Topic: The Astrophysical Journal

All Content

King Midas in space? Rare star collision produces gold.

Scientists from Harvard University have for the first time found concrete evidence that gold is produced in the collision of two extremely rare stars.
Alien planet's mysterious blue color leaves scientists wondering

The Hubble Space Telescope helped scientists to identify the blue color of an exoplanet, giving researchers another piece in their understanding of the distant world. The alien planet has fierce winds and high temperatures, which turn rain into glass.
Earth is less of a backwater than we thought, say astronomers

The galactic spiral arm where our solar system resides may be a big deal after all, according to a new analysis.
Telescope spots formation of alien planet

In the first discovery of its kind, a telescope in Chile has detected a baby gas giant forming in the dust cloud around a nearby star.
Milky Way could be home to 4.5 billion Earth-like planets

Astronomers have calculated that 6 percent of our galaxy's most common type of star probably host temperate, Earth-sized planets, meaning that a habitable alien Earth could be just a dozen light years away.
Diamond-studded planet orbits sun-like star (+video)

Resent research found that more than one-third of the newly discovered planet, 55 Cancri e, may be covered in diamonds. This discovery marks the first of a planet so fundamentally different from Earth.
Bizarre alien super-Earth planet probably made of diamond

The alien planet, a so-called 'super-Earth,' is called 55 Cancri e and was discovered in 2004 around a nearby star in our Milky Way galaxy.
Sugar molecules – a building block of life – spotted orbiting star (+video)

Astronomers have spotted molecules of glycolaldehyde, a simple sugar that is one of the ingredients in the formation of RNA, orbiting a star some 400 light years away.
Scientists find new alien planet, smaller and hotter than Earth

The NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals astronomers a new alien planet possibly covered with molten lava.
Hubble telescope reveals mysterious 'ghost galaxies' of ancient universe

Formed some 13 billion years ago, three bizarre galaxies captured by the Hubble telescope are thought to be 'fossils' of the early universe
Astronomers use an old trick to open new window on extrasolar planets

Two teams of astronomers used a technique for finding extrasolar planets to directly measure one such planet. The approach could allow the study of more exoplanets' atmospheres than ever before.
Astronomers find humongous galaxy cluster, thanks to gravitational lensing

Using NASA's Huble Space Telescope, astronomers have detected a huge cluster of galaxies some 10 billion light-years away. The cluster is so massive that it distorts light that passes near it.
4,700 asteroids capable of catastrophic damage lurk near Earth

The survey found there are likely 4,700 potentially hazardous asteroids in orbits that occasionally bring them close enough to Earth to pose a concern.
Light from alien 'super-earth' seen for first time

NASA's Spitzer space telescope has detected a light source coming from a large earth-like planet.
How do supermassive black holes get so big? A peculiar diet, perhaps.

New research suggests that the supermassive black holes at the cores of some galaxies could grow so large by consuming one star from a binary system and flinging the other into space.
Giant stars may not be necessary for supernovae

New research using X-ray and ultraviolet data helps scientists to better understand the origins of supernovae. These exploding stars are important in measuring distance in the universe.
Hubble telescope spots new class of planet: a steamy 'waterworld'

The planet GJ 1214b is a watery planet covered in a thick, steamy atmosphere, a new study of Hubble data suggests.
How a black hole survived the destruction of its galaxy

The Hubble telescope has spotted the remains of a destroyed galaxy, whose sole remains consist of a black hole and a cloud of gas, which has spawned a cluster of new stars.
Planet found at perfect spot for life - in solar system with three suns

Scientists have found a planet about 4.5 times the mass of Earth that orbits in the heart of its star's habitable zone, with two other suns orbiting much farther away. Is there water or the potential for life? Perhaps. But the planet could also be a two-faced world of scorching sun and perpetual ice.
Newfound alien planet 'best candidate to support liquid water'

A planet recently discovered orbiting a nearby star is located in the star's 'habitable zone,' meaning that it could support life as we know it.
Scientists intrigued by atoms from beyond the solar system

NASA's IBEX spacecraft has snagged atoms that came from outside our solar system. Interstellar space includes the raw material that becomes new stars, planets, and organic life.
'Alien' matter from beyond solar system discovered by NASA

This so-called interstellar material was spotted by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, a spacecraft that is studying the edge of the solar system from its orbit about 200,000 miles above Earth.
NASA discovers 26 new alien planets in 11 solar systems

The findings nearly double the number of bona fide planets found outside our solar system by the Kepler space observatory.
Amazing planets: mini solar system, 'Star Wars' lookalike among new finds

The catalogue of newly found planets is becoming richer by the day. By one new estimate, virtually all the billions of stars in the Milky Way could have a planet orbiting them.
NASA able to observe a long time ago, in newly found galaxies far, far away

Researchers used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to find five tiny but bright galaxies clustered together 13.1 billion light-years from Earth.