Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have obtained a remarkable new view of a whopper of an elliptical galaxy that may have been puffed up by the actions of one or more black holes in its core. The giant elliptical galaxy, dubbed A2261-BCG, in the center of this image, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, [continue reading]
NASA has selected a new mission, set to launch in 2016, that will take the first look into the deep interior of Mars to see why the Red Planet evolved so differently from Earth as one of our Solar System’s rocky planets. Mars, the “Red Planet”. Image Credit: NASA The new mission, named InSight, [continue reading]
Each century, about two massive stars in our own galaxy explode, producing magnificent supernovae. These stellar explosions send fundamental, uncharged particles called neutrinos streaming our way and generate ripples called gravitational waves in the fabric of space-time. This image shows the inner regions of a collapsing, rapidly spinning massive star. The colors indicate entropy, [continue reading]
A team of scientists has created an “MRI” of the Sun’s interior plasma motions, shedding light on how it transfers heat from its deep interior to its surface. The result, which appears in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, increases our understanding of how heat is transported outwards by the Sun [continue reading]
Spacecraft concludes primary mission, looks toward second year at innermost planet click to enlarge MESSENGER completed its one-year primary mission on March 17. Since moving into orbit about Mercury a little over one year ago, the spacecraft has captured nearly 100,000 images and returned data that have revealed new information about the planet, including [continue reading]