Astronomy News | Sci.News

From a great distance, our Milky Way Galaxy would look like a thin disk of stars that orbits once every few hundred million years around its central region, where hundreds of billions of stars provide the gravitational ‘glue’ to hold it all together. But this pull of gravity is much weaker in the Galaxy’s far outer disk. There, the hydrogen atoms making up most of the Milky Way’s gas disk are no longer confined to a thin plane, instead they give the disk an S-like, or warped, appearance. Image credit: Xiaodian Chen.

Milky Way is Embedded in Tilted Dark Matter Halo, Research Suggests

Oct 12, 2023 by News Staff

The outer disk of our Milky Way Galaxy is warped and flared. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain these phenomena, but none have reproduced...

An artist’s impression of a magnetar eruption. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Seismic Activity in Crust of Neutron Stars Could Explain Repeating Fast Radio Bursts

Oct 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Fast radio bursts are extragalactic transient phenomena that shine in radio wavelengths for short durations lasting only 1-10 milliseconds. Some sources...

A visualization of the huge, glowing planetary body produced by the ASASSN-21qj planetary collision. Image credit: Mark Garlick.

Astronomers Detect Afterglow of Collision between Two Ice-Giant Exoplanets

Oct 11, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The collision between two exoplanets of several to tens of Earth masses occurred at a distance of 2-16 AU (astronomical units) from the young solar-like...

This Hubble image shows NGC 6951, a barred spiral galaxy some 78 million light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus. The color image includes both optical and infrared observations from both Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley / R. Foley (University of California, Santa Cruz / C. Kilpatrick, Northwestern University / D. Sand, University of Arizona / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Zooms in on Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6951

Oct 11, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a new image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 6951. This Hubble image shows NGC...

This Webb image of NGC 346 traces emission from cool gas and dust. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / N. Habel, JPL / P. Kavanagh, Maynooth University.

Webb Captures Mid-Infrared Image of NGC 346

Oct 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image taken with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows streamers of gas and dust studded with...

This Hubble image shows NGC 685, a barred spiral galaxy some 58 million light-years away in the constellation of Eridanus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee, Space Telescope Science Institute / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Space Telescope Observes NGC 685

Oct 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have taken a picture of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 685, which is found in the constellation of...

This Hubble image shows the elliptical galaxy NGC 3558 (lower left) and the barred spiral galaxy LEDA 83465 (upper right). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. West.

Hubble Focuses on Pair of Galaxies in Abell 1185

Oct 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A dazzling new photo from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows two member galaxies of the galaxy cluster Abell 1185: the elliptical galaxy NGC 3558...

This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1087. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Chandar, University of Toledo / J. Lee, Space Telescope Science Institute / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Snaps Close-Up of NGC 1087

Oct 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shot this image of a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 1087. This Hubble image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1087....

An artist’s impression of the LFBOT event AT2023fhn. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / M. Garlick / M. Zamani.

Fast Blue Optical Transients Can Occur in Range of Galactic Environments, Astronomers Say

Oct 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients (LFBOTs) are a rare class of events whose origins are poorly understood. The prototypical example of LFBOTs is AT2018cow,...

This Hubble image shows NGC 4654, a intermediate spiral galaxy some 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee, Space Telescope Science Institute / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on Intermediate Spiral Galaxy

Oct 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have produced an outstanding image of the intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 4654. This Hubble image...

An artist’s illustration of hominins arriving in a multi-biome mosaic landscape. Image credit: Center for Climate Physics, Institute for Basic Science.

Homo sapiens Dispersed from Africa into Eurasia via Well-Watered Jordan Rift Valley: Study

Oct 4, 2023 by News Staff

Our species, Homo sapiens, dispersed from Africa into Eurasia multiple times in the Middle and Late Pleistocene. According to new research led by Shantou...

This image from Webb’s NIRCam short-wavelength channel shows the Orion Nebula, its stars, and many other objects in unprecedented high definition in the near infrared. Many of the young stars are surrounded by dense disks of gas and dust which may be forming planets. In other cases, those disks are being destroyed by the intense ultraviolet radiation and strong winds from the most massive stars in the region. Many of these photoevaporating disks are visible if you zoom into the image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / M. McCaughrean / S. Pearson.

Webb Snaps New Pics of Orion Nebula

Oct 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured stunning new images of the Orion Nebula, a diffuse nebula located approximately...

This Hubble image shows NGC 612, a lenticular galaxy some 388 million light-years in the constellation of Sculptor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Barth, University of California, Irvine / B. Boizelle, Brigham Young University / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.

Hubble Takes Close Look at NGC 612

Oct 4, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a beautiful photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the lenticular galaxy NGC 612. This Hubble image shows NGC 612, a lenticular...

This OmegaCAM/VST image shows three nebulae: the red emission nebula IC 1284 and two blue reflection nebulae NGC 6589 and NGC 6590. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Team.

OmegaCAM Sees Three Nebulae in Sagittarius

Oct 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

There are two different types of nebulae in this new image from the OmegaCAM instrument on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at Paranal Observatory in...

This DEC image shows the onion-like layers of NGC 3923, a shell galaxy some 70 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. The image also shows the face-on spiral galaxies LEDA 744285 and ESO 440-11; and near the top of the image is the extremely large gravitational lens around the galaxy cluster PLCK G287.0+32.9. Image credit: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys / LBNL / DOE / KPNO / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage / NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / R. Colombari, NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Dark Energy Camera Captures Rare Shell Galaxy

Oct 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

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

This Hubble image shows G35.2-0.7N, a star-forming region some 7,200 light-years away in the constellation of Aquila. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Fedriani / J. Tan.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Massive-Star Forming Region

Oct 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

At least one B-type star — the second most massive type — lurks within a star-forming region called G35.2-0.7N, and a powerful protostellar...

Schematic representation of the tilted accretion disk model. The black hole spin axis is assumed to be straight up and down in this illustration. The jet direction points almost perpendicular to the disk plane. The misalignment between the black hole spin axis and disk rotation axis triggers the precession of the disk and jet. Image credit: Cui et al. / Intouchable Lab@Openverse / Zhejiang Lab.

Messier 87’s Supermassive Black Hole is Indeed Spinning, Astronomers Say

Sep 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Messier 87 is a giant elliptical galaxy located some 53 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. In April 2019, astronomers from the Event...

The TRAPPIST-1 system is remarkable for its seven planets that are similar in size, mass, density, and stellar heating to the rocky planets Venus, Earth, and Mars in our own Solar System. This illustration shows what the rocky planet TRAPPIST-1b could look like based on the new study. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / J. Olmsted, STScI.

Webb Captures Transmission Spectra of TRAPPIST-1b

Sep 27, 2023 by Natali Anderson

TRAPPIST-1 is a nearby system of seven Earth-sized, temperate, rocky exoplanets transiting a Jupiter-sized ultracool red dwarf, ideally suited for in-depth...

Composite images of Eta Carinae. Image credit: NASA / SAO / GSFC / Corcoran et al.

Chandra Discovers New Details about ‘Great Eruption’ of Eta Carinae

Sep 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers are tracking the expansion of the X-ray nebula around Eta Carinae, a luminous binary system...