Astronomy
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Astronomers Measure the Full Size of IC 1101, Confirming It as the Universe's Largest Known Galaxy
Ultra-deep imaging from the Isaac Newton Telescope resolves IC 1101's faint outer edge at 520 kiloparsecs across, with 3.4 trillion solar masses in stars.
Study Finds Primordial Black Holes Passing Through White Dwarfs Could Trigger Type Ia Supernovae
A new Astrophysical Journal study finds primordial black holes tunneling through white dwarfs could explain some Type Ia supernovae and Milky Way chemical patterns.
Astronomers Confirm First Atmosphere on a Rocky Exoplanet in a Star's Habitable Zone, LHS 1140 b
A Harvard-led team detects escaping helium around super-Earth LHS 1140 b, the first confirmed atmosphere found on a rocky world in a habitable zone.
JWST Detects Hidden Giant Planet in Beta Pictoris System Through Spectroscopy, Not Direct Imaging
Webb found Beta Pictoris d by reading its atmosphere's chemical fingerprint, a first for exoplanet discovery, while a separate imaging study independently confirmed it.
Astronomers Capture Clearest-Ever Image of Betelgeuse's Elusive Companion Star
ESO's Very Large Telescope captured the clearest-ever image of Betelgeuse B, showing the long-sought companion is 2.6 to 3.1 times the sun's mass.
UK Slashes Astronomy Funding, Putting Jodrell Bank's Lovell Telescope and e-MERLIN at Risk of Closure
STFC's 2.7% PPAN budget cut fully withdraws e-MERLIN funding, threatening Jodrell Bank's Lovell Telescope with closure.
Astronomers Identify AT2019ijn as a Possible New Class of Relativistic Cosmic Explosion With Record Radio Afterglow
A dwarf-galaxy transient first spotted in 2019 developed radio emission so bright, years later, that a Chinese-led team says it may define a new class of relativistic explosion.
Hubble and Webb Find Omega Centauri's First Stellar-Mass Black Hole, One of an Estimated 10,000 Missing From the Cluster
oMEGACat BH-2, a 4.46-solar-mass black hole orbited by a main-sequence star once every 94 years, is the first stellar-mass black hole detected in the globular cluster Omega Centauri.
Hubble Uncovers Four Hidden White Dwarfs Lurking Beside Nearby Red Dwarf Stars
Ultraviolet spectroscopy from Hubble confirmed four white dwarfs hiding behind red dwarf companions within 65 light-years of Earth, one first suspected 27 years ago.
Astronomers Catch a Nearby Black Hole in a Years-Long Radio Outburst Never Seen Before, Offering a Window Into the Early Universe
A low-mass black hole in a spiral galaxy 1.8 billion light-years away has stayed radio-bright for at least eight years, a transition astronomers say has never been observed before.
UC Irvine-Led Team Revises Nearby Exoplanet GJ 3378b to a Lighter, More Earth-Like Mass Inside the Habitable Zone
A UC Irvine-led study cut GJ 3378b's estimated mass and orbital period, placing the nearby super-Earth more solidly within its star's habitable zone.
Euclid Discovers 31 Ancient Quasars, Setting a New Redshift Record for the Most Distant Quasar Ever Reported
ESA's Euclid telescope has found 31 quasars from the universe's first billion years. EUCL J172902.75+641018.1, at redshift 7.77, breaks a record that stood since 2021, and the haul more than doubles the known quasars at redshift 7 or above.