Astronomy

Astronomy

Outlier Planet: Extrasolar places that are like home

A team of veteran hunters of planets outside the solar system has come up with a landmark finding: a Jupiterlike planet orbiting a Sunlike star at a Jupiterlike distance.

Astronomy

X-ray Data Reveal Black Holes Galore

Using a sensitive, new X-ray telescope, astronomers have identified the origin of the high-energy part of the X-ray background and found that supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies are far more numerous than visible-light surveys indicate.

Astronomy

Seeing Red: A cool revival of Hubble’s infrared camera

New images provide a graphic demonstration that the Hubble Space Telescope's infrared vision has been restored.

Astronomy

Rare Find: Odd type of ammonia detected in space

The discovery of deuterated ammonia in space could help astronomers better understand the complex chemistry of dark clouds in star-forming regions.

Astronomy

A Dark View of the Universe

Two new studies suggest that galaxies may be surrounded by vast halos of dark matter extending at least 1.5 million light-years from each galaxy's center.

Astronomy

Cosmic Dawn

New computer simulations suggest that the first stars in the universe were extremely massive and left behind gamma-ray bursts that may already have been detected by telescopes orbiting Earth.

Astronomy

More evidence for a revved-up universe

By studying the clustering pattern of galaxies, astronomers have obtained additional evidence that cosmic expansion is accelerating.

Astronomy

Heavenly Taffy: Galaxies in collision

Astronomers have discovered a pair of colliding galaxies connected by a bridge of high-speed electrons and elongated magnetic fields.

Astronomy

Physics-astronomy merger wins big

A new report recommends fostering the extraordinary collaboration taking place between particle physics and astronomy.

Astronomy

Sharper Images: New Hubble camera goes the distance

Astronomers have unveiled a picture of the distant universe that ranks as the sharpest and most detailed ever recorded.

Astronomy

Faded Stars Get New Role: Hubble takes a long look

By setting their sights on the galaxy's faintest stars, scientists have calculated the universe's age to be between 13 billion and 14 billion years old.

Astronomy

Elliptical duet rides the Kuiper belt

Follow-up observations of an icy object in the Kuiper belt and its moon reveal that the two bodies revolve about each other in the most elongated orbit of any pair of objects in the solar system.