NASA’s Hubble, Chandra Spot Rare Type of Black Hole Eating a Star
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to identify a new possible example of a rare class of black holes. Called NGC 6099 HLX-1, this bright X-ray source seems to reside in a compact ...
Gemini North Discovers Long-Predicted Stellar Companion of Betelgeuse
Astronomers have discovered a companion star in an incredibly tight orbit around Betelgeuse using the NASA and U.S. National Science Foundation-funded ‘Alopeke instrument on Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded ...
Gemini North Observes Comet 3I/ATLAS
Interstellar objects are visitors from solar systems beyond our own, and the third ever such object, known as 3I/ATLAS, has just been discovered. Using the Gemini North telescope, astronomers have captured 3I/ATLAS as it makes ...
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
It’s the cat’s meow! To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within ...
International Gemini Observatory and SOAR Discover Surprising Link Between Fast X-ray Transients and the Explosive Death of Massive Stars
Using a combination of telescopes, including the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, and the SOAR telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, ...
Likely Saturn-Mass Planet Imaged by NASA Webb Is Lightest Ever Seen
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have captured compelling evidence of a planet with a mass similar to Saturn orbiting the young nearby star TWA 7. If confirmed, this would represent Webb’s first direct ...
Ever-changing Universe Revealed in First Imagery From NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a major new scientific facility jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, released its first imagery today at an ...
Small-Scale Solar Explosion Reveals Big Clues About Magnetic Reconnection
Using the world’s largest solar telescope, a team of scientists has captured one of the most detailed views ever of a small yet powerful solar explosion—uncovering the complexity of magnetic fields powering the Sun’s smallest ...
Magnetic Curtains on the Sun: NSF Inouye Solar Telescope Reveals Ultra-Fine Striations in Solar Surface
A team of solar physicists has released a new study shedding light on the fine-scale structure of the Sun’s surface. Using the unparalleled power of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and ...
Apocalypse When? Hubble Casts Doubt on Certainty of Galactic Collision
As far back as 1912, astronomers realized that the Andromeda galaxy -- then thought to be only a nebula -- was headed our way. A century later, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope were able to measure the sideways ...
“Raindrops in the Sun’s Corona”: New Adaptive Optics Shows Stunning Details of our Star’s Atmosphere
The Sun’s corona—the outermost layer of its atmosphere, visible only during a total solar eclipse—has long intrigued scientists due to its extreme temperatures, violent eruptions, and large prominences. However, turbulence in the Earth’s atmosphere has ...
NASA’s Webb Reveals New Details, Mysteries in Jupiter’s Aurora
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured new details of the auroras on our solar system’s largest planet. The dancing lights observed on Jupiter are hundreds of times brighter than those seen on Earth. With ...
