Astronomy News

Webb Observes Intricate Structures in Ionosphere of Jupiter

This graphic shows the region observed by Webb: first its location on a NIRCam image of the whole planet (left), and the region itself (right), imaged by Webb’s Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Jupiter ERS Team / J. Schmidt / H. Melin / M. Zamani, ESA & Webb.
Jun 25, 2024 by News Staff

Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is composed of a neutral thermosphere and charged ionosphere. Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted unexpected small-scale intensity features such as arcs, bands and spots in Jupiter’s low-latitude ionosphere in the region above the Great Red Spot. This graphic shows the region observed by Webb: first its location on a NIRCam image of the whole planet (left), and the region itself...

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These images show the galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615-5746 (right) and a portion of this cluster (left) showing two distinct lensed galaxies. The Cosmic Gems arc is shown with several galaxy clusters. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / L. Bradley, STScI / A. Adamo, Stockholm University / Cosmic Spring Collaboration.

Webb Finds Proto-Globular Clusters in Early Universe

Jun 24, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted at least five young globular clusters within SPT 0615-JD1 (also known as the...

This Hubble image shows NGC 5253, a blue compact dwarf galaxy some 11 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Zezas / D. Calzetti.

Hubble Space Telescope Views NGC 5253

Jun 24, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced two outstanding images of NGC 5253, which is considered a dwarf starburst galaxy and...

This Webb image shows a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows within one small region (the top left corner) of the Serpens Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / K. Pontoppidan, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory / J. Green, Space Telescope Science Institute.

Webb Spots Enigmatic Group of Aligned Protostellar Outflows in Serpens Nebula

Jun 20, 2024 by News Staff

These protostellar outflows are formed when jets of gas spewing from newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. Typically these objects...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1546, a spiral galaxy approximately 52.5 million light-years away in the constellation of Dorado. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubblr / STScI / David Thilker, JHU.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on NGC 1546

Jun 19, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has obtained its first images since changing to an alternate operating mode that uses only one gyroscope, which helps...

This image, taken with the Hyper Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope, shows a pair of quasars in the process of merging: HSC J121503.42-014858.7 (C1) and HSC J121503.55-014859.3 (C2). Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF NOIRLab.

Astronomers Discover Most Distant Pair of Merging Quasars Yet

Jun 18, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers have discovered a pair of merging quasars seen only 900 million years after the Big Bang. Not only is this the most distant pair of merging...

Drawing of the Permanent Spot by G.D. Cassini, January 19, 1672. Image credit: Sánchez-Lavega et al., doi: 10.1029/2024GL108993.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Is Not Permanent Spot Reported by Cassini, New Study Suggests

Jun 18, 2024 by News Staff

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is probably the best known atmospheric feature and a popular icon among solar system objects. Its large oval shape, contrasted...

This artist’s impression shows the growing disk of material being pulled in by the black hole as it feeds on the gas available in its surroundings, making the galaxy light up. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Astronomers Witness Awakening of Supermassive Black Hole

Jun 18, 2024 by News Staff

In December 2019, SDSS 1335+0728 — a little-known galaxy located 300 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo — suddenly started...

Webb dissected the Crab Nebula’s structure, aiding astronomers as they continue to evaluate leading theories about the supernova remnant’s origins. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / T. Temim, Princeton University.

Webb Dissects Structure of Crab Nebula

Jun 18, 2024 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has provided a stunning new view of the Crab Nebula, including the highest-quality infrared data yet available...

An artist’s impression of the warm-Neptune exoplanet GJ 3470b. Image credit: Department of Astronomy, UW-Madison.

Nearby Warm Neptune Has Sulfurous Atmosphere, Astronomers Say

Jun 17, 2024 by News Staff

A warm-Neptune exoplanet called GJ 3470b (Gliese 3470b) is 96 light-years away and circles a 2-billion-year-old red dwarf star in the general direction...

This Hubble image shows the nebula RCW 7. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Tan, Chalmers University & University of Virginia.

Hubble Finds Massive Binary Protostar in RCW 7 Nebula

Jun 17, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

RCW 7 is located approximately 5,300 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Puppis. This Hubble image shows the nebula RCW 7. Image credit:...

Barsony et al. discovered twin disks and jets erupting from a pair of young stars in WL20. Image credit: NSF / NRAO / B. Saxton / NASA / JPL-Caltech / Harvard-Smithsonian CfA.

Astronomers Spot Parallel Jets and Circumstellar Disks in Nearby Multistar System

Jun 13, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope...

A simulation of a hypothetical J1249+36-white dwarf binary pair ends with the white dwarf exploding into a supernova. Image credit: Adam Makarenko / W.M. Keck Observatory.

Citizen Scientists Discover Hypervelocity L-Subdwarf Star in Solar Neighborhood

Jun 12, 2024 by News Staff

With an estimated distance of 140 parsecs (457 light-years), the L-subdwarf star CWISE J124909+362116.0 (J1249+36 for short) has a total speed of at least...

Chen et al. show that Beta Pictoris has a dynamic circumstellar environment and that periods of enhanced collisions can create large dust clouds that sweep through the planetary system, increasing the dust accretion onto the giant planets Beta Pictoris b and c. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa / Johns Hopkins University / Lynette Cook / NASA.

Webb Detects Giant Collision in Beta Pictoris System

Jun 12, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted a collision of giant asteroids around Beta Pictoris, the second brightest star...

Positions of Crater II and other Milky Way satellites with heliocentric distances between 100,000 and 400,000 parsecs. Image credit: Torrealba et al., doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw733.

Astrophysicists Offer Explanation for Origin of One of Milky Way’s Largest Satellites

Jun 11, 2024 by News Staff

The satellite galaxy Crater II (or Crater 2) of the Milky Way is located approximately 380,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Crater....

The stereographic image pairs (a-c), taken by the L’LORRI instrument on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on November 1, 2023, show the asteroid Dinkinesh. The yellow and rose dots indicate the trough and ridge features, respectively. These images have been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast. The image (d) shows a side view of Dinkinesh and its satellite Selam taken a few minutes after closest approach. Image credit: NASA / GSFC / SwRI / Johns Hopkins APL / NOIRLab.

Asteroid Dinkinesh’s Moon is Contact Binary, Astronomers Say

Jun 11, 2024 by News Staff

Dinkinesh is a small asteroid orbiting the Sun near the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently revealed the asteroid,...

This image shows the position of NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, relative to the heliosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Solar System Passed Through Cold Interstellar Cloud About 2 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests

Jun 10, 2024 by News Staff

Cold, dense clouds in the interstellar medium of our Milky Way Galaxy are around four-five orders of magnitude denser than their diffuse counterparts....

This Hubble image shows the globular cluster NGC 2005. The color composite was assembled from images taken in visible and near-infrared light by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). It is based on data obtained through three filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / F. Niederhofer / L. Girardi.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 2005

Jun 10, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking image of NGC 2005, a globular cluster located 162,000 light-years away from...

This image visualizes our Milky Way Galaxy and its surrounding halo of stars. The new Gaia data reveal that the wrinkles we see in the Milky Way were likely caused by a dwarf galaxy colliding with the Milky Way around 2.7 billion years ago. Our Galaxy’s two prominent satellite galaxies -- the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds -- are visible to the lower right, Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC / Donlon et al. / Stefan Payne-Wardenaar.

Milky Way’s Last Major Merger Occurred Billions of Years Later than Previously Thought

Jun 7, 2024 by News Staff

This discovery was made possible by ESA’s Gaia spacecraft, which is mapping more than a billion stars throughout the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond, tracking...

This is an artist’s impression of a young star surrounded by a disk of gas and dust. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

Webb Detects Abundant Hydrocarbons in Protoplanetary Disk around Very-Low-Mass Star

Jun 6, 2024 by News Staff

Very-low-mass stars host orbiting rocky exoplanets more frequently than other types of stars. The compositions of those planets are largely unknown but...

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