Astronomy News

New NASA Visualization Shows Supermassive Black Hole’s Event Horizon

The NASA visualization tracks a camera as it approaches, briefly orbits, and then crosses the event horizon -- the point of no return -- of a supersized black hole similar in mass to the one at the center of our Galaxy. Image credit: J. Schnittman & B. Powell, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
May 9, 2024 by News Staff

Thanks to a new visualization produced on a NASA supercomputer, you can plunge into the event horizon, a black hole’s point of no return. “People often ask about this, and simulating these difficult-to-imagine processes helps me connect the mathematics of relativity to actual consequences in the real Universe,” said Dr. Jeremy Schnittman, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “So I simulated two different scenarios, one...

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This artist’s concept shows the possible locations of iron revealed in XRISM’s X-ray spectrum of NGC 4151. Image credit: Conceptual Image Lab, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

XRISM Detects Iron in Accretion Disk around NGC 4151’s Supermassive Black Hole

May 8, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

NGC 4151 is a spiral galaxy located some 62 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. This artist’s concept shows the...

An artist’s impression of 55 Cancri e. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / R. Crawford, STScI.

Webb Detects Secondary Atmosphere on 55 Cancri e

May 8, 2024 by News Staff

Gas bubbling up from a lava-covered surface on the super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e may feed an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide,...

This DECam image shows CG4, one of many cometary globules present within the Milky Way Galaxy. 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.

DECam Spots Cometary Globule in Gum Nebula

May 7, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on NSF’s Víctor M. Blanco 4-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4951, a spiral galaxy some 49 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Thilker, Johns Hopkins University / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

NGC 4951: Hubble Space Telescope Captures Active Seyfert Galaxy

May 7, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced a spectacular image of NGC 4951, a spiral galaxy with an active galactic center in...

This Hubble image shows UGC 9684, a spiral galaxy located 240 million light-years away in the constellation of Boötes. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Kilpatrick.

Hubble Snaps Striking New Photo of UGC 9684

May 6, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released an incredibly beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the spiral galaxy UGC 9684. This Hubble image shows UGC...

Rendering of the likely view on a Hycean world. Image credit: Shang-Min Tsai / UCR.

Webb Probably Didn’t Detect Biosignature Gas on K2-18b

May 2, 2024 by News Staff

In 2023, astronomers reported a tentative detection of dimethyl sulfide — which is predominately produced by marine microbes on Earth and regarded...

This Webb image shows NGC 6440, a globular cluster located 27,625 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / P. Freire / M. Cadelano / C. Pallanca.

Webb Explores Stellar Population of NGC 6440

May 1, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

NGC 6440 is a typical massive, obscured and contaminated globular cluster formed and orbiting within the bulge of our Milky Way Galaxy. This Webb image...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Researchers Focus on Potential ‘Cosmic Glitch’ in Gravity

May 1, 2024 by News Staff

In a paper published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, scientists examined the theoretical and observational cases for a ‘cosmic...

An artist’s impression of HD 138202 + CD-30 12303, a binary pair of giant stars located 1,707 light-years away in the constellation of Lupus. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva, Spaceengine / M. Zamani.

New Research Sheds Light on Origin of Chemical Differences in Giant Binary Stars

May 1, 2024 by News Staff

Using the Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST), which is attached to the 8.1-m Gemini South telescope at Cerro Pachón, Chile, astronomers...

This artist’s concept shows what WASP-43b could look like. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Webb Maps Weather on Hot Jupiter WASP-43b

Apr 30, 2024 by News Staff

WASP-43b is cloudy on the nightside and clear on the dayside, with equatorial winds howling around the planet at 8,050 km per hour (5,000 mph). This artist’s...

Dark photons are hypothetical dark sector particles proposed as a force carrier similar to the photon of electromagnetism but potentially connected to dark matter. Image credit: University of Adelaide.

New Computer Simulations Support Dark Matter Theory

Apr 30, 2024 by News Staff

New research led by the University of California, Irvine addresses a fundamental debate in astrophysics: Does invisible dark matter need to exist to explain...

At the bottom of this Webb/NIRCam image a small portion of the Horsehead nebula is seen close-in, as a curved wall of thick, smoky gas and dust. Above the nebula various distant stars and galaxies can be seen up to the top of the image. Image credit: NASA / CSA / ESA / Webb / K. Misselt, University of Arizona / A. Abergel, IAS, University Paris-Saclay & CNRS.

Webb Captures Best Ever Images of Horsehead Nebula

Apr 30, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured the most detailed images yet of one of the most distinctive objects in our...

This Hubble image shows IC 776, a dwarf galaxy around 100 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Sun.

Hubble Space Telescope Finds ‘Complex’ Galaxy in Virgo Cluster

Apr 29, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a beautiful new image of the dwarf galaxy IC 776, which is found in the constellation of Virgo. This Hubble image shows IC...

On November 15, 2023, Integral detected a burst of gamma-rays for only a tenth of a second. The detection was sent to the Integral science data center, where software determined it came from the nearby galaxy Messier 82. The small square on Integral’s map shows the location of the burst. The blue circle on the two cut-out images shows the corresponding location. Image credit: ESA / Integral / XMM-Newton / INAF / TNG / M. Rigoselli, INAF.

Astronomers Detect Giant Flare from Magnetar in Messier 82

Apr 25, 2024 by News Staff

Using sensitive instruments onboard ESA’s International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (Integral) mission, astronomers have detected a gamma-ray burst...

This Hubble image shows Messier 76, a planetary nebula some 3,400 light-years away in the constellation of Perseus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI.

Hubble Celebrates 34th Birthday with Brilliant Image of Messier 76

Apr 24, 2024 by News Staff

Messier 76, also known as M76, NGC 650/651 or the Little Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula located approximately 3,400 light-years away in the northern...

This global view of Io was obtained in January 1999 by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

Study: Jupiter’s Moon Io Has Been Volcanically Active for All of Its History

Apr 24, 2024 by News Staff

Sulfur and chlorine isotopes in Io’s atmosphere indicate that it has been volcanically active for the entire 4.57 billion-year history of the Solar System. This...

Watts et al. mapped out the chemical composition and motion of NGC 4383’s outflow in great detail, providing insights into the mechanisms that created the dramatic outpour seen in this image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO / Watts et al.

Astronomers Detect Enormous Bipolar Outflow from NGC 4383

Apr 23, 2024 by News Staff

Large amounts of stars are being born at the center of NGC 4383, a peculiar galaxy located 74 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices....

Kane & Byrne describe Venus as an anchor point from which planetary scientists can better understand the conditions that preclude life on exoplanets. Image credit: Kane & Byrne, doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02228-5.

Uninhabitable Venus Offers Lessons about Potential for Extraterrestrial Life

Apr 23, 2024 by News Staff

Fully understanding how a rocky planet becomes habitable and remains so is a fundamental challenge for planetary scientists and astrobiologists, given...

This Hubble image shows ESO 422-41, a spiral galaxy some 34 million light-years away in the constellation of Columba. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Kilpatrick.

Hubble Snaps Stunning Image of Small Spiral Galaxy

Apr 22, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of the spiral galaxy ESO 422-41, which is found in the constellation...

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