Gemini South Reveals Origin of Unexpected Differences in Giant Binary Stars

Gemini South Reveals Origin of Unexpected Differences in Giant Binary Stars

Using the Gemini South telescope a team of astronomers have confirmed for the first time that differences in binary stars’ composition can originate from chemical variations in the cloud of stellar material from which they ...
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A clumpy dome of blueish-gray clouds rises about a third of the way from the bottom. Above it, streaky, translucent red wisps brush upward to about halfway up the image. The top half of the image is the black background of space with one prominent, bright white star with Webb’s 8-point diffraction spikes. Additional stars and galaxies are scattered throughout the image, although very few are seen through the thick clouds at bottom and all are significantly smaller than the largest star.

Webb Captures Top of Iconic Horsehead Nebula in Unprecedented Detail

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of a zoomed-in portion of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show the top ...
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Taking up most of the image, is a multi-colored nebula appearing as two translucent orbs attached by a white band.

Hubble Celebrates 34th Anniversary with a Look at the Little Dumbbell Nebula

In celebration of the 34th anniversary of the launch of NASA's legendary Hubble Space Telescopeon April 24, astronomers took a snapshot of the Little Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 76, M76, or NGC 650/651) located ...
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A side-by-side image showing opposite sides of Jupiter. At the top, left corner of the left-hand image is the label Jupiter. Centered at the bottom is the label January 5, 2024. The planet is banded in stripes of brownish orange, light gray, soft yellow, and shades of cream. Many large storms and small white clouds punctuate the planet. The largest storm, the Great Red Spot, is the most prominent feature in the left bottom third of this view. To its lower right is a smaller reddish anticyclone, Red Spot Jr. Another small red anticyclone appears near the top center of the image. On the right panel, centered at the bottom is the label January 6, 2024. This opposite side of Jupiter is also banded in stripes of brownish orange, light gray, soft yellow, and shades of cream with many large storms and small white clouds punctuating the planet. At upper right of center, a pair of storms appear next to each other: a deep-red triangle-shaped cyclone and a reddish anticyclone. Toward the far-left edge of this view is Jupiter's tiny moon Io. The variegated orange color is where volcanic outflow deposits are seen on Io’s surface.

Hubble Tracks Jupiter’s Stormy Weather

The giant planet Jupiter, in all its banded glory, is revisited by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in these latest images, taken on January 5-6, 2024, capturing both sides of the planet. Hubble monitors Jupiter and ...
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Ghostly Stellar Tendrils of the Vela Supernova Remnant- filaments in blue and orange fill the image.

Ghostly Stellar Tendrils Captured in Largest DECam Image Ever Released

With the powerful, 570-megapixel Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera (DECam), astronomers have constructed a massive 1.3-gigapixel image showcasing the central part of the Vela Supernova Remnant, the cosmic corpse of a gigantic star that ...
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A face-on spiral galaxy with four spiral arms that curve outward in a counterclockwise direction. The spiral arms are filled with young, blue stars and peppered with purplish star-forming regions that appear as small blobs. The middle of the galaxy is much brighter and more yellowish, and has a distinct narrow linear bar angled from 11 o’clock to 5 o’clock. Dozens of red background galaxies are scattered across the image. The background of space is black.

NASA’s Webb, Hubble Telescopes Affirm Universe’s Expansion Rate, Puzzle Persists

When you are trying to solve one of the biggest conundrums in cosmology, you should triple check your homework. The puzzle, called the "Hubble Tension," is that the current rate of the expansion of the ...
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