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Astronomers find heaviest black hole pair in the universe, and they’ve been trapped in an endless duel for 3 billion years
Astronomers have spotted the heaviest black hole pair ever seen — a duo weighing the equivalent of 28 billion suns. The black holes’ combined mass is so great that they refuse to collide and merge. The black hole binary, embedded inside the “fossil” galaxy B2 0402+379, consists of two enormous supermassive black holes circling each…
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An Ocean Moon Thought to Be Habitable May Be Oxygen-Starved
Under its bright, frosty shell, Jupiter’s moon Europa is thought to harbor a salty ocean, making it a world that might be one of the most habitable places in our solar system. But most life as we know it needs oxygen. And it’s an open question whether Europa’s ocean has it. Now, astronomers have nailed…
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The James Webb Space Telescope’s targets over the next year include black holes, exomoons, dark energy
The Space Telescope Science Institute has announced which astronomy proposals have been selected to be given time with the James Webb Space Telescope over the next two years. On Thursday (Feb. 29), the organization outlined 253 General Observers (GO) programs that will use humanity’s most powerful and sensitive space telescope for a collective 5,500 hours…
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Astronomy concentration makes space to study the cosmos
Photo by Emma Sylvester for The Lafayette The astronomy concentration is a subset of the physics major, which calls Hugel Science Center its home. .sno-story-photo-area { width: 100%; margin-bottom: 0px; max-width: 100%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } .sno-story-photo-area img { object-fit: contain; } .sno-story-photo-area .sno-story-photo-image-area { height: unset; max-height: unset; background: #dddddd; } .sno-story-photo-area .sno-story-photo-image-area…
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Astronomers find water floating in planet-forming part of space
Astronomers have spotted water in space near a star similar to the Sun, potentially giving a glimpse into conditions that supported formation of planets like Earth. The young sun ‘HL Tauri’ is located about 450 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, teams have observed water vapour…
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope mission
Refresh 2024-02-29T09:06:13.294Z Small galaxies packed a punch in the early universe An illustration shows the James Webb Space Telescope as it studies an array of dwarf galaxies (Image credit: NASA/ESA/Robert Lea) Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have observed small galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 1 billion years old, finding…
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Space and Astronomy Books for Kids Ages 8+
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing through Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Whether you’re lucky enough to be able to view from the path of totality or just heading out to watch the moon take a bite out of the sun, get your child excited for…
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Webb Snaps Breathtaking New Image of NGC 1559
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a new photo of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1559. This Webb image shows NGC 1559, a barred spiral galaxy some 32 million light-years away in the constellation of Reticulum. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Leroy / J. Lee / PHANGS…
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Webb Snaps Breathtaking New Image of NGC 1559
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a new photo of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1559. This Webb image shows NGC 1559, a barred spiral galaxy some 32 million light-years away in the constellation of Reticulum. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Leroy / J. Lee / PHANGS…
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To infinity and beyond! How India is creating a space for itself in the Space Industry
At the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thumba, Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the names of four astronauts chosen for India’s first manned space mission, Gaganyaan. The astronauts are all officers from the Indian Air Force: Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.…