Tag Archive for 'Milky Way'

The location of the newly-discovered giant cavity within the Milky Way Galaxy is depicted on the right; a zoomed in view of the cavity (left) shows the Perseus and Taurus molecular clouds in blue and red, respectively; though they appear to sit within the cavity and touch, new 3D images of the clouds show they border the cavity and are quite a distance apart. Image credit: Alyssa Goodman / Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Astronomers Find Huge Spherical Cavity in Milky Way Galaxy

Sep 22, 2021 by News Staff

The 490-light-year-wide void is located among the constellations Perseus and Taurus, and was formed by one powerful supernova or a series of such events...

(a) WISE false color image of the Pa 30 nebula where blue and green stand for 11 μm emission, and red for 22 μm; (b) in this false color image, where green stands for WISE 11 μm (as in the left panel) and red for WISE 22 μm (adjusted to show extended emission), the emission from the central star is highlighted in blue from the GALEX near-UV data, while the XMM-Newton contors show that the majority of the X-ray emission originates from the core of the nebula; a background point source is seen westward of the CS in the XMM-Newton contour map; (c) the 2.1 m KPNO image; the green cross in the center of the image marks the location of the CS; panels (a)-(c) are reproduced at the same angular scale and orientation; at the Gaia distance of Pa 30 of 2,300 parsecs, an angular scale of 45'' translates to about 100,000 AU. Image credit: Ritter et al., doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac2253.

Astronomers Identify Remnant of Historical Supernova SN 1181

Sep 20, 2021 by News Staff

New research led by University of Hong Kong astronomers shows that a fast expanding nebula called Pa 30 surrounding the hot Wolf-Rayet star IRAS 00500+6713...

This Hubble image shows the globular cluster Palomar 6. The color image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC 3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Cohen.

Hubble Captures Stunning New Image of Palomar 6

Sep 20, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured the brilliance of a globular cluster called Palomar 6. This Hubble image shows the...

Clumps of molecular gas overlaid on Sagittarius A* circumnuclear disk as seen by ALMA in the CS(7-6) line. Yellow circles are thin clumps that are going to be shredded by the gravitational force of supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Green circles are dense enough to survive the tidal shredding but are not able to form stars. Purple/pink circles have the needed density to form stars, but no star formation has been observed. Image credit: Hsieh et al. / ALMA / EOS / NAOJ / NRAO.

ALMA Spots Quiescent Molecular Clouds and Tides around Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

Sep 16, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found thousands of dense gas clumps but, surprisingly, no star formation,...

This Hubble image shows a giant star called AG Carinae. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible region of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). It is based on data obtained through two filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Nota / C. Britt.

Hubble Space Telescope Takes Close Look at AG Carinae

Sep 13, 2021 by News Staff

The new composite images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveal the dual nature of the giant star AG Carinae. This Hubble image shows a giant...

Location of the observed O- and B- type stars on the Galactic plane. Image credit: De Cia et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03780-0.

Milky Way’s Interstellar Medium Is Not Homogeneous, New Study Shows

Sep 9, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have measured the metallicity of the neutral interstellar medium towards 25 bright stars in our Milky...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6717, a globular cluster located over 23,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. It is based on data obtained through five filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Sarajedini.

Hubble Focuses on Globular Cluster NGC 6717

Sep 6, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of a distant globular cluster called NGC 6717. This Hubble image...

This is an artist’s impression of a free-floating Y-dwarf. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Enigmatic Ancient Brown Dwarf Spotted in Solar Neighborhood

Sep 1, 2021 by News Staff

WISEA J153429.75-104303.3 (WISE 1534-1043 for short) — nicknamed ‘The Accident’ by its discoverer, citizen scientist Dan Caselden — is...

An artist’s conception of exoplanets in a dense star cluster. Image credit: Michael Bachofner.

Milky Way Galaxy’s Bulge Could Have Planetary Systems, Too

Aug 30, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Milky Way’s bulge is the ancient and crowded central hub of our Galaxy. It contains about one quarter of the total stellar mass of the Milky Way...

Sagittarius B2 is a giant molecular cloud of gas and dust that is located about 390 light-years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Sagittarius B2 is the bright orange-red region to the middle left of the image, which is centered on the Galactic center. Image credit: ESO / APEX / MSX / IPAC / NASA.

Propionamide Detected in Space for First Time

Aug 23, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Propionamide (C2H5CONH2), a complex alkyl amide with twelve atoms, is the largest peptide-like molecule detected in space, according to a new study led...

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...

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...

The red giant star SMSS J200322.54-114203.3 (center) in the south-eastern corner of the constellation of Aquila, close to the border with Capricornus and Sagittarius. Image credit: Da Costa / SkyMapper.

Ancient Magneto-Rotational Hypernova Fuelled High Levels of Metals in Unique Star

Jul 8, 2021 by News Staff

An explosion of a fast-spinning strongly magnetized star, called a magneto-rotational hypernova, is the most likely explanation for the presence of unusually...

Hubble’s image of the Orion Nebula with proplyd highlights. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Robberto, Space Telescope Science Institute & ESA / Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team / L. Ricci, ESO.

Massive Stars near Solar System’s Parent Molecular Cloud Affected Composition of Its Building Blocks

Jul 6, 2021 by News Staff

In 2011, planetary researchers using samples of the solar wind collected by NASA’s Genesis spacecraft found that solar system planetary bodies have a...

Color-coded map of the distribution of stars emerging from the star cluster Palomar 5 (white blob); the two long tidal tails (orange) contain 1.3 times the mass of the cluster and delineate its orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: SDSS.

Palomar 5 Contains More Than 100 Stellar-Mass Black Holes: Study

Jul 6, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Palomar 5 is one of the sparsest star clusters in the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy and is best known for its spectacular tidal tails, spanning over 20...

This illustration shows the white dwarf ZTF J190132.9+145808.7 and the Moon. Image credit: Giuseppe Parisi.

Smallest, Heaviest Known White Dwarf Discovered

Jul 1, 2021 by News Staff

The newly-discovered white dwarf, designated ZTF J190132.9+145808.7 (ZTF J1901+1458), has a mass of 1.35 solar masses and a radius of 2,140 km (1,330 miles),...

PAH molecules overlaid on the Taurus Molecular Cloud, a large blue-white cloud made of gas and dust with large and small stars of varying luminosities interspersed throughout. Aromatic molecule structures shown in order from left to right: 1-cyanonaphthalene, 1-cyano-cyclopentadiene, HC11N, 2-cyanonaphthalene, vinylcyanoacetylene, 2-cyano-cyclopentadiene, benzonitrile, E-cyanovinylacetylene, HC4NC, propargylcyanide. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Meteoritic Polymers of Glycine Shed Light on Pre-Solar Space Chemistry

Jun 30, 2021 by News Staff

Asteroid material in chondritic Vigarano class alteration type 3 (CV3) meteorites provide a good record of complex chemistry present when or before our...

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser / Spaceengine.org.

Alien Astronomers around 2,034 Nearby Stars Have Front-Row Seat to See Earth as Transiting Exoplanet

Jun 24, 2021 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from Cornell University and the American Museum of Natural History has identified 1,715 stars within 100 parsecs (326 light-years)...

Geologic Activity on Earth Follows 27.5-Million-Year Cycle, New Study Says

Jun 18, 2021 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal Geoscience Frontiers, a team of U.S. researchers analyzed the ages of 89 well-dated geological events of the last...

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