Astronomy News

Milky Way’s Last Major Merger Occurred Billions of Years Later than Previously Thought

This image visualizes our Milky Way Galaxy and its surrounding halo of stars. The new Gaia data reveal that the wrinkles we see in the Milky Way were likely caused by a dwarf galaxy colliding with the Milky Way around 2.7 billion years ago. Our Galaxy’s two prominent satellite galaxies -- the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds -- are visible to the lower right, Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC / Donlon et al. / Stefan Payne-Wardenaar.
Jun 7, 2024 by News Staff

This discovery was made possible by ESA’s Gaia spacecraft, which is mapping more than a billion stars throughout the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond, tracking their motion, luminosity, temperature, and composition. This image visualizes our Milky Way Galaxy and its surrounding halo of stars. The new Gaia data reveal that the wrinkles we see in the Milky Way were likely caused by a dwarf galaxy colliding with the Milky Way around 2.7 billion years ago....

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This is an artist’s impression of a young star surrounded by a disk of gas and dust. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

Webb Detects Abundant Hydrocarbons in Protoplanetary Disk around Very-Low-Mass Star

Jun 6, 2024 by News Staff

Very-low-mass stars host orbiting rocky exoplanets more frequently than other types of stars. The compositions of those planets are largely unknown but...

An artist’s impression of a neutron star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Discover Slowest-Spinning Radio-Emitting Neutron Star

Jun 5, 2024 by News Staff

Neutron stars typically rotate at fast speeds, taking just seconds or even a fraction of a second to fully spin on their axis. However, a neutron star...

An artist’s impression of the hot-Neptune exoplanet TIC 365102760b and its parent star. Image credit: Roberto Molar Candanosa / Johns Hopkins University.

Super-Puff Hot Neptune Discovered around Red Giant Star

Jun 5, 2024 by News Staff

Nicknamed ‘Phoenix,’ the newly-discovered hot-Neptune exoplanet TIC 365102760b retained atmosphere despite relentless radiation from its parent star,...

This VLT/MUSE image shows the proplyd 177-341 W. Image credit: ESO / Aru et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202349004.

MUSE Spots Bizarre Stellar Object with Illuminated Protoplanetary Disk

Jun 3, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile have imaged 177-341 W, a proplyd...

This image, taken by the SHARK-VIS camera on the Large Binocular Telescope on January 10, 2024, is the highest resolution image of Io ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. The image combines three spectral bands -- infrared, red and green -- to highlight the reddish ring around the volcano Pele (below and to the right of the moon’s center) and the white ring around Pillan Patera, to the right of Pele. Image credit: INAF / Large Binocular Telescope Observatory / Georgia State University / SHARK-VIS@LBT / P.I.F. Pedichini / D. Hope / S. Jefferies / G. Li Causi.

Large Binocular Telescope Spots Volcanic Event on Jupiter’s Moon Io

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Using the SHARK-VIS instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona, the United States, astronomers have captured the highest resolution...

This Hubble image shows NGC 3059, a barred spiral galaxy some 57 million light-years away in the constellation of Carina. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker.

Hubble Looks at Face-On Barred Spiral Galaxy

Jun 3, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features NGC 3059, a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Carina. This Hubble image shows...

This infrared image from Webb’s NIRCam shows the record-breaking galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / B. Robertson, UC Santa Cruz / B. Johnson, CfA / S. Tacchella, Cambridge / P. Cargile, CfA.

Webb Discovers Most Distant Galaxy So Far

May 31, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have obtained the spectrum of...

This Webb/MIRI/NIRCam image shows the central area of the irregular galaxy NGC 4449. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Adamo, Stockholm University / FEAST JWST Team.

Webb Zooms In on Irregular Galaxy NGC 4449

May 29, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured amazing new photos of NGC 4449, which is found in the constellation of Canes...

An artist’s impression of HD 26965b and its star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Spock’s Home Planet Probably Doesn’t Exist, New Study Argues

May 28, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The radial velocity signal from the exoplanet candidate orbiting the star HD 26965 (40 Eridani A) — host to Mr. Spock’s fictional home planet,...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4731, a barred spiral galaxy some 43 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker.

Hubble Focuses on Spectacular Spiral Galaxy: NGC 4731

May 27, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shot this stunning image of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 4731. This Hubble image shows NGC 4731, a barred spiral...

An artist’s conception of 126 planets in the new TESS-Keck Survey catalog is based on data including planet radius, mass, density, and temperature; question marks represent planets requiring more data for full characterization. Image credit: W.M. Keck Observatory / Adam Makarenko.

Astronomers Create Catalog of Exotic Exoplanets

May 24, 2024 by News Staff

Created as part of the TESS-Keck Survey, the new catalog includes 126 strange planets beyond our Solar System, from rare worlds with extreme environments...

These images were captured by ESA’s Euclid space telescope. Image credit: ESA / Euclid / Euclid Consortium / NASA / J.-C. Cuillandre, CEA Paris-Saclay / G. Anselmi.

ESA’s Euclid Mission Returns First Science, New Views of Universe

May 24, 2024 by News Staff

ESA’s Euclid mission has released five new images that showcase the telescope’s ability to explore two large-scale cosmic mysteries: dark matter and...

An artist’s impression of Gliese 12b and its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, Caltech-IPAC.

Potentially Habitable Earth-Sized Exoplanet Discovered around Gliese 12

May 23, 2024 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and many other telescopes, two teams of astronomers have discovered a temperate, Earth-sized...

This artist’s concept shows what the exoplanet WASP-107b could look like based on recent data gathered by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope along with previous observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Why is Cotton-Candy Exoplanet WASP-107b So Puffy?

May 20, 2024 by News Staff

A surprisingly low amount of methane and a super-sized core hide within WASP-107b, a super-Neptune exoplanet approximately 212 light-years away in the...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4689, a spiral galaxy located 52 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Thilker / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Snaps Incredible Image of NGC 4689

May 20, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured this vivid image of NGC 4689, a jewel-bright spiral galaxy in the constellation of...

This image shows a region near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy in X-ray and radio light. At the bottom of the image, near the center, is a brilliant, tangled knot of material that resembles a paint splatter. This is the brightest region in the image, and it contains the supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy, known as Sagittarius A*. The lower third of the image resembles an angry firestorm. Streaks of red and orange are scattered in every direction, as if a legion of embers from a fire crackled and popped into the air all at once. Flame-like structures lick toward the center from our right. Much of the image is infused with wispy blue clouds showing X-rays detected by Chandra. At a few points, the wispy blue clouds seem to form into balls of teal colored light and are known as dust halos. They are caused by X-rays from bright X-ray sources reflecting off dust surrounding the sources. These dust halos resemble underwater lights glowing in a cloudy swimming pool at night. Rising up from Sagittarius A* in the center of the image is a pillar of blue light referred to as a chimney. This chimney of hot gas is surrounded by red clouds that are filled with stars, presenting themselves as tiny red flecks. Near the top of the blue pillar is a streak of light blue, outlined by an illustrated, gray box. This streak is referred to as the chimney exhaust vent. Just to our left is another illustrated box that shows the close-up image of the chimney vent as observed by Chandra. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Universe of Chicago / Mackey et al. / NRF / SARAO / MeerKAT / SAO / N. Wolk.

Milky Way’s Center is Venting, Astronomers Say

May 17, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered an ‘exhaust vent’ funneling hot gas away from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive...

HP Tau, a trio of dazzling stars some 550 light-years away in the constellation of Taurus, blaze brilliantly from the hollowed-out cavity of a reflection nebula in the new Hubble image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Duchene, Universite de Grenoble I / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Triple-Star System in Taurus

May 16, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a stunning image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the triple-star star system HP Tau. HP Tau, a trio of dazzling...

The galaxy system ZS7. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Dunlop / D. Magee / P. G. Pérez-González / H. Übler / R. Maiolino.

Webb Detects Ongoing Merger of Two Supermassive Black Holes in Early Universe

May 16, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found evidence for an ongoing merger of two galaxies and their central black holes —...

An artist’s conception of the Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Astronomers Find 12- to 13-Billion-Year-Old Stars in Milky Way’s Halo

May 15, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers at MIT have discovered thee extremely ancient stars in the Milky Way’s halo, a cloud of stars that envelopes the entire main Galactic disk....

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