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This image shows the quadruple gravitational lens J1000+0221. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. van der Wel.

Most Distant Gravitational Lens Discovered

Oct 21, 2013 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered what they say is the most distant gravitational lens yet. This image shows the quadruple...

This image shows the red supergiant star W26. Clouds of glowing hydrogen gas are seen around the star as green features. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Survey / N. Wright.

Astronomers Discover Ionized Nebula around Largest Star in Known Universe

Oct 21, 2013 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers has used ESO’s Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile to discover and observe an ionized nebula...

High-resolution simulation of a galaxy hosting a super-luminous supernova. Image credit: Adrian Malec / Marie Martig / Swinburne University.

Study Provides New Insight into Origins of Super-Luminous Supernovae

Oct 16, 2013 by News Staff

According to a team of astronomers reporting in the journal Nature, super-luminous supernovae are powered by small and incredibly dense neutron stars,...

This composite image shows the central parts of the nearby active galaxy NGC 1433. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / NASA / ESA / F. Combes.

Astronomers Focus on Jets from Nearby and Distant Supermassive Black Holes

Oct 16, 2013 by News Staff

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in the Atacama Desert, Chile, have observed jets from giant black holes in the nearby...

This is an artist's rendition of the Milky Way, overlaid with results from the survey of early star-forming clouds. Each dot represents a dark cloud of dense gas and dust in the process of collapsing to give rise to a future cluster of stars. Image credit: R. Hurt / NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSC.

Milky Way Galaxy’s Early Star-Forming Clouds Mapped

Oct 14, 2013 by News Staff

The biggest-ever survey of dense clumps in our Milky Way Galaxy, published in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, has catalogued and mapped 6,194...

This artist's impression shows the exoplanet Corot-7b, which is so close to its Sun-like host star that it must experience extreme conditions. Image credit: ESO / L. Calcada.

Astronomers Discover Thirteen Exoplanets Skimming Stellar Surface of Host Stars

Oct 14, 2013 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Kepler mission, a team of astronomers led by Carnegie Institution scientist Dr Brian Jackson has found 13 extrasolar planets...

This image shows petal-like shells of the giant early-type galaxy PGC 6240. Image credit: ESA / Hubble team / NASA; acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt.

PGC 6240: Astronomers Spot Distant ‘White Rose’ Galaxy

Oct 11, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international group of astronomers has used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to observe petal-like shells of the elliptical galaxy PGC 6240. This...

This is an artist's impression of a rocky and water-rich asteroid being torn apart by the strong gravity of the white dwarf star GD 61. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk / University of Warwick / University of Cambridge.

Astronomers Discover Water-Rich Asteroid Debris Orbiting White Dwarf GD 61

Oct 11, 2013 by News Staff

British and German astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and telescopes of the W. M. Keck Observatory have detected the remains of an asteroid...

This is an artist's impression of the free-floating planet PSO J318.5-22. Image credit: MPIA / V. Ch. Quetz.

PSO J318.5-22: Free-Floating Exoplanet Found 80 Light-Years from Earth

Oct 10, 2013 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Pan-STARRS 1 wide-field survey telescope on Haleakala, Maui, have discovered a very young free-floating planet named PSO J318.5-22. This...

This image shows the Toby Jug Nebula. Image credit: ESO.

Astronomers Capture Stunning New Image of Toby Jug Nebula

Oct 9, 2013 by News Staff

An international group of astronomers using the Very Large Telescope has captured a detailed image of the reflection nebula IC 2220, also known as the...

This is an artist's impression of a protostar in G34.43+00.24 MM3. Image credit: NAOJ.

ALMA Sees Giant, Hot Cocoon around Protostar in Infrared Dark Cloud

Oct 8, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of astronomers has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile, to observe...

Fomalhaut: Actually Triple Star, Astronomers Say

Oct 4, 2013 by News Staff

In a new study accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal (arXiv.org), astronomers show that a previously known red dwarf star called LP 876-10...

This image shows the galaxy Q1442-MD50, center, with incoming cold gas flow. A stream of primordial inflowing hydrogen is illuminated from behind by a distant background quasar, lower left, - quasar added by an artist. Image credit: MPIA / G. Stinson / A. V. Macciò.

Astronomers Discover Star-Forming Galaxy Fueled by Primordial Hydrogen

Oct 3, 2013 by News Staff

In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (arXiv.org), astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the University of California...

This artist's rendering shows the gas giant Kepler-7b, left, and Jupiter, right. The cloud map shows that clouds cover the western side of the gaseous planet, leaving the east cloud-free. Dr Demory and his colleagues speculate the clouds are made up of minerals containing silicates. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MIT.

Kepler-7b: Astronomers Create Cloud Map of Jupiter-Like Exoplanet

Oct 1, 2013 by News Staff

Astronomers using data from two space telescopes have created the first cloud map of a hot gas giant called Kepler-7b. This artist’s rendering shows...

This image shows the Cat's Paw Nebula. Image credit: ArTeMiS team / Ph. André, M. Hennemann, V. Revéret et al / ESO / J. Emerson / VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.

APEX Zooms in on Cat’s Paw Nebula

Sep 27, 2013 by News Staff

Astronomers using ArTeMiS, a new instrument installed on the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment – a 12-m diameter telescope in the Atacama Desert, have...

PSR J1824-2452I: Missing Link between Radio and X-Ray Pulsars

Sep 26, 2013 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by Dr Alessandro Papitto from the Institute of Space Studies of Barcelona has discovered a fast-spinning pulsar that switches...

This new Hubble image shows the galaxy cluster Abell 1689. Image credit: NASA / ESA / the Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / J. Blakeslee / NRC Herzberg Astrophysics Program / Dominion Astrophysical Observatory / H. Ford / JHU.

Hubble Finds Largest Population of Globular Clusters in Abell 1689

Sep 25, 2013 by News Staff

New, deep observations of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1689 have revealed that it hosts the largest population of globular clusters ever found. This...

This image shows Sagittarius A* and the surrounding region. Image credit: NASA / CXC / MIT / F. Baganoff / R. Shcherbakov et al.

Supermassive Black Hole at Milky Way’s Center Erupted Two Million Years Ago

Sep 25, 2013 by News Staff

Astronomers led by Prof Joss Bland-Hawthorn from the University of Sydney have found evidence that the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy,...

This image shows the galaxy M60-UCD1. Image credit: NASA / STScI.

M60-UCD1: Densest Galaxy in Nearby Universe

Sep 24, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based optical telescopes have discovered what they say is the...