WhyCosmo

  Like two cosmic sumo wrestlers, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected the closest-ever pair of supermassive black holes . Located in the galaxy MCG-03-34-64 , these two giants are just 300 light-years apart and are about to embark on a galactic dance that will eventually end in a massive collision . As they devour gas and dust from their surroundings, they glow brightly as active galactic nuclei (AGN) , giving us a rare peek into the process of galaxy mergers . This is an artist's depiction of a pair of active black holes at the heart of two merging galaxies. They are both surrounded by an accretion disk of hot gas. Some of the material is ejected along the spin axis of each black hole. Confined by powerful magnetic fields, the jets blaze across space at nearly the speed of light as devastating beams of energy. NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) This discovery is even more exciting because such close black hole pairs are scarce in our local un...

Eta Carinae , a colossal star in the Keyhole Nebula , is on the brink of a cosmic explosion, but the exact timing remains a mystery. With a mass 100 times that of our Sun, Eta Carinae is a prime candidate for a supernova. This could happen as soon as next year or even a million years from now. Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt Historical records reveal that around 170 years ago, Eta Carinae experienced a massive outburst, becoming one of the brightest stars in the southern sky. Fascinatingly, it's the only known star that emits natural LASER light. In the latest image provided by NASA, the extraordinary details of the nebula surrounding Eta Carinae are highlighted —bright multi-colored diffraction spikes caused by the telescope radiate from the star's center. The Homunculus Nebula, with its two distinct lobes, envelops the hot core, showing lanes of gas and dust that absorb blue and ultraviolet light. However, some strange radial red streaks ...

  Jupiter’s Great Red Spot , the most significant storm in the Solar System, has been a subject of fascination for centuries. However, this colossal storm has raged for over 400 years and is mysteriously shrinking . Planetary scientists now believe they have found an explanation: the Great Red Spot is starving. Hubble’s 2021 image of Jupiter shows the Great Red Spot, along with smaller storms that may be affecting its size over time. Courtesy NASA/ESA/STScI. The Mystery Unfolds Since its discovery in the mid-1600s, the Great Red Spot (GRS) has intrigued astronomers. This massive, high-pressure region generates a storm 16,000 km wide, with winds exceeding 321 km per hour, extending 250 km deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere. Since the late 1800s, continuous observations have documented numerous GRS changes, but recent studies reveal it’s shrinking. The Role of Smaller Storms: Yale Ph.D. student Caleb Keaveney and his team proposed that smaller storms feeding the GRS play a crucial rol...