NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope spent over 20 hours observing the long-studied Hubble Ultra Deep Field for the first time on Oct. 11, 2022. The general observer program (GO 1963) analyzed…
Category: Astronomy
M87 in 3D: New view of galaxy helps pin down mass of the black hole at its core
Seen from Earth, the giant elliptical galaxy M87 is just a two-dimensional blob, though one that appears perfectly symmetrical and thus a favored target of amateur astronomers. Yet, a new,…
New findings that map the universe’s cosmic growth support Einstein’s theory of gravity
A new image reveals the most detailed map of dark matter distributed across a quarter of the entire sky, reaching deep into the cosmos. The findings, from the Atacama Cosmology…
Webb Reveals Never-Before-Seen Details in Cassiopeia A
The explosion of a star is a dramatic event, but the remains the star leaves behind can be even more dramatic. A new mid-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space…
Twinkling stars fuel interstellar dust
Of the many kinds of stars, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, usually slightly larger and older than our own sun, are known to produce interstellar dust. Dusty AGBs are particularly…
The Smithsonian’s ‘Lights Out’ inspires visitors to save the fading night sky
Bright, artificial lights are drowning out the night sky’s natural glow. Now, an exhibition is highlighting some of the consequences of a fading starry night — and how people can…
How to see the invisible: Using the dark matter distribution to test our cosmological model
How do you measure dark matter, which by definition emits no light? Watch how it impacts things you can see — specifically, how light from distant galaxies bends around it, as predicted…
Scientists Unveil a 5.7 Terapixel Global Image of Mars
A planet-spanning online image of Mars created at a scale of 5 meters per pixel was unveiled today. The image is freely available to the public and can be accessed…
Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable
SEATTLE — Luke Skywalker’s home planet in Star Wars is the stuff of science fiction. But Tatooine-like planets in orbit around pairs of stars might be our best bet in…
New data show how quickly light pollution is obscuring the night sky
The night sky has been brightening faster than researchers realized, thanks to the use of artificial lights at night. A study of more than 50,000 observations of stars by citizen…
