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Astronomy News

Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily
Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Astronomy news. New! Earth-like extrasolar planet found; double helix nebula; supermassive black holes, astronomy articles, astronomy pictures. Updated daily.

March 15th, 2024 16:09:11 EDT -0400 New research suggests that our universe has no dark matter
A new study challenges the current model of the universe by showing that, in fact, it has no room for dark matter.
March 13th, 2024 18:50:54 EDT -0400 Cheers! NASA's Webb finds ethanol, other icy ingredients for worlds
What do margaritas, vinegar, and ant stings have in common? They contain chemical ingredients that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has identified surrounding two young protostars known as IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385. Although planets are not yet forming around those stars, these and other molecules detected there by Webb represent key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds.
March 13th, 2024 13:56:15 EDT -0400 Explaining a supernova's 'string of pearls'
Physicists often turn to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability to explain why fluid structures form in plasmas, but that may not be the full story when it comes to the ring of hydrogen clumps around supernova 1987A, research suggests. It looks like the same mechanism that breaks up airplane contrails might be at play in forming the clumps of hydrogen gas that ring the remnant of supernova 1987A.
March 11th, 2024 14:59:53 EDT -0400 Peering into the tendrils of NGC 604 with NASA's Webb
The formation of stars and the chaotic environments they inhabit is one of the most well-studied, but also mystery-shrouded, areas of cosmic investigation. The intricacies of these processes are now being unveiled like never before by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
March 11th, 2024 14:58:12 EDT -0400 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 universe is faster than what astronomers expect it to be, based on the universe's initial conditions and our present understanding of the universe's evolution.
March 7th, 2024 11:07:25 EST -0500 Baby quasars: Growing supermassive black holes
The James Webb Space Telescope makes one of the most unexpected findings within its first year of service: A high number of faint little red dots in the distant Universe could change the way we understand the genesis of supermassive black holes.
March 6th, 2024 15:06:18 EST -0500 Finding new physics in debris from colliding neutron stars
Neutron star mergers are a treasure trove for new physics signals, with implications for determining the true nature of dark matter, according to physicists.
March 6th, 2024 15:06:12 EST -0500 Astronomers spot oldest 'dead' galaxy yet observed
A galaxy that suddenly stopped forming new stars more than 13 billion years ago has been observed by astronomers. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have spotted a 'dead' galaxy when the universe was just 700 million years old, the oldest such galaxy ever observed.
March 6th, 2024 15:05:10 EST -0500 Discovery tests theory on cooling of white dwarf stars
Open any astronomy textbook to the section on white dwarf stars and you'll likely learn that they are 'dead stars' that continuously cool down over time. Astronomers are challenging this theory after discovering a population of white dwarf stars that stopped cooling for more than eight billion years.
March 5th, 2024 13:43:05 EST -0500 Space tourism? Cosmic radiation exposure
Space weather experts are urging regulators and space tourism innovators to work together to protect their passengers and crews from the risks of space weather radiation exposure.
March 5th, 2024 13:42:40 EST -0500 Groundbreaking survey reveals secrets of planet birth around dozens of stars
A team of astronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them, providing astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of our galaxy.
March 5th, 2024 13:42:25 EST -0500 What makes black holes grow and new stars form? Machine learning helps solve the mystery
It takes more than a galaxy merger to make a black hole grow and new stars form: machine learning shows cold gas is needed too to initiate rapid growth -- new research finds.
Data Courtesy of Science Daily

Jan 2013 - Two comets to get excited about. One is Comet PANSTARRS, which will be brightest in March 2013. The other is Comet ISON, which might become a daylight comet in late 2013. Although a comet’s movement in our sky can be predicted, its brightness cannot be. It’s too early to know whether Comet PANSTARRS or Comet ISON – the two exciting comets of 2013 – will dazzle or fizzle.

Comet PANSTARRS
By October 2012, its surrounding coma was seen to be large and fine at an estimated 75,000 miles (120,000 kilometers) wide. In March 2013, by some estimates, this comet should get as bright as Venus,

Comet ISON
Last year, Russian astronomers Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok discovered a new gigantic comet that is currently approaching Earth. The ISON comet, which is expected to become brighter than the full moon, will be visible to the naked eye by late 2013.

Comet ISON has only been visible through powerful telescopes. In November 2013, heat from the sun will vaporize ices in the comet's body, creating what could be a spectacular tail that will be visible in Earth's night sky without telescopes or even binoculars from about October 2013 through January 2014.

Comet ISON will come within 800,000 miles (1.2 million km) of our sun’s surface on November 28. That’s over 100 times closer to the sun than Earth. This close pass to the sun might cause Comet ISON to break to pieces. January 2014 may see a meteor shower produced by streams of debris from the ISON comet.