Astronomy | SpaceRef

Astronomy TOP STORY

An Unusual White Dwarf May Be A Supernova Leftover

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Astronomers have identified a white dwarf star in our galaxy that may be the leftover remains of a recently discovered type of supernova.

A Starburst With The Prospect of Gravitational Waves

Galaxy IC 10

In 1887, American astronomer Lewis Swift discovered a glowing cloud, or nebula, that turned out to be a small galaxy about 2.2 million light years from Earth.

Intense Star Formation in the Westerhout 43 Region

Hidden from our sight, the Westerhout 43 star-forming region is revealed in full glory in this far-infrared image from ESA's Herschel space observatory.

Hubble Displays a Dwarf Spiral Galaxy

The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is a dwarf galaxy named NGC 5949.

Why Massive Galaxies Don't Dance In Crowds

Australian scientists have discovered why heavyweight galaxies living in a dense crowd of galaxies tend to spin more slowly than their lighter neighbours.

Studying Galactic Winds

When astronomers peer into the universe, what they see often exceeds the limits of human understanding. Such is the case with low-mass galaxies--galaxies a fraction of the size of our own Milky Way.

New Theory on the Origin of Dark Matter

Only a small part of the universe consists of visible matter. By far the largest part is invisible and consists of dark matter and dark energy.

Supernova Shock Wave Theory of Our Solar System's Origin

New work offers fresh evidence supporting the supernova shock wave theory of our solar system's origin.

Standard Model of the Universe Withstands Most Precise Test by Dark Energy Survey

Astrophysicists have a fairly accurate understanding of how the universe ages.

Gas Loss Puts Brakes on Stellar Baby Boom

Understanding the history of star formation in the Universe is a central theme in modern astronomy.

Studying Pulsars 50 Years After Their Chance Discovery

A little bit of "scruff" in scientific data 50 years ago led to the discovery of pulsars -- rapidly spinning dense stellar corpses that appear to pulse at Earth.

SNR 0509-67.5 Supernova Bubble Resembles Holiday Ornament

This colorful creation was made by combining data from two of NASA's Great Observatories.

Spectacular View Of The Orion Nebula

OmegaCAM -- the wide-field optical camera on ESO's VLT Survey Telescope (VST) -- has captured the spectacular Orion Nebula and its associated cluster of young stars in great detail, producing a beautiful new image.

Reaching the Cosmic Dawn

Arizona State University astronomers Sangeeta Malhotra and James Rhoads, working with international teams in Chile and China, have discovered 23 young galaxies, seen as they were 800 million years after the Big Bang.

Galactic David and Goliath

The gravitational dance between two galaxies in our local neighbourhood has led to intriguing visual features in both as witnessed in this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image.

Massive Star's Dying Blast Caught By Rapid-response Telescopes

In June 2016, an international team of 31 astronomers, led by the University of Maryland's Eleanora Troja and including Arizona State University's Nathaniel Butler, caught a massive star as it died in a titanic explosion deep in space.

New Maps of Dark Matter Dynamics

New maps of dark matter dynamics in the Universe have been produced by a team of international cosmologists.

Hubble's View Of NGC 4242 in Canes Venatici

Tucked away in the small northern constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs) is the galaxy NGC 4242, shown here as seen by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.