Search Results For: astronomer
For decades, astronomers have said of our Milky Way galaxy is headed for an inevitable, head-on collision with its colossal neighbor, Andromeda, in approximately 4.5 billion years. This collision, often depicted as a spectacular, transformative event, has been a cornerstone of our understanding/presumption of...
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A new image of the Sombrero galaxy from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope has astronomers taking their hats off in place of a cosmic bullseye. The galaxy, known as Messier 104 (M104), was discovered in 1781 by French astronomer and comet hunter Pierre Mechain, one of Charles Messiers colleagues.
In...
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New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory unveiled that a low-mass supermassive black hole, known as LID-568, appears to eating up matter at over 40 times the theoretical limit. The discovery of the supermassive black hole, thought to be within 1.5 billion years after the Big...
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As scientists and others look at how to make Mars habitable for life in the future, NASAs Perseverance rover remains busy exploring the Martian surface. The rover recently spotted a striped rock unlike any other on the Red Planet before, which the space agency stated possessed qualities that may be indicators of...
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A supernova event recorded by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in 1181 is at the heart of a first-of-its-kind 3D animated map, unveiling new secrets of a flowering zombie star. Supernova Sn 1181 is one of the few to be documented before the invention of telescopes.
The zombie star in question was first...
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An international group of astronomers may have solved an 843-year-old mystery surrounding the origins of a zombie star. The researchers connected ancient records from China and Japan, which spoke about a supernova event near the constellation Cassiopeia in the year 1181, to a zombie star seen today, called...
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To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA released 25 never-before-seen images from the iconic telescope. However, because of budget cuts, NASA may be forced to bring the space telescopes life to a premature end.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory launched aboard the space shuttle Columbia...
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Astronomers using data from several space and ground-based observatories have theorized that a once dim galaxy has brightened over time because of a massive black hole at its core waking up. While a star getting too close to the massive black hole, estimated to be 1.5 million times the mass of Earths Sun, and...
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NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) once again has surprised scientists with a new revelation concerning a region of young stars studied since the 1970s. Even though the region has been studied for decades with five other telescopes, it took the power of Webb to reveal what scientists once believed to be one star...
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Star Trek fans may be disappointed to learn that Spocks home planet of Vulcan has turned out to be an illusion. While the planet Vulcan may not exist in real life, Spocks star system, 40 Eridani, is very real.
Star system 40-Eridani is located 16.5 light-years away from Earth, and NASA says its primary star can be...
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The Euclid space telescope unveiled seven more rogue planets in an image of the Horesehead Nebula, roughly 1,500 light years from Earth. Making the find even more incredible is that these free-floating planets do not reflect the light of a star, making them extremely hard to spot.
Rogue planets are not tethered to...
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Its a bird! Its a plane! No, its a piece of space junk! A piece of space debris believed to be from a recent SpaceX mission was found in rural North Carolina. An employee of The Glamping Collective, a company that operates cabins and other facilities on a mountaintop about 20 miles west of Asheville, North Carolina...
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As people prepare for the upcoming total solar eclipse, a rare and sinister sounding comet, nicknamed the devil comet, is crashing the celestial party. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as the Mother of Dragons comet, is now visible in the northern hemisphere night sky for the first time in around 70 years.
When...
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Astronomers using the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (ESOs VLT) in Chile spotted an indelible mark on the surface of a white dwarf star that has an appetite for destruction. Researchers believe the scar left on white dwarf WD 0816-310 is a concentration of metals imprinted on the stars...
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Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have detected an extremely bright quasar that is being powered by a supermassive black hole with an insatiable appetite for destruction. The supermassive black is believed to be growing in mass every day by devouring the equivalent of one Sun every 24 hours...
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A group of French researchers have sensed a disturbance in the force when it comes to Saturns moon, Mimas. Mimas bears a stark resemblance to the Empires Death Star in the iconic Star Wars franchise, hence why some astronomers have given it that nickname.
The research team, led by French astronomer...
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An image snapped on Mars by NASAs Curiosity rover had Star Trek fans feeling a bit nostalgic. The rock in the image resembled the delta insignia as worn by all Starship personnel on their uniforms in the iconic Star Trek franchise that spans several TV shows and movies.
NASAs Curiosity rover took the image on Sol...
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The discovery of a second universe-defying megastructure in the remote universe is making astronomers rethink some of the basic assumptions about cosmology. The Big Ring is the second of these ultra-large structures to be found by PhD student Alexia Lopez.
The Big Ring is located 9.2 billion light-years from...
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The Quadrantid meteor shower will soon be lighting up the night sky for those with a clear view. This dazzling display of shooting stars will appear to radiate from the Big Dipper asterism, located in the constellation Ursa Major.
While the Quadrantids are active from mid-November through mid-January each year, it...
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NASAs James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) set its sights on Uranus and captured a brilliant image of a storm brewing on the icy giant. Along with the storms, Webb also captured the planets rings, moons, and other atmospheric features.
In the 1980s, Voyager 2 could only image the distant planet as what NASA refers to...
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In a cosmic game of hide and seek, an asteroid will pass in front of one of the biggest and brightest stars visible in the night sky. Asteroid Leona will pass in front of the star Alpha Orionis, also known as Betelgeuse (seen in the image above via NASA), which is a red supergiant in the constellation...
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Astronomers have found a key ingredient for life in the outer reaches of the Milky Way galaxy. The discovery challenges our understanding of the origins of the element and potentially extends the galactic habitable zone.
The element that was found in a very unexpected location by a group of...
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