Astronomers have detected water vapour and other molecules on HAT-P-11b, the smallest exoplanet known to harbor these compounds. The discovery is significant for its potential implications on understanding the atmospheres of smaller planets.
Astronomers using Hubble have found the smallest known galaxy with a supermassive black hole at its center. The galaxy, M60-UCD1, has a diameter of just 300 light-years and contains 140 million stars, yet it harbors a massive black hole weighing five times that of the Milky Way's central black hole.
Researchers found a tiny galaxy, M60-UCD1, hosting a supermassive black hole with a mass of 21 million suns. The discovery suggests many ultracompact dwarf galaxies may contain huge black holes. The team used Gemini North and Hubble Space Telescope observations to estimate the black hole's mass.
Astronomers used Hubble and ground observations to find the M60-UCD1 dwarf galaxy containing a massive black hole. The discovery suggests compact galaxies may be remnants of larger galaxies torn apart during collisions.
Astronomers have observed the earliest stages of massive galaxy construction, dubbed 'Sparky', which contains about twice as many stars as our Milky Way. The discovery was made possible through combined observations from NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.
Case Western Reserve University astronomers will study the outskirts of spiral galaxy M101 using Hubble Space Telescope data. The research aims to determine how galaxies form over time, with findings that could challenge current understanding of galaxy formation.
Astronomers discovered a star system that could have left behind a 'zombie star' after an unusually weak supernova explosion. The team used Hubble Space Telescope images taken years before the stellar explosion to identify a blue companion star feeding energy to a white dwarf.
Astronomers have mapped the mass within a galaxy cluster, MCS J0416.1-2403, more precisely than ever before using unprecedented depth of data from Hubble's Frontier Fields programme. The team identified 51 new multiply imaged galaxies around the cluster, quadrupling the number found in previous surveys.
A team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope measured water vapour in the atmospheres of three gas giants, finding levels one-tenth to one-thousandth that predicted by standard theory. This discovery raises questions about exoplanet formation and highlights challenges in searching for water on Earth-like planets.
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope found three 'hot Jupiters' with significantly lower than expected water vapor levels, challenging current theories on planet formation and migration. The discovery may require instruments to be designed with higher sensitivity for future space telescopes searching for water in potentially...
The Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) mission aims to study dark energy, the mysterious form of energy that accelerates the universe's expansion. ATLAST would also detect signatures of life in the atmospheres of Earth-like planets and resolve stars in distant galaxies.
Astronomers at Yale University have discovered seven previously unseen dwarf galaxies using a novel telescope that can detect low-surface-brightness objects. The finding suggests the possibility of a new class of galaxies in space, with potential implications for dark matter and galaxy evolution.
A team of astronomers from RIT helped analyze data showing two elliptical galaxies coalescing in a dense galaxy cluster. The study reveals rare insights into elliptical galaxy mergers and finds a string-of-pearl star formation structure with 19 young blue clusters.
Astronomers have spotted an unusual structure in the universe, resembling a corkscrew-shaped string of pearls, that winds around the cores of two colliding galaxies. The discovery has sparked excitement among researchers, who are still trying to understand the physical processes behind this phenomenon.
Researchers have discovered a rapidly moving gas streamer blocking X-rays from the galaxy's nucleus, indicating a significant decrease in radiation. This phenomenon may regulate the growth of both the supermassive black hole and its host galaxy.
New observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal small galaxies are responsible for forming a significant number of the universe's stars. This finding supports a decade-long investigation into the relationship between a galaxy's mass and its star-forming activity, providing new insights into the early universe's history.
A new type of Digital Zenith Telescope prototype has been developed in China, utilizing CCD camera and high-precision tiltmeter to improve efficiency and accuracy. The instrument can measure the deflection of the vertical and variations of the local plumb line, with single-observation accuracy up to 0.15-0.3
University of Leicester researchers captured stunning images of Saturn's auroras, providing evidence for the theory that Saturn's magnetic tail collapse causes auroral displays. The findings support a similar process on Earth.
Researchers have discovered five new debris disks around young stars in the Hubble archive, providing insights into planetary system formation and evolution. The disks are composed of dust particles formed from asteroid collisions and offer a glimpse into the early solar system.
Using spatial scanning, astronomers can now measure the distance of stars up to 10,000 light-years away with enhanced accuracy. This new technique is expected to provide insight into dark energy and refine estimates of the universe's expansion rate.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of Mars-bound comet Siding Spring, revealing two jets of dust emanating from the nucleus. This observation will help astronomers determine the direction of the nucleus's pole and axis of rotation.
The James Webb Space Telescope features a primary mirror composed of 18 smaller lightweight mirror segments, each with precise actuators to align and shape the mirror. The segments are designed to work together as one giant mirror, capturing light from distant galaxies and stars in space.
Astronomers have witnessed the first-ever breakup of an asteroid into as many as 10 smaller pieces using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The discovery suggests that sunlight may be responsible for this type of disintegration, which is a subtle effect known as YORP torque.
Asteroid P/2013 R3 broke apart into 10 smaller pieces as it approached the sun, with fragments drifting away at a leisurely pace. Scientists believe the asteroid's weak interior and gradual rotation rate may be responsible for its disintegration.
The Hubble Space Telescope has photographed an asteroid, P/2013 R3, breaking apart into as many as ten smaller pieces. The fragments are drifting away from each other at a leisurely 1.5 kilometers per hour, likely due to the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack effect.
The spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 is zooming through the Norma cluster at nearly 4.5 million miles per hour, stripping gas from its home and forming new stars in intergalactic space. Astronomers hope that studying this galaxy can help them understand how galaxies form stars and evolve over time.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of SN 2014J, a Type Ia supernova discovered in the galaxy M82. The observations will help refine distance measurements to these explosions, which are essential for understanding the accelerating expansion of the universe.
A team of researchers has identified a giant gas cloud in the Milky Way galaxy, shaped like a long filament and about 50,000 times the mass of our sun. The discovery was made using the High Elevation Antarctic Terahertz telescope, which detects atomic carbon and is located at Ridge A in Antarctica.
The James Webb Space Telescope is nearing completion, with all 18 primary mirror segments and four science instruments delivered to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The telescope will be the most powerful space telescope ever built, capable of observing distant objects in the universe.
Astronomers plan observations of supernova SN 2014J with NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and other space missions. The event provides an opportunity to study how interstellar dust affects its light.
A team of astronomers discovered a primordial galaxy, Himiko, seen at 800 million years after the Big Bang. The observations using Hubble and ALMA revealed intense star formation, but puzzlingly low metal content, challenging current star formation theories.
The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a glittering treasure trove of more than 800,000 stars and protostars embedded inside the Tarantula Nebula. The observations were obtained as part of the Hubble Tarantula Treasury Program, which will produce a large catalog of stellar properties.
Astronomers are studying the newly formed stars in M83 using citizen science project STAR DATE: M83. The project aims to estimate ages for approximately 3000 star clusters. Citizen scientists analyze the image to identify objects such as supernova remnants and foreground stars, shedding light on stellar birth and death.
AAS meeting highlights four unusually bright galaxies, a galaxy cluster image, and sampling of galaxies thought to be responsible for most stars in the universe. These ultra-bright, young galaxies are forming stars approximately 50 times faster than our Milky Way galaxy.
A team of scientists led by UC Riverside astronomers used Hubble to discover 58 young, diminutive galaxies in ultraviolet light, which are 100 times more numerous and 100 times fainter than detected galaxies. These 'unseen' galaxies formed most new stars during the universe's early years.
Astronomers have detected clear evidence of clouds in the atmosphere of GJ 1214b, a super-Earth exoplanet, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The findings suggest that high-altitude clouds blanket the planet, hiding information about its composition and behavior.
The final three of 18 primary mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope have arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The mirrors, built by Ball Aerospace, will form a 6.5-meter-diameter primary mirror when integrated with a stable structure.
The Hubble Space Telescope observed a 'light echo' phenomenon as RS Puppis variable star pulsed, measuring its distance to 6,500 light-years with high accuracy. The star's fluctuations and reflected light allowed astronomers to narrow down the distance using light echoes.
Researchers have discovered huge active plumes containing water vapour being released from the surface of Europa, a liquid ocean lies beneath its icy crust. The plumes, comparable to earth geysers in size, will aid further investigations of the moon and potentially make life discoveries
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has discovered water vapour erupting from the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa, in one or more localised plumes near its south pole. This finding strengthens Europa's position as a top candidate for potential habitability, but the origin and connection to subsurface liquid water are still unknown.
Two teams of scientists used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to detect faint water signals in the atmospheres of five distant planets. The strengths of their water signatures varied, with some planets having stronger signals than expected.
Astronomers observed two nearby supernovae, SN 2012im and SN 2013ek, in spiral galaxy NGC 6984 using NASA's Hubble space telescope. The recent image reveals the second star that has exploded, forming a new Type Ib supernova visible near the center of the galaxy.
Astronomers have observed an asteroid, P/2013 P5, spouting six comet-like tails of dust, defying the typical appearance of asteroids. The unusual tail structures change dramatically in just 13 days, sparking debate over their origin and suggesting a possible rotational breakup.
Astronomers have discovered an unusual asteroid with six comet-like tails, which change dramatically over just 13 days. The object's rotation rate may be causing its surface to fly apart, ejecting dust in episodic eruptions.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have observed a unique asteroid with six comet-like tails, challenging current understanding of asteroids and comets. The asteroid's rotation rate may have caused its surface to fly apart, ejecting dust into space.
Astronomers at UMass Amherst and UT at Austin identify the most distant galaxy, with a redshift parameter of z = 7.51, indicating it is 700 million years old. The discovery challenges theories on galaxy formation and suggests intense star-forming galaxies may be more common than thought.
Researchers use spectroscopy to confirm distance of newly discovered galaxy, z8-GND-5296, which forms stars at a rate ~300 times that of the Milky Way. The discovery sheds light on the earliest formation of galaxies and provides insights into the evolution of galaxies throughout the universe's age.
Astronomers have found the most crowded galaxy in our part of the universe, M60-UCD1, packed with an extraordinary number of stars. The ultra-compact dwarf galaxy is estimated to be about 10 billion years old and has a density of stars about 15,000 times greater than Earth's neighborhood.
New research reveals that 'red nugget' galaxies, previously thought to be extinct, were actually hidden within previous survey data. These compact galaxies may represent a missing link between distant 'red nuggets' and nearby elliptical galaxies.
Astronomers have discovered a massive population of globular clusters within Abell 1689, the largest number ever found. The study reveals that this galaxy cluster could contain over 160,000 globulars, with 10,000 identified in Hubble observations.
A team of astronomers found that butterfly-shaped planetary nebulae are mysteriously aligned in the sky, with their long axes aligned along the plane of our galaxy. This surprising result hints at a more mysterious factor influencing the formation of these objects, possibly due to strong magnetic fields as the bulge formed.
Astronomers have created time-lapse movies of a jet of superheated gas emanating from a supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy M87. The research team analyzed Hubble data to study the details of this process in understanding galaxy formation and black hole physics.
Astronomers use Hubble to study distant galaxies 11 billion years ago, confirming the Hubble Sequence holds true as far back as 8 billion years. The study finds that all galaxies fit into different classifications of the sequence, with blue star-forming galaxies and massive red galaxies dominating at these early times.
Researchers have found that mature-looking galaxies existed 11.5 billion years ago, pushing back the timeline of galaxy formation by 2.5 billion years. This discovery confirms the Hubble Sequence, a classification system used to describe galaxy morphology, even at early stages of the universe's history.
Astronomers using Hubble Space Telescope have solved the mystery of the Magellanic Stream's origin, finding most of the gas came from the Small Magellanic Cloud two billion years ago. A second region was formed more recently from the Large Magellanic Cloud, contradicting previous computer models.
Astronomers using Hubble Space Telescope have solved the 40-year mystery on the origin of the Magellanic Stream. Most of the gas was stripped from the Small Magellanic Cloud about 2 billion years ago, and a second region originated from the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The article highlights NASA's Hubble Space Telescope's incredible view of Comet ISON against a vast backdrop of galaxies and stars. The comet appears to be swimming through the cosmos despite its immense distance from Earth, showcasing the telescope's unparalleled resolution.
Astronomers have tracked the orbital motion of 33,000 stars in one of the Galaxy's oldest globular clusters, offering new insights into the formation of the Milky Way. The study reveals two distinct generations of stars within globular cluster 47 Tucanae, differing in age by 100 million years.
Researchers used Hubble to analyze the motion of over 30,000 stars in 47 Tucanae, linking their orbital motion to age for the first time. The study found two distinct populations of stars, with ages differing by less than 100 million years.
The newly discovered moon, S/2004 N 1, is estimated to be 12 miles across and is the smallest known moon orbiting Neptune. It was found using archival images taken by Hubble from 2004 to 2009 and noticed a white dot between the orbits of Neptunian moons Larissa and Proteus.