Astronomy News

Fading of Long-Period Comets Begins beyond Saturn, Study Says

This image, taken with the 2.5-m Nordic Optical Telescope, shows the long-period comet C/2014 B1 (Scwartz). The orbit of this comet lies exterior to Saturn’s, yet it exhibited cometary activity during its most recent passage through the Solar System’s giant planet region. Image credit: David Jewitt.
Mar 30, 2022 by News Staff

The discovery probability of long-period comets passing near the Sun is highest during their first passage and then declines, or fades, during subsequent return passages. Comet fading is largely attributed to devolatilization and fragmentation via thermal processing within 2 to 3 AU (astronomical unit) of the Sun (1 AU being the Earth-Sun distance). New numerical simulations by Dr. Nathan Kaib, an astronomer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy...

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The position of J0624-6948 (small object at the center of the purple ring indicated by *) is indicated with respect to the Milky Way’s Galactic plane, the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. Image credit: Axel Mellinger, Central Michigan University.

ASKAP Finds Rogue Supernova Remnant near Large Magellanic Cloud

Mar 30, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) have spotted a mysterious circular ring between the Milky Way’s plane and...

An artist’s impression of an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting an M-dwarf star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Methane in Exoplanetary Atmosphere Could Be Sign of Extrarerrestrial Life

Mar 30, 2022 by News Staff

The case for methane as a biosignature stems from its instability in the planet’s atmosphere. Because photochemical reactions destroy atmospheric methane,...

This composite image shows V Hydrae, a carbon-rich AGB star some 1,300 light-years away in the constellation of Hydra. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / S. Dagnello, NRAO, AUI & NSF.

ALMA Spots Multi-Ring Structure around Rapidly-Evolving Carbon Star

Mar 29, 2022 by News Staff

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Wave Array (ALMA), astronomers have observed the carbon-rich star V Hydrae that is apparently transitioning...

This Hubble image shows NGC 7172, an active spiral galaxy some 110.5 million light-years away in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D.J. Rosario / A. Barth / L. Shatz.

Hubble Sees Active Spiral Galaxy: NGC 7172

Mar 28, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of the spiral galaxy NGC 7172. This Hubble image shows NGC 7172, an active...

This image shows the Orion Molecular Clouds, the target of the VANDAM survey; yellow dots are the locations of the observed protostars on a blue background image made by Herschel; side panels show six young protostars imaged by ALMA (blue) and the VLA (orange). Image credit: NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Astronomers Find Protoplanetary Disks in Orion Molecular Clouds

Mar 25, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have detected 97 disks of gas and dust around...

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

Milky Way Evolved in Few Different Phases, New Research Suggests

Mar 23, 2022 by News Staff

The formation of our Milky Way Galaxy can be split up qualitatively into different assembly phases that resulted in its structurally different stellar...

An artist’s impression of HD 213885b and its host star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

NASA: More Than 5,000 Exoplanets are Now Confirmed to Exist in Our Galaxy

Mar 23, 2022 by News Staff

According to NASA astronomers, the 5,000-plus exoplanets confirmed so far include small, rocky worlds like Earth, gas giants many times larger than Jupiter,...

The overdeveloped spiral arm of the galaxy NGC 772 dominates this image from the Gemini North telescope. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani / D. de Martin.

Gemini Focuses on NGC 772’s Overdeveloped Spiral Arm

Mar 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope have captured this vivid image of the strangely lopsided spiral galaxy NGC 772. The overdeveloped spiral arm...

Quantum scrambling is one suggestion for how information can fall into a black hole and come out as random-looking radiation. Perhaps, the argument goes, it is not random at all, and black holes are just excellent scramblers. Image credit: E. Edwards / Joint Quantum Institute.

Hairy Black Holes Explain Hawking’s Paradox, Physicists Claim

Mar 22, 2022 by News Staff

The signature feature of black holes is that they are black — objects which fall into the hole can no longer be seen and can no longer influence...

MeerKAT Captures Most Detailed Image Yet of ‘Odd Radio Circle’

Mar 22, 2022 by News Staff

Odd Radio Circles are large, circular astronomical objects which are bright around the edges at radio wavelengths. Theories on what causes these mysterious...

This Hubble image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4571. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Lee / PHANGS-HST Team.

Hubble Takes Close Look at NGC 4571

Mar 21, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the low-surface brightness spiral galaxy NGC 4571. This Hubble image shows the spiral galaxy...

This illustration depicts the result of a collision between two large asteroid-sized bodies around a young star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Spitzer Spots Enormous Debris Cloud around Young Star

Mar 18, 2022 by News Staff

The debris cloud in the terrestrial zone of the 10-million-year-old star HD 166191 was created by a large impact involving objects of several hundred kilometers...

While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb’s optics and NIRCam are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. At this stage of Webb’s mirror alignment, known as fine phasing, each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. This image of a star called 2MASS J17554042+6551277 uses a red filter to optimize visual contrast. Image credit: NASA / STScI.

Webb’s Optics Works Successfully, NASA Says

Mar 16, 2022 by News Staff

Following the completion of mirror alignment steps, the Webb team expects that the telescope’s optical performance will be able to meet or exceed its...

Coelho et al. provide a guide for the search for surface life on icy worlds based on biota from Earth’s icy environments. Image credit: Jack Madden.

Astrobiologists Create Catalog of Icy World Surface Biosignatures

Mar 15, 2022 by News Staff

With thousands of discovered exoplanets and new missions that will explore our Solar System, the search for life in the Universe has entered a new era....

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.

Early Universe Experienced Phase Transition that Created Supermassive Black Holes, Study Suggests

Mar 15, 2022 by News Staff

The formation of ultrarare supermassive black holes, with masses over one billion solar masses, in the first billion years of the Universe is an open question...

PSR J2030+4415 generated an extremely long beam of matter and antimatter. Image credit: NASA / CXC / Stanford University / M. de Vries / NSF / AURA / Gemini Consortium.

Chandra Spots Huge Filament of Matter and Antimatter from Gamma-Ray Pulsar

Mar 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have observed a remarkable X-ray filament generated by the gamma-ray pulsar PSR J2030+4415. PSR J2030+4415...

This image from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows Messier 99, a spiral galaxy some 42 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Image credit: ESO / PHANGS.

VLT Observes Hidden Depths of Messier 99

Mar 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have produced a spectacularly detailed image of the central...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1097, a barred spiral galaxy some 48 million light-years away in the constellation of Fornax. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. Seven 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 / D. Sand / K. Sheth.

Hubble Space Telescope Focuses on NGC 1097

Mar 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a finely detailed image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. This Hubble image shows NGC 1097, a barred...

A visualization of the eRosita and Fermi bubbles. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Giant Bubbles Above and Below Milky Way’s Center Caused by Galaxy’s Central Black Hole

Mar 11, 2022 by News Staff

In 2020, the X-ray satellite eROSITA revealed two gigantic bubbles extending to 80° above and below the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The morphology...

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