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17 Apr 2019, 17:51 UTC

Discovery Alert: A Third Planet in Kepler-47 System

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17 Apr 2019, 17:00 UTC

The Universe’s First Molecule Is Found at Last

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10 Apr 2019, 13:07 UTC

Astronomers Capture First Image of a Black Hole

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2 Apr 2019, 17:19 UTC

VLA Makes First Direct Image of Key Feature of Powerful Radio Galaxies

Astronomers used the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to make the first direct image of a dusty, doughnut-shaped feature surrounding the supermassive black hole at the core of one of the most powerful radio galaxies in the Universe — a feature first postulated by theorists nearly four decades ago as an essential part of such objects.The scientists studied Cygnus A, a galaxy some 760 million light-years from Earth. The galaxy harbors a black hole at its core that is 2.5 billion times more massive then the Sun. As the black hole’s powerful gravitational pull draws in surrounding material, it also propels superfast jets of material traveling outward at nearly the speed of light, producing spectacular “lobes” of bright radio emission.Black hole-powered “central engines” producing bright emission at various wavelengths, and jets extending far beyond the galaxy are common to many galaxies, but show different properties when observed. Those differences led to a variety of names, such as quasars, blazars, or Seyfert galaxies. To explain the differences, theorists constructed a “unified model” with a common set of features that would show different properties depending on the angle from which they are viewed.The unified model includes the ... Next Previous
29 Mar 2019, 16:12 UTC

SOFIA Captures Cosmic Light Show of Star Formation

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27 Mar 2019, 11:00 UTC

GRAVITY instrument breaks new ground in exoplanet imaging

The GRAVITY instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) has made the first direct observation of an exoplanet using optical interferometry. This method revealed a complex exoplanetary atmosphere with clouds of iron and silicates swirling in a planet-wide storm. The technique presents unique possibilities for characterising many of the exoplanets known today. Next Previous
26 Mar 2019, 17:26 UTC

In hunt for life, astronomers identify most promising stars

ITHACA, N.Y. – NASA’s new Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is designed to ferret out habitable exoplanets, but with hundreds of thousands of sunlike and smaller stars in its camera views, which of those stars could host planets like our own? A team of astronomers from Cornell, Lehigh University and Vanderbilt University has identified the most promising targets for this search in the new “TESS Habitable Zone Star Catalog,” published March 26 in Astrophysical Journal Letters. Lead author Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of Cornell’s Carl Sagan Institute, is a member of the TESS science team. The catalog identifies 1,822 stars for which TESS is sensitive enough to spot Earth-like planets just a bit larger than Earth that receive radiation from their star equivalent to what Earth receives from our sun. For 408 stars, TESS can glimpse a planet just as small as Earth, with similar irradiation, in one transit alone. “Life could exist on all sorts of worlds, but the kind we know can support life is our own, so it makes sense to first look for Earth-like planets,” Kaltenegger said. “This catalog tells us around which stars we can ... Next Previous
21 Mar 2019, 19:41 UTC

Galactic Center Visualization Delivers Star Power

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19 Mar 2019, 19:55 UTC

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Star Formation and the Rich Dust from Ancient Stars

Researchers have detected a radio signal from abundant interstellar dust in MACS0416_Y1, a galaxy 13.2 billion light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. Standard models can’t explain this much dust in a galaxy this young, forcing us to rethink the history of star formation. Researchers now think MACS0416_Y1 experienced staggered star formation with two intense starburst periods 300 million and 600 million years after the Big Bang with a quiet phase in between.Stars are the main players in the Universe, but they are supported by the unseen backstage stagehands: stardust and gas. Cosmic clouds of dust and gas are the sites of star formation and masterful storytellers of the cosmic history.“Dust and relatively heavy elements such as oxygen are disseminated by the deaths of stars,” said Yoichi Tamura, an associate professor at Nagoya University and the lead author of the research paper, “Therefore, a detection of dust at some point in time indicates that a number of stars have already formed and died well before that point.”Using ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), Tamura and his team observed the distant galaxy MACS0416_Y1. Because of the finite speed of light, the radio waves we observe from this galaxy today had to travel for ... Next Previous
19 Mar 2019, 16:00 UTC

Astronomers Find “Cannonball Pulsar” Speeding Through Space

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have found a pulsar speeding away from its presumed birthplace at nearly 700 miles per second, with its trail pointing directly back at the center of a shell of debris from the supernova explosion that created it. The discovery is providing important insights into how pulsars — superdense neutron stars left over after a massive star explodes — can get a “kick” of speed from the explosion.“This pulsar has completely escaped the remnant of debris from the supernova explosion,” said Frank Schinzel, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). “It’s very rare for a pulsar to get enough of a kick for us to see this,” he added.The pulsar, dubbed PSR J0002+6216, about 6,500 light-years from Earth, was discovered in 2017 by a citizen-science project called Einstein@Home. That project uses computer time donated by volunteers to analyze data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. So far, using more than 10,000 years of computing time, the project has discovered a total of 23 pulsars.Radio observations with the VLA clearly show the pulsar outside the supernova remnant, with a tail of shocked particles and magnetic energy some 13 light-years ... Next Previous

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2019/nasa-scientist-to-discuss-apollo-at-50-the-lasting-effect-of-exploration-of-the-lunar: NASA Scientist to Discuss “Apollo at 50: The Lasting Effect of Exploration of the Lunar Surface” at Library of Congress Lecture
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Scientist to Discuss “Apollo at 50: The Lasting Effect of Exploration of the Lunar Surface” at Library of Congress Lecture

22 Apr 2019, 13:50 UTC The public is invited to a free talk called ‘Apollo at 50: The Lasting Effect of Exploration of the Lunar Surface on Our Current Exploration of the Moon,' with Dr. Noah Petro, Project Scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or LRO mission. The talk will occur in the Pickford Theater, third floor, Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT.
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/mercurys-spin-and-gravity-reveals-the-planets-inner-solid-core: A Closer Look at Mercury’s Spin and Gravity Reveals the Planet’s Inner Solid Core
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

A Closer Look at Mercury’s Spin and Gravity Reveals the Planet’s Inner Solid Core

17 Apr 2019, 15:00 UTC How do you explore the interior of a planet without ever touching down on it? Start by watching the way the planet spins, then measure how your spacecraft orbits it — very, very carefully. This is exactly what NASA planetary scientists did, using data from the agency’s former mission to Mercury.
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/a-jellyfish-galaxy-swims-into-view-of-nasa-s-upcoming-webb-telescope: A “Jellyfish” Galaxy Swims Into View of NASA’s Upcoming Webb Telescope
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

A “Jellyfish” Galaxy Swims Into View of NASA’s Upcoming Webb Telescope

17 Apr 2019, 12:49 UTC The newly forming stars in the tail are mysterious because processes common in large groups of galaxies should make it difficult for new stars to emerge. Most galaxies live in groups — for example, the Milky Way is a member of the Local Group, which also contains galaxies like Andromeda and the Triangulum spiral. Some galaxies reside in much larger gatherings of hundreds or even thousands of galaxies known as a galaxy cluster. The “jellyfish” galaxy ESO 137-001 is part of a cluster called Abell 3627.
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2019/xt2/: A New Signal for a Neutron Star Collision Discovered
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

A New Signal for a Neutron Star Collision Discovered

16 Apr 2019, 18:22 UTC A neutron star merger without an observed gamma-ray burst has been discovered using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
news/2019-13: Scientists Use Asteroid to Measure Smallest Star Size to Date
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Scientists Use Asteroid to Measure Smallest Star Size to Date

16 Apr 2019, 15:26 UTC Scientists in the VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) Collaboration have published a paper in Nature Astronomy journal detailing the results of their work with the VERITAS array—located at the Center for Astrophysics' Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Amado, Arizona—to measure the smallest apparent size of stars in the night sky known to date.
https://www.kicc.cam.ac.uk/news/astronomers-explain-variations-in-the-fogginess-of-the-universe-to-identify-a-milestone-in-cosmic-history: Variations in the ‘fogginess’ of the universe identify a milestone in cosmic history
Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge

Variations in the ‘fogginess’ of the universe identify a milestone in cosmic history

16 Apr 2019, 06:45 UTC Large differences in the ‘fogginess’ of the early universe were caused by islands of cold gas left behind when the universe heated up after the big bang, according to an international team of astronomers.

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https://www.skyandtelescope.com/?p=255493918: Astronomers Find Stars Streaming from Our Galaxy’s Biggest Cluster
Sky and Telescope

Direct link Astronomers Find Stars Streaming from Our Galaxy’s Biggest Cluster

23 Apr 2019, 01:12 UTC Astronomers have discovered a stream of stars pulled from Omega Centauri, the largest and most brilliant globular cluster around the Milky Way — and perhaps a one-time dwarf galaxy.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/?p=7695: New Life Science Begins; Next Dragon Cargo Mission Due Next Week
NASA Space Station Blog

Direct link New Life Science Begins; Next Dragon Cargo Mission Due Next Week

22 Apr 2019, 16:47 UTC The Expedition 59 crew has been unpacking Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft over the weekend and began science operations on the newly delivered space research. The 17thSpaceX Dragon mission is now due to launch next week to replenish the International Space Station.
https://medium.com/p/390c636fcd75: The Two Scientific Ways We Can Improve Our Images Of Event Horizons
Starts With a Bang!

Direct link The Two Scientific Ways We Can Improve Our Images Of Event Horizons

22 Apr 2019, 14:01 UTC To resolve any astronomical object, you must achieve resolutions superior to the apparent size of your target.
www.planetary.org-918926253: Chang’e-4 Updates: Yutu-2 Roves into Overtime, Returns More Images
The Planetary Society Blog

Direct link Chang’e-4 Updates: Yutu-2 Roves into Overtime, Returns More Images

22 Apr 2019, 11:00 UTC China’s Chang’e-4 lander and Yutu-2 rover are continuing to function well and have completed their fourth lunar day since landing on the far side of the Moon on 3 January 2019 this year.
http://discovermagazine.com/2019/may/the-fight-for-first-exoplanet: The Fight Over Who Really Found the First Exoplanet
Discover

Direct link The Fight Over Who Really Found the First Exoplanet

22 Apr 2019, 10:00 UTC Exoplanets, nowadays, are commonplace. Impossibly hot gas giants, rocky super-Earths and prolific seven-planet systems have captivated scientists and the public alike. So it may be hard to remember only 30 years ago, when every new claim of a world outside the solar system was revolutionary and met with disbelief.
http://spaceflightnow.com/?p=38172: Cygnus supply ship delivers 3.8-ton cargo load to International Space Station
Spaceflight Now

Direct link Cygnus supply ship delivers 3.8-ton cargo load to International Space Station

19 Apr 2019, 16:34 UTC NASA flight engineer Anne McClain grappled Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship with the International Space Station’s robotic arm Friday, marking the automated cargo freighter’s arrival after an abbreviated day-and-a-half-long journey from a launch pad in Virginia with nearly 7,600 pounds of experiments, food and provisions.

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