Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Science is fantastic, and this week showcases wonders both planetary and astrophysical. We start with new images from the VLT and JWST of a supernova remnant and a nebula, respectively. Then, we examine a striking structure on Mars and the birth of a distant planetary system. Finally, we present a short video of the closest images ever taken of the Sun.

Credit: ESO/P. Das et al. Background stars (Hubble): K. Noll et al.

Monday, 14 July 2025

Double-Detonation Supernova

This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. These are the expanding remains of a star that exploded hundreds of years ago in a double-detonation – the first photographic evidence that stars can die with two blasts.

The data were captured with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument at the VLT. MUSE allows astronomers to map the distribution of different chemical elements, displayed here in different colours. Calcium is shown in blue, and it is arranged in two concentric shells. These two layers indicate that the now-dead star exploded with a double-detonation. Hydrogen (H alpha) is shown in orange.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

Cat's Paw

NASA’s JWST team released this image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula on July 10, 2025, in honor of the telescope’s third anniversary. JWST's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) revealed never-before-seen structural details and features: Massive young stars carve away at nearby gas and dust. At the same time, their bright starlight produces a bright nebulous glow represented in blue. As a consequence of these massive stars’ lively behavior, the local star formation process will eventually come to a stop.

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Hebes Chasma Mesa

The details of the central mesa inside Hebes Chasma on Mars are seen in close-up detail in this perspective view taken using ESA's Mars Express. A horseshoe-shaped chunk has been removed from one side of the mound (left in this image); the material has slumped down onto the valley floor below. A dark patch appears to pool like spilled ink across the debris. It is most likely loose material that has slid down from an intermediate layer onto the walls. Melted ice could have played a role in weakening the rocks, creating a flow-like appearance.

Along the side of the mound, fine horizontal layering is seen. The layers likely comprise a mix of wind-blown dust and ancient lake sediments, along with remnants of the older plateau.

Credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.

Thursday, 17 July 2025

Dawn of a New Stellar System

This is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation. The image was taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Together with data from JWST, these observations show that hot minerals are beginning to solidify.

In orange, we see the distribution of carbon monoxide, blowing away from the star in a butterfly-shaped wind. In blue, we see a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, also beaming away from the star. These gaseous winds and jets are common around baby stars like HOPS-315.

Together, the ALMA and JWST observations indicate that, in addition to these features, there is also a disc of gaseous silicon monoxide around the star that is condensing into solid silicates– the first stages of planetary formation.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab

Friday, 18 July 2025

Closest-Ever Images to Sun

This video, made from images taken by Parker Solar Probe’s WISPR instrument during its record-breaking flyby of the Sun on Dec. 25, 2024, shows the solar wind racing out from the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona.

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