News (Page 781)

Image: Hubble sees a galaxy bucking the trend This luminous orb is the galaxy NGC 4621, better known as Messier 59. As this latter moniker indicates, the galaxy is listed in the famous catalog of deep-sky objects compiled by French comet-hunter Charles Messier in the 18th century. However, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Koehler is credited with discovering the galaxy just days before Messier added it to his collection in 1779. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Study provides new insights into stellar population and gas outflow in the central region of NGC 1068 A new study conducted by French astronomers has delivered new insights about central stellar population and gas outflow in the spiral galaxy NGC 1068. Results of the research, presented in a paper published May 22 on arXiv.org, could be essential in improving our knowledge about physical processes taking place in the inner region of this galaxy. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Spitzer captures stellar family portrait In this large celestial mosaic taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, there’s a lot to see, including multiple clusters of stars born from the same dense clumps of gas and dust. Some of these clusters are older than others and more evolved, making this a generational stellar portrait. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

NICER’s night moves trace the X-ray sky In this image, numerous sweeping arcs seem to congregate at various bright regions. You may wonder: What is being shown? Air traffic routes? Information moving around the global internet? Magnetic fields looping across active areas on the Sun? phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Subaru Telescope captures 1800 new supernovae Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope identified about 1800 new supernovae in the distant universe, including 58 Type Ia supernovae over 8 billion light-years away. These findings will help elucidate the expansion of the universe. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

A new view of exoplanets with NASA’s upcoming Webb Telescope While we now know of thousands of exoplanets—planets around other stars—the vast majority of our knowledge is indirect. That is, scientists have not actually taken many pictures of exoplanets, and because of the limits of current technology, we can only see these worlds as points of light. However, the number of exoplanets that have been directly imaged is growing over time. When NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2021, it will open a new window on these exoplanets, observing them in wavelengths at which they have never been seen before and gaining new insightsRead More →

Ammonia detected on the surface of Pluto, hints at subterranean water A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and one in France has found evidence of ammonia on the surface of Pluto. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their finding and what it might have revealed about the dwarf planet. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Photometric observations detect 28 new variable stars in NGC 4147 Using the Devasthal optical telescope in India, astronomers have conducted photometric observations of the globular cluster NGC 4147. The observational campaign yielded the discovery of 28 new variable stars in this cluster. The findings are detailed in a paper published May 20 on the arXiv pre-print server. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

SpaceX satellites pose new headache for astronomers It looked like a scene from a sci-fi blockbuster: an astronomer in the Netherlands captured footage of a train of brightly-lit SpaceX satellites ascending through the night sky this weekend, stunning space enthusiasts across the globe. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

The ‘Forbidden’ planet has been found in the ‘Neptunian Desert’ An exoplanet smaller than Neptune with its own atmosphere has been discovered in the Neptunian Desert, by an international collaboration of astronomers, with the University of Warwick taking a leading role. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Chandra finds stellar duos banished from galaxies Scientists have found evidence that pairs of stars have been kicked out of their host galaxies. This discovery, made using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, is one of the clearest examples of stellar pairs being expelled from their galactic base. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Pushing stargazing to the limits with the world’s largest gamma-ray observatory To discover the secrets of exploding stars or black holes, scientists have been focusing on the gamma rays they emit. However, gamma rays don’t pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, making them difficult to study. To find what high-energy process a gamma ray originates from, scientists have been observing the cascades of secondary particles produced when these rays hit the atmosphere. The cascades—which create blue flashes of light called Cherenkov light after the Russian physicist who discovered them—only last a few billionths of a second and are invisible to the naked eye. What’s more, they’reRead More →

Stolen comets and free-floating objects Our solar system may contain alien comets that were stolen from another star flying past 4.5 billion years ago. Far away in a distant cluster of young stars, a similar close encounter might have also sent the inter-stellar visitor “Oumuamua” flying on its way toward us, and there must be many more of these free-floating objects in the galaxy. These are results of a new study by astrophysicists at the University of Zurich. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →