The Milky Way's monster black hole is imaged for the first time, a "mixed-up sunspot" fires off a huge flare, and a Starlink rocket launch creates a "space jellyfish." These are some of the top images this week from Space.com.
Say hello to our monster black hole friend
During joint worldwide news conferences Thursday (May 12), Event Horizon Telescope scientists unveiled our first-ever view of the supermassive black hole at the heart of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Imaging Sagittarius A* is another groundbreaking result for the telescope array, which generated a boatload of science to accompany the spectacular photos.
Full story: Behold! Milky Way's monster black hole imaged for the 1st time.
Big, bright flare emerges from weirdly polarized sunspot
A "mixed up" sunspot shot off the strongest type of flare, an X-class, within range of Earth on Tuesday (May 10). While the volley did not generate any auroras from coronal mass ejections of charged particles, the sunspot had an opposite polarization than expected, making the ejection a remarkable one for science observations.
Full story: A 'mixed up' sunspot just fired off a huge solar flare
This 'space jellyfish' came from a SpaceX Starlink launch
Florida's Space Coast got treated to a sky glow, dubbed a "space jellyfish", due to atmospheric physics associated with a recent SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch of Starlink satellites. The May 6 event came after gas in the nozzle was released into the lower-pressure air, within striking range of light from the rising sun.
Full story: SpaceX Starlink launch spawns spectacular glowing cloud in predawn sky
Old Hubble Space Telescope data reveals streaking asteroids
Astronomers spotted the trails of nearly 1,500 new asteroids hidden in data gathered by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The project was generated from a space rock search in the "Hubble Asteroid Hunter" project on Zooniverse, a popular platform for crowdsourcing science.
Full story: Astronomers discover asteroid treasure trove in old Hubble Space Telescope data
Webb captures Large Magellanic Cloud in unprecedented infrared detail
A new commissioning image in infrared from the James Webb Space Telescope showed a neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way, called the Large Magellanic Cloud. The unprecedented sharp views of stars in the galaxy next door came from its coldest instrument, the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
Full story: James Webb Space Telescope enters 'homestretch' of commissioning with stunning image
Astronauts from Crew-3 'waltz' in spacesuits
The Crew-3 astronauts gave a nod to the classic "2001" space movie in an epic new video, showing them flying formation in SpaceX spacesuits while preparing to return to Earth. The new video, shared by European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, is set to the iconic "The Blue Danube" waltz by Johann Strauss II made famous to space fans in the 1968 film.
Full story: Watch SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts 'waltz' in space in fun spacesuit video
A magnetic 'flip' is caught in a huge black hole
Scientists might have seen a monster black hole changing polarities. A galaxy known as 1ES 1927+654, briefly ceased X-ray emissions for a few months, then resumed and increased. These black hole observations represent a unique situation so far.
Full story: Monster black hole might have executed a magnetic 'flip'
A royal-looking spiral galaxy shines in purple
Golden and purple gas shine in Messier 66 (M66) in a striking new image, released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The multiple observations revealed a selection of gasses — oxygen, hydrogen and sulfur — ionized by young stars. The image was released by ESO on May 2.
Full story: This spiral galaxy looks positively royal in vibrant new image
It's a new phase for DARPA's 'Glide Breaker' hypersonic missile
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is ready for Phase 2 of the Glide Breaker program to knock hypersonic missiles out of the sky. The agency is seeking proposals "to conduct wind tunnel and flight testing of jet interaction effects," DARPA officials announced on April 15.
Full story: DARPA's 'Glide Breaker' hypersonic missile interceptor program enters new phase
Star survives the aftermath of its explosive companion
The Hubble Space Telescope found a survivor star that persisted despite the violent death of its companion. The supernova explosion event, called SN 2013ge, has included a persistent nearby source of ultraviolet light. This suggests a surviving binary companion, according to a statement from NASA.
Full story: Hubble Space Telescope spots star that survived violent explosion of neighbor
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