How scientists sent the largest camera in astronomy from California to Chile
After two decades of work, the camera at the heart of the future Vera C. Rubin Observatory arrived home last week. It is now perched atop the Cerro Pachón mountain…
Did galaxies or supermassive black holes form first? – Interesting engineering
Galaxies are made up of a variety of astronomical objects, including black holes, planets, and stars. At the core of a galaxy is a supermassive black hole (SMBH), one of…
Food habits of Andromeda’s supermassive black hole revealed by NASA’s Spitzer
These images of the Andromeda Galaxy use data from NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope. Multiple wavelengths are shown in the image above, revealing stars, dust, and star-forming regions. The bottom…
‘Exo-Venus’ discovered: Potentially habitable world just 40 light years from Earth
Gliese 12 b, which orbits a cool, red dwarf star just 40 light-years away, promises to tell astronomers more about how planets close to their stars retain or lose their…
Webb Space Telescope Cracks Case of Puffy ‘Microwave Marshmallow’ Exoplanet
The warm gas giant WASP-107 b, known for its unusually low density and moderate temperature, may have its bloated atmosphere due to tidal heating that warms its interior more than…
Astronomers uncover a puzzling ‘cosmic mystery’ – a giant planet as fluffy as cotton candy
WASP-193b, a new exoplanet, is 50% larger than Jupiter but seven times less massive, with an extremely low density similar to cotton candy. Discovered by WASP and confirmed by observatories…
Hidden in the halo: MIT researchers discover the oldest stars in the universe
MIT astronomers have discovered three of the oldest stars in the universe, and they live in our own galactic neighborhood. The stars are in the Milky Way's 'halo' - the…
Discovery of super fluffy ‘cotton candy’ exoplanet shocks scientists – ‘We can’t explain how this planet formed’
Astronomers have discovered a giant, low-density planet called WASP-193b, which is 50% larger than Jupiter but has the density of cotton candy. This discovery challenges existing theories of planet formation.…
Galactic rings of power: Astronomers discover massive magnetic toroids in Milky Way’s halo
The magnetic fields in the Milky Way's halo have a toroidal structure extending from 6,000 light-years to 50,000 light-years from the Galactic center. The Sun is about 30,000 light years…