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Meet the Giant Telescope That May Find Life Elsewhere
If you drove on the winding road up the Chilean Andes, you’d spot the white specks of distant telescopes peppering the hills. Sometime by the end of this decade, one of those specks will tower above the rest, visible even miles away. Up close, it resembles a rotating luxury apartment complex. Vents taller than a…
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A stellar runaway
Gerald Rhemann, taken from Farm Tivoli, Namibia The star Zeta Ophiuchi is zipping through space at roughly 19 miles per second (30 km/s), having been ejected from its former system. This creates a shock wave out in front of the star, like the wave off the bow of a ship. This Hα/OII/LRGB image was taken…
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Astronomers discover disk around star in another galaxy
An artist’s impression of the disc and jet in the young star system HH 1177. Credit: The European Southern Observatory (ESO) Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the Chilean desert have just achieved an impressive astronomical first: Imaging a planet-forming disk around a star in another galaxy. The results of their efforts…
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Astronomers discover new six-planet solar system in rare harmony
(CN) — A newly discovered system of six planets, about 100 light-years away from Earth, may offer a rare chance to study how solar systems and even planets develop and evolve. The six exoplanets orbit HD 110067, a fairly bright star in the Coma Berenices constellation, visible from Earth with a telescope. Astronomers using a…
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Distant Stars Spotted for the First Time in the Vast Magellanic Stream | Center for Astrophysics
Coordinated Molecular Probe Line Extinction Thermal Emission (COMPLETE) Survey of Star Forming Regions Star formation is a complex process, beginning from cold clouds of gas and dust and ending with the diverse population of stars we observe in our galaxy and beyond. Studying that process requires many different types of astronomical observations to capture the…
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First planet-forming disc around star beyond our galaxy
Astronomers peering into the nearby galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud have spotted something that has never been seen outside our own Milky Way galaxy. The disc and jet in the HH 1177 young star system as seen with MUSE and ALMA. Credit: ESO/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/A. McLeod et al. They found a disc around a…
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New Six-Planet Star System Discovered 100 Light-Years from Earth
Listen to article (2 minutes) A family of six gaseous worlds circling like rhythmic dervishes around a sun-like star will soon help astronomers better understand how planetary systems like our own formed and evolved. This newly discovered system, about 100 light-years from Earth, is unusual because its planets orbit a bright host star in a…
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‘Shocked and delighted’: Astronomers find six planets orbiting in resonance
The six planets of the HD 110067 system, shown in this artist’s depiction, orbit in a resonant chain that links their periods mathematically. Credit: © CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, Thibaut Roger/NCCR PlanetS A newly discovered system of six planets circling a nearby Sun-like star may be the key to unlocking how planetary systems form. All between…
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The Solar Radius Might Be Slightly Smaller Than We Thought
Two astronomers use a pioneering method to suggest that the size of our Sun and the solar radius may be due revision. Our host star is full of surprises. Studying our Sun is the most essential facet of modern astronomy: not only does Sol provide us with the only example of a star we can…
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How do comets get their names?
Comet 1P/Halley is perhaps the most famous comet. Though it only passes near Earth about once every 75 years, over time, it has left an expansive trail of debris throughout its entire orbital path. When Earth passes through this debris each year, we are treated to a meteor shower known as the Eta Aquariids. Credit:…
