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This image of the Crab Nebula combines data from IXPE in magenta and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in dark purple. Image credit: IXPE / NASA / Chandra / CXC / SAO / K. Arcand / L. Frattare.

IXPE Observes Crab Nebula and Its Pulsar

Apr 11, 2023 by News Staff

Located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus, the Crab Nebula and its pulsar formed in a supernova whose light reached Earth in July 1054. This...

Astronomers from the ACT Collaboration used NSF’s Atacama Cosmology Telescope to create this new map of the dark matter; the orange regions show where there is more mass; purple where there is less or none; the typical features are hundreds of millions of light years across; the whitish band shows where contaminating light from dust in our Milky Way Galaxy, measured by ESA’s Planck satellite, obscures a deeper view. Image credit: ACT Collaboration.

Astronomers Create Most Detailed Map of Dark Matter

Apr 11, 2023 by News Staff

Using data from NSF’s Atacama Cosmology Telescope, astronomers have produced the most detailed map of dark matter distributed across one quarter of the...

This new image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) shows Cassiopeia A, a supernova remnant located about 11,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / D.D. Milisavljevic, Purdue University / T. Temim, Princeton University / I. De Looze, Ghent University / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Webb Shows Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A in New Light

Apr 10, 2023 by News Staff

A new mid-infrared image from the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia...

This Webb image shows Uranus and six of its 27 known moons (most of which are too small and faint to be seen in this short exposure). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Webb Captures Stunning Images of Uranus and Its Moons

Apr 10, 2023 by News Staff

New images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope show the ice giant Uranus, its faint rings and several moons. This image of Uranus, captured...

This Hubble image shows JO204, a spiral galaxy some 600 million light-years away in the constellation of Sextans. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Gullieuszik / GASP Team.

Hubble Space Telescope Spies Jellyfish Galaxy Edge-On

Apr 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The new image of JO204, a spiral galaxy located approximately 600 million light-years away in the constellation of Sextans, was captured by the NASA/ESA...

To the lower right of this Webb image is the lensing cluster SDSS J1226+2149 with a very large and bright elliptical galaxy at its center; thin, reddish, stretched-out arcs surround it; one arc is thick and much brighter; another red galaxy is large and warped, just next to the cluster core. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Rigby.

Webb Spots Cosmic Seahorse

Apr 5, 2023 by News Staff

The lensing galaxy cluster SDSS J1226+2149 has magnified distant galaxies, warping their shapes and creating the bright smears of light spread throughout...

This artist’s concept shows the brilliant glare of two quasars residing in the cores of two galaxies that are in the chaotic process of merging. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Joseph Olmsted, STScI.

Merger of Two Massive Disk Galaxies Produces Dual Quasar

Apr 5, 2023 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and other space and ground-based observatories, astronomers have discovered SDSS J0749+2255, a closely bound...

The location of Gaia BH2 and Gaia BH1 in the Milky Way. This map of our Galaxy was also made by the Gaia mission. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Gaia Discovers Its Second Black Hole

Apr 4, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-discovered dormant black hole, named Gaia BH2, is orbited by a red giant star, and has a mass of 8.9 solar masses. The location of Gaia BH2 and...

An artist’s conceptual rendering of interactions between a prospective exoplanet and its star. Image credit: NSF / Alice Kitterman.

Astronomers Detect Radio Emission Associated with Magnetic Field of Nearby Exoplanet

Apr 4, 2023 by News Staff

Observing magnetic star-planet interactions offers promise for determining the magnetic fields of exoplanets. Models of star-planet interactions predict...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Astrophysicists Find New Evidence for Standard Model of Cosmology

Apr 4, 2023 by News Staff

Astrophysicists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have measured the X-ray emission from galaxy clusters, which revealed...

An artist’s impression of the AT2018cow stellar explosion. Image credit: Phil Drury, University of Sheffield.

Astronomers Spot Flattest Known Stellar Explosion in Universe

Apr 3, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-observed stellar explosion, named AT2018cow, occurred approximately 180 million light-years away from Earth and belongs to a special class called...

This Hubble image shows UGC 2890, a small spiral galaxy some 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Camelopardalis. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Kilpatrick.

Hubble Snaps Breathtaking New Image of UGC 2890

Apr 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced a beautiful image of the side-on spiral galaxy UGC 2890. This Hubble image shows UGC 2890, a small spiral...

This composite image shows the Saturn Lyman-alpha bulge, an emission from hydrogen which is a persistent and unexpected excess detected by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, NASA’s Cassini probe, and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope between 1980 and 2017. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Lotfi Ben-Jaffel, IAP & LPL.

Saturn’s Rings are Heating Gas Giant’s Upper Atmosphere, Astronomers Say

Mar 30, 2023 by News Staff

The most feasible explanation is that icy ring particles raining down onto Saturn’s atmosphere cause this heating, according to a team of astronomers...

This map shows shield volcanoes on Venus. Image credit: Rebecca Hahn, Washington University in St. Louis.

Venus is Home to At Least 85,000 Volcanoes, Planetary Researchers Say

Mar 30, 2023 by News Staff

There are many thousands of volcanoes on the surface of Venus. These volcanoes provide clues into the interior properties of the planet, properties that...

This image shows the Spiderweb protocluster, seen at a time when the Universe was only 3 billion years old. Image credit: ESO / Di Mascolo et al. / NASA / ESA / Hubble / H. Ford.

ALMA Detects Huge Reservoir of Hot Gas in Very Distant Galaxy Protocluster

Mar 29, 2023 by News Staff

The galaxy protocluster is question is forming around the recently-discovered Spiderweb galaxy (also known as MRC 1138-262 or PKS 1138-262), an object...

An artist’s concept of a Neptunian Trojan asteroid. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / C. Fuentes, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Neptunian Trojan Asteroids Exist in Broad Spectrum of Red Color, Astronomers Find

Mar 29, 2023 by News Staff

Neptunian Trojans are trans-Neptunian objects in 1:1 mean-motion resonance with the ice giant Neptune. These asteroids are generally thought to have been...

This image shows the strong-lensing galaxy Abell 1201 BCG and a gravitational arc. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Nightingale et al., doi: 10.1093/mnras/stad587.

Astronomers Discover Ultramassive Black Hole in Abell 1201

Mar 29, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The newly-discovered ultramassive black hole has a mass of 32.7 billion solar masses and resides in the center of Abell 1201 BCG, a massive elliptical...

ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory recorded 20 dust rings, 19 of which are shown here in arbitrary colors. The image merges observations made two and five days after GRB 221009A erupted. Dark stripes indicate gaps between the detectors. A detailed analysis shows that the widest ring visible here, comparable to the apparent size of a full Moon, came from dust clouds located about 1,300 light-years away. The innermost ring arose from dust at a distance of 61,000 light-years -- on the other side of our Galaxy. Image credit: ESA / XMM-Newton / M. Rigoselli, INAF.

Astronomers Capture Reverse Shock Emission from Record-Breaking Gamma-Ray Burst

Mar 28, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers have provided vital information in the global effort to understand GRB 221009A, one of the nearest and possibly the most-energetic gamma-ray...

The TRAPPIST-1 system is remarkable for its seven planets that are similar in size, mass, density, and stellar heating to the rocky planets Venus, Earth, and Mars in our own Solar System. This illustration shows what the rocky planet TRAPPIST-1b could look like based on the new study. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / J. Olmsted, STScI.

Webb Measures Temperature of TRAPPIST-1b

Mar 28, 2023 by News Staff

The dayside of TRAPPIST-1b, the innermost planet in the seven-planet system TRAPPIST-1, has a temperature of about 227 degrees Celsius (441 degrees Fahrenheit),...