The extent to which solar activity (and thus the number of sunspots and the solar…
Astronomers Capture Rare Images of Planet-Forming Disks Around Stars
An international team of astronomers has captured fifteen images of the inner rims of planet-forming disks located hundreds of light years away. These disks of dust and gas, similar in shape to…
Astronomers Could Spot Life Signs Orbiting Long-Dead Stars
The next generation of powerful Earth- and space-based telescopes will be able to hunt distant solar systems for evidence of life on Earth-like exoplanets – particularly those that chaperone burned-out stars known…
ESO Instrument Finds Closest Black Hole to Earth
A team of astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and other institutes has discovered a black hole lying just 1000 light-years from Earth. The black hole is closer to our Solar…
ESO Telescope Sees Star Dance Around Supermassive Black Hole, Proves Einstein Right
Observations made with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed for the first time that a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way moves just as…
Star Formation Project Maps Nearby Interstellar Clouds
Astronomers have captured new, detailed maps of three nearby interstellar gas clouds containing regions of ongoing high-mass star formation. The results of this survey, called the Star Formation Project, will help improve…
