Cassini Views Titan’s South Polar Vortex
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft views Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. The sunlit edge of Titan’s south polar vortex stands out distinctly against the darkness of the moon’s…
Astronomy News
Scientists Rethink How Neutron Stars Heat Up
A newly published study details how the surface of a neutron star heats up, identifying previously unknown layers where nuclear reactions within the crust cause…
Hubble Views Irregular Galaxy 149-3
In this image NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope views irregular galaxy ESO 149-3 and other more distant galaxies. This sprinkling of cosmic glitter makes up the…
Computer Simulations Show How Stars at the Center of the Milky Way Move
In a newly published study, researchers from the University of Rochester use computer simulations to show how the stars at the center of the Milky…
An Unexpected Discovery in Galaxy Messier 101
Using data from the Gemini Observatory, researchers discovered that a small black hole can sustain a hugely voracious appetite while consuming material in an efficient…
NASA Image of the Day – Black Holes Have Simple Feeding Habits
The NASA image of the day shows the supermassive black hole at the center of spiral galaxy M81. At the center of spiral galaxy M81…
ESO’s Very Large Telescope Views the Dragon’s Head Nebula
A new ESO image explores the Large Magellanic Cloud and an area nicknamed the Dragon’s Head Nebula. The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the…
Reverse Shock Wave Racing Inward at 1000 Times the Speed of Sound
Researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have discovered that a reverse shock wave racing inward at 1000 times the speed of sound is heating…
Aerospace Engineers Discover a Possible Fix for the Kepler Spacecraft
Kepler mission and Ball Aerospace engineers believe they have figured out how to get the Kepler Spacecraft working again. By maneuvering the spacecraft so that…
Hubble Views Spiral Galaxy NGC 4921
This new Hubble image shows spiral galaxy NGC 4921. How far away is spiral galaxy NGC 4921? Although presently estimated to be about 310 million…
Astronomers Find Evidence That Galaxies in Groups are Running Out of Fuel
Using the Arecibo telescope, the largest radio telescope in the world, an international team of astronomers have found evidence that galaxies that are located in…
Astrobiologists Search for Signs of Life on Dying Planets
Using computer models of the climates and biospheres, astrobiologists are researching how signs of life might look on dying planets. If life does exist anywhere…
Hubble Views ESO 149-3
In this newly released image the Hubble Space Telescope views galaxy ESO 149-3. This sprinkling of cosmic glitter makes up the galaxy known as ESO…
Researchers Confirm the Existence of a Circumsolar Dust Ring Near Venus
Using data from NASA’s twin STEREO spacecrafts, scientists have confirmed the existence of a circumsolar dust ring that encircles the Sun and closely follows the…
Astronomers Observe Trio of Young Galaxies Merging Near ‘Cosmic Dawn’
Using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, astronomers have discovered a trio of young galaxies nestled inside an enormous blob of…
Astronomers View Cosmic Blast GRB 130427A in Unique Detail
Five newly published studies from astronomers around the world detail one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts ever seen, GRB 130427A. On April 27, a blast…
Researchers Discover Sample of Ancient Martian Crust
Based on an analysis of a 4.4 billion-year-old Martian meteorite discovered in the Sahara desert, researchers believe they have uncovered the first recognized sample of…
Astronomers Find New Evidence of a High-Energy Jet in the Milky Way’s Black Hole
Using data from Chandra and the VLA, astronomers uncovered new evidence for the presence of a jet of high-energy particles blasting out of the Milky…
