A New Kind of Cosmic Flash May Reveal the Birth of a Black Hole
According to a newly published study from Caltech astrophysicist Anthony Piro, a new kind of cosmic flash may reveal the birth of a black hole….
Space News
NASA’s Fermi, Swift View Record-Setting Gamma-Ray Burst
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and Swift satellite viewed gamma-ray burst 130427A, which produced the highest-energy light ever detected from a GRB. A record-setting blast…
Hubble Views Supernova Remnant SNR 0519
This Hubble image shows the remains of a white dwarf supernova known as SNR 0519, which is located over 150,000 light-years from Earth in the…
Herschel Reveals Early Galaxies ‘Cooler’ Than Previously Thought
Using data from the Herschel Space Observatory, researchers discovered that galaxies in the early Universe were cooler than those we see around us today. The…
Study Reveals How Saturn’s Magnetosphere Changes With the Seasons
Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists from the University of Iowa have discovered how the magnetosphere around Saturn changes with the planet’s seasons, providing…
ESA’s Mars Express Captures New Images of Sulci Gordii
ESA’s Mars Express has captured new images of a region on Mars known as Sulci Gordii, which lies about 200 km east of Olympus Mons….
Adaptive Optics Improve Measurements of the Properties of Stars
Using a new instrument dubbed SAM, astronomers demonstrated the significant difference that sharp stellar images can make in our understanding of the properties of stars,…
ESO Views the Star Formation Region NGC 6559
A new image from ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile shows NGC 6559, a star formation region located roughly 5,000 light-years from Earth in the…
Scientists Reveal Saturn’s Youthful Appearance Is the Result of Layered Convection
In a new study, scientists from the University of Exeter and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon reveal that Saturn’s youthful appearance is due to…
VLA Identifies Discrete Sources of Radio Waves Coming From Distant Galaxies
Using data from the Very Large Array, astronomers have for the first time identified discrete sources that account for nearly all the radio waves coming…
NASA’s Fermi Dodges a Defunct Cold War Spy Satellite
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has a close call with the 3,100-pound Cosmos 1805, a defunct Cold-War spy satellite, avoiding a near collision. NASA scientists…
Chandra Reveals an Enormous Cloud of Hot Gas Enveloping Two Colliding Galaxies
A burst of star formation that lasted for at least 200 million years may be responsible for a cloud of hot gas, which contains the…
Two New Extrasolar Planets KOI-200b and KOI-889b Detected
Two new transiting, close-in, giant extrasolar planets KOI-200b and KOI-889b, have been detected and characterized with Kepler, SOPHIE and HARPS-N. An international team of astronomers,…
Herschel Runs Out of Liquid Coolant, Stops Making Observations
Launched roughly four years ago, the Herschel space telescope has run out of liquid coolant and has stopped making observations. The Herschel observatory, a European…
Cassini Views a Spinning Vortex at Saturn’s North Pole
Taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, this NASA image of the day shows the spinning vortex of Saturn’s north polar storm. The spinning vortex of Saturn’s…
Hubble Views Young Star PV Cep
This Hubble image shows the young star PV Cep, which is located in the northern constellation of Cepheus at a distance of over 1600 light-years…
New ScienceCast Video Explores the Possibility That Signs of Dark Matter Have Been Detected
The below four-minute ScienceCast video explores the possibility that the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer onboard the International Space Station has detected signs of dark matter. In…
PS1-10afx Supernova Magnified by Gravitational Lensing
Researchers from the Kavli IPMU have used gravitational lensing to identify a distant Type Ia supernova, named PS1-10afx, that exploded over 9 billion years ago….