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Engineering images of sharply focused stars in the field of view of each instrument demonstrate that the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope is fully aligned and in focus. For this test, Webb pointed at part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, providing a dense field of hundreds of thousands of stars across all the observatory’s sensors. The sizes and positions of the images shown here depict the relative arrangement of each of Webb’s instruments in the telescope’s focal plane, each pointing at a slightly offset part of the sky relative to one another. Webb’s three imaging instruments are NIRCam (images shown here at a wavelength of 2 microns), NIRISS (image shown here at 1.5 microns), and MIRI (shown at 7.7 microns, a longer wavelength revealing emission from interstellar clouds as well as starlight). NIRSpec is a spectrograph rather than imager but can take images, such as the 1.1 micron image shown here, for calibrations and target acquisition. The dark regions visible in parts of the NIRSpec data are due to structures of its microshutter array, which has several hundred thousand controllable shutters that can be opened or shut to select which light is sent into the spectrograph. Lastly, Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor tracks guide stars to point the observatory accurately and precisely; its two sensors are not generally used for scientific imaging but can take calibration images such as those shown here. This image data is used not just to assess image sharpness but also to precisely measure and calibrate subtle image distortions and alignments between sensors as part of Webb’s overall instrument calibration process. Image credit: NASA / STScI.

Webb Successfully Completes Alignment Phase

Apr 29, 2022 by News Staff

After full review, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has been confirmed to be capable of capturing well-focused images with each of its four...

An artist’s impression of a millisecond pulsar. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Anomalous Gamma-Ray Signal from Milky Way’s Core May Actually Come from Millisecond Pulsars

Apr 28, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers from the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, the University of Canterbury and the University of Tokyo have found...

An artist’s impression of 25 hot-Jupiters examined by Changeat et al. Image credit: NASA/ ESA / Hubble / N. Bartmann.

New Study Unravels Mysteries of Hot-Jupiter Exoplanets

Apr 28, 2022 by News Staff

In a study published on April 25, 2022 in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, astronomers analyzed archival spectroscopic and photometric data...

This artist’s impression highlights the compactness of molecular gas in a post-starburst galaxy and its lack of star formation. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / S. Dagnello / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Study Sheds New Light on ‘Fall of Star Formation’ in Post-Starburst Galaxies

Apr 26, 2022 by News Staff

Post-starburst galaxies (PSBs) are a rare galaxy class existing between two crucial evolutionary phases — major, gas-rich galaxy mergers and gas-poor,...

This Hubble image shows GAMA 526784, an ultra-diffuse galaxy some 4 billion light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. van der Burg / L. Shatz.

Hubble Spots Distant Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy

Apr 25, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a striking photo of the ultra-diffuse galaxy GAMA 526784. This Hubble image shows GAMA...

The four galaxies shown in this graphic are among 29 galaxies in the sample that showed evidence for growing black holes near their centers. X-rays from Chandra (blue) have been overlaid on optical images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxies NGC 1385, NGC 1566, NGC 3344, and NGC 6503. The boxes that appear in the roll-over outline the location of the burgeoning black holes. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Washington State University / Baldassare et al. / ESA / STScI.

Massive Black Holes Form in Dense Stellar Environments, Study Suggests

Apr 21, 2022 by News Staff

Black holes are demolishing thousands of stars in a quest to pack on weight, according to an analysis of images of 108 galaxies taken by NASA’s Chandra...

https://cdn.sci.news/images/2022/04/image_10734-Micronova.jpg

New Type of Nova Discovered: Micronova

Apr 21, 2022 by News Staff

A micronova is a thermonuclear blast that happens on the surface of certain stars and lasts for just a few hours making them extremely difficult to observe. This...

This Hubble image shows HCG 40 (also known as Arp 321), an unusual close-knit collection of five galaxies in the constellation of Hydra. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / STScI.

NASA Marks Hubble’s 32nd Birthday with Amazing Image of Compact Galaxy Group

Apr 20, 2022 by News Staff

This small group of galaxies, called the Hickson Compact Group 40, includes three spiral galaxies, an elliptical galaxy and a lenticular galaxy. In about...

This artist’s conception shows exocomets in a young planetary system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Ukrainian Astronomers Spot Five New Exocomets around Beta Pictoris

Apr 18, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a team of astronomers from Ukraine has detected the transits of five comets around...

This Hubble image shows the VV 689 system. The color image is composed of infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Victor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). 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 / W. Keel / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Witnesses Stunning Galaxy Collision: VV 689

Apr 18, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A beautiful new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures an ongoing collision between two massive galaxies. This Hubble image shows the...

Red giant stars. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith, KBRwyle.

Two New Classes of Low-Mass Red Giants Discovered

Apr 15, 2022 by News Staff

Mass loss in red giant stars is one of the major uncertainties in the astrophysics. Red giant stars. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center...

MAGIC Telescopes Detect Gamma Rays from Recurrent Nova

Apr 14, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes have detected gamma rays from the 2021 outburst of RS Ophiuchi, a recurrent...

An artist’s impression of a supermassive black hole that is inside the dust-shrouded core of a starburst galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / N. Bartmann.

Hubble Finds Rapidly Growing Black Hole in Early Universe

Apr 13, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have spotted GNz7q, a black hole that existed only 750 million years after the Big Bang, in one of...

This image, taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 on January 8, 2022, shows comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Man-To Hui, Macau University of Science and Technology / David Jewitt, UCLA / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

Hubble Detects Giant Nucleus of Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein

Apr 12, 2022 by News Staff

The estimated diameter of the nucleus of comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is approximately 137 km (85 miles) across, making it the largest...

Neptune is Cooler than Astronomers Thought

Apr 11, 2022 by News Staff

Using data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the Subaru Telescope, the Keck Telescope, the Gemini South and North...

This Hubble image shows Messier 91, a barred spiral galaxy some 56 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Snaps Stunning Image of Messier 91

Apr 11, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a stunning image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 91. This Hubble image shows Messier...

The three-color optical image of the host galaxy of the LADUMA J033046.20-275518.1 hydroxyl megamaser, taken from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope. Image credit: Glowacki et al., arXiv: 2204.02523.

MeerKAT Discovers Farthest Hydroxyl Megamaser to Date

Apr 8, 2022 by News Staff

LADUMA J033046.20-275518.1 is the most distant megamaser of its kind ever detected. The three-color optical image of the host galaxy of the LADUMA J033046.20-275518.1...

Astronomers Spot Most Distant Galaxy Ever Seen

Apr 8, 2022 by News Staff

The newly-discovered galaxy, named HD1, existed when the Universe was just 330 million years old. HD1 (red object). Image credit: Harikane et al., arXiv:...

An artist’s impression of the ultrahot Jupiter KELT-20b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Leah Hustak, STScI.

Ultrahot Jupiters WASP-178b and KELT-20b Have Extreme Weather

Apr 6, 2022 by News Staff

It’s raining vaporized rock on WASP-178b, and KELT-20b has its upper atmosphere getting hotter rather than cooler because it is being sunburned by intense...