Astronomy News

Wandering Supermassive Black Holes May Be More Abundant than Previously Thought

Dacheng Lin et al discovered a ‘wandering’ black hole in the lenticular galaxy GJ1417+52. The main panel has a wide-field, optical light image from Hubble. The black hole and its host galaxy are located within the box in the upper left. The inset on the left contains Hubble’s close-up view of GJ1417+52. Within this inset the circle shows a point-like source on the northern outskirts of the galaxy that may be associated with XJ1417+52. The inset on the right is Chandra’s X-ray image of XJ1417+52 in purple, covering the same region as the Hubble close-up. Image credit: X-ray – NASA / CXC / UNH / Dacheng Lin et al; optical – NASA / STScI.
Aug 23, 2021 by News Staff

New research led by astronomers from the Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics shows that the current census of supermassive black holes is incomplete and that a substantial population of off-center wanderers likely exists. A ‘wandering’ black hole in the lenticular galaxy GJ1417+52. The main panel has a wide-field, optical light image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The black hole and its host galaxy are located within...

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This Hubble image shows NGC 2164, a young open cluster located some 160,000 light-years away in the constellation of Dorado. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. It is based on data obtained through four filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Kalirai / Milone.

Hubble Space Telescope Images NGC 2164

Aug 23, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides a detailed look at an open cluster known as NGC 2164. This Hubble image shows NGC 2164,...

This pair of Hubble images of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and April 23, 2020, reveal the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Quanzhi Ye, University of Maryland / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

Comet ATLAS May Be Broken-Off Piece of Larger, More Ancient Visitor

Aug 20, 2021 by News Staff

The near-Sun comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) is the first member of a long-period comet group observed to disintegrate well before its closest approach to the...

A compilation of the new science results from LOFAR. Image credit: Ramírez-Olivencia et al. / NASA, ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / A. Evans, University of Virginia, Charlottesville / NRAO / Stony Brook University / R. Cumming / C. Groeneveld / R. Timmerman / LOFAR / Kukreti / Sloan Digital Sky Survey / A. Kappes / F. Sweijen / DESI Legacy Imaging Survey / S. Badole / L. Calcada / W.L. Williams.

LOFAR Captures Most Detailed Images Ever Seen of Distant Galaxies

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a radio telescope that operates at frequencies between 10 and 240 MHz and consists of 52 stations spread...

This image, captured by CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope, shows the Large Magellanic Cloud. Image credit: Pennock et al., doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab1858.

Astronomers Create New Radio Map of Large Magellanic Cloud

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using CSIRO’s Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope have observed the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite...

Stretching 3,300 light-years, a collection of young stars and star-forming clouds in the Sagittarius arm of our Milky Way Galaxy is the first major structure identified with such a dramatically different orientation relative to an arm. The background image shows the location of the splinter in the Milky Way. The yellow region in the center of the image is the Galaxy’s bright and crowded center. The Milky Way’s arms spiral around the center, and are full of stars and star-forming clouds of gas and dust. The inset provides a closer view of the structure, as well as its size and distance from the Sun. The nearby spiral arms are also noted. The star shapes indicate a star-forming region that may contain anywhere from dozens to thousands of stars. These stars and star-forming regions are moving through space together, at roughly the same speed and in the same direction. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

3,300-Light-Year-Long Linear Structure Spotted in Milky Way’s Sagittarius Arm

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

Astrophysicists have mapped the 3D locations and velocities of star-forming regions in a segment of the Sagittarius arm using data from NASA’s Spitzer...

Multi-wavelength observations of the Ophiuchus star-forming region reveal interactions between clouds of star-forming gas and radionuclides produced in a nearby cluster of young stars. The top image (a) shows the distribution of aluminum-26 in red, traced by gamma-ray emissions. The central box represents the area covered in the bottom left image (b), which shows the distribution of protostars in the Ophiuchus clouds as red dots. The area in the box is shown in the bottom right image (c), a deep near-infrared color composite image of the L1688 cloud, containing many well known prestellar dense-gas cores with disks and protostars. Image credit: Forbes et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-021-01442-9.

Ophiuchus Star-Forming Complex Hosts Analogues of Early Solar System, Astronomers Say

Aug 17, 2021 by News Staff

The Ophiuchus star-forming complex is a complex of interstellar clouds, nebulae and prestellar cores in the constellation of Ophiuchus. At an estimated...

This illustration depicts the asteroid Phaethon being heated by the Sun. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / IPAC.

Sodium Vapor Outgassing Explains Asteroid Phaethon’s Cometlike Activity

Aug 17, 2021 by News Staff

The 5.8-km-wide (3.6-mile) near-Earth asteroid Phaethon, which is the source of the annual Geminid meteor shower, brightens as it gets close to the Sun....

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1385. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Five 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 / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Looks at Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1385

Aug 16, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have taken a picture of a spiral galaxy called NGC 1385. This Hubble image shows the barred spiral...

On July 14, 2021, the Subaru Telescope captured more than a dozen meteors streaming from the same direction within a 10-second window. Image credit: Subaru Telescope / National Astronomical Observatory of Japan / Asahi Shimbun Company.

Subaru Telescope Captures Rare Meteor Outburst

Aug 11, 2021 by News Staff

On July 14, 2021, the Subaru-Asahi Sky Camera on the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope at the summit of Maunakea, Hawai’i, captured a rare meteor outburst associated...

The two galaxies Norris et al. think are responsible for the streams of electrons (shown as curved arrows) that form the ‘dancing ghosts;’ but the authors don’t understand what is causing the filament labelled as 3. Image credit: Jayanne English & Ray Norris / EMU Project / Dark Energy Survey.

ASKAP Radio Telescope Spots ‘Dancing Ghost’ Galaxies

Aug 10, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using CSIRO’s Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope, a radio telescope situated about 800 km north of Perth, in...

Red dwarfs flare actively and expel particles that can alter and evaporate the atmospheres of planets in their orbit. Image credit: Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam / J. Fohlmeister.

Impact of Superflares on Planet Habitability around Small Stars May Be Weaker than Thought

Aug 9, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have studied large, long-duration flares in white light on red dwarfs, a class...

This composite image features a spectacular set of eight separate concentric rings around a black hole in the V404 Cygni binary system, captured using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The image also contains optical data from the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii that show the stars in the field of view. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Wisconsin-Madison / Heinz et al. / Pan-STARRS.

Astronomers Spot Giant X-Ray Rings around Stellar-Mass Black Hole

Aug 9, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have detected a set of eight X-ray rings around a low-mass black...

An Einstein ring formed by gravitationally lensed light from 2M1310-1714. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / T. Treu / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Gravity of Massive Galaxy Pair Magnifies Light from Distant Quasar

Aug 9, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Thanks to the presence of a gravitational lens, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured five separate images of 2M1310-1714, a quasar located...

Red giants near and far sweep across the sky in this illustration. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith, KBRwyle.

TESS Detects 158,505 Pulsating Red Giant Stars

Aug 6, 2021 by News Staff

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite hunts for exoplanets, but its sensitive measurements of stellar brightness make it ideal for studying stellar...

This artist’s impression shows the warm terrestrial planet L 98-59b. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Five Exoplanets Orbit Nearby Red Dwarf Star

Aug 6, 2021 by Natali Anderson

The L 98-59 planetary system contains two non-transiting planets and three transiting terrestrial planets, one of which is a warm rocky world with half...

This image shows galaxy Arp 148, captured by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope; specially processed Spitzer data is shown inside the white circle, revealing infrared light from a supernova hidden by dust; this is one five hidden supernovae documented by Fox et al. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Discovers Five Dust-Obscured Supernovae

Aug 4, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have looked for dust-extinguished supernovae in the nuclear regions of 40 luminous and ultra-luminous...

An artist’s impression of a thermonuclear supernova event. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab / C. Carreau.

Astronomers Spot Spinning Runaway Star

Aug 4, 2021 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have detected 8.9-hr variability in both...

Giant Exoplanet Orbits Its Host Star Once Every 1.1 Million Years

Aug 3, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers with the COol Companions ON Ultrawide orbiTS (COCONUTS) program have directly imaged a massive exoplanet orbiting the low-mass red dwarf L...

An artist’s impression of the giant exoplanet Kepler-1704b. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Failed Hot Jupiter Found in Wide Orbit around Kepler-1704

Aug 2, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers from the Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOT ’EM) Survey have discovered a long-period giant planet circling the 7.4-billion-year-old...

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