All articles tagged with #hubble space telescope
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, launched 36 years ago, is now in a precarious era as orbital drag and aging gyros threaten its stability; forecasts place possible reentry from the late 2020s to the mid-2030s, with options including a controlled reentry or boosting to a higher orbit, though a post-Shuttle servicing mission isn’t feasible and any final mission remains uncertain, even amid occasional proposals like a SpaceX Crew Dragon visit.
Astronomers using Hubble, with Euclid and Subaru, identified CDG-2 in the Perseus cluster as an extremely dark-matter–dominated galaxy—about 245 million to 300 million light-years away—where 99% of its mass is dark matter. The galaxy was detected indirectly by tracing four tightly packed globular clusters, which reveal a faint glow around them. Its normal matter is estimated at roughly 6 million sun-like stars, with about 16% accounted for by the globular clusters, suggesting past star formation that has since been stripped away by gravitational interactions. The discovery, highlighting a “dark galaxy” category, was reported in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
NASA’s Hubble identified CDG-2, a remarkably dark matter–dominated, low-surface-brightness galaxy in the Perseus cluster, by spotting a small group of globular clusters and a faint surrounding glow. Four tightly bound clusters signal an underlying galaxy whose luminosity is about 6 million Sun-like stars, with about 99% of its mass in dark matter and most normal matter stripped away by gravitational interactions. Confirmed through combined data from Hubble, the Euclid mission, and the Subaru Telescope, this is the first galaxy detected primarily via its globular clusters, illustrating how upcoming surveys and machine-learning methods will uncover more such faint systems.
An ESA AI model called AnomalyMatch scanned the entire Hubble Legacy Archive, finding about 1,300 anomalies—hundreds never documented before—ranging from merging distant galaxies and jellyfish-like galaxies to edge-on planet-forming disks, after processing roughly 100 million image cutouts in under three days, showcasing AI’s power to unlock new science from archival data.
ESA researchers used a neural-network tool called AnomalyMatch to scan nearly 100 million tiny image snippets from the 35-year Hubble archive, identifying over 1,300 anomalies—more than 800 of which were not previously documented—mostly related to galactic mergers, jellyfish galaxies, edge-on planet-forming disks, and gravitational lenses; the work demonstrates AI’s power to boost discoveries from archival space data.
AI researchers used AnomalyMatch to scan 100 million Hubble Legacy Archive image cutouts, revealing about 1,300 unusual objects—800 newly discovered—including merging galaxies, stars with trailing gas, and several gravitational lenses; dozens defy current classification. The work, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, demonstrates AI can accelerate discovery in vast archival datasets and may help future surveys from Euclid, the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, and the Rubin Observatory manage the data deluge.
Astronomers using the AnomalyMatch AI tool scanned nearly 100 million Hubble image cutouts from about 35 years of data, uncovering around 1,300 anomalies, with more than 800 previously undocumented. The majority are merging/interacting galaxies; the search also flagged 86 new gravitational lens candidates and rare objects like jellyfish galaxies, demonstrating AI's power to extract discoveries from the data deluge of current and future observatories.
ESA researchers trained an AI model called AnomalyMatch to scan nearly 100 million images in the Hubble Legacy Archive, flagging 1,400 anomalous objects in about 2.5 days. The findings include merging/interacting galaxies, gravitational lenses, jellyfish galaxies, and galaxies with large star-clump concentrations, with several dozen objects defying classification. The work shows AI can boost the scientific output of large astronomical datasets and could aid analyses of other big archives.
A team led by ESA scientists used an AI tool called AnomalyMatch to sift through nearly 100 million Hubble Legacy Archive image cutouts. In about 2.5 days, the algorithm flagged over 1,300 true anomalies, more than 800 of which had not been documented before, including galaxy mergers, gravitational lenses, a ring galaxy, jellyfish-like galaxies, and edge-on planet-forming disks; six examples are highlighted in the release. The study demonstrates how AI can dramatically speed up discovery in archival data and signals a new era for upcoming surveys from Roman, Euclid, and Vera C. Rubin Observatory, as NASA and ESA continue collaborative exploration of the universe.
Researchers used AnomalyMatch, an AI-driven neural network, to scan nearly 100 million Hubble Legacy Archive image cutouts in about 2.5 days, identifying roughly 1,400 anomalous objects, with around 800 new-to-science discoveries. The haul includes merging galaxies, gravitational lenses, jellyfish galaxies, and unusual edge-on disks, plus a number of objects that defy easy classification, highlighting AI’s power to unlock archival data for future surveys like Euclid and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
A newly processed Hubble Space Telescope image of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS (Jan 22, 2026) shows persistent internal structures—including a pronounced anti-tail and three emission features—after applying rotational-gradient processing to remove coma glow, suggesting non-random geometry that challenges the view of 3I/ATLAS as a typical comet; the analysis comes from NASA/ESA/STScI data and was conducted for USA Herald by Toni Scarmato as a forensic-like examination.
Space.com reports a new Hubble image of the N159 star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud, taken in a neighboring field to a recently released view. The image reveals thick hydrogen gas forming ridges and filaments, with bright red emission indicating regions where hot, young stars energize the surrounding gas. Studying this Milky Way–like environment, roughly 160,000 light-years away, helps astronomers understand how stellar radiation and winds shape clouds, drive feedback, and influence where new stars form.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories have found direct evidence of a hidden companion star to Betelgeuse, Siwarha, whose orbital wake through the red supergiant’s atmosphere explains Betelgeuse’s six-year brightness cycle and other variability, with the wake matching predictions from an orbiter that completes a six-year orbit and potentially merging with Betelgeuse in the distant future; findings are published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Astronomers have confirmed that Betelgeuse has a hidden companion star, Siwarha, which creates a dense gas wake as it moves through the star's atmosphere, explaining long-standing variability and behavior changes in this red supergiant, with future observations planned for 2027.
The article discusses the discovery of a remarkable anti-tail jet in the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, which challenges conventional understanding of cometary behavior and suggests the need for further scientific investigation into its unusual features and alignment with the Sun.