Astronomy Archives - Page 15 of 224 - SpaceNews

A photo of the huge elliptical galaxy M87 [left] is compared to its three-dimensional shape as gleaned from meticulous observations made with the Hubble and Keck telescopes [right]. Because the galaxy is too far away for astronomers to employ stereoscopic vision, they instead followed the motion of stars around the center of M87, like bees around a hive. This created a three-dimensional view of how stars are distributed within the galaxy. (Illustration by NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted/STScI, Frank Summers/STScI; Science by Chung-Pei Ma/UC Berkeley)

Viewing Elliptical Galaxy M87 In 3D Helps Determine Black Hole Mass At Its Core

by SpaceRef April 13, 2023July 15, 2024

A team of researchers, including an astronomer with NSF’s NOIRLab, has developed a new machine-learning technique to enhance the fidelity and sharpness of radio interferometry images. To demonstrate the power of their new approach, which is called PRIMO, the team created a new, high-fidelity version of the iconic Event Horizon Telescope's image of the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87, a giant elliptical galaxy located 55 million light-years from Earth. The image of the M87 supermassive black hole originally published by the EHT collaboration in 2019 (left); and a new image generated by the PRIMO algorithm using the same data set (right). Credit: L. Medeiros (Institute for Advanced Study), D. Psaltis (Georgia Tech), T. Lauer (NSF’s NOIRLab), and F. Ozel (Georgia Tech)

A Sharper Look at the First Image of a Black Hole

by SpaceRef April 13, 2023July 15, 2024

This image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field was taken by the Near-Infrared Camera on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb image observes the field at depths comparable to Hubble – revealing galaxies of similar faintness – in just one-tenth as much observing time. It includes 1.8-micron light shown in blue, 2.1-micron light shown in green, 4.3-micron light shown in yellow, 4.6-micron light shown in orange, and 4.8-micron light shown in red (filters F182M, F210M, F430M, F460M, and F480M). Download the full resolution from the Space Telescope Science Institute. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/01GXE4A07MB2RG6GHDGF3CHHJ4 Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Christina Williams (U. of Arizona).

Webb Shows Areas Of New Star Formation And Galactic Evolution

by SpaceRef April 12, 2023July 15, 2024

MIT astronomers mapped the “disk winds” associated with the accretion disk around Hercules X-1, a system in which a neutron star is drawing material away from a sun-like star, represented as the teal sphere. The findings may offer clues to how supermassive black holes shape entire galaxies. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT. Based on an image of Hercules X-1 by D. Klochkov, European Space Agency.

Scientists Map Gusty Winds In A Far-off Neutron Star System

by SpaceRef April 10, 2023July 15, 2024

Georgia State's CHARA array is an optical interferometer located on Mount Wilson, California CREDIT Georgia State University

Navigating The Cosmos With Georgia State’s CHARA Array

by SpaceRef April 10, 2023July 15, 2024

In this illustration of an ultra-luminous X-ray source, two rivers of hot gas are pulled onto the surface of a neutron star. Strong magnetic fields, shown in green, may change the interaction of matter and light near neutron stars’ surface, increasing how bright they can become. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA Study Helps Explain Limit-Breaking Ultra-Luminous X-Ray Sources

by SpaceRef April 9, 2023July 15, 2024

This image of the Crab Nebula combines data from NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) in magenta and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in dark purple. Credits: X-ray (IXPE: NASA), (Chandra: NASA/CXC/SAO) Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand & L. Frattare

Seeing The Crab Nebula Like Never Before

by SpaceRef April 8, 2023July 15, 2024

Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a supernova remnant located about 11,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. It spans approximately 10 light-years. This new image uses data from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to reveal Cas A in a new light. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, D. D. Milisavljevic (Purdue), T. Temim (Princeton), I. De Looze (Ghent University). Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI).

Webb Reveals Never-Before-Seen Details in Cassiopeia A

by SpaceRef April 7, 2023July 15, 2024

An artist’s impression of a runaway supermassive black hole that was ejected from its host galaxy as a result of a tussle between it and two other black holes. As the black hole plows through intergalactic space, it compresses tenuous gas in front of it. This precipitates the birth of hot blue stars. This illustration is based on Hubble Space Telescope observations of a 200,000-light-year-long “contrail” of stars behind an escaping black hole. Credit: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

Possible Runaway Black Hole Detected

by SpaceRef April 6, 2023July 15, 2024

This artist's concept shows the brilliant glare of two quasars residing in the cores of two galaxies that are in the chaotic process of merging. The gravitational tug-of-war between the two galaxies ignites a firestorm of star birth. Quasars are brilliant beacons of intense light from the centers of distant galaxies. They are powered by supermassive black holes voraciously feeding on infalling matter. This feeding frenzy unleashes a torrent of radiation that can outshine the collective light of billions of stars in the host galaxy. In a few tens of millions of years, the black holes and their galaxies will merge, and so will the quasar pair, forming an even more massive black hole. Credits: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

Hubble Unexpectedly Finds A Double Quasar In The Distant Universe

by SpaceRef April 5, 2023July 15, 2024