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An international team of astrophysicists, led by Northwestern University and the University of Leicester in England, has uncovered a possible origin of fast X-ray transients (FXTs) — mysterious, fleeting bursts of X-rays that have long puzzled astronomers. Using a combination of telescopes around the globe and in space, the team studied the closest FXT associated

CIERA’s Tjitske Starkenburg, Northwestern Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Assistant Director for Research Operations at SkAI Institute, shares her excitement about Rubin Observatory’s First Light Watch Party and the new science that will result.

NGC 261 blooms a brilliant ruby red against a myriad of stars in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Discovered on Sept. 5, 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, this nebula is located in one of the Milky Way’s closest galactic companions, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The ionized gas blazing from within this

On May 22, 2024 an international team of researchers, including CIERA Professor Daniel Lecoanet, published a paper in Nature that brings scientists closer than ever before to solving a 400-year-old solar mystery that stumped even famed astronomer Galileo Galilei. Since first observing the sun’s magnetic activity, astronomers have struggled to pinpoint where the process originates.

Near Rigel, a bright star found in the constellation Orion, lies the Witch Head Nebula (look closely to see the face!). This nebula is a reflection nebula– a cloud of dust that is lit up by nearby stars. Rigel’s starlight reflects off the dust to light up this very faint nebula. Photographer and CIERA graduate

This is a picture of the Eagle Nebula, a magnificent emission nebula. At the heart of the Eagle Nebula are the Pillars of Creation, famously photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, and recently by the James Webb Space Telescope. In this image, photographer and CIERA graduate student Imran Sultan depicts the Eagle Nebula

Photographer and CIERA graduate student Imran Sultan captured the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) over two nights (July 9-10, 2023) from the bright skies of the Chicago suburbs. Observing the Elephant’s Trunk reveals emission from the ionized gas in the star-forming region, shown here in the HOO color palette. Sultan was able to overcome light

The swirling oranges and sparkling refractions of light in this photo, captured by CIERA graduate student Imran Sultan, are the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. The Pillars of Creation are part of an active star-forming region within the nebula and hide newborn stars in their cloud-like columns. This sight was captured from Bortle

When looking up into the sky, one of the first constellations many see is Orion, made up of three bright stars, one of which is the 11th brightest star in the sky. This photo of the Orion constellation, which also features the Great Orion Nebula and Horsehead/Flame Nebulae, was captured by CIERA graduate student Imran

This photo, captured by CIERA graduate student Imran Sultan, is a widefield shot of the interstellar gas and dust in the Cepheus constellation, prominently featuring the Shark Nebula. Interstellar gas is composed primarily of hydrogen, followed by helium with trace amounts of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. These clouds’ glowing nature is credited to the fluorescence

The purple and blue hues in this photo highlight the Lion Nebula, which was shot in the last two nights of July 2023 in dual narrowband (H-alpha and O III) in Illinois. This image was taken by Imran Sultan, a graduate student in CIERA Professor Claude-Andre Faucher-Giguere’s group who practices astrophotography in his free time.

This is a wide-field view of the Heart and Soul Nebulae in the constellation Cassiopeia. Captured by CIERA graduate student Imran Sultan from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies over three nights in dual narrowband (H-alpha and O III). Sultan, who practices astrophotography in his free time, is a graduate student in CIERA Professor Claude-Andre Faucher-Giguere’s

This emission around Sadr (including the Butterfly and Crescent nebulae), was captured by Imran Sultan from Bortle Class 8-9 city skies in narrowband, a filter that allows astronomers to isolate particular emission lines of gasses in astronomical objects. The Bortle Class scale measures the brightness of the night sky, with 8-9 signifying that the sky

In October 2022, an international team of researchers, including Northwestern University astrophysicists, observed the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever recorded, GRB 221009A. In a paper published in April 2024, a team led by CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow Peter Blanchard has confirmed that the phenomenon responsible for the historic burst — dubbed the B.O.A.T. (“brightest of all time”)

Artist conception of early starbursting galaxies. Stars and galaxies are shown in the bright white points of light, while the more diffuse dark matter and gas are shown in purples and reds. When scientists viewed the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) first images of the universe’s earliest galaxies, they were shocked. The young galaxies appeared