Honeycomb Carbon Crystals Possibly Detected in Space. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted the signature of flat carbon flakes, called graphene, in space. If confirmed, this would be the first-ever cosmic detection of the material – which is arranged like chicken wire in flat sheets that are one atom thick. Continue reading
This image of galaxy cluster MS 0735 is actually a composite of three separate images in different wavelengths. The cluster’s full scientific designation is MS0735.6+7421. It is located about 2.6 billion light-years away in the constellation of Camelopardalis. Continue reading
This composite image of the nebula near the star cluster NGC 2074 was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on August 10, 2008, in commemoration of completing its 100,000th orbit in its 18th year since the beginning of the mission. Continue reading
This composite image of a ghostly ring of dark matter in the galaxy cluster Cl 0024+17 was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in November 2004. A false color map is superimposed on a Hubble image of the cluster in order to make the cluster’s dark matter distribution more evident. Continue reading
This photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a magnificent view of the spiral galaxy NGC 4603. It is a very distant galaxy because it is located in the Centaurus cluster about 108 million light-years away from Earth. Continue reading
New observations from the Herschel Space Observatory show a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few portions of the ring, which stretches across more than 600 light-years, were known before. Continue reading
Ara is a southern constellation located between Scorpius and Triangulum Australe. It was one of the 48 Greek constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical … Continue reading
This galaxy cluster commonly known as Pandora’s Cluster is officially named Abell 2744. As observed by a team of scientists, the cluster has a complex and violent history. The giant galaxy cluster appears to be the result of a simultaneous pile-up of at least four separate, smaller galaxy clusters. Continue reading
Aquila is a constellation that lies just a few degrees North of the celestial equator. It is best seen in the summer because of its apparent location along the line of our galaxy. This is why many clusters and nebulae … Continue reading
As NASA prepares to wrap up its shuttle program, leaving open questions about what comes next for U.S. human spaceflight, the next big thing in NASA’s astronomy program has been dealt a blow. Continue reading