16 Great Astronomy Photos

The Tumult of the Sun

The Sun, as seen through three different wavelengths. Image: Royal Observatory Greenwich/Hassan Hatami (Iran)

Hassan Hatami chose this image of the Sun from thousands of images in the Solar Dynamics Observatory collection. Adjusting the brightness of the three different wavelengths proved to be a formidable challenge.

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The artistic rendering shows the center of the galaxy Markarian 501, from which two powerful jets emanate. The supermassive black hole at the centre, whose existence was already known, partially bends the light from the jet behind it into a so-called Einstein ring.

Unprecedented Observation Reveals 2 Supermassive Black Holes Locked in a Tight Death Spiral

New research describes an unexpected double jet in a distant galaxy, revealing a pair of supermassive black holes on the verge of colliding.

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Asteroid Ryugu Contains All 5 DNA and RNA Building Blocks, Study Shows

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$A bright, greenish coma and a tail are shown in this three-minute exposure taken using a 6″ Takahashi refractor located in New Mexico. At the time of this image, comet Lovejoy was 40 million miles from Earth and 88 million miles from the sun.$

The Tumult of the Sun

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