In a recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society, images from the Hubble Telescope have revealed a rather odd image of what seems like a "backwards armed" galaxy in the Centaurus constellation. A study was conducted to reveal that the galaxy called NGC4622 did not follow the conventional characteristics of a double-armed spiral galaxy.

Read more about this strange galaxy in the full article!

NASA has unveiled a model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a new space telescope that is set to be the successor of the Hubble Space Satellite, at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. This according to the BBC.

The JWST, named in honor of former NASA Administrator James E. Webb, will be larger than its predecessor and will take up a position 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. It will also be equipped with a 6.5-meter mirror -- nearly three times the size of the one on Hubble -- that will reportedly enable it to see to the farthest reaches of the Universe.

"Clearly we need a much bigger telescope to go back much further in time to see the very birth of the Universe," said Edward Weiler, director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre. The US$ 4.5 billion JWST is scheduled to launch in June 2013.

Recently, one of our staff writers urged a "grassroots" movement to save Pluto, which was recently stripped of its planetary status.  For those of you who agree that Pluto should remain a planet, here's some good news.

It seems as if the the astronomical  community is not about to let Pluto go down without a fight. 300 researchers recently signed a statement denouncing the IAU's recent definition demoting the ninth rock from the sun. A conference is planned next year where they hope to come up with an alternative definition of "planet." Alan Stern, who heads the New Horizons Mission to Pluto at NASA is helping to organize the conference.

"Teachers are writing me saying, 'We don't know how to teach this,'" Stern says. "We've got to help them out of this jam that the IAU has put them in," says Stern.

Another organizer, Owen Gingerich of Harvard University, believes Pluto's planet label could stick despite the IAU decision if most textbook authors choose to use it. "If the conference is broadly enough representative with the key players, then it may well be that it establishes a different nomenclature than what has been officially voted on by the IAU," he told New Scientist. "It might achieve a more satisfactory consensus," Gingerich says.