Astronomy News

Astronomers Observe Huge ‘Granules’ on Surface of Red Giant Star

This colorful image shows the sky around the bright pair of stars π1 Gruis (center-right, very red) and π2 Gruis (center-left, bluish-white). Just right of center the bright spiral galaxy IC 5201 is also visible and many other fainter galaxies are scattered across this wide-field image from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Image credit: ESO / Digitized Sky Survey 2 / Davide De Martin.
Dec 29, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists led by ESO astronomer Claudia Paladini has directly observed granules — patterns of convection currents in the plasma of a star — on the surface of a red giant star called π1 Gruis. This remarkable image from ESO’s PIONIER instrument reveals convective cells that make up the surface of the giant star π1 Gruis. Image credit: ESO. π1 Gruis is a cool red giant star of spectral type S5. It is located...

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Main-belt asteroids 29 Amphitrite, 324 Bamberga, 2 Pallas, and 89 Julia. Image credit: Vernazza et al / ESO.

ESO’s Planet Hunter Spots Four Massive Main-Belt Asteroids

Dec 28, 2017 by News Staff

ESO’s Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument, installed on the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in...

These colorized radar images show the near-Earth asteroid Phaethon. At time of closest approach on December 16, 2017, Phaethon was about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million km) away. The encounter is the closest the asteroid will come to Earth until 2093. Image credit: Arecibo Observatory / NASA / NSF.

Astronomers Obtain Images of Near-Earth Asteroid Phaethon

Dec 26, 2017 by News Staff

A sequence of radar images of the near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon was obtained in December 2017 by astronomers using the NASA-funded planetary radar...

This image shows an enormous, balloon-like bubble (center) being blown into space by a super-hot, massive Wolf-Rayet star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, and L. Frattare (Viz 3D Team, STScI).

Solar System May Have Been Born in Wolf-Rayet Bubble

Dec 26, 2017 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from the University of Chicago and Clemson University has laid out a theory for how our Solar System could have formed in the dense...

The galaxy cluster RCS2 J2327-0204. Image credit: ESO / NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Astronomers Find Galaxy Cluster with Mass of Two Quadrillion Suns

Dec 25, 2017 by News Staff

NASA and ESO astronomers have joined forces to observe RCS2 J2327-0204, one of the most massive galaxy clusters known at its distance or beyond. The galaxy...

This illustration shows a ‘disrupted planet’ broken up into a cloud of gas and dust as it orbits RZ Piscium. Image credit: NASA.

Young Star RZ Piscium is ‘Eating’ Its Own Planets, Astronomers Say

Dec 22, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers studying RZ Piscium, a variable Sun-like star located approximately 555 light-years away in the constellation Pisces, have found evidence suggesting...

Mysterious X-Ray Signal from Perseus Galaxy Cluster Points to Dark Matter

Dec 21, 2017 by News Staff

In 2014, a team of astrophysicists reported the detection of an unusual emission line in X-ray light from the Perseus cluster, a cluster of galaxies 240...

The gas giant K2-132b expands as its host star evolves into a red giant. The energy from the host star is transferred from the planet’s surface to its deep interior, causing turbulence and deep mixing in the planetary atmosphere. The planet orbits its star every 9 days and is located about 2,000 light years away from us in the constellation Virgo. Upper left: schematic of the K2-132 system on the main sequence. Lower left: schematic of the K2-132 system now. The host star has become redder and larger, irradiating the planet more and thus causing it to expand. Image credit: Karen Teramura, University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.

Astronomers Find Twin Hot-Jupiters: K2-132b and K2-97b

Dec 20, 2017 by News Staff

A research team led by University of Hawaii astronomers has found two remarkably similar gas giants orbiting very close to their parent red-giant stars. The...

This artist’s conception shows a hypothetical rocky exoplanet in the Alpha Centauri system. Image credit: Michael S. Helfenbein.

Astronomers Search for Rocky Exoplanets in Alpha Centauri System

Dec 20, 2017 by News Staff

There may be small, rocky planets in the nearby Alpha Centauri triple-star system that have been overlooked, according to a new study published in the...

This artist’s impression shows the first interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Breakthrough Listen: No Artificial Signals Found Emanating from Interstellar Asteroid Oumuamua

Dec 19, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers from the Breakthrough Listen initiative are reporting preliminary results and making initial data available from its observations of 1I/2017...

This artist’s impression shows ‘Oumuamua. Image credit: Joy Pollard / Gemini Observatory / AURA / NSF.

Interstellar Asteroid Oumuamua Has Grayish-Red Organic-Rich Surface Layer, Astronomers Say

Dec 19, 2017 by News Staff

In October 2017, astronomers made a surprising discovery with the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawai’i — 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua, the first asteroid...

The Orion Nebula in the new map of the southern sky. Image credit: Australian National University.

New Map of Southern Sky is Most Detailed Ever Produced

Dec 18, 2017 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the Australian National University has created the most comprehensive map of the southern sky ever. The Orion Nebula in the new...

Eight Exoplanets Orbit Sun-Like Star Kepler-90

Dec 15, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers reports the discovery of an eighth planet orbiting Kepler-90, a Sun-like star approximately 2,545 light-years from Earth in the constellation...

This Hubble image shows NGC 5256, a pair of galaxies in its final stage of merging. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

New Hubble Image Captures Collision of Two Disk Galaxies: NGC 5256

Dec 14, 2017 by News Staff

NASA has released a beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of NGC 5256, a striking example of two disk galaxies that are about to...

This OmegaCAM image shows the stellar nursery Sharpless 29. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

ESO’s OmegaCAM Observes Stellar Nursery Sharpless 29

Dec 14, 2017 by News Staff

The OmegaCAM, a wide-field imager installed on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope at Cerro Paranal in Chile has captured a glittering view of the stellar nursery...

The stars in the globular star cluster Messier 79 look a lot like a blizzard in a snow globe in this Hubble image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / S. Djorgovski, Caltech / F. Ferraro, University of Bologna.

Hubble Team Releases Incredible Image of Globular Cluster Messier 79

Dec 13, 2017 by News Staff

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the globular star cluster Messier 79. The stars in the globular star cluster Messier 79 look a lot like...

This artist’s impression shows the first interstellar asteroid -- 1I/2017 U1 (’Oumuamua). Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Breakthrough Listen Initiative to Observe First Interstellar Asteroid

Dec 12, 2017 by News Staff

The Breakthrough Listen initiative — the largest ever scientific research program aimed at finding evidence of alien civilizations — announced...

This Hubble image shows Abell 2163, one of the richest and most distant galaxy clusters known. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Observes Galaxy Cluster Abell 2163

Dec 11, 2017 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking image of a rich cluster of galaxies called Abell 2163. This Hubble image shows Abell 2163,...

New Research Shows Black Holes Have Significantly Weaker Magnetic Fields than Originally Thought

Dec 8, 2017 by News Staff

A sudden flare from a low-mass black hole in the binary system V404 Cygni has offered astrophysicists a unique opportunity to make precise measurements...

Artist’s impression of a pair of galaxies from the early Universe. Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF / D. Berry.

ALMA Finds Two Extremely Massive Star-Forming Galaxies in Very Early Universe

Dec 7, 2017 by News Staff

New observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) push back the epoch of massive-galaxy formation even further by identifying...

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