Astronomy News

Astronomers Detect Emission from Outskirts of Supermassive Black Hole’s Accretion Disk

An artist’s impression of a supermassive black hole with an accretion disk orbiting it. The annotations show a hypothetical double-peaked profile with arrows indicating where in the broad line region each peak originates. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / P. Marenfeld.
Aug 28, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Active galactic nuclei are primarily powered by a supermassive black hole lying at the center of a host galaxy that is accreting matter from its vicinity. The radiation from the central source ionizes the inner dense gas, the so-called broad-line region. Using the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, astronomers have detected two near-infrared...

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This image from the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows Neptune; a dark spot can be seen to the upper-right. Image credit: ESO / Irwin et al.

VLT Observes Large Dark Spot and Its Bright Companion in Atmosphere of Neptune

Aug 24, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed a large dark spot in Neptune’s...

A giant black hole in PGC 43234 destroyed a large star and threw its pieces into space; the X-ray data reveal the relative amount of nitrogen compared to carbon in this stellar debris field. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Michigan / Miller et al. / M. Weiss.

ASASSN-14li: Supermassive Black Hole Destroys Massive Star, Throws Its Pieces into Space

Aug 22, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton and other telescopes have found evidence for a massive stellar disruption (over...

This image from Webb’s NIRCam instrument shows the Ring Nebula. The nebula’s inner cavity hosts shades of blue and green, while the detailed ring transitions through shades of orange in the inner regions and pink in the outer region. The ring’s inner region has distinct filament elements. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / M. Barlow / N. Cox / R. Wesson.

Webb Team Releases New Photos of Ring Nebula

Aug 21, 2023 by News Staff

The new image of the famous Ring Nebula from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) shows the intricate details of the filament structure of the nebula’s...

This Hubble image shows ESO 300-16, a dwarf irregular galaxy 28.7 million light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Tully.

Hubble Focuses on Tiny Irregular Galaxy

Aug 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 300-16. This Hubble image shows ESO 300-16, a dwarf...

This sequence of Hubble images chronicles the waxing and waning of the amount of cloud cover on Neptune. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Erandi Chavez, UC Berkeley / Imke de Pater, UC Berkeley.

Astronomers Discover Connection between Neptune’s Cloudy Weather and 11-Year Solar Cycle

Aug 17, 2023 by News Staff

Neptune is the most distant planet in the Solar System, an ice-giant that boasts an active and chaotic atmosphere. Using archival near-infrared observations...

In a few million years, HD 45166 will explode as a very bright, but not particularly energetic, supernova. During this explosion, its core will contract, trapping and concentrating the star’s already daunting magnetic field lines. The result will be a neutron star with a magnetic field far greater than its progenitor. Image credit: NOIRLab / AURA / NSF / P. Marenfeld / M. Zamani.

Highly Unusual Wolf-Rayet Star Will Evolve into Magnetar, Astronomers Say

Aug 17, 2023 by News Staff

Using spectropolarimetric data gathered by various telescopes around the globe, astronomers from the University of Amsterdam and elsewhere have identified...

This image shows the Maisie’s galaxy. Image credit: NASA / STScI / CEERS / TACC / University of Texas at Austin / S. Finkelstein / M. Bagley.

Webb Confirms Two Very Luminous Galaxies in Early Universe

Aug 15, 2023 by Natali Anderson

During the first 500 million years of cosmic history, the first stars and galaxies formed, seeding the Universe with heavy elements and eventually reionizing...

Hallakoun et al. report observations revealing an extremely irradiated low-mass companion to the hot white dwarf WD 0032-317. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI.

Newly-Discovered Brown Dwarf is Hotter than the Sun

Aug 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

WD 0032-317B, a brown dwarf orbiting around the hot, low-mass white dwarf WD 0032-317, is estimated to have a surface temperature of about 8,000 K and...

This image, taken with the VIRCAM instrument on ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, shows NGC 6723, a globular cluster some 28,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. The image is based on data obtained through three filters. Image credit: ESO / Meingast et al.

VISTA Telescope Captures NGC 6723 in Infrared Light

Aug 14, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at Paranal Observatory have produced a spectacularly detailed infrared...

For most of the time, Saturn’s atmosphere looks hazy and featureless to the naked eye in contrast to Jupiter’s colorful and vibrant atmosphere. This picture changes when we look at Saturn using a radio eye. Despite bland looking at the visible wavelengths, different latitudes on Saturn show dramatic contrast in the radio emission. In 2015, Li et al. found substantial brightness temperature variations -- greater than the temperature increase caused by the 2010 storm -- as a function of latitude and radio wavelength based on spatially resolved radio images of Saturn, as obtained from the VLA. Via a spectral inversion study, they created a latitude-altitude map of ammonia concentration anomalies from these images and correlate the anomalies to the occurrences of past giant storms in the northern hemisphere. Image credit: S. Dagnello / NRAO / AUI / NSF / Li et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg9419.

VLA Reveals Megastorm-Centric Disruptions in Saturnian Atmosphere

Aug 14, 2023 by News Staff

Planetary-scale giant storms erupt on Saturn periodically. There have been at least six recorded occurrences of past eruptions, and the most recent one...

This Hubble image shows ACO 3322, a very massive galaxy cluster located 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation of Pictor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / H. Ebeling.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots X-ray Bright Galaxy Cluster

Aug 14, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble astronomers have released a new image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the massive galaxy cluster ACO 3322. This Hubble image...

This Webb image shows Earendel, a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our Sun, and about a million times more luminous. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / D. Coe, STScI, AURA, ESA & Johns Hopkins University / B. Welch, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center & University of Maryland, College Park / Z. Levay.

Earendel is Massive B-Type Star, Webb Astronomers Say

Aug 9, 2023 by News Staff

Earendel, the farthest known star, is a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our Sun, and about a million times more luminous, according to an...

On August 31, 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The CME traveled at over 900 miles per second. It did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow, causing aurora to appear on the night of September 3. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

HAWC Observatory Detects High-Energy Gamma Rays from the Sun

Aug 7, 2023 by News Staff

New results from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory extend the bright, hard gamma-ray emission from the solar disk observed with NASA’s...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6684, a lenticular galaxy some 44 million light-years away in the constellation of Pavo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Tully.

Hubble Focuses on Beautiful Lenticular Galaxy

Aug 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured an amazing new photo of the lenticular galaxy NGC 6684. This Hubble image shows NGC...

An artist’s impression of a gas-giant exoplanet. Image credit: Sci.News.

Astronomers Discover Jupiter-Sized Exoplanet around Low-Mass Star

Aug 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from TRAPPIST-South/North, SPECULOOS, and MuSCAT3 facilities, astronomers have discovered an unusual Jupiter-sized exoplanet orbiting the red...

This Webb/NIRcam composite image shows the Ring Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / JWST Ring Nebula Team / Roger Wesson.

Webb Captures Stunning Images of Ring Nebula

Aug 3, 2023 by News Staff

New images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope show the intricate and ethereal beauty of the famous Ring Nebula, also known as Messier 57,...

This image was taken during commissioning of Euclid to check that the focused NISP instrument worked as expected. Image credit: ESA / Euclid / Euclid Consortium / NASA.

ESA’s Euclid Spacecraft Snaps Its First Test Images

Aug 2, 2023 by News Staff

Euclid, built and operated by ESA, with contributions from NASA, will observe billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years to create the largest,...

This image shows the irregular galaxy NGC 6822, which was observed by Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / M. Meixner.

Webb Takes Close Look at Barnard’s Galaxy

Aug 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of the barred irregular galaxy NGC 6822. This image shows the irregular galaxy...

This artist’s illustration shows the Neptune-sized exoplanet AU Mic b passing in front of its host red dwarf star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Joseph Olmsted, STScI.

Young Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Sporadically Burps Hydrogen as It Circles Its Parent Star

Jul 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A process called photoevaporation is a potential explanation for several features within exoplanet demographics. Atmospheric escape observed in young Neptune-sized...

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