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A space spider watches over young stars

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...

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Light echoes give clues to planet nursery around star

Imagine you want to measure the size of a room, but it's completely dark. If you shout, you can tell if the space you're in is relatively big or small, depending on how long it takes to hear the echo...

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Hubble finds clues to the birth of supermassive black holes

Astrophysicists have taken a major step forward in understanding how supermassive black holes formed. Using data from Hubble and two other space telescopes, Italian researchers have found the best...

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How cold can you go? Cooler tested for NASA telescope

A first-of-its-kind cooler for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2018, has completed testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

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Gluttonous star may hold clues to planet formation

In 1936, the young star FU Orionis began gobbling material from its surrounding disk of gas and dust with a sudden voraciousness. During a three-month binge, as matter turned into energy, the star...

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Newborn exoplanet discovered around young star (Update)

Planet formation is a complex and tumultuous process that remains shrouded in mystery. Astronomers have discovered more than 3,000 exoplanets—planets orbiting stars other than our Sun—however, nearly...

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Astronomers discover a highly inflated sub-Saturn extrasolar planet

(Phys.org)—An international team of astronomers led by Joshua Pepper of the Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has detected an extremely inflated sub-Saturn exoplanet orbiting a bright...

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First atmospheric study of Earth-sized exoplanets reveals rocky worlds

On May 2, scientists from MIT, the University of Liège, and elsewhere announced they had discovered a planetary system, a mere 40 light years from Earth, that hosts three potentially habitable,...

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Orphaned protostars

Stars form as gravity contracts the gas and dust in an interstellar cloud until clumps develop that are dense enough to coalesce into stars. Precisely how this happens, however, is very uncertain, and...

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Loneliest young star seen by Spitzer and WISE

Alone on the cosmic road, far from any known celestial object, a young, independent star is going through a tremendous growth spurt.

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Astrophysicists discover mechanism for spiral-arm formation in disk galaxies

Astrophysicists at the University of Arkansas have discovered a mechanism for the formation of the spiral arms in disk galaxies.

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Spitzer Space Telescope begins 'Beyond' phase

Celebrating the spacecraft's ability to push the boundaries of space science and technology, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope team has dubbed the next phase of its journey "Beyond."

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NASA team probes peculiar age-defying star

For years, astronomers have puzzled over a massive star lodged deep in the Milky Way that shows conflicting signs of being extremely old and extremely young.

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An atypical protostar

At the centre of this image, captured by ESA's Herschel space observatory, is a truly peculiar cosmic object: a star named IRAS 19312+1950.

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New light on the complex nature of 'hot Jupiter' atmospheres

Fascinating new light could be shed on the complex atmospheres of planets which orbit stars outside our own solar system, thanks to pioneering new research.

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Image: 'Enterprise' nebulae seen by Spitzer

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the TV series "Star Trek," which first aired September 8th,1966, a new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope may remind fans of the historic show.

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The frontier fields: Where primordial galaxies lurk

In the ongoing hunt for the universe's earliest galaxies, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has wrapped up its observations for the Frontier Fields project. This ambitious project has combined the power...

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'Pandora's Cluster' seen by Spitzer

This image of galaxy cluster Abell 2744, also called Pandora's Cluster, was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The gravity of this galaxy cluster is strong enough that it acts as a lens to magnify...

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Using oxygen as a tracer of galactic evolution

A new study led by University of California, Riverside astronomers casts light on how young, hot stars ionize oxygen in the early universe and the effects on the evolution of galaxies through time.

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Spiral galaxy NGC 5523 could be an isolated product of soft galaxy mergers,...

(Phys.org)—The spiral galaxy NGC 5523 is believed to be an example of an isolated galaxy whose evolution was not influenced by other objects. However, a new study conducted by U.S. astronomers shows...

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