Astronomers routinely use the crisp view of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to study all kinds of intricate details in galaxy clusters. By now you would think they've seen it all—but nature always has new surprises in store.
Astronomy
Jul 10, 2014
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The forthcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope offers unprecedented new opportunities for astronomers. It's also a timely opportunity to reflect on what previous generations of telescopes have shown us.
Astronomy
Dec 23, 2021
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Meet R136a1, the most massive star known. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, it's a hulking behemoth weighing somewhere between 150 and 200 times the mass of the sun. Understanding the upper limit of stars helps astronomers ...
Astronomy
Aug 18, 2022
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262
This star-studded image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope depicts NGC 6717, which lies more than 20,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. NGC 6717 is a globular cluster, a roughly spherical collection ...
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2021
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432
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has lost contact with its X-ray Astronomy Satellite Hitomi (ASTRO-H.) Hitomi was launched on February 17th, for a 3-year mission to study black holes. But now that mission ...
Space Exploration
Mar 30, 2016
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When spectacular cosmic events such as galaxy collisions occur, it sets off a reaction to form new stars, and possibly new planets that otherwise would not have formed. The gravitational pull that forces the collisions between ...
Astronomy
Feb 9, 2024
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Globular star clusters are extraordinary in almost every way. They're densely packed, holding a million stars in a ball only about 100 light-years across on average. They're old, dating back almost to the birth of the Milky ...
Astronomy
Jan 6, 2016
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2112
(PhysOrg.com) -- The globular star cluster Omega Centauri has caught the attention of sky watchers ever since the ancient astronomer Ptolemy first catalogued it 2,000 years ago. Ptolemy, however, thought Omega Centauri was ...
Astronomy
Oct 26, 2010
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Searching for life in the vast universe is an overwhelming task, but scientists can cross one place off their list.
Astronomy
Aug 9, 2018
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(Phys.org)—A Texas Tech University astrophysicist was part of a team of researchers that discovered the first examples of black holes in globular star clusters in our own galaxy, upsetting 40 years of theories against their ...
Astronomy
Nov 4, 2013
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