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Telescopes

Astronomy

Can solar rays push the James Webb Telescope Around?

News

James Webb Telescope finishes unfolding its mirror in space

January 10, 2022

News

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope fully deploys its massive sunshield

January 5, 2022

News

NASA delays tensioning of James Webb telescope sunshield

January 3, 2022

An artist's rendition of the asteroid 2021 PH27 i inside Mercury's orbit. (CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva)

Astronomy

Astronomers discover the fastest orbiting asteroid

August 24, 2021

ESO / L. Calçada

Astronomy

Neutron Stars Make Ant Hills Out of Mountains

July 19, 2021 - Updated on July 12, 2023

Astronomy

Scientists peer back in time to find the birth of the first stars

June 25, 2021 - Updated on June 26, 2021

Astronomy

Chaotic Young Star System Holds the Key to Planet Formation

These images, taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, show the surface of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse during its unprecedented dimming, which happened in late 2019 and early 2020. The image on the far left, taken in January 2019, shows the star at its normal brightness, while the remaining images, from December 2019, January 2020 and March 2020, were all taken when the star’s brightness had noticeably dropped, especially in its southern region. The brightness returned to normal in April 2020. (ESO/M. Montargès et al)

Astronomy

Astronomers Solve the Mystery of Betelgeuse’s ‘Great Dimming’

Astronomers have spotted a giant 'blinking' star towards the centre of the Milky Way, more than 25,000 light years away. An international team of astronomers observed the star, VVV-WIT-08, decreasing in brightness by a factor of 30, so that it nearly disappeared from the sky. While many stars change in brightness because they pulsate or are eclipsed by another star in a binary system, it's exceptionally rare for a star to become fainter over a period of several months and then brighten again. (Amanda Smith, University of Cambridge)

Astronomy

Blinking Giant Star is a Mystery at the Heart of the Milky Way

Astronomy

Galactic neighbourhoods have an influence on stellar nurseries

Ten areas in the sky were selected as “deep fields” that the Dark Energy Camera imaged several times during the survey, providing a glimpse of distant galaxies and helping determine their 3D distribution in the cosmos.

Astronomy

Astronomers map over 100 million galaxies to crack dark matter and dark energy puzzle

May 28, 2021 - Updated on June 11, 2023

This image features a comet located in the outer reaches of the Solar System: comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS). (ESO/SPECULOOS Team/E. Jehin)

Astronomy

Comets have a heavy metal atmosphere

Astronomers have discovered two pairs of quasars in the distant Universe, about 10 billion light-years from Earth. In each pair, the two quasars are separated by only about 10,000 light-years, making them closer together than any other double quasars found so far away. The proximity of the quasars in each pair suggests that they are located within two merging galaxies. Quasars are the intensely bright cores of distant galaxies, powered by the feeding frenzies of supermassive black holes. One of the distant double quasars is depicted in this illustration. International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva

Astronomy

Double trouble! Astronomers discover distant quasar pairs

This image shows an artist’s impression of what the surface of the 2I/Borisov comet might look like. 2I/Borisov was a visitor from another planetary system that passed by our Sun in 2019, allowing astronomers a unique view of an interstellar comet. While telescopes on Earth and in space captured images of this comet, we don’t have any close-up observations of 2I/Borisov. It is therefore up to artists to create their own ideas of what the comet’s surface might look like, based on the scientific information we have about it. (SO/M. Kormesser)

Astronomy

Interstellar visitor 2I/Borisov is the most pristine comet ever observed

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of a black hole released in 2019, has today a new view of the massive object at the centre of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy: how it looks in polarised light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarisation, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of a black hole. (EHT Collaboration)

Astronomy

Black Hole Seen Clearly in Historic New Direct Image

March 24, 2021 - Updated on April 2, 2021

This image shows an artist’s impression of winds in Jupiter’s stratosphere near the planet’s south pole, with the blue lines representing wind speeds. These lines are superimposed on a real image of Jupiter, taken by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Jupiter’s famous bands of clouds are located in the lower atmosphere, where winds have previously been measured. But tracking winds right above this atmospheric layer, in the stratosphere, is much harder since no clouds exist there. By analysing the aftermath of a comet collision from the 1990s and using the ALMA telescope, in which ESO is a partner, researchers have been able to reveal incredibly powerful stratospheric winds, with speeds of up to 1450 kilometres an hour, near Jupiter’s poles.

Astronomy

Jupiter’s Supersonic Stratospheric Winds Make it a Unique Beast

Artist’s Impression of GJ 1132 b

Astronomy

The Exoplanet that grew a second atmosphere

This artist’s impression shows how the distant quasar P172+18 and its radio jets may have looked. To date (early 2021), this is the most distant quasar with radio jets ever found and it was studied with the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope. It is so distant that light from it has travelled for about 13 billion years to reach us: we see it as it was when the Universe was only about 780 million years old. (ESO)

Astronomy

Astronomers have discovered the most distant radio signal ever

A Snapshot of Gliese 486b's journey around its parent star (Render Area)

Alien life

Nearby Super-Earth could be perfect for atmospheric investigation

Astronomy

Massive Black Hole Could Challenge Stellar Evolution Theories

February 18, 2021 - Updated on April 2, 2021

This artist’s impression shows the view from the planet in the TOI-178 system found orbiting furthest from the star. New research by Adrien Leleu and his colleagues with several telescopes, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope, has revealed that the system boasts six exoplanets and that all but the one closest to the star are locked in a rare rhythm as they move in their orbits. But while the orbital motion in this system is in harmony, the physical properties of the planets are more disorderly, with significant variations in density from planet to planet. This contrast challenges astronomers’ understanding of how planets form and evolve. This artist’s impression is based on the known physical parameters for the planets and the star seen, and uses a vast database of objects in the Universe. (ESO/L. Calçada/spaceengine.org)

Astronomy

Astronomers discover an exoplanet system with rhythm

January 25, 2021

An artist’s view of the TRAPPIST-1 system. The TRAPPIST-1 star is home to the largest batch of roughly Earth-size planets ever found outside our solar system. An international study involving researchers from the Universities of Bern, Geneva and Zurich now shows that the exoplanets have remarkably similar densities, which provides clues about their composition (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Alien life

The Trappist-1 exoplanets could be worlds of water or rust

January 22, 2021

Astronomy

Space and Physics Developments to Look Forward to in 2021

January 19, 2021 - Updated on May 6, 2023

Original images ESO/Y. Beletsky/ ESO/M. Kornmesser. adjusted by Robert Lea

Astronomy

Astronomers witness the ‘death’ of a galaxy

January 11, 2021

Baby universes branching off of our universe shortly after the Big Bang appear to us as black holes. (Kavli IPMU)

Astronomy

Primordial black holes could hide a multiverse of possibilities

January 6, 2021

Astronomy

2020: A Year in Space

December 23, 2020 - Updated on May 6, 2023

This artist’s illustration represents the couple of planetary-mass brown dwarfs Ophiuchus 98. As they are very young, they are still evolving in the molecular clouds that saw their birth.

Astronomy

Astronomers find two failed stars wandering the universe together

December 17, 2020

An artist's conception of HD 209458 b, an exoplanet whose atmosphere is being torn off at more than 35,000 km/hour by the radiation of its close-by parent star. This hot Jupiter was the first alien world discovered via the transit method, and the first planet to have its atmosphere studied. [NASA/European Space Agency/Alfred Vidal-Madjar (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS)]

Alien life

Stellar flares can strip away the atmosphere of planets, make them less habitable

November 9, 2020

An artist's impression of a gravitational microlensing event by a free-floating planet. (Jan Skowron / Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw)

Astronomy

‘Lonely’ Rogue Planet Discovered Wandering the Milky Way

November 3, 2020

Astronomy

Water Found on the Moon’s Sunlit Surface

October 26, 2020

Artist’s impression of star being tidally disrupted by a supermassive black hole

Astronomy

Death By Spaghettification! Astronomers Spot a Star Being Consumed by a Black Hole

October 12, 2020

With the help of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found six galaxies lying around a supermassive black hole, the first time such a close grouping has been seen within the first billion years of the Universe. This artist’s impression shows the central black hole and the galaxies trapped in its gas web. The black hole, which together with the disc around it is known as quasar SDSS J103027.09+052455.0, shines brightly as it engulfs matter around it. (ESO/L. Calçada)

Astronomy

‘Cosmic Web’ of a Supermassive Black Hole Ensnares Six Galaxies

October 1, 2020 - Updated on August 31, 2023

Gallery of stellar winds around cool ageing stars, showing a variety of morphologies, including disks, cones, and spirals. The blue colour represents material that is coming towards you, red is material that is moving away from you. (L. Decin, ESO/ALMA)

Astronomy

How Stellar Winds of Dying Stars Are Shaped

September 17, 2020 - Updated on July 25, 2023

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the massive galaxy cluster MACSJ 1206. Embedded within the cluster are the distorted images of distant background galaxies, seen as arcs and smeared features. These distortions are caused by the dark matter in the cluster, whose gravity bends and magnifies the light from faraway galaxies, an effect called gravitational lensing. This phenomenon allows astronomers to study remote galaxies that would otherwise be too faint to see. (NASA, ESA, G. Caminha (University of Groningen), M. Meneghetti (Observatory of Astrophysics and Space Science of Bologna), P. Natarajan (Yale University), the CLASH team, and M. Kornmesser (ESA/Hubble))

Astronomy

Astronomers Investigate Dark Matter’s Missing Ingredient

September 11, 2020 - Updated on May 6, 2021

GW Orionis, a triple star system with a peculiar inner region. Unlike the flat planet-forming discs we see around many stars, GW Orionis features a warped disc, deformed by the movements of the three stars at its centre. This composite image shows both the ALMA and SPHERE observations of the disc. (ESO/Exeter/Kraus et al., ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO))

Astronomy

Warped gas disc torn apart by three stars directly observed for the first time

September 3, 2020 - Updated on July 28, 2023

It's getting crowded up there. A plot of space debris around the Earth. (NASA)

Astronomy

Scientists spot space debris in daylight, helping satellites ‘social distance’

September 1, 2020

Astronomy

Comet NEOWISE Comes into Focus for a Close-up

August 26, 2020

This artist's conception illustrates a Jupiter-like planet alone in the dark of space, floating freely without a parent star. (NASA)

Astronomy

Rogue Planets Could Outnumber Stars in the Milky Way

August 24, 2020

Using ALMA astronomers have revealed an extremely distant galaxy that looks surprisingly like our Milky Way. The galaxy, SPT0418-47, is gravitationally lensed by a nearby galaxy, appearing in the sky as a near-perfect ring of light. (ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Rizzo et al.)

Astronomy

Distant ‘Milky Way Look-Alike’ Challenges Theories of Galaxy Formation

August 12, 2020

Do Black Holes Merge? (NASA/Public Domain)

Astronomy

Double Trouble! Hunting for Supermassive Black Hole Mergers

July 27, 2020 - Updated on July 25, 2023

CSIRO’s ASKAP telescope continues to detect new FRBs, adding to the catalogue of these mysterious objects. Credit: ICRAR and CSIRO/Alex Cherney

Astronomy

The Universe’s Missing Matter Problem is Solved

Astronomy

Focusing on Arrokoth promises to reveal the Kuiper Belt’s secrets

February 19, 2020

News

Astronomers capture the most detailed image of the sun

January 30, 2020 - Updated on March 12, 2021

Artist’s conception of a dwarf galaxy, its shape distorted, most likely by a past interaction with another galaxy, and a massive black hole in its outskirts (pullout). The black hole is drawing in material that forms a rotating accretion disc and generates jets of material propelled outward. Image credit: Sophia Dagnello, NRAO/AUI/NSF

Astronomy

Astrophysicists find more evidence of ‘wandering’ black holes

January 22, 2020

The rocket carrying CHEOPS splits depositing its cargo into a low-Earth orbit. (ESA)

Astronomy

New European exoplanet-hunting telescope launches into space

December 18, 2019

The field of exoplanet research is heating up, and the Trappist-1 system is a prime target for future investigation (University of Bern)

Alien life

Exoplanet researcher awarded for groundbreaking work

December 7, 2019

An artist's impression of the CHEOPS telescope--the ESA's first S-Class project which will search for suitable exoplanets for future investigations (ESA)

Alien life

Exoplanet telescope CHEOPS gears up for launch day

December 5, 2019

An artist’s impression of S5-HVS1’s ejection by Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of the galaxy. The black hole and the captured binary partner to S5-HVS1 are seen far away in the left corner of the picture, while S5-HVS1 is in the foreground, speeding away from them. ( James Josephides (Swinburne Astronomy Productions))

Astronomy

Runaway star ejected from the centre of the Milky Way at incredible speed

November 15, 2019 - Updated on November 19, 2019

Artist's composition of a volcanic exo-Io undergoing extreme mass loss. The hidden exomoon is enshrouded in an irradiated gas cloud shining in bright orange-yellow, as would be seen with a sodium filter. Patches of sodium clouds are seen to trail the lunar orbit, possibly driven by the gas giant's magnetosphere. (© University of Bern, Illustration: Thibaut Roger)

Astronomy

Astronomers find clues of a volcanically active exomoon

August 30, 2019

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© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.