This famous supernova remnant is hiding a secret
When massive stars reach the end of their lives and explode in a supernova, they can leave behind huge structures in space called supernova remnants. These are often favorite targets…
Webb Telescope Finds What May Be a Glowing Aurora on a Failed Star
The Webb Space Telescope has spotted something weird: a brown dwarf with what appear to be aurorae, what we Earthlings sometimes call the Northern Lights. What makes the observation particularly…
Webb Spots Ancient Supernova in a Gravitational Lens
Last month, astronomers focused the Webb Space Telescope on the galaxy MRG-M0138 and found something surprising: a supernova in the ancient universe, magnified for your viewing pleasure by the gravitational…
Uranus Is Luminous and Ringed in New Webb Telescope Image
Yes, that’s Uranus. The giant icy orb looks more like an agatized dinosaur egg than a planet in this new image by the Webb Space Telescope. Webb Telescope Images the…
The Best Space Images of 2023
Gif: X-ray: NASA/SAO/GSFC/M. Corcoran et al.; Image Processing: L. Frattare, J. Major, N. Wolk (SAO/CXC)/Gizmodo This is a timelapse of an outburst by Eta Carinae, a star system about 7,500…
James Webb provides a second view of an exploded star
When massive stars run out of fuel and come to the ends of their lives, their final phase can be a massive explosion called a supernova. Although the bright flash…
James Webb telescope captures a dramatic image of newborn star
A new image of a Herbig-Haro object captured by the James Webb Space Telescope shows the dramatic outflows from a young star. These luminous flares are created when stellar winds…
James Webb finds that rocky planets could form in extreme radiation environment
It takes a particular confluence of conditions for rocky planets like Earth to form, as not all stars in the universe are conducive to planet formation. Stars give off ultraviolet…
How astronomers used James Webb to detect methane in the atmosphere of an exoplanet
One of the amazing abilities of the James Webb Space Telescope is not just detecting the presence of far-off planets, but also being able to peer into their atmospheres to…
The Heart of the Milky Way Glows With Unprecedented Detail in New Webb Image
The center of our galaxy is a menagerie of exotic objects; a supermassive black hole, clouds of hot gas, and giant stars that can help inform the origin story of…