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Huge volcano on Jupiter’s moon Io erupts on regular schedule Volcanic eruptions are difficult to predict, but observations have shown the largest and most powerful volcano on Io, a large moon of Jupiter, has been erupting on a relatively regular schedule. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Research reveals vital clues about recycling in the evolution of life in our universe New research by Kent astrophysicists reveals vital clues about the role recycling plays in the formation of life in our universe. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

ARIEL exoplanet mission celebrates machine learning challenge and citizen science launch ARIEL, an ESA mission to make the first large-scale survey of exoplanet atmospheres, has announced the winners of its first international Machine Learning Data Challenge and has launched a new project, ExoClocks, aimed at amateur astronomers and citizen scientists. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Rare metallic asteroids might have erupted molten iron The metallic asteroid Psyche has mystified scientists because it is less dense than it should be, given its iron-nickel composition. Now, a new theory could explain Psyche’s low density and metallic surface. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

New observations help explain the dimming of Tabby’s Star For years, astronomers have looked up at the sky and speculated about the strange dimming behavior of Tabby’s Star. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

The stellar nurseries of distant galaxies Star clusters are formed by the condensation of molecular clouds, masses of cold, dense gas that are found in every galaxy. The physical properties of these clouds in our own galaxy and nearby galaxies have been known for a long time. But are they identical in distant galaxies that are more than 8 billion light-years away? For the first time, an international team led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has been able to detect molecular clouds in a Milky Way progenitor, thanks to the unprecedented spatial resolution achieved in such a distant galaxy. These observations, published in NatureRead More →

Astronomers detect the most massive neutron star ever measured West Virginia University researchers have helped discover the most massive neutron star to date, a breakthrough uncovered through the Green Bank Telescope in Pocahontas County. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Researchers study young stellar objects population in NGC 6822 Using NASA’s Spitzer spacecraft, astronomers have conducted a comprehensive study of massive young stellar objects (YSOs) in the metal-poor galaxy NGC 6822. The research, detailed in a paper published September 9 on the arXiv pre-print repository, resulted in identifying hundreds of new YSOs in this galaxy. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

The visible spectrum of C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), the first confirmed interstellar comet Shortly before dawn on September 13th, Julia de León, Miquel Serra-Ricart, Javier Licandro, all members of IAC’s solar system Group, and Carlos Raúl de la Fuente Marcos, from the Complutense University of Madrid, obtained high resolution images and visible spectra of comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) using the OSIRIS instrument at the 10.4m GTC, installed in the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma). Observations were not easy, as the object could only be seen at low elevation over the horizon and small angular separation from the sun. However, thanks to the excellentRead More →

SOFIA in Stuttgart: First scientific research flight over Europe On 16 September 2019 at 04:14 CEST, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is expected to land at Stuttgart Airport. The airborne observatory is a joint project by the US space agency NASA and the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). SOFIA is scheduled to take off from Stuttgart at 19:40 CEST on 18 September for its first scientific research flight over Europe, during which it will fly over 12 countries. The idea behind this is that, during its European mission, SOFIA will fly much farther north than it is ableRead More →

The galaxy cluster Abell 959 Most galaxies lie in clusters containing from a few to thousands of objects. Our Milky Way, for example, belongs to the Local Group, a cluster of about fifty galaxies whose other large member is the Andromeda galaxy about 2.3 million light-years away. Clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound objects in the universe and form (according to current ideas) in a “bottoms-up” fashion with smaller structures developing first and larger groupings assembling later in cosmic history. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

Gemini observatory captures multicolor image of first-ever interstellar comet The first-ever comet from beyond our Solar System has been successfully imaged by the Gemini Observatory in multiple colors. The image of the newly discovered object, denoted C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was obtained on the night of 9-10 September using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →

NASA’s WFIRST will help uncover the universe’s fate Scientists have discovered that a mysterious pressure dubbed “dark energy” makes up about 68% of the total energy content of the cosmos, but so far we don’t know much more about it. Exploring the nature of dark energy is one of the primary reasons NASA is building the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), a space telescope whose measurements will help illuminate the dark energy puzzle. With a better understanding of dark energy, we will have a better sense of the past and future evolution of the universe. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →