Articles tagged with Observational Astronomy
Researchers observe star fragments plowing through surrounding gas, tracing the recycling process that supplies raw materials for new planets and stars. The study offers a glimpse into the potential fate of our Sun, which will shed its outer layers and return material to the Milky Way.
Astronomers have discovered water molecules in the envelope of star IRS 3, located near the supermassive black hole Sgr A*. The star's enormous envelope, fueled by rapid mass loss, has allowed water to thrive in its vicinity. This finding suggests that Sgr A* is being enriched with fundamental building blocks of life.
The panel discussed how advances in engineering are unlocking new scientific missions and driving breakthroughs. Emerging technologies, such as commercial capabilities and artificial intelligence, are reshaping the mission landscape.
The SDSS-V survey has released its twentieth public data release (DR20), providing a massive catalog of high-quality spectra of stars across the Milky Way. The dataset includes over two million total spectra, revealing temperatures, ages, and chemical compositions of stars.
The Local Volume Mapper is capturing light to reveal the physics and chemistry of stellar birthplaces across vast expanses of the sky in unprecedented detail. Astronomers are analyzing specific spectral lines to map the precise temperature, density, chemical abundance, and motion of interstellar gas.
The 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly addressed the challenge of preserving dark and quiet skies for astronomical observations and satellite technology. The session considered scientific, technical, operational, and regulatory perspectives to balance benefits with environmental and societal concerns.
Researchers used the NSF Inouye Solar Telescope to capture high-resolution images of swirling vortices in the sun's photosphere, which are believed to be the 'engine' driving twisting magnetic field lines. This discovery could fundamentally change our understanding of solar dynamics and evolution.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has released its 20th data set, featuring over three million spectra of stars and galaxies, as well as 18 new value-added catalogs. This release marks a significant expansion of the survey's efforts, integrating full all-sky panoptic spectroscopy across both hemispheres.
Researchers used machine learning to identify seven rare quasar candidates from a list of 800,000 quasars. The discovery offers an opportunity to expand knowledge of how quasars and their host galaxies work, as well as understanding our own galaxy's evolution.
Astronomers spot supermassive black hole on outskirts of galaxy, defying assumption that it resides in the center. The discovery uses AI program to identify characteristic light patterns from tidal disruption events.
Researchers at Uppsala University recalculated the Sun's silver content using a new model that predicts 55% more silver than previous estimates. This resolves a long-standing problem of missing silver in the solar system and improves our understanding of how elements are produced in stars and incorporated into planets.
Researchers analyze the 'ringdown' phase of black hole collisions to test Einstein's theory of General Relativity and uncover secrets about these mysterious objects. Future observatories may reveal fresh evidence for new physics and challenge current models.
Astronomers have discovered a third planet, Beta Pictoris d, in the system, which is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b and 2.4 times more massive than Jupiter. The planet's wide orbit and extreme faintness make its detection a significant achievement.
A team of researchers from Kyushu University and Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics have detected ambipolar diffusion in a prestellar core, weakening magnetic support and leading to gravitational collapse. This finding provides insight into early star formation and the creation of stellar systems like our own.
Researchers have discovered stellar cocoons rich in complex organic molecules within a supernova remnant, indicating that newborn stars can remain protected and preserve their molecular composition. The study suggests that the environment of our Solar System's formation may be more diverse than previously recognized.
An international team of astronomers has directly measured the mass of an inactive supermassive black hole in the early Universe for the first time. The study found that the black hole is about 12 times more massive than expected from its host galaxy, suggesting that the central engine was already fully grown while the galaxy around it...
The XMM-Newton and Chandra space telescopes have spotted the aftermath of three bright explosions echoing through the Milky Way's outer spiral arms. The team measured the distance to these echoes directly, finding two arms - Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm and Outer Arm - lie up to 10% further away than previously thought.
Researchers have discovered two rare 'super-puff' planets with densities lower than candy floss, orbiting an F7-type dwarf star. The study provides a unique laboratory for understanding how these planets form and evolve, offering insights into their extremely low densities.
Researchers found a compact core in the 'Shadow Blaster' galaxy, which is likely heating gas and dust through intense star formation, producing high-energy neutrinos. This alternative pathway could contribute up to 20% of the high-energy neutrino background.
Astronomers have detected the [O I] 145 µm emission line in four typical star-forming galaxies, which serves as a clear tracer of neutral gas. This detection provides unprecedented detail on the physical and chemical conditions of star-forming material in these distant galaxies.
New study by University of Southampton confirms the universe's expansion is still accelerating as previously found, debunking 2025 claims that the cosmos was slowing. The team re-evaluated data using Type Ia supernovae to calculate vast cosmic distances and found no error in their methods.
Researchers have discovered the most distant dormant black hole yet detected, located over 10 billion light years away. The black hole's mass is approximately 6 billion times that of the sun, providing unprecedented insights into black holes in the early universe.
The European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be the most powerful optical and infrared telescope ever built, enabling unprecedented observations of exoplanets and galaxies. Canadian astronomers will gain guaranteed access to the telescope through a $11.3M grant, supporting the development of the ANDES instrument.
Researchers found amino acids are consistently more diverse and evenly distributed in biological samples than abiotic ones, while fatty acids show the opposite pattern. This fundamental principle of life may be detectable in data collected by space missions.
A team of astronomers has produced the most detailed map of the cosmic web, tracing its network of galaxies back to one billion years old. The COSMOS-Web survey, conducted with the largest JWST survey, reveals a more informative large-scale structure than earlier maps.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope discovered a galaxy that is not rotating, contradicting current theories about galaxy formation. The team believes this galaxy may have been formed after a single collision between two galaxies, making it a rare and unexpected finding.
Researchers tracked galaxy clusters to test gravity's strength, finding it weakens with distance as predicted by Newton and Einstein. The study confirms the existence of invisible dark matter, closing the door on alternative theories like Modified Newtonian Dynamics.
Astronomers have discovered an ancient immigrant star in the Milky Way that formed in a companion galaxy and migrated billions of years ago. The star, SDSSJ0715-7334, has the lowest metallicity ever observed, suggesting it is one of the oldest stars in the universe.
Astronomers have identified the most pristine star in the known universe, SDSS J0715-7334, with a metal content of less than 0.005%. This ancient immigrant was born about 80,000 light-years from Earth and has been pulled into the Milky Way galaxy over time.
Researchers from Kyushu University used ALMA to observe a baby star producing a giant ring of gas about 1,000 au in size, which helps the star release excess energy. The team found that this ring is slightly warmer than its surroundings and hypothesize it's produced through magnetic field threading.
Researchers from ISTA identify two white dwarfs, Gandalf and Moon-Sized, which share five properties, including X-ray emission, despite being isolated objects. These discoveries suggest the existence of a new class of star remnants with unique magnetic and rotational properties.
Astronomers from the University of Liège have solved a 50-year-old stellar mystery by attributing the X-rays emitted by Gamma Cas to a magnetic white dwarf orbiting the star. The study used high-energy astrophysics instrumentation and revealed that the X-rays are associated with the compact companion, not the massive Be star itself.
A team of astrophysicists offers a new explanation for negative superhumps in cataclysmic variable star systems, proposing an eccentric accretion disk model. This theory explains the prevalence of negative superhumps across a wide range of binary star masses and may also explain positive superhumps in high mass ratio systems.
A team of astronomers has detected rare evidence of two planets colliding, which could provide valuable insights into the formation of our solar system. The unlikely event was observed in a distant star, Gaia20ehk, which was found to have massive amounts of rocks and dust passing in front of it, blocking its light.
Astronomers have captured unprecedented detail of cosmic gas in the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone, revealing intricate chemistry and complex star-forming processes. The dataset provides a unique view of the raw material from which stars form, shedding light on galaxy evolution and the birth of massive stars.
Researchers discovered a star in the Andromeda Galaxy that vanished without going supernova, instead collapsing directly into a black hole. The team's analysis revealed the process of stellar collapse and provided evidence for convection's role in shaping a black hole's outer layers.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) welcomes the cancellation of INNA, a planned industrial complex near Paranal Observatory. The project would have posed a major threat to the darkest skies on Earth and compromised the performance of advanced astronomical facilities.
Researchers have created the first broadband map of Faraday rotation, revealing a complex magnetic field in the Milky Way. The dataset, DRAGONS, captures polarized radio emissions across a wide range of frequencies, allowing astronomers to see magnetic structures invisible before.
Researchers created the highest resolution map of dark matter, showing its interaction with normal matter through gravity. The new data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope confirms previous research and provides new details about dark matter's influence on the Universe.
A team of astronomers using the WEAVE instrument discovered a bar-shaped cloud of iron atoms inside the iconic Ring Nebula. The iron bar is roughly 500 times longer than Pluto's orbit and has a mass comparable to Mars, raising questions about its formation and composition.
Astronomers have created a naturally occurring space weather station around complex periodic variable M dwarf stars to study the environment of planets. This discovery sheds new light on how stars affect their planets' makeup and might provide clues about the habitability of distant worlds.
Researchers identified nine objects with characteristics of stars and galaxies, sparking new questions about the cosmos. These 'platypus galaxies' have narrow emission lines indicative of active star formation, defying expectations.
Researchers have found a galaxy cluster with scorching hot gas just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, five times hotter than predicted, and containing three supermassive black holes that pumped energy into the surroundings. This discovery could upend current models of galaxy cluster formation and evolution.
A team of astronomers has discovered that the winds of giant stars like R Doradus are driven by complex processes, rather than being powered solely by starlight and stardust. The study used advanced computer simulations to model how starlight interacts with dust grains, finding that they are too small to be pushed outward by starlight ...
Scientists have discovered a rare superkilonova event, which may have produced gravitational waves and light, as detected by LIGO and Virgo. The candidate kilonova AT2025ulz showed signs of a supernova before fading and brightening again in red wavelengths.
Astronomers at Northwestern University have directly imaged a Tatooine-like exoplanet orbiting two suns, revealing unique insights into how planets form around multiple stars. The discovery provides an unprecedented look at the complex dynamics of binary systems and offers new opportunities to test theories of planet formation.
Scientists have observed a swirling vortex in spacetime caused by a rapidly rotating black hole, confirming predictions made by Einstein more than a century ago. The team detected rhythmic changes in X-ray and radio signals from the event, showing that the disk and jet were wobbling in unison every 20 days.
Astronomers discovered a never-seen-before blast from a supermassive black hole, whipping up powerful winds at 60,000 km per second. The event was triggered by an X-ray flare and formed in just one day, providing new insights into the magnetism of active galactic nuclei (AGNs).
Michael Blanton will lead the Carnegie Science Observatories as its 12th director, focusing on large-scale astronomical surveys to constrain cosmological history. The new director brings a deep well of knowledge of instrumentation and data collection to oversee research at Pasadena's campus and Las Campanas Observatory.
New research reveals Pleiades star cluster as core of larger structure spanning 1,950 light-years, with similar ages and chemical compositions among its members. The study uses rotation-based approach to identify stars sharing origin story.
Astronomers detect a distant galaxy with temperatures of 90 Kelvin, indicating an extreme star factory that could have produced stars at a rate 180 times faster than the Milky Way. This discovery provides insight into how galaxies formed quickly in the early universe.
A new AI-based approach analyzes XAS data to identify material properties, providing objective insights for rational material design. The method achieved high accuracy and revealed meaningful variations in electronic states.
Astronomers at UCL and the University of Warwick discovered that aging stars are destroying giant planets orbiting closest to them. The researchers analyzed nearly half a million stars and found that planets were less likely to occur around stars that had expanded and cooled enough to be classed as red giants.
A team from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research has assembled a record-breaking radio colour image of the Milky Way. The unprecedented level of detail offers new insights into the galaxy's radio emission and structure.
Two distant black hole mergers, measured one month apart in 2024, provide insights into the nature and evolution of deep-space collisions. The mergers validate fundamental laws of physics predicted by Einstein and furthers the search for new elementary particles with potential to extract energy from black holes.
A brown dwarf companion, J1446B, has been found orbiting a nearby M dwarf star, LSPM J1446+4633. The discovery uses a synergy of ground- and space-based observatories, including Subaru's IRD instrument and the Gaia mission, to determine the dynamical mass and orbital parameters of the brown dwarf with unprecedented accuracy.
A team of astronomers has discovered the first tidal disruption event producing bright radio emission outside the center of a galaxy. The event revealed the fastest-evolving radio emission ever observed from a black-hole-driven stellar disruption, suggesting delayed and complex processes in the aftermath of the disruption.
A new study on Mars crater deposits reveals the planet went through repeated ice ages driven by shifts in its axial tilt, resulting in a gradual drying of the planet. The study provides insights that can be applied to Earth's changing environment and helps identify safe regions for future missions.
The Programmable Liquid-crystal Active Coronagraphic Imager for the DAG telescope (PLACID) will improve detection and direct imaging of exoplanets using liquid crystals. It can adapt to complex mask configurations, enabling direct imaging of circumbinary planets and proto-planetary discs.
Scientists have unveiled a new detector concept that uses optical cavity and atomic clock technologies to detect gravitational waves in the milli-Hertz frequency band. This approach provides an immediate, cost-effective means to explore the mid-band range, which hosts signals from compact binaries of white dwarfs and black hole mergers.