University of California

Exiled stars explode far from home

5 June 2015 Astronomy Now

Hubble Space Telescope images confirm that three supernovae discovered several years ago exploded in the dark emptiness of intergalactic space — their nearest neighbours probably 300 light-years away — having been flung from their home galaxies millions or billions of years earlier.

Hubble observes one-of-a-kind star nicknamed ‘Nasty 1’

24 May 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers were surprised to find a disc-like structure around a hefty, rapidly aging star nicknamed “Nasty 1,” which has never been seen before around a Wolf-Rayet star in our galaxy. The star may represent a brief transitory stage in the evolution of massive stars.

Supernova observed colliding with its companion star

20 May 2015 Astronomy Now

Type Ia supernovae are violent stellar explosions that shine as some of the brightest objects in the universe, but there are still many mysteries surrounding their origin. Now a team of astronomers have witnessed a supernova smashing into a nearby star, shocking it, and creating an ultraviolet glow that reveals the size of the companion.

Ceres’ mysterious white spots resolved in latest Dawn images

11 May 2015 Astronomy Now

The enigmatic white features on the dwarf planet Ceres are better resolved in a new sequence of images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on May 3rd and 4th. In this closest-yet view, the brightest spots within a crater in the northern hemisphere are revealed to be composed of many smaller spots. However, their exact nature remains unknown.

Astronomers set a new galaxy distance record

5 May 2015 Astronomy Now

An international team of astronomers has pushed back the cosmic frontier of galaxy exploration to a time when the universe was only 5 percent of its present age with the discovery of an exceptionally luminous galaxy more than 13 billion light-years from Earth. The galaxy existed so long ago, it appears to be only 100 million years old.

Astronomers upgrade their cosmic light bulbs for studying the fabric of space

27 March 2015 Astronomy Now

Researchers identify the best Type Ia supernovae for gauging cosmic distances, potentially improving these measurements with a precision of more than two times that achieved before, up to six billion light-years away. These findings will help light the way to understanding dark energy.

Exiled stars explode far from home

Hubble observes one-of-a-kind star nicknamed ‘Nasty 1’

Supernova observed colliding with its companion star

Ceres’ mysterious white spots resolved in latest Dawn images

Astronomers set a new galaxy distance record

Astronomers upgrade their cosmic light bulbs for studying the fabric of space

Are volcanoes responsible for twin bright spots on Ceres?

Google gives Lick Observatory $1 million

Planck reveals first stars were born later

Dawn delivers new image of dwarf planet Ceres