Using NASA, Japanese, and European X-ray satellites, a team of Japanese astronomers has discovered that our galaxy’s central black hole let loose a powerful flare three centuries ago. The finding…

By studying in great detail the 'ringing' of a planet-harbouring star, a team of astronomers using ESO's 3.6-m telescope have shown that it must have drifted away from the metal-rich Hyades cluster.…

UK astronomers have produced the most sensitive infrared map of the distant Universe ever undertaken. Combining data over a period of three years, they have produced an image containing over 100,000…

A study of active and inactive galaxies by Paul Westoby, Carole Mundell and Ivan Baldry from the Astrophysics Research Institute of Liverpool John Moores University has given new insights into the…

Scientists have discovered a possible terrestrial-type planet orbiting a star in the constellation Leo. The new planet lies at a distance of 30 light years from the Earth and has a mass five times…

A rare type of galax with a higher number of X-rays than thought possible has been detected. Quasars are cosmic 'engines' that pump energy into their surroundings - theorists speculate that an…

Using data from the Hinode and RHESSI solar observatories, astronomers have discovered that solar flares - explosions in the atmosphere of the sun - get much hotter when they stay "focused." Dr Ryan…

There are many interactions between the Sun and the Earth but one of the most dynamic events is a ‘substorm’ - an explosive reshaping of the Earth’s outer magnetic field. To better understand…

The Sun has a very dynamic atmosphere, with huge fountains of hot gas erupting in the atmosphere, or corona, every few minutes, travelling at tens of thousands of kilometers per hour and reaching…

An international team of scientists, led by Prof Louise Harra, University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, have found a source of the stream of particles that make up the slow solar…