June 30, 2013 The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, a dark globule within IC 1396 Image Credit: Lóránd Fényes, Best Newcomer in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012 Competition The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A) is an elongated dark globule of more than 20 light-years long within the much larger (over 100 light-years across) emission nebula [continue reading]
June 29, 2013 NGC 2403, a spiral galaxy in Camelopardalis Image Credit: Image Data: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing: Robert Gendler (http://www.robgendlerastropics.com) NGC 2403 is an intermediate spiral galaxy of some 50,000 light years across, located about 10.4 million light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis (the Giraffe), while it [continue reading]
Gemini Observatory’s Planet-Finding Campaign finds that, around many types of stars, distant gas-giant planets are rare and prefer to cling close to their parent stars. The impact on theories of planet formation could be significant. Artist’s rendering of a possible exoplanetary system with a gas-giant planet orbiting close to his parent star which is [continue reading]
A team of astronomers from the UK, Germany and Spain have observed the remnant of a stellar collision and discovered that its brightness varies in a way not seen before on this rare type of star. By analyzing the patterns in these brightness variations, astronomers will learn what really happens when stars collide. Artist’s impression of [continue reading]
June 28, 2013 NGC 2060, a star cluster and supernova remnant in the LMC Image Credit: ESO NGC 2060 is an open star cluster, located about 170,000 light-years away close to the center of the Tarantula Nebula, a vast star-forming cloud of gas and dust in our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, in the [continue reading]
June 27, 2013 The Grasshopper, a pair of interacting galaxies in Lynx Image Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University) The Grasshopper (designated UGC 4881 or Arp 55) is a bright pair of interacting galaxies, located about 527 million light-years away from Earth in the [continue reading]