Astronomy | SpaceRef

Astronomy TOP STORY

NASA-funded X-ray Instrument Settles Interstellar Debate

X-ay Studies

New findings from a NASA-funded instrument have resolved a decades-old puzzle about a fog of low-energy X-rays observed over the entire sky.

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Astronomy TOP STORIES

Glow in Space is Evidence of A Hot Bubble in Our Galaxy

Sounding rocket with telescope

When we look up to the heavens on a clear night, we see an immense dark sky with uncountable stars. With a small telescope we can also see galaxies, nebulae, and the disks of planets.

Chandra Celebrates 15th Anniversary: Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8

At a distance of about 20,000 light years, G292.0+1.8 is one of only three supernova remnants in the Milky Way known to contain large amounts of oxygen.

Hubble Space Telescope Data Generates New Mass Map of a Distant Galaxy Cluster

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have mapped the mass within a galaxy cluster more precisely than ever before.

The Hubble Space Telescope Finds Three Surprisingly Dry Exoplanets

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have gone looking for water vapor in the atmospheres of three planets orbiting stars similar to the sun -- and have come up nearly dry.

AGU: Voyager Spacecraft Might Not Have Reached Interstellar Space

In 2012, the Voyager mission team announced that the Voyager 1 spacecraft had passed into interstellar space, traveling further from Earth than any other manmade object.

ESO Photo: Lives and Deaths of Sibling Stars

In this striking new image from ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile young stars huddle together against a backdrop of clouds of glowing gas and lanes of dust.

Hubble Galaxy Halo More Accurately Than Ever Before

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have probed the extreme outskirts of the stunning elliptical galaxy Centaurus A.

Researchers Discover Transiting Exoplanet with Longest Known Year

Astronomers have discovered a transiting exoplanet with the longest known year. Kepler-421b circles its star once every 704 days.

Hubble Sees the Oldest Cluster in Milky Way Neighbor

This image shows NGC 121, a globular cluster in the constellation of Tucana (The Toucan). Globular clusters are big balls of old stars that orbit the centers of their galaxies like satellites -- the Milky Way, for example, has around 150.

ESA Euronews: European Extremely Large Telescope

Work is underway to build the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), a telescope that could one day find signs of life on distant planets. With a 39-metre mirror, it will be the world's biggest optical and infrared telescope.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Expands Its Reach

Building on 14 years of extraordinary discoveries, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has launched a major program of three new surveys, adding novel capabilities to expand its census of the Universe into regions it had been unable to explore before.

How Big is Rosetta Spacecraft Compared with Comet 7P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko?

This short animation explains the relative sizes of the Rosetta spacecraft and comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko.

Meet the Seven New Dwarf Galaxies

Yale University astronomers, using a new type of telescope made by stitching together telephoto lenses, recently discovered seven celestial surprises while probing a nearby spiral galaxy. The previously unseen galaxies may yield important insights into dark matter and galaxy evolution, while possibly signaling the discovery of a new class of objects in space.

Hubble Spots Spiral Bridge of Young Stars Linking Two Ancient Galaxies

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed an unusual structure 100,000 light years long, which resembles a corkscrew-shaped string of pearls and winds around the cores of two colliding galaxies.

New Technique Used for Sun-like Stars Reveal Their Ages

Defining what makes a star "Sun-like" is as difficult as defining what makes a planet "Earth-like." A solar twin should have a temperature, mass, and spectral type similar to our Sun.

Astronomers Bring The Third Dimension To A Doomed Star's Outburst

In the middle of the 19th century, the massive binary system Eta Carinae underwent an eruption that ejected at least 10 times the sun's mass and made it the second-brightest star in the sky. Now, a team of astronomers has used extensive new observations to create the first high-resolution 3-D model of the expanding cloud produced by this outburst.

How the Faintest Galaxies Illuminated the Early Universe

Light from tiny galaxies over 13 billion years ago played a larger role than previously thought in creating the conditions in the universe as we know it today, a new study has found. Ultraviolet (UV) light from stars in these faint dwarf galaxies helped strip interstellar hydrogen of electrons in a process called reionization.

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NASA-funded X-ray Instrument Settles Interstellar Debate View

Glow in Space is Evidence of A Hot Bubble in Our Galaxy View

Chandra Celebrates 15th Anniversary: Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8 View

Hubble Space Telescope Data Generates New Mass Map of a Distant Galaxy Cluster View

The Hubble Space Telescope Finds Three Surprisingly Dry Exoplanets View

AGU: Voyager Spacecraft Might Not Have Reached Interstellar Space View

ESO Photo: Lives and Deaths of Sibling Stars View

Hubble Galaxy Halo More Accurately Than Ever Before View

Researchers Discover Transiting Exoplanet with Longest Known Year View

Hubble Sees the Oldest Cluster in Milky Way Neighbor View

ESA Euronews: European Extremely Large Telescope View

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Expands Its Reach View

How Big is Rosetta Spacecraft Compared with Comet 7P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko? View

Meet the Seven New Dwarf Galaxies View

Hubble Spots Spiral Bridge of Young Stars Linking Two Ancient Galaxies View

New Technique Used for Sun-like Stars Reveal Their Ages View

Astronomers Bring The Third Dimension To A Doomed Star's Outburst View

How the Faintest Galaxies Illuminated the Early Universe View

NASA-funded X-ray Instrument Settles Interstellar Debate

Glow in Space is Evidence of A Hot Bubble in Our Galaxy

ESO Photo: Lives and Deaths of Sibling Stars

ESA Euronews: European Extremely Large Telescope

How Big is Rosetta Spacecraft Compared with Comet 7P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko?

Hubble Spots Spiral Bridge of Young Stars Linking Two Ancient Galaxies

Astronomers Bring The Third Dimension To A Doomed Star's Outburst

How the Faintest Galaxies Illuminated the Early Universe

How the Faintest Galaxies Illuminated the Early Universe

Young Star's Age Determined From Nothing But Sound Waves

NASA-funded X-ray Instrument Settles Interstellar Debate

Glow in Space is Evidence of A Hot Bubble in Our Galaxy

Chandra Celebrates 15th Anniversary: Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8

Hubble Space Telescope Data Generates New Mass Map of a Distant Galaxy Cluster

The Hubble Space Telescope Finds Three Surprisingly Dry Exoplanets

AGU: Voyager Spacecraft Might Not Have Reached Interstellar Space

ESO Photo: Lives and Deaths of Sibling Stars

Hubble Galaxy Halo More Accurately Than Ever Before

Researchers Discover Transiting Exoplanet with Longest Known Year

Hubble Sees the Oldest Cluster in Milky Way Neighbor

ESA Euronews: European Extremely Large Telescope

Sloan Digital Sky Survey Expands Its Reach

How Big is Rosetta Spacecraft Compared with Comet 7P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko?

Meet the Seven New Dwarf Galaxies

Hubble Spots Spiral Bridge of Young Stars Linking Two Ancient Galaxies

New Technique Used for Sun-like Stars Reveal Their Ages

Astronomers Bring The Third Dimension To A Doomed Star's Outburst

How the Faintest Galaxies Illuminated the Early Universe