New observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have captured a rare cosmic event: two galaxy clusters have collided and are now poised to head back for another swipe at each other. Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the Universe. Held together by gravity, they are monster-sized collections of hundreds […]
Category: The Universe
3 Black Holes Caught Eating Massive Stars in NASA Data
Black holes are invisible to us unless they interact with something else. Some continuously eat gas and dust, and appear to glow brightly over time as matter falls in. But other black holes secretly lie in wait for years until a star comes close enough to snack on. Scientists have recently identified three supermassive black […]
Core Components for NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Pass Major Shake Test
The core portion of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully completed vibration testing, ensuring it will withstand the extreme shaking experienced during launch. Passing this key milestone brings Roman one step closer to helping answer essential questions about the role of dark energy and other cosmic mysteries. “The test could be considered as […]
NASA’s Webb Rounds Out Picture of Sombrero Galaxy’s Disk
After capturing an image of the iconic Sombrero galaxy at mid-infrared wavelengths in late 2024, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has now followed up with an observation in the near-infrared. In the newest image, the Sombrero galaxy’s huge bulge, the tightly packed group of stars at the galaxy’s center, is illuminated, while the dust in […]
Hubble Filters a Barred Spiral
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a luminous tangle of stars and dust called the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1385, located about 30 million light-years away. Hubble released an earlier image of NGC 1385, but the two images are notably different. This more recent image has far more pinkish-red and umber shades, whereas cool […]
Apocalypse When? Hubble Casts Doubt on Certainty of Galactic Collision
As far back as 1912, astronomers realized that the Andromeda galaxy — then thought to be only a nebula — was headed our way. A century later, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope were able to measure the sideways motion of Andromeda and found it was so negligible that an eventual head-on collision with the […]
Hubble Spies Paired Pinwheel on Its Own
A single member of a galaxy pair takes centerstage in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. This beautiful spiral galaxy is NGC 3507, which is situated about 46 million light-years away in the constellation Leo (the Lion). NGC 3507’s classification is a barred spiral because the galaxy’s sweeping spiral arms emerge from the ends of […]
Hubble Spies Paired Pinwheel on Its Own
A single member of a galaxy pair takes centerstage in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. This beautiful spiral galaxy is NGC 3507, which is situated about 46 million light-years away in the constellation Leo (the Lion). NGC 3507’s classification is a barred spiral because the galaxy’s sweeping spiral arms emerge from the ends of […]
Eccentric ‘Star’ Defies Easy Explanation, NASA’s Chandra Finds
Scientists have discovered a star behaving like no other seen before, giving fresh clues about the origin of a new class of mysterious objects. As described in our press release, a team of astronomers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the SKA [Square Kilometer Array] Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope on Wajarri Country in […]
Hubble Spies a Spiral So Inclined
The stately and inclined spiral galaxy NGC 3511 is the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy is located 43 million light-years away in the constellation Crater (The Cup). From Hubble’s vantage point in orbit around Earth, NGC 3511 is tilted by about 70 degrees, intermediate between face-on galaxies that display the […]