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This image, taken by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows the main-belt asteroid Hygiea. Image credit: ESO / P. Vernazza et al / MISTRAL algorithm / ONERA / CNRS.

Astronomers Measure Size and Shape of Main-Belt Asteroid Hygiea

Oct 29, 2019 by News Staff

Hygiea is the fourth largest main belt asteroid and the only known asteroid whose surface composition appears similar to that of the dwarf planet Ceres....

This Hubble image captures two galaxies of equal size in a titanic head-on collision. This observation was made on June 19, 2019 in visible light by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Dalcanton, B.F. Williams & M. Durbin, University of Washington.

Hubble Spots Stunning Ring Galaxy System

Oct 28, 2019 by News Staff

NASA has released a breathtaking image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the Arp-Madore 2026-424 system. This Hubble image captures two...

This composite image shows Abell 1758, a quadruple galaxy cluster system about 3 billion light-years away from Earth. In the northern (top) pair seen in the image, the centers of each cluster have already passed by each other once, about 300 to 400 million years ago, and will eventually swing back around. The southern pair at the bottom of the image has two clusters that are close to approaching each other for the first time. X-rays from Chandra are shown as blue and white, depicting fainter and brighter diffuse emission, respectively. This image also includes an optical image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Image credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / G. Schellenberger et al / SDSS.

Chandra Observes Mega-Merger of Galaxy Clusters: Abell 1758

Oct 28, 2019 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have created detailed maps of Abell 1758, a collision between two pairs of galaxy clusters,...

This Hubble image shows the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 1706. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Imager credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Bellini et al.

Hubble Looks at Beautiful Spiral: NGC 1706

Oct 28, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an amazing new photo of a face-on galaxy called NGC 1706. This Hubble image shows the face-on spiral galaxy...

SOFIA Spots Debris from Catastrophic Collision between Two Rocky Exoplanets

Oct 25, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) have observed an unusually warm, dusty debris disk around BD +20 307,...

Digital art by Les Bossinas, Cortez III Service Corp., 1998.

Physicists Propose New Method to Detect Traversable Wormholes

Oct 24, 2019 by News Staff

In a new paper published this month in the journal Physical Review D, a duo of theoretical physicists from Case Western Reserve University, the University...

Freshly-Synthesized Strontium Detected in Neutron Star Merger

Oct 23, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have detected a freshly made heavy element, strontium, in the aftermath of GW170817, a merger of two...

Massive Star-Forming Galaxy Spotted in Early Universe

Oct 23, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered faint traces of a huge dust-obscured star-forming galaxy never seen before,...

This image of Tycho’s SNR from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals an intriguing pattern of bright clumps and fainter holes. To emphasize these features, two narrow ranges of X-ray energies were selected to isolate material (silicon, colored red) moving away from Earth, and moving towards us (also silicon, colored blue). The other colors in the image (yellow, green, blue-green, orange and purple) show a broad range of different energies and elements, and a mixture of directions of motion. Chandra’s X-ray data are shown alongside an optical image of the stars in the same field of view from the Digitized Sky Survey. Image credit: NASA / CXC / RIKEN / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / T. Sato et al / DSS.

Chandra Sheds New Light on Tycho’s Supernova Remnant

Oct 21, 2019 by News Staff

X-ray images of Tycho’s supernova remnant (Tycho’s SNR) show a pattern of bright clumps and fainter holes. By comparing new data from NASA’s Chandra...

This image snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a galaxy called IC 4653. This color composite was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Two 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 / D. Rosario, CEA, Durham University.

Hubble Observes Dwarf Spiral: IC 4653

Oct 21, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a beautiful picture of the dwarf spiral galaxy IC 4653. This image snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope...

The top row of this mosaic features Hubble images of three spiral galaxies, each of which weighs several times as much as the Milky Way. The bottom row shows three even more massive spiral galaxies that qualify as super spirals, which were observed by the ground-based Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The galaxy at lower right, 2MFGC 08638, is the most massive super spiral known to date, with a dark matter halo weighing at least 40 trillion Suns. Image credit: NASA / ESA / P. Ogle & J. DePasquale, STScI / SDSS.

Super Spirals Spin Faster Than Expected, Astronomers Say

Oct 18, 2019 by News Staff

Super spirals are the most massive star-forming disk galaxies in the Universe. They are much larger, brighter, and more massive than our own Milky Way...

This artist’s rendering shows a white dwarf star with two planets. Image credit: Mark Garlick.

Rocky Exoplanets Often Have Earth- and Mars-Like Internal Properties

Oct 18, 2019 by News Staff

White dwarfs are dense, burned-out remnants of normal stars. Due to their strong gravitational pull, surface atmospheres of these ancient objects should...

An artist’s impression of gas flowing like a waterfall into a protoplanetary disk gap, which is most likely caused by an infant planet. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello.

ALMA Finds Gas Waterfalls in Planet-Forming Disk around HD 163296

Oct 18, 2019 by News Staff

At three locations in the protoplanetary disk around HD 163296, a young star located approximately 400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius,...

An artist’s impression of the center of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 77. ALMA discovered two counter-rotating flows of gas around the black hole. The colors in this image represent the motion of the gas: blue is material moving toward us, red is moving away. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / S. Dagnello.

ALMA Spots Counter-Rotating Disks around Supermassive Black Hole in Messier 77

Oct 17, 2019 by News Staff

Supermassive black holes, millions to billions of times the mass of our Sun, are found at the centers of galaxies. Many of these enormous objects are hidden...

On October 12, 2019, Hubble observed the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov at a distance of approximately 261 million miles from Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Jewitt, University of California, Los Angeles.

Hubble Captures Sharpest Image Yet of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

Oct 16, 2019 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an amazing new photo of 2I/Borisov, the first known interstellar comet ever identified. On October 12,...

False-color and X-ray images of the giant arc in SPT-CLJ2344-4243: the X-ray-emitting giant arc is shown relative to the center of the foreground lensing galaxy cluster in a false-color image at optical wavelengths; the inset shows Chandra X-ray (left) and Hubble optical (right) images of the giant arc at a scale 1.5 times larger; the optical colors here are given by Hubble imaging data in the F850LP (red), F775W (green) and F475W (blue) filters; two magenta circles indicate the locations of the X-ray emission from the giant arc in both inset panels; the lensing geometry of the giant arc is a pair of merging images, where the lower and upper halves of the arc are each a single image with mirror symmetry. Image credit: Bayliss et al, doi: 10.1038/s41550-019-0888-7.

Phoenix Cluster’s Gravity Magnifies X-Rays from Extremely Distant Star-Forming Galaxy

Oct 15, 2019 by News Staff

Astronomers have used a huge group of galaxies called the Phoenix cluster as a cosmic magnifying glass to detect X-ray emission from a very distant dwarf...

Dwarf galaxies hosting active galactic nuclei that have spatially extended outflows. Image credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Black Hole-Driven Winds Suppress Star Formation in Dwarf Galaxies

Oct 14, 2019 by News Staff

Supermassive black hole-driven outflows in dwarf galaxies have a significant impact on the evolution of these galaxies by suppressing star formation, according...

This image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows the yellow hypergiant HR 5271A. Image credit: A. Lobel / NASA / Spitzer Space Telescope / IRAC.

Study Sheds New Light on Evolution of Yellow Hypergiants

Oct 14, 2019 by News Staff

In a study published this month in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, astronomers analyzed the properties of four yellow hypergiant stars, including...

This Hubble image reveals a detailed view of part of the disk of the spiral galaxy NGC 4380. The image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. It is based on data obtained through three filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / P. Erwin.

Hubble Captures Detailed Image of NGC 4380

Oct 14, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a spectacularly detailed image of a galaxy called NGC 4380. This Hubble image reveals a detailed view...