"Doughnut" clumps orbit black hole

Astronomers' observations set constraints on size and characteristics of the doughnut-shaped rings surrounding supermassive black holes...

Stellar death may spawen solar system

...By using specialized high-contrast techniques at the 10-meter Keck I telescope in Hawaii and the 8-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile, Ireland's team discovered heat radiation coming not only from Mira B itself, but also from a location offset from Mira B by a distance equivalent to Saturn's orbit...

Rocky Finding: Evidence of extrasolar asteroid belt

Astronomers report that they've obtained the best evidence yet for an asteroid belt beyond the solar system. Such a belt would suggest that the star Zeta Leporis, which lies just 70 light-years away, possesses not only asteroids but rocky planets like Earth...

Comet McNaught Captured from Cerro Pachon

... The recently arrived Comet McNaught has put on a world-wide show over the last two weeks during its apparition in the western sky...