Tag Archive for 'Star'

This Webb/NIRCam image shows the star cluster Terzan 5. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb.

Astronomers Find Four Separate Generations of Stars in ‘Globular Cluster’ Terzan 5

Jun 17, 2026 by News Staff

A globular cluster typically has only one ancient star population. New data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space...

This composite image contains X-rays from Chandra and XMM-Newton missions (shown in blue) as well as radio data from the MeerKAT telescope (shown in red) in South Africa. These have been combined with an optical image from the Pan-STARRS telescopes in Hawai’i (red, green, and blue). Image credit: NASA / CXC / UCLA / Zhu et al. / ESA / XMM-Newton / PanSTARRS / MeerKAT / CSA / STScI / SAO / L. Frattare & P. Edmonds.

Astronomers May Have Found Supernova Remnant near Milky Way’s Central Black Hole

Jun 12, 2026 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton satellite, astronomers identified a possible remnant of ancient stellar explosion just...

As planets and stars travel through the streams of charged particles flowing across space, their magnetic fields act like obstacles; incoming particles are slowed and deflected, forming a boundary called the bow shock; just ahead of this boundary lies the foreshock, a variable region where magnetic conditions can accelerate some particles to nearly the speed of light. Image credit: Ben C. Smith, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Jupiter Accelerates Electrons to Near-Light Speed, Offering Clues to Cosmic Ray Origins

Jun 5, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

The giant planet’s bow shock isn’t just deflecting the solar wind, it’s acting as a powerful particle accelerator, firing electrons to relativistic...

This image of the Crystal Ball Nebula was captured by the 8.1-m Gemini North telescope at the International Gemini Observatory. Image credit: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin & M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Gemini North Telescope Peers into Crystal Ball Nebula

May 22, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A stunning new image from the 8.1-m Gemini North telescope, located on the summit of Maunakea in Hawai’i, reveals the Crystal Ball Nebula in unprecedented...

The superluminous supernova SN 2017egm was discovered by ESA’s Gaia mission on May 23, 2017; it exploded in a massive barred spiral galaxy known as NGC 3191, shown on the left before the eruption; the image at right, taken on July 1, 2017, shows the supernova outshining the entire galaxy. Image credit: SDSS / PS1 / NOT+ALFSOC / Bose et al.

Fermi Identifies Hidden Engine behind Superluminous Supernovae

May 20, 2026 by News Staff

New gamma-ray observations from NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope suggest ultra-magnetic neutron stars called magnetars could be fueling superluminous supernovae,...

This image from the Gemini North telescope shows a pair of interacting spiral galaxies: NGC 4568 (bottom) and NGC 4567 (top). Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Violent Collision May Have Destroyed Milky Way’s First Stellar Disk

May 20, 2026 by News Staff

New simulations suggest a violent collision 11 billion years ago reshaped our Galaxy and triggered a burst of star formation. This image from the Gemini...

$This image of Messier 77 from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) highlights its swirling spiral arms, the dust in its disk and its piercingly bright core like never before. The bright orange lines appearing to radiate out from the galaxy’s center are not actually a feature of the galaxy: they are a type of distortion that arises from the optical design of the telescope. Called diffraction spikes, they are created because the intense light from the unresolved AGN is bent (diffracted) very slightly at the edges of Webb’s hexagonal mirror panels and around one of the struts that hold up its secondary mirror. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Leroy.$

Webb Peers into Brilliant Heart of Messier 77

May 11, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

New images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope capture the barred spiral galaxy Messier 77 as a whirlpool of glowing dust, newborn stars and...

Space junk begins to fall down much faster once the Sun’s activity across the solar cycle reaches approximately 67% of its peak.

Space Junk Falls Faster When Sun Heats Up, New Study Finds

May 6, 2026 by News Staff

Space debris — ranging from defunct satellites and discarded rocket stages to fragments from collisions — poses an ever-increasing threat to...

This Webb/NIRSpec/IFU image shows the slow-rotator galaxy XMM-VID1-2075. Image credit: Forrest et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-026-02855-0.

Webb Discovers Slow-Rotating Galaxy in Early Universe

May 5, 2026 by News Staff

In today’s Universe, most galaxies are held together by orderly rotation. But among the largest, no-longer star-forming systems, many are instead dominated...

An artist’s conception of the trans-Neptunian object 2002 XV93. Image credit: NAOJ.

Small, Frozen World beyond Pluto Appears to Have Thin Atmosphere

May 4, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of astronomers in Japan has detected a thin atmosphere around (612533) 2002 XV93, a trans-Neptunian object about 500 km in diameter — an object...

This Hubble image shows NGC 3137, a spiral galaxy some 53 million light-years away in the constellation of Antlia. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Captures Spiral Galaxy Packed with Brilliant Star Clusters: NGC 3137

May 1, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured this vivid image of the spiral galaxy NGC 3137, which is located in the constellation...

This Hubble shows the Trifid Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Hubble’s 36th Birthday Image Shows Trifid Nebula

Apr 20, 2026 by News Staff

A new anniversary image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals surprisingly fast evolution in a turbulent stellar nursery called the Trifid Nebula,...

This artist’s impression shows an imagined view from the surface one of the three exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 38.8 light-years from Earth. These alien worlds have sizes and temperatures similar to those of Venus and Earth. In this view one of the inner planets is seen in transit across the disc of TRAPPIST-1. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Two Earth-Size Worlds in TRAPPIST-1 System Reveal Stark Divide Between Day and Night

Apr 13, 2026 by News Staff

New Webb observations of two exoplanets TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c show blistering days and frozen nights, offering the first detailed climate maps of...

These composite images show protoplanetary disks Tau 042021 (left) and Oph 163131 (right). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Hubble / ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / G. Duchêne / M. Villenave.

Webb Captures Striking Edge-On Views of Two Planet Nurseries

Apr 8, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

New images from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope reveal two young stars surrounded by planet-forming disks, Tau 042021 (left) and Oph 163131...

The Milky Way Galaxy with the position of SDSS J0715-7334 marked with a star symbol; the solid red line shows the path the star has taken through our Galaxy; the dashed blue line shows the path expected for a star born in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Image credit: Vedant Chandra / SDSS Collaboration / ESA / Gaia / A. Moitinho, A. F. Silva, M. Barros, C. Barata, University of Lisbon / H. Savietto, Fork Research.

Astronomy Students Discover Most Pristine Star Ever Found

Apr 6, 2026 by News Staff

The newly-discovered star, SDSS J0715-7334, formed in the halo of the Large Magellanic Cloud and migrated to our Milky Way Galaxy billions of years ago,...

This Hubble image shows IC 486, a barred spiral galaxy some 380 million light-years away in the constellation of Gemini. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M.J. Koss / A.J. Barth.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on IC 486

Apr 2, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a beautiful close-up shot of the barred spiral galaxy IC 486. This Hubble image shows IC 486, a barred spiral galaxy some...

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe approaching the Sun. Image credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

Closer Look at the Sun Reveals More Chaotic Magnetic Heart

Apr 1, 2026 by News Staff

A new analysis of data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe shows that protons and heavy ions react differently to solar magnetic reconnection events, suggesting...

These images, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, show a planetary system being born around the young star WISPIT 2. Image credit: ESO / Lawlor et al.

Two Protoplanets Emerge from Dusty Disk around Nearby Young Star

Mar 24, 2026 by News Staff

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and VLT Interferometer (VLTI) in Chile, astronomers have directly observed two gas giants emerging from the planet-forming...

This image shows the second-generation star PicII-503, with the lowest iron content ever measured outside of the Milky Way. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / DOE / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani & D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab / Anirudh Chiti / Alex Drlica-Wagner.

Astronomers Find Second-Generation Star in Pictor II

Mar 24, 2026 by News Staff

PicII-503, a primordial star located in the >10-billion-year-old ultrafaint dwarf galaxy Pictor II, appears to preserve the chemical imprint of the...

This VLT/MUSE image shows part of the Triangulum galaxy, a spiral galaxy located about 3 million light-years away in the constellation of Triangulum. Image credit: ESO / Feltre et al.

VLT Zooms in on Nearby Triangulum Galaxy

Mar 23, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new close-up of the Triangulum galaxy, captured with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), traces the tangled gas and dust that shape how stars are born...

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