Infinity Cosmos

A star is being torn apart by a supermassive black hole in a rare tidal disruption event (TDE) called AT2022cmc. What makes it even rarer is the launch of high-speed jets as the black hole consumes the star. This is the first jetted-TDE discovered in over a decade and the first since the launch of NuSTAR, whose X-ray observations provided critical data NASA's NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) has unveiled crucial details about one of the universe's most violent phenomena: tidal disruption events (TDEs). These occur when a star ventures too close to a supermassive black hole and is torn apart by its immense tidal forces. Just as an astronaut aboard the International Space Station experiences weaker gravity than people on Earth, the side of the star closest to the black hole feels a much stronger pull, stretching the star apart in a cosmic "spaghettification" process. This results in a stream of material that orbits the black hole, forming an accretion disk...

  In the latest "Picture of the Month" from NASA/ESA/CSA, the James Webb Space Telescope presents a breathtaking view of the spiral galaxy NGC 2090, located in the constellation Columba. This image, a combination of data from Webb's MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), showcases the galaxy's distinctive spiral arms, filled with swirling gas, dust, and star-forming regions, in unprecedented detail. NGC 2090, first studied in depth by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 1998 as part of a project to refine the Hubble constant, is a valuable object of study for astronomers. The galaxy's Cepheid variable stars helped calculate its distance, originally estimated at 37 million light-years. Newer measurements now place NGC 2090 at a slightly greater distance of 40 million light-years. This week, alongside Webb’s new image, a fresh Hubble image of NGC 2090 has also been released, offering another layer of insight into this cosmic marvel. Cha...

Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass binary system with a likely black hole and a hot Wolf-Rayet star. This artist’s concept depicts two gas components: a massive stellar wind from the star and a turbulent structure near the orbiting companion, potentially a wake. The black hole’s gravity captures some of the wind into an accretion disk, while jets of particles, moving near light speed, are emitted during outbursts.   The Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory has captured the most detailed portrait yet of gases flowing within Cygnus X-3, one of the most studied and enigmatic sources in the X-ray sky. This groundbreaking observation could provide crucial insights into the behavior of one of the universe’s most unusual binary systems. Cygnus X-3 consists of a rare type of high-mass star—a Wolf-Rayet star—paired with a compact object, likely a black hole. “The nature of the massive star is one factor that makes Cygnus X-3 so intriguing,” explained Ralf Ballhausen, ...

  NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently captured the Sombrero galaxy using its MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), revealing the clumpy structure of dust in the galaxy’s outer ring, with 7.7-micron light shown in blue, 11.3-micron light in green, and 12.8-micron light in red. In a new image captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104), appears less like its namesake—a broad-brimmed Mexican hat—and more like an archery target. Webb’s high-resolution mid-infrared view provides a fresh perspective on this iconic galaxy, revealing a smooth inner disk where the galaxy's glowing core typically dominates in visible-light images. The stunning detail in the image comes from Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which uncovers new insights into the galaxy’s outer ring. Where earlier observations from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope showed a smooth, uniform ring, Webb's infrared view exposes intricate clumps of dust,...

  Researchers from MIT have discovered that wave activity on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, could be powerful enough to erode the coastlines of its vast seas and lakes. Titan, the only other planetary body in our solar system besides Earth known to host rivers, lakes, and seas, has long intrigued scientists. Its seas, filled with liquid methane and ethane, were first observed by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in 2007. MIT geologists, led by Taylor Perron, have now modeled the erosion of Titan’s shorelines, showing that waves, rather than other processes like uniform erosion, could be shaping the moon’s coastlines. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest that the unique landscapes of Titan’s seas may have been sculpted by dynamic wave activity.  Until now, evidence of waves on Titan has been debated, with some scientists observing smooth, mirror-like surfaces, while others reported hints of roughness that might suggest wave action. Perron and his team took a novel approa...

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image showcases the spiral galaxy UGC 10043.   The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a breathtaking image of the spiral galaxy UGC 10043, located approximately 150 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens. This galaxy is unique in that it appears edge-on, giving us a rare and detailed view of its structure from the side. In this stunning image, UGC 10043's galactic disk is seen as a sharp line cutting through space, with dark dust lanes creating thick bands of obscuring clouds. These dust lanes hide much of the galaxy’s glow but also reveal regions of active star formation shining through. If viewed from above, the dust would likely outline the spiral arms, revealing the full beauty of the galaxy's structure. At the center of UGC 10043 lies a glowing, egg-shaped bulge, a common feature in all spiral galaxies. This bulge, composed of stars orbiting the galactic center, extends above and below the disk. The size o...

  This artist's concept depicts the early stages of FU Orionis' outburst, surrounded by a material disk. Using Hubble's ultraviolet capabilities, astronomers discovered that the inner disk touching the star is unexpectedly hot—16,000 kelvins—almost three times the Sun’s surface temperature, nearly double what was previously predicted. In 1936, astronomers were baffled when the young star FU Orionis (FU Ori) suddenly became a hundred times brighter in a matter of months. Unlike an exploding star, FU Ori’s luminosity gradually declined, but it remained a star of interest for decades. Now, a team of astronomers has used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to delve deeper into the interaction between FU Ori’s surface and the accretion disk feeding gas to the growing star. Their groundbreaking findings challenge existing models and offer new insights into the nature of these eruptive stars. The Hubble observations, made using the telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and S...

  In an extraordinary discovery, astronomers have observed a "flame-throwing guitar" structure in deep space, captured through NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. The object, known as the Guitar Nebula, is a mesmerizing cosmic phenomenon located around a pulsar, PSR B2224+65, a rapidly spinning neutron star formed after the collapse of a massive star. The nebula's striking guitar shape is created by energetic particles being expelled from the pulsar. As the pulsar moves through space, these particles are blown into bubbles, creating the guitar-like form. The pulsar itself, located at the tip of the "guitar," emits a filament of particles and X-ray radiation, resembling a flame. This high-energy radiation is captured by Chandra, revealing the intricate dynamics of the cosmic structure. The pulsar's extreme rotation and intense magnetic fields accelerate particles to near light speed, generating both matter and antimatter. This...

  GRACE satellites measure changes in Earth's gravity as they orbit, revealing shifting water levels across the planet (artist's concept). An international team of scientists has found that Earth's total amount of freshwater dropped sharply beginning in May 2014 and has remained at lower levels ever since, a significant change that could signal a shift toward a persistently drier phase for the planet’s continents. The findings, published in *Surveys in Geophysics*, were based on data from NASA-German satellites and suggest the planet may be entering a new era of water scarcity. From 2015 through 2023, satellite measurements revealed that the global freshwater stored on land — encompassing both surface water (such as lakes and rivers) and groundwater — was approximately 290 cubic miles (1,200 cubic km) below the levels observed from 2002 to 2014. Matthew Rodell, a hydrologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and co-author of the study, compared this loss to "two an...

  This image is concept illustrates a pair of monster black holes swirling in a gas cloud, a recurring outburst known as AT 2021hdr, studied by NASA’s Swift Observatory and the Zwicky Transient Facility. A groundbreaking discovery using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has revealed the signal from a pair of supermassive black holes disrupting a gas cloud in the center of a distant galaxy, offering new insights into the violent processes occurring in galactic cores.* The event, named AT 2021hdr, marks the first time astronomers have observed a pair of black holes interacting with a gas cloud in such a unique way. The phenomenon, which recurs every few months, was first detected in March 2021 by the Caltech-led Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at Palomar Observatory in California. Dr. Lorena Hernández-García, an astrophysicist at the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Valparaíso in Chile, explained, “We think that a gas cloud engulfed the black holes. As t...

  Coastal areas like Drakes Bay on Northern California's Point Reyes Peninsula are becoming more vulnerable to rising sea levels. As the Earth’s oceans continue to rise, they are increasingly disrupting livelihoods, infrastructure, and ecosystems in coastal communities worldwide. To help mitigate the impact, international organizations and agencies, including NASA, are using advanced data tools to assist in preparedness efforts. NASA has launched a global sea level change website, providing valuable data to better understand and address the escalating threat posed by rising sea levels. Developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense, the World Bank, the U.S. Department of State, and the United Nations Development Programme, the site offers a wealth of information, including projections for sea level rise through 2150 and detailed flooding estimates for coastal regions over the next 30 years. The projections are based on NASA's data, computer models of ice sheets ...

  This artist's concept illustrates the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) as it passes through the Milky Way's gaseous halo, with most of the LMC's gas blown away, leaving behind a compact remnant. Using light from 28 quasars, scientists studied the halo by observing how the gas absorbs the quasars' light, as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. A gripping tale of survival is unfolding in the far reaches of our galaxy, as NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures a remarkable chapter in the story of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf galaxy that orbits our Milky Way. Located at the outer edges of our cosmic neighborhood, the LMC is one of the Milky Way's closest companions and can be seen in the southern night sky, appearing 20 times the size of the full Moon. Many astronomers believe the LMC is not bound in orbit around the Milky Way, but rather passing through its gravitational influence. After completing its closest approach to the Milky Way, the LMC has ex...

This illustration depicts a red, early-universe dwarf galaxy with a rapidly feeding black hole at its center, discovered just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory. The black hole is consuming matter at a rate over 40 times the theoretical limit, offering new insights into how supermassive black holes grew so quickly in the early universe.   A new discovery has unveiled a rapidly feeding black hole at the heart of a dwarf galaxy just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. This black hole, dubbed LID-568, is devouring matter at an astonishing rate — more than 40 times the theoretical limit, providing valuable new insights into the growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe. Using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers identified LID-568 hidden in the Chandra X-ray Observatory’s COSMOS legacy survey . This survey, which includes over 4.6 m...

  Turbulence isn’t just something that causes bumpy airplane rides. On a much grander scale, it plays a key role in the birth of stars in the Milky Way. A new study, funded by NASA and published in *Science Advances*, reveals how turbulence within giant molecular clouds—vast, cold regions of gas and dust—interacts with the density of these clouds to determine where and how stars form. The study’s lead author, Evan Scannapieco, a professor of astrophysics at Arizona State University, explains that turbulence is the driving force behind the formation of the structures that give rise to stars. "We know that the main process that determines when and how quickly stars are made is turbulence, because it gives rise to the structures that create stars," Scannapieco said. "Our study uncovers how those structures are formed." Molecular clouds, often referred to as "stellar nurseries," are far from peaceful. They are filled with turbulent motions caused by gravitatio...

The larger galaxy, oval-shaped with a glowing core, is shown merging with a smaller spiral galaxy. A trail of material connects the two, highlighting their interaction. The pair is surrounded by a faint halo of stars, with several distant stars visible in the background.   The Hubble Space Telescope has once again provided a stunning glimpse into the universe, this time focusing on a cosmic tangle in the heart of the Coma galaxy cluster. The image showcases MCG+05-31-045, a pair of interacting galaxies located 390 million light-years away. This captivating duo is part of the densely packed Coma cluster, which contains over a thousand galaxies, many of them elliptical in shape. Historically, the Hubble Picture of the Week has featured the spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, often referred to as "the jewel in the queen’s hair." This week's image highlights a different kind of cosmic beauty: two galaxies caught in the throes of interaction. The larger galaxy, ...

  NASA’s Voyager 2 captured this image of Uranus during its 1986 flyby, and new research using mission data reveals that a solar wind event during the flyby may explain the long-standing mystery of the planet’s magnetosphere. NASA’s Voyager 2 flyby of Uranus in 1986 provided scientists with their first close-up look at the planet, but also raised new questions about its strange behavior. Among the mysteries was the planet's magnetosphere, which displayed unexplained patterns of energized particles, defying expectations of how magnetic fields should work. New research analyzing the data from that flyby has revealed the cause of these anomalies: an unusual space weather event that compressed Uranus' magnetic field just before the spacecraft's arrival.  This temporary compression, caused by solar wind, altered the magnetosphere in a way that occurs only about 4% of the time, offering a new explanation for the perplexing observations. "If Voyager 2 had arrived just a few d...

  The left panel shows a NIRCam in-focus image at 2.12 microns, while the middle and right panels display defocused NIRCam images at two different positions, used to assess the telescope's alignment. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever launched, featuring a mirror made up of 18 individual segments. These segments have been meticulously aligned to function as a single, giant 21.6-foot (6.5-meter) reflector. Achieving this precise alignment was a complex process that required the expertise of engineers and optics scientists. Dr. Marcio B. Meléndez, principal astronomical optics scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, elaborates on the challenges of aligning the telescope after launch and maintaining its precision during ongoing scientific operations. “Following Webb’s successful launch and deployment, the delicate task of aligning its massive, gold-coated mirrors began. It took nearly three months to transform the...

  The NISAR mission will help researchers better understand Earth’s surface changes over time, including volcanic activity like the 2009 eruption at Mount Redoubt in Alaska. We often take for granted the dynamic and constantly shifting nature of Earth’s surface. From earthquakes to volcanoes, landslides to shifting glaciers, much of the planet is in perpetual motion. However, a new satellite mission from NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) promises to significantly enhance our understanding of these phenomena, potentially saving lives and resources during natural and human-made disasters. The **NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar)** mission, slated for launch in early 2025, will continuously measure the motion of nearly all of Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces. Orbiting the planet, the satellite will collect data twice every 12 days, providing researchers with an unprecedented, detailed view of Earth’s surface movements. According to Cathleen Jones, NIS...