Hubble Discovers NGC 1073, A Barred Spiral Galaxy Similar to Milky Way
The Hubble Telescope unveiled an eerie twin galaxy to the Milky Way today. NGC 1073, a barred spiral galaxy like the Milky Way, is located…
Astronomy News
The Bolshoi Simulation: Boxing the Universe
The Bolshoi simulation is the most accurate cosmological simulation of the evolution of the large-scale structure of the universe. Larger simulations, including the BigBolshoi and…
NASA’s GRAIL Mission Returns Video From Far Side of the Moon
The first images and video from NASA’s GRAIL mission of the far side of the moon were captured on January 19, 2012, by the MoonKAM…
Earth’s Van Allen Radiation Belt’s Charged Electrons Heading for Space Not Surface
The increase in solar activity has become quite obvious on Earth, thanks to the increase in auroras caused by geomagnetic storms, but while astronomers had…
NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers 11 New Extrasolar Systems with 26 Exoplanets
NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems, with an additional 26 confirmed planets, which actually doubles the number of verified Kepler planets and…
NASA’s NuSTAR is One Step Closer to Launching
NASAA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is one step closer to its March launch. The NuSTAR was shipped to the Vandenberg Air Force Base…
Lasers Mimic Supernova to Explain Cosmic Magnetic Fields
Scientists are using powerful lasers to mimic the effects of supernovae, which are helping to reveal how the magnetic fields of galaxies may have been…
Researchers Plan to Explore Titan with a Nuclear Powered Drone
Brigham Young University geologist Jani Radebaugh, alongside researchers from NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory, has put forth a plan that would send a done…
Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Measures the Universe’s Expansion and Dark Energy
One of nature’s biggest mysteries, dark energy, is being explored thanks to a deceptively simple tool that David Schlegel came up with. 2,200 aluminum plates,…
Superconducting Detectors Could Help Find Gravitational Waves and Extrasolar Planets
Microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), which can simultaneously count photons, measure their energy, and record each one’s time of arrival, could eventually replace charge-coupled devices…
Strong Geomagnetic Storms a Possibility After Active Sunspot 1401 Erupted
An active sunspot erupted on Sol on January 19th, at around 16:30 UT, which produced an M3-class solar flare as well as a full-halo coronal…
Giant Magellan Telescope Gets Seven 28-Foot Mirrors and Adaptive Optics
The Giant Magellan Telescope is designed to employ a series of seven 28-foot mirrors, which will be arranged in a honeycomb pattern. It will be…
VISTA Telescope Uses IR to Show Helix Nebula In New Light
The Helix Nebula in the Aquarius constellation, located some 700 light-years away from Earth, was just observed by the piercing infrared gaze of the VISTA…
Adaptive Optics Will Put Gemini Twin Telescopes at the Forefront of Astronomy Again
Together, the twin telescopes of the Gemini Observatory, which consists of two 8.1 m (27 ft) telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, provide almost complete coverage…
SN Primo Is Farthest Type Ia Supernova Discovered
Supernova Primo originated 9 billion years ago, when its progenitor star exploded. The light was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope by a three-year project…
Scientists Convene to Take a Picture of the Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way
It might sound like science-fiction, but on Wednesday January 18th, astronomers, physicists, and scientists will convene in Tucson, Arizona, to discuss a feat that would…
Hubble Observes Rare Blue Stars in Andromeda’s Core
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope made a rare discovery when looking deep into the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Spotted was a population of rare blue stars in…
Astronomers Discover 18 New Planets
Good news today for fans of giant planets. Astronomers have found 18 new alien planets. They are all Jupiter-size gas giants that circle stars larger…
