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Life reconstruction of Mbiresaurus raathi (foreground) with the rest of the Zimbabwean animal assemblage in the background: two rhynchosaurs (front right), an aetosaur (left), and a herrerasaurid dinosaur chasing a cynodont (back right). Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Meet Mbiresaurus raathi, Africa’s Oldest Known Dinosaur

Sep 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Mbiresaurus raathi lived in what is now Zimbabwe during the Carnian age of the Triassic period, approximately 230 million years ago. Life reconstruction...

Patchy proton aurora on Mars. Image credit: EMM / EMUS / UAE Space Agency.

MAVEN and EMM Orbiters Observe ‘Patchy’ Proton Aurora on Mars

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

Even though Mars does not have a global magnetic field like the Earth, it still possesses multiple kinds of aurora. One of these is proton aurora, which...

The subantarctic rayadito (Aphrastura subantarctica). Image credit: Rozzi et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17985-4.

New Bird Species Discovered in South America

Aug 29, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Ornithologists have described a new species of the bird genus Aphrastura from the Diego Ramírez Archipelago, the southernmost point of the South American...

Messier 74, a grand design spiral galaxy located 32 million light-years away in the constellation of Pisces, shines at its brightest in this combined optical/mid-infrared image, featuring Webb and Hubble data. The red colors mark dust threaded through the arms of the galaxy, lighter oranges being areas of hotter dust. The young stars throughout the arms and the nuclear core are picked out in blue. Heavier, older stars towards the galaxy’s center are shown in cyan and green, projecting a spooky glow from the core of Messier 74. Bubbles of star formation are also visible in pink across the arms. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Hubble / J. Lee / PHANGS-JWST Team / R. Chandar / J. Schmidt.

Webb and Hubble Observe Messier 74 in Multiple Wavelengths

Aug 29, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

New data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope compliment each other to provide a comprehensive view...

This Webb/NIRCam image shows the lensed star Earendel (center). Image credit: Welch et al., arXiv: 2208.09007.

Webb Sheds New Light on Stellar Properties of Earendel, Farthest Known Star

Aug 26, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Earendel is a B-type giant star, a luminous blue variable star, or even a binary system with an extremely hot primary member, according to new observations...

Life reconstruction of Thalassotitan atrox. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Giant Predatory Mosasaur Unearthed in Morocco

Aug 25, 2022 by News Staff

Thalassotitan atrox, a species of mosasaur that swam in the Cretaceous oceans 66 million years ago, shows that these specialized marine creatures evolved...

This transmission spectrum of WASP-39b was captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on July 10, 2022. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Leah Hustak, STScI / Joseph Olmsted, STScI.

Webb Detects Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere of Hot-Saturn WASP-39b

Aug 25, 2022 by News Staff

Carbon dioxide is a key chemical species that is found in a wide range of planetary atmospheres. This transmission spectrum of WASP-39b was captured by...

An artistic rendition of the super-Earth TOI-1452b. Image credit: Benoit Gougeon, Université de Montréal.

Water-World Super-Earth Found in Nearby Binary System

Aug 24, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the SPIRou spectropolarimeter on the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii telescope have...

Life reconstruction of Bisticeratops froeseorum. Image credit: Sergey Krasovskiy.

New Species of Horned Dinosaur Discovered

Aug 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur has been identified from a fossilized skull held in U.S. museums for several decades. The...

This NIRCam/Webb image from two filters -- F212N (orange) and F335M (cyan)-- shows the Jupiter system. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Jupiter ERS Team / Ricardo Hueso, UPV & EHU / Judy Schmidt.

Webb Team Releases New Photos of Jupiter

Aug 23, 2022 by News Staff

The two new images of Jupiter were taken with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which has three specialized infrared filters that showcase details...

This Webb image shows members of the SMACS0723_PC protocluster: the red circles show the position of the two spectroscopically confirmed galaxies and the green circles are at the position of the six other protocluster members candidates. Image credit: Laporte et al., arXiv: 2208.04930.

Webb Finds Protocluster of Galaxies in Early Universe

Aug 22, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers from the University of Cambridge and elsewhere have analyzed the spectroscopic and photometric data from three instruments (NIRSpec, NIRISS...

GLASS-JWST-BD1. Image credit: Nonino et al., arXiv: 2207.14802.

Webb Detects Cold Brown Dwarf Roughly 2,000 Light-Years Away

Aug 19, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted a faint, distant, and cold brown dwarf in the images of the massive galaxy cluster...

Life reconstruction of Kaykay lafken. Image credit: Martina Charnelli.

Fossils of Jurassic Ray-Finned Fish Unearthed in Argentina

Aug 18, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of pachycormiform fish that lived 150 million years ago has been identified from fossils found in the Neuquén Basin of Argentina. Life...

Otodus megalodon. Image credit: J.J. Giraldo.

Megalodon was Transoceanic Superpredator, New Research Shows

Aug 18, 2022 by News Staff

Using an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of the giant shark megadolon (Otodus megalodon), an international team of researchers created the first 3D...

An artist’s impression of the asteroid Polymele. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Trojan Asteroid Polymele Has Small Moon

Aug 17, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Jupiter trojan asteroid 15094 Polymele and its small satellite are among the targets of NASA’s Lucy mission, which will approach the asteroid system...

Jeholornis pooping out seeds from fruit, helping fruit-bearing plants take over the world. Image credit: Zhixin Han / Yifan Wang.

Early Cretaceous Birds Ate Whole Fruits

Aug 17, 2022 by News Staff

Members of Jeholornis, a genus of early birds that lived in what is now China some 120 million years ago (Early Cretaceous epoch), are the earliest-known...

Partial skeleton of Atractosteus grandei in dorsal view. Image credit: Chase Doran Brownstein & Tyler R. Lyson, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0118.

Newly-Discovered Giant Gar Species Survived Dinosaur Extinction

Aug 16, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Atractosteus grandei lived less than 1,500-2,500 years after the Chicxulub asteroid impact, an event that is widely accepted as a major cause behind the...

Color image of the Sparkler galaxy made by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Image credit: Mowla et al., arXiv: 2208.02233.

Webb Spots Ancient Globular Clusters in Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy

Aug 15, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted ancient globular clusters around a remarkable galaxy that is strongly gravitationally...

Life reconstruction of Jakapil kaniukura. Image credit: Mauricio Álvarez / Gabriel Díaz Yanten.

New Armored Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Aug 12, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Argentina have unveiled a new genus and species of armored thyreophoran dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. Life reconstruction of...