Recent Comments

    Category Astronomy/Space

    HAWC Gamma-ray Observatory reveals new look at the Very-High-energy sky

    April 19, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    HAWC observations show that a previously known gamma ray source in the Milky Way galaxy, TeV J1930+188, which is probably due to a pulsar wind nebula, is far more complicated than originally thought. Where researchers previously identified a single gamma ray source, HAWC identified several hot spots. Credit: HAWC Collaboration

    HAWC observations show that a previously known gamma ray source in the Milky Way galaxy, TeV J1930+188, which is probably due to a pulsar wind nebula, is far more complicated than originally thought. Where researchers previously identified a single gamma ray source, HAWC identified several hot spots. Credit: HAWC Collaboration

    Scientists operating HAWC released a new survey of the sky made from the highest energy gamma rays ever observed. The new sky map, which uses data collected since the observatory began running at full capacity last March, offers a deeper understanding of high-energy processes taking place in our galaxy and beyond.

    The new sky map shows many new gamma ray sources within our own Milky Way galaxy...

    Read More

    A Space ‘Spider’ Watches over Young Stars

    April 19, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The Spider Nebula lies about 10,000 light-years away from Earth and is a site of active star formation. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/2MASS

    The Spider Nebula lies about 10,000 light-years away from Earth and is a site of active star formation. Infrared wavelengths have been assigned visible colors. Light with a wavelength of 1.2 microns, detected by 2MASS, is shown in blue. The Spitzer wavelengths of 3.6 and 4.5 microns are green and red, respectively. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/2MASS

    A nebula known as “the Spider” glows fluorescent green in an infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). The Spider, officially named IC 417, lies near a much smaller object NGC 1931. Together, the two are called “The Spider and the Fly” nebulae. Nebulae are clouds of interstellar gas and dust where stars can form.

    The Spider, ~10,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Auriga, is clearly a ...

    Read More

    Hubble Peers into the Mouth of Leo A

    April 18, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Hubble peers into the mouth of Leo A

    At first glance, this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image seems to show an array of different cosmic objects, but the speckling of stars shown here actually forms a single body—a nearby dwarf galaxy known as Leo A. Its few million stars are so sparsely distributed that some distant background galaxies are visible through it. Leo A itself is at a distance of about 2.5 million light-years from Earth and a member of the Local Group of galaxies; a group that includes the Milky Way and the well-known Andromeda galaxy. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt

    Leo A is a rather unusual galaxy 2.5 million light-years from Earth. It is one of the most isolated dwarf galaxies in the Local Group, which includes Milky Way and the well-known Andromeda galaxy...

    Read More

    Dwarf Dark Galaxy hidden in ALMA Gravitational Lens image

    April 17, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Composite image of the gravitational lens SDP.81 showing the distorted ALMA image of the more distant galaxy (red arcs) and the Hubble optical image of the nearby lensing galaxy (blue center object). By analyzing the distortions in the ring, astronomers have determined that a dark dwarf galaxy (data indicated by white dot near left lower arc segment) is lurking nearly 4 billion light-years away. Credit: Y. Hezaveh, Stanford Univ.; ALMA (NRAO/ESO/NAOJ); NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope

    Composite image of the gravitational lens SDP.81 showing the distorted ALMA image of the more distant galaxy (red arcs) and the Hubble optical image of the nearby lensing galaxy (blue center object). By analyzing the distortions in the ring, astronomers have determined that a dark dwarf galaxy (data indicated by white dot near left lower arc segment) is lurking nearly 4 billion light-years away. Credit: Y. Hezaveh, Stanford Univ.; ALMA (NRAO/ESO/NAOJ); NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope

    Subtle distortions hidden in ALMA’s stunning image of the gravitational lens SDP.81 are telltale signs that a dwarf dark galaxy is lurking in the halo of a much larger galaxy nearly 4 billion light-years away...

    Read More