A Star Has Erupted at Least 27 Times. X-Rays Point to a Hidden Companion.
AT 2016blu keeps flaring on a roughly 113-day cycle. A carefully timed Chandra observation points to a black hole or neutron star taking material from it.
Posts Tagged: astronomy
These Galaxies Made Their Own Oxygen. On Average, Only 11% Stayed Behind.
A census of 37 dwarf galaxies found that most of the oxygen their stars produced is missing. The mystery is how far it traveled.
The Moon in Van Gogh’s Starry Night Points to a Different Date—But His Letter Gets in the Way
A new sky reconstruction points to July 22, 1889. Van Gogh’s June letter and a disputed view of the landscape keep the famous painting’s date from becoming a solved mystery.
NASA Ends Swift Observatory After Nearly 22 Years of Chasing Cosmic Explosions
NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has ended its nearly 22-year mission, leaving behind a vast public archive and a rapid-response model that reshaped astronomy.
Webb’s New N159 Panorama Catches a Stellar Nursery at Every Stage of Birth
Webb’s new N159 panorama reveals ionized bubbles, cold molecular filaments and generations of young stars forming across one neighboring-galaxy nursery.
Hubble’s Edge-On View of NGC 1827 Turns a Pretty Galaxy Into a Cosmology Test
Hubble’s new edge-on portrait of NGC 1827 reveals dust lanes, young stars and a survey testing cosmology’s small-galaxy predictions.
Astronomers Think a Dead Star May Be Making a New Planet—Thanks to 1999 Hubble Data
A 25-year-old Hubble puzzle may point to a gas giant forming from the debris of a star’s death. The planet is still a candidate, but the clue is remarkable.
A Building-Sized Space Rock Hit the Moon. NASA Found the 728-Foot Crater in Old Images
A natural impact carved a 728-foot crater on the Moon. NASA found the fresh scar by comparing old orbital images—and discovered the blast changed the surrounding ground, too.
Astronomers Report Radio Bursts From an Exoplanet—and Interpret Them as Possible Auroras
A preprint reports radio bursts localized to the giant exoplanet Beta Pictoris b. The authors interpret them as likely auroral emissions tied to a magnetic field—not an alien signal.
After 800 Years The Star of Bethlehem Will Be Visible In December
The “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn will make it possible for the Star of Bethlehem to be visible from Earth again 800 years later. The year 2020 could not say goodbye without first surprising with another astronomical phenomenon that will occur after several centuries. During December, the famous Star of Bethlehem will once again… Read more »