The universe is full of mysterious exploding phenomena that go boom in the dark. One particular type of ephemeral event, called a Fast-Evolving Luminous Transient (FELT), has bewildered astronomers for a decade because of its very brief duration.
Now, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope — designed to go hunting for planets across our galaxy — has also been used to catch … Read the rest of this article
The movements of more than 300,000 stars surveyed by ESA’s Gaia satellite reveal that rare close encounters with our Sun might disturb the cloud of comets at the far reaches of our Solar System, sending some towards Earth in the distant future.
As the Solar System moves through the Galaxy, and as other stars move on their own paths, close … Read the rest of this article
While surveying the positions of over a billion stars, ESA’s Gaia mission is also measuring their colour, a key diagnostic to study the physical properties of stars. A new image (above) provides a preview of Gaia’s first full-colour all-sky map, which will be unleashed in its highest resolution with the next data release in 2018.
Stars come in a variety … Read the rest of this article
Hold out your hand for 10 seconds. A dozen electrons and muons just zipped unfelt through your palm. The ghostly particles are what scientists call “secondary cosmic rays” — subatomic debris from collisions between molecules high in Earth’s atmosphere and high-energy cosmic rays from outer space.
This daily shower, which never stops, is a sign of violent events in deep … Read the rest of this article
This shot from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a maelstrom of glowing gas and dark dust within one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
This stormy scene shows a stellar nursery known as N159, an HII region over 150 light-years across. N159 contains many hot young stars.
These stars are emitting intense ultraviolet light, … Read the rest of this article
Three decades ago, astronomers spotted one of the brightest exploding stars in more than 400 years. The titanic supernova, called Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A), blazed with the power of 100 million suns for several months following its discovery on Feb. 23, 1987.
This is where Supernova 1987A is located
Since that first sighting, SN 1987A has continued to fascinate astronomers … Read the rest of this article
The universe suddenly looks a lot more crowded, thanks to a deep-sky census assembled from surveys taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories.
Astronomers came to the surprising conclusion that there are at least 10 times more galaxies in the observable universe than previously thought.
The results have clear implications for galaxy formation, and also helps shed light … Read the rest of this article
Great balls of fire! NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has detected superhot blobs of gas, each twice as massive as the planet Mars, being ejected near a dying star. The plasma balls are zooming so fast through space it would take only 30 minutes for them to travel from Earth to the moon. This stellar “cannon fire” has continued once every … Read the rest of this article
Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the TV series “Star Trek,” which first aired September 8th,1966, a new infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope may remind fans of the historic show.
Since ancient times, people have imagined familiar objects when gazing at the heavens. There are many examples of this phenomenon, known as pareidolia, including the constellations … Read the rest of this article
At the centre of this image, captured by ESA’s Herschel space observatory, is a truly peculiar cosmic object: a star named IRAS 19312+1950.
Located over 12,000 light-years from us, this star has puzzled astronomers for many years because it shows conflicting signs of being both extremely old and extremely young.
Astronomers have spotted signs of emission usually associated with … Read the rest of this article
Recommended Astronomy DVDs, Blu-Rays and 4K UHD Blu-Rays
4-Billion-Year-Old Relic From the Early Solar System Is Headed This Way
Hubble Space Telescope Finds the Most Distant Star Ever Seen
The Lessons Learned From a Simulated Asteroid Strike Over Europe
Teachers: Apply Now to the ESA Teach With Space Online Conference
First Panoramic View of Mars at Perseverance Rover Landing Site
NASA’s Webb Telescope Will Show Us More Stars at Higher Resolution
Animations of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing
NASA Is Providing Spanish-Language Coverage for the Livestream of the December 14 Solar Eclipse
NASA Names Artemis Team of Astronauts Eligible for Early Moon Missions
The Sun Now (Visible light)
|
The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
|
|
Aurora Oval
(Northern Hemisphere) |
Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
|
