Astronomy News

Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Detected Close to Milky Way’s Center

Siraj & Loeb explore the possibility that accretion flares resulting from the tidal disruption of small Oort Cloud bodies by a putative primordial black hole could power an observable optical signal that could be searched for with the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Image credit: Sci-News.com / Zdeněk Bardon / ESO.
Jul 18, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Using data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and other telescopes, astronomers have found evidence for an intermediate-mass black hole in IRS 13, a population of dusty stellar objects within the nuclear star cluster of our Milky Way Galaxy. Intermediate-mass black holes may form in dense star clusters via the merger of stellar-mass black holes or the collapse of very massive stars. Image credit: Sci.News / Zdeněk Bardon / ESO. Black holes have...

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An artist’s impression of HD 213885b and its host star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Propose New Definition of Planet

Jul 18, 2024 by News Staff

Established in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, the current definition specifies that to qualify as a planet, a celestial body must orbit...

An artist’s impression of TIC 241249530b. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva, Spaceengine.

Astronomers Find Young Hot Jupiter on Super-Eccentric, Retrograde Orbit

Jul 17, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet five times the mass of Jupiter that makes a very peculiar orbit around its star. An artist’s impression of TIC...

Stellar, cold-gas and ionized-gas emission distributions of the rare HyLIRG Einstein ring, PJ0116-24. Image credit: Liu et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02296-7.

Astronomers Study Motion of Gas in Extremely Rare Hyperluminous Infrared Galaxy

Jul 16, 2024 by News Staff

Hyperluminous infrared galaxies are the rarest and most extreme star-forming systems and found only in the distant Universe. Stellar, cold-gas and ionized-gas...

This illustration shows what WASP-39b could look like, based on the current understanding of the planet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Olmsted, STScI.

Webb Confirms Temperature Difference between Eternal Morning and Evening on WASP-39b

Jul 16, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have obtained and analyzed morning and evening transmission spectra of WASP-39b, a hot-Saturn...

This Webb image shows two interacting galaxies known as Arp 142: at left is NGC 2937, nicknamed the Egg for its appearance; at right is NGC 2936, nicknamed the Penguin for its appearance. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / STScI.

Webb Captures Stunning New Image of Arp 142

Jul 15, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured a new infrared image of a pair of interacting galaxies known as Arp 142. This...

This Hubble image shows NGC 5238, a dwarf irregular galaxy located 14.5 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the near-infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / F. Annibali.

Hubble Space Telescope Zooms In on NGC 5238

Jul 15, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have released a beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 5238. This Hubble image shows...

Omega Centauri is about 10 times as massive as other big globular clusters. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Maximilian Häberle, MPIA.

Astronomers Find Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in Milky Way’s Most Massive Globular Cluster

Jul 10, 2024 by News Staff

Using more than 500 images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomer have found evidence for a 20,000-solar-mass black hole at the center of...

A fragment of the Antikythera mechanism. Imager credit: National Archaeological Museum, Athens / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Astronomers Shed Light on Antikythera Mechanism’s Calendar Ring

Jul 10, 2024 by News Staff

The Antikythera mechanism is a multi-component device recovered from a shipwreck close to the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901. It is believed to be...

LHS 1140b may be a world completely covered in ice (left) similar to Jupiter’s moon Europa or be an ice world with a liquid ocean and a cloudy atmosphere (center). Image credit: B. Gougeon / Université de Montréal.

Habitable Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140b is Probably Snowball or Water World

Jul 9, 2024 by News Staff

LHS 1140b is the second-closest temperate transiting exoplanet to Earth with a temperature low enough to support surface liquid water. LHS 1140b may be...

An artist’s impression of the hot-Jupiter exoplanet HD 189733b. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa / Johns Hopkins University.

Webb Detects Hydrogen Sulfide in Atmosphere of Hot Jupiter

Jul 8, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere of the Jupiter-sized exoplanet...

This Webb image shows the RX J1131-1231 galaxy distorted by gravitational lensing into a dim ring; at the top of the ring are three very bright spots with diffraction spikes coming off them, right next to each other; these are copies of a single quasar in the lensed galaxy, duplicated by the gravitational lens; in the center of the ring, the elliptical galaxy doing the lensing appears as a small blue dot. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Nierenberg.

Webb Sees Four Images of Same Gravitationally Lensed Quasar

Jul 8, 2024 by News Staff

A quasar called RX J1131-1231 resides approximately 6 billion light-years away in the constellation of Crater. This Webb image shows the RX J1131-1231...

This Hubble image shows NGC 3810, a spiral galaxy some 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo. The color image is composed of infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations from both Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instruments. Nine filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Sand / R.J. Foley.

NGC 3810 Demonstrates Classical Spiral Structure in New Hubble Image

Jul 8, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced a spectacularly detailed image of the supernova-hosting spiral galaxy NGC 3810. This...

L1527, shown in this image from Webb’s MIRI instrument, is a molecular cloud that harbors the IRAS 04368+2557 protostar. The more diffuse blue light and the filamentary structures in the image come from organic compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), while the red at the center of this image is an energized, thick layer of gases and dust that surrounds the protostar. The region in between, which shows up in white, is a mixture of PAHs, ionized gas, and other molecules. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Webb Sees Hourglass-Shaped Molecular Cloud around Protostar

Jul 3, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) camera aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured a striking new photo of the...

An artist’s impression of the Gliese 414 system. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Scientists Revise Famous Drake Equation

Jul 2, 2024 by News Staff

Within the uncertainties of involved astronomical and biological parameters, the Drake equation typically predicts that there should be many exoplanets...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4951, a spiral galaxy around 49 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker / M. Zamani, ESA & Hubble.

Hubble Captures Stunning Image of NGC 4951

Jul 1, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

In this new image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of the spiral galaxy NGC 4951. This Hubble image shows NGC 4951, a spiral...

A mosaic of visible-light (Hubble) and infrared-light (Webb) views of the same frame from the Pillars of Creation visualization. Image credit: Greg Bacon / Ralf Crawford / Joseph DePasquale / Leah Hustak / Christian Nieves / Joseph Olmsted / Alyssa Pagan / Frank Summers, STScI / NASA’s Universe of Learning.

NASA Release 3D Visualization of ‘Pillars of Creation’

Jun 28, 2024 by News Staff

Using images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have produced a new 3D visualization...

This image, taken by the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, shows the starburst galaxy NGC 4449. The image is being released in celebration of Gemini North’s 25th anniversary. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Miller, International Gemini Observatory & NSF NOIRLab / M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF NOIRLab.

Astronomers Observe Starburst Galaxy NGC 4449

Jun 26, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope at the International Gemini Observatory have imaged NGC 4449, a prime example of starburst activity caused...

An illustration of various planetary technosignatures, including artificial atmospheric gases. Image credit: Sohail Wasif / UC Riverside.

Astrobiologists Identify Five Greenhouse Gases that Would Be Giveaways of Terraformed Exoplanet

Jun 25, 2024 by News Staff

The five artificial greenhouse gases identified by University of California, Riverside astrobiologist Edward Schwieterman and his colleagues would be detectable...

Halo around Cygnus X-3. Image credit: NASA.

IXPE Discovers New Ultra-Luminous X-ray Source in Milky Way

Jun 25, 2024 by News Staff

Cygnus X-3, an X-ray binary system located some 7,400 parsecs (24,136 light-years) in the constellation of Cygnus, represents a class of ultra-luminous...

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