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This Chandra/ACIS-S image shows XRSs (colored points) in Messier 51; M51-ULS-1 is the orange source in the center of the blue box; diffuse emission is from hot gas. Image credit: Di Stefano et al., arXiv: 2009.08987.

Chandra Spots Possible Extragalactic Planet in Messier 51

Oct 2, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected an extragalactic candidate planet circling a binary system in Messier 51 (also known...

This Hubble images shows SN 2018gv (a very bright star located on the outer edge of one of the galaxy’s spiral arms in the left portion of the image) in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 2525. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Riess & SH0ES Team / Mahdi Zamani.

Hubble Observes Spectacular Supernova in NGC 2525

Oct 1, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have tracked the fading light of a Type Ia supernova in NGC 2525, a barred spiral galaxy located...

ESA’s Solar Orbiter reached its first perihelion, the point in its orbit closest to the star, on June 15, 2020, getting as close as 77 million km (47.8 million miles) to the star’s surface. Imager credit: ESA / ATG Medialab.

ESA Releases Solar Orbiter’s First Science Data

Oct 1, 2020 by News Staff

ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft, in collaboration with NASA, launched in February 2020 on its mission to study to Sun and it began collecting science...

An artist’s impression of the ultrahot Neptune LTT 9779b and its parent star, LTT 9779. Image credit: Ricardo Ramirez, Universidad de Chile.

TESS Discovers First Known Ultrahot Neptune: LTT 9779b

Oct 1, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers have discovered an ultra-short-period Neptune-sized exoplanet orbiting the bright Sun-like star LTT 9779. An artist’s impression of the ultrahot...

Optical photograph of the 150-million-year-old isolated fossil feather of Archaeopteryx. Image credit: Carney et al, doi: 10.1038/ncomms1642.

First Fossil Feather Ever Found Belonged to Archaeopteryx

Sep 30, 2020 by News Staff

Renowned as the first fossil feather ever known, the 150-million-year-old isolated fossil feather found in the Jurassic limestone deposits of Solnhofen,...

This composite image, taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft, shows Venus. Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

Migrating Jupiter May Have Made Venus Uninhabitable Long Ago

Sep 30, 2020 by News Staff

Early in the formation of Jupiter as a planet, it moved closer to and then away from the Sun due to interactions with the planetary disk of the young Solar...

Broken Hysterangium bonobo fruiting body revealing brown gleba and columella at the center. Image credit: Alexander Georgiev.

New Species of Truffle Found in Congo, Thanks to Mushroom-Munching Bonobos

Sep 30, 2020 by News Staff

Fungi play a significant role in the diets and nutrition of diverse vertebrates. Many fungi, particularly truffle-like species, have evolved close associations...

Stellar Occultation Reveals Binary Trans-Neptunian Object: 2014 WC510

Sep 30, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A trans-Neptunian object designated 2014 WC510 is, in fact, a close binary system, according to an analysis of data obtained by the Research and Education...

An artist’s impression of an ultrahot Jupiter. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

CHEOPS Observes One of Hottest Exoplanets Known to Date: WASP-189b

Sep 29, 2020 by News Staff

Because of its proximity to its parent star, the dayside equilibrium temperature of the ultrahot Jupiter WASP-189b reaches 3,162 degrees Celsius (5,724...

An artist’s impression of ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft. Image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Express Finds Three New Water Bodies below Martian South Pole

Sep 28, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Using new radar data from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, researchers have detected three reservoirs of liquid water trapped below the south polar cap...

An artist’s impression of BOSS-EUVLG1, a star-forming galaxy located some 12 billion light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: Gabriel Pérez Díaz, SMM / IAC.

Astronomers Discover Most Luminous, Un-Obscured Star-Forming Galaxy Ever Seen

Sep 28, 2020 by Natali Anderson

A young starburst galaxy named BOSS-EUVLG1 is by far the most luminous, almost un-obscured star-forming galaxy known at any redshift. An artist’s impression...

Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Scientists Sequence Y Chromosome DNA of Denisovans and Neanderthals

Sep 25, 2020 by News Staff

The genomes of our closest relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, have been sequenced and compared with that of modern humans. However, most archaic individuals...

Archaeologists Find 13,000-Year-Old Engraved Mammoth Tusk in Siberia

Sep 25, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 13,000-year-old partial tusk of an adult mammoth found in western Siberia has four images of two-humped camels engraved on it. The 13,000-year-old...

Vikings Weren’t All Scandinavian, Ancient DNA Study Shows

Sep 24, 2020 by News Staff

In the popular imagination, Vikings were fearsome blonde-haired warriors from Scandinavia who used longboats to carry out raids across Europe in a brief...

Scientists Sequence Genome of Alexander Fleming’s Original Penicillin-Producing Fungus

Sep 24, 2020 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and CABI has successfully sequenced the genome of Alexander Fleming’s original...

The EHT Collaboration unveiled the first direct visual evidence of the supermassive black hole in the center of the elliptical galaxy Messier 87 and its shadow. The shadow of a black hole seen here is the closest we can come to an image of the black hole itself, a completely dark object from which light cannot escape. The black hole’s boundary -- the event horizon from which the EHT takes its name -- is around 2.5 times smaller than the shadow it casts and measures just under 25 billion miles (40 billion km) across. Image credit: EHT Collaboration.

Crescent Shadow of Messier 87’s Supermassive Black Hole is Wobbling

Sep 23, 2020 by News Staff

In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) delivered the first resolved images of M87*, the supermassive black hole in the center of the giant elliptical...

Crucible slag adhering to the interior of a crucible sherd. Image credit: Alipour et al, doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2020.105224.

Chromium Crucible Steel was First Made in Persia, Archaeologists Say

Sep 23, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists from University College London, the Cyprus Institute and the University of Cambridge has analyzed finds from the...

This ALMA image shows the stellar wind around R Aquilae. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / Decin et al.

ALMA Sees Complex Stellar Winds around Red Giant Stars

Sep 23, 2020 by News Staff

Stars with a mass of less than 8 solar masses end their lives as planetary nebulae, structures of ionized gas thrown off by the star and heated by the...

The wels catfish (Silurus glanis). Image credit: Dieter Florian / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Wels Catfish

Sep 23, 2020 by Natali Anderson

A team of scientists from Europe has sequenced and analyzed the nearly complete genome of the wels catfish (Silurus glanis), one of the largest freshwater...