After Supernova 1987a, astronomers predicted what it might look like in a few years. They suggested that a new pulsar would soon appear, and many said that the expanding gas cloud would encounter earlier material ejected by the star. The collision was intended to illuminate the area around the event....
Speeding toward Earth, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is currently streaking across the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy, piqued by astronomers and creating conditions ripe for spectacular astrophotography. This comet, also known as the Devil's Comet, is 17 kilometers wide and orbits the Sun in an elliptical orbit every 71 years. This cryovolcanic (ice) comet...
Among all the stars in the heavens, Betelgeuse poses a special mystery to astronomers. One of its many secrets is its high rotation speed, which is incommensurable for a supergiant star. If we moved it to the position where the Sun is, then the visible layer, the photosphere, would cover...
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile has provided scientists with unique images of planet formation around young stars. Images from one of the world's most powerful telescopes show that young planetary systems resemble miniature galaxies rather than disks of debris. The photographs clearly show spiral arms formed from dust,...
Astronomers have confirmed that a star that exploded as a supernova and was visible from Earth more than 30 years ago has turned into a neutron star. In 1987, astronomers witnessed a supernova event in a nearby galaxy. The intense burst of light from the star made it visible even...
Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s VLT telescope examined the bright quasar and found that the object is not only the brightest of its kind, but also the brightest object ever observed. An illustration of quasar J059-4351 being powered by a supermassive black hole. Source: ESO / M. KornmesserQuasars are...
New images from the James Webb Telescope shed light on the mysteries of spiral galaxies. This set of near- and mid-infrared images features 19 galaxies that reveal stars, gas and dust on previously unexplored scales beyond our galaxy. .Source: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee (STScI), T. Williams (Oxford), R....
Radio waves—at the far end of the electromagnetic spectrum—are longer than the waves of visible light. This is why radio astronomy benefits from large antenna distances. The greater the distance between the antennas, the more clearly the telescope “sees” radio waves. Back in the 1990s, astronomers were planning an extremely...
Cryovolcanic comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, known for its colorful eruptions, has once again attracted the attention of the astronomical community. New photographs show this comet passing in front of the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888). 12P/Pons-Brooks has a diameter of approximately 17 kilometers and completes its orbit around the Sun in 71 years....
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered one of the most puzzling mysteries in astronomy—why the light from hydrogen atoms, which should have been blocked by gas, is observed in the galaxies of the early Universe. This indicates the presence of weak Lyman alpha radiation, light emitted by...
A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope is a breathtaking snapshot of a galactic collision, illustrating the dynamic process of two galaxies merging. At first glance, it seems that this is one galaxy, but in fact it is two different galaxies – NGC 6040 and LEDA 59642, colliding in...
The new image, taken in the first week of 2024 by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows a complex tangle of four overlapping spiral galaxies. It shows several galaxies intertwined in a large-scale cosmic “dance”. Three of these galaxies appear to be on top of each other, but they are actually...
The XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory, a joint mission between NASA and JAXA, successfully began its operation in Earth orbit on September 6, 2023. Although science operations will begin later, the mission team recently released several “first light” images provided by the telescope. The existing X-ray observatories XMM...
For decades, scientists have been interested in the differences in the colors of Uranus and Neptune, which, despite similar parameters and atmospheric composition, had noticeable differences. According to Voyager 2, Uranus has an aquamarine hue, while Neptune appears darker and bluer. This contradiction caused confusion and bewilderment among scientists, since...
New research shows that one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way hides a second galaxy behind it. Observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud indicate that it may actually be two galaxies. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a nearby galaxy that astronomers are very familiar with—or so they thought....
The stars turned out to be much more dynamic than previously thought. As they rotate, they emit a stream of charged particles that are attracted to the stars’ powerful magnetic fields. This process is similar to a ballerina spreading her arms, and once the stellar wind becomes magnetically coupled, it...