Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have mapped, for the first time ever, the plasma “burps” of a supermassive black hole-powered quasar that resides relatively close to Earth. While supermassive black holes with masses millions or billions of times that of the sun are thought to reside at the heart of all galaxies, not all … Read more
Astronomers have spotted flashes and echoes coming from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). These “cosmic fireworks” and X-ray echoes can help scientists better understand the dark, quiet cosmic titan around which our galaxy orbits. The Michigan State University team of researchers made the groundbreaking discovery … Read more
It’s a bird… it’s a plane… it’s a super star cluster! NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope has imaged a star cluster that is “super” in every way. Westerlund 1 is super big, super massive, super young, super close – and it’s creating stars at a super fast rate. Westerlund 1 is about 13,000 light-years away from … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered the oldest and most distant supernova ever seen – a stellar explosion that occurred when the universe was only 1.8 billion years old. The ancient starburst was discovered among 80 others in a part of the sky that, from our perspective on Earth, is about the width of … Read more
Astronomers observed a giant asteroid impact in Beta Pictoris, using data from the Webb and Spitzer telescopes. The event, which occurred 20 years ago, provides new insights into early planetary formation in this young star system. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: NASA The new observations shed light on the unstable processes that form star systems like our … Read more