Astronomy | SpaceRef

Astronomy TOP STORY

These Aren't the Voids You're Looking For

Galaxies in vast empty regions of the universe

Australian astronomers have shown galaxies in the vast empty regions of the universe are actually aligned into delicate strings in research published 9 March in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Astronomy TOP STORIES

WISE Survey Finds Thousands of New Stars, But No 'Planet X'

3rd closest star system ours: WISE J104915.57-531906

After searching hundreds of millions of objects across our sky, NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has turned up no evidence of the hypothesized celestial body in our solar system commonly dubbed "Planet X."

Direct Measurement of Distant Black Hole's Spin

Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's (ESA's) XMM-Newton to show a supermassive black hole six billion light years from Earth is spinning extremely rapidly.

First Light for MUSE

Following testing and preliminary acceptance in Europe in September 2013, MUSE was shipped to ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile.

Spiral Galaxy Spills Blood and Guts

This new Hubble image shows spiral galaxy ESO 137-001, framed against a bright background as it moves through the heart of galaxy cluster Abell 3627.

Hubble Monitors Supernova In Nearby Galaxy M82

This is a Hubble Space Telescope composite image of a supernova explosion designated SN 2014J in the galaxy M82.

Closest, Brightest Supernova in Decades Is Also a Little Weird

A bright supernova discovered only six weeks ago in a nearby galaxy is provoking new questions about the exploding stars that scientists use as their main yardstick for measuring the universe.

Kepler Has Discovered 715 New Extrasolar Planets

NASA's Kepler mission announced Wednesday the discovery of 715 new planets. These newly-verified worlds orbit 305 stars, revealing multiple-planet systems much like our own solar system.

How Small Cosmic Seeds Grow Into Big Stars

New images from the Smithsonian's Submillimeter Array (SMA) telescope provide the most detailed view yet of stellar nurseries within the Snake nebula. These images offer new insights into how cosmic seeds can grow into massive stars.

Collisions Inside Andromeda Satellite Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy is surrounded by a swarm of small satellite galaxies.

The Shocking Behavior of a Speedy Star

Roguish runaway stars can have a big impact on their surroundings as they plunge through the Milky Way galaxy.

A Black Widow Pulsar Consumes its Mate

Black widow spiders and their Australian cousins, known as redbacks, are notorious for an unsettling tendency to kill and devour their male partners. Astronomers have noted similar behavior among two rare breeds of binary system that contain rapidly spinning neutron stars, also known as pulsars.

NuSTAR Untangles Mystery of How Stars Explode

One of the biggest mysteries in astronomy, how stars blow up in supernova explosions, finally is being unraveled with the help of NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR).

Diamonds in the Tail of the Scorpion

A new image from ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile shows the bright star cluster Messier 7.

Chandra Sees Runaway Pulsar Firing an Extraordinary Jet

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has seen a fast-moving pulsar escaping from a supernova remnant while spewing out a record-breaking jet - the longest of any object in the Milky Way galaxy -- of high-energy particles.

Hubble Watches Stars' Clockwork Motion In Nearby Galaxy

Using the sharp-eyed NASA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have for the first time precisely measured the rotation rate of a galaxy based on the clock-like movement of its stars.

MeerKAT Radio Telescope Foundations Complete

The 64th and final foundation for the MeerKAT telescope antenna was poured yesterday (Tuesday, February 11th, 2014) at South Africa's SKA site in the Karoo.

How Stellar Death Can Lead to Twin Stellar Jets

Astronomers know that while large stars can end their lives as violently cataclysmic supernovae, smaller stars end up as planetary nebulae -- colorful, glowing clouds of dust and gas.