Newswise Feature Channel: Space and Astronomy

NSF NOIRLab Launches 88 Constellations Project

NSF's NOIRLab — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:20 EST

New web pages dedicated to mapping our night sky and exploring its wonders.

NOIRLab de NSF lanza el Proyecto 88 Constelaciones

NSF's NOIRLab — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:35:03 EST

Lanzamiento de nuevas paginas web dedicadas a mapear nuestro cielo nocturno y explorar sus maravillas

New Software Unlocks Secrets of Cell Signaling

University of California San Diego — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 05:00:00 EST

LLNL and Starris: Optimax Space Systems Announce Commercialization Partnership for Monolithic Telescope Technology

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 19:35:50 EST

Starris: Optimax Space Systems and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announce a commercialization partnership for LLNL's patented monolithic telescope technology -- which accelerates rapid deployment of modular optical designs for high-resolution or high sensitivity space imagery.

Virginia Tech Expert Available to Discuss Delayed Return of Starliner Astronauts

Virginia Tech — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:40:39 EST

NASA Missions Spot Cosmic 'Wreath' Displaying Stellar Circle of Life

Chandra X-ray Observatory — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 20:50:31 EST

A new image resembling a holiday wreath shows young stars illuminating dark clouds of dust. NGC 602 is a star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way. This composite contains X-rays from Chandra (red) and infrared data from James Webb (orange, yellow, green and blue). The X-rays from Chandra show the effects of winds from massive young stars sprinkled throughout the cluster.

NASA's Webb Finds Planet-Forming Disks Lived Longer in Early Universe

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:05:59 EST

Using Webb, researchers have confirmed the presence of planet-forming disks in NGC 346, and discovered that these disks are long-lived. The finding is causing scientists to rethink current models of planet formation.

How to Find a Comet Before It Hits Earth

Northern Arizona University — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 20:25:21 EST

First-year Ph.D. student Samantha Hemmelgarn led a study that looked at "footprints"--those meteor showers we see occasionally in the night sky--of comets that haven't passed Earth in 200 years to determine where those comets are now and, importantly, whether any of them are on an impact path with our planet.

Black Hole Explorer Hopes to Reveal New Details of Supermassive Black Holes

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 08:05:58 EST

CfA has entered into an MOU with NSF NRAO on the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX), a project which would increase the capabilities of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) by launching it into space.

Black Hole Explorer Hopes to Reveal New Details of Supermassive Black Holes

National Radio Astronomy Observatory — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 08:00:00 EST

A new agreement between the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) will help the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) take its next steps - into space. The EHT made headlines around the world in 2019 after it took the first images of a black hole, and then in 2022, imaged the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy. The Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) mission would extend this work by combining several of NRAO's ground-based radio antennas with a space-based telescope to produce the most detailed images in history. BHEX would allow scientists to reveal the light that orbits the edge of a black hole before it escapes, known as a photon ring.

A New Galaxy, Much Like Our Own

Wellesley College — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 12:30:59 EST

Stunning new photographs by a Wellesley College-led team of astronomers have revealed a newly forming galaxy that looks remarkably similar to a young Milky Way.

Found: First Actively Forming Galaxy as Lightweight as Young Milky Way

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 11:05:29 EST

Like fireflies "dancing" on a warm summer night, 10 distinct star clusters appear in observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. They are held in a cocoon of diffuse light emitted by other stars scattered around them. This galaxy, known as Firefly Sparkle, was taking shape around 600 million years after the big bang.

A Black Hole Jet Stumbles Into Something in the Dark

Chandra X-ray Observatory — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 09:40:41 EST

Even matter ejected by black holes can run into objects in the dark. Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found an unusual mark from a giant black hole's powerful jet striking an unidentified object in its path.

Astronomers Discover Magnetic Loops Around Supermassive Black Hole

National Radio Astronomy Observatory — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 08:00:00 EST

NGC 1068 is a well-known, relatively nearby, bright galaxy with a supermassive black hole at its center. Despite its status as a popular target for astronomers, however, its accretion disk is obscured by thick clouds of dust and gas. A few light-years in diameter, the outer accretion disk is dotted by hundreds of distinct water maser sources that hinted for decades at deeper structures. Masers are distinct beacons of electromagnetic radiation that shine in microwave or radio wavelengths; in radio astronomy, water masers observed at a frequency of 22 GHz are particularly useful because they can shine through much of the dust and gas that obscures optical wavelengths. Led by astronomer Jack Gallimore of Bucknell University, an international team of astronomers and students set out to observe NGC 1068 with twin goals in mind: astrometric mapping of the galaxy's radio continuum and measurements of polarization for its water masers. "NGC 1068 is a bit of a VIP among active galaxies,"

A Mission Design for Servicing Telescopes in Space

University Of Illinois Grainger College Of Engineering — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 17:05:51 EST

The fate of telescopes in space is looking better now that they are being designed to be serviceable. Illinois Grainger Engineering researchers developed a servicing plan that can be applied to future space observatories based on current missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia.

Bringing Dark Comets to Light

Michigan State University — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 19:35:41 EST

Where did Earth's water come from? It's a fundamental scientific question that has never been answered. In fact, NASA reports that we can only observe and understand 5% of the universe -- with a whopping 95% remaining a complete mystery because of unobservable dark matter and dark energy.

Cal Poly Humboldt Researcher Collaborates with NASA on Novel Gravity Gradiometers

Cal Poly Humboldt — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 14:25:27 EST

Together with NASA collaborator and Cal Poly Humboldt alum Holly Leopardi ('14, Physics), C.D. Hoyle of the Department of Physics & Astronomy was awarded a $243,627 grant from NASA's MOSAICS program.

NASA's Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 13:00:00 EST

For a decade, Hubble's OPAL program has kept an eye on our solar system's outer planets, making global studies of their cloud coloration, activity, and atmospheric motion to understand the underlying mechanics of their weather and climate systems.

Dark Energy Camera Spies the Outskirts of the Swirling Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

NSF's NOIRLab — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 15:00:46 EST

Twelve million light-years away lies the galactic masterpiece Messier 83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. Its swirling spiral arms display a high rate of star formation and have been host to six observed supernovae. This image was captured with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

Cerro Tololo registra un tesoro cosmico de estrellas nacientes y supernovas exclusivo de los cielos del Sur

NSF's NOIRLab — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 15:00:45 EST

A 12 millones de anos luz se encuentra la joya galactica Messier 83, conocida tambien como la Galaxia del Molinillo Austral. Sus brazos espirales muestran una elevada tasa de formacion estelar y ademas ya se han registrado seis supernovas observadas en ella. Esta detallada imagen se obtuvo en Chile con la Camara de Energia Oscura del Departamento de Energia de los Estados Unidos, que se encuentra montada en el Telescopio de 4 metros Victor M. Blanco, en Cerro Tololo, un Programa de NOIRLab de NSF.