Three elder sisters of the Sun with planets

An international team led by Prof. Dr. habil. Andrzej Niedzielski, an astronomer from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun (Poland), has discovered yet another three extrasolar planets. These planets revolve around ...

Galaxies that feed on other galaxies

An international team of astronomers led by Giuseppina Battaglia, researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), finds signs that the outer halo of the Milky Way contains stellar remains of massive dwarf galaxies ...

Upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope sees first light

After several years and a massive team effort, one of the world's largest telescopes has opened its giant eye again. The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory has completed ...

Astronomers measure most massive, most unusual black hole

Astronomers have used the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory to measure the mass of what may be the most massive black hole yet—17 billion Suns—in galaxy NGC 1277. The unusual ...

Orionid meteor shower peaks Oct. 20-21, 2012

As it does each year, early fall brings crisper air, turning leaves, and the Orionid meteor shower. This year's best viewing will be in the several hours around midnight October 20 and before dawn on October 21, according ...

First evidence discovered of planet's destruction by its star

(Phys.org) -- The first evidence of a planet's destruction by its aging star has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. The evidence indicates that the missing planet was devoured as the star began expanding ...