Tag: Astronomy
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Japanese space science missions facing delays after H3 rocket failure
The spacecraft for the Japanese-led X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, undergoes acoustic testing in Japan in December 2022. Credit: JAXA The launch of a Japanese X-ray telescope and robotic lunar lander has been delayed to no earlier than August, and the launch schedule for another Japanese mission to return samples from a moon…
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Webb telescope sees the prelude to a supernova
The luminous, hot star Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) is prominent at the center of the James Webb Space Telescope’s composite image combining near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths of light from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a rare…
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Study highlights concerns over satellite interference with Hubble observations
A raw Hubble image shows a satellite streak. (NASA / ESA / STScI / Kruk et al. / Nature) An analysis of more than 100,000 images from the Hubble Space Telescope, conducted with the aid of artificial intelligence and hundreds of human volunteers, confirms that satellites including SpaceX’s Starlink spacecraft are increasingly interfering with astronomical…
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Fireball lights up the skies over Seattle
Corey Clarke’s webcam captured the flash of a meteor. (Courtesy of Corey Clarke via Twitter) It’s cool to see a fireball — but even cooler to capture it on video. At least that’s the way Seattle engineer/photographer Corey Clarke sees it. Clarke’s webcam happened to be pointing in the right direction to record the fireball’s…
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NASA’s Webb Space Telescope scores big at America’s premier astronomy meeting
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured this infrared view of NGC 346, a dynamic star cluster that lies within a nebula 200,000 light-years away. Science credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Olivia C. Jones (UK ATC), Guido De Marchi (ESTEC), Margaret Meixner (USRA). Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Nolan Habel (USRA), Laura Lenkić (USRA), Laurie E. U.…
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Astronomers witness unprecedented corona formation, evolution around black hole
With help from NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescopic Array (NuSTAR) X-ray telescope, a group of researchers recently bore unusually close witness to the formation and evolution of an unexpected corona around a supermassive black hole as it destroyed a star that had passed too close to it. The event, located 250 million light years from Earth,…
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With Hubble and Spitzer, researchers discover water-filled exoplanets
Using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and retired Spitzer Space Telescope, a group of researchers has discovered two exoplanets that may be largely comprised of water. Located around a red dwarf star 218 light-years away, the two planets are low in density. Furthermore, the researchers, led by Caroline Piaulet of the Trottier Institute for…
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Total lunar eclipse could be tricky to watch in the sky — but it’s sure to shine online
This graphic shows the phases of the Nov. 8 total lunar eclipse in Pacific Time. (NASA / GSFC SVS) If you’re on the West Coast, watching tonight’s total lunar eclipse will require a willingness to stay awake in the middle of the night — plus a lucky break on the weather. But maybe it’s worth…
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Data from ESA’s Gaia mission reveals our Sun’s future and past
On June 13, the third major data release from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Gaia mission revealed details about the past and future of our solar system’s star, the Sun, by using data collected by Gaia on stars of similar mass and composition to our Sun. Gaia is a star mapping mission and collects massive…
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As Webb begins observing exoplanets, scientists use Spitzer data & brown dwarfs to reveal how silicate clouds form
In a new study from a group of researchers in Canada, data from NASA’s now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope was used to determine the conditions under which silicate clouds form on distant exoplanets outside of our solar system — giving scientists insight into what’s inside the atmospheres of exoplanets similar in size, temperature, and composition to…