News

How Many Stars Are in The Milky Way? More Than You Can Imagine

Astronomers believe there are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way.

NASA Featured Story: ‘Baby’ Planet Photographed in a Ring around a Star for the First Time!

This artist's concept depicts the protoplanet WISPIT 2b accreting matter as it orbits around its star, WISPIT 2.

Giant Magellan Telescope brings new partner into the fold

The University of Arizona produces all primary mirror segments for Giant Magellan Telescope. Each measures 27 feet (8.4 meters) in diameter, and the arrangement resembles petals of a flower.

VIDEO: Laird Close discusses "baby planet" discovery on PBS Horizons

Steward Observatory Professor of Astronomy Laird Close spoke with Ted Simons on PBS Horizons about his latest astronomical discovery

New images reveal clues about the feeding habits of black holes

The Arizona Radio Observatory's 12-meter Telescope on Kitt Peak in Southern Arizona played a key role in obtaining the data for this study.

Following the Stars: Where Charity Woodrum Is Now

Charity Woodrum, Astronomy PhD ’24, is now a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hurricane Erin Photobombs CatSat

Hurricane Erin as seen from CatSat

A growing baby planet photographed for first time in a ring of darkness

The WISPIT 2 system as seen by the Magellan Telescope in Chile and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona. The protoplanet WISPIT 2b appears as a purple dot in a dust-free gap between a bright, white dust ring around the star and a fainter, outer ring, orbiting at about 56 times the average distance between the Earth and the sun. The other potential planet, CC1, appears as the red object inside the dust free cavity and is estimated to be about 15 Earth-sun distances from its host star.

Astrobiologists Still Need A Viable Definition Of Life: Interview with Steward Observatory's Daniel Apai

Fantasy Alien Exo Planet isolated galaxy space

Alpha Centauri, sun's closest stellar neighbor, likely harbors giant planet

This artist’s concept shows what a gas giant orbiting Alpha Centauri A could look like. Observations of the triple star system Alpha Centauri using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope indicate the potential gas giant, about the mass of Saturn, orbiting the star by about two times the distance between the Sun and Earth.