Astronomy News

Astrobiologists Identify Novel Biosignature Candidates: Methylated Gases

This is an artist's impression of an exoplanet. Image credit: Ron Miller.
Oct 11, 2022 by News Staff

Methylated gases are made when organisms add a carbon and three hydrogen atoms to an undesirable chemical element. Called methylation, this process can turn potential toxins into gases that float safely away into the atmosphere. If these gases were to be detected in the atmosphere of an exoplanet using telescopes, they would be suggestive of extraterrestrial life. Methylated gases are known to be produced in a variety of environments, both terrestrial...

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A fireball. Image credit: Urikyo33.

Second Ever Interstellar Meteor Discovered

Oct 10, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Both the first and second interstellar meteors, IM1 and IM2, are outliers in material strength and may have originated in supernova explosions, according...

These images shows Jupiter’s icy moons Ganymede and Europa with Jupiter in the background. Image credit: ESO / King & Fletcher / NASA / ESA / A. Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / OPAL Team.

SPHERE Helps Determine Surface Compositions of Europa and Ganymede

Oct 10, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have imaged Jupiter’s...

This Hubble image shows Terzan 1, a globular cluster located some 21,800 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Cohen.

Hubble Captures Brilliant New Image of Globular Cluster Terzan 1

Oct 10, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Terzan 1 is a globular cluster about 21,800 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius. This Hubble image shows Terzan 1, a globular cluster...

An artist’s illustration shows a white dwarf (right) circling a larger, Sun-like star (left) in an ultra-short orbit, forming a cataclysmic binary system. Image credit M. Weiss / Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics.

Newly-Discovered Cataclysmic Variable Has Extremely Short Orbit

Oct 6, 2022 by News Staff

ZTF J1813+4251 is a 51-minute-orbital-period, fully eclipsing binary system consisting of a star with a temperature comparable to that of the Sun but...

Windhorst et al. traced light that was emitted by the bright elliptical galaxy VV 191a (left) through the spiral galaxy VV 191b (right). As a result, they were able to identify the effects of interstellar dust in the spiral galaxy. Webb’s near-infrared data also shows us the galaxy’s longer, extremely dusty spiral arms in far more detail, giving them an appearance of overlapping with the central bulge of the bright white elliptical galaxy, though the pair are not interacting. In this image, green, yellow, and red were assigned to Webb’s near-infrared data taken in 0.9, 1.5, and 3.56 microns (F090W, F150W, and F356W respectively). Blue was assigned to two Hubble filters, ultraviolet data taken in 0.34 microns (F336W) and visible light in 0.61 microns (F606W). Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Rogier Windhorst, Arizona State University / William Keel, University of Alabama / Stuart Wyithe, University of Melbourne / JWST PEARLS Team.

Astronomers Trace Interstellar Dust in Backlit-Galaxy System

Oct 5, 2022 by News Staff

Dust is a key ingredient in both observed and physical properties of galaxies. It obscures and scatters stellar light, and enables star formation by acting...

These images span a range of different types of objects, including a cluster of galaxies (SMACS J0723.3-7327), a galaxy group (Stefan’s Quintet), a star-forming nebula (Carina Nebula), and a galaxy (Cartwheel Galaxy). In each image, the X-rays from Chandra show higher-energy processes than the infrared view from Webb. Additionally, infrared data from Spitzer is included in the Stephan’s Quintet composite. Image credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / Spitzer / JPL-Caltech / Webb / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Chandra Adds X-ray Data to Webb’s Infrared Images

Oct 5, 2022 by News Staff

The Stephan’s Quintet, the Cartwheel Galaxy, the galaxy cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327, and the Carina Nebula were among the first publicly released images...

An artist’s impression of an extrasolar submoon. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Nitrous Oxide Could Help Detect Extraterrestrial Life on Exo-Earths

Oct 5, 2022 by News Staff

Nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas) — a product of microbial nitrogen metabolism — is a compelling exoplanet biosignature gas with distinctive...

Shown here in purple, the Magellanic Corona stretches more than 100,000 light-years from the main mass of stars, gas, and dust that make up the Magellanic Clouds, intermingling with the hotter and more extensive corona that surrounds the Milky Way. Image credit: Leah Hustak, STScI.

Magellanic Corona: Astronomers Detect Protective Shield around Small and Large Magellanic Clouds

Oct 4, 2022 by News Staff

The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds — satellite galaxies of the Milky Way Galaxy — are surrounded by a diffuse halo of hot, supercharged...

This image from the 4.1-m Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope shows the more than 10,000-km-long dust trail stretching from the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / SOAR / NSF / AURA / T. Kareta, Lowell Observatory / M. Knight, U.S. Naval Academy / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani & D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Astronomers Spot Huge Trail of Debris from DART Collision with Dimorphos

Oct 4, 2022 by News Staff

On September 26, 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft intentionally crashed into the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos for the first planetary defense test. Two days...

This image, taken by the X-SHOOTER instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows light from GRB 210905A (center). Image credit: ESO / Rossi et al.

Astronomers Detect Powerful Blast in Early Universe

Oct 3, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the X-SHOOTER instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have detected light from a gamma-ray burst at a redshift of 6.3, meaning...

This Hubble image shows the galaxy pair Arp-Madore 608-333. The color image is composed of near-infrared and optical observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Victor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope. Four 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 / Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Dalcanton.

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Dance of Two Spiral Galaxies

Oct 3, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a stunning image of two interacting galaxies collectively known as Arp-Madore 608-333. This Hubble image shows the galaxy...

This Webb image shows observations of the Didymos-Dimorphos system several hours after NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally impacted the moonlet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Jian-Yang Li, PSI / Cristina Thomas, Northern Arizona University / Ian Wong, NASA-GSFC / Joseph DePasquale, STScI / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

Webb and Hubble Simultaneously Observe DART Impact

Sep 29, 2022 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope teamed up to collect data before and after NASA’s Double Asteroid...

This Webb image shows IC 5332, a spiral galaxy some 25 million light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / PHANGS-HST team.

Webb Sees Complex Structures in Spiral Galaxy IC 5332

Sep 29, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Webb team has released a vivid image of the intermediate spiral galaxy IC 5332. This Webb image shows IC 5332, a spiral galaxy some 25 million light-years...

The Jupiter-sized planet TOI-5205b has a surface temperature of 737 K and orbits its parent star, TOI-5205, at a distance of 0.02 AU. Image credit: Sci.News.

Jupiter-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting TOI-5205

Sep 28, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered a Jovian planet orbiting the M4-type dwarf TOI-5205. Their paper...

This artist’s impression shows a field of Population III stars as they would have appeared a mere 100 million years after the Big Bang. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva / Spaceengine.

Astronomers May Have Spotted Traces of Material from Explosion of First-Generation Star

Sep 28, 2022 by News Staff

The very first stars likely formed when the Universe was only 100 million years old. Known as Population III stars, these stellar objects were so massive...

Didymos as seen on the night of September 25/26, 2022 with ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO / Bagnulo et al.

VLT Observes Asteroid Didymos before DART Impact

Sep 26, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is set to crash into Dimorphos, a moon of the asteroid Didymos, on September 26, 2022, at 7:14...

This Hubble image shows NGC 5495, a spiral galaxy some 319 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Five 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 / J. Greene / R. Colombari.

Hubble Captures Amazing New Photo of NGC 5495

Sep 26, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have taken a detailed image of the spiral galaxy NGC 5495. This Hubble image shows NGC 5495, a spiral...

A panning-view of Jupiter’s upper atmospheric temperatures, 1,000 km (621 miles) above the cloud tops; the auroral region (near the northern pole, in yellow/white) appears to have shed a massive, planetary-scale wave of heating towards the equator. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / A. Simon / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / J. Schmidt / O’Donoghue et al., doi: 10.5194/epsc2022-373.

Huge Heat Wave Spotted in Upper Atmosphere of Jupiter

Sep 23, 2022 by News Staff

The high-temperature planetary-scale-sized structure is at least 130,000 km (80,778 miles) long, according to a new study led by JAXA scientists. A panning-view...

This artist’s illustration indicates where the modeling of the ALMA data predicts the hot spot to be and its orbit around Sagittarius A*. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser / M. Wielgus / Event Horizon Collaboration.

ALMA Spots Bubble of Hot Gas in Orbit around Milky Way’s Central Black Hole

Sep 22, 2022 by News Staff

Sagittarius A*, the 4.3-million-solar-mass black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, was observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter...

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