Scientists Discover the First Type of Molecule Formed in the Universe
The first type of molecule that ever formed in the universe has been detected in space for the first time, after decades of searching. Scientists…
Astronomy
Hubble Image of the Week – Comet or Cluster?
Most globular clusters are almost perfectly spherical collections of stars — but Messier 62 breaks the mould. The 12-billion-year-old cluster is distorted, and stretches out…
Astronomers Reveal First Direct Visual Evidence of a Supermassive Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of…
Planet Orbiting Barnard’s Star Might Have An Atmosphere
The closest exoplanet to us, if we include only single stars like the Sun, is the planet around Barnard’s Star, Barnard’s Star-b (“BSb”). (The planet…
Update on Private Robotic Spacecraft Moon Landing Attempt
April 11 Editor’s Note: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine released the following statement on the Beresheet lunar lander: “While NASA regrets the end of the SpaceIL…
First Image of a Black Hole Captured by Astronomers
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) operates a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes that are linked together. The Black Hole Cam (BHC) Team, led…
Chandra Black Hole Close-Up Image Makes History
A black hole and its shadow have been captured in an image for the first time, a historic feat by an international network of radio…
Astronomers Discover a Giant Object in the Cygnus Constellation
In the past three decades, almost 4,000 planet-like objects have been discovered orbiting isolated stars outside the Solar System (exoplanets). Beginning in 2011, it was…
Astronomers Search for Iron Volcanism on Metallic Asteroids
Metallic asteroids are thought to have started out as blobs of molten iron floating in space. As if that’s not strange enough, scientists now think…
Hubble Telescope Image of the Day – Blue Rejuvenation
Globular clusters are inherently beautiful objects, but the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, Messier 3, is commonly acknowledged to be one of…
Astronomers Discover a Heavy Metal Fragment of a Planet
A fragment of a planet that has survived the death of its star has been discovered by University of Warwick astronomers in a disc of…
Clues to Martian Life? Organic Material Discovered in a Martian Meteorite
According to NASA, scientists are in agreement that there is no life on Mars. However, they continue to assess whether Mars ever had an environment…
Solar Coronal Rain on Our Sun Links Two Mysteries
For five months in mid 2017, Emily Mason did the same thing every day. Arriving to her office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in…
Spectacular Imagery of Solar Eclipses Caused by Phobos and Deimos
When NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover landed in 2012, it brought along eclipse glasses. The solar filters on its Mast Camera (Mastcam) allow it to stare…
Astronomers Pinpoint Origin of Photons in Mysterious Gamma-Ray Bursts
Scientists from the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research and collaborators have used simulations to show that the photons emitted by long gamma-ray bursts–one of the…
Groundbreaking Result From Event Horizon Telescope Project
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will hold a press conference to announce a groundbreaking result. What: Press conference on groundbreaking result…
Astronomers Observe Doughnut-Shaped Torus Surrounding Black Hole
Astronomers used the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to make the first direct image of a dusty, doughnut-shaped feature surrounding…
Astronomers View Star Formation in the Central Molecular Zone
Stars form from the gas and dust in molecular clouds via a series of complex processes that are currently only partly understood, and the evolution…