Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question that you would like an expert to answer, please send it to Curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. If the James Webb telescope were ten times more powerful, could we see the beginning of time? – Sam H., age 12, Prosper, Texas The James Webb … Read more
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question that you would like an expert to answer, please send it to Curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. If the James Webb telescope were ten times more powerful, could we see the beginning of time? – Sam H., age 12, Prosper, Texas The James Webb … Read more
Astronomers use the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to hunt for planets that form around young stars. The powerful space telescope delivered the goods quickly, albeit in an unexpected way. These young planets take shape in swirling clumps of gas and dust called protoplanetary disks, gathering more and more mass as they go. Humanity has … Read more
In December 2023, the Hubble Space Telescope completed its largest program since its launch in 1990. With this program, the telescope made observations of 500 individual stars over three years – and scientists are now ready to dive into this cosmic Easter egg of data. The comprehensive Hubble Telescope survey is called the Ultraviolet Legacy … Read more
You have to have a feeling for brown dwarfs. Not only has their inability to ignite like normal stars earn them an unfortunate nickname: failed stars, but new findings from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed that they can’t even sustain a relationship. Brown dwarfs are celestial bodies that form when giant clouds of gas … Read more
What was little more than a bright spot for the Hubble Space Telescope has been revealed as one of the oldest galaxies ever discovered – and the find is thanks to none other than Hubble’s younger sibling: the James Webb Space Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope’s international ‘Glass’ Collaboration has made detailed observations of … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope’s infrared view has transformed our view of a large barred spiral galaxy, revealing its skeleton of dust illuminated by the glow of young stars. Visible-light images of NGC 1559, such as those taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, show a glowing vortex of light with bright, young star clusters spread … Read more
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have ended a nearly decade-long game of hide-and-seek in the sky after discovering a neutron star in the wreckage of a stellar explosion. Supernova 1987A represents the remains of an exploded star that once had a mass about 8 to 10 times that of the Sun. It … Read more
Scientists have analyzed an unusually long explosion of high-energy radiation known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB) and determined that it came from the collision of two ultra-dense neutron stars. More importantly, this result helped the team observe a flash of light arising from the same event, confirming that these mergers are the locations that create … Read more