New Study Maps Out Bright Galaxies within 35-Million Light Years of the Earth
A newly published study maps out bright galaxies within 35 million light-years of the Earth, providing an expanded view of what lies beyond Earth’s doorstep….
Astronomy News
Galaxy X-Rays Could Emanate From Dark Matter Particles
Two new studies report that X-rays emanating from the hearts of nearby galaxies and galaxy clusters could be signs of particles of dark matter decaying…
VLT Discovers Largest Yellow Hypergiant Star to Date
ESO’s Very Large Telescope has discovered one of the ten largest stars found to date, a yellow hypergiant star that is more than 1,300 times…
Rainbow-Like Light Phenomenon Observed on Venus for the First Time
Researchers have imaged a glory on Venus – a rainbow-like light phenomenon observed on cloud tops that helps to identify the components of the planet’s…
O-Type Stars Play Havoc with the Development of Young Planetary Systems
Using ALMA, a team of astronomers studied the relationship between highly luminous O-type stars and nearby protostars, finding that protostars within 0.1 light-years of an…
New ScienceCast Video: A Telescope Bigger than a Galaxy
A new three minute ScienceCast video looks through the biggest telescope in the history of astronomy. More than 400 years ago, Galileo turned a primitive…
Hubble Views Nebula AFGL 4104
This newly released Hubble image shows nebula AFGL 4104. They say the flap of a butterfly’s wings can set off a tornado on the other…
WISE Survey Finds No Evidence of “Planet X”
Using data from NASA’s WISE exporter, two newly published studies reveal thousands of new stars, but no evidence of “planet X.” After searching hundreds of…
Astronomers Examine Star Formation in Luminous, Colliding Galaxies
By combining computer simulations with multi-band observations, two new studies examine how luminosity, star formation, dust heating, and other effects evolve during a galaxy collision….
ALMA Reveals Unexpected Gas Clump in Debris Disc Around Beta Pictoris
Using the ALMA telescope, researchers discovered an unexpected clump of carbon monoxide gas in the dusty disc around the star Beta Pictoris. NASA Goddard’s Aki…
Scientists Discover New Process that Protects Earth from Space Weather
A newly published study shows that in certain circumstances a pool of dense particles normally circling Earth can extend a long arm out to meet…
New Models Better Describe How Planet-Forming Material Around Stars is Stirred Up
Using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers have developed a new theory explaining the mystery of planet-forming disks that circle the young stars. Astronomers…
NASA’s Cassini to Conduct Its 100th Flyby of the Saturn Moon Titan
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is ready to conduct its 100th flyby of Titan. Ten years ago, we knew Titan as a fuzzy orange ball about the…
Astronomers Measure Distant Black Hole’s Spin
Using data from Chandra and XMM-Newton, astronomers directly measured the spin of a supermassive black hole in a quasar that is located 6 billion light…
Researchers Take an Important Step Toward Discovering Habitable Earths
Using essentially the same type of imaging sensor found in digital cameras, astronomers have captured images of a planet outside our solar system for the…
Astronomers Develop New Method of Gauging the Atmospheric Pressure of Exoplanets
With the aid of computer simulations of the chemistry of Earth’s own atmosphere that isolate what are called “dimer molecules,” astronomers developed a new method…
Hubble Views Spiral Galaxy ESO 137-001
This newly released image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows spiral galaxy ESO 137-001. The spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 looks like a dandelion caught in…
Herschel Views Star Factory NGC 7538
This new composite image shows NGC 7538, a stellar nursery for massive stars located roughly 9,000 light-years away. The billowing clouds portrayed in this…