazingly clear and bright image of a gas giant orbiting Beta Pictoris. Gemini Planet Imager captured...

This full-disc image of Jupiter was taken on 21 April 2014 with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Simon, Goddard Space Flight Center.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is Shrinking, Astronomers Say

May 16, 2014 by News Staff

The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is shrinking, says a team of astronomers led by Dr Amy Simon of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. This...

This is an artist's impression of GU Psc b and GU Psc. Image credit: Lucas Granito.

GU Psc b: Newly Discovered Exoplanet Takes 80,000 Years to Orbit its Star

May 14, 2014 by News Staff

A newly discovered extrasolar planet takes about 80,000 years to make a complete orbit around its star, GU Psc. This composite image shows the exoplanet...

HD 162826. Image credit: sky-map.org.

HD 162826: Astronomers Discover Second Sun

May 12, 2014 by News Staff

Astronomers from the United States, Russia and Australia have discovered the first true solar sibling – HD 162826. HD 162826. Image credit: sky-map.org. HD...

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