Tag Archive for 'Star'

The two young, low-mass protostars HR 5999 and HR 6000 illuminate nearby dust, creating the reflection nebula Bernes 149. These stars grew out of the dusty dark cloud of Lupus 3, part of a larger complex of as many as nine dark clouds. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / DOE / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin & M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Dark Energy Camera Captures Protostars in Nearby Interstellar Cloud

May 18, 2023 by News Staff

Using the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera at NSF/NOIRLab Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, astronomers have produced a stunning image...

An artist’s rendition of SN 2020eyj, a white dwarf star that went supernova after pulling material from a helium companion star. Image credit: Adam Makarenko / W.M. Keck Observatory.

Astronomers Detect Radio Waves from Type Ia Supernova

May 18, 2023 by News Staff

The detection of the Type Ia supernova SN 2020eyj at radio wavelengths show that the exploded white dwarf had a helium-rich companion. An artist’s rendition...

The enlarged inset view reveals four images of SN Refsdal, spotted in 2014, arranged around a giant elliptical galaxy within the cluster. The light from the supernova passes so closely to the galaxy’s dense core that several light paths are redirected and focused toward Earth. The result is that astronomers see four images that form an Einstein Cross. The blue streaks wrapping around the galaxy are the stretched images of SN Refsdal’s parent spiral galaxy, which has been distorted by the warping of space. Computer models of the cluster predict that another image of the stellar blast will appear within 5 years. The red circle marks the possible location of the next supernova image. Astronomers may have missed an earlier appearance of the supernova in 1995, as marked by the blue circle. These multiple appearances of the exploding star are due to the various paths its light is taking through the maze of clumpy dark matter in the galactic grouping. Each image takes a different route through the cluster and arrives at a different time, due, in part, to differences in the length of the pathways the light follows to reach Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / S. Rodney, JHU / FrontierSN team / T. Treu, UCLA / P. Kelly, UC Berkeley / GLASS team / J. Lotz, STScI / Frontier Fields team / M. Postman, STScI / CLASH team / Z. Levay, STScI.

Light from Supernova Refsdal Helps Astronomers Measure Universe’s Expansion Rate

May 17, 2023 by News Staff

The gravitationally lensed Supernova (SN) Refsdal was discovered by University of Minnesota astronomer Patrick Kelly in 2014 in the field of MACS J1149.6+2223,...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6325, a globular cluster some 26,000 light-years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus. The color image includes both optical and near-infrared observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Four 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 / E. Noyola / R. Cohen.

Hubble Space Telescope Spies Glittering Globular Cluster

May 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have captured a striking new photo of the densely packed globular cluster NGC 6325. This Hubble...

The highly variable magnetic field around the source of FRB 20190520B. Image credit: Di Li / ScienceApe / CAS.

Astronomers Detect Highly Variable Magnetic Field around Source of Repeating Fast Radio Burst

May 12, 2023 by News Staff

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief flashes of radio waves from distant galaxies that are probably emitted by neutron stars. Some FRBs repeat, which enables...

Ongoing star formation processes as observed by VIRCAM/VISTA in the VISIONS program. The top panel shows L1688 in the Ophiuchus star-forming complex, depicting several dozen prominent young stellar objects located within one of the closest embedded clusters to Earth. The young stars are surrounded by a highly structured cloud composed of gas and dust that is largely being shaped by young, optically revealed hot stars in the vicinity. The bottom panels further highlight the complex morphology of the gaseous, dusty neighborhood of partly concealed young stars in the Ophiuchus molecular clouds L1709 and L1689. Image credit: Meingast et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202245771.

Astronomers Create Infrared Atlas of Five Nearby Star-Forming Regions

May 11, 2023 by News Staff

As part of the VISIONS survey program, astronomers have surveyed five nearby star-forming molecular cloud complexes associated with the constellations...

This image, taken with Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), shows the dusty debris disk surrounding Fomalhaut A. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / A. Gáspár, University of Arizona / A. Pagan, STScI.

Webb Images Three Debris Belts around Fomalhaut A

May 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New high-resolution images of the Fomalhaut A system from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope show three debris belts extending out to 23 billion...

This artist’s impression shows a distant gas cloud that contains different chemical elements, illustrated here with schematic representations of various atoms. Image credit: L. Calçada / M. Kornmesser / ESO.

VLT Detects Chemical Signatures of Universe’s First Stars in Distant Gas Clouds

May 4, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have detected three distant gas clouds whose chemical composition matches what they expect from the...

This image, taken with the FORS2 instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows the emission nebula Gum 10. Image credit: ESO.

VLT Focuses on Emission Nebula Gum 10

May 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the FORS2 instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have captured a striking new image of the large emission nebula Gum 10. This image,...

This graphic shows the transmission spectrum obtained by Webb of the warm super-Earth exoplanet Gliese 486b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / J. Olmsted, STScI / S. Moran, University of Arizona / K. Stevenson, JHUAPL / R. MacDonald, University of Michigan / J. Lustig-Yaeger, JHUAPL.

Webb Captures Transmission Spectrum of Gliese 486b

May 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using spectral data from Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), astronomers determined that the warm super-Earth Gliese 486b either has a water-rich...

Optical (left) and infrared (right) image of NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud; the positions of the main ionizing sources of NGC 346, namely SSN 7 and SSN 9, are highlighted by red and green squares, respectively. Image credit: A. Nota, ESA & STScI / NASA / ESA / CSA / O. Jones, UK ATC / G. De Marchi, ESTEC / M. Meixner, USRA / A. Pagan, STScI / N. Habel, USRA / L. Lenkic, USRA / L. Chu, NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Two Massive Touching Stars Will Merge as Black Holes in 18 Billion Years, Astronomers Predict

Apr 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

SSN 7 is a so-called contact binary located in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy some 210,000 light-years away in the constellation of Tucana....

This illustration shows how the ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b sees its host star. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith, USRA.

Terbium Detected in Atmosphere of Ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b

Apr 26, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Terbium, a chemical element with the symbol Tb and atomic number 65, has never before been seen in an exoplanet atmosphere. This illustration shows how...

Siraj & Loeb explore the possibility that accretion flares resulting from the tidal disruption of small Oort Cloud bodies by a putative primordial black hole could power an observable optical signal that could be searched for with the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Image credit: Sci-News.com / Zdeněk Bardon / ESO.

New Research Explores Behavior of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes

Apr 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Intermediate-mass black holes in the mass range between 100 and 100,000 solar masses are the missing link between stellar-mass black holes and super massive...

The left panel shows a three-color composite mosaic of NGC 346 combining Webb’s F277W (blue), F335M (green) and F444W (red) filters. The region is rich in structures of knots, arcs and filaments. Areas of bright pink and/or red emission are associated with clumpy star formation. The spatially resolved PAH emission excited by ultraviolet photons in green is brightest in regions corresponding to the edges of dense material, characteristic of a photodissociation region. Massive stars, stars belonging to the BS90 cluster (circled in green) and the Small Magellanic Cloud field population are also visible. The right panel shows a mosaic image from the F335M filter showing four different populations of stars: pre-main-sequence stars (blue circles), young stellar objects with Paα (orange diamonds), young stellar objects without Paα (red squares) and stars matched with the HST-PMS catalogue (purple stars). Image credit: Jones et al., doi: 10.1038/s41550-023-01945-7.

Webb Detects Planetary Ingredients in NGC 346

Apr 25, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Located in the Small Magellanic Cloud at a distance of roughly 200,000 light-years, NGC 346 is a prominent young cluster — roughly 3 million years...

Illustration of an Earth-like exoplanet after X-ray radiation exposure. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss.

X-Ray-Luminous Supernovae Pose Threat to Earth-Like Planetary Atmospheres, Study Says

Apr 20, 2023 by News Staff

The aftermaths of supernovae always produce X-rays, but if the supernova’s blast wave strikes dense surrounding gas, it can produce a particularly large...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1333, a reflection nebula located 1,000 light-years away in the northern constellation of Perseus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI.

Hubble Captures NGC 1333 in Stunning 33rd Anniversary Image

Apr 20, 2023 by News Staff

This new photo of the reflection nebula NGC 1333 was taken in celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope...

Shapiro et al. show that the development of complex life on planets in the habitable zone can be sustained from a few percent of oxygen upward, being robust for a large range of stellar characteristics and against major extraterrestrial cataclysms. Image credit: MPS / Hormesdesign.de.

Metal-Poor Stars are More Suitable for Evolution of Life on Their Planets: Study

Apr 18, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Atmospheric ozone and oxygen protect the biosphere of our planet against harmful ultraviolet radiation. In new research, astronomers modeled atmospheres...

This image, captured by the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the young stellar object 244-440 in the Orion Nebula. Image credit: Kirwan et al. / ESO.

VLT Spots Spectacular Bipolar Jet from Young Stellar Object in Orion Nebula Cluster

Apr 18, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have captured the most detailed image yet of the young stellar object 244-440 and the bipolar jet associated...

Kosec et al. mapped the winds associated with the accretion disk around Hercules X-1, a binary system located 6,600 parsecs (21,526 light-years) away in the constellation of Hercules. Image credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT / D. Klochkov, ESA.

Astronomers Map Colossal ‘Disk Winds’ in Hercules X-1

Apr 12, 2023 by News Staff

Hercules X-1 is an X-ray binary system in which a neutron star is drawing material away from a Sun-like star. This neutron star’s accretion disk is unique...

This image of the Crab Nebula combines data from IXPE in magenta and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in dark purple. Image credit: IXPE / NASA / Chandra / CXC / SAO / K. Arcand / L. Frattare.

IXPE Observes Crab Nebula and Its Pulsar

Apr 11, 2023 by News Staff

Located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus, the Crab Nebula and its pulsar formed in a supernova whose light reached Earth in July 1054. This...

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