Very Large Telescope

Phil Plait Bad Astronomy Vlt M77 Core

How do you hide a supermassive black hole? Dust. Lots and lots of dust.

New observations show M 77's black hole is hidden by thick dust.

By Phil Plait 3 months ago

Phil Plait Bad Astronomy Dss Pi1gruis

What does a red giant look like up close? REALLY up close?

Pi1 Gruis seen up close and personal.

By Phil Plait 5 months ago

Artwork depicting the exoplanet Beta Pictoris b, showing the planet-forming debris disk around the star. The planet is flattened due to its rapid rotation. Credit: ESO L. Calçada/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)

Astronomers 'find' a second planet orbiting Beta Pictoris due to extremely tiny wiggles by the first planet

By Phil Plait 7 months ago

Phil Plait Bad Astronomy vlt_ceres_vesta

Asteroids, the Universe, and Everything: Meet 42 space rocks

By Phil Plait 7 months ago

Artwork depicting an exoplanet orbiting one of the two stars making up the binary Alpha Centauri. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)

Have astronomers finally found a planet around Alpha Centauri? Maaaaaaaaaybe.

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

Four powerful lasers fire from the Very Large Telescope to create artificial guide stars in the sky near the Carina Nebula. Credit: ESO/G. Hüdepohl

Eat lasers, Carina Nebula!

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

Artwork depicting a gas giant planet orbiting around the star Beta Pictoris, still enshrouded in a disk of gas and dust. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

A second planet for Beta Pic confirmed!

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

The galaxy cluster S1063 is a collection of hundreds of galaxies and is strewn with dark matter. This acts as a gravitational lens, distorting the light form more distant galaxies into arcs, which you can see throughout the center of this Hubble image.

What's the matter with dark matter? Observations show we're missing something.

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

A section of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field showing hundreds of galaxies, with the MUSE observations of hydrogen glow superposed (blue). The glow is everywhere, coming from hydrogen gas in the distant Universe. ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO/ Lutz Wisotzki et al.

The entire sky glows from the light of distant hydrogen. All of it, everywhere.

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

A planet orbiting Proxima Centauri? A combination of five images from the Very Large Telescope shows a blip of light where a planet was predicted to be, but cannot yet be confirmed. Credit: Gratton et al.

Is this an actual image of a planet orbiting the nearest star? Maaaaaaaybe.

By Phil Plait 2 years ago