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☆ NASA's James Webb telescope captured the spectacular death throes of a star 2,600 light year away
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to impress with stunning images of the universe. You can see the image in more detail below:The Ring Nebula is a favorite among amateur astronomers. This latest Ring Nebula picture isn't just "aesthetically pleasing," said co-lead scientist Nick Cox of space observation firm ACRI-ST, France. As part of the space telescope's first series of images, scientists released stunning new photos of the Southern Ring Nebula, in July 2022. The two stars can be seen on the MIRI cam picture of the Southern Ring Nebula.

Persons: James Webb Space, NASA's James Webb, Jan Cami, James Webb, Nick Cox, Mike Barlow, JWST Organizations: Service, NASA's James Webb Space, University of Western, Imaging, University College London, NASA, ESA, CSA Locations: Wall, Silicon, University of Western Ontario, Canada, France

☆ Webb telescope spots water in a nearby planetary system
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Astronomers have detected water vapor swirling close to a nearby star — indicating that the planets forming around it might someday be able to support life. Water vapor mysteryAstronomers were surprised to discover water vapor near the star given its age. The presence of water vapor suggests the planets could contain water in some form. Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument detected emission lines from water vapor in the inner disk around the star. The research team plans to observe the system with Webb more in the future to reveal additional secrets as a planetary system takes shape.

Persons: Olmsted, Webb, “, ”, Giulia Perotti, Max Planck, Rens Waters, Thomas Henning Organizations: CNN —, NASA, ESA, CSA, J, Max, Max Planck Institute, Astronomy, Radboud University Locations: Heidelberg, Germany, Netherlands

☆ A dreamy new image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows the birth of 50 sun-like stars
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The James Webb Space Telescope captured a dreamy high-res image of 50 sun-like stars being born. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyNASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured a dreamy image depicting the birth of 50 sun-like stars. Marina Koren, a space writer for The Atlantic, said it "kind of looks like space is throwing up some more space." Webb's image shows how stars are born from a dusty cocoonThe high-resolution image shows about 50 stars, in various stages of formation, in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex —the nearest star-forming region to Earth — about 390 light-years away, according to NASA. A new James Webb Space Telescope image of stars being formed in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.

Persons: James Webb, Webb, Hubble — Webb, Bill Nelson, Kamala Harris, Marina Koren, That's, Klaus Pontoppidan, another's Organizations: James Webb Space, NASA, Service, ESA, CSA Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Stunning Webb telescope image shows closest star-forming region
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth, is seen in a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument released July 12, 2023. The Webb telescope, which was launched in 2021 and began collecting data last year, has reshaped the understanding of the early universe while taking stunning pictures of the cosmos. Rho Ophiuchi is only about a million years old, a blink of the eye in cosmic time. The Rho Ophiuchi images shows how Webb gives us a new window into the formation of stars and planets," Pontoppidan said. The orbiting observatory was designed to be far more sensitive than its Hubble Space Telescope predecessor.

Persons: James Webb, Klaus Pontoppidan, Alyssa Pagan, Handout, Webb, Pontoppidan, Hubble, Bill Nelson, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: NASA, ESA, CSA, REUTERS, Wednesday, James Webb Space Telescope, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Hubble, Telescope, Thomson Locations: REUTERS WASHINGTON

☆ 27 jaw-dropping images from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope show its first year peering into the cosmos
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

This is just the beginning for NASA's most powerful telescope. Stephan's Quintet is shown here taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScIThis post has been updated. It was originally published December 25, 2022.

Persons: James Webb Organizations: James Webb Space Telescope, NASA, ESA, CSA

☆ NASA's James Webb telescope discovers the earliest strand of a mysterious 'cosmic web' that links galaxies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

JWST spotted ten galaxies connected by an invisible cosmic filament. This is the earliest filament ever seen of the so-called "cosmic web," a mysterious network that connects the galaxies in our universe. Galaxies are connected by a cosmic webAn artist's impression of the cosmic web, showing how there are invisible areas of high density of dark and regular matter connecting the galaxies in the universe. Peering back into the early stages of the universe can give us a sense of how galaxies appeared within this mysterious network. The ASPIRE team hopes the picture will shed more light on the cosmic web, but it is also very interested in how early quasars were formed in the universe's infancy.

Persons: JWST, James Webb, Niall Jeffrey, Feige Wang, Joseph DePasquale, Joseph Hennawi Organizations: Service, University of Arizona, ESA, University College London, Guardian, NASA, CSA, University of California Locations: Wall, Silicon, Santa Barbara

☆ James Webb Space Telescope spots a supermassive black hole in the early universe, much sooner after the Big Bang than scientists can explain
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The most distant supermassive black hole seen yet appears as three bright spots clumped together. Webb shows details of the supermassive black hole's size and structureAn artist's conception of the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique GutierrezNot only is this mysterious beast the earliest supermassive black hole ever observed, it's also the most distant active supermassive black hole on record. For comparison, a 9 million solar mass black hole is closer to the size of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The first image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

Persons: —, James Webb, NASA's Webb, Webb, Leah Hustak, Steven Finkelstein, NASA GSFC, Adriana Manrique Gutierrez, it's, Dale Kocevski Organizations: Service, NASA, ESA, CSA, James Webb Space Telescope, Colby College, Bang

☆ An experiment that reaches across the galaxy has 'heard' an invisible sea of ripples in space-time for the first time. It's surprisingly loud.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Those ripples are probably the distant thunder of countless collisions between supermassive black holes, throughout space and time. He predicted that the intense gravity of extremely massive objects, like black holes, warps the fabric of space-time. The NSF funded the 15-year experiment, which is called the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). Supermassive black holes are thought to exist at the center of every galaxy. Her lab runs computer models of merging supermassive black holes to predict how they behave and what signals they send out into space.

Persons: —, Albert Einstein's, Aurore, Sean Jones, Manuela Campanelli, NASA's James Webb, Noll, Kip Thorne, NASA Goddard Thorne, NANOGrav, LIGO, Stephen Taylor, Lorenzo Ennoggi Organizations: Service, Sciences, National Science Foundation, NSF, American Nanohertz, Rochester Institute of Technology, NASA's James Webb Space, Hubble, Telescope, NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Locations: Louisiana, Washington, Europe, India, Australia, China

☆ A supernova that exploded in a nearby galaxy is one of the brightest in a decade. Here's how to see it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A supernova has exploded in the Pinwheel Galaxy 21 million light-years away. Named SN 2023ixf, it sets itself apart by being one of the brightest seen in a decade. The supernova, which appeared in the Pinwheel Galaxy 21 million light-years away, is one of the biggest and brightest in our skies in a decade, Space.com reported. But this supernova, named SN 2023ixf, sets itself apart by its proximity to Earth: it's located in the Pinwheel Galaxy, which is only about 21 million light-years away. The Pinwheel Galaxy is located close to two of the stars in the handle of the Big Dipper.

Persons: —, Space.com, Dan Perley, Kuntz, Mould, Chu, Jacoby, Hanna, Miller, Rodriguez, de Martin, Koichi Itagaki, Webb, Perley, It's Organizations: Galaxy, Service, Liverpool John Moores Observatory, Hubble, Gemini, NASA, ESA, K, JHU, Bresolin, University of Hawaii, Jet Propulsion, University of Illinois, CSA Locations: Urbana, Canada, France, Hawaii, T.A

☆ New James Webb Space Telescope image shows 45,000 galaxies in unprecedented detail
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The James Webb Space Telescope released a recent image that contains 45,000 galaxies. Scientists have been studying GOODS for years with various instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Spitzer Space Telescope, to name just a few. James Webb Space Telescope discovers 100s of new galaxiesThe James Webb Space Telescope is studying the hearts of galaxies, like this one, to better understand star formation. With hundreds more galaxies to study in unprecedented detail, thanks to JWST, astronomers are learning that galaxies in our early universe were more turbulent than previously thought. In particular, by studying the light signatures of these young galaxies, astronomers spotted something they didn't expect: strong emission lines.

Persons: James Webb, —, Chandra X, Kevin Hainline, James Webb Space, Webb, Lee, Schmidt JWST, Endsley, Joyce Kang Organizations: James Webb Space, Service, Astronomers, Hubble, Spitzer, Webb, University of Arizona, James Webb Space Telescope, ESA, NASA, CSA, JWST, Telescope Science Institute

☆ A gamma-ray explosion that was so bright it blinded scientists' equipment is even weirder than first thought
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Scientists marveled at the power of the gamma-ray jet, which likely marked the birth of a black hole. Astronomers have since been trying to work out what could have made the gamma-ray burst so bright, and may finally have an answer. Researchers have discovered that the gamma-ray explosion ejected a jet with an unusual structure which dragged a large amount of stellar material along with it. The analysis demonstrates that the most extreme explosions do not obey the standard physics assumed for normal gamma-ray bursts, he said. Still, according to O'Connor, this finding "a massive step forward in our understanding of gamma-ray bursts," the "equivalent Rosetta stone of long GRBs."

Persons: marveled, —, Brendan O'Connor, Levan, Gladys Kober, O'Connor, NASA’s, Alexander van der Horst, Hendrik Van Eerten, Eleonora Troja, it's, Van Eerten Organizations: Service, George Washington University, Hubble, NASA, ESA, CSA, Radboud University, NASA’s Goddard Space, University of Bath, University of Rome

☆ Side-by-side images of Uranus show how NASA's James Webb telescope outclasses Hubble, spotting vivid rings that used to go unseen
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA has turned its powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Uranus. Side-by-side images show once again how much more powerful JWST is than NASA's other space observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, when it comes to infrared imaging. An annotated image points to Uranus's polar cap. Image of Uranus' rings, backlit by the sun. It's not just Uranus's rings that are getting attentionJWST's image also provides a good look at Uranus's mysterious polar cap.

Persons: James Webb, —, Webb, JWST, Hubble, Showalter, It's Organizations: NASA, James Webb Space, Service, Hubble, Keck, ESA, CSA, SETI

☆ Webb telescope spies giant plume on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A record-breaking water plume erupted from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and the James Webb Space Telescope was watching when it occurred. The geyser-like plumes release water vapor, organic chemicals and ice particles into space. But the plume witnessed by the Webb telescope spanned more than 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers), which is nearly the distance between Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to a NASA release. The James Webb Space Telescope captured a a water vapor plume jetting from the south pole of Enceladus. The inset image, taken by the Cassini orbiter, shows how small Enceladus appears compared with the water plume.

Persons: James Webb, Cassini, —, Webb, . Villanueva, ”, Geronimo Villanueva, ” Villanueva, “, NASA’s, Stefanie Milam, we’ve Organizations: CNN, NASA, James Webb Space, Cassini, ESA, CSA, Goddard Space Flight, Saturn, Clipper, NASA Goddard Space Flight Locations: Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Greenbelt , Maryland

☆ NASA's Webb Telescope spots a water plume twice the length of the US, spewing from a Saturn moon that could host alien life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA's Webb Telescope revealed just how giant the water plumes shooting out of a Saturn moon are. The water gushes 6,000 miles, or about twice the length of the US, from the moon called Enceladus. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSIBut the James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful observatory ever launched into space. A water vapor plume jetting from the southern pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, as captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. "It was just so shocking to detect a water plume more than 20 times the size of the moon."

Persons: NASA's, —, James Webb, Cassini, Webb, NASA’s James Webb, Geronimo Villanueva, " Villanueva, Leah Hustak, Saturn Organizations: Service, NASA, JPL, Caltech, SSI, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, ESA, CSA, Goddard Space Flight Locations: Los Angeles , California, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Angeles, San Francisco

☆ Earth's neighboring star Betelgeuse unexpectedly got 50% brighter —part of a weird process that will end in the dying star going supernova
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This dying red giant had only recently mysteriously dimmed its shine after an enormous explosion. It is expected to explode into a supernova visible from Earth, though likely not for thousands of years. The red giant — a star not far from death — is now shining about 50% brighter than it usually would, scientists said. Scientists are keeping a close eye on Betelgeuse, as this red giant is a dying star that is close to turning supernova. Betelgeuse could burst into a supernova visible from Earth — one dayA pre-supernova star, called a Wolf-Rayet star, 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius.

☆ Astronomers spot the biggest cosmic explosion ever seen, and it's 100 times the size of our solar system
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This enormous fireball, which is about 8 billion light years away, is approximately 100 times bigger than the solar system. While it's not the brightest flash ever seen, it is "by far the most energy released" from a single explosion, Wiseman added. This may be a black hole slurping up a cloud of gas and dustThe world's first picture of a black hole, unrelated to this story. One theory is that explosions could emerge from the black hole to stop gas from falling into the black hole. Right now, the explosion is so bright that it's not possible to see a galaxy around the black hole.

☆ A mysterious object has been spotted that is 10 million times brighter than the sun. Scientists can't work out why it hasn't exploded
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX) are objects that shine ten million times brighter than the sun. NASA has been tracking so-called ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULX), impossible objects that can be 10 million times brighter than the sun, to understand how they work. A new study categorically confirms that M82 X-2, a ULX 12 million light-years away, is as bright as previous observation suggested it to be. But if it were not falling in, the matter shouldn't be radiating, which means the object shouldn't be that bright. (A neutron star is a superdense object left behind when a star has run out of energy and dies.)

☆ Webb telescope detects mysterious water vapor in a nearby star system
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has detected water vapor around a rocky exoplanet that orbits a star located 26 light-years away from Earth. The presence of water vapor could suggest that GJ 486 b somehow has an atmosphere, despite its heat and proximity to the star. “Water vapor in an atmosphere on a hot rocky planet would represent a major breakthrough for exoplanet science. The results from the Webb data analysis pointed to water vapor being present around GJ 486 b. Future observations of the planet using different instruments on the Webb telescope could reveal additional details about the source of the water vapor.

☆ New James Webb telescope photo of a galaxy cluster 6 billion light years away shows a trippy phenomenon where gravity warps spacetime
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New cosmic photos of galactic "arcs and streaks" in space were released on Tuesday by NASA's James Webb Telescope. The galaxies are bending space and time in a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. The SDSS J1226+2149 galaxy cluster shown in this newest photo is around 6.3 billion light years away, in the constellation Coma Berenices, according to the ESA. The James Webb Space Telescope's first deep field infrared image, released July 11, 2022. The light from the MACS0647-JD system is bent and magnified by the massive gravity of galaxy cluster MACS0647.

☆ An 'ultramassive' black hole has been discovered that's 33 billion times the mass of the sun
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

They estimate this black hole is 30 billion times bigger than our sun. That would make it one of the biggest black holes ever discovered. This black hole may remain one of the biggest holes ever discovered because physicists think black holes can't grow much bigger than that, Nightingale said. The technique could unveil 'inactive' black holesThe discovery of this black hole pushes back the limits of cosmology, Nightingale told the BBC. "How do you form a black hole this big in just 13 billion years of the universe's existence?"

☆ The solar system was hit with a gamma-ray burst so bright, it blinded scientists' equipment in space
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Chris Panella | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Our solar system was hit by a gamma-ray burst so bright, it blinded space equipment and telescopes. A gamma-ray burst that recently hit our solar system was so bright, it temporarily blinded gamma-ray instruments in space, according to a NASA release. Scientists say the gamma-ray burst (GRB), the most powerful type of explosion in the universe, was 70 times brighter than any previously recorded event. What is a gamma-ray burst? Because it blinded space instruments, they couldn't accurately record it, so scientists weren't sure how bright the burst was when it first reached our planet.

☆ Scientists explain alien comet 'Oumuamua's strange acceleration
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A new study has offered a more sober explanation - that 'Oumuamua's speed-up was due to the release of hydrogen gas as the comet warmed up in the sunlight. "The key finding is that 'Oumuamua may have started as a water-rich icy planetesimal broadly similar to solar system comets. "We don't know its place of origin but it was probably traveling through interstellar space for less than 100 million years. It had a reddish color consistent with the colors of many small bodies in the solar system. A second interstellar object, the comet 2I/Borisov, was discovered visiting our solar system in 2019.

☆ NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is so powerful it discovered sand storms on a planet 235 trillion miles away
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope found sand storms on a planet hundreds of trillions of miles away. From its vantage point in space, Webb can peer at a distant world and analyze the entire infrared spectrum of starlight passing through the planet's atmosphere. The James Webb Space Telescope fully deploys its primary mirror during development at Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Redondo Beach, California. The spectrum Webb found on the planet VHS 1256 b, showing signatures of silicate clouds, water, methane, and carbon monoxide. That means the stars' light doesn't drown out the light of the planet, making it an ideal target for the Webb telescope.

☆ Image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope reveals a rare star preparing to explode and die in a supernova
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured a star getting ready to die in stunning detail. The image shows a rare Wolf-Rayet star, expelling its outer layers in the phase before a supernova. A Wolf-Rayet star is "among the most luminous, most massive, and most briefly-detectable stars known," according to NASA. Webb helps investigate a dusty cosmic mysteryThat cosmic dust is of great interest to astronomers. An artist's conception of the James Webb Space Telescope.

☆ How exoplanet hunters find alien worlds hundreds of light-years away and figure out if they have water
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In the journal Nature Astronomy, astronomers announced that the two exoplanets — Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 d — could be made up of mostly water. NASA AmesSince the first worlds outside our solar system were discovered in 1992, astronomers have searched for other planets orbiting sun-like stars. Astronomers have already captured direct evidence of 5,241 planets beyond our solar system, according to NASA's Exoplanet Archive. Water worlds beyond our solar system could be abundant in the universeWorlds rich in liquid water might not be as rare as astronomers previously thought, Piaulet said. But by discovering and studying new worlds, astronomers can hone in on what makes a world habitable beyond a sample size of one — Earth.

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