https://phys.org/space-news/astronomy en-us The latest science news on astronomy, space, and astrophysics. A new image of the galaxy cluster known as "El Gordo" is revealing distant and dusty objects never seen before, and providing a bounty of fresh science. The infrared image, taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, displays a variety of unusual, distorted background galaxies that were only hinted at in previous Hubble Space Telescope images. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-webb-spotlights-gravitational-arcs-el.html Astronomy Wed, 02 Aug 2023 11:06:57 EDT news610193082 Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), European astronomers have discovered an eclipsing binary in the open cluster NGC 2232. The binary, designated TIC 43152097, is the first such system detected in this cluster. The finding is reported in a paper published July 26 on the preprint server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-eclipsing-binary-cluster-ngc.html Astronomy Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:10:02 EDT news610181507 This year the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night of 12–13 August, giving skywatchers a potentially impressive summer treat. The meteors are best viewed from the northern hemisphere, and in ideal conditions with no clouds observers could see up to 50 an hour. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-perseid-meteor-shower-august-night.html Astronomy Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:14:59 EDT news610182895 Yale researchers may have solved a longstanding puzzle as to why certain metallic meteorites show traces of a magnetic field—a finding that may shed light on the formation of magnetic dynamos at the core of planets. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-collisions-asteroids-formation-metal-generate.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Tue, 01 Aug 2023 17:29:08 EDT news610129740 By analyzing the long-term, high-cadence continuous photometry from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have investigated UU Columbae and Swift J0939.7-3224—two intermediate polars. Results of the study, presented July 24 on the preprint server arXiv, yield important insights into the properties of these two systems. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-intermediate-polars-astronomers.html Astronomy Tue, 01 Aug 2023 09:26:31 EDT news610100788 Euclid's two instruments have captured their first test images. The mesmerizing results indicate that the space telescope will achieve the scientific goals that it has been designed for—and possibly much more. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-euclid-images-riches.html Astronomy Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:25:14 EDT news610028708 An asteroid discovery algorithm—designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky—has identified its first "potentially hazardous" asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth's vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-algorithm-ensnares-potentially-hazardous-asteroid.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:19:08 EDT news610028339 We have discovered more than 5,400 planets in the universe. These worlds range from hot jovians that closely orbit their star to warm ocean worlds to cold gas giants. While we know they are there, we don't know much about them. Characteristics such as mass and size are fairly straightforward to measure, but other properties such as temperature and atmospheric composition are more difficult. So the next generation of telescopes will try to capture that information, including one proposed telescope from the Chinese National Space Administration. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-chinese-scientists-concept-meter-space.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:44:03 EDT news610026241 They are mysterious, exciting and inescapable—black holes are some of the most exotic objects in the universe. With gravitational-wave detectors, it is possible to detect the chirp sound that two black holes produce when they merge, approximately 70 such chirps have been found so far. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-black-hole-chirps-universal-frequency.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:55:03 EDT news610019701 The tranquil spiral galaxy UGC 12295 basks leisurely in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies around 192 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces and is almost face-on when viewed from Earth, displaying a bright central bar and tightly wound spiral arms. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-hubble-captures-spiral-galaxy-ugc.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:48:02 EDT news610019281 Astronomers from Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators have found five Green Pea (GP) galaxies with double-peaked narrow lines among nearly 1,550 GP galaxies. These objects may originate from dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) mergers, potentially revealing the co-evolutionary characteristics of a special class of high-mass galaxies and supermassive black holes. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-green-pea-galaxies-double-peaked.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:51:16 EDT news610015867 Using the Caucasian Mountain Observatory (CMO), Russian astronomers have observed a peculiar infrared source designated IRAS 07253-2001. Results of the observational campaign, published July 20 on the preprint server arXiv, reveal insights into the properties of this source, shedding more light on its nature. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-explore-nature-infrared-source-iras.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:40:01 EDT news610014867 More than 15 years after the discovery of fast radio bursts (FRBs)—millisecond-long, deep-space cosmic explosions of electromagnetic radiation—astronomers worldwide have been combing the universe to uncover clues about how and why they form. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-formation-mysterious-fast-radio.html Astronomy Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:39:23 EDT news609777548 For nearly a century, dark matter has continued to evade direct detection, pushing scientists to come up with even more creative methods of searching. Increasingly sensitive detection experiments are a major undertaking, however, which means scientists want to be sure they analyze data from these experiments in the most thorough and robust way possible. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-analysis-supercdms-tighter-limits-dark.html Astronomy Fri, 28 Jul 2023 14:06:55 EDT news609772012 A joint scientific team led by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) and the KU Leuven has found that high-frequency magnetic waves could play an essential role in keeping the sun's atmosphere at millions of degrees. This finding sheds a new light on the most intriguing solar mystery: what makes the sun's atmosphere hotter than its surface? https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-high-frequency-magnetic-play-essential.html Astronomy Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:12:58 EDT news609757975 Life around an ill-tempered red dwarf star is no fun for accompanying newborn planets. Call it a baptism of fire. Entangled magnetic fields cause a red dwarf to spit out "super-flares" that are 100 to 1,000 times more powerful than similar flares seen on our sun. That is coupled with blistering ultraviolet radiation requiring any of the star system's inhabitants to use "sunscreen 5,000." https://phys.org/news/2023-07-hubble-evaporating-planet-hiccups.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:28:48 EDT news609683323 When theoretical physicists like myself say that we're studying why the universe exists, we sound like philosophers. But new data collected by researchers using Japan's Subaru telescope has revealed insights into that very question. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-helium-distant-galaxies-physicists-insight.html Astronomy Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:10:01 EDT news609677162 Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful astrophysical phenomena in the universe. For a span of seconds to a few minutes, they can be the most powerful high-energy event in the sky, shining across billions of light years. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-gamma-ray-triggered-satellite.html Astronomy Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:35:56 EDT news609676554 Secrets hide in the twinkling of stars. A research team led by scientists at the Flatiron Institute and Northwestern University has created first-of-their-kind computer simulations showing how churning deep in a star's depths can cause the star's light to flicker. This effect is different from the visible twinkling of stars in the night sky caused by Earth's atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-twinkling-giant-stars-reveals-innards.html Astronomy Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:00:01 EDT news609672246 Black holes are the most mysterious objects in the universe, with features that sound like they come straight from a sci-fi movie. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-reveal-features-galactic-black.html Astronomy Wed, 26 Jul 2023 16:37:03 EDT news609608221 Young stars are rambunctious. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured the "antics" of a pair of actively forming young stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in high-resolution near-infrared light. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-webb-snaps-highly-infrared-image.html Astronomy Wed, 26 Jul 2023 13:14:30 EDT news609596065 Using the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), astronomers have performed optical imaging observations of an isolated ultra-thin galaxy known as UGC 11859. Results of the observational campaign, published July 12 in The Astrophysical Journal, deliver important insights about the structure and properties of this galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-ultra-thin-galaxy-ugc.html Astronomy Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:00:01 EDT news609584269 A team of space scientists from several institutions in The Netherlands, two in the U.S. and one in Sweden, has found evidence of multiple microsecond-length fast radio bursts (FRBs) by analyzing data from the Green Bank Telescope, in West Virginia. The group has posted their study on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-multiple-microsecond-length-fast-radio.html Astronomy Wed, 26 Jul 2023 09:57:45 EDT news609584258 Kamilla Cziráki, a geophysics student at the Faculty of Science of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), has taken a new approach to researching the navigation systems that can be used on the surface of the moon to plan future journeys. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-year-old-mathematical-lunar.html Astronomy Space Exploration Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:34:03 EDT news609521642 Galaxies grow and evolve over billions of years by absorbing nearby companions and merging with other galaxies. The early stages of this galactic growth process are showcased in a new image taken with the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Dark Energy Camera (DECam) mounted on the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF's NOIRLab. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-dark-energy-camera-captures-galaxies.html Astronomy Tue, 25 Jul 2023 12:41:35 EDT news609507691 The world is unprepared for the next big storm from outer space, an overwhelming majority of scientists agree. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-space-storms-chaos.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Tue, 25 Jul 2023 12:34:03 EDT news609507241 An Australian astronomer has solved a century-old mystery regarding how galaxies evolve from one type to another. The same study shows that the Milky Way, the galaxy we live in, was not always a spiral. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-galaxy-mergers-galactic-evolution.html Astronomy Tue, 25 Jul 2023 09:39:03 EDT news609496738 By analyzing the data from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new quiescent galaxy. The newfound system, designated JADES-GS+53.12365-27.80454, turns out to be the least massive quiescent galaxy detected so far at a high redshift. The discovery was detailed in a paper published July 17 on the preprint server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-low-mass-quiescent-galaxy.html Astronomy Tue, 25 Jul 2023 09:10:01 EDT news609494373 A spectacular new image released today by the European Southern Observatory gives us clues about how planets as massive as Jupiter could form. Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers have detected large dusty clumps, close to a young star, that could collapse to create giant planets. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-image-reveals-secrets-planet-birth.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Tue, 25 Jul 2023 09:00:01 EDT news609436437 Type I X-ray bursts are the most frequent types of thermonuclear stellar explosions in the galaxy. As the key nucleosynthesis process in X-ray bursts, the rapid proton capture process (rp-process) is always the important scientific frontier in nuclear astrophysics. The 26P(p,γ)27S reaction is one of the key nuclear reactions in rp-process, and its accuracy is crucial for comprehensively understanding the reaction path of the rp-process in X-ray bursts. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-scientists-derive-reaction-rapid-proton.html Astronomy Mon, 24 Jul 2023 15:35:55 EDT news609431753