Astronomical

K2-33 in Upper Scorpius

Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) image of the 11 million year old Upper Scorpius Star forming region. The two bright stars are Nu Scorpii (left) and Beta Scorpii (right), both likely members of Upper Scorpius. The cloudy region around Nu Scorpii is a reflection nebula; residual dust from recent star formation as well as interstellar dust is reflecting light from the bright star. A zoom-in inset is shown around the star K2-33b, with the planet host circled in red.

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Astronomical

Exoplanet K2-33b Orbits Youthful Star

K2-33b, shown in this illustration, is one of the youngest exoplanets detected to date. It makes a complete orbit around its star in about five days. These two characteristics combined provide exciting new directions for planet-formation theories. K2-33b could have formed on a farther out orbit and quickly migrated inward. Alternatively, it could have formed in situ, or in place.

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Astronomical

Supernova 2012cg

The blue-white dot at the center of this image is supernova 2012cg, seen by the 1.2-meter telescope at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory. At 50 million light-years away, this supernova is so distant that its host galaxy, the edge-on spiral NGC 4424, appears here as only an extended smear of purple light. Credit: Peter Challis/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA

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Astronomical

Three Generations of Solar Cameras

These views of the Sun's full disk allow a comparison of three generations of solar cameras on McDonald Observatory's solar viewing system, from the original Overcash camera (smallest solar disk), to the upgrade to the first Semmes camera (middle disk), to the most recent Semmes camera upgrade (largest disk). The new camera's maximum resolution of the full solar disk has provided an astonishing improvement in size and clarity. (Kevin Mace/McDonald Observatory)

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Astronomical

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