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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.

September 12th, 2025 22:52:21 EDT -0400 Hidden star systems in the Milky Way could unlock the secrets of dark matter
For centuries, scientists have puzzled over globular clusters, the dense star systems that orbit galaxies without dark matter. Using ultra-detailed simulations, researchers recreated their origins and unexpectedly revealed a new class of cosmic object that bridges star clusters and dwarf galaxies. These “globular cluster-like dwarfs” may already exist in our Milky Way, offering fresh opportunities to study both dark matter and the earliest stars.
September 12th, 2025 22:38:43 EDT -0400 NASA's Perseverance rover finds clues to ancient Mars chemistry and possible life
Mars’ Jezero Crater holds signs of ancient water and strange mineral reactions, some linked with organic compounds. With Perseverance’s samples and AI-refined mineral maps, scientists are closing in on whether Mars once had the chemistry needed for life.
September 11th, 2025 07:36:20 EDT -0400 Hubble just captured a glittering star cluster like no other
Hubble’s latest image captures a glittering star cluster inside the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy about 160,000 light-years from Earth. This region, known as N11, is one of the galaxy’s largest stellar nurseries where vast clouds of gas and dust give birth to new stars.
September 12th, 2025 01:46:44 EDT -0400 Black holes just proved Stephen Hawking right with the clearest signal yet
Gravitational-wave astronomy has exploded since 2015, capturing hundreds of black hole and neutron star collisions. With ever-clearer signals, researchers are testing Einstein’s relativity and Hawking’s theorems while planning massive next-generation observatories to explore the dawn of the universe.
September 11th, 2025 23:23:32 EDT -0400 NASA spacecraft detect a mysterious force shaping the solar wind
NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission has uncovered surprising behavior of pickup ions drifting through the solar wind near Earth. These particles, once thought to be minor players, appear capable of generating waves and influencing how the solar wind heats and evolves. If true, it could force scientists to revise models of solar system dynamics, with implications reaching all the way to the edge of the heliosphere.
September 11th, 2025 22:18:44 EDT -0400 A doomed star system could soon shine as bright as the Moon
Astronomers have uncovered the violent secret of V Sagittae, a white dwarf star consuming its companion in a spectacular feeding frenzy. This cosmic dance not only makes the system burn with unusual brilliance but also creates a massive gas halo, signaling its turbulent and doomed future. Scientists believe this frenzied interaction will eventually erupt in a dazzling supernova, visible even in broad daylight from Earth.
September 11th, 2025 21:34:59 EDT -0400 Black hole explosion could change everything we know about the Universe
Physicists may soon witness a cosmic fireworks show: the explosive death of a primordial black hole. Once thought to be unimaginably rare, new research suggests there’s up to a 90% chance of catching one in the next decade. Such an event would not only confirm Hawking radiation but also provide a complete catalog of all the particles in existence, potentially rewriting our understanding of physics and the origin of the universe.
September 10th, 2025 23:43:07 EDT -0400 This rare white dwarf looks normal, until Hubble shows its explosive secret
Hubble has uncovered a rare ultra-massive white dwarf created in a violent star merger. Once thought to be ordinary, the star’s ultraviolet signature revealed its explosive history and hinted that such cosmic collisions may be surprisingly common.
September 10th, 2025 18:03:17 EDT -0400 Scientists just built a detector that could finally catch dark matter
Physicists have unveiled a new superconducting detector sensitive enough to hunt dark matter particles smaller than electrons. By capturing faint photon signals, the device pushes the search into uncharted territory.
September 10th, 2025 23:31:15 EDT -0400 NASA’s celestial “Accident” unlocks secrets of Jupiter and Saturn
Astronomers studying an oddball brown dwarf called “The Accident” have finally spotted silane, a long-predicted silicon molecule missing from Jupiter and Saturn’s skies. Its ancient, oxygen-poor atmosphere allowed the molecule to form, offering new insight into how planetary atmospheres evolve.
September 10th, 2025 22:30:20 EDT -0400 Life on Mars? NASA discovers potential biosignatures in Martian mudstones
NASA’s Perseverance rover has discovered mudstones in Mars’ Jezero Crater that contain organic carbon and unusual textures hinting at possible biosignatures. These findings suggest that ancient Martian environments may have supported chemical processes similar to those on Earth, where microbial life thrives. While the team stresses they have not discovered evidence of life, the rocks show chemical reactions and mineral formations that could point to biological activity.
September 9th, 2025 03:15:01 EDT -0400 Enceladus’s plumes may be fooling us about life
Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus has long fascinated scientists with its spectacular water plumes, which NASA’s Cassini spacecraft once revealed to contain organic molecules. Many hoped these molecules hinted at life-supporting chemistry in the moon’s hidden ocean. But new experiments suggest they may not come from the ocean at all—instead, radiation from Saturn’s magnetosphere could be producing them right on Enceladus’s frozen surface.
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 comets movement in our sky can be predicted, its brightness cannot be. Its 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 suns surface on November 28. Thats 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.