News

Dying stars could seed interstellar medium with carbon nanotubes

June 16, 2022

Evidence suggests that carbon nanotubes, tiny tubes consisting of pure carbon, could be forged in the envelopes of dust and gas surrounding dying stars. The findings propose a simple, yet elegant mechanism for the formation and survival of complex carbon molecules in space.

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Hubble took this image of the Spirograph Nebula, a dying star surrounded by its envelope of gas and dust.

Mysterious 'blue blobs' reveal a new kind of star system

June 15, 2022

Astronomers have discovered a new type of stellar system that contains only young, blue stars. The structures are thought to be created when galaxies collide with hot gas in something of a galactic belly flop.

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Stars and galaxies

Watching the death of a rare giant star

June 14, 2022

Extreme supergiant stars known as hypergiants are very rare, with only a few known to exist in the Milky Way. Astronomers have created a detailed, three-dimensional image of one dying hypergiant, providing new insights into what happens at the end of these rare stars' lives.

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Artist’s impression of the red hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris

Planetary defense exercise uses Apophis as hazardous asteroid stand-in

May 31, 2022

UArizona scientists took part in an international planetary defense exercise that used asteroid Apophis – a large, potentially hazardous asteroid – to test the planetary defense response chain.

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The path of asteroid Apophis

Black hole scientist: 'Wherever we look, we should see donuts'

May 12, 2022

UArizona astrophysicists Feryal Özel and Dimitrios Psaltis identified Sagittarius A* as an ideal target black hole more than 20 years ago. They call it a "Goldilocks black hole," with an environment "just right" for capturing an image.

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Ray traced images of Sagittarius A*

Making sense of the nonsensical: Black holes and the simulation library

May 12, 2022

Snapping an image of a black hole is just the beginning, says researcher Chi-Kwan "CK" Chan. To really understand the image, it must be compared with black hole simulations. UArizona worked with partners to create the world's largest simulation library.

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a row of super computers

UArizona astronomers lead efforts that reveal the black hole at the heart of our galaxy

May 12, 2022

After years of anticipation, the international Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration presented the first image of the black hole located at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A*. Scientists had previously suggested the presence of a black hole at this location, but there was no direct visual evidence until now. 

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Image of Sagittarius A* (or Sgr A* for short), the first direct visual evidence of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

Planetary science decadal survey prioritizes UArizona-led planetary defense mission

May 3, 2022

A new decadal survey from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends NASA fully support NEO Surveyor, a space-based survey designed to discover and measure asteroids and comets that could pose an impact hazard to Earth. Amy Mainzer, a professor of planetary sciences, leads the effort. 

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An artist’s conception of a near-Earth asteroid orbiting the sun.

NASA gives green light for OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to visit another asteroid

April 25, 2022

The extended UArizona-led mission, dubbed OSIRIS-APEX, will study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis, which is expected to have a close encounter with Earth in 2029.

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Spacecraft firing thrusters near surface of asteroid

Astronomers glimpse giant planet in its infancy

April 4, 2022

A team of astronomers including researchers from the University of Arizona has discovered evidence of a giant planet in the process of forming. This provides the first-ever look at the earliest stages of the formation of a gas giant planet, when it's still embedded in the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young host star.

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Artist's impression of Aurigae b, a gas giant estimated to be 9 times more massive than Jupiter.