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This radio-infrared image shows the radio galaxy Alcyoneus. Image credit: Oei et al., arXiv: 2202.05427.

LOFAR Telescope Spots Biggest Radio Galaxy Ever

Feb 16, 2022 by Natali Anderson

The newly-discovered radio galaxy, dubbed Alcyoneus, has a projected length of 16.3 million light-years (4.99 Mpc). This radio-infrared image shows the...

This IXPE image maps the intensity of X-rays coming from Cassiopeia A; colors ranging from cool purple and blue to red and hot white correspond with the increasing brightness of the X-rays; the image was created using X-ray data collected by IXPE between January 11 and 18, 2022. Image credit: NASA / ASI / IXPE.

IXPE Space Observatory Collects Its First Imaging Data

Feb 15, 2022 by News Staff

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), an international collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), has captured an image of...

This artist’s impression shows the merger of two white dwarfs. Image credit: Nicole Reindl, University of Potsdam.

Astronomers Discover New Type of Subdwarf Star

Feb 14, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Large Binocular Telescope have discovered two unusual hot subdwarf stars: PG 1654+322 and PG 1528+025. While normal stars have surfaces...

This image, taken by the SPHERE/IFS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in 2016, shows three satellites (S1 in red circle, S2 in green, and S3 in blue) of the main-belt asteroid (130) Elektra. Image credit: Berdeu et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202142623.

Astronomers Find First-Ever Quadruple Asteroid

Feb 14, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have discovered a third moon orbiting the main-belt asteroid (130) Elektra, making it the first quadruple asteroid ever found. This image,...

This mosaic, taken by the NIRCam instrument onboard the James Webb Space Telescope, shows 18 images of the same star. Image credit: NASA.

James Webb Space Telescope Spots Its First Star

Feb 14, 2022 by News Staff

Each dot visible in this image mosaic from the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope is the same...

This composite image shows the distant galaxy merger IC 2431. The 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, Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / SDSS / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Observes Triple Galaxy Merger: IC 2431

Feb 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released an incredibly beautiful shot of IC 2431, a distant trio of merging galaxies located in the constellation of Cancer. This composite...

An artist’s impression of the white dwarf star WD 1054-226 orbited by clouds of planetary debris and a major planet in the habitable zone. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick / www.markgarlick.com.

Astronomers Find Planetary Bodies in Habitable Zone of White Dwarf

Feb 11, 2022 by News Staff

Using the ULTRACAM instrument on ESO’s 3.5-m New Technology Telescope and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have observed...

Density distribution of the 550 galaxies in the COSMOS UltraVISTA DR3 catalog (cyan circles). The two ultramassive galaxies, COS-DR3-179370 (in MAGAZ3NE J0959) and COS-DR3-160748 (in MAGAZ3NE J1000), are shown by blue and green stars, respectively. Image credit: McConachie et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac2b9f.

Two Protoclusters of Galaxies Spotted in Early Universe

Feb 10, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Each of the two newly-discovered protoclusters, MAGAZ3NE J095924+022537 and MAGAZ3NE J100028+023349 (MAGAZ3NE J0959 and MAGAZ3NE J1000 for short), hosts...

An artist’s impression of the G29-38 white dwarf, accreting planetary material from a circumstellar debris disk; when the planetary material hits the white dwarf surface, a plasma is formed and cools via detectable X-ray emission. Image credit: Mark Garlick / University of Warwick.

White Dwarf Spotted Eating Planetary Debris

Feb 10, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected five X-ray events from G29-38, which is among the 100 closest white dwarfs. Their results...

An artist’s impression of Proxima d. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada.

Potential Third Planet Discovered Orbiting Proxima Centauri

Feb 10, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Using data from the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers...

This images from the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 7582. Image credit: ESO / Juneau et al.

Galaxy Substructure Plays Important Role in How Active Black Holes Affect Their Galaxies: Study

Feb 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using images from the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have studied the effect of...

An artist’s impression of the James Webb Space Telescope. Image credit: ESA.

Webb’s Camera Captures Its First Photons of Starlight

Feb 8, 2022 by News Staff

On February 3, 2022, astronomers saw the first photons of starlight that traveled through the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and were detected...

This Hubble image shows two interacting galaxies: NGC 169 (larger galaxy) and IC 1559. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / SDSS / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Observes Interacting Galaxy Pair: Arp 282

Feb 8, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A stunning new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures an ongoing interaction between two active galaxies in the Arp 282 system. This Hubble...

This Hubble image of Chamaeleon Cloud I is a composite of separate exposures acquired by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), and the VISTA InfraRed CAMera (VIRCAM) on ESO’s 4.1-m Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). Image credit: NASA / ESA / K. Luhman & T. Esplin, Pennsylvania State University / ESO / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hubble Looks at Beautiful Star-Forming Cloud

Feb 4, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the Chamaeleon Cloud I, part of a large star-forming region called the Chamaeleon Cloud Complex. This...

An artist’s impression of a mini-Neptune exoplanet and its parent star. Image credit: Adam Makarenko, Keck Observatory.

Two Mini-Neptunes Lose Their Puffy Atmospheres, Transform into Super-Earth Exoplanets

Feb 4, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers have identified two mini-Neptune exoplanets — TOI-560b and HD 63433c — that are losing their puffy atmospheres and likely transforming...

An image of the spectral index of radio-emitting filaments in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: Yusef-Zadeh et al., doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac4802.

New MeerKAT Image Reveals Radio-Emitting Filaments in Milky Way’s Center

Feb 3, 2022 by News Staff

The new image from the MeerKAT telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) in Cape Town, South Africa, shows nearly 1,000 magnetized...

The complex, cirrus-like emission from the Galactic center super bubble dominates this MeerKAT image. This is traversed by the Radio Arc, a complex of many parallel radio filaments. The radio bubble nestles against the diffuse Sagittarius A region in the lower center of the image. The bright dot near the center of this region is Sagittarius A*. Image credit: I. Heywood, SARAO.

Astronomers Release Unprecedented Radio Image of Milky Way’s Center

Feb 2, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image from the MeerKAT telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) in Cape Town, South Africa, shows radio emission from numerous...

Astronomers Identify Second Earth Trojan Asteroid: 2020 XL5

Feb 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

2020 XL5 will be an Earth Trojan asteroid for at least 4,000 years, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. This composite...

An artist’s impression of a transition disk around an evolved binary star. Image credit: N. Stecki.

Astronomers Spot Second-Generation Planet-Forming Disks around Ancient Binary Stars

Feb 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have assembled a catalog of all known Galactic binaries featuring massive disks of gas and dust that are similar to the protoplanetary disks...